ICLSL 2015

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://repository.kln.ac.lk/handle/123456789/10221

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An Investigation into the Popularity of Hindi as a Foreign Language among Sri Lankan Students
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Chandrasekara, P.V.S.
Hindi is spoken by more than 26 crore of people all over the world. With the development of technology fonts, web sites, online reading and blogs are available in Hindi medium. Though Sri Lankans do not use Hindi as an official language it is popular among students. Hindi is taught as a foreign language in schools, universities and cultural centers as well. Annually number of students go to India to study Hindi. University of Kelaniya offers special degree in Hindi and conduct certificate courses for internal students. Indian Cultural Center(ICC), Bandaranaike Center for International Studies(BCIS) and Indira Gandhi National Open University(IGNOU) conduct diploma and certificate courses to students. The main objective of this paper is to identify reasons for the popularity of Hindi. The methodology used were questionnaire survey method and interviews. Information was gathered from students of internal and external degree programs, certificate and diploma courses in University of Kelaniya, ICC, BCIS and IGUOU. This research focuses on student perception of 3 key areas: spoken ability, literature and teaching methods. The findings of this research may provide suggestions to improve foreign language courses in general. This study further recognizes the following: influence of the media, problems in learning and teaching Hindi as a secondary language and the cultural relations between two countries.
The Role of Psycholinguistics Knowledge in Improving Proficiency in L2
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Ravindran, S.
During the last two decades listening comprehension has received considerable attention, in the fields of applied linguistics, psycholinguistics and second language pedagogy. Listening is a complex cognitive process, in which the listener constructs the meaning using both the linguistic and non-linguistic knowledge. This study attempts to find out how psycholinguistic knowledge facilitates in improving proficiency in L2 listening skills. It is hypothesized that the psycholinguistic elements which are involved in listening skills could be introduced to both the teachers and learners to obtain mastery in the skills. A convenient sample of forty five, first year students from the Faculty of Arts were randomly selected as sample fro the study. The data collection was done by questionnaire survey and teachers’ observation. A qualitative analysis was carried out to gather information and to analyze data. Through the analysis it was found that the role of Psycholinguistic knowledge in improving proficiency in L2 listening skills is indispensable to obtain proficiency in listening skills. This study recommends that the learners need to familiarize the psycholinguistic elements which are indispensable for the improvement in the listening skill proficiency. Finally the undergraduates of the university with less proficiency in listening skills could be facilitated and enabled to improve their proficiency in listening skills.
Correlational Study – The Role of Receptive Language Skills in the Acquisition of Productive Skills; Teaching English as a Second Language (ESL)
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Lakshani, W.G.J.P.
As Krashen suggests in his “input hypothesis” productive language skills (speaking and writing) evolve from the receptive skills (listening and reading) and, thus, they should be given more attention in the acquisition of a second language (Krashen, 1985). However, there is only limited research-based evidence to prove this correlation between the receptive and productive language skills. The primary question intended to find answers for in the present research was if effective receptive language skills reinforce better productive skills, in learning English as a second language. Thus, in order to explore any possible correlations between these two categories methodically, corresponding test scores of fifty ESL learners were analyzed in the research. Test scores of undergraduates in a placement test conducted for English were recorded for all four skills respectively. In order to avoid significant deviations in the score ranges the marks of students categorized under the same proficiency level; intermediate, were taken in to account. The scores of the two receptive skills; reading, listening and the productive skills; writing, speaking were totaled separately and an average mark for each category of skills was given for every student. Finally, the average scores each student has got for the two varieties of skills were analyzed using Pearson correlation co-efficient measures. A moderate positive correlation was found out between the average scores for the receptive and productive skills in the student sample. Conclusively, it is apparent that the findings of the research solidify the notion, that sound proficiency in the receptive skills paves the way for better writing and speaking skills in learning English a second language.
Variation in French Interlanguage in Sri Lanka: a Sociolinguistic Study of the Use of Subject Pronouns nous and on to Express 1st Person Plural
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Gunawardena, C.
