Undergraduate Research Symposium (HUG 2019)

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Buddhist Economic Philosophy as a guideline for country oriented Economic Growth
(Proceedings of the Undergraduate Research Symposium (HUG 2019), Department of Economics, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya. Sri Lanka, 2019) Abeyrathne, R.M.D.H.
Buddhist Economics is a branch of Buddhist philosophy originated in India 2500 years ago. Initially Buddhism was known as a religious study based on spirituality and the middle path known as (medum piliwetha) is the prescribed way towards the ultimate intention of acquiring the redeem (mokshaya). Economics is the study of economic behaviour of man who is considered to be rational in making decisions. It deals with how to maximize the profit and utility when the gievn resources are limited and fixed. The presumption is that immaterial human needs exceed material resources. At this point, the dilemma arises whether Buddhism influences Economics which focuses on local wellbeing. Therefore, this study focuses on the potential factors accelerating and influencing modern Economic targets. Buddhist teachings are for both ordinary lay man's wellbeing and for the spiritual wellbeing seekers. Accordingly, Lord Buddha has admonished on consumption (C), savings (S) and investment (I) patterns which is discussed under modern economics using theories like simple production function (Y=C +S), Harrod Domar theory and Rostow's growth theory. Eventhough sustainable development concept, equal rights for women, green concept and happiness index are newly introduced concepts for Economics, the old Buddhist teachings have shed sufficient light on these vital factors. Despite the major belief that Buddhism makes the economic man a lethargic man, E.F. Shumarshar in his notorious book "Small is Beautiful" points out the depth of Buddhist influence on modern Economics. In furtherance of this study, secondary data resources such as relevant and approachable books, magazines and reliable websites will be referred and a comparative study will be done depending on the previous Buddhist Economic concepts and modern Economic theories.
Discussion of Love through the Setting of Emily Bronte‟s “Wuthering Heights”
(Proceedings of the Undergraduate Research Symposium (HUG 2019), Department of English, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2019) Hewa, S.
Emily Bronte‟s novel “Wuthering Heights” revolves around the unique romantic relationship between Catherine and Heathcliff. The landscape of the lonely moorlands of Yorkshire acts as a central image to which the plot and the characters are directly linked. The representation of love by Emily Bronte is intricately based on this evocative setting of the moorlands. It also serves as an ideal tool to portray the main characters of Catherine and Heathcliff. It becomes impossible to separate these two characters from each other and the nature around them from which they seem to draw life. Bronte merges the characters with the setting to show the interwoven nature of their lives. The inner qualities of Catherine and Heathcliff become a reflection of the raw, unbridled nature of the moorlands. The intensity of their relationship is created due to the perfect desolation of the moors where the two characters are allowed to form an intimate connection which transcends the physical bond. The objective of the study is to prove that there exists a relationship between the setting of the novel and the unconventional romance of Catherine and Heathcliff. The ethereal quality of their relationship which goes beyond the traditional notions of love and affection is discussed through this study by analysing the significance of the setting used by Bronte. Secondary materials such as journal articles and research papers were used to substantiate the argument. The inclusion of subthemes such as revenge, identity, conflict between nature and culture, solitude and social class in discussing the central theme of love makes this novel unique. It is the backdrop of the moorlands that allows Bronte to discuss an unconventional aspect of love thereby elucidating the importance of the setting in “Wuthering Heights”.
Challenges of Translating Newspapers from Sinhala to English: With Reference to Political News
(Proceedings of the Undergraduate Research Symposium (HUG 2019), Department of , Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2019) Rathnamalala, R.I.B.S.U.
