MPhil.Theses
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Item A Study on the effectiveness of bilingual instruction in teaching ESL at The University of Jaffna.(2016) Patrick, B.A.This study examines the effectiveness of Bilingual Instruction in Teaching English as a Second Language grammar. This research is undertaken on the first year students otFaculty of Management and Commerce and Ramanathan Academy of Fine Arts (Faculty of Arts). The research problem is that whether bilingual instruction promotes the learning of specific aspects of English as a second language grammar.In order to find answer to the research problem, mixed method research methodology is designed. In the quantitative study, an experimental method in the fonn of classroom study (both experimental !,'fOUpS and control groups) was adopted in which the test is the main instrument and probability sampling was used to select the subjects. As for the qualitative study, ethnographic study of participant observation, teaching method and semi structured interview were employed. Quantitative study (experimental method) is explained by three qualitative instruments like ethnographic study of participant observation, teaching methods and semi structured interview. The same experimental groups from Management and Commerce and Ramanathan Academy of Fine Arts were selected for the ethnographic study and teaching method. As for semi structured interview, non-probabilistic sampling was adopted. The finding shows that Experimental groups in both faculties ofManagement & Commerce and Ramanathan Academy of Fine Arts outperfonned the control group except in voice. It was also established thatthe effect of bilingual instruction is relatively less in learning preposition than other grammar components like verb fonns, question formation. However, bilingual instruction has no impact on the teaching of active passive. The qualitative results from participant observation revealed that in teaching speaking skill, mother tongue should be avoided. Qualitative research instruments such as participation observation, teaching methods and semi structured interview brings out multiple realities as to when to usc Ll, and when not, when to useLl and L2 and how to use Ll and also the quantity of LI.Therefore, this research finding establishes that - the principled or the reasonable usc of mother tongue is essential in teaching English as second language grammar.Item The Significance of Music in Teaching English Verb Forms to Learners of English as a Second Language.(2016) Gamage, S.U.Today, most of the ESL learners in Sri Lanka consider English language learning as anxiety packed, insipid and an unconquerable obstacle. As a facilitator in ELT (English Language Teaching) the researcher has experienced the negative responses of the students in terms oflearning English grammar in ESL classrooms. Most of the students find English verb forms as a difficult grammar section to be mastered in ESL classrooms. They tend to do many grammatical errors in their writings with specific reference to primary helping verbs and main verbs. Moreover, Karunarathna (1993) has mentioned that the methods employed by the facilitator have not been successful at improving English proficiency of ESL learners. Especially, when teaching English verb forms most of the facilitators have used the same old chalk and talk method. If facilitators can integrate music into ELT (English Language Teaching), the ELT sessions can be converted into a stress free, learner friendly atmosphere. This study attempts to investigate whether songs and background music can be implemented in teaching English verb forms. The sample of this study consists of 80 students from the Faculty of Management studies and Commerce of University of Sri Jayewardenepura. A pretest was administered to test their prior knowledge in English verb forms. After that, the selected sample was randomly divided into two groups. The control group was taught English verb forms in a traditional classroom setting whereas the experimental group was exposed to a teaching session of English verb forms using English songs and background music. Later on, the first test instrument, a posttest on English verb forms was administered - to assess the proficiency level of the students after getting them exposed to two different types of treatment. Then, the second test instrument, a likert type scale questionnaire was distributed to assess the feelings and attitudes of the students about iii the English class. Finally, the third test instrument, delayed posttest was administered to assess the memory retention of ESL learners. SPSS data package was used to analyze the data gathered from the questionnaires. The results of the posttest showcased that, the students of the control group outperformed the experimental group in terms of the proficiency level obtained at the posttest. Furthermore, the students of the experimental group claimed that the use of songs and background music in the classroom has turned the classroom into an enjoyable and relaxing setting where the students' interest, self-confidence and motivation towards learning English verb forms have achieved an immense growth. The results of the delayed posttest depicted that songs and background music have been a positive factor to increase the memory retention of the students. Even though, the combination of songs and background music negatively affected the acquisition of English verb forms the application of songs and background music in the classroom has increased the motivation level, entertainment and self-confidence of ESL learners and positively affects the memory retention of the targeted population. In conclusion, it is clearly evident that the use of English songs and background music in ESL classrooms has not been a supportive tool to teach English verb forms.Item A linguistic study on the effectiveness of speaking English, based on the curriculum introduced to the students to the students of key stages in the schools of the wattegama Education Zone.