The behavior of non-native speakers in relation to sociolinguistic variables has been the focus of many studies (Trevise & Noyau, 1984; Dewaele & Regan, 2002; Regan, 1995, 1996, 1997; Dewaele, 2004; Sax 2001), but the previous studies on interlanguage have focused on corpora derived mainly from immersion students who speak European languages. There have been, to date, virtually no variationist studies on the use of French sociolinguistic variables by Sinhala- Speaking advanced learners. The present study examined the sociolinguistic variable: the use of on and nous to express 1st person plural in a corpus of advanced French interlanguage produced by 15 learners. Fifteen Sinhala- speaking advanced learners were recruited from the University of Kelaniya. The researcher recorded the participants’ conversations in an informal setting. Informal speech was collected in one-to-one conversation between the researcher and informants. It is well know that informal speech style can best be obtained in spontaneous speech (Coveney 1996), therefore the researcher asked questions related to the informants’ immediate environment. Informants were recorded using a simple voice recorder and each recording lasted about thirty minutes. Since it is time-consuming, the researcher transcribed only the occurrences of variables which he intended to analyze. The fundamental research question of this project was: to what extent does variation in the speech of L2 users of French in Sri Lanka reflect the patterns of variation found among L1 users of French? Comparing the native and non-native speakers’ behavior in relation to sociolinguistic variable provided important findings useful for teachers, students and curriculum designers. The researcher found that the use of on is very low among Sri Lankan learners of French whereas those who have spent time in a Francophone country had a higher usage of on.
Problems Encountered by Students in French in Learning Grammar and the Possibility of a Student Oriented Approach into Teaching of Grammar
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Rajapaksha, U.D.
The principal objective of learning a language is to express ideas or sentiments among humans. Whether the communication is oral or written, knowledge of grammar plays an important role when it comes to language learning.The students in French at the University of Kelaniya have been learning French since Grade 12 at school for Advanced Level, sometimes even at a younger age; before entering the university level. Thus, they are expected to demonstrate a high competency in French. The focus is on determining whether the students in French as a Foreign Language at University of Kelaniya, find it difficult to communicate in grammatically correct French. In the case of affirmative, the researcher intends to explore the possible reasons and secondly suggest a possible solution for the situation.The researcher plans to carry out the research by first identifying one grammar area which is considered difficult. Secondly, the researcher will study their reasons for declaring so and thirdly provide suggestions to improve the level of grammar of the students. The primary objective is to identify the presence of a difficulty in expressing oneself in communicating in French. In case of a lack of knowledge or competency in grammar, the researcher intends to evaluate what reasons are behind this communication failure and intends to provide possible suggestions to them. The research is based upon interviews and sample writings collected from students. The lecturers in French at the University of Kelaniya will be interviewed with open and closed questions, thus adding both quantitative and qualitative value to the study. Finally, I hope to present a sample lesson of a selected difficult grammar part in the suggested approach.The findings of the research would serve both students and teachers in French, in improving the quality of Teaching French as a Foreign Language.
A Study on the Relationship between Literary Translation and Socio-linguistics: With Special Reference to ‘giraya’ and its Translation /girəjə/
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Bamunusinghe, K.
Linguistics is the scientific study of language which includes several other branches which are important for individuals who are interested in language studies. Among these branches applied linguistics is of a great importance since it applies the theories and teachings of linguistics to the practical world. Translation is one of the most important parts of applied linguistics and it is always interrelated with the practical world. On the other hand socio- linguistics is another important branch of linguistics which studies the functioning of a language in a society. Literary translation is simply defined as the translation of literary pieces of work such as fiction and non-fiction which are associated with literature and it is quite a proven fact that the literary translator has not only to tackle the language but also the cultures of both SL and TL. In that sense it is apparent that the literary translator deals not only with the language but also with the society and culture of both the SL and TL. Similarly, socio- linguistics studies the functioning of a language in a society. When paying close attention to literary translation and socio- linguistics it is noticeable that both these phenomena are related with the society and culture. This study will utilize the novel Giraya written by Punyakante Wijenaike and its translation by Cyril C.Perera in extracting the necessary instances and examples in assessing the socio-linguistic phenomena and the other related phenomena which indicate a close relationship with the society. On the other hand the book, A Textbook of Translation by Peter Newmark will be used in identifying the non-sociolinguistic phenomena that correlates with the society. In that sense this will be a theoretical study which is mostly based on the literature of the related fields namely translation and socio-linguistics.
