Browsing by Author "Balasooriya, B.M.U.S."

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An Analysis on Mnemonic Methods of Japanese Kanji Characters
(Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Balasooriya, B.M.U.S.
Kanji are ideographs which mean that the whole character conveys a meaning rather than just a sound as in the case of Hiragana and Katakana. Most of the Kanji characters were originally drawn as pictures from nature but gradually transformed to more generalized representations. There are 75,963 kanji currently encoded in Unicode available today. Kanji characters have become one of the main obstacles for students who learn Japanese in Sri Lanka, because there are a large number of Kanji characters to remember and the period of time is mostly too short to remember those characters, (for an example students have to remember around 2000 kanji characters within 2, 3 years of their Japanese language education) when compared with Japanese native students. Most of the students receive much better marks for Kanji character tests but their writing and reading skills are very poor. They especially make many errors when they write Kanji characters. So this study focuses on identifying mnemonic methods of Japanese Kanji characters. The data was collected by conducting a questionnaire survey for 2nd year students reading for a Japanese Language Special Degree at the University of Kelaniya. The findings highlight the fact that most of the students tend to memorize full Kanji characters by the radicals of each Kanji character. For example, the 「氵」 sign usually comes with Kanji characters which indicate liquids. Also students use the Chinese reading method to memorize Kanji characters in their syllabus.
An Error Analysis of Japanese Business Writing.
(The Third International Conference on Linguistics in Sri Lanka, ICLSL 2017. Department of Linguistics, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Balasooriya, B.M.U.S.
Business Writing is a type of written communication, usually with standard structure and style. Japanese business writing should follow the customary format and etiquette of formality and politeness. It is necessary to follow proper etiquette to leave a good impression on business partner. Thus, it is one of the main concerns to know about formal style of Japanese business writing by the students learning Japanese in Sri Lanka. In this paper, examples of errors made by the students learning Japanese when writing Japanese business letters were collected, analyzed, and evaluated. The data were collected by analyzing twenty business writings of the first year students reading for Japanese Language Special Degree at University of Kelaniya. Many types of errors related to word choice were identified. Particularly, inappropriate combinations of recipient name and honorific title, inappropriate combinations of verbs and objects, mixing of polite and humble language, and insufficient understanding of fundamental Japanese constructions were prevalent. Other types of mistakes included inappropriate layout, incorrect use of abbreviations, and incorrect use of Arabic and Japanese numerals. There was a tendency to make the same mistakes repeatedly, and it was concluded that the guidance offered by textbook examples is insufficient and that systematic training in formal written Japanese is essential.
Onomatopoeia in Japanese: a close look at Translation from Japanese into Sinhala
(Department of Modern Languages, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Balasooriya, B.M.U.S.