Symposia & Conferences
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Item Perceptions and Practices of Teachers in a Private Institution on the Use of Online Games in the ESL Classroom for Sri Lankan Young Adults: A Case study.(International Conference on the Humanities (ICH), 2017 Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Pandithasundera, H.Catering to students with various learning styles in a language classroom is a challenging task and one way to overcome this is to apply Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence theory (1983). Using online games is a technique which supports different intelligences while actively involving students in the process of learning via scaffolding and interaction as explained by Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory (1978). However, most studies related to games are based on young learners because ‘playing’ is a term frequently related to them. Moreover, most of them are mainly quantitative studies exploring the effectiveness of using games. Furthermore, in-depth studies on using online games to teach young adults have not been conducted in Sri Lanka possibly due to the involvement of numerous facilities. Having recognized these research gaps, this study is designed as a qualitative explanatory case study incorporating a single-embedded case design. The objectives are to investigate perceptions of teachers and their reflections of the classroom practice via interviews. Triangulation of these data was performed via seven-hour observations of their classroom practice and via informal discussions with their students. This study contributes valuable insights for teaching English using online games, developing curricula tailor-made for young adults and for teacher training. The study was conducted in a private institution in the western province with a purposive sample of three, female teachers (age 25-36), who are conducting the Diploma in English. This nine-month course covers the band A1 to B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for Languages. The young adults enrolled are from middle-class families and are aged between 18-25 years. For the purpose of students’ retention, the institution encourages the teachers to teach interactively via using games. Finally, it was revealed that these teachers frequently use online games because they are convenient and they allow a broader space of interaction.Item Including all: Perceptions of mainstream teachers on inclusive education in the Western Province of Sri Lanka(Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Hettiarachchi, S.; Das, A.; Ranaweera, M.; Attanayake, L.D.; Walisundara, D.The changes made to the local constitution (Parliament of Sri Lanka, 1997), the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN, 2005) in 2016 and the first World Report on Disability (WHO, 2011) support a new era for the education of children with disabilities in Sri Lanka. The emphasis of this legislation is the inclusion and full participation of students with disabilities in regular schools. It guarantees non-discrimination and removal of barriers, both physical and psychological or attitudinal; to facilitate the inclusion of students with disabilities into regular schools. It urges policy makers, educators, parents and other service providers to consider the premise that special education should be seen not in the context of separate education but as an integral part of regular education. Arguably, the success of implementing a policy of inclusive education requires mainstream school teachers to understand, accept and be competent at supporting students with disabilities within the mainstream classroom context. To uncover perceptions of ‘inclusive education’ among mainstream teachers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 mainstream teachers from the Western Province using a topic guide. Thematic coding of the interview data was undertaken using the key principles of Framework Analysis (Ritchie & Spencer, 1994). The main themes to emerge were of incongruous conceptual understandings, fear of incompetence, limited training facilities and the lack of incentives. These findings will be discussed with regard to its implications for policy and practice. The results underpin the need to consider local teacher perceptions and to address these concerns within pre-service and in-service training in order to support the establishment of education reforms, which are relevant and sensitive to the cultural needs and cognizant of local realities.