ICLSL 2015

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Acquisition of English Language Proficiency through Innovative Linguistic Techniques
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Rathnasiri, R.M.
In the present context, undergraduates, graduates and scholars of various disciplines should be proficient in the use of English for the acquisition and imparting of global knowledge and for the pursuance of research work. To make this a reality within a short period, a rapid method of teaching and learning English is to be fruitfully adopted. This methodology encompasses six major phases. They are (1) Rapid Introduction to all the English Grammar on bulk accumulation basis set in a causal orderliness of English Grammar Lessons. (2) Acquisition of English Grammar through systematic written and oral exercises, practical assignments and presentations. (3) Rapid access to Formation of Words –Systematic and gradual application of Affixes –Prefixes and Suffixes to form words –Nouns, Adjectives, Verbs and Adverbs. (4) Intensive study of all the English Grammar in a single exercise through the “Analysis of Grammar under Tenfold Lesson” by means of extracts, paragraphs, passages etc. written in uncontrolled structured English. (5) Application of all the grammar lessons in a single exercise such as a miniature story, paragraph, Jātaka tale, Sutta etc. until the proficiency in language is well acquired. (6) A systematic approach to the acquisition of Proficiency in Speech in academic standard and the inclusion of all the English Grammar in a single exercise for speech practice. This methodology adopts a threefold function: (1) Construction of Sentences, (2) Combination of Sentences and (3) Transformation of Sentences. “Orderliness of English Grammar Lessons” provides a learner with a rapid access to a comprehensive knowledge of English Grammar; “Analysis of Grammar in Tenfold Lesson” develops an integrated insight into the entire syntactic behaviour of English, Formation of Words–Use of Affixes acts as a swift lexis builder and eventually the “Application of Pedagogic Linguistic Techniques through activity based exercises in pair and groups guides students to gain the overall proficiency in English.
Acquisition of English Prepositions in Writing by ESL Learners
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Jayasinghe, R.R.
English prepositions are difficult for ESL (English as a second language) learners mainly for two reasons: (1) The cross linguistic variations between L1 and L2 (first language and second language). (2) The polysemy of English prepositions where they are used to denote a wide range of meanings in different perspectives. Littlefield (2006) has investigated four categories of prepositions through the analysis of naturalistic speech of five English speaking first language children (aged 1;2-2;3) as follows: Adverbial prepositions [+Lexical, -Functional], Particles [-Lexical,-Functional], Semi-lexical prepositions [+Lexical, +Functional], Functional prepositions [-Lexical, +Functional]. Littlefield also has shown that the acquisition of categories of prepositions with [–Functional] features rank higher than the categories of prepositions with [+ Functional] features. She considered as [+Lexical] those that contribute semantic content, and as [+Functional] those that are able to check Case of their complements. The present study sets to examine the acquisition of prepositions by Sinhala speaking learners of English with respect to Littlefield (2006) findings. It investigates whether the same ranking in acquisition of the four categories of prepositions can be validated by the Sinhala speaking ESL learners’ responses in a writing task. A picture story writing task in which the prepositions needed to be abundantly used was utilized in order to collect elicited production data from 40 students of Grade 4 who were randomly selected from two government schools. Quantitative statistical analysis using SPSS was used to find out whether there were significant differences between the acquisition of each set of two different categories out of these four categories of prepositions. If prepositions with [-Functional / +Lexical] feature rank higher than the prepositions with [+Functional /-Lexical] feature respectively, relevant order can be used as a guideline in the ESL class-room to facilitate teaching of prepositions through writing tasks.
