Junior Research Symposium on English Language Education for World Citizenship: Challenges and Opportunities

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An Approach for Correcting and Analyzing Spelling Errors made by First Year Students of University of Kelaniya
(English Language Teaching Unit, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Kumarasinghe, C.; Kushanthika, K.; Udayathunga, H.
The importance of teaching students to spell accurately has been lost in the age of computers and spell checkers (Anderson, R.E. 1992). Reading and spelling are closely related and poor readers tend to be poor spellers. The research in spelling acquisition has shown that children acquire spelling in a gradual and systematic way (Bergstrom, 2013). Students do not become proficient spellers by the single strategy of memorizing the spelling of words and teachers cannot teach students how to spell every word. The purpose of this investigation is to systematically explore the spelling errors made by first year students of the University of Kelaniya. This research places attention specifically on a few major errors identified amongst first year students under seven categories. Moreover this study was significant in terms of identifying and analyzing the most frequently occurring errors in students’ writing. In order to achieve the objectives of this research, the methodology used was administering a questionnaire which included seven categories: identify incorrectly repeated consonants, identify mistakes done with wrong consonants and vowels, identify mistakes of reversed order of double vowels, identify mistakes of extra letters , identify mistakes of missing letters and identify mistakes done with confusion of similar words. Finally the areas in which the students failed to show the maximum performance it were investigated. The research was carried out from 2nd of September to 16th of September 2015. It was found that students have problems in their spelling skills in the questioned areas. According to the research results; the majority of students have problems when identifying mistakes in the wrong use of consonants. This study suggests that poor spellers display similar error patterns as better spelling peers, but with higher frequency. Based on these findings, the researchers suggest that more practices in spelling recommendations: dictation, peer correction, reading correctly spelled writing, giving knowledge of transcription, referring dictionaries which help students to be good at their spelling.
Attitudes of Bilingual/Trilingual Indonesian-Speakers towards English Learning; indicating Socio-Linguistic Factors and the Affective Factors
(English Language Teaching Unit, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Falahuddin, A.
Indonesia is widely recognized as the most trilingual country alongside Israel and Spain. A research done by the SwiftKey group in 2016 shows that 17.1% of more than 250 million people living in Indonesia are able to speak in three languages from their childhood. Those languages include their ethnic languages, the national lingua franca; which is Bahasa Indonesia, and a foreign language, in which English is found as the most popular one. Besides, 53.2 % of Indonesians are born bilingual-which places Indonesia in the top 5 most bilingual countries in the world. This fact relates to some issues found in the learning of English-which is the most popular foreign language studied by Indonesian-speakers, but still Indonesian-speakers have certain attitudes towards English which lead to a situation where most of them are not proficient in English. This study aims to comprehend the issues that Indonesianspeakers might have regarding to the struggle of learning English, underlying sociolinguistic factors (mostly focusing on its bilingual status) and also through affectivefilter analysis. This study involves 60 Indonesian-speakers (half bilingual and half trilingual) and resulting in a conclusion that amongst the three variables of affective factors mentioned at the questionnaire (motivation, confidence and anxiety), motivation dominates the samples’ attitude towards English learning, 58% of them are highly motivated to learn English, even though we can still find 12% of them feel anxious when they use English. Then, the sample also reflects the notion that their bilingual/trilingual status does not extremely bother them to learn English but help them in understanding language patterns according to their previous experiences of language acquisition. In the end, the sample indicates that English has an important role in Indonesia as 85% selected the ‘very important’ option, 15% of them selected ‘important’ option and none of them selected the ‘not important’ option. Besides, some limitations are found in the study. The most recognizable one is the fact that the sample is not enough to reflect the entire idea of Indonesian people, and also the limited time to explore more about the relevant idea.
Attitudes towards Teaching English through Literature
(English Language Teaching Unit, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Sangeetha, A.; Sandanayake, D.; Jayatissa, D.; Lakmali, M.; Madhushani, N.
Literature is often included into English lessons in school text books with the objective of improving English competency of students and the love of reading poems, novels and short stories written in English. In fact, literature is used in teaching both basic language skills, such as reading, writing, listening and speaking, and language areas such as, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. Studies on this field often focus on the effectiveness of using literature in the ESL classroom. Thus, this study aims at investigating the attitudes of teachers in using literature to teach English Language in the ESL classroom. For this investigation a questionnaire including ten questions was given to 20 randomly chosen English language teachers that belong to government, semi-government and private schools in the Rathnapura and Kurunegala districts. Many teachers’ responses were positive towards this teaching technique but several problems were discovered such as the lack of preparation of language teachers in the area of literature teaching, lack of facilities in schools, absence of clear-cut objectives defining the role of literature in English language teaching. Thus, the field of teaching English language through literature in the ESL classroom should be more carefully studied and teachers should be more exposed to creative methods of teaching literature.