Within the spectrum of genres in news media, this study aims at print media (newspapers) and on sub genres called „news features‟ and „news articles‟ based on politics. In the journalistic field, especially in the field of news translation the translator plays a major role. It is important as the translator has a responsibility to reveal the current political affairs of the country to the target readers through the view of the writer. Newspapers can reach a large audience and can have an impact on public opinion on politics as it plays a major role in publishing comments and therefore, the terms and phrases should be used carefully.This study focuses on political news and political news feature translations from Sinhala to English. The objective of this study was to highlight the significant features that a political news and political news feature translation comprices. The required data was collected through observations and discussions. The gathered data was critically analysed under two separate sectors; news articles and news features based on politics. As per the analysis, it was found that the political news translation is greatly influenced by the historical, sociological and political environment. The news translator sometimes found it difficult to translate some political news features and articles as there are specific styles, terminology and cultural context used. Furthermore, it was found that a news translator should have a sound knowledge in history, politics and current social affairs in addition to the source and target language knowledge specially when translating political news features and articles. Therefore, in addition to the language knowledge and skills, the knowledge in history, politics and sociology also pave the path to successful political news and feature translations.
How does film score of a movie affect the success of a movie?
(Proceedings of the Undergraduate Research Symposium (HUG 2019), Department of Fine Arts, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2019) Senevirathne, N.
A film score (also known as background music, film soundtrack, film music, screen composition, screen music, or incidental music) is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score forms part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects, and comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to enhance the dramatic narrative and the emotional impact of the scenes. Music in films achieves a number of things. It establishes setting, it creates atmosphere, it calls attention to elements, it reinforces or foreshadows narrative developments, it gives meaning to a character's actions or translates their thoughts, and it creates emotion. The main objective of this study is to examine the fact that how does the film score of a movie makes a bigger impact on the success of a movie. Therefore for this study, I chose the movie Bohemian Rhapsody ( directed by Bryan Singer ) which won the Academy awards for best sound editing as well as for best sound mixing in the year 2019. Bohemian Rhapsody is a biographical drama film about Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of the British rock band Queen released in the year 2018. John Ottman, a frequent collaborator of Singer, edited the film's soundtrack. For this study, I chose content analysis as the research methodology and my conclusion is the film score of Bohemian Rhapsody played the main role to develop the story and the message of this film.
Examining the Impact of Video Feedback as a Teacher Feedback Method in ESL Learners‟ Paragraph Writing
(Proceedings of the Undergraduate Research Symposium (HUG 2019), Department of English Language Teaching, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2019) Thennakoon, B.N.
Feedback provision is a significant task of English as a Second Language teachers. Yet, there is a continuing dispute over the efficacy of feedback. Even though teacher written feedback is the most frequently used teacher feedback form, studies have found that it is disadvantageous for certain reasons. Hence, this experimental study investigated the impact of video feedback as a teacher feedback method in ESL learners‟ paragraph writing. To explore whether video feedback has an impact on learners‟ paragraph writing, the study explored answers to the following research areas such as whether students who receive video feedback report higher levels of correction into their written work as compared to students who receive written feedback, learners‟ perceptions towards video feedback in ESL writing and whether video feedback can be an alternative for written feedback in teaching writing. The sample included 20 undergraduates in the Industrial Management degree course at the University of Kelaniya. Over a five-week period, the control and the experimental groups are provided with teacher written feedback and video feedback respectively. In addition, a questionnaire is administered to the experimental group to explore their perceptions of video feedback. The extent of feedback incorporation is analyzed through SPSS statistics and data driven coding. The findings imply that learners who receive video feedback have incorporated higher levels of correction into their writings than learners who receive written feedback. The study confirms that teacher feedback delivered in the form of videos is more effective than written feedback when ESL learners revise their written work in process. Therefore, it is eligible for classroom practice and for future research.
Enhancement of Sri Lankan English vocabulary in Sri Lankan short stories and poems in English: A Morphological Analysis
(Proceedings of the Undergraduate Research Symposium (HUG 2019), Department of English Language Teaching, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2019) Wicrkamage, N. P.; Ekanyake, E.M.A.N.; Welgama, N.N.