Application of Historical Linguistic Aspects for a Better Clarification of Complicated Pāli Terms
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Sugunaseela Thero, Yakkaduwe; Dhammissara Thero, Niwandama; Wijayawimala Thero, Suriyawewa
The scientific study of a language, and its structure including the study of grammatical aspects, syntax, morphology and phonetics, is called linguistics. As far as the historical linguistics is concerned, it is the study of history and development of language which is conducive to study the causes of language changes. Furthermore, philology, morphology, syntax, semantics ...etc are the branches of the linguistic subject. Historical linguistics is helpful to gain lexical word-meanings of a language. Specially, it is very important to have a sufficient phonological understanding in Pali for gaining substantial knowledge on Buddhist studies. Although some educated ones in Pali accept the superficial meaning of the complicated Pali terms without applying them to linguistic methods, a considerable number of Buddhist scholars whose priority is given to study Buddhism with special reference to commentaries, Pali and Sanskrit dictionaries and linguistics can be seen. To understand properly, ‘what the Buddha said and what the Buddha wanted to intend, one should be aware of both semantics and pragmatics.’ Understanding the meaning of a word without knowing the semantics and pragmatics is meaningless and not useful. On the other hand, no one can put arbitrary interpretations in academic studies. When a line of pali stanza of Dhammapada is scrutinized, various interpretations (semantics) without paying attention to pragmatics can be seen. For instance, “Dhammapīti sukham seti……” Here, the meaning of the word “pīti” is joy or pleasure according to word level meaning (semantics). But in the context of the pragmatics, the meaning of the word Dhammapiti, is one who drinks the Dhamma. Therefore, an exact ending of a word-meaning is drawn and that word is to be linguistically scrutinized considering the parallels, lexicons, commentaries, neighboring contexts and correspondings. Therefore, in this brief paper, an attempt has been made to compare few Pāli terms in ‘Brahmajāla Sutta’ in Dīgha Nikāya which have been differently mentioned in the Buddha Jayanti Tipitaka version and Burmese Tipitaka version, in order to make some clear understanding of exact usages of those words based on philology and parallels, lexicons, commentaries, neighboring contexts and correspondings.
Assessing Practical Constrains in Implementing Web 2.0 Tools for Teaching English as a Second Language at Higher Education Sector in Sri Lanka: A Case Study- Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced Technological Education
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Jayathilake, M.V.M.; Shantha, P.H.A.B.
In an era of globalization and with the advancement of information technology, web 2.0 tools are used increasingly in education sector and there is also a growing interest in how and whether Web 2.0 tools could be used for second language teaching. Those tools are creating a collaborative environment in which users have the opportunity to contribute to a growing knowledge base and participate in online communities. On the other hand these tools can access anytime and anywhere. Due to that number of researches state that these tools are useful for teaching second languages. The Web 2.0 tools are beginning to play a role within the more formal learning environment of English classrooms. The objective of this study is investigating the practical constrains facing when implementing Web 2.0 tools for teaching English as a second language in Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced technological Education (SLIATE). Clustering sample technique was used to select the sample among English lecturers in SLIATE. Sample size was thirty five. Questionnaire was used to collect data. Questionnaire was based on four factors, awareness, computer and hardware facilities, internet facilities and attitude. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used for the data analyzing. The data of this study reveals the most aware Web 2.0 tools are wikis and social network. And the least aware tool is vodcasts. More than 60% show the positive attitudes towards these tools. The study found that computers and other facilities are available but need to extend usage time of them. Internet facility is also available but bandwidth and data amount should be increased. Although they believe these are effective tools for teaching, they need a proper training of how to use them in a class room teaching.
Attitude about Foreign Languages
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Lewis, R.L.
I arrived in Sri Lanka at the end of January 2005. By the end of February I was settling in to my new home (a room in a guest house) and was beginning to learn a bit about the people and cultures of the country that would become my new home. I decided that I must learn either Sinhala or Tamil, the two primary indigenous languages of the nation, but ultimately did not. Why not? Thus begins a remarkable adventure into that space that exists at the intersection of linguistics, cultural anthropology, sociology, ethnic and religious relations, the influences of a colonial past, politics (both domestic and international), government educational policies etc…I do not presume to suggest answers to the seemingly endless questions which arise from the considerations above (taken separately or in various combinations) but rather to begin the process of framing the questions which may ultimately lead to a better understanding of what all of this means, not simply in terms of historical causes but also in terms of productive strategies for the future. These issues and the questions that spring from them are of importance not simply to Sri Lanka but to numberless communities, countries and regions around the world that face similar and equally complex and urgent challenges.
Causes for the Sinhala Spelling Errors and Mistakes: A Study Based on the Students Reading Translation Methods at University of Kelaniya
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) de Silva, W.T.C.J.
Spelling means the order of letters followed in writing a word. Every language has its own spelling patterns and it is of paramount importance to follow them in order to use the language accurately. This paper is an attempt to identify the main causes behind the Sinhala spelling errors and mistakes and the study is based on the students reading translation methods at University of Kelaniya. The Translation Methods subject read by the students of University of Kelaniya consists of three languages, namely Sinhala, English and Tamil. Therefore, the students necessarily deal with all these three languages and translating from English to Sinhala is one of their main tasks. The Sinhala translations written by the students have been utilized in this study as the material to gather data. The incorrect spellings in their writings were identified and pointed out in feedback and discussion sessions and they were questioned regarding the reasons behind using them. Based on their answers, causes for the spelling errors and mistakes have been identified. Accordingly, it has been discovered that the impact of the incorrect spellings and mutant words appearing in common usage, public media, dictionaries and the confusion resulted by the different spelling patterns practiced in different traditions and their complexity are among the main causes.
