Browsing by Author "Jayarathna, D."

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Facebook as a Platform to Develop Paragraph Writing Skills of Tertiary Level ESL Learners
(Proceedings of the Undergraduate Research Symposium (HUG 2019), Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2019) Jayarathna, D.
Facebook, being one of the most visited social media sites in the world as well as in Sri Lanka, is identified as an exceptional source of influence on language learning. Especially, Facebook groups are effective applications to incorporate into teaching writing skills which are not frequently addressed in existing Sri Lankan research. The problem of the present research is sprung from learners‟ low achievement in English writing tests, lack of motivation and confidence in writing and less interest in paperbased learning. Thus, this study was aimed to investigate the impact of adopting a Facebook group in developing descriptive and narrative paragraph writing skills for tertiary level ESL learners and their perceptions on the efficacy of using Facebook as a medium for learning. A mixed-method research design was implemented in the study as data was collected through a pre-test, post-test and five semi-structured interviews. A purposive sample of 30 intermediate level ESL learners of the University of Kelaniya who study in the first year English for Social Sciences course participated in the study during the academic year 2017/2018. By conducting the pre-test, participants were selected and a closed Facebook group was used for six weeks to identify its effects on students‟ ability to develop paragraph writing skills. Subsequently, based on the „Paragraph Hamburger Strategy‟, lessons on „descriptive‟ and „narrative‟ paragraph writing procedure were posted on the Facebook learning group. Students were expected to practice and engage actively with lessons. Findings reveal that there were statistically significant differences between scores of the pre and post-tests in favor of the post-test. Moreover, Facebook is an innovative learning setting that is appealing, motivating and full of social interactions instead of traditional teaching practices. This study serves ESL practitioners by adopting an effectual approach such as Facebook in teaching language skills to solve existing issues in the teaching sphere.
Morphological Processes of SLE In Present Day Social Media
(Proceedings of the Undergraduate Research Symposium (HUG 2018), Department of English Language Teaching, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Jayarathna, D.; Wazeer, S.; Weerawarna, N.
Sri Lankan English (SLE) has an exclusive lexical repertoire distinct from other varieties of English used in the Asian subcontinent. The study of SLE morphology in social media is relatively an understudied area in the scope of Sri Lankan English morphological processes. This research study was conducted on morphological processes of Sri Lankan English in the present day social media. The study was based on a statement by Gunesekera (2005) in her book The Postcolonial Identity of Sri Lankan English; “The most productive morphological processes in Sri Lankan English are borrowing, compounding and affixation” (p.143). Thus, this study was aimed to look for the relevance and validity of this statement to Sri Lankan social media in 2018. The research study was conducted qualitatively examining three social media domains such as Facebook, Whatsapp and Viber. For the purpose of data collection, 10-15 of Facebook memes, Whatsapp and Viber chats were obtained from individuals who consented. They were examined and words from compounding, affixation and borrowing were listed in order to spot the frequency of their usage in social media. According to the findings, majority of English speakers in Sri Lanka use Sri Lankan English lexical items in social media. Moreover, Sri Lankan English compoundings and borrowings are still frequently used in social media while affixations are not frequently used. Therefore, it can be concluded that the validity of the statement by Gunesekera (2005) is questionable in certain aspects with concern to the words used by Sri Lankans in social media domains which are built through compounding, borrowing and affixation.
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.