Sri Lankan English (SLE) was born through the contact between Standard British English (SBE) and the vernacular languages of Sri Lanka; Sinhala and Tamil. In the contemporary society, SLE has become the high yielding way of writing short stories and poems which are based on Sri Lankan contexts as a consequence of the prodigious use of English by Sinhala – English bilingual population in Sri Lanka. Thus, the primary objective of this study is to identify and analyze the enhancement of SLE in Sri Lankan short stories and poems in English by referring to five morphological processes. Therefore, this study aims at emphasizing the fact that the Sri Lankan writers in English tend to integrate the lexical items from Sinhala and Tamil languages in order to enhance the use of SLE lexicon in Sri Lankan literary compositions. Crucially, three short stories and three poems which comprise of SLE lexical items were selected as the sample of the study. Data gathering was done as a collaborative work by reading the selected short stories and poems in order to identify the SLE lexical items. Furthermore, a qualitative data analysis approach was implemented to identify the use of SLE lexical items in the selected sampleand they were analyzed by using charts according to the respective morphological process that they belong to. The analysis of the identified data demonstrated borrowing, hybridization, compounding, coinage, and literal translations as the most common morphological processesin the aforementioned sample while indicating borrowing as the most recurrent morphological process. Henceforth, this study investigates the manner in which the SLE morphological processes expose the Sri Lankan culture and tradition whilst playing a functional role in enhancing the lexical items of Sri Lankan short stories and poems in English.
Using English Songs and Poems to teach vocabulary for the learners of English as a Second Language
(Proceedings of the Undergraduate Research Symposium (HUG 2019), Department of English Language Teaching, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2019) Dineshika, H.K.P.
Vocabulary is an important aspect of teaching and learning a language, especially in teaching and learning a second language or a foreign language. Lexical Approach by Lewis (1993) contains a taxonomy of lexical items which shows what kind of vocabulary the learner should develop. When learning vocabulary, the aspects of pronunciation, meaning spelling and grammar should also be taught. In that case, there have been various strategies to teach and learn vocabulary in the English as a Second Language (ESL) context. This study investigated whether the use of English songs and poems to teach vocabulary for the Secondary level ESL learners enhances their vocabulary learning in the ESL classroom. This study provided an answer to the research question “To what extent do English songs and poems increase students‟ vocabulary enhancement at the secondary level?” and claimed two hypotheses a) The use of English songs in more effective in teaching vocabulary than using English poems. b) There is a significant difference in using songs and poems in grade 6 than in grade 10. Twenty-five students from each class from grade 6 and grade 10 at H/ WeeraketiyaRajapaksha Central College participated in the study. The data was collected using the pretests, posttests, and delayed tests. The data was analyzed using SPSS. The findings indicated that both songs and poems have a positive effect on the enhancement of vocabulary knowledge at the secondary level. In both grades, songs are more effective in teaching vocabulary than poems. In general, the findings will indicative of the effectiveness of the usage of English songs and poems to teach and learn vocabulary for the secondary level ESL learners though teachers did not pay much attention to its usage, hence, the need of teachers‟ training on using this strategy to teach vocabulary is indicative.
A Study on how audience reception affects Professional Wrestling
(Proceedings of the Undergraduate Research Symposium (HUG 2019), Department of English, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya. Sri Lanka, 2019) Wickramasinghe, H.
