International Conference on the Humanities (ICH)
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Item Using Mainstream Video Games to Promote Learner Motivation towards English as a Second Language in Tertiary Level Education(International Conference on the Humanities (ICH 2018/2019), Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Ekanayake, E. M. P. E.Prominent thinkers and researchers in the field of ELT/L (English Language Teaching/ Learning) such as R.C. Gardner and Stephen Krashen stress on the importance of student motivation, attitudes and on the importance of interesting/ compelling learning material to trigger the two former factors {ex: Krashen‘s Compelling (not just interesting) Input Hypothesis}. As such, this study was designed to investigate whether MVGs (Mainstream Video Games)1 can be successfully incorporated into formal ELT/L environments at tertiary level of education to promote student motivation towards learning ESL (English as a Second Language). For the purpose of this research, 75 First year undergraduates of Faculty of Arts, University of Peradeniya, belonging to the Intermediate level of English Language proficiency were exposed to ESL lessons based on MVGs on a particular day of the week (Friday) when their attendance is lowest, for 12 weeks. Both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection were used to triangulate the data. The analysis of quantitative data (attendance records of students) revealed that the use of MVGs in ELT/L can lead to dramatic improvement in student attendance (94.9% attendance as an average). Content/ discourse analysis and thematic analysis methods were deployed to analyze the qualitative data i.e., 70 questionnaires given to students and interviews with students (10) and instructors (2). Through the analysis of qualitative data, certain dominant aspects of ESL lessons based on MVGs were identified which were responsible for effecting major attitudinal change in students towards the teacher, the ESL programme and towards learning ESL. For instance, it was found that the MVG based lessons were catalytic in triggering active learning as opposed to passive learning, student-centered learning, providing a sense of achievement and boosting the self-confidence of students. These attitudinal changes were identified to have enhanced and intensified the motivational levels of students towards learning ESL. Since the introduction of MVGs made an overwhelmingly positive change to the ESL learning atmosphere, it is suggested that MVGs should be utilized as a learning aid or a method in ELT/L contextsItem The Role of Text Book and Digital media in ESL Classrooms: An Analysis of Grade 11 Text Book and Its Impact on Teaching and Learning.(International Conference on the Humanities (ICH), 2017 Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Kirushanthan, T.In post-war Sri Lanka teaching and learning English is given more importance than other subjects. Having realized the importance of learning English as a Second Language to survive in the global village, the government of Sri Lanka has taken several measures to improve the English language competency even in the rural areas of Sri Lanka. Colourful text books have been designed and issued to the school children. Since present generation is interested in digital media and as a part of the digital world, the usage of digital media is thoughtfully incorporated in the text books. Even though the text books contain activities dealing with digital media, and the government spends a lot of money on designing and distribution of the textbooks, only a limited number of students pass English in public examinations like O/L and A/L. This lack of performance of the students in the examinations, despite the introduction of digital media, poses the following questions. Is there any mismatch between the textbook and the way of its utility by the teachers as well as the students? How the digital media is used in ESL classes? Having these questions in mind this study is endeavoured to analyze whether the usage of text book and the digital media has an impact on the O/L results of the students. This research study was carried out in a rural school situated in Jaffna district. Participants for the data collection of this study were thirty Grade-11 students from a particular school and ten teachers who teach English for O/L students in different schools. Two questionnaires; one for the teachers and the other for the students and an observation protocol were used as research instruments. The result revealed that even though all the students are issued with text books, hardly anyone brings it to the school, as the teachers hardly use the text books especially in the O/L class. The classes are exam oriented. The students like to do activities using digital media, but the teachers focus mainly on activities which are expected in the exam paper. On the whole the usage of text book and digital media is neglected in the O/L classes. As language learning cannot be accomplished by memorizing, exam oriented teaching fails to improve the performance of the students in the O/L examination.Item Music as an effective tool to increase levels of motivation, entertainment, and self-confidence of ESL learners(Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Gamage, S.U.This study attempts to investigate whether music can be implemented as an effective tool in the ESL classrooms to increase motivation level, entertainment, and self-confidence among ESL learners. The