Challenges Encountered by the Grade Six Students in learning Health and Physical Education in Bilingual Class Rooms in Selected Schools in The Western Province
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Abeysena, H.
This study is a survey conducted on the ‘Challenges Encountered by The Grade Six Students in Learning Health and Physical Education in Bilingual Class Rooms in Selected Schools in The Western Province’. In this survey, the sample is the grade six BEL students, teachers (L2, BELT) of Health Science, parents and principals of the selected three schools belonging to the Maharagama Educational division and Sri Jayawardenapura zone in Sri Lanka. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used and four different questionnaires were administered among those four sample groups and formal and informal interviews were conducted during a period of three months of this research with thorough classroom observation and data collecting.Final results of this survey’s data analysis show that the majority of the BEL s uses their L1 (mainly Sinhala) for meaningful comprehension of the subject based content during their primary education in their L1.It is quite disheartening that in secondary education BEL s inability to pay their attention to English as a subject in formal curriculum is one of the causal factors for not reaching their full capacity in BE. Consequently, they are doubly challenged by the struggle they encounter with the new subject knowledge and their striving hard to improve their L2, which is English, for which they seek help from L1 more than required with over used code switching and code mixing in class rooms. In this regard, they need considerable greater amount of time to adapt to communicate and comprehend the content area. Further, the majority of the bilingual education teachers were identified as having a lack of L2 command, which again challenges the bilingual education pedagogy. Since they do not have adequate opportunities in their domestic and social environment to utilize English, plus their disappointment over this and lack of confidence in their endeavor to continue pursuing their future studies in the same BEL context, the researcher found the following. Firstly, there is a need to recommend more coordination between the English language teachers and bilingual education teachers teaching the relevant subject content. The need for more capacity building programs conducted for these teachers and teacher trainers should be carried out by the Ministry of Education and the National Institute of Education. These programs should cover knowledge, skills, and attitudes and soft skills development along with the English language improvement for these stakeholders. The required physical and physiological resources, such as books, IT equipment and trained teachers should be provided to urban and rural areas to help and promote more avenues in bilingual education across the country. While acknowledging the usage of the L1 as a feasible tool for BEL s, to make them more competent CLIL s, the need of the day is to eliminate the misconceptions and unnecessary fear and obstacles for bilingual education. In this context, where the BEL and the education system demand both the subject knowledge and L2, it is also necessary to ensure there is adequate L2 teaching support.
Challenging Hearing Problems of Primary Students in Learning Languages
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Navakulan, K.
Language is acquired through linguistic stimuli and linguistic response. That’s why it is called a verbal behavior which is enhanced by both comprehension and production of language. Communicative need plays very crucial role in the society .It is necessary to consider the ways of exchanging language. Actively speakers become the listeners when they engage themselves in communication. So if the hearer faces any problem in hearing process, it will affect both listening and speaking. There are several causes leading to hearing problems. Sometimes there may be problems in the bodily organ or function of the ear may be affected by various causes. Anyhow parents and teachers should know what are the problems which may affect the hearing process of children .Not only is sense of hearing important for communication but also to lead a successful educational life. This paper aims to discuss the hearing problems of primary children and also analyze some remedies from the linguistic point of view.
Code Switching Problems in Bilingual Society of Sri Lanka
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Ramesh, S.
