Browsing by Author "Deveniguru, D.K.L.C."

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Analysing the effectiveness of group work in the ESL classroom
(International Conference on the Humanities (ICH 2018/2019), Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Deveniguru, D.K.L.C.; Ratnayake, A. R. M. J. C.; Thilakawardana, I.G.L.S.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of using Cooperative Learning, (CL) which is also known as Group work, in the English as a Second Language (ESL) Classroom. The survey was conducted at the Faculty of Arts, University of Peradeniya and the data was gathered through a randomly selected sample of 25 undergraduates of the first year belonging to the Basic Level. The selected group had scored marks ranging from 0-39 at the English Placement Test conducted by the Faculty of Arts. A majority of the undergraduates who follow the Basic Level pay less attention to ESL as most of the courses in their curriculum are offered in either Sinhala or Tamil. So, they show less interest in most of the activities done in the ESL classroom. Moreover, their inhibition towards English language learning as well as the lack of self-confidence can be identified as major obstacles in their learning process. Therefore, a group speech activity was chosen as a remedial method to assess the effectiveness of co-operative learning. To carry out this study, the randomly chosen undergraduates (25) were instructed to do a speech activity. The target group of students were divided equally into 05 groups and they were asked to do a group presentation on a topic related to a current issue. The data gathered from the students were then analysed and the findings were discussed. Through this study, the following main hypotheses can be drawn forward. (a) CL technique enables the learners to feel more comfortable in using the Second Language (L2) spontaneously. (b) CL technique has a positive impact on the level of motivation which ultimately leads to a higher level of proficiency in the Target Language (TL). Data collection involved both qualitative and quantitative methods. Both, students and instructors were given questionnaires to mark their preferences. Both questionnaires were then analysed and compared. The students‘ questionnaire demonstrated that they have a positive attitude towards CL or group work. The results of the instructors‘ questionnaire revealed that CL can play a vital role in language learning and teaching. Through the responses stated at the interviews both the students and instructors revealed that the CL technique creates a positive atmosphere and a less threatening classroom. Moreover, through the findings of this research it was posited that CL technique develops self-confidence of the students, reduces classroom anxiety and inhibition and most importantly that it allows students to learn from each other.
Conducting Spoken Tests are still a big challenge in most of the ELT scenarios
(Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, 2015) Deveniguru, D.K.L.C.
According to the latest ELT trends, improving communicative skills has become the major concern of most of the English language teaching programmes. Although it has become the major concern, testing oral skills has not yet proven to be an easy task. Oral tests can often be difficult to design, administer and mark. Therefore, there are number of aspects that we need to pay attention to, when designing, conducting and marking oral tests. Starting from the availability of necessary resources, elicitation techniques, marking criteria that are used to score the test and the authenticity/the validity of the test have predominant roles to play in achieving the intended goals of the test. Although all the above mentioned aspects are necessary to reach a better outcome, this research gives much focus on the authenticity of the oral tests that are conducted in ELT scenarios. In order to retain the authenticity, the test needs to be related to real-life situations. Yet, this technique is not completely fault proof as defining ‗the real-world‘ can be problematic sometimes. On the other hand, scoring these oral tests can be challenging as they allow subjectivity when assessing and this again affects the authenticity of the test. Thus, the major intention of this research is to find out the reasons as to why it is difficult to retain the authenticity of the oral tests, by observing the data gathered through a speech test, that was conducted in a particular Sri Lankan university context and analyzing the information provided by the examiners of the test in the form of interviews and questionnaires.