The success of a Professional Wrestling or any entertainment medium depends entirely on its reception by the audience. Without listening to the audience‟s expectations the show cannot exist. Therefore, audience reception plays a major role in Professional Wrestling storylines. While audience reception has been very predictable and manipulatable in the past, the audience reception in contemporary wrestling has turned very unpredictable and confusing for producers of Wrestling shows. There are varied reasons for changing audience receptions among Professional Wrestling fans which span from entertainment values to cultural, social, gender and athletic values of people. This research is concerned with analyzing and understanding some of the prominent changes in values that affect the audience reception of Professional Wrestling and how they have refashioned Professional Wrestling as a product. The critical framework for the research is Stuart Hall‟s Reception Theory which helps us understand the influence of audience manipulation (Preferred Reading), the rejection of preferred readings (Oppositional Reading) and compromisation between dominant and oppositional readings by the audience (Negotiated Reading) in Professional Wrestling. Furthermore, changing audience reception in Professional Wrestling will be discussed by comparing and contrasting audience reception to traditional (Old-School) and modern (NewSchool) methods of professional wrestling since their entertainment ideals have had differing receptions in the past and in the present. To conduct this analysis, the research will use analyzed examples from wrestling promotions such as WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment), AEW (All Elite Wrestling), NJPW (New Japan Professional Wrestling) and the independent circuit. In conclusion, the deeper intention of this research is to understand how changing values, knowledge bases and perceptions are influencing audience reception in Professional Wrestling and how they have fashioned the changes in the business of Professional Wrestling.
Morphological Processes Used in Text Messages
(Proceedings of the Undergraduate Research Symposium (HUG 2019), Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2019) Wijesinghe, U.D.T.M.; Jayarathne, V.; Hewage, H.O.W.
Sri Lankan English (SLE) has an exclusive repertoire distinct from other varieties of English used in the Asian subcontinent. SLE morphology used in social media has been discussed in many research studies. This current research study was conducted to identify the morphological processes of Sri Lankan English used in text messaging. This study was conducted to identify the validity of the statement, “The most productive morphological processes in Sri Lankan English are borrowing, compounding and affixation” stated by Gunasekara (2005) in the book “The Postcolonial Identity of Sri Lankan English”. A mixed method approach was employed to obtain data. In the data collection 50 text messages were collected from fifty participants and the selected words are categorized under 10 different morphological processes. Thereby, the most common and productive morphological processes were identified via qualitative basis. According to the findings all the participants use at least one morphological process in their text messages. Moreover Sri Lankan English borrowings are frequently used by the participants and surprisingly the majority of the participants use neologism in their text messages. Yet, the effectiveness of these morphological processes is open for discussion.
Reflective Teaching: Exploring The Influence Of The Curriculum On Language Acquisition
(Proceedings of the Undergraduate Research Symposium (HUG 2019), Department of English Language Teaching, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2019) Almeida, S.; Abeythunga, M.
Curriculum design has a direct impact on the process of teaching and learning. In Sri Lankan education structure, English is included as a compulsory subject through educational reforms, yet it is visible that fluency and proficiency are limited despite the heavy curriculum. The possibility of completing specific language skills within the predicted time is questionable since the learner's needs and the proficiency level is different from one learner to another. Reflective teaching which facilitates the teacher to perceive the leaner‟s proficiency level and explore the different teaching strategies can be suggested as a solution for problems in the classroom (Disu, 2017). However, the problem of the efficiency of the curriculum in language acquisition prevails. This study explores the influence of the curriculum on language acquisition of English as a Second Language, among Learners according to teachers' perception. This study demonstrates how curriculum design has affected language acquisition related to different language skills and functions. To achieve the objectives of this study, 30 reflective summaries from 10 undergraduates from the University of Kelaniya who completed the Internship in Teaching English as a Second Language degree program were collected and a questionnaire was administered to gather information about the alternative methods in which the student teachers used to acquire language during their secondary education period. The collected data were analyzed through mixed methods approach. The findings of the study outlined the amount of influence the curriculum has on English language teaching and learning and the importance of identifying learner needs and the proficiency level before applying any teaching methods. Furthermore, this study attempts providing an analysis of the influence of the curriculum on English Language Teaching (ELT) and the different teaching strategies the teachers could use in a language classroom (Piaget, 1958 & Vygotsky, 1978).
Error Analysis of “shi…de” Sentence Pattern on Chinese Major Students of University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka
(Proceedings of the Undergraduate Research Symposium (HUG 2019), Department of Modern Language, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2019) Udagedara, U.D.M.
