Symposia & Conferences
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Item Code Switching and Code Mixing in an ESL Class: A Study of Undergraduates in a State University.(The Third International Conference on Linguistics in Sri Lanka, ICLSL 2017. Department of Linguistics, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Samarakoon, S. M. S. S.Code switching and code mixing exist in bilingual societies where people use two or more languages to communicate. Being able to speak more than one language, bilinguals can code-switch and mix as means of effectively conveying meaning. Code switching and mixing frequently occur in English classrooms in faculties of Arts in Sri Lankan universities, where the teachers use Sinhala or L1 to teach English as a second language. The effectiveness of using and mixing L1 and L2 has been debated over the years. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate when and why teachers in this context use code mixing and code switching. Two classroom observations were carried out, two language instructors were interviewed and 30 ESL students in an intermediate level group were given a questionnaire to gather data for the study. The students' views on the use of L1 were assessed using a questionnaire that contained five-point Likert scale items. The results showed that the informant teachers generally tried to code-switch as little as possible but that they did code-switch in some of those situations where the students preferred either a combination of Sinhala and English or only Sinhala. During instances where the students cannot understand the lessons when instructions or explanations are given only in English, the informant teachers switch to L1, to create a less intimidating atmosphere which was one of the observations of the study. All 30 students strongly agreed with the fact that L1 should be used to understand grammar rules and lexical areas. The informant teachers agree to some extent with the idea that learners will understand more if they were to uses the L1 language of the learners to explain certain grammatical components. Both the informant teachers agree to some extent that learners will understand more, if she uses the L1 languages to explain the meanings of certain lexical item.Item Translation as a Method of Teaching and Learning a Foreign Language(Department of Linguistics, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Kankanange, S.; de Silva, M.; Jayaweera, A.Translation is considered as a traditional methodology of teaching and learning a foreign language as a second language. It encourages the L2 learner to think in one language and transform into another by acting as a mediator. This fundamental process of teaching and learning a foreign language (L2) which enables the L2 learner to understand similarities and differences between two languages was initiated to learn classical languages such as Latin and Greek. This research focuses on the advantages and disadvantages of using Translation as a method of learning & teaching a foreign language (L2). Translation has been traditionally used to teach grammar. It allows the teacher to depict equivalent and non-equivalent structures between the first language (L1) and the foreign language (L2). Many practical benefits could be gained through the process of translation that improves the new language (L2) ability. Through this method, L2 learner's language skills could be developed by applying the classroom gained knowledge such as grammar, composition, and interpretation of texts in a practical manner. This is one of the most prevalent beliefs among language learners (L2 learners) and language teachers as well. However as any other method, there are positive aspects as well as negative aspects of using translation in language teaching and learning (L2) since it's a process that handles two different languages (Ll and L2) which represent two different socio-cultural identities. In conclusion, this research proves that translation is an accepted, widely used, successful method in teaching and learning a foreign language (L2).Item Teaching English as a Second Language in Sri Lanka: Facing a Paradox(Department of Linguistics, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Perera, A.English is the most popular foreign language in Sri Lanka. This language played a key role in the process of social stratification which took place after the collapse of the feudal and the colonial systems. After teaching English for so many years in schools, why do students hesitate to follow and indirectly reject this subject at school level? There is a continuing matter of debate on whether first language (L1) contributes to or precludes the learning of a second language (L2). Internationally numerous studies have been conducted on this topic, but no clear consensus exists on whether L1 should be banned or its inclusion in classrooms should be allowed. However, few studies have identified the reasons for which students need such an inclusion. So this opinion survey was done to find out the root causes of this particular problem in Sri Lanka. This study primarily investigates the opinions of the persons who can make an influence on this issue. So, two university professors, one provincial director of English Education, two zonal directors of English Education, three instructors of English Education in three educational divisions and two instructors of English Education, attached to zonal English Support Centers were interviewed. This survey was confined to find data regarding the use of Sinhala as the mother tongue (MT) in teaching English as a second language. The findings may be useful to language education policy-makers in designing more formal and concrete guidelines to help teachers who teach English as a second language. While some interviewees agree the use of L1 judiciously in classrooms, all the interviewees agree, to make an impact on policy makers in this regard to design policies as well as a methodical approach to teach English as a second language in comparison with mother tongue (MT).Item 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.