International Postgraduate Research Conference (IPRC)
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Item Second Language Interference on Pronunciation in Learning German as a Foreign Language(19th Conference on Postgraduate Research, International Postgraduate Research Conference 2018, Faculty of Graduate Studies,University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Danansooriya, D.M.H.M.When a second language or a foreign language is learnt, four skills of the target language should be improved. These skills are listening, speaking, reading and writing. The native speaker acquires these four skills with ease. In the context of first language acquisition, the four skills are most often acquired in the order of listening first, speaking then reading and writing. A second or a foreign language learner has to acquire these skills with extra effort. Among these four skills when the attention is focused on speaking and listening, speech sounds (phonetics and phonology) are very important for a successful communication. When a foreign language is learnt it is influenced by the knowledge of either the mother tongue or a second language. Language interferences can either be positive or negative. English is taught as a second language in schools in Sri Lanka. German as a foreign language acquisition is needed for employment, education and other purposes. German and English two languages are linguistic siblings as they have the same roots. These both languages belong to the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family. Although they have the same roots some speech sounds show difference between English and German languages. This paper mainly focuses on common pronunciation errors done by the students due to English as a second language interference, who are following the foundations in language learning unit at beginners’ level at university of Kelaniya. As the data collecting methods of this research oral tests of the first year students, class room observations, interviews with the German language lecturers at university of Kelaniya were conducted. Phonetic and phonological errors are categorized under pronunciation errors in language learning. Language learners commit pronunciation errors when they have to pronounce sounds that are not found in their mother tongue or second language. German and English both languages have the same alphabet apart from the umlauts (ä, ö, ü) and ß. Therefore, the students have the tendency to substitute the speech sounds of English with German speech sounds. As results of this study the students have the interference of written English when some consonants and consonant clusters are pronounced. As an example [ts] or [tzt] pronounced as [z], the fricative [v] is pronounced as [w]. Therefore, the teachers of German as a foreign language should anticipate learners making more errors with sounds in foreign languages that are absent in their first or second language. They must identify the pronunciation difficulties of the bilingual language learners due to the influence of their second language and need to pay more attention when designing lessons at beginner’ level. Teachers can do more phonetic exercises and listening exercises of the conversations of native speakers regularly in the classroom to overcome the second language interference on pronunciation in learning German as a foreign languageItem Syntactic Difficulties Encountered by Sinhala Native Speakers in Learning German as a Foreign Language(In: Proceedings of the International Postgraduate Research Conference 2017 (IPRC – 2017), Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Danansooriya, D.M.H.M.When the attention is focused on learning German as a Foreign Language as a beginner in the first year at University of Kelaniya it has been observed that the learners who do not have any knowledge in German before the university entrance find it difficult to comprehend the syntactic patterns in German language. Particularly due to the influence of the mother tongue Sinhala, in which the syntactic pattern is different, the students find it confusing at the initial stage of learning the language. Furthermore, when constructing sentences, the students have the tendency to translate word by word following the syntactic rules of their first language. The word order in declarative sentences the verb should be in the second position in German. Second position does not mean the second word. It means the second element in a sentence. However, the majority of the students merely count words when they make sentences and thus construct grammatically incorrect structures. As the data collecting methods researcher analysed the answers written by the students in their written work including continuous assessments, class tests and end of course examinations. Furthermore, face to face interviews with the lecturers in German, questionnaire reviews, student performance analysis and classroom observation were also done in order to gather data. This study focuses on common areas of syntactic difficulty for a larger number of students at beginner level. In conclusion, the study helped to find out the common errors done by the students in learning syntactic patterns and develop teaching strategies that can minimize the number of difficulties encountered by the first year students in learning the syntactic patterns. Research sample of this study limited to 50 students at beginner level, University of Kelaniya, interviews with five teachers at other institutions revealed that the difficulties encountered in grasping the syntactic patterns are common among the learners. Thus, it is envisaged through this study that the learners as well as teachers of German as a Foreign Language in Sri Lanka will have an insight into areas of difficulty in syntax faced by students of German that need more attention when designing lessons at beginner level.