Humanities
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Item A Study on the Attitudes and Issues of the Undergraduates Who have Completed the Compulsory English Course for Humanities Students.(The Third International Conference on Linguistics in Sri Lanka, ICLSL 2017. Department of Linguistics, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Keerthiwansha, N.W.B.S.The compulsory English course is designed to improve the English language knowledge of the undergraduates to assist them to continue their respective courses at the university. However, even after the completion of the course, the majority of the undergraduates show difficulties in basic grammar, academic writing and speaking. Therefore, this particular research is designed to identify the attitudes of the undergraduates who have already completed the compulsory course to make suggestions for further improvements. Twenty-five third year undergraduates were chosen to give a questionnaire to record their attitudes regarding the course before the commencement and after the completion of the course, the remaining language issues they have and their personal opinion regarding the course. Through the data analysis it was found that the course do not have a text book. The majority of 87% have stated that the time duration of 2 hours per week for 15 weeks is not enough for the course. More importantly, when their attitude regarding the course before the commencement of the course is noteworthy because the majority of 83% had expected that the course would solve some of their English language issues and 17% had thought that the course would solve all their English language issues. On the contrary, none of the participants stated that all their issues were solved after completing the course while the majority of 74% have stated that some of their issues were solved and the remaining 16% has stated that none of their issues was solved after the course. In addition, writing skills were not improved and the time allocation for listening and speaking was quite low. Majority of 63% has specifically stated that the focus on improving speaking skills was inadequate, which was the most critical language skill for the undergraduates. Thus, designing a textbook to cover all the necessary grammar rules, extending the duration of the course, focusing more on presentation skills, speaking and academic writing can be suggested to improve the quality of the course and to meet the language needs of the undergraduates.Item Impact of Gender and Identity on Learning English as a Second Language.(The Third International Conference on Linguistics in Sri Lanka, ICLSL 2017. Department of Linguistics, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Amarasooriya, D. N. P.Second language learning has become a socially valued vital learning process as it has the influencing potential to form, manipulate and change the social individual identities towards the positive recognition. In Sri Lankan social system while Sinhala and Tamil languages have been recognized as first languages of most people, English functions as the second or target language. Through a gradual social transformation English has become the most prestigious language in the society and the competence in English is required as the most obligatory qualification for a person to be recognized in the society. The research focuses on identifying and analysing how and to which extent the social factors such as gender differences, cultural diversities, disparities between the social classes and specifically the identities of the individuals influence on learning English as the second language. Within the data collection process both the primary and secondary data collection methods have been utilized and within the primary data collection method, a questionnaire has been designed and given to a sample group of 50 respondents from University of Sri Jayewardenepura. Through this analytical sociolinguistic research the relationship between identity and learning English as a second language, the impact that identity practices on person‟s capability and accessibility to the English language learning process have been taken into consideration. Accordingly it has been identified that English language competency level of urban respondents is higher than rural respondents and the rural identity of the individuals has an influential and discouraging impact on their English language learning process. Depending on the gender differences, the language performance, the language competency levels of the respondents tend to differ in relation to the four language skills and it has been brought forth that the competency level of the female respondents is higher than the male respondents. A higher percentage of individuals believe and accept the vitality of English in higher education and it has been recognized as a supportive channel which enhance Individuals‟ capabilities and identities in achieving their future goals despite the existing social discriminations.Item A Comparative Study between English Version of Facebook and its Sinhalese Translated Version: Suggestions for Improvement.(International Conference on the Humanities (ICH), 2017 Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Keerthiwansha, N. W. B. S.Facebook has become one of the most prominent social media applications in the world. At present, it has opened up the translation application to every user in order to translate Facebook into every major language on earth and the users can contribute to the translation of their particular native language. This is an attempt to be more user-friendly by offering Facebook in the users respective native languages. Consequently, Facebook has been translated into Sinhalese, which is helpful to the users who are not competent in English.Thus, this study intends to compare the English version of Facebook with the Sinhalese translation to measure the quality of translation and to suggest further improvements. The first forty common phrases appear in Facebook were chosen and compared with their Sinhalese translation with specific focus on word-for-word translations and transliteration. Later they were categorized under unidiomatic translations and meaningful translations. In addition, 40 users were chosen from University of Kelaniya to record their language preference when using Facebook. The analysis indicated that 95% of Facebook terms are word-for-word translations, for instance “home” is translated as ksjyk which is the direct equivalent for ‘Home’ in Sinhalese. 