International Conference on Linguistics in Sri Lanka (ICLSL)
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Item Analysis of Learner Errors Seeking the Requisite Cognitive Skills to Address Them.(The Third International Conference on Linguistics in Sri Lanka, ICLSL 2017. Department of Linguistics, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Rathnayake, W. M. P. Y. B.; Wijesekera, G. J. S.Analysis of errors (EA) in learner language in search of clues of language acquisition has been an interesting area of applied linguistics. Traditional EA approaches spot sources of learner errors in terms of interlingual and intralingual base that gave way for the language teachers to find remedial measures. This study endeavors to spot learner error sources in terms of a proposed phrase structure linguistic taxonomy aligned with pre-defined frames of requisite cognitive skills deemed for learners to construct phrase structures of the language devoid of errors. The error sources thus are captured along with such cognitive skills, and consequently remedial measures are proposed for each category of errors and their sources by prescribing linguistic content for the ESL input espoused with strategy of metacognitive nature. The errors are analyzed framing the study within the problem: what combination of linguistic and metacognitive strategy content can encourage metacognitive learning to enable learner language devoid of errors. A corpus of learner language composed by executing an exercise of composition nature among 45 Architecture undergraduates provides the data for EA. The EA has been able to convince the impact made by each basic phrase structure in contribution to surface errors. Verb phrase, noun phrase and diction associated errors lead the frequency line up convincing us the relevant cognitive skills to be empowered among learners to avoid further surfacing of errors. Qualitative analysis provides acute clues on learner experiments and cognitive functions employed within the learner cognition in second language acquisition (SLA) process. The cognitive skills based categorization of errors and such analysis of cognitive skills base makes the study easy to negotiate remedial measures required for addressing learner errors. The analysis confirmed the need for a thorough exposure of every basic phrase structure in a prospective input espoused with metacognitive strategy to address learner errors with varying emphasis at different cognitive skills.Item An Error Analysis on Chinese Conjunctions by Undergraduates.(The Third International Conference on Linguistics in Sri Lanka, ICLSL 2017. Department of Linguistics, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Rathnayake, D. M. A. S. P.This paper aims to discuss the history of Chinese conjunctions with emphasis on the four periods of history, namely, the ancient, the medieval, the modern and the transition from modern to present times. Firstly, the definitions of the Chinese conjunctions are discussed while a further discussion will be carried out regarding the characteristics of Chinese conjunctions and the usage of each category subsequently. For this error analysis, the students of the Chinese unit at the University of Kelaniya were considered as the sample. Data collection was done through a questionnaire. Accordingly, the study examines and analyses the knowledge of the usage of Chinese conjunctions by the Chinese learners at University of Kelaniya, where the students‟ problems pertaining to the Chinese conjunctions including their classification and the causes are discussed. Based on the findings, the best teaching methods are recommended for the teachers while the students are suggested with the best learning methods involving Chinese conjunctions. The main aim of this error analysis is to identify solutions for the students who learn Chinese conjunctions and to introduce new and effective teaching methods for Chinese teachers. It was found that the university students make mistakes in using the Chinese conjunctions. As a result, common errors done by the students in using Chinese conjunctions were found and different learning and teaching methods were introduced in overcoming the difficulties.Item First Language Interference: “Like” as in /wæni/.(The Third International Conference on Linguistics in Sri Lanka, ICLSL 2017. Department of Linguistics, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Nadakumara, U.A.Utilization of prepositions, among the learners of English as the second language, has been a much debated and researched topic in the field of linguistics. Abundant linguistic research is conducted upon the quotidian English prepositions and the interference of the first language (L1) in the usage of English prepositions by its learners. However, it seemed that “like” is a less attended yet a tendentious preposition in relation to its usage among the learners of the Sri Lankan ESL context. The focus of this research is to determine whether ESL learners use the preposition “like” by directly translating it from its seemingly equivalent /wæni/ in Sinhala; to calculate the rate of such users who learn English as the L2 in a tertiary level educational institution; to analyze whether such direct translation is a learner mistake or an error. Two methodologies were employed in this research. One was an Error Analysis of the written compositions in English done by 37 undergraduates whose L1 is Sinhala. The second was a group interview with the same 37 undergraduates in order to gather and compare the data with the first methodology to distinguish between the ones who make mistakes and errors in the use of the preposition “like”. The results disclose that fifty percent of the ESL learners erroneously adopt the L1 syntactic structure in using the preposition “like” in English, as a direct translation of the syntactic structure of their L1. This paper therefore confers the need of correcting the error committed by the ESL learners and the worth of bringing forward topics of further research related to the aspect discussed.Item An Error Analysis of Japanese Business Writing.