Sentimental Analysis Based on Sinhala Language Social Media Updates
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Vasanthapriyan, S.
The World Wide Web plays a critical role in collecting public opinion where these opinions play an important role in making business decisions. For factual and subjective information about companies and products, analysts are turning to the Internet to gather information. Extracting public opinion is the difficult task in a country like Sri Lanka, because most of the time the language spoken is, Sinhala or Tamil rather than English. Sentimental Analysis being a major research topic in computational linguistic community is quite popular and has led building of better products, understanding user’s opinion, executing and managing of business decisions. However most of the researches never focused on South Asian languages like Sinhala, often used in Social media websites such as Face book, Twitter and etc. Motivated by Sentimental Analysis researches based on Hindi, another south Asian language, we proposed and developed a system that analyzes social media updates in Sinhala language for the sentiments. Starting with three basic sentiments; Positive, Negative and Neutral we retrieve a set of live updates based on Face book and Twitter. This data set is then deployed in to a cloud service and analyzed and give the proper output. Sinhala is a free order language compared to English which adds complexity while handling user generated content. Our finding focuses on how to build a better platform on sentimental analysis to help bloggers to stop spam, business firms to get feedback, and government firms to get urgent service requests. We hope to do more investigation on implicit factors in Sinhala language and give them as features for the models we described in our work.
Acquisition of English Prepositions in Writing by ESL Learners
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Jayasinghe, R.R.
English prepositions are difficult for ESL (English as a second language) learners mainly for two reasons: (1) The cross linguistic variations between L1 and L2 (first language and second language). (2) The polysemy of English prepositions where they are used to denote a wide range of meanings in different perspectives. Littlefield (2006) has investigated four categories of prepositions through the analysis of naturalistic speech of five English speaking first language children (aged 1;2-2;3) as follows: Adverbial prepositions [+Lexical, -Functional], Particles [-Lexical,-Functional], Semi-lexical prepositions [+Lexical, +Functional], Functional prepositions [-Lexical, +Functional]. Littlefield also has shown that the acquisition of categories of prepositions with [–Functional] features rank higher than the categories of prepositions with [+ Functional] features. She considered as [+Lexical] those that contribute semantic content, and as [+Functional] those that are able to check Case of their complements. The present study sets to examine the acquisition of prepositions by Sinhala speaking learners of English with respect to Littlefield (2006) findings. It investigates whether the same ranking in acquisition of the four categories of prepositions can be validated by the Sinhala speaking ESL learners’ responses in a writing task. A picture story writing task in which the prepositions needed to be abundantly used was utilized in order to collect elicited production data from 40 students of Grade 4 who were randomly selected from two government schools. Quantitative statistical analysis using SPSS was used to find out whether there were significant differences between the acquisition of each set of two different categories out of these four categories of prepositions. If prepositions with [-Functional / +Lexical] feature rank higher than the prepositions with [+Functional /-Lexical] feature respectively, relevant order can be used as a guideline in the ESL class-room to facilitate teaching of prepositions through writing tasks.
Language Policy and Politics
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Rajapakshe, R.M.W.
Language the most sophisticated invention of man, is a tool used to fulfill main requirements of the people inclusive of communication. Thus language is not a problem. However, when it is used as a medium of instruction in public administration, judiciary and in education in multi lingual countries, it sometimes becomes a problem. Language planning emerges when such problem arise. Could actually language be planned? Physical phenomenon like rivers, forests, mountains can be probed and planned. As language is a physical phenomenon, a tool, it can be planned. However there are differences between other objects. Firstly, language is a secondary invention of man. Secondly, it is strictly associated with religion and culture and therefore is a complicated physical phenomena. In the process of language planning, planners have to face various difficulties created by patriotic national movements and politicians. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the difficulties faced in the process of Language Planning in relation to the Sri Lankan context and the proposals to overcome them.
