The aim of this course is to assist students in transitioning from Tamil or Sinhala medium instruction to English medium instruction, to help them build confidence and showcase their talents while using English in creative ways, to acclimatize them to the university system and build healthy relationships with fellow students and university teachers, and to recognize their competency levels and cater to their needs, ensuring that they can improve their language skills.
All first-year students entering the Faculty of Arts will have to sit a standard placement test at end of the English Intensive Course. On the basis of their results at this examination, they will be divided into three competence-based groups, namely Basic, Intermediate and Advanced, corresponding to the three paired courses ELA 1101 & ELA 1202, ELA 2103 & ELA 2204 and ELA 3105 & ELA 3206 respectively. This test will be administered after all students have participated in the English Intensive Course, which has been designed to include 150 hours of classroom instruction.