In Sri Lanka, national language issue seems very influential in both cultural and political sphere; it was the major bone of argument between the Sinhalese and the Tamils. The use of English words within the society has increased amazingly. One of the reasons may be due to the extensive use of the mixed code in daily conversations by Sri Lankan bilinguals like Sinhalese and Tamils. This study explores the impact of code switching in the case of bilinguals and multilinguals who select different varieties of two or more languages to meet the requirements of different situations. The switchers use English words and expressions even when equivalents exist in Sinhala or Tamil vice versa. They feel that these English expressions come so naturally to them that their equivalents in Sinhala or Tamil might sound formal and unnatural. Nowadays most communication in a bilingual or multilingual society crosses national, linguistic and cultural boundaries and requires confidence and competence to be effective. The data presented in this paper have been collected through observation, questionnaires and analyzed descriptively. The study also includes catch phrases and slogans used in the electronic media to substantiate data gathered from an analysis.The study provides insight into the mixing strategies used by urban bilinguals. The analysis reveals that the mixed code is used dominantly in advertisements (print and electronic) where the medium of communication is Sinhala or Tamil. The methodological functions are identified (a) for translation, (b) for clarification, (c) for highlighting and (d) for efficiency. The social functions included code switching (a) for praise, (b) for encouragement, (c) for disapproval. Findings shall be discussed formally in a conference presentation. Consequently, there is a need for a valid and reliable form of code switching when problems are analyzed.
A Comparative Study of Language Skills in Young Men With and Without Traumatic Brain Injury
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Hettiarachchi, S.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) impacts among other skills on attention, orientation, cognition, communication and higher executive functions such as problem solving (ASHA, n.d.). The primary aim of the study was to explore the effects of focal brain injury on Sinhala soldiers. Ten soldiers following shrapnel head injuries (experimental groups-five right-hemisphere and five left-hemisphere) and their carers and five young men without head injuries (control group), all within the age of 20 to 35 years were included in the study. Language data were collected via a picture description task consisting of three target pictures from participants of both groups and data was gathered from a conversational task between the participants of the experimental groups and a caregiver using a question guide. The language data was analyzed qualitatively to document its syntactic structure and analyzed quantitatively on the syntactic category words produced by the two groups via one-way ANOVAs. In the control group, there was a trend towards higher mean scores on all five syntactic category variables and use of more complex syntax in comparison to the experimental groups. The one-way ANOVAs performed indicated a highly significant difference between the three groups of participants on the number of utterances (F (2, 14) = 13.65, p<0.005), the range of syntactic structures (F (2, 14) = 23.63, p<0.001) and syntactic complexity (F (2, 14) = 21.56, p<0.001). While reduced syntactic category words and structural differences were indicated in the picture description task for the experimental groups, the features perceived by the carers as hindering communication were non-linguistic such as articulation, memory and psychosocial difficulties.Reduced syntactic complexity and range and paucity of utterance were noted for the two experimental groups in comparison to the control group, in-line with literature on English. However, in contrast, the left-hemisphere group did not omit or produce fewer main verbs compared to the control group and the right-hemisphere head injury group indicated a paucity of nouns, main verbs, adjectives and adverbs. Scrambled word order and subject/object deletion were not perceived as disrupting communication by the carers.
A comparative Study on the Structures of Natural Languages and Logical Arguments
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Weerawardhana, V.
Language is the base in both Linguistics and Logic. The objective of the Logicians is not to study the natural languages but to study logical arguments in natural languages. However, identifying the structure of natural languages can be very much useful to make the correct deduction in logic. Therefore Semantics is important in both Linguistics and Logic. At the beginning Logicians tried to find out the logical patterns of natural languages, but most of the time they have seen the complexity, ambiguity, vagueness, and context based meaning of them. Therefore limited patterns of natural languages are considered in the formation of logically valid inferences in artificial, machine or formal languages. As well it is still a challenge to convert some components of natural languages into machine language .In order to face challenges in creating artificial languages, it is important to analyze the structure of both languages through a comparative study. In this study it is expected to identify sentence patterns and morphological symbols in both languages. Statement logical concepts and predicate logical concepts are taken in this research as logical languages.Stuctural linguistic analysis is done in this regard. The results of this study reveal that logical symbols abbreviate or shrink the meaning of natural languages in its well-formed formulas. In comparison of the Structures of the two languages, logical patterns can be seen morphologically and syntactically. Compositionality of the semantical component is also an important factor in the formation of logically valid arguments. Therefore this study supports to identify similarities and differences of the structure of the natural and machine languages .At the same time, studying semantics of natural languages and basic concepts of logic helps to analyze the language more efficiently and to generate smart machine languages.
A Comparative Study on Translating Advertisement in Print Media
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Jayasinghe, D.G.T.A.