5% are transliterations, for instance “Cookies” is translated into Sinhalese as l=lSia. Among the selected samples, 50% are unidiomatic translations, for example “pages feed” has been translated as msgqfmdaIlh and 50% are meaningful translations, for instance “details about you” has been translated into Sinhalese as Tn .ekúia;r. In addition, it was identified that gender difference is not shown in the Sinhalese translated sentences. Meanwhile, user preferences indicated that 77% does not require Sinhalese translated version, 18% had attempted to use it but stopped because the Sinhalese version was unfamiliar, and only 5% are using the Sinhalese translated version. In conclusion, having Facebook in Sinhalese is an opportunity to establish Sri Lankan identity in social media; however, it is vital to increase the usage of the Sinhalese version. Thus, it is essential to revise the Sinhalese version of Facebook to develop a more natural and familiar translated version that will automatically increase the number of users having Facebook in Sinhalese.Item Weaknesses of Google Translation; A Study Based on Sinhalese and English Languages(Department of Linguistics, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Wijesinghe, A.; Kaluarachchi, S.S.; Weerangani, S.The process of translating words or text from one language into another is known as translation. It communicates the meaning of a source language text into a target language. It is used for legal, official, literary works ... etc. Nowadays there is a popular systematic service for translation called "Google Translation". Being an easier and quicker method than manual translation, Google Translation plays a major role in the translation field. It is a multilingual statistical machine translation service provided by Google to translate texts or speeches from one language to another. The aim of this study is to identifY the problems that can be seen in this translation service and the study is based on translating from Sinhalese to English and vice versa. Data were collected by analysing a set of Sinhalese and English sentences translated using the service. When translating trom Sinhalese into English, errors are seen in sentence structures, major reason for which is the structural differences between the two languages. The syntactic structure of the Sinhalese language is SOY, whereas the structure of English is SVO. It is apparent that this structural difference cannot always be properly comprehended by this program. Furthermore, it is identified that synonyms, homonyms and homophones used in the Sinhalese language cannot be properly translated using this service. The diglossic characters of the Sinhalcse language is yet another aspect which creates problems in "Google Translate". Translating a complex sentence with a main clause and a subordinate clause also appears problematic since identifYing the subordinate clause is not easy for the program. Accordingly, this study points out that in order to provide a better service, these issues have to be properly addressed.Item English language and its usage among the youth(Department of English, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) de Silva, T.There have been many researches done on the use of English language by the youth of Sri Lanka and for what purposes they find it necessary to learn English as a language in a rapidly globalizing world. Most studies show that the youth find it crucial to have a good English knowledge to increase their employment opportunities in the corporate sector. This study explores the practical aspects and difficulties of learning good English by the youth and it also depicts the perception of the youth and how they think that this gap between the corporate sector and the youth should be bridged and how the youth can be more aligned with the globalizing world even though Sri Lanka is still a growing country. In conclusion it was discovered that the youth find it more fitting to have a practical learning experience when trying to use English.Item Difficulties faced by Undergraduates of Local Universities in reading for their degrees in English medium(Department of English, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Sathanandan, R.; Situbandara, S.N.B.A.; Gunasinghe, D.P.D.D.; Gunasekara, M.S.T.; Navarathne, D.M.A.S.; Gunawardena, S.The difficulty faced by undergraduates reading in English medium is a recurrent issue in Sri Lanka. After one’s tertiary education the next step is occupation. In the present context it is important for everyone to be well versed in English. Even after thirteen years of school education, most of the students have not yet gained the required proficiency in English. Until now the reasons behind this issue and solutions have not been found out. A questionnaire was distributed amongst 40 students of three faculties, including close-ended and open-ended questions in Sinhala and English. During the process of this research many articles were dwelt upon with regard to this topic, which helped in understanding the underlying causes to this impending issue. Focus was also given on the socio-economical background of the students and the methodology of lectures. The data collected from the questionnaire helped in understanding the following; most students in local universities are accustomed to their vernacular language and are unfamiliar with English. It is during lectures that they are taught in English, which many students fail to handle due to their unfamiliarity of the language. As a result many students fail their degree or lose interest in the subject. It was recommended by the students themselves that improved teaching methods must be conducted from their primary education. Language must not be a barrier for education.Item Use of prepositions among University students learning English as a Second language(Department of English, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Madhushani, H.N.G.; Athapaththu, A.M.H.K.; Athapaththu, S.P.; Navarathne, A.S.; Kumari, H.R.U.E.Prepositional usage is a difficult grammar area among the students who are learning English as a second language. Thus, it has been demonstrated that even undergraduates learning English as a second language face difficulties when using prepositions accurately. The present study is an attempt not only to identify the common errors made by the students in using prepositions, but also to recognize the more familiar prepositions used among the students. This has led to the assumption that both teaching and learning prepositions in English by the teachers and learners who study English as a second language are inadequate. Forty undergraduates representing the four faculties, ten from each, were given a questionnaire to be answered. Accordingly, the faculty of Humanities, the faculty