Awareness and the Attitudes towards Sri Lankan English among Undergraduates
(English Language Teaching Unit, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Ariyasinghe, D.
This study examines dialects 1-3 based on the pronunciation of the back vowels in the typology of Sri Lankan English (SLE) by Siromi Fernando (2006) across the selected phonemes /ei/, /z/, /θ/, /ʒ/ and /oʊ/. The methodology included online questionnaires/interviews and voice recordings of 50 undergraduates, mean age 22 years, from diverse disciplines in universities and institutes in Sri Lanka and abroad. 05 of the participants were case studies. The findings identified that a fairly large undergraduate population declare that the variety of English they speak is either Standard British English or American English thus belonging to dialect 3. But analysis of the podcasts evidenced that in the selected pronunciation areas examined SLE characteristics are indicated. In the usage of identified morphological processes too they retained SLE characteristics. Analyzing the Likert scale measurements for awareness and the attitude towards the variety it was clearly visible that both of the aforementioned factors distinctly differ according to the discipline the undergraduates follow at the universities. The attitude towards speaking SLE in undergraduates especially from Sciences, unless they are exposed to the background of Social Sciences or Humanities, was negative. Their belief of the inadequacy of SLE for communication with native speakers was the cause for their negativity. Further there was a lack of awareness in this population that SLE is a standard variety of English. On the contrary, the students who are from Social Sciences or Humanities backgrounds were aware and were proud to use Standard Sri Lankan English. Conclusively it can be stated that dialect 3 is becoming more powerful and influential among the Sri Lankan undergraduate populations. Moreover, it can be recommended to introduce SLE as a standard variety in undergraduate English programs, especially for the undergraduates are from Science backgrounds, in order to increase their confidence.
Benefits of Learning Foreign Languages in University of Kelaniya
(English Language Teaching Unit, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Galagoda, B.; Almeida, A.; Bamunusinghe, H.; Dilanthi, M.; Prabodika, N.
This paper is based on the benefits of learning foreign languages in University of Kelaniya. This describes that learning a foreign language offers numerous benefits. The students of University of Kelaniya who are currently following a course in foreign languages will be the participants of this research. This will explain why the undergraduates should choose to learn a foreign language and the benefit of learning foreign languages. This study shows that there are better job opportunities and can have scholarships through learning foreign languages. There are various language certificate courses within the university but unfortunately the undergraduates rarely participate in them. The researchers are aware that these language learners often find it difficult when it comes to learning a foreign language, but, the attempt of the researchers is to make awareness among the students of University of Kelaniya. This case study adopts a qualitative approach as it seeks information through interviews, discussions and observations. In conclusion, the intention of the researchers is to nurture the fields of foreign languages which should be a vast area to improve language skills among the students of University of Kelaniya.
Challenges faced by University Students in Foreign Language Acquisition
(English Language Teaching Unit, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Randhuli, I.; Jayasinghe, M.; Samaraweera, S.; Kaushalya, K.
University students encounter various challenges in learning a second or a foreign language. The research intends to figure out those challenges in making headway with the new target language from conversational to mastery. In fact, we separately plan to pinpoint the undergoing challenges with respect to skills of speaking and writing in accordance with the levels of language fluency at the moment. For this purpose, the methodology of this cohort and retrospective study is comprised of a structured questionnaire to be answered by “Beginner” and “Intermediate” students of foreign languages. The respondents are chosen effectively focusing on both Sri Lankan and Foreign students of university in order to acquire high accuracy in conclusions. The initial portion of the questionnaire focuses on identifying the student relative to the foreign language they learn, determining the level of fluency. The rest of the questionnaire is substantially directed upon the challenges they have confronted in writing and speaking the target language and their subjective solutions. The methodology, strategies of overcoming these challenges they face in beginner and intermediate levels in order to advance the language are the vital concerns of the research. How the resemblances of a known language can help to proceed for the comprehension of the new, whether it be the learner’s first language or another, is to be examined. Therefore the collection of obtained data is to be analyzed to determine the challenges at certain points of learning and to provide solutions to ease the process.
Challenges of School Based Assessment (SBA) faced by the English Teachers in Sri Lanka
(English Language Teaching Unit, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Dissanayake, S.