Attitude about Foreign Languages
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Lewis, R.L.
I arrived in Sri Lanka at the end of January 2005. By the end of February I was settling in to my new home (a room in a guest house) and was beginning to learn a bit about the people and cultures of the country that would become my new home. I decided that I must learn either Sinhala or Tamil, the two primary indigenous languages of the nation, but ultimately did not. Why not? Thus begins a remarkable adventure into that space that exists at the intersection of linguistics, cultural anthropology, sociology, ethnic and religious relations, the influences of a colonial past, politics (both domestic and international), government educational policies etc…I do not presume to suggest answers to the seemingly endless questions which arise from the considerations above (taken separately or in various combinations) but rather to begin the process of framing the questions which may ultimately lead to a better understanding of what all of this means, not simply in terms of historical causes but also in terms of productive strategies for the future. These issues and the questions that spring from them are of importance not simply to Sri Lanka but to numberless communities, countries and regions around the world that face similar and equally complex and urgent challenges.
Questioning Questions and Wh-indefinites in Sinhala
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Weerasooriya, W.A.T.
Many languages of the world such as Sinhala, Japanese, Chinese, Malayalam, Tlingit, etc make use of the same type of phrases in question and indefinite constructions (Audrey Li, 1992, Haspelmath, 1997, Hagstrom, 2001, Bruenning, 2007, Jayaseelan 2005, Cable 2010, Slade 2011). When they are used in wh-questions, those phrases are referred to as wh-words or phrases and when they are used in indefinite constructions they are referred to as wh-indefinites. For example, as seen in (1), based on different types of syntactic and licencing conditions, only the clause final morpheme –e as in (1b) makes an indefinite construction (1a) different from a wh-question construction (1b) in Sinhala. (1) a. John monəwa-də kææw-a. b. John monəwa-də kææw-e. John what-də ate-A John what-də ate-E ‘John ate something.’ ‘What did John eat?’ At the same time, in many of these languages such as Sinhala, Japanese, Malayalam, the same particle used in indefinite and question constructions is also found in constructions that involve disjunction. (2) John bath-də maalu-də kææw-e. John rice-də fish-də ate-E ‘Was it rice or fish that John ate?’ Thus, this paper investigates the common and distinct syntactic and semantic properties of wh-indefinite and question constructions in the Sinhala language. It attempts to show a link between wh-indefinite and wh-question constructions with respect to exhaustification of ‘the set of alternatives’ in terms of the nature of the exclusive disjunction found in both the types of constructions. It also investigates the syntactic structures of the two types of constructions with respect to different types of licensing and binding conditions and the different types of operators that serve to make them distinct types of constructions as indefinites and wh-questions. It will also study whether the same type of behaviour in the wh-indefinites and questions in relation to the ‘exclusive disjunction’ could be observed in other languages such as Japanese, Malayalam, Tlingit, etc.
Code Switching Problems in Bilingual Society of Sri Lanka
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Ramesh, S.
In Sri Lanka, national language issue seems very influential in both cultural and political sphere; it was the major bone of argument between the Sinhalese and the Tamils. The use of English words within the society has increased amazingly. One of the reasons may be due to the extensive use of the mixed code in daily conversations by Sri Lankan bilinguals like Sinhalese and Tamils. This study explores the impact of code switching in the case of bilinguals and multilinguals who select different varieties of two or more languages to meet the requirements of different situations. The switchers use English words and expressions even when equivalents exist in Sinhala or Tamil vice versa. They feel that these English expressions come so naturally to them that their equivalents in Sinhala or Tamil might sound formal and unnatural. Nowadays most communication in a bilingual or multilingual society crosses national, linguistic and cultural boundaries and requires confidence and competence to be effective. The data presented in this paper have been collected through observation, questionnaires and analyzed descriptively. The study also includes catch phrases and slogans used in the electronic media to substantiate data gathered from an analysis.The study provides insight into the mixing strategies used by urban bilinguals. The analysis reveals that the mixed code is used dominantly in advertisements (print and electronic) where the medium of communication is Sinhala or Tamil. The methodological functions are identified (a) for translation, (b) for clarification, (c) for highlighting and (d) for efficiency. The social functions included code switching (a) for praise, (b) for encouragement, (c) for disapproval. Findings shall be discussed formally in a conference presentation. Consequently, there is a need for a valid and reliable form of code switching when problems are analyzed.