In modern Chinese, the sentence "shi……de" is an affirmative sentence pattern which emphasizes time, place or manner etc. It is a widely used sentence pattern in both spoken and written discourses, yet the frequency of foreign students' mistakes in acquiring the sentence pattern is high. Therefore, the "shi……de" sentence pattern should be given much emphasis in teaching Chinese as a foreign language. In this study, researcher discusses the errors in “shi….de” sentence pattern used by Sri Lankan students who study Chinese as a foreign language at University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. This study is straightforward because many students find it difficult to use Chinese “shi….de” sentence pattern. Thus the study was focused on finding out the reasons, why the students feel that the Chinese “shi….de” sentence pattern is very difficult to learn. The study also attempts to find out solutions for the students‟ incorrect usage of Chinese “shi….de” sentence pattern. A survey was conducted based on a questionnaire which included ten major question categories to identify the students‟ knowledge in Chinese sentence patterns, their familiarity with the “shi…..de” sentence pattern, study sources and knowledge in Chinese grammar patterns. It was identified that the Chinese “shi….de” sentence pattern is very difficult for most of the students. This is a salient fact to discuss the problems students encounter regarding the “shi….de” sentence pattern. So the present study caters straightforward examination of the students‟ knowledge in the use of “shi…de” sentence pattern. It is important to highlight the reasons for their problems and to facilitate the students to learn “shi….de” sentence pattern correctly.
A Study on Collectivism and Individualism in the Movie The Farewell by Lulu Wang
(Proceedings of the Undergraduate Research Symposium (HUG 2019), Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya. Sri Lanka, 2019) Kandanaarachchi, K.A.S.; Wijayabandara, H.M.T.
The Farewell is a movie about the constant battle between Collectivistic and Individualistic values of two cultures, based on the true story of the director and the writer; Lulu Wang. The movie locates Billi, the Chinese-American protagonist, torn between two cultural values and ideologies in a difficult position as her family and relatives decide to organize a pseudo wedding to visit their grandmother who is unaware that she is suffering from cancer, thus embodying a collective effort. The aim of this study is to depict the philosophies of Collectivism and Individualism in the movie The Farewell, to shed light on how globalization operates to make identities fluid. The paper presents how identity becomes a liminal factor in a globalized society in relation to the theories of Collectivism and Individualism. Collectivism refers to the goals of the collective that are considered more important than the goals of the individual, whereas Individualism identifies that the goals of the individual are more important than those of the collective. These perspectives have been recognized as political theories that are associated with Communism and Liberalism accordingly. In addition, both these aspects are portrayed as cultural identities over time. The study was predominantly based on qualitative analysis and uses the movie; The Farewell and review of literature as the primary form of methodology while identifying the theories pertaining to the analysis. Scholarly articles written on Collectivism and Individualism have been used as secondary sources. Findings of the research concluded that both Collectivism and Individualism are needed in order to exist in a globalized society.
Analysis of Translation Errors in Student's translations (English-Sinhala)
(Proceedings of the Undergraduate Research Symposium (HUG 2019), Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya. Sri Lanka, 2019) Thennakoon, T.M.H.T.
Translating a sentence can be a challenging process as it should imply the context that the original language wants to imply and it must have the same meaning. If a translator cannot translate the message accurately, the readers will have difficulty in understanding the message. There can be many translation errors even in translations done by professional translators. So it is crucial to translate perfectly. These errors should be corrected at the beginning. That means, if it is possible to regularize the translation errors made by students, it will help to make a good translator in the future. The research study aims to describe and analyse the kinds of translation errors in students‟ translations. There are 3 objectives of this research study. Those 3 objectives can be formulated as (1) what kind of translation errors are made by students? (2) what is the most dominant error in translation? (3) what are the causes for those errors and strategies to overcome them?. A quantitative method was used in the research study. Twenty students were taken for this reasearch study and they were given an English text to translate into Sinhala. Many errors were found in the process and those errors were categorized into five; less precision or less accuracy, addition, omission, less cohesive, misusing of phrases. The results of the research study revealed that the most dominant error was, misusing the phrases. The causes of errors found in this study were, less awareness of the translation procedure and the translation theories, lack of language knowledge, carelessness and confusion. In conclusion, discussing the confusions and problematic points with an expert in the field, improving language knowledge, studying translation theories and procedures proved vital in avoiding translation errors.