This paper focuses on translating advertisements that appear in print media (Newspapers) and this type of translation which falls into the category of Technical translation carries some significant features that occur in translating them into either Sinhala or English. In this process the problems that occur in translating them are also given consideration. It should be noted that, the advertisements that appear in Sinhala and English weekend newspapers such as Lankadeepa, Dinamina, Sunday Observer and Sunday Times are subjected to this study using comparative methodology. However, a content analysis is done in order to identify those specific features. Thus it is revealed that the use of the same words appear in the original advertisement, use of mixed language, short forms, creating new words and addition and omission are seen. Thus, all these significant features are capable of dragging the attention of the reader, which is the main responsibility of the translator in this type of translation.
Contribution of Classroom towards the Development of Communication Language Teaching in Sri Lanka. (With Special Reference to Kurunegala District)
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Herath, D.M.S.K.
Most of language teachers (Sinhala, Tamil and English) claim to have made use of communicative methodology in their classroom. Communicative Language Teaching can be understood as a simple set of principles about the goals of language teaching, how learners learn a language, kinds of classroom activities which best facilitate learning, and the roles of teacher and learners in the classroom. Language Teaching aims to teach communicative competence of which this includes several aspects, such as: knowing how to use language for a range of different purposes and functions knowing how to vary our use of language according to the setting and the participants (e.g., knowing when to use formal and informal speech or when to use language appropriately for written as opposed to spoken communication). The purpose of this research is to study the nature of contribution of classroom towards the development of communicative language teaching in Sri Lanka. The selection of the sample involved in the selection of 10 schools in Kurunegala district and the selection of students and Language Teacher’s in those Schools. Due to time and other constraints it was necessary to limit the sample for 10 schools in one district. Based on Attendance lists maintained by these schools, in order to give a fair chance to all, using simple random sampling method 05 students were selected to administer the questionnaire 1. The second questionnaire was administered among the language teachers of each school. (Two Language Teachers were selected by those schools according to the recommendation of principal.) Studies on the Communicative Language Teaching is one of the key research areas in the field of Linguistics. The analysis of data revealed the following major findings: School Class room has been playing a vital role in the promotion of language teaching in Sri Lanka .Translations of short passages into the Mother Tongue can be turned into an imaginative and highly interactive exercise to Develop Bilingual Language Ability. Interaction between the learner and users of the language is important to understand the language in a good manner. Creating meaningful and purposeful interaction through language is the most successful way to make a good language user. Also negotiation of meaning as the learner and his or her interlocutor arrive at understanding and learning through attending to the feedback learners get when they use the language. Trying out and experimenting with different ways of saying things is the easiest way to become familiar with any Language Teacher’s need Good Practice about Communicative Language teaching.
Correlational Study – The Role of Receptive Language Skills in the Acquisition of Productive Skills; Teaching English as a Second Language (ESL)
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Lakshani, W.G.J.P.
As Krashen suggests in his “input hypothesis” productive language skills (speaking and writing) evolve from the receptive skills (listening and reading) and, thus, they should be given more attention in the acquisition of a second language (Krashen, 1985). However, there is only limited research-based evidence to prove this correlation between the receptive and productive language skills. The primary question intended to find answers for in the present research was if effective receptive language skills reinforce better productive skills, in learning English as a second language. Thus, in order to explore any possible correlations between these two categories methodically, corresponding test scores of fifty ESL learners were analyzed in the research. Test scores of undergraduates in a placement test conducted for English were recorded for all four skills respectively. In order to avoid significant deviations in the score ranges the marks of students categorized under the same proficiency level; intermediate, were taken in to account. The scores of the two receptive skills; reading, listening and the productive skills; writing, speaking were totaled separately and an average mark for each category of skills was given for every student. Finally, the average scores each student has got for the two varieties of skills were analyzed using Pearson correlation co-efficient measures. A moderate positive correlation was found out between the average scores for the receptive and productive skills in the student sample. Conclusively, it is apparent that the findings of the research solidify the notion, that sound proficiency in the receptive skills paves the way for better writing and speaking skills in learning English a second language.
A Cross-Cultural Interpretation on English Translation Versions of The Analects “Lun Yu”: A Comparative Study on Kunghung Ming’s Version and Waley’s Version from Adaptation Theory
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Li, M.
