Abstract:
Keppetigoda and Chandradasa (2015) highlighted that the theoretical framework of bilingual
education is the Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), a new approach in language
education as students learn both target language and content in target language (Cross, 2014).
However, majority of the undergraduates are exposed to education totally in an environment
where L2 is used after their learning in monolingual stream in L1 (Sinhala and Tamil) and
bilingual stream (only a few subjects are taught in L2) at schools. To address this issue, the
universities conduct compulsory ESL courses for the first year students. Sri Lanka Institute of
Information Technology too conducts an ESL course which needs a revision of the existing
syllabus. The researcher introduces CLIL method to upgrade the existing syllabus. Thus this
study examines the impact of implementation of Content and Language Integrated Learning for
Sri Lankan ESL students at tertiary level with special reference to reading skills.
Two hypotheses were identified; CLIL group performs better than ordinary ESL group in terms
of reading skills and application of CLIL methods in reading comprehension at tertiary level
increases students’ ability to use reading skills strategies. The sample consists of two groups:
experimental and controlled and they are given a pre-test. After weeks of teaching the groups
are exposed to a post test. Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory by
Mokhtari and Reichard (2002) is employed to examine the use of comprehension strategies by
students. The findings are analyzed through SPSS. The research findings show the degree of
improvement in reading skills of the sample and their metacognitive awareness after being
exposed to CLIL. The study further provides factors to be investigated in future research in
order to enhance English language competency of ESL students in Sri Lankan Universities.