Effectiveness of Rubrics Used for Assessing Presentation Skills of the Undergraduates of Bachelors‟ in Business Management Degree Program of the University of Kelaniya
(Proceedings of the Undergraduate Research Symposium (HUG 2019), Department of English Language Teaching, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2019) Randhuli, I.
In the past few years there has been a considerable shift of teaching process where the “learner-centered‟‟ teaching is recognized as being significant and critical to learning. Along with that, in the domain of assessment, there is a role reversal of the teacher and the learner which implies for the necessity of improving the skills, the learner must be aware of what aspects to improve. Similarly in assessing “presentation skills”, wherein mostly a holistic mark and feedback are the only determiners of assessment, rubrics have a remarkable impact on the „improvement continuum‟. The present study addresses the gap; the potential of a rubric being used as a part of assessment for learning rather than its traditional use of being the method of assessment of and after learning. Hence, the objectives of the study are (i) to examine the accessibility and userfriendliness of the rubrics to evaluate the candidates (ii) to evaluate the effect of the type of feedback provided using rubric to the candidates after performance (whether it is individual or group, which criteria of rubric are being commented on). (iii) to investigate the extent of familiarity of the candidates with the rubrics and its impact on their performance (whether the familiarity is proportional to the obtained marks). The sample is 15 undergraduates of Bachelors in Business Management (Marketing) in the University of Kelaniya and the visiting lecturer who is coordinating the course “People‟s Skills”- which decides their internship opportunities depending on their score in the course. The rationale for selecting the sample group is the importance of presentation skill for marketing undergraduates and the importance of score in order to get selected to the internship program at Unilever and Nestle offered to a limited number of students. Semi-structured interviews were conducted along with class observations and analysis of marks sheets for the division of marks. The data was analyzed using Thematic Analysis Framework.
Morphological Processes of Sri Lankan English in English newspapers in Sri Lanka
(Proceedings of the Undergraduate Research Symposium (HUG 2019), Department of English Language Teaching, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2019) Athapaththu, A.P.B.; Hettiarachchi, S. U. J.; Wickramasinghe, W.A.D.D.U.
One of the main devices used to express different feelings and concepts of the users of a new variety of a language is new vocabulary. Sri Lankan English which is identified as a distinct variety of English has a rich vocabulary which resulted from English coming into contact with other languages in Sri Lanka. One of the key aspects of the study of derivational morphology is to identify processes involved in the creation of new words. Sri Lankan English vocabulary has been enriched by the continuous addition of new words formed through a number of morphological processes. The contribution of print media in providing space for the creative use of language is remarkable. The aim of this study is to examine the contribution of the morphological processes of Sri Lankan English in the production of articles in English newspapers in Sri Lanka thereby expanding the Sri Lankan English vocabulary. Furthermore, this study investigates the use of different morphological processes of Sri Lankan English used in fourteen English newspapers which consist of two varieties of daily English newspapers and two weekend English newspapers, collected within one week. The findings of the study are presented qualitatively after a careful textual analysis. This study reveals morphological processes such as borrowing, compounding, semantic creations, loan translations in addition to other identified morphological processes. The results of the study further reveal that borrowing is the most commonly used morphological process, and hence selected English newspapers in Sri Lanka have proved borrowing as a productive morphological process along with other creative strategies of generating new words. The results lend ideas for further research in identifying the contribution made by print media to develop and expand the vocabulary of a new variety of English such as Sri Lankan English.
