Junior Research Symposia
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Item Weaknesses of Google Translation; A Study Based on Sinhalese and English Languages(Department of Linguistics, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Wijesinghe, A.; Kaluarachchi, S.S.; Weerangani, S.The process of translating words or text from one language into another is known as translation. It communicates the meaning of a source language text into a target language. It is used for legal, official, literary works ... etc. Nowadays there is a popular systematic service for translation called "Google Translation". Being an easier and quicker method than manual translation, Google Translation plays a major role in the translation field. It is a multilingual statistical machine translation service provided by Google to translate texts or speeches from one language to another. The aim of this study is to identifY the problems that can be seen in this translation service and the study is based on translating from Sinhalese to English and vice versa. Data were collected by analysing a set of Sinhalese and English sentences translated using the service. When translating trom Sinhalese into English, errors are seen in sentence structures, major reason for which is the structural differences between the two languages. The syntactic structure of the Sinhalese language is SOY, whereas the structure of English is SVO. It is apparent that this structural difference cannot always be properly comprehended by this program. Furthermore, it is identified that synonyms, homonyms and homophones used in the Sinhalese language cannot be properly translated using this service. The diglossic characters of the Sinhalcse language is yet another aspect which creates problems in "Google Translate". Translating a complex sentence with a main clause and a subordinate clause also appears problematic since identifYing the subordinate clause is not easy for the program. Accordingly, this study points out that in order to provide a better service, these issues have to be properly addressed.Item English language and its usage among the youth(Department of English, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) de Silva, T.There have been many researches done on the use of English language by the youth of Sri Lanka and for what purposes they find it necessary to learn English as a language in a rapidly globalizing world. Most studies show that the youth find it crucial to have a good English knowledge to increase their employment opportunities in the corporate sector. This study explores the practical aspects and difficulties of learning good English by the youth and it also depicts the perception of the youth and how they think that this gap between the corporate sector and the youth should be bridged and how the youth can be more aligned with the globalizing world even though Sri Lanka is still a growing country. In conclusion it was discovered that the youth find it more fitting to have a practical learning experience when trying to use English.Item Difficulties faced by Undergraduates of Local Universities in reading for their degrees in English medium(Department of English, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Sathanandan, R.; Situbandara, S.N.B.A.; Gunasinghe, D.P.D.D.; Gunasekara, M.S.T.; Navarathne, D.M.A.S.; Gunawardena, S.The difficulty faced by undergraduates reading in English medium is a recurrent issue in Sri Lanka. After one’s tertiary education the next step is occupation. In the present context it is important for everyone to be well versed in English. Even after thirteen years of school education, most of the students have not yet gained the required proficiency in English. Until now the reasons behind this issue and solutions have not been found out. A questionnaire was distributed amongst 40 students of three faculties, including close-ended and open-ended questions in Sinhala and English. During the process of this research many articles were dwelt upon with regard to this topic, which helped in understanding the underlying causes to this impending issue. Focus was also given on the socio-economical background of the students and the methodology of lectures. The data collected from the questionnaire helped in understanding the following; most students in local universities are accustomed to their vernacular language and are unfamiliar with English. It is during lectures that they are taught in English, which many students fail to handle due to their unfamiliarity of the language. As a result many students fail their degree or lose interest in the subject. It was recommended by the students themselves that improved teaching methods must be conducted from their primary education. Language must not be a barrier for education.Item Use of prepositions among University students learning English as a Second language(Department of English, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Madhushani, H.N.G.; Athapaththu, A.M.H.K.; Athapaththu, S.P.; Navarathne, A.S.; Kumari, H.R.U.E.Prepositional usage is a difficult grammar area among the students who are learning English as a second language. Thus, it has been demonstrated that even undergraduates learning English as a second language face difficulties when using prepositions accurately. The present study is an attempt not only to identify the common errors made by the students in using prepositions, but also to recognize the more familiar prepositions used among the students. This has led to the assumption that both teaching and learning prepositions in English by the teachers and learners who study English as a second language are inadequate. Forty undergraduates representing the four faculties, ten from each, were given a questionnaire to be answered. Accordingly, the faculty of Humanities, the faculty of Social Sciences, the faculty of Management and the faculty of Science in the University of Kelaniya answered the questionnaire consisting of fifteen questions including two open ended questions. The findings revealed that the students of the faculty of Science possess a thorough knowledge regarding the accurate use of prepositions while the knowledge of the students in the faculty of Social Sciences regarding the use of prepositions was very low. Furthermore, prepositions that had been used more accurately were: ‘into’, ‘among’ and ‘from’, while the prepositions that had been misused frequently were: ‘on’, ‘between’ and ‘of’. Thereby, our research study became a success, signaling green lights for maiden future studies.Item Pronunciation errors in English among Sri Lankan school children(Department of English, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Hewawasam, I.A.; Amaratunga, J.G.I.D.; Udakumbura, U.D.L.; Pramodya, K.G.H.; Vithanage, V.G.P.M.The aim of this research is to figure out pronunciation errors of English among school children. The significance of this research is identifying the common pronunciation errors made by Sri Lankan school children and finding resolutions to overcome those errors. In the past researchers have investigated on this matter with a common perspective in mind. A necessity was identified to conduct a research on the pronunciation errors in the English language among Sri Lankan school children. In this research, errors made by Sri Lankan school children who speak English as a second language were detected. A group of students from a reputed school in a suburb of Colombo were selected as the participants. Questionnaires were given to them in order to identify errors. According to the research, the students who have a broader exposure to English outside the school make fewer mistakes. The results suggest that the students tend to make pronunciation errors due to the influence of their mother tongue. It can be concluded that proper guidance and constant practice should be provided for the school children to improve the clarity of their English language pronunciation.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 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.