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