hypothesis of the study was the use of English songs in an ESL classroom increase motivation level, entertainment and self- confidence among Sri Lankan ESL Learners. The sample of this study consists of 80 students from the Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. This sample was divided into two groups as the control group and the experimental group. The control group was taught English verb forms in a traditional classroom setting whereas the experimental group was exposed to a teaching session of English verb forms using English songs. After that, a Likert-type scale questionnaire was distributed to rate the feelings and the attitudes of the students of the two groups in terms of the application and non-application of music in ESL classrooms.SPSS data package was used to analyze the data gathered from the questionnaires. The results of the study showcased that, the students of the experimental group (Group 18) have given a higher positive feedback about the English session than the control group (Group 03). In other words, the students who got exposed to background music and English songs in the ESL classroom has turned the classroom into an enjoyable and relaxing setting where the students’ interest, self-confidence, and motivation towards learning English verb forms have achieved an immense growth.Item Error analysis on English as a Second Language (ESL) Learners’ usage in prepositions in dictation tasks(Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Jayasinghe, R.R.Sinhala speaking ESL (English as a Second Language) learners make many errors in the use of prepositions in given sentences, in dictation tasks, mainly due to cross-linguistic differences between their first and second languages. For example, English prepositions are words, but in Sinhala, they are represented as spatial postpositions, or as suffixes (locative and ablative case). Some prepositions are polysemous, and the Sinhala ESL learners often become frustrated when trying to distinguish their meanings. Therefore a study, investigating the error patterns in the usage of English prepositions by Sinhala speaking ESL learners in dictation is significant. Littlefield (2006) has found the existence of four categories of English prepositions with ±lexical and ±functional features: Adverbial prepositions [+Lexical, -Functional], Particles [-Lexical,- Functional], Semi-lexical [+Lexical, +Functional], Functional prepositions [-Lexical, + Functional]. The objective of this study is to examine whether Sinhala speaking ESL learners make more omission errors in [+Functional] prepositions than in [+Lexical] prepositions in dictation tasks; whether the category criterion will be preserved in substitutions; and whether these ESL learners in lower grades tend to omit prepositions more often than in higher grades whereas, in higher grades, they substitute prepositions more often than in lower grades. A pool of 316 Sinhala speaking ESL students from four grades: Grade 4, Grade 6, Grade 8 and Grade 10 participated in this study. A dictation task consisting 10 sentences each with adverbial prepositions, semi-lexical prepositions, particles and functional prepositions was used. The learners’ were asked to write down these sentences, and their errors were analysed using Excel, following experimental method. Findings concluded that the omissions were higher in lower grades and, substitutions were higher in higher grades and respected the category rule. The findings of error patterns can be used to minimize Sinhala speaking ESL learners’ errors in prepositions in dictation tasks, given in sentence form.Item The characterization of “Have” in the English writing of second language learners in an Interlanguage framework(Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Godage, J.L.W.The grammatical structures and meanings in English writing of second language learners (ESL) are often viewed as “errors” in a negative light when they do not comply with the rules of the target language (TL). However, the learners’ use of language; often a hybrid of linguistic features of English and their first language (L1), and thus referred to as “interlanguage”, indicates significantly about the students’ developmental stage in the learning process. Hence, the focus of this study is to critically analyze the use of the verb “have” in the writing of undergraduates whose L1 is Sinhalese, with a view to facilitating student centered learning. Ninety writing samples, written in a time span of eight weeks, by thirty undergraduates who have an intermediate level of competency in English were descriptively analyzed. In the analysis, rules of L1 and target language in relation to form, for example, inflections (number, tense), negative formation and, meaning were used to interpret the learners’ use of “have” both as an auxiliary and a main verb. In identifying patterns in the use of language, those that consistently appear in all writing samples were taken into account excluding patterns that are not regular which can be performance errors. Concerning meaning, use of “have” to simulate the governing meaning; /tɪyenəvʌ/ in Sinhalese not only for possessions but also for concepts and ideas; e. g - “I have self-control”, were prominent. In terms of the use of “have” as an auxiliary verb, the common difficulty students have encountered in inflecting the verb according to the number of the subject, seemed to have roots in the influence of Sinhalese which is devoid of clearly identifiable auxiliaries compared to English.