Symposia & Conferences
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Item An Investigation into the Popularity of Hindi as a Foreign Language among Sri Lankan Students(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Chandrasekara, P.V.S.Hindi is spoken by more than 26 crore of people all over the world. With the development of technology fonts, web sites, online reading and blogs are available in Hindi medium. Though Sri Lankans do not use Hindi as an official language it is popular among students. Hindi is taught as a foreign language in schools, universities and cultural centers as well. Annually number of students go to India to study Hindi. University of Kelaniya offers special degree in Hindi and conduct certificate courses for internal students. Indian Cultural Center(ICC), Bandaranaike Center for International Studies(BCIS) and Indira Gandhi National Open University(IGNOU) conduct diploma and certificate courses to students. The main objective of this paper is to identify reasons for the popularity of Hindi. The methodology used were questionnaire survey method and interviews. Information was gathered from students of internal and external degree programs, certificate and diploma courses in University of Kelaniya, ICC, BCIS and IGUOU. This research focuses on student perception of 3 key areas: spoken ability, literature and teaching methods. The findings of this research may provide suggestions to improve foreign language courses in general. This study further recognizes the following: influence of the media, problems in learning and teaching Hindi as a secondary language and the cultural relations between two countries.Item Responsibility of media for the change of traditional food and eating habits(Department of English, University of Kelaniya, 2015) Dhammarathana Thero, B.; Mendis, N.; de Saram, H.The research focuses on Sri Lankan food and eating habits. Today the food have been changed due to various reasons and media is one effective factor for this change. Today television and magazines are filled with plenty of advertisements and most of them are concerned with food. They point out the positive side of that product and how that product is helpful to the consumer. They highlight the simple, quick and easiness of that product to use. Today media, that is mainly television and magazines or newspapers have given major place to advertisements and among them the advertisements on instant food compel the people to buy it. It is proposed to undertake the following approach as methodology in order to meet the research objectives. This research will consist of two primary stages. First stage consists of content analysis of primary and secondary sources and the second stage is a qualitative research by means of interviews. Information were gathered from the students, lecturers and few families in countryside and city. Through the information the conclusion was that media is highly effective for the change of traditional food and eating habits mainly in the cities than the villages.Item සිංහල පද්ය සාහිත්යයෙහි ආරම්භක යුගයන්හි පැවති ස්වාධීන විචාර චින්තනය පිළිබඳ විමර්ශනයක්(Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, 2015) Saputhanthri, I.M.Item Re-Building American Self-identity through the “Muslim Other”:A Study of Positioning the Muslim as the “Terrorist” in Post 9/11 American Cinema(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Pathberiya, P.A.N.September 11 2001 was the date that the United States of America was plunged into a state of cataclysm. Given the magnitude of the September 11 attacks, a noticeable emergence of a distinctive cinematic category, centered on this attack and its consequences and affiliations, is discernible in the post September 11 era. In this particular context, a considerable number of post–September eleven American films are observed to bedepicting the Muslim as a “violent other”. This study focuses on three such films from American cinema; The Kingdom (2007) by Peter Berg, Body of Lies (2008) by Ridley Scott and Traitor (2008) by Jeffrey Nachmanoff. The intended outcome of the study, through a meticulous analysis of the above cinematic works, is to discover the socio-political reasons and rationales behind the ideological distortions of the image of the Muslims in the abovementioned cinematic works. While this discourse is mainly substantiated by Edward Said’s theoretical study of Orientalism, it highlights how the previous ethno-religious identity of “the Muslim” is now re-structured through a political identity; the “terrorist other”. In the global political arena, having the United States’ identity of “supremacy and authority” jeopardized after September 11, these cinematic works stand – even though they are fantasies – as a “fictional remedy” or a “ideological foundation” of re-building the globally lost self-identity of America. Thus, the new ideology perceives the Muslim through cultural and religious components, which are a blend with a negative undertone. In contrast to the “vehement Muslim other”, America is depicted as the “savior” nation with the overarching idea that the humanity, peace and order are the “American’s Burden”. Further observations through a theoretical scope reveal how America subtly engages in a task of politically re-mapping and re-defining the world in relation to the “terrorist others”.Item මොරවක් කොරලයෙහි ඉපැරණි ශිලාලිපි හා සන්නස් පිළිබඳ අධ්යයනයක්(Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, 2015) Chamara, H.N.Item The impact of the language medium shift on undergraduates specializing Social Science subjects in the University of Kelaniya(Department of English, University of Kelaniya, 2015) Bandaranayake, S.; Weerasinghe, I.; Jayathilleke, S.; Gunesekara, H.; Thennakoon, T.; de Silva, A.N.This research study discusses the impact of the change of