(2016) Kuruppu, D.C.English plays a vital role in the Sri Lankan society as a forcign and second language which evcrybody needs but majority tries to avoid. The secret behind this truth is the disappointment and the disinterest that an individual encounters due to the lapses of interestcd teaching learning process. which motivatcs a learner. The teachcr and the learner both must hold the responsibility equally. as Sri Lankans have fcwer opportunities to acquire the language. Hence considcring the beginner. the teaeher's careful manipulation is needed. as they arc much unconcern on learning conditions and most parents in the non-English speaking background become helpless. The purpose of this study is the provision of expected motivation and interest in the beginners of schooling. to reduce the drop outs 111 the English Language learning. First and foremost the necessary changcs were done to the syllabi of the Key stagc I. Grades I and 1 by drawing interest for the beginner to learn English. Similarly the new syllabus is also moving on activity basis; in contrast the tcachcrs of English trained made occupied in teaching the syllabus. More over a specific time was restricted daily to learn English. The new syllabus has becn introduecd into four schools in thc Education Zone Wattegama. after training the teachers of English to manipulate the new syllabus. The two Grades were kept under observation while the teacher in charge of Gradc two. teach the immcdiate advanced Gradc according to the old syllabus. An assessing criterion for each student was maintaincd and markcd by the end of the tcnn, and in the end of the year it is being passed to thc teacher of English of Grade 1. End of the two years the evaluation of the student was carried out with both categories. The conclusion of thc study not only depicts the essence of a teaching Icarning process to specialize the English language for the beginner. but also highlighted the changes to the old syllabus. This would also enables the respective authoritative personnel to implement the teaching learning process of Gradcs I and 1. The hidden usage of each and every component of the syllabus has been mentioned in order to support the necessary changes or improve thc cxisting curriculum to ma+::e the child intcrcsted in English language learning.Item A STUDY OF ABSORPTION OF TOXIC ELEMENTS: Cd. As. Cr. Pb & IIg I SELECTED RICE VARIETIES (ORIZA SATIVA L.) IN RELATION TO THEIR STATUS IN TWO DIFFERE T MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS.(2017) Navarathna, C.M.Five traditional rice varieties (TRV) and five newly improved hybrid rice varieties (NIHRV) were cultivated according to split-plot design at Yala and Maha seasons in two regions: Anuradhapura: which is a hot-spot for CKDu patients and Kurunegala (where no CKDu patients were recorded) where contents of these metals in water and soil together with agrochemicals used were previously estimated under conventional and organic farming conditions. Samples were processed and microwave acid digested according to US EPA 3052 method and analyzed for the selected toxic elements: Cd, Pb. As. IIg and Cr using atomic absorption spectrometry.' Cadmium contents in rice varieties analyzed (Bg 300, 366, 352. 358. 360 , Suwandel, Madathawalu, Kurulu Thuda. Pachcha Pcrumal and Kalu I {eeneti) were in the range of below limit of detection to 158.9 fig kg'l in both cultivation seasons and thcy did not exceed the maximum allowed limit of 200 fig kg,l sct by Codex Alimentarious commission. Chromium contents were one tcnth of the maximum allowed limit of 2000 fig kg'l set by Codex Alimentarious commission.2,3 As. Ilg and Pb werc bclow the detection limits. Among these varieties: Pachcha Pcrumal repeatedly showcd a high tolerance to Cd absorption in both scasons in both regions. Varieties Kuruluthuda and Madathawalu showed a moderate resistance compared to other varieties. However there were no significant difference (p > 0.05) between the mean Cd contents with respect to farming condition, location or season of cultivation. Metalloid As was below the detection limits in agrochemicals, soils and irrigation waters indicating that there is, no source for Arsenic to accumulate in the rice plant. Cd. Pb and Cr was present in agrochemicals below the SLSI limits of 10 mg kg" and 250 mg kg'l respectively. Cd was detectcd in rice straws. Use of the rice straws as organic manure has to be minimized as it can be ultimately transferred and accumulated on the rice plant. Further, no distinct correlations were obtained with the physiochemical parameters determined in soil and irrigation water with the accumulated Cd content in rice grain.The correlations were tested using linear regression to fit data on to Freundlich modelItem ක්රීඩා කුසලතා වර්ධනය කිරීමෙහි ලා උපදේශනයෙහි ඇති බලපෑම පිලිබඳ අධ්යනයක්.(2012) Jayathilake, P.B.Realizing the importance of mental process of sportsmen for the victory, Europe adopts sports psychological counseling to achieve their goals in sports successfully. Therefore, identifying Sri Lankan approaches of psychological sports counseling is important as it is being rapidly developed. It has been proved that skills deteriorate because of less self- confidence, less concentration, less motivation, negative thoughts and irregular behavior of players. Therefore sports psychological counseling can be used to develop basic psychological skills such as emotional management, stress management and anxiety management. This assignment, "Influence of psychological counseling to develop sports skills", provides supplementary facts to prove the necessity of sports psychological counseling to develop sports skills by analyzing data accumulated from sportsmen and sportswoman.Item LINGUISTIC CONSTRAINTS - A SOCIOLINGUISTIC STUDY ON TAMILENGLISH MIXED DISCOURSE AMONG THE .JAFFNA TAMILS.