First Language Interference in Second Language Speaking With a Special Reference to the Age Factor
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Gunarathne, N.M.A.D.W.C.
English language has been playing the role of the second language in Sri Lanka since the British imperialists came to Sri Lanka in 1815. Since then English language has taken significant place in Sri Lankan society because of its role as the second language. Moreover, it has become a medium of communication in both private sector and government sector in providing a wide range of employments and it has become the language of not only the upper class but also upper middle class. Therefore learning and teaching English Language in Sri Lanka have been given priority. However, a problem encountered in the field of English is that although the second language learners are fluent in writing, why the learners cannot achieve native like speech in speaking the English as a second Language. Hence the research focuses on exploring the reason for the above issue. A survey was done taking 120 students whose first language is Sinhala with the intention of identifying the errors made by the second language learners in speaking English as a second language. In order to accumulate the necessary data, both quantitative and qualititative methods are used. Questionnaires, interviews have been done under these methods and in addition to that each student is supposed to make a speech of 3 minutes which is recorded for analyzing the changes of phonology of each language. The results reveal that the learner’s first language interferes when they speak the second language which can also be defined as mother tongue interference or phonetic interference. Moreover the data manifest that the interference occurs where the learner find difficulty to pronounce the sounds of English Language. Thereby these sounds are often replaced by similar sounds in Sinhala sound system. What is more to remark is that this mispronunciation also causes semantic errors and it will be a barrier to the communication. Extending the research further, it is also found that “Age” is a cause for the interference and plays a crucial role in learning a second language. The research draws the attention of the responsible authorities and academics that facilitate teaching and learning English as a second language in Sri Lanka.
Sinhala-French Language and Culture Contact: A case Study on Sinhalese Children of Sri Lankan Origin in France
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Rodrigo, J.S.
This study examines the language and culture contact among Sinhalese children of Sri Lankan origin residing in France. Its main objective is to draw a sociolinguistic portrait of these children through their language practices and their linguistic representations. Taking the shape of an empirical and qualitative research, the study focuses on two 7-years- olds and the main method of data collection used was thematic drawing followed by an interview upon the drawing. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with family members in order to support the data collected from children. The results uncover a form of “Sinhala-French-English” trilingual speech which illustrates the multilingual skills of our young interviewees. In addition, the study brings to light their social, cognitive and linguistic representations vis-à-vis their bilingual and bicultural context, revealing a sense of imbalance in the face of alterity. The current research encourages other longitudinal or expanded studies to better understand these lesser-known immigrants in France.
A Comparative Study of Language Skills in Young Men With and Without Traumatic Brain Injury
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Hettiarachchi, S.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) impacts among other skills on attention, orientation, cognition, communication and higher executive functions such as problem solving (ASHA, n.d.). The primary aim of the study was to explore the effects of focal brain injury on Sinhala soldiers. Ten soldiers following shrapnel head injuries (experimental groups-five right-hemisphere and five left-hemisphere) and their carers and five young men without head injuries (control group), all within the age of 20 to 35 years were included in the study. Language data were collected via a picture description task consisting of three target pictures from participants of both groups and data was gathered from a conversational task between the participants of the experimental groups and a caregiver using a question guide. The language data was analyzed qualitatively to document its syntactic structure and analyzed quantitatively on the syntactic category words produced by the two groups via one-way ANOVAs. In the control group, there was a trend towards higher mean scores on all five syntactic category variables and use of more complex syntax in comparison to the experimental groups. The one-way ANOVAs performed indicated a highly significant difference between the three groups of participants on the number of utterances (F (2, 14) = 13.65, p<0.005), the range of syntactic structures (F (2, 14) = 23.63, p<0.001) and syntactic complexity (F (2, 14) = 21.56, p<0.001). While reduced syntactic category words and structural differences were indicated in the picture description task for the experimental groups, the features perceived by the carers as hindering communication were non-linguistic such as articulation, memory and psychosocial difficulties.Reduced syntactic complexity and range and paucity of utterance were noted for the two experimental groups in comparison to the control group, in-line with literature on English. However, in contrast, the left-hemisphere group did not omit or produce fewer main verbs compared to the control group and the right-hemisphere head injury group indicated a paucity of nouns, main verbs, adjectives and adverbs. Scrambled word order and subject/object deletion were not perceived as disrupting communication by the carers.