language medium instruction from Sinhala to English medium in the case of pursuing special degree of courses offered by the Faculty of Social Sciences in the University of Kelaniya. It has been identified as one of the major long standing issues confronted by undergraduates who chose to specialize in Social Science subjects. This process of language medium shift in education is known as Content and Language Analysis (CLIL) which is a dual focused teaching approach aimed at acquiring subject knowledge as well as foreign language competence simultaneously. Several studies have been carried out in this fieldsuch as by Cenoz, Genesee and Gorter (2013),Georgiou (2012) and Evans and Morrisons (2011). Howeverdespite of such research, a gap had always existed in terms of research focusing on university education. A questionnaire and interview based survey was carried out to gather necessary information and perspectives from undergraduates specializing in International Studies, Economics and Sociology in which this shift was prevalent. The results of this research can be used to devise strategies for major improvements in this field.Item ශ්රී හර්ෂදේවයන්ගේ නාට්ය ත්රිත්වය පිළිබඳ විමර්ශනාත්මක අධ්යයනයක්(Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, 2015) Harshani, W.A.R.M.Item The Role of Psycholinguistics Knowledge in Improving Proficiency in L2(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Ravindran, S.During the last two decades listening comprehension has received considerable attention, in the fields of applied linguistics, psycholinguistics and second language pedagogy. Listening is a complex cognitive process, in which the listener constructs the meaning using both the linguistic and non-linguistic knowledge. This study attempts to find out how psycholinguistic knowledge facilitates in improving proficiency in L2 listening skills. It is hypothesized that the psycholinguistic elements which are involved in listening skills could be introduced to both the teachers and learners to obtain mastery in the skills. A convenient sample of forty five, first year students from the Faculty of Arts were randomly selected as sample fro the study. The data collection was done by questionnaire survey and teachers’ observation. A qualitative analysis was carried out to gather information and to analyze data. Through the analysis it was found that the role of Psycholinguistic knowledge in improving proficiency in L2 listening skills is indispensable to obtain proficiency in listening skills. This study recommends that the learners need to familiarize the psycholinguistic elements which are indispensable for the improvement in the listening skill proficiency. Finally the undergraduates of the university with less proficiency in listening skills could be facilitated and enabled to improve their proficiency in listening skills.Item A study of conditional structures "ba”, “tara” and “to” in Japanese language(Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, 2015) Sewwandi, R.A.D.N.There are various types of conditional structures in Japanese language. Such as "ba, tara, to and nara". The students who are learning Japanese language are facing some difficulties when they are using these conditional structures. Some languages have various types of conditional structures and some languages do not have these types of many conditionals. This paper is to analyze the main characteristics of "ba, tara and to", the commonly using conditional structures in Japanese. Relevant data for the research has been collected from the native speakers. The purpose of this paper is to find out difference between " ba, tara and to" The findings will be useful for the students who are learning Japanese as a foreign language.Item Sound without Fury: The Decline of an Isolated Community of Drum-Makers in Central Sri Lanka(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Alawathukotuwa, M.Kuragala is identified a‘low caste’ village situated in the UdunuwaraDivisional Secretariat of the Kandy distract. All the residents of this village belong to theRodi caste which is recognized as the lowest caste group according to the Sinhalese caste hierarchy.Currently 16 families are engaged in manufacturing traditional local drums such as Getabera, Daul, Tammattam, low country drum, Udakki, and Bummadi, as well as internationally-used classical and popular drums such as Tabla, Mridangam, Maddala, and various other kinds of instruments at present. Initially these drums were entirely hand-crafted, but soon the villagers were granted electronically powered lathe machines by the government to facilitate the faster carving of drum logs.Apart from this occupation they have become involved in different types of “traveling businesses” such as selling mats, carpets and mattresses since they are unable to make ends meet by selling drums. Three men and one woman have obtained employment in the government sector such as hospital attendants. The objectives of this study are to analyze the changes of these people, their traditional craftsmanship and other social and cultural practices pertaining to this community. Viewing them as a Discourse Community, I shall focus on how they are able to sustain a specific cultural identity, even though the Sinhala Buddhist mainstream have classed them as “Rodiyas” at the same time assimilated into the society of Upcountry Kandyan Buddhists of Kuragala.This study will be framed as a development of John Swales’ pioneering work on discourse communities through incorporating Arjuna Parakrama’s insights on subalternity to better understand the survival, coping and resistance strategies of marginalized caste-based artisan communities that are fighting mechanization and the capitalization of such specialized niche markets.Item An overview on the Writing Test Performance of