The Analects, Chinese original name Lun Yu, as the most important Confucius book, has enjoyed its powerful vitality with its enduring influence in Sinology home and abroad. People have made many attempts to explore its problems of translations, hoping to account for factors behind individual versions of Lun Yu. However, what the researchers based either on language-oriented or culture-oriented theory, a systematic study is on demand with the development on Confucianism research. This thesis explores two English versions of Lun Yu in light of the adaptation theory of Translational ecology. It provides a new way to interpret Lun Yu as the representative cultural classic. The research objective can be attained as:In light of Verscheren’s adaptation theory, different translations of Lun Yu can be investigated comprehensively at the Language-internal and the language-external levels. The adaptation theory can manifest the translators’ subjectivity according to different eco-translational environment. Moreover, The research focuses on Kung Hungming’s translation version and Arther Waley’s version with their distinct features which can thrown light on the readers to understand Lun Yu from a new perspective. In this thesis, a descriptive approach is adopted in the comparative analysis on the two versions of Lun Yu. This research can provide an attempting and concept for the broader context of translation study.
Current Trends in Linguistic Research in Sri Lanka
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Wijeratne, W.M.; Gamage, K.N.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the current trends in linguistic research in Sri Lanka. Linguistics is studied as a major subject in the Universities of Kelaniya and Jaffna. The former maitains undergraduate and a post graduate programmes in linguistics; Research is done for post graduate degrees such as M.A., M. Phil., and Ph.D. Annually small scale research studies are done by about hundred M.A. students as a partial requirement of their study programme. Further, the number of researchers studying for their M.Phil. degree also has increased. As a result, research findings are presented in dissertation form and the university has got several hundreds of linguistic research dissertations. Yet, there has not been any formal study to find out the nature of these pieces of research and thus it would be very useful to find out the nature of them. Thus, the research problem in this study is ‘what is the nature of linguistic researches done during the last seven years in the University of Kelaniya?’ In order to answer this question details of researches done during the last seven years have been gathered from M.A., M.Phil. and Ph.D. Dissertations and classified into different subfields of linguistics. The present research is limited to research carried out from 2007 to 2014 in University of Kelaniya. The results indicate that research in the applied linguistic field are frequently done, yet there is an interest of the other theoretical and practical aspects of linguistics.
The Difficulties Faced by Sri Lankan Expats in America due to Dialectical Variety in American English
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Ravindranath, H.
Pursuing the study of any language can be a difficult process and can take months or sometimes years to master proficiently. For decades, British English was the globally accepted standard for written documents and verbal communications. However, the rise in American English brought with it new challenges and obstacles and instead of unifying the world through a commonality of language it has in fact created problems that were hitherto unanticipated. Educators did not foresee the difficulties and confusion that would/could arise from what initially seemed minor differences in American English and other dialects. As English, given American English as is, increases its global footprint Sri Lankan students and expats are faced with the conundrum of having to decide which system to adopt. Without clear guidelines, Sri Lankan students and expats are becoming confused and anxious, which can create difficulties for even the most knowledgeable students. This in turn can serve as a deterrent and instead of embracing and mastering the English language can cause these students and expats to shy away from American English or encounter with the chaos and uncertainty in leaning American English. The researchers intend to identify the predominant areas of concern encountered by expats when learning American by examining the differences inherent within American English to develop a strategy to negate and overcome those concerns. By examining current trends and predicting future growth of English and American English, the researchers anticipate they will be able to identify the most relevant form of English for future usage and in doing so can provide educators with invaluable information as to which English should be taught and how a uniformed English language should be taught which will lead to an overall improvement in the learning environment and the ability of the students to master the language.
Diversity in the Varieties of Global English Used in the Current Ethnic Setting of Sri Lanka, from an Ecological Perspective
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Abeysena, H.
This paper explores the unique nature of super diversity in the varieties of English spoken in the current ethnic setting of Sri Lanka. Since, historically Sri Lanka has been colonized thrice respectively by the Portuguese, Dutch and British, the impact bestowed by the British colonization from 1796 until the fall of the Kandyan kingdom in 1815 is noteworthy. With a lot of socio economic and socio political and linguistic changes occurred in the course of time for many centuries, paving the way for English to merge with several local languages such as Sinhala and Tamil along with productively being used by diverse ethnicities as in Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and Burghers, standard and sub standard varieties of English have been emerged. Thus, the researcher has analyzed disciplinary aspects that she has encountered in this study such as Sri Lankan English in the public domain, Sri Lankan English in English Language Teaching and Sri Lankan English literature at a local exposure with the sample of about 60 undergraduates in a national university in the country for a period of about six months. With such a historical background of English which has been existing in the country for more than 21 years maintaining a peculiar position as a lingua franca, according to Prof. Manique Gunesekara (2010), ‘In Sri Lanka today, most people are quite happy to speak English, and are not interested in which variety they speak. This attitude is spurred by the immense power of English in today’s postcolonial Sri Lanka. “The importance of advocating a standard for the language” in terms of Sri Lankan English has been reiterated by many academics especially in a challenging ELT class room setting in a context, where “many Englishes” idea have been accommodated (Wasala,2010) Sri Lankan English and Standard Sri Lankan English also shown further sub standards of the language such as Malay English, Sinhala English and Tamil English and also the type varied in terms of the user’s home town with their own distinguished characteristics as morphology and syntax with their unique practices. However, this variation does not block a local’s understanding of the communication taking place. According to 45 students of the total, while the controversy has been prevailing for decades now whether to believe in such an existence of sub varieties and accommodating them or not in their day to day academic and professional work, the researcher found out that it is proven to be a very creative and productive process throughout, but the need for validation is a compulsion of the day, since the student population has faced a considerable difficulty in following the ‘best practice’.