Educational evaluation is an indispensable part in the English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom. Assessment is the procedure where the teacher understands the level of achievement of students in order to rate, measure and decide the effectiveness of teaching and learning process and to divert students to achieve the required level along with feedback and meaningful remedial action. School Based Assessment (SBA) was commenced in 1998 in Sri Lanka and implemented at national level from grade six to nine under the educational reforms. According to new education reforms by the Department of Examinations, SBA was initiated for G.C.E. Ordinary level in 2001 and extended for Advanced level grades in 2003. Today, the implementation of SBA is apparent in all government schools in Sri Lanka for secondary level students under the National Institute of Education (NIE) and the Department of Examinations. SBA is an assessment carried out by students’ own teachers in schools with the aim of improving the quality of learning, teaching and assessment. The purpose of this study is to investigate the challenges of SBA system, faced by the ESL teachers in Sri Lanka. The study focused on a sample of five ESL teachers in the Kurunegala Education Zone. Semi-structured interviews were utilized to gather qualitative data. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed through thematic content analysis. The findings of the study revealed the challenges and difficulties faced by the ESL teachers when dealing with the SBA system such as lack of time and excessive workload, etc. Furthermore, the discussion will be expanded to scrutinize its’ negative effects on students.
Developing the Ability of using Articles through Language Games
(English Language Teaching Unit, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Amarasiri, Y.; Udara, N.; Maheshika, P.; Atapattu, M.; Jayathilaka, M.
In Sri Lanka, generally students face difficulties in using ‘correct suitable articles’ in writing. Research foregrounds that students enjoy leaning English through activities such as songs and poems and this research primarily examines the effect that games have on improving the ability of using ‘articles’ appropriately. Using the purposive sampling method, an experimental group comprising 30 Grade 8 students (two classes) was selected from a Co-Ed school – Saranathissa K.V. A pretest was administered with fifteen questions using articles and after conducting several games a post test was conducted. The control group of 15 students were taught a lesson on article usage and the same test was administered. The findings foreground that those who were in the experimental group scored better than those who were in the control group. To conclude, it is noted that a more comprehensive study is necessary to understand the impact that language games have on learning articles.
Does the University Education System in Sri Lanka create Racism among Minority Students?
(English Language Teaching Unit, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Nayanahari, D.
Education is the stream where people gather knowledge for their lives. Knowledge is the weapon we all use for building up our own careers and it is the mastery of oneself. Knowledge should not have a medium rather it is the miscellaneous review by the educators. Knowledge should be disseminated among the people who need it in a way that everyone can simply grasp. Sri Lanka is a country which is in a post war situation where most of the things need changes to build up the mentality of the victims. Therefore, education has become a prime factor of the society, that everyone needs an equally. Hence, this study examines, “how language affects their experience as minority students in the University of Kelaniya.” However, this study is an attempt to discuss about the issues that the minority ethnic groups have to face, when they are supposed to study in a different medium and to study in a Sinhala background. The scope of this study is a general overview of the issues and ideas of the victims who are suffering due to this complication. I will conduct interviews and collect data from questionnaires and analyze the ideas of the students and this will be conducted in the university premises of Kelaniya. The questionnaire data will be analyzed statistically and discourse analysis will be used to analyze the interview data. This study will conclude by suggesting a best way to overcome from these issues.
The Effect of Collaborative Learning on Developing Speaking Skill of Sri Lankan ESL Learners
(English Language Teaching Unit, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Thilakshana, T.
The contemporary teaching pedagogy highlights the importance of collaborative learning for teaching speaking. According to Arthur, Grainger & Wray (2006), “Effective teaching and learning is underpinned by interactive discourse…” (p. 134). This experimental study is designed to identify whether collaborative learning in teaching speaking have successful effects. The study investigates the degree of successfulness for teaching speaking in Sri Lankan English as a second language (ESL) context. The subjects of the study are the students of grade seven of Mahakeliya Maha Vidyalaya. A pre-test was carried out at the beginning of the research to examine the current English speaking proficiency of the students. The students were allowed to work in groups and as pairs throughout the research. They were allowed to engage in activities which were designed to develop four levels of student talk. The three functions of speaking involve talk as interaction; talk as transaction and talk as performance. A post-test was also conducted in order to evaluate their English speaking achievements at the end of the study. The researcher analyzes quantitative data to establish a conclusion. Quantitative data are drawn from the pre-test and the posttest. The study concludes that the effects of implementing collaborative learning in the English as a Second Language classroom have developed the students’ average English speaking skills. Moreover, it can help to create an interesting learning environment where students are allowed to acquire language while developing their interpersonal skills.