ESL Learners at the University Test for English language-UTEL(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Ravindran, S.The University Test on English language (UTEL) is an annual English Language test conducted simultaneously in all the universities in Sri Lanka to test the undergraduates’ proficiency levels in the four language skills. The test is conducted both through face to face and online modes. The purpose of the test is to enable the target group to know their proficiency levels in all four skills and to motivate them to improve their levels of English in order to uplift their employability. This paper discusses the performance at the University Test on English Language (UTEL) in writing skills, conducted in 2014 by the universities in Sri Lanka. A common writing test was administered to the target group to gauge the proficiency level in writing skill. The objective of the study is to find the common mistakes found in the performance in writing tests and to present an overviewon the writing test performance of ESL learners’ performances in two writing tasks.Sixty answer scripts from threedifferent universities were utilized asdata for the study. The answer scripts were corrected based on UTEL bench marking scales or descriptors and graded. Quantitative methodology was utilized to analyze the data. Thegeneral mistakes in their performances in writing test were analyzed. The findings show that the participants have made similar mistakes in writing the two tasks irrespective of their universities.The study has an implication of applying the suggestions in making better performance in writing skills at the UTELin order to enable the target group to obtain proficiency in writing skills.Item A comparative study of the modern and Buddhist time management systems (with reference to the Buddha’s Daily Routine)(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Pathirana, R.M.Time Management is the act or process of planning and exercising conscious control over the amount of time spent on specific activities, especially to increase effectiveness, efficiency or productivity. The Buddha is an ideal ensample for leaders who are in the management field. Buddha’s time management is useful for modern aspects of management and for every person in the society to manage their lives. This research paper reveals those facts with reference to Buddha’s daily routine. The Buddha performed his duties systematically in accordance with a prearranged plan. His whole day was divided into five parts which were namely; the forenoon session, the afternoon session, the first watch, the middle watch and the last watch. The Buddha slept only for one hour at night. For two solid hours at noon and at dawn he pervaded the whole world with thoughts of Metta – loving kindness. The Buddha tirelessly worked in this manner till his eightieth year. He displayed that time is very important to the success of people and taught us to save time. We can include it to modern management theories. If a person wants to achieve his goals, he must work on time without being sluggish. Most researchers do not focus attention on Buddhist time management. The main focus of this research is heavily based on selected literary sources that include the Tripitaka: Sanyutthanikāya, Deeghanikāya, Dhammapadapāli etc.).Item Theatre or anti-theatre: An analysis of characteristics in absurd theatre and its classification as theatre(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Rajapaksha, U.D.Absurdism or Absurd theory is a prominent offspring of the Second World War. The genre explores the futile and existentialist nature of human life, the breaking down of all logic and communication in a godless universe. Many European authors were influenced by this experimental movement during the post war era, thus resulting in an absurdist fiction. Eugene Ionesco and Samuel Beckettbrought this movement into the limelight. All these authorstook great care to distance themselves from all conventional forms of theatre.The characteristics of absurd theatre differ from conventional theatre to such an extent, that the playwrights themselves referred to their works as “anti-theatre”. These works are considered to be anti-thematic, anti-ideologic and anti-realist. Thus, the focus of the research is to explore the anti-theatrical characteristics in Ionesco’s “Cantatrice Chauve” (The Bold Soprano) in comparison to conventional theatre, and the possibility of it being justified as an actualform of theatre. This study seeks to answer three major questions; What defines conventional theatre? What defines absurd theatre? Can absurd theatre be considered as “theatre”?Thus the research intends to identify the characteristics of the conventional theatre and those of the absurd theatre in order to make a comparison. Furthermore, the research will ascertain the possibility of absurd theatre being categorized as real theatre. Hypothetically speaking, absurd theatre, with its anti-theatrical characteristics, cannot be considered as “theatre”.Initially, in a qualitative approach, the researcher will identify the characteristics of both conventional and absurd theatre. The title, theme, characters, events, action, stage settings, stage directions and structure of the two forms will be closely observed and analyzed. Secondly, the research will include a detailed analysis of Eugene Ionesco’s “Bold Soprano” (La Cantatrice Chauve). Absurdist literature has appealed to the researcher’s interest due to its novel and refreshing nature. This new school of thought represents a shift in the European ideologies. Thus the research would be an exploration of the collision between these old and new ideologies.Item Social Background of Hindi Short Stories of the Malwanchal province(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Qureshi, S.The