Junior Research Symposia
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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.Item Using English songs to enhance vocabulary learning(Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, 2015) Jayathilaka, K.G.R.H.Learning vocabulary is an essential part of the language learning process. Songs can serve as authentic materials to teach pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and the four skills. “Songs are widely being used nowadays as a powerful tool, in teaching new vocabulary to early grades pupils. Throughout our teaching of young learners, we have noticed that they are amazingly captured by songs, and they always enjoy listening to them.” (Al-Azri at al., 2015:40).This study investigates the effectiveness of using English songs to enhance vocabulary learning. “Do songs enhance vocabulary learning?” and “How the use of songs may support new vocabulary learning for grade 8 students in Sri Lanka?” were the two research questions administered in this study. Population of this research was 60 mixed ability students of Mawanella Mayurapada National School. The samples were taken from two classes of the grade-8. Furthermore, 30 students were assigned to experimental group and the other 30 students were assigned to control group. The experimental group learnt the target vocabulary through five English songs of four different music genres, i.e. Pop, Soft rock, Celtic and R&B. This group was highly motivated, as songs make the vocabulary learning more enjoyable, fun and interesting. The control group learnt the same target vocabulary just through English sentences without songs. Altogether 50 vocabulary items were administered in this study. Same teacher facilitated both groups in vocabulary learning process. Two short tests were administered to test the vocabulary knowledge of the participants. One of the two mentioned tests was administered immediately after the two groups finished studying the target vocabulary and the other common test was administered two weeks later. Implications and limitations are further discussed in this research paper. Moreover, this study provides a framework for investigation of the effectiveness of English songs in teaching vocabulary.