English Language Teaching or ELT – what is it all about?
(English Language Teaching Unit, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Rambukwella, H.
ESL Students’ Attitudes and Preference towards Learning the English Language through Blended Learning
(English Language Teaching Unit, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Weerakoon, A.
Methods of teaching and means of learning English language have undergone profound changes due to the development of information technology, especially the advancement of computer networks. Technology enhanced blended learning approach in the ESL pedagogical realm has thus become a considerable means of teaching English while engaging students in an authentic virtual learning space. Accordingly, blended learning a combination of face-to-face and online instruction is seen as a significant recent advance which can appreciably extend the amount of learning, students’ results and experience by providing a more student centered learning environment. The purpose of this study is to examine the ESL students’ attitudes and preferences towards learning English using blended learning and the study further makes some implications and suggestions in order to employ technology-mediated language learning in ESL contexts as a means of fostering students’ language learning experience. The study will be carried out at the University of Kelaniya using the undergraduate students who are learning English as a compulsory subject at the English Language Teaching Unit. A questionnaire will be conducted in order to identify students’ attitudes and preference towards blended learning. The results will indicate students’ perspectives and show their inclination to learn English in a blended learning environment.
Factors which generate Pronunciation Difficulties for the Undergraduates of University of Kelaniya
(English Language Teaching Unit, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Wijesundara, E.; Wijesooriya, K.; Pathirana, S.; Warnasooriya, K.
The research paper will focus on the fundamental pronunciation problems faced by the randomly selected undergraduates who learn English as a second language in the University of Kelaniya. The sample of this study consists of the undergraduates belonging to faculties of Humanities, Social Sciences and Management in the University. The collection of data was done as a semi structured interview (Pronunciation Test) and as a questionnaire. The sample consisted of forty undergraduates for the questionnaire and ten undergraduates for the semi structured interview. The research was carried out in September 2015.The study identified two major problematic areas; how the puberty age affects for pronunciation and how the rural and urban distinction affects for pronunciation. The findings show that undergraduates who started learning English before puberty are more fluent in English than others and undergraduates from urban areas are more fluent in English than those who are from rural areas. The study also revealed other pronunciation problems such as anxiety, family background, influence of the first language and incomplete knowledge about grammar and vocabulary. Based on these findings the researcher recommends that the undergraduates will be able to overcome these pronunciation difficulties and speak in English correctly by implementing teaching methods regarding pronunciation in English classroom, giving proper phonetic training, practicing pronunciation activities and having good motivation as well.
Improving English though Participating in University Student Organizations.
(English Language Teaching Unit, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Ponnamperuma, P.; Ruwandika, K.; Devindi, T.
English has become the de facto language of communication in the academia and the language that some of the student organizations operate in. These student organizations operate networking all universities in and outside Sri Lanka. The aim of this study is to see whether undergraduates actually improve their English knowledge by participation in student originations. For this purpose, a sample of 30 students were given questionnaires with two open ended questions asking about their views on improving English knowledge through participating in student organizations. For this purpose three student organizations, AISEC, Gavel club and Model United Nations (MUN) were selected. The participants were selected through purposive sampling; those who are members of one or more of the aforementioned student organizations. The results elaborate that although students use English, there is much code switching and it is difficult to identify if they really improve their English through participation in these organizations. In conclusion, a more comprehensive study would help to have a better understanding of this phenomenon.
Social Issues and Challenges of Students in English Education
(English Language Teaching Unit, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Abeythunge, M.; Abeythunge, I.; Upamalika, N.; Shrestha, S.
English education plays a major role in the modern society. English is compulsory in both educational and professional sectors. It is a known fact that every individual should hold the knowledge of English to succeed in the modern society. However, every student is not given that privilege of learning the language properly. This is because the students are not well facilitated for that as some are from rural areas. A large number of students are waiting for the proper and gradual improvement of the language, in other words, they do not acquire the language to the extent it is required. When a language is taught, the four skills of reading, speaking, writing and listening should be improved. But mostly the improving of reading and writing skills is restricted to the school text books. The purpose of this research is to identify the challenges of learning English of the students from non-urban areas. Therefore a questionnaire containing basic questions on students’ educational background will be distributed among a selected set of students in a rural region. The findings will help to discuss the attitudes of students over teaching and learning methods, challenges, difficulties, insufficient resources and negligence. The paper will also focus on certain variations on classroom teaching and learning methods, teaching and learning strategies and techniques. The results will help to increase motivation and develop English language learning, neglecting the state of bucolic.