advent of Hindi short stories in the Indian society can be traced back to before 20th century. During the 1980’s many writers contributed creative writings for short stories but they were confused between long and short stories. The tradition of Hindi short stories can be seen from century’s process and have now come to a very powerful stage. During 1980s different type of short story writings came in to society such as Hithoperdesh and Panchathanthra these short stories were carrying quotes and messages with imaginative descriptions. At the end of the 20th century many changes came in to Hindi short story literature and the keen interest of short stories slowly went down and also not many writers kept continue writing short stories, however writers were born in every decade to precede the interest of short stories among our people.In today’s machinery busy life is full of stories and story literature brings the area that explains the feelings, emotions, problems of modern culture and the similarities and differentiations of Indian society and nation.Short story plays a very vital role in explaining problems in our society and the writers try to point out the causes of problems very efficiently. Short stories have its own power to shake the minds of people and force them in to a deep thinking of the consequence of problems in our society. By each and every word these writers ask to lead people’s mind with thoughtful ideas.Among all different types of literature short story plays a vital role in society and it has power to explain people’s tendency with thoughtful ideas and limited words which provide a greater meaning to the society.This particular research will be conducted as a study of the social background of Hindi short stories of Malwanchal province.Item Gender based stress management of top managerial personnel: A study based on selected leading organizations in the Colombo district(University of Kelaniya, 2015) de Zoysa, H.N.‘Stress’ is body’s way of responding to any kind of demand. Stress can have positive as well as negative results. Due to fierce competition in today’s business, managers in many organizations have to contend with stress when dealing with customers and employees. Therefore, the concept of Stress Management has become important in today’s world, especially in the commercial industry. Top managerial personnel are bound with organizational goals while leading their subordinates towards the same goal. Time boundaries and targets are the extra burdens born by the top level personnel. Based on gender this burden is different. The way one reacts to stress and it is managed are different based on gender. The objective of this research is to examine the management of stress of the people in the top managerial level posts, based on gender. Fifty managers were randomly taken as the sample of this study. Methods such as interviews, questionnaires were used to collect primary data and magazines, books, journals and websites were used as secondary data. Data analysis was done both quantitatively and qualitatively. The findings of this research proved that both men and women are stressed at work, but males manage stress better than females. The main reason identified was that males use varied ways to release stress and as females are bound by responsibilities towards both family and work that they tend to react more emotionally to stress than males. This acts as a vicious cycle placing further stress on females.Item A Study of the Cultural Identity of the Wahakotte Catholic Community(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Weerakkody, I.S.Wahakotte is situated in the Matale district in the Central province. Approximately 95 % of itspopulation are Catholic, with about 650 families belonging to the parish of St. Anthony's church. The three main feasts held by the church are marked by cultural assimilation, with the use of hewisidrums in the processions bearing religious relics of importance such as the ivory Crucifix and the statue of Our Lady. The style of Pasan singing in the Wahakotte region is of significance, because itis strongly influenced by traditional harvesting songs. During Lent, prose Pasan that consist of singing and chantingare performed in an ad libitum, or free tempo style that can be heard when the group of singers visit houses and later at St. Anthony’s church.Pasan verses are also sung to express grief in situations such as death. They are transmitted from generation to generation in an oral tradition, but are now known only by a few families in the Wahakotte area at present. A compilation of Prose Pasan verses can be seen in the book called "Passion of the Christ" based on the Portuguese tradition in Konkani. Traditional Pasan singing in Wahakotte is very unique because the text goes back to the time of the Kandyan Kings with the melodies becoming indigenized over the last two centuries. Differences exist between the Pasan singing style of Wahakotte and those of other regions. These include variation in the melodies and the significant influence of Buddhist Pirith chanting as well as harvesting songs. This research study focuses on ten Pasan verses in order to highlight the uniqueness of the songs of Wahakotte.Item The contribution of Kumaratunga Munidasa as an individual language planner(Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, 2015) Randula, K.K.G.Language planning refers to deliberate and systematic attempts taken to solve the language problems of a speech community. Usually such measures in standardising a language’s structure and determining its political status are taken by a country’s political authority. Cumaratunga Munidasa (25th July 1887 - 02nd March 1944) was one of the greatest classical Sinhalese scholars of the 20th century, whose service to the Sinhalese language