International Conference on Linguistics in Sri Lanka (ICLSL)

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Emphasizing the Need to Restrict the Use of Non-Target Languages in the ESL Classroom and Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Communicative Approach as a Solution
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Madhusankha, B.H.I.
Referring to the corpus of literature made with reference to the discipline of ELT, it seems conspicuously interesting that the use of non – target languages in the language classroom has recently become the subject of many a debate among most ESL practitioners. In such a milieu, the objective of the present research paper has been to explore the negative consequences that the extensive use of non – target languages in the ESL classroom poses not merely on the learning process but on the classroom management too. It is a widely acknowledged fact that both acquisition and retention of language skills have an equally significant role in the learning of a language. And, experts are of the belief that one of the most productive ways of learning a language is by picking it up (i.e. first listening to and reading a lot of language in authentic contexts and then using language in interaction with others for real purposes). Further, this gives rise to the fact that the ESL classroom should become a fountain of exposure to the target language where the students get a plenty of opportunities to receive and produce language and hence to experiment with language. Nevertheless, it is disheartening to note that a majority of the ESL teachers in the country hardly use the target language in order to communicate with the learners and to give instructions to them. Instead they speak in a particular non – target language which might be the first language of the majority in the classroom. As revealed above, this situation deprives the learners of the opportunity to have an L2 – interactive classroom thus directly affecting the learning of the language. In addition, the present study takes into account the socio-cultural and psychological facets of the situation under review. Thus, it explores the inconveniences undergone by the students hailing from minority communities when a majority in the classroom including the teacher communicates in a language (most probably the L1 of the majority) which might be alien to them. The issues of this kind have a special relevance to a country like Sri Lanka which is comprised of various ethnicities. So, it appears to be the responsibility of the language teacher as a facilitator to adjust the classroom management such that it enables the learners to be well exposed to the target language. Also, the research anticipates assessing the effectiveness of a communicative approach as a solution to the problems mentioned earlier. It is hence expected that this paper will serve as a useful source of information for those who are interested in the subject under review.
A Study on the Awareness of Sri Lankan English among Undergraduates.
(The Third International Conference on Linguistics in Sri Lanka, ICLSL 2017. Department of Linguistics, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Karunanayake, S.
Michael Meyler (2007) defines Sri Lankan English as “the language spoken and understood by those Sri Lankans who speak English as their first language, and/or who are bilingual in English and Sinhala or Tamil”. Although there are many studies conducted on various topics related to Sri Lankan English (SLE), a study on the awareness of SLE among the undergraduates is an area seldom examined by researchers. Hence, this research is designed with the purpose of studying the awareness of SLE among the undergraduates. Therefore, a structured approach was used where the objective, design, sample and the questions were predetermined. The community selected for the study was the undergraduates of the faculty of Arts, University of Colombo, those who use English as their second language. The sample was drawn using simple random sampling so that each person had the chance of getting selected. A questionnaire was used as the main tool of primary data collection, which was a combination of both closed-ended and open-ended questions. The data collected were presented using pie charts and bar charts. Percentage calculations were used to discuss the findings. When examining the overall responses of the questionnaire, it was apparent that majority (84%) of the undergraduates use the lexicon of SLE. However, when asked what variety of English they speak, almost all the participants responded that it‟s British English. They were unable to identify a variety between British and American English. Hence, this research has specifically identified that there is lack of awareness of Sri Lankan English as a variety different from British and American English. The statistical analysis proves that colloquialisms have emerged in SLE and that there is a direct impact of the use of direct translations from Sinhala on the lexicon of Sri Lankan English.