(2017) SANMUGANATHAN, K.In bilingual and multilingual sOcietIes, there are usually at least two interacting language groups, each representing different cultural and I inguistic features. Sri Lanka is a multilingual country where there is a tendency of mixing. two languages as a communicative strategy used by the speakers. It has been observed that mixing of indigenous languages - Sinhala and Tamil and English is a common speech behaviour which occurs in the discourse of educated bilinguals in Sri Lanka. There have been several studies on sociolinguistic, structural linguistic and psycho linguistic aspects of code-mixing in different countries. In recent years, researchers have increasingly focused on the linguistic constraints on code-mixing. The aim of this study is to investigate the rules and constraints of code-mixing (CM) in Tamil-English mixed language data. The focus of the present study of Tamil-English mixed discourse of educated urban bilinguals in Jaffna, Sri Lanka is of two fold. First, from a sociolinguistic point of view, language mixing originates in response to social motivations, and social factors which cannot be ignored in any analysis. Second, from a syntactic point of view, it is proposed that code-mixing is governed by a host code/guest code principle. This principle says that in a code-mixed discourse involving languages Ll and L2, where Ll is the host code and L2 is the guest code, the morphosyntactic rules of L2 must conform to the morphosyntactic rules of L I, the language of the discourse. In order to determine the sociolinguistic factors which contribute to the development of Tamil-English CM and the rules that govern Tamil-English CM and possible syntactic constraints, the researcher involved the qualitative method of analysis. The present study drew upon data collected from sociolinguistic questionnaire, interview, observation and a recorded spontaneous conversation between bilinguals in a language contact situation in which the two languages are syntactically very different from each other, namely, Tamil and English. The study addresses the questions whether there are sociolinguistic factors which trigger Tamil-English code-mixed speech and whether there are syntactic constraints on Tamil-English CM. The researcher has examined sociolinguistic and linguistic aspects of code-mixing and found that there are factors such as demographic, attitudinal, relationship of interlocutors and language choice and domains which contribute to code-mixed speech and code-mixing is indeed a rule governed phenomenon, that is, there are constraints that govern where in a sentence a code-mix can occur and where it cannot occur.Item THE BATTICALOA DISTRICT UNDER BRITISH ADMINISTRATION A.D.1796-1948.(2016) Nilanthini, P.Sri Lanka has been under western colonial administration since the 16th century. Chronologically speaking first came the Portuguesc. then the Dutch and the British subsequently took hold of the administration. British brought the entire island under their supreme authority and administered for around 133 ycars. Batticaloa is situated in the eastern coastal area and was governed for a long period of time by the British. The objective of thesis is to conceptualize the reliable history of the administration. the supreme influence and the phenomenal progress in Batticaloa during the era of British administration. The area has not been previously subjected to a detailed historical study. Therefore an extensive research has been conducted. Our main concern is to construct the multifaceted history of Batticaloa with information chiefly from archival records and statistical information found in the reports published by government departments. The sources of study are statistical data and records of the British government in Sri Lanka. literary records. field work. interviews and also archaeological evidence. They are mostly archival records and government publications. which have been collected and preserved at the National Archives. the Colombo Museum Library and other institutions. The study is undertaken according to the principles of historical methodology and in competent guidance and in conformity with the principles of rational investigations and analytical examination of the source material. Chapter divisions are I )General Introduction. 2)History of Batticaloa in the pre-British period. 3)Continuity of Administration. 4)The Responsibility of Native Chiefs under British Administration 5)The Beginnings of Modern Education. 6)The Development of Transport and Communication Infrastructure 7)Agriculture and other Economic Activities. 8)Courts. Laws and Customs. 9)Conclusion. In conclusion it may be stated that the British Administration established enterprising activities for the development of Batticaloa and was ext ordinarily successful in the transformation and modernization of this area. Batticaloa had a cultural heritage which is UnIque In some ways.Item මුද්රා සන්නිවේදනය තුල පවතින සන්නිවෙදනාර්ථ හා අන්තර් සංස්කෘතික ලක්ෂණ .