has been subjected to extensive studies in various disciplines. It has been observed that certain acts of Cumaratunga Munidasa reflect the features of a corpus planner, while his impact on promoting the Sinhalese language to the official language status has been of extreme significance. Since Cumaratunga’s contribution has not been substantially evaluated in the perspective of language planning, this study attempts to recognise Cumaratunga as an individual language planner. Data for the study were collected from writings of Cumaratunga ranging from paper articles to voluminous books. The language planning model proposed by E. Haugen (1983) was adapted in the evaluation process. In this study it has been observed that it is proper to recognise Cumaratunga Munidasa’s role in revitalising the Sinhalese language as the contribution of an individual language planner.Item The importance of letters in “Pride and Prejudice” and “Emma”(Department of English, University of Kelaniya, 2015) Jayamaha, A.; Botheju, K.; Jayatilaka, R.; Prasangi, D.; Welgama, E.; Gunawardana, Y.Epistolary writing is a feature which only a few novelists have adopted. The research is aimed at examining epistolary writing with regards to Jane Austen’s novels Pride and Prejudice and Emma. Both the novels Pride and Prejudice and Emma contain several letters that fulfill the task of developing the plot through its aim of creating incidents. The novel Emma mainly contains only one letter in specific, which is Frank Churchill’s letter that we find in Chapter 50 and all the others are incidents where someone else speaks up about what is conveyed through a letter. Letters of confession, letters of love marriages, letters of unspoken emotions and letters of informing certain trivial matters as arrivals and illnesses, day to day casual letters are mentioned in both novels. Through the information revealed by the letters, the plot too develops in a certain way, manifesting certain characteristics of the characters and adding up to the themes. Letters Austen mentions in both novels can be categorized according to the message the letter conveys and how a letter adds to the development of the plot can be analyzed with a close examination of the letters and the incidents where letters are brought out.Item Why does one go to hell?: Late 19th cent perspectives seen in the murals of the Vihārayas of the Amarapura Nikāya in the Galle District(University of Kelaniya, 2015) de Zoysa, A.As known in Suttas of the Tripiṭaka, hells called Niraya in Pali and Narakaya in Sanskrit, are the lowest of six or five paths of rebirth. In the Devadūta Sutta, hells are located under the realm of humans (Manussalōka). According to the narratives, “evil doers”, “the wicked” or “sinners” seem to fall into an endless pit ending up in the hell they will have to undergo immense suffering. In some temples of the Southern and Western Maritime Region, scenes of hells seem to appear about 1870, at times covering the lowest register of the entire ambulatory. No other narrative cycle has been allotted so much space. The texts accompanying these hells explain why the person was reborn in a particular hell. The Akusala Kamma, (unskillful or unwholesome action) collected by the individual as human is meant to correspond to the thousands of years of suffering in particular hell tortured by Yamapallo, who are in service of the King Yama (Lord of the Dead). Devadatta, who attempted to kill the Buddha three times and to create a split in the Sangha was reborn in the Avīchi Narakaya, where those who have committed the most grave misdeeds are born. In the temple walls, neither Devadatta, nor Ajatasatta who killed his father are seen in hell. Strangely Revatī, the wife of a benevolent merchant, is dragged to hell because she refused alms to the mendicants, the poor and Buddhist monks. It is also surprising that the sites of the hells selected for this study - Kathaluwē Pūrvārāma Purāṇa Vihāraya, Ranvelle Navamuṇisē Vihāraya, Dodaṃdūwa Kumārakande Kumāra Mahāvihāraya and Randoṃbe Samūdragiri Purāna Vihāraya - have some names of hells not mentioned in Pāli sources or their commentaries. The series of sins written on the wall vary from temple to temple. The series of images of torture and suffering have been selected because they have complete sets of hells unseen elsewhere in Sri Lanka. Important monks of the Amarapura Nikāya have resided in these temples who spearheaded a breakaway from the Upcountry Siyam Nikāya in the first half of the 19th century. The short overview will present the vernacular list of hells. The punishments given together with the unwholesome deeds reflect the ethical and moral values upheld by the monks of these breakaway fraternities.Item The Contextual Significance of the “Less Popular Saints” of the Archdiocese of Colombo(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Jayatunge, M.The paper is a study of the contextual significance of the “less popular saints” venerated by the Roman Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Colombo, Sri Lanka. While many churches have been dedicated to the so called popular saints such as St. Mary, the Mother of Jesus, St. Anne, the Grand Mother of Jesus, St. Joseph, the Foster Father of Jesus, St. Anthony of Padua and St. Sebastian, it is observed that only a very few churches have been dedicated to saints such as St. Isidore, St. Augustine, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Martin de Porres, St. Barbara, St. Cecilia, St. Maximillian Kolbe, St. Gerard Majella, and St. Blaise. This study inquires into the historical, social and cultural significance of each of these saints to the respective faith communities. Patron Saints of churches have a deep significance for the worshipping communities and the present research studies this phenomenon in detail.