The promotion of Sri Lankan English Morphology through Social Media
(Proceedings of the Undergraduate Research Symposium (HUG 2019), Department of English Language Teaching, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2019) Jayasinghe, N.; Jayatilaka, T.; Wickramasinghe, S.
The purpose of this research is to establish that Sri Lankan English (SLE) is widely used on social media and in pop culture, which thereby results in the promotion and avocation of SLE Morphology among the general public. The widespread usage of the internet and social media leads to popular social media content being created in multiple languages. The internet and social media allow people to engage in creative language play, especially when expressing emotions and reactions through words. This research focuses on how this social media trend has to lead to Sinhala and English code-mixing when creating content, what aspects of SLE Morphology is prominent in such content, and how much content encourages and advocates the usage of SLE in both spoken and written content on public platforms. This study was conducted with a sample group of 50 Sri Lankan youth aged 18 to 25 years, living predominantly in Colombo. The research was based on popular social media content that is currently trending in Sri Lanka and was limited to the content of Sri Lankan origin. The sample group of 50 participants was given a questionnaire that tested their awareness of SLE and current social media trends as well as the impact such social media content has on their usage of SLE. Thereafter, four widely used social media platforms were identified, and popular text and video-based content shared on public forums were gathered over a period of two weeks. The model of morphological analysis adopted in this study is based on Senaratne‟s analysis of the morphology of Sinhalese and English code-mixing. This research showed that SLE content is popular on social media and that the youth of Sri Lanka employs SLE morphology when creating content for social media, thereby promoting SLE among the masses.
Productive morphological processes in Sri Lankan English
(Proceedings of the Undergraduate Research Symposium (HUG 2019), Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2019) Katugampala, K.H.; Maduwanthi, M.L.S.; Rajasekara, W.M.V.; Madhurangi, P.S.
The use of morphological processes in Sri Lankan English (SLE) is a prominent issue in these days. The aim of this empirical research is to identify productive morphological processes in Sri Lankan English. There is a growing interest among researchers in this field as it has massively affected language change. The preliminary data was collected through Facebook with the consent of relevant Facebook users as it is the most diversely approached social media platform in Sri Lanka. This study hypothesized that borrowing and abbreviations were the productive morphological processes in Sri Lankan English. Hundred comments were allocated out of twenty five posts that were chosen randomly. This research study was designed under both qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze observational data. Productive morphological processes were selected through critical analysis based on the percentages received by each process. The findings of the study revealed that borrowing and abbreviations are the widely used productive morphological processes in Sri Lankan English while expressions, duplication and tags have considerable use. It also proved that there is a language change. It is recommended to widen the scope of research study by expanding the range of data with other social media platforms in Sri Lanka such as “Viber”, “Whatsapp”, “imo” and “Instagram”. Widening the scope of data and using other existing morphological processes will be helpful to enhance the quality of the research study.
A Study of Chinese Gift Giving Culture
(Proceedings of the Undergraduate Research Symposium (HUG 2019), Department of Modern Language, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya. Sri Lanka, 2019) Thushari, L.K.N.
