Browsing by Author "Amarasinghe, H."

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Sequencing of grammar contents and its impact on achieving the intended learning outcomes: An analysis of English textbooks used in Sri Lankan government schools from grade 6 - 8
(Proceedings of the Undergraduate Research Symposium (HUG 2019), Department of English language teaching, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2019) Amarasinghe, H.
The English knowledge of a majority of the school students in Sri Lanka is not up to the expected standard, this is a well-known fact. The analysis of O/L results of the 2015 English language paper by the Examinations Department shows that the percentage of students who have obtained a weak pass (W) for the O/L English paper from the school candidates is 55.44% and from the private candidates is 53.29% which is more than half of the number of candidates who have sat for the exam. Since the ordinary level paper is based on the content of the textbooks from grade 6 to 11, I intend to conduct this research study on the grammar sequencing and its effectiveness using the textbooks from grade 6 to 8. The objectives of this research can be identified as investigating the impact of sequencing of grammar lesson on the leaner's ability to use English in target language use domains accurately and effectively, and the perceptions of the teachers, students, and the content developers towards the grammar lessons in the English Textbooks from grade 6 to 8. The finding of this research study would aid in providing some useful suggestions to improve the quality of the grammar lessons in English text books. The methodology of this research study includes a mixed methods approach. A content analysis of the text books, a test paper developed for the selected three grades and interviews conducted with content developers and English teachers will be analysed. For the purpose of this research study, 10 students from each of these grades were given a test that was designed according to the competency levels given in the syllabi of these grades. The results of the test indicate that the students are somewhat capable of understanding the grammar rules and answering questions based on them, yet when it comes to speaking skills, they lack the ability to use the language accurately. This is an ongoing research study which is still on progress. Therefore the final findings of this research require the interviews conducted with teachers and content developers.
Target language or the first language? Employing first language in teaching grammar for undergraduates in a second language classroom
(Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2022) Amarasinghe, H.; Jayarathna, D.; Gamage, C.
The impact of first language instruction in second language teaching and learning is a debatable area of research in which different scholars hold different views on the pedagogical usage of first language instruction in English as a Second Language (ESL) classrooms. In most ESL classrooms in Sri Lanka, teachers tend to follow an only English policy, where they deliver the lesson in English, especially grammar while aggravating the difficulty in comprehension. Additionally, students encounter a dilemma in using L1 in ESL classrooms in the higher education sector due to the absence of a solid conception of the medium of communication. Hence, this research is focused on the impact of first language instruction in Sri Lankan ESL classrooms. It is expected to examine the effectiveness of using L1 instruction in the ESL classroom to teach grammar and the perception of students regarding their preferred language of instruction. A mixed method was adopted to achieve the research objectives of the study. A purposive sample consisting of 60 first-year intermediate-level learners at the Faculty of Management and Finance of the University of Ruhuna was selected. These learners studied in the English Language Intensive Course (ELIC) conducted in their first academic year to cover all four language skills. Moreover, the students in the sample ranged from ages 21 to 23 and their First Language (L1) was Sinhala. Among them, 30 students were randomly assigned to the experimental group while the other 30 participants were allotted to the controlled group. To examine the impact of L1 in teaching grammar in an ESL classroom, the lessons on perfect tenses were prepared by the researchers. A pre-test was conducted with both groups at the beginning of the research to measure their existing knowledge of perfect tenses. Subsequently, the experimental group was given grammar instruction using both English and Sinhala languages whereas the controlled group was taught using only English. The grammar lessons were conducted for two weeks within 16 hours allocating 8 hours per group. Later, the same grammar test given at the beginning was administered to both groups as the post-test to measure the impact of using L1 instruction in the ESL classroom. Additionally, a Google form questionnaire including 5 open-ended questions was distributed to collect the perception on employing L1 in ESL classrooms. Subsequently, the data analysis methods include Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and thematic analysis. Findings reveal that the students of the experimental group who were exposed to both English and Sinhala instruction have made a significant improvement in their post-test results rather than the students in the controlled group. Moreover, the perspectives of students affirmed that the use of the first language by the teachers in the ESL classroom creates a non-threatening learning environment where they are able to grasp the language easily while the adherence to only English policy by teachers generates more complexities in comprehension. Therefore, this research suggests that using L1 instruction in ESL classrooms can be effective in fostering a second language.