Imitation as a Method of Translation: A Study Based on Selected Sinhalese Poems Inspired by Wordsworthian Poetry
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) de Silva, W.T.C.J.; Galapatha, G.R.Y.
Translation is defined as the process of converting words or text from one language into another. In the preface to his translation of ‘Ovid’s Epistles’ (1680), John Dryden, the first major English theorist in translation, points out three ways of translation, namely metaphrase, paraphrase and imitation. According to this tripartite classification, in both metaphrase and paraphrase, a translator is not permitted to make any changes. The freedom of making changes is available only in imitation. It is where the translators get the opportunity to make use of their creativity. One of the paramount features of the poetry of the Second Generation in Colombo Era of Sinhalese Poetry is that being influenced from Romantic poets like Wordsworth, Shelly, Keats..etc. H.M.Kudaligama and Meemana Premathilake were among the poets who were influenced by the work of such Romantic poets. This study is based on selected Sinhalese poems of this era which have been influenced by Wordsworthian poetry. The findings of this study point out that even though they are not pure replicas of their originals, those poems can rather be called ‘imitations’, a type of translation. Therefore, it is justifiable to state that work of literature, specially poems, which have the influence of other pieces of work can be called translations in which only some general hints have been taken from the original. As Dryden pointed out, it is also of high probability that the translator will not be called a translator anymore due to the amount of changes he does to the ground work.
Role Models and Language Learning Choices - a Case Study
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Lokugamage, S.
Japanese language has been taught in Sri Lanka for the past 35 years and yet the occupational pathways for the speakers of the language are highly limited. Most of those who specialise in the language tend to teach in educational institutions. The reality is that though there is a clear demand for translators, interpreters and Japanese speakers in companies in Sri Lanka liaised to Japan, these opportunities are neither known by the public learners, nor the opportunities to develop necessary work related and culture specific skills and training is available for the majority of them. This research is a qualitative case study of two Japanese learners. I purposefully selected two learners who have obtained “A” passes in A/Ls with the view that they might have a comparatively clear vision for their future Japanese studies. In this study I gathered that one of them wishes to continue Japanese studies while the other has stopped learning after A/Ls. I tried to understand the goals and the reasons behind the two learners for continuing and discontinuing Japanese studies. What I learned from the study is that the imagined communities play a major role in their choices. A role model can be one of the main factors that enables a learner to continue language studies. At the end of the study I suggest we, as educators have a role in exposing learners to the multiple career choices they have and guide them to take responsibility of their own choices.
Extensive Reading in Developing Solutions to Improve the English Language Competence
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Wanasinghe, W.M.S.P.K.
While English is considered a key factor of one’s success as a member of the globalized society most undergraduates in the Faculty of Arts do not possess a significant command of English. Most students do not have an environment conducive to use English for oral and written communication. As these undergraduates are bound to depend on their own energies, it is necessary to investigate new methods and implement them in order to motivate them in their pursuit of English. Extensive reading is considered as an effective strategy to keep the learners engaged in their pursuit of English. Therefor this research focuses its attention on promoting extensive reading as a strategy to improve the literacy level in English of the students in the Faculty of Arts. The main objective of this study was to develop a methodology which promotes extensive reading. That methodology will focus on introducing a new culture of reading in English external to their classroom requirements. This research was focused on the students of the Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo. Necessary data was gathered based on the Faculty of Arts. A survey was done in order to find out learners reading habits and attitudes towards the concept extensive reading. New solutions were developed to implement a new reading culture among the students. The outcome of the entire process was considered as a case study as all the activities are focused on the Faculty of Arts. Questionnaires, interviews and test papers were used as tools. There were 30 students in the sample and they were given a pre-test before practicing extensive reading activities. After completing extensive reading activities they were given a post test. Out of 30 students 27 students had improved their proficiency level in English in certain aspects. Research findings helped to develop a mechanism to increase proficiency level of students in English. Extensive reading activities that allow students to respond on a personal level to their books encourage students to read and allow them to enjoy what they have read. Such activities can interfere with students enjoying reading in English and help them to improve their English language competence.