Culture is an important aspect in Chinese society and Chinese people respect their culture. Gifts are the most important social exchange method of human society. China has a gift giving culture and it has a long history. It is a main part of Chinese culture. By giving a gift, Chinese people express their feelings and to enhance their friendship. When Chinese people are attending a ceremony, they bring gifts. China has numerous ceremonies such as Dragon Boat Festival, Lantern Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, New Year Festival. In these occasions they exchange gifts. Their gift culture is really unique. Chinese gift giving culture has some of amazing facts. Their gift giving culture has customs, gift giving etiquette and taboo gifts. The research is based on my personal experience. Many Sri Lankan students go to China for studies and most of the foreign students lack knowledge about Chinese taboo gifts and gift culture. Students in Sri Lanka learning Chinese, are also unaware about Chinese gift giving culture. As Sri Lanka has many business connections with China, when communicating with them, we should have knowledge about their gift giving culture, otherwise it can badly affect the relationship. If we know about their gift giving culture it is really convenient to communicate with them. The main focus of the study is on the Chinese taboo gifts. Chinese gift giving culture has etiquettes. Chinese taboo gift is an important part of Chinese gift giving culture. When Chinese people exchange gifts, they pay attention to the taboo gifts, so when foreign people give gifts to Chinese people, they also must pay attention to these taboo gifts. Umbrellas, watches, pictures of gods, wallets, shoes, and hats are some examples for taboo gifts in Chinese culture, they have some amazing reasons to avoid these gifts. My research aims to discover what gifts are considered as taboos in Chinese gift giving culture, gift giving etiquettes and the taboo gift and etiquette in ancient china. Questionnaire and documentary analysis were the two methods used to collect data in this research. Questionnaires were distributed among Chinese major students in University of Kelaniya. It was noticed that they do not have the knowledge about Chinese gift giving etiquette and taboo gifts. The purpose of the study is to give more knowledge about Chinese gift giving culture to Chinese learners in Sri Lanka.
Representation of women in the context of marriage depicted in Sri Lankan memes
(Proceedings of the Undergraduate Research Symposium (HUG 2019), Department of Modern Languages, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2019) Wathsala, H.M.S.; De Zoysa, T.R.
Women being always subjected to various portrayals in media, their image is now the source of new age humor; Internet Memes. Widespread all over in the social media platforms, these memes express any aspect of the individual, society or daily life savored in comedy, thus being appealingly influential on a vast readership. The main objective of this research study is to explore the representation of women in the context of marriage as depicted in Sri Lankan memes. The importance lies on its aim to dissect the image of the woman through a critical perception on memes which are rather taken for jokes but as entities highly reflective of typical Sri Lankan culture and attitudes towards women. The methodology involves a sample of randomly selected 50 memes about marriage from several Facebook meme pages collected within 2 weeks. Taken into observation, all the memes were categorized into 2 phases of marriage; choice of the bride and role of the wife. A thematic analysis is conducted considering the memes‟ textual and pictorial content. According to the findings of this research study, memes continue to define the woman‟s image within the traditional framework as the subordinate sex. It is remarkable to find the persistent prevalence of cultural practices and beliefs such as demand of dowry in marriage. The memetic humor is generated on the basis of stereotypical woman behavior; fickle, superficial and traditional gender roles; husband dependent and responsible housewife. In conclusion, under the disguise of humor, woman-centered discrimination and sexism are conveyed through memes in a less offensive way. The representation of woman is still stereotyped and traditionalized even though Sri Lankan society and the new age media have been labelled as “modernized”.
An Investigation of Motivation for English Language Learning among First Year Undergraduates of Social Sciences after Following the English for Social Sciences Course at the University of Kelaniya
(Proceedings of the Undergraduate Research Symposium (HUG 2019), Department of English Language Teaching, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya. Sri Lanka, 2019) Maheesha, .C.; Ponnamperuma, D.; Fernando, E.
Motivation plays a significant role in English language learning process as it drives learners to learn the language. According to Gardner (1985), motivation has long been identified as one of the main factors affecting English language learning. The objective of this study is to identify the level and the type (instrumental or integrative) of motivation for English language learning among the Social Sciences undergraduates after following the English for Social Sciences course in the first semester. A quantitative study was carried out among 40 first year undergraduates selected from the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Kelaniya. The primary data for the study was collected using a modified motivational questionnaire, which was designed based on the format of Gardner‟s Attitude Motivation Test Battery (AMTB). Data collected from the questionnaires were analyzed using a five – point Likert scale to find out the level and type of motivation of the Social Sciences undergraduates. The findings of the study reveal that out of the 40 students about 75% of the students are motivated after following the English for Social Sciences course. Moreover, it was also found that the undergraduates are more “instrumentally” motivated to learn English. This study will assist in recommending some useful motivational learning implications to accelerate the motivation for English language learning.