Teaching Adjectives through Poetry in the ESL Context
(English Language Teaching Unit, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Kulathunga, D.
English poetry is an integral part of ESL teaching in Sri Lanka. The mode of teaching poetry can be done in various ways, especially when spoken and performance aspect of poetry is considered. However not all English teachers use poetry as supplementary material to teach grammar. This study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of using poetry for language learning purposes in the ESL classroom. The investigation was conducted involving 40 students from grade 6 who are learning English as a second language at Alawwa Central College. An experimental group of 20 students were taught adjectives using poems. The other 20 students in the control group were taught adjectives without using poems. A pretest was conducted to ensure that both the experimental and control group students were homogenous. Two short tests were administered after the teaching session for both groups. The overall findings of the study signify that poetry can be effectively used for language learning purposes in the ESL context. In conclusion, it can be said that students seem to respond to the lesson better when the teaching tools are creative. Further research into different approaches towards using poetry is recommended in order to have a more holistic idea about this filed.
Teaching English through Simple Poems in the ESL Context.
(English Language Teaching Unit, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Kulathunga, N.
This article reports the experience of a teaching session conducted using poetry in the English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom. Poetry is perhaps the literature genre least open to the attention of ESL learners and teachers, due to its highly allusive and metaphorical language and the cultural alienation. Yet teachers can use different categories of poetry which introduce various methods of language application, based on the learner requirements. The purpose of the teaching session was to identify the effectiveness of using simple English poems in the ESL classroom as a solution to the difficulties encountered in using highly advanced poems. The teaching session involved 20 ESL learners in the University of Kelaniya. All these participants were native speakers of Sinhala. The participants’ English language competency level was varied from low level to the higher level. The practical strategy approach was used as the teaching approach to teach poetry in the ESL classroom. Acrostic poems, haikus, narrative poems, picture poems and poems making use of different grammatical patterns were used as the resources in conducting the teaching session. Poetry based activities were designed according to the pre, while and post reading activities. All the students were given the freedom to write their own poems under post reading activities. At the end of the teaching session student feedback was collected through a questionnaire. Results of the questionnaire demonstrate that the majority of the students enjoy poetry based ESL activities. Therefore simple English poems can be used as a resourceful tool in the ESL context.
Undergraduates’ Motivation in Learning English
(English Language Teaching Unit, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Jayasingha, I.; Bandara, R.; Jayawardhana, R.; Wijayabandara, C.
The paper will be based on an empirical research conducted at University of Kelaniya. This research examines the type and level of motivation in English language learning and the reasons for the lack of motivation in learning English. It is widely accepted that motivation is one of the variables that influences the rate and the success of learning the language. The population of this research comprises of 20 undergraduates who were selected randomly from each faculty. The research lasted for two weeks .Data has been collected via a questionnaire which consists of five point Likert scales and few multiple choice questions. The undergraduates were given an adequate period of time to solve the questionnaire. The study reveals that high anxiety towards the teachers, lack of the basic knowledge provided during their early stages of learning and humiliation on students affect for the lack of motivation in learning English. The results of the research indicate that the motivation in learning English in the faculty of Humanities is high when comparing with other faculties. This research points out steps which can be taken to enhance the motivation in learning English in undergraduates .For instance, lessons should be conducted in an interesting manner, teachers should be sensitive to students' language learning problems and should provide appropriate solutions. So, the research seems to be helpful in enhancing the motivation in learning English in undergraduates.
The Use of Directives by a Child in a Sinhala- English Bilingual Household
(English Language Teaching Unit, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Abesooriya, L.
There is less research recorded in the field of first language acquisition on acquisition of Sinhala as a first language in a bilingual environment. Since the languages differ from each other, it is essential to have separate studies to examine the acquisition patterns of each language. “And since languages differ, their acquisition might also be affected by the properties of each language. For example, the type of language could influence the order in which children acquire specific parts of the language and could also make some elements harder or easier to acquire.”(Clark, 2009) It is evident that there is less research on this area in the Sri Lankan context. This study covers how Sinhala bilingual middle class children use directives in a SinhalaEnglish bilingual household where English is the second language of the parents and siblings. This research is done through the study and analysis of the recordings of everyday speech of five children between two years of age to four years of age. The differences, if any, of the speech acts when these occur in the two different languages - Sinhala and English - will be presented.