(2017) Mallawaarachci, K.P.Non-verbal communication can be identified in traditional society. Methods of non-verbal communications are studied in this research and basically a deep study was done regarding hand gestures. Anention was given for three subject areas in this research. Basic objective of this research is to identify hand gestures in iconology and dancing and identifying communication meanings of hand gestures as a sign language. Way of using hand gestures for personal communications. analytical exploration of communication meanings generating from hand gestures. way orusing hand gestures in communication methods in common practices and studying inter cultural characteristics or those arc other objectives of this research. It was investigated using both qualitative & quantitative research methods about analysis method of question: "'what will be communicated using hand gestures rclated to above fields?"" Therefore subject base ethnology was used as per qualitative research method and surveying method was used as per quantitative research method. Commonly including of hand gestures were considered under two aspects as per these two methods. Those arc media contents and readers' contents. Related to the research: "Communication Meanings and Inter Cultural Characteristics of Gesture Communication". data analysis was done according to semiological analysis by content anal)1ical studying of similarities and differences. Conclusions were made alier identifying inter cultural characteristics.Item THE INFLUENCE OF WRITING SKILLS ON SPOKEN SKILLS OF UNDERGRADUATES: A STUDY ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF ORAL FLUENCY OF ENGINEERING STUDENTS.(2016) Hewa, S.P.In seeking employment, undergraduates with better speaking skills in English with average academic performance tend to get an edge over their colleagues with comparatively lower communication skills despite their excellent academic qualifications. Opportunities that can be made available to undergraduates to speak during class hours are hardly enough to bring about any tangible result. The purpose of the present research was to study the role of writing activities in the development of oral fluency of undergraduates who learn English as a second language. In this study, it is assumed that there is a correlation between speech and writing and thus writing can help stimulate the cognitive mechanisms relating to speech production, which would lead to the improvement of oral fluency. The study was conducted with two groups of students. All the participants were taught for fourteen weeks where the control group was made to do only the lessons common to both groups. Conversely, in addition to the lessons common to both groups, the experimental group was made to do the specially designed writing activities which were intended to improve their fluency. The recorded conversations of the participants were analysed for their fluency according to Fillmore's definition of fluency. Speed of delivery, frequency of voiced fillers and silent pauses were taken into account when analysing the data. The two groups were statistically compared for their achievement in fluency usmg statistical package ofSPSS (Version 16). The results showed that there was a significant improvement in the fluency of the students of the experimental group, especially of the weaker ones, which could not be found in the students of the control group. Thus the study supported the view that special writing activities could be used for improving the fluency of adult Second Language learners of English.Item PART OF SPEECH TAGGER FOR SINHALA LANGUAGE(2015) Jayaweera, A.J.P.M.P.This dissertation presents a stochastic based Part of Speech tagging method for Sinhala language. Part of Speech (PaS) is a very vital topic in any Natural Language processing task that involves analyzing the construction of the language. behavior of the language and the dynamics of the language. This knowledge could be utilized in computational linguistics analysis and automation applications. The motivation behind the research was to fulfill the gaps which are existed at present in the research area of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and analysis of Sinhala language and giving a push to computational linguistics analysis of Natural Language processing research in Sinhala language. Though Sinhala is a morphologically rich language, in which words arc inflected with various grammatical features, tagging is very essential for further analysis of the language. Our research is based on a statistical approach,in which the tagging process is done by computing the tag sequence probability and the word-likelihood probability from the given corpus,where the linguistic knowledge is automatically extracted from the annotated text. Our effort was mainly focused on designing an architecture for the tagger and development of the tagger. The implementation of the tagger was based on a wellknown stochastic model, known as I-lidden Markov Model (HMM). The distinction between open class and closed class word categories together with syntactical features of the language were used to predict lexical categories of unknown words. Simple Good-Turing algorithm and Witten-Bell discounting methods were used to resolve spare data issues. The evaluation of the tagger was done by using the corpora and the tag set developed by the University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC) in year 2005 under the PAN Localization Project. The model was tested against 90551 words. and 2754 sentences of Sinhala text corpus and the tagger could reach over 90% accuracy in the tagging process which shows a considerable success over previous works reported in 2004 and 2013. In 2004. a Hidden Markov Model based Part of Speech tagger was proposed using bigram model and reported only 60% of accuracy and in 2013 another Hidden Markov Model based approach was tried out and reported around 62% of accuracy. However. the overall accuracy of the tagger we implemented have shown more than 90%. a set of improvements arc suggested in this dissertation mainly in the area of handling unknown words. Eventhough these other research were carried out for Sinhala language,they are not available to use as tools for further language analysis of Sinhala language. So as an additional product of this work we have make the tagger that we implemented available as an on-line interface on web freely accessible to the public.