Browsing by Author "Rodrigo, J.S."

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Astérix as Soora Pappa: Translating Proper Names of French Cartoon Characters into Sinhala
(Department of Modern Languages, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Jayawardena, H.S.M.M.; Rodrigo, J.S.
An Old School Publisher’s Journey from the Book to the e-reader (A study on the French novel La Liseuse by Paul Fournel).
(International Conference on the Humanities (ICH), 2017 Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Rodrigo, J.S.
Robert Dubois, the protagonist of Paul Fournel's La Liseuse, is an acclaimed publisher. On his office table are stacks of mainstream manuscripts and his publishing “house is bathed in the silence of old paper”. One day, a fateful knock at the door awakens him to a reality he has so far ignored: an electronic reader (e-reader) capable of carrying an entire library in digital form! How would an old school reader, used to traditional books, react to the advent of the e-reader? The objective of the present study is to analyze Dubois’ reaction to this new digital tool for reading. Selected passages of the novel were analyzed in order to explain and determine his reaction. The analysis revealed that Dubois’ initial uneasiness with the e-reader soon leads to a deeper realization: the e-reader is about to separate the content (the text) from its traditional container (the book). However, the anticipated apocalypse does not dishearten the publisher but makes him explore, with a group of young tech savvy interns, new modes of “digital literature” written exclusively for e-readers. The protagonist’s shift from traditional literature to “digital literature” demonstrates the author’s affinity to "Oulipo"; a literary school seeking new patterns and structures in literature. In La Liseuse Fournel pushes existing boundaries to explore potential literature in the yet unexploited digital space.
Plurilingual Competence and Construction of Linguistic Identity:A Study on Sri Lankan Students Following French Studies in University of Kelaniya.
(The Third International Conference on Linguistics in Sri Lanka, ICLSL 2017. Department of Linguistics, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Rodrigo, J.S.
The study of identity is pertinent to Language Sciences since language shapes the individual‟s perception of the world and his relationship to his social network. A linguistic repertoire containing multiple languages could lead to a complex and linguistically kaleidoscopic identity. Hence, a plurilingual individual (the anticipated outcome of the recommendations of the Common European Framework for Languages) becomes an object worthy of study. The present study examines the linguistic identity of plurilingual students following French studies in the University of Kelaniya. Its main objective is to understand the ways in which different language learning experiences, both academic and non-academic, could enrich or complexify students‟ language practices and representations. It also attempts to identify the nature of the students‟ linguistic identity. Being a pre-project of an extended future research, the study focused on four third-year students following the Special Degree in French Studies. The data was collected through written language biographies; a reflexive practice used to record students‟ personal language learning history. An in class discussion on „plurilingual competence‟ preceded the writing of language biographies. A thematic analysis of the collected language biographies was then conducted in order to determine students‟ language practices, linguistic representations and the nature of their linguistic identity. The results uncovered conscious plurilingual practices and complex but dynamic plurilingual identities evolving over time and space and engaged in constant self-negotiation. It was also observed that these plurilingual identities with vague linguistic frontiers continued to maintain the concept of alterity (otherness) and interpreted language learning as a means of decoding it. It could be concluded that both academic and non-academic language learning experiences shape an individual‟s linguistic identity and their attitudes towards language learning. Language teachers are thus recommended to propose activities in order to present „plurilingual competence‟ as functional and asymmetric. Such activities could facilitate language acquisition and constructive negotiation of linguistic identity.
Sinhala-French Language and Culture Contact: A case Study on Sinhalese Children of Sri Lankan Origin in France
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Rodrigo, J.S.
This study examines the language and culture contact among Sinhalese children of Sri Lankan origin residing in France. Its main objective is to draw a sociolinguistic portrait of these children through their language practices and their linguistic representations. Taking the shape of an empirical and qualitative research, the study focuses on two 7-years- olds and the main method of data collection used was thematic drawing followed by an interview upon the drawing. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with family members in order to support the data collected from children. The results uncover a form of “Sinhala-French-English” trilingual speech which illustrates the multilingual skills of our young interviewees. In addition, the study brings to light their social, cognitive and linguistic representations vis-à-vis their bilingual and bicultural context, revealing a sense of imbalance in the face of alterity. The current research encourages other longitudinal or expanded studies to better understand these lesser-known immigrants in France.