of Social Sciences, the faculty of Management and the faculty of Science in the University of Kelaniya answered the questionnaire consisting of fifteen questions including two open ended questions. The findings revealed that the students of the faculty of Science possess a thorough knowledge regarding the accurate use of prepositions while the knowledge of the students in the faculty of Social Sciences regarding the use of prepositions was very low. Furthermore, prepositions that had been used more accurately were: ‘into’, ‘among’ and ‘from’, while the prepositions that had been misused frequently were: ‘on’, ‘between’ and ‘of’. Thereby, our research study became a success, signaling green lights for maiden future studies.Item Pronunciation errors in English among Sri Lankan school children(Department of English, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Hewawasam, I.A.; Amaratunga, J.G.I.D.; Udakumbura, U.D.L.; Pramodya, K.G.H.; Vithanage, V.G.P.M.The aim of this research is to figure out pronunciation errors of English among school children. The significance of this research is identifying the common pronunciation errors made by Sri Lankan school children and finding resolutions to overcome those errors. In the past researchers have investigated on this matter with a common perspective in mind. A necessity was identified to conduct a research on the pronunciation errors in the English language among Sri Lankan school children. In this research, errors made by Sri Lankan school children who speak English as a second language were detected. A group of students from a reputed school in a suburb of Colombo were selected as the participants. Questionnaires were given to them in order to identify errors. According to the research, the students who have a broader exposure to English outside the school make fewer mistakes. The results suggest that the students tend to make pronunciation errors due to the influence of their mother tongue. It can be concluded that proper guidance and constant practice should be provided for the school children to improve the clarity of their English language pronunciation.Item Attitudes and motivation of undergraduates towards learning English as a Second Language(Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Pushpananda, W.M.Motivation, the driving force of many human actions, plays a crucial role in the language learning process of a person. Motivation is one factor which steers an individual towards fluency in a language. There can be different motivational types which influence a person to learn and use a language which is other than his or her mother tongue. The attitudes of a person direct him or her to have a certain behavior. As in any other aspect of human life, language learning is also greatly affected by a person’s attitudes towards the language and the community which uses that particular language. Therefore both the attitudes and the motivation of a person play an important role in the language learning process of a person, especially in the case of learning a foreign or a second language. Considering the specific context in which language learning is taking place a particular type of environment (i.e. the language learning environment) is created which greatly influence the attitudes and motivation of language learners. This study focuses on attitudes and motivation towards learning the English language among undergraduates of a Sri Lankan university. The aim of the study was to find out the level of motivation of these undergraduates towards learning the English language, the type of motivation which prevails among them and their attitudes towards learning English in general and within the university in particular. These undergraduates are from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Ruhuna. A randomly selected sample of 110 students participated in this study which used a mixed methods approach to gather data. A questionnaire and an interview were administered in order to gather data from the participants. Both quantitative and qualitative data were used in this study. The results revealed that the undergraduates who participated in the study were motivated to learn the English language to a substantial level. Determining the motivation type of these students was a complex procedure as they display different interests and necessities. It was evident that the students are both integratively and instrumentally motivated to learn the English language. The undergraduate participants of the study had positive attitudes towards learning English in general. However, they held negative attitudes towards learning English within the university.Item Testing the confidence level of international students of a university in the USA when speaking in English(Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Barborich, A.A.The research was carried out to see whether the international students studying in a western university lack confidence to speak in English in an environment where English is the most dominant language. This is a follow up/extended research of a study which has been carried out in Sri Lanka over 10 years that repeatedly shows that Sri Lankans lack confidence to speak in English due to the attitudinal problems of the society. The researcher was interested in exploring further on the issue of the need for ‘confidence’ to speak in English in settings other than Sri Lanka. A group of international students studying at the undergraduate level in a leading university in the USA showed that ‘confidence’ to speak in English is an issue for them as well. The sample was comprised of a majority of Chinese students along with Saudi Arabian, South Korean students and a minority from countries such as Russia, Nigeria, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Brazil. Their interactions in both formal (academic) and informal (outside academic) settings in the United States of America (USA) were determined by their use of English. In other words, lack of confidence in speaking in English seemed to limit their interactions with native speakers of English both in academic and non-academic settings. The study revealed that the students were not very comfortable with native speakers of English in their informal settings whereas with non-native speakers of English they were comfortable in similar settings. Also, the most useful skill in relation to English for them was listening in both formal and informal settings. The research shows that the confidence to speak in English is an issue for non-native speakers of English in native speaker-dominant environments just as it is for Sri Lankans within the Sri Lankan context.