Culturally Responsive Pedagogy: A Study on Materials in English Language Teaching in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Culturally Responsive Pedagogy (CRP) has become a topic of concern in the field of English Language Teaching at present. This concern has risen due to the seemingly less incorporation of culture within the field. In Sri Lanka, English is taught as a second language and English is taught from a young age. Moreover, Sri Lanka’s diverse cultural landscape makes CRP important for English language teaching in the country. Based on this diversity, it is essential that educational materials and teaching methods reflect the cultural contexts of learners to enhance engagement and learning outcomes. In such a setting, the limited research done in this field calls this research to address the questions to what extent is CRP followed in Sri Lankan national curriculum and what culturally responsive aspects are observed in it. Therefore, the study follows purposive sampling as the materials employed were ten text books prescribed by the government for the local English language syllabi from grades three to thirteen. In doing so, the prevalence given towards CRP and the extent to which CRP is adapted was analysed. A qualitative stance was taken by analysing the content of the materials thematically by following a combined theoretical framework of the Culturally Responsive Curriculum Scorecard (CRCS) (2018) developed by Bryan-Gooden, Hester and Peoples and the Fairness, Bias, and Cultural-Responsiveness (FBCR) checklist (2017) developed by the Center for Collaborative Education (CCE), Indiana Department of Education. Thereby, yielding results that CRP is adopted to a certain extent with further improvements. Accordingly, it is recommended that the three factors; organization of the school, school policies and procedures and community involvement is followed. Thus, this study implicates further studies on the incorporation of CRP in classroom teaching and learning for more in depth matter.