Emphasizing the Need to Restrict the Use of Non-Target Languages in the ESL Classroom and Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Communicative Approach as a Solution
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Madhusankha, B.H.I.
Referring to the corpus of literature made with reference to the discipline of ELT, it seems conspicuously interesting that the use of non – target languages in the language classroom has recently become the subject of many a debate among most ESL practitioners. In such a milieu, the objective of the present research paper has been to explore the negative consequences that the extensive use of non – target languages in the ESL classroom poses not merely on the learning process but on the classroom management too. It is a widely acknowledged fact that both acquisition and retention of language skills have an equally significant role in the learning of a language. And, experts are of the belief that one of the most productive ways of learning a language is by picking it up (i.e. first listening to and reading a lot of language in authentic contexts and then using language in interaction with others for real purposes). Further, this gives rise to the fact that the ESL classroom should become a fountain of exposure to the target language where the students get a plenty of opportunities to receive and produce language and hence to experiment with language. Nevertheless, it is disheartening to note that a majority of the ESL teachers in the country hardly use the target language in order to communicate with the learners and to give instructions to them. Instead they speak in a particular non – target language which might be the first language of the majority in the classroom. As revealed above, this situation deprives the learners of the opportunity to have an L2 – interactive classroom thus directly affecting the learning of the language. In addition, the present study takes into account the socio-cultural and psychological facets of the situation under review. Thus, it explores the inconveniences undergone by the students hailing from minority communities when a majority in the classroom including the teacher communicates in a language (most probably the L1 of the majority) which might be alien to them. The issues of this kind have a special relevance to a country like Sri Lanka which is comprised of various ethnicities. So, it appears to be the responsibility of the language teacher as a facilitator to adjust the classroom management such that it enables the learners to be well exposed to the target language. Also, the research anticipates assessing the effectiveness of a communicative approach as a solution to the problems mentioned earlier. It is hence expected that this paper will serve as a useful source of information for those who are interested in the subject under review.
Error Analysis on Japanese - Sinhala Translations
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Rathnayake, D.
Language translation is one of the most in-demand job opportunities for foreign language learning students in Sri Lanka. Japanese language among the other foreign languages has been taught from the school level to the undergraduate level for many years. Recently, a fast increase is seen in the number of Japanese tourists and investment companies due to various reasons in the country. In this context, Japanese-Sinhala, Sinhala-Japanese translation is considered one of the in-demand job opportunities which can easily be fulfilled by those Japanese learning students. Nevertheless, at present students of Japanese are not competent enough to engage in successful Japanese-Sinhala translations and there are many errors in their translations. Those errors can be seen mostly as a result of transfer from L1, intra-lingual, or over-generalization of L2 system or intra- lingual error. There are approaches of assessing learners translation ability (using, integrative testing and communicative testing) (Buck, 2001) both for the linguistic forms and comprehension. Many learners can easily find the meaning of the words and phrases from the dictionaries and recognize the linguistic form, but they cannot have a correct comprehension of the text. Therefore It is vitally important to give careful attention to this area, and need to build up skills of students in Japanese-Sinhala translation. The primary purpose of this study is to analyze what errors students make in their translations when they translate passages from Japanese into Sinhala by reviewing their translated sentences. The writing will be evaluated basically and the sentences with errors will be recorded to identify the types and frequency of errors. The main focus will be on the errors of ; use of words and expressions, use of suitable word order, use of suitable grammar, use of preposition, articles, use of tense and voice.