International Conference on Linguistics in Sri Lanka (ICLSL)
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Item Language Policies and Social Cohesion in Multilingual States: Some Personal Observations(Department of Linguistics, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Lewis, R.L.This paper is meant simply to be an opening point for a continuation of an ongoing discussion of multilingualism within states and regions vis-à-vis: Civil and criminal law, law enforcement, domestic educational policy, civil and human rights, political franchise, cultural and national identity, commerce and economic development, etcetera. Although I have lived in the Sri Lanka for over 11 years, Sri Lanka is not the subject of this paper but rather serves as a lens through which I can see more clearly the potential ramifications and importance of these issues internationally. I would like to look briefly at the extremes – at one end, state language policies that have led to civil war and at the other end states that have dealt creatively, fairly and productively (albeit not perfectly) with the management of the issues and challenges which are an intrinsic part of dealing with multilingual populations. Virtually every country in the world, to one extent or another, deals with the challenges brought on by multilingualism. I would not presume to attempt to offer prescriptions for the problems which are an intrinsic part of multilingual issues; rather, I hope that the questions I pose will help to stimulate a continuation of a vigorous exchange of ideas between informed and open people who care.Item Challenges of Learning Tamil as an Official Language: A Study on Public Sector Officials(Department of Linguistics, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Kanchana, D.G.There are large numbers of laws, government circulars and implementing agencies in which the language policy should be implemented to improve bilingual skills of the public sector officials. When it comes to the Sinhala officials, there is a huge criticism on the impracticability of use of Tamil in providing the public sector services. The officials themselves blame on the process and the methodologies of teaching and learning of the Tamil. Though it has passed more than 50 decades for the enactment of the Language policy in Sri Lanka, the effective use of Tamil language in the provision of the public sector services by the Sinhala officials cannot be seen. They are quite hesitated to serve in the Tamil populated areas as well. The daily administrative life is vulnerable in those areas due to inadequate bi-lingual and multi-lingual skills of the Sinhala officers. In addition, a monolingual culture is yet prominent at the Divisional level since the majority of Sinhalese‟ learning abilities are significantly low. In reviewing the literature, it revealed the literature gap to conduct a study related to this issue and to find out the challenging factors. The prime objective of this study was to find out the challenges that are faced by the Sinhala officials in learning and using the Tamil as their second language by giving special reference to Delthota Divisional Secretariat which belongs to Kandy district. This office has selected as the case study since it provides its services by representing all ethnic and cultural diversities and therefore the officials have to communicate the people using both Sinhala and Tamil languages. The study has used mixed method approach and use of questionnaire survey, Case study, and the Content analysis method were significant as the data collecting means. For the questionnaire survey, total sample size was 40 and the purposive sampling technique was followed. Secondary data collected from the sources such as published books, government websites; policies; Acts and Circulars. The descriptive analysis method was used in the data analysis. The finding revealed that learning Tamil as a second language by the Sinhala officials has not significantly affected in improving their performances and was only useful to fulfil the basic requirement for the salary increments. Challenges occur due to difficulties in adapting with the traditional teaching methodologies, study materials and inadequacy of well-trained Tamil teachers.Item Tackling the Most Challenging Spatial Preposition in English(Department of Linguistics, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Amaraweera, S.This study attempts to identify and tackle the issues in the use of “at”, the most challenging and one of the three most commonly-used spatial prepositions in the English language, - „at‟, „in‟ and „on‟ – in teaching English as a second language to Sri Lankan undergraduates. It also aims at promoting some novel strategies of overcoming the difficulties encountered in using spatial prepositions in general. Although the particular group of undergraduates who were involved in the experiment continue to learn English at the university as an ancillary subject, it is common to find errors in the use of spatial prepositions in their oral and written productions. Therefore, as research problem this paper deals with what hindrances are experienced by Sri Lankan undergraduates in mastering spatial prepositions and which preposition causes most challenges in this process. It is realised thus that lack of exposure to language directly affects the grammatical and semantic structure of their utterances. In the empirical study carried out in this regard, quantitative data was collected by conducting two tests focused on prepositions. The first test was carried out without giving prior instructions and the second was carried out after giving instructions. A comparative analysis of the results of both tests revealed that the spatial preposition “at” is the most challenging preposition for the undergraduates and it poses challenges to them due to mother tongue interference and lack of exposure to English. Hence it is understood that the undergraduates should be provided with long-term exposure to the correct use of the spatial preposition „at‟ of English in comparison with equivalents of spatial indications in the Sinhala language. Also it is considered essential to create an environment equipped with electronic and print media that would allow the learners to have a natural exposure to English.