Hierarchical Position of Imperative Forms in Sinhalese
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Ariyawansa Thero, Morakandegoda
Sinhalese culture has a long and continuous history, deep rooted traditions and highly differentiated social norms (Meegaskumbura 1990). Some of them are reflected in the language in its address forms, commands and requests. This paper will mainly base on the imperative forms and usages of theirs. Here the historical and sociolinguistic background (Paranavitana 1956), hierarchical structure of superior, equal, and inferior usages, polite : impolite and formal: informal distinction are included for the discussion (Meegaskumbura 1990). The formal - power base vs. informal - solidarity relationship is also a main category of imperative usages. The formal usage which is socially more acceptable indicates some kind of distance between the speaker and addressee. But the informal usage shows close solidarity. It gives a close picture on sociolinguistic condition of the imperative forms. It is interesting to mention that the hierarchical usages of different morphemes are used with the same semantic value. Sri Lankan society is broadly divided into two groups, secular/layman (ɡihi) and mendicant/clergy (pᴂvidi) (Geiger 1938, Meegaskumbura 1990). According to this situation the Sinhalese language shows very significant usages among Indo-Aryan languages. Two separate sets of verbal and nominal forms are used traditionally in Sinhalese. The religion Buddhism is the main factor for this differentiation of address forms.The Sinhalese speaker cannot use similar form for Buddha, monks, kings, elders and younger ones if the words have same meaning. They should be changed according to the social status of the addressee as well as the speaker. There are some imperative forms which are completely different from phonologically and morphologically but similar in meaning. Those words are used for Buddha and Buddhist monks when Sinhalese people address them.
Intention of Pursuing English as a Second Language by Undergraduates
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Jayasundara, J.M.P.V.K.
English opens new avenues in almost all the aspects especially in communication and technology in the modern globalized world. When it comes to Sri Lankan context, English language is commonly known as Kaduwa; the sword which kills those who are not competent in it. Hence, pursuing ESL has become a widely spreading passion in contemporary Sri Lanka as no one likes to be discriminated by others caused by lack of proficiency in English. Thus, most of the students tend to follow English courses in public and private institutions. Consequently, current study intends to investigate the intention of pursuing English as a Second Language (ESL) by tertiary level students. In order to achieve the objective, primary data were collected utilizing a questionnaire survey from 96 undergraduates of Uva Wellassa University using stratified sampling technique. The results ascertained through the analysis revealed that majority of almost all the faculties has the prime intention of obtaining a nice job with attractive salaries and good working conditions through pursuing ESL recording 85%. Further, gaining the ability to read English books and magazines with ease and gaining the ability to communicate freely in English with people from different countries have been reported parallel with the percentage 72 by each as second highest intentions of respondents who follow ESL. However, thirdly most of the respondents (71%) intend to pursue ESL as they want to get a job in which they can use English. Moreover, more than half of the respondents (60%) have the intention of achieving good marks and improve their evaluation in the academic transcript. Conversely, the fewest number of respondents (19%) wants to work either for an international organization (e.g. the EU) or for a global company (e.g., Nokia) by pursuing ESL. Thus, the results are crucial in designing ESL curricular for tertiary level students in order to better facilitate learners and furthermore teachers are benefitted with selecting ESL materials and activities. In conclusion, the prospective researchers will be enlightened to conduct further research pursuing this line of the study.