(The Third International Conference on Linguistics in Sri Lanka, ICLSL 2017. Department of Linguistics, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Balasooriya, B.M.U.S.Business Writing is a type of written communication, usually with standard structure and style. Japanese business writing should follow the customary format and etiquette of formality and politeness. It is necessary to follow proper etiquette to leave a good impression on business partner. Thus, it is one of the main concerns to know about formal style of Japanese business writing by the students learning Japanese in Sri Lanka. In this paper, examples of errors made by the students learning Japanese when writing Japanese business letters were collected, analyzed, and evaluated. The data were collected by analyzing twenty business writings of the first year students reading for Japanese Language Special Degree at University of Kelaniya. Many types of errors related to word choice were identified. Particularly, inappropriate combinations of recipient name and honorific title, inappropriate combinations of verbs and objects, mixing of polite and humble language, and insufficient understanding of fundamental Japanese constructions were prevalent. Other types of mistakes included inappropriate layout, incorrect use of abbreviations, and incorrect use of Arabic and Japanese numerals. There was a tendency to make the same mistakes repeatedly, and it was concluded that the guidance offered by textbook examples is insufficient and that systematic training in formal written Japanese is essential.Item Error Analysis on Japanese - Sinhala Translations(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Rathnayake, D.Language translation is one of the most in-demand job opportunities for foreign language learning students in Sri Lanka. Japanese language among the other foreign languages has been taught from the school level to the undergraduate level for many years. Recently, a fast increase is seen in the number of Japanese tourists and investment companies due to various reasons in the country. In this context, Japanese-Sinhala, Sinhala-Japanese translation is considered one of the in-demand job opportunities which can easily be fulfilled by those Japanese learning students. Nevertheless, at present students of Japanese are not competent enough to engage in successful Japanese-Sinhala translations and there are many errors in their translations. Those errors can be seen mostly as a result of transfer from L1, intra-lingual, or over-generalization of L2 system or intra- lingual error. There are approaches of assessing learners translation ability (using, integrative testing and communicative testing) (Buck, 2001) both for the linguistic forms and comprehension. Many learners can easily find the meaning of the words and phrases from the dictionaries and recognize the linguistic form, but they cannot have a correct comprehension of the text. Therefore It is vitally important to give careful attention to this area, and need to build up skills of students in Japanese-Sinhala translation. The primary purpose of this study is to analyze what errors students make in their translations when they translate passages from Japanese into Sinhala by reviewing their translated sentences. The writing will be evaluated basically and the sentences with errors will be recorded to identify the types and frequency of errors. The main focus will be on the errors of ; use of words and expressions, use of suitable word order, use of suitable grammar, use of preposition, articles, use of tense and voice.Item Error Analysis: An Investigation of the Writing of English as a Second Language(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Wijeratne, W.M.; Jeyaseelan, S.Errors are significant in the teaching and learning process of English as Second Language learners. Error analysis is a useful practice in second language learning because it reveals the problematic areas to teachers, syllabus designers and text book writers. Therefore, it is mandatory for teachers to summarize these frequently appearing errors, and stress to students of these errors as often as possible so that they can make greater effort to avoid them and improve their writing. The purpose of this study was to investigate the errors committed in using the articles, the past tense and the irregular past tense made by Vavuniya Campus first year English as Second Language learners in their English writings. For this study seventy-two students were taken as a sample and the same number of scripts were collected as a data and analyzed. Based on the Corder’s error analysis method the data was analyzed qualitatively. The findings reveal these errors are mainly caused by over-generalization. Intralingual errors occur due to the difficulty and irregular nature of the English language. Further, the failure to learn, understand the concept and use grammatical elements highlights the excessive use of the articles and irregular past tense in their writing. This study reveals that the performance of the Sri Lankan university students in the use of the rules of grammatical morphemes in concrete entities and events are yet to be improved. This poses a serious problem in using the grammatical morphemes with abstract entities and events of management discipline with sophisticated linguistic and theoretical expressions at the tertiary level. To be sustainable, this recommendation has to be implemented at the school level as well.