Browsing by Author "Nirmani, W.A.S."

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

Socio-economic Schemata Conveyed through Physical Appearance of a Criminal in an Eyewitness Context
(Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2015) Nirmani, W.A.S.; Karunanayake, D.D.K.S.
The prime factor of wrongful convictions in global criminal justice systems is mostly due to evidence provided by eyewitness misidentifications. Among a wide array of causes for this fallibility in memory, schema-driven false memory gains a crucial role. A host of applied cognitive psychology researches have uncovered that a series of characteristics of the defendant and the characteristics of the witness are causing erroneous reconstructive memory of the witness. Therein schemata on physical appearance which convey socio-economic status (SES) of the criminal are assumed to lead into reconstructive memory in eyewitness testimony. The purpose of the present study, therefore, lied in an attempt to understand the prevailing physical and socio-economic status schemata of a typical criminal and their effects on visual memory of eyewitnesses. A qualitative research design was adopted in data collection and data analysis and six participants were given two schema-consistent and schema-inconsistent pictures that elaborated two different crime scenes of bank robberies. The data were gathered in two different circumstances as immediate recall and delayed recall. The collected data were analyzed in using thematic analysis. The results provided evidence for prevailing schemata on physical appearance that convey information on the criminal‟s SES. These schemata also conveyed evidence to prove that participants have selected and recalled information in accordance to their prevailing schemata on physical traits and apparent SES of the criminals. Thus, it is concluded in the study that according to their inferences on the physical appearance and socio-economic status, eye witnesses make assumptions on their recalling details related to behaviour, person‟s character, criminality, and background of the crime scene.
A Study into the Attitude of L2 Learners towards Vocabulary Learning
(International Postgraduate Research Conference 2019, Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2019) Nirmani, W.A.S.; Maithripala, W.G.S.
Vocabulary learning is of paramount importance in the process of second language learning. Learning vocabulary helps the learner to enhance the competence and knowledge in English language. Thus it is very much essential for the teachers as well as the learners to understand the importance of vocabulary learning in the second language classroom in order to develop in their language skills as their attitude towards vocabulary learning will determine the effort the learners put forth to acquire new vocabulary. The present study explores the attitudes of L2 learners in the tertiary level towards the importance of vocabulary in learning English. It investigates the differences of attitude of 52 participants who are in the Basic level of English proficiency in the first year of the Faculty of Arts. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data which consists of two sections: Part A is comprised of 6 questions on the participant’s demographic data when Part B contains 7 close-ended statements on the attitude of the students towards the importance given to vocabulary in learning English. The study used descriptive analysis by using IBM SPSS 20 software. The results of the study revealed that the majority of the students have admitted that they can understand the sentences which are even grammatically wrong as they place importance in the vocabulary rather than in the accuracy of the sentence. Moreover they have placed more importance in expressive vocabulary which includes speaking and writing skills than on the receptive vocabulary that consists of reading and listening skills. In conclusion, the students showed a positive attitude towards the importance of vocabulary in English language learning. The findings of the present study conclude with the pedagogical implications that instructors can design vocabulary activities targeting expressive vocabulary to promote positive attitude in vocabulary acquisition and thus boost learners’ interest in the study of second language