http://drr.vau.ac.lk/handle/123456789/244 2026-09-24T05:47:42Z 2026-09-24T05:47:42Z Sebarajah, A. http://drr.vau.ac.lk/handle/123456789/2230 2026-09-11T08:01:01Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

An Analysis of Paragraph Writing Skills of First-Year Undergraduates in the Faculty of Business Studies, University of Vavuniya, Sri Lanka Sebarajah, A. Effective paragraph writing is a fundamental academic skill that significantly influences students’ success in higher education, where written communication is a primary method of assessment. A good paragraph has a strong topic sentence, details and information that are relevant to the topic, and a summary sentence that restates the main idea. Apart from structural organization, well-constructed paragraph writing must also have adequate sentence variety, enough range of vocabulary, and employ linking words or cohesive devices that make the paragraph logically flow and coherent. However, classroom observations indicate that many undergraduate students have significant problems in developing well-structured paragraphs. In the Faculty of Business Studies, University of Vavuniya, a review of first year, first English test scripts reveals that almost 95% of students lack proficiency in the application of the basic components of good paragraph writing. These deficiencies pose questions regarding students' preparedness to fulfill the academic writing requirements of the university studies. To address this problem, the present study explored to what degree the first-year undergraduate student applies the hallmarks of paragraph writing and what are some common deficiencies found in their writing. The study used purposive sampling technique to ensure the samples were relevant to the study's aims and objectives, and consisted of 120 first year undergraduate students from the Faculty of Business Studies. The qualitative research design was used and the students' English test scripts were used as main sources of data collection. Content analysis was conducted to analyze the paragraph organization, sentence variation, vocabulary and cohesive devices. The results show that students write paragraph without considering the features of a good paragraph. Many paragraphs do not include topic, supporting, detailed and summary sentences. The students use simple sentences generally, and compound and complex sentences remain limited. The vocabulary and linking devices are limited in usage, leading to poor cohesion and limited logical progression. Therefore, a targeted teaching method and systematic teaching in paragraph writing are suggested in this study, aiming to improve the academic writing skills of undergraduate students in the ESL context at the university.

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Sebarajah, A. http://drr.vau.ac.lk/handle/123456789/2229 2026-09-11T07:57:33Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Enhancing ESL Learners’ Phonemic Awareness: A Comprehensive English Letters and Sounds Chart as a Teaching Tool Sebarajah, A. Mastering English pronunciation is a complicated, confusing and difficult task for English as a Second Language (ESL) learner at Sri Lankan universities as one English letter consists of different sounds and there are irregularities between English spellings and pronunciation. Therefore, effective English pronunciation learning and practice depend on every learner’s ability to recognize and produce accurate sounds. English letters produce various sounds based on their position in a word, adjoining letters, stress pattern, or etymological origin. For example, the letter ‘A’ could be pronounced like / æ/ in cat. /eɪ/ in cake, / ɑː/ in father, or as a schwa / ə/ in unstressed syllables like sofa. In the same way, consonants in English such as ‘C’ and ‘G’ produce hard and soft sounds and digraphs like ‘th’ and ‘ch’ have further differences. Because of these irregularities, poor spelling, lack of confidence and pronunciation difficulties occur in oral and written communication among ESL learners. This research aims at designing a comprehensive chart of all twenty-six of the English alphabet with basic phonemic understanding and relevant examples for each sound to enhance Sri Lankan standard pronunciation. The chart classifies letters into vowel variations, schwa sounds, hard and soft consonants and irregular phonemes. Also, the chart comprises generally complicated sounds like /ʊ/ (book) vs /uː/ (food) and /æ/ (cat) vs /eɪ/ (cake), directing learners towards targeted pronunciation practice with minimal pairs. The chart was designed for classroom practices to facilitate teaching and learning process in the ELS classes. To examine the efficiency, the chart was introduced in the ESL classes among the Business studies first year undergraduates in the faculty of Business studies at University of Vavuniya, Sri Lanka. Pre and post-intervention pronunciation tests, observation of learner engagement and feedback questionnaire were used to collect data for the study. Preliminary results revealed the significant improvement among the learners to correctly recognize and pronounce the English sounds, to be confident in reading the words aloud and to maintain correct spelling patterns. Moreover, the 83% of the participants stated that visualizing all the English letters, sounds-transcription (IPA) and examples in a single visual format helped them to pronounce with correct spelling systematically and to reduce their cognitive load related to remembering irregular patterns. In ESL instruction, the chart visualization of English letters and their phonemic differences may be an effective teaching and learning material. This material is different from traditional teaching tools that often display letters and sounds in a separated or non-systematic files. In addition, the chart could be used for diverse proficiency levels, facilitating separated instruction in ESL classrooms and personalized learning process. To conclude, this study reveals the significance of incorporating the phonemic chart tool in the English language teaching to improve Sri Lankan standard pronunciation among ESL learners. The inclusive letters and sounds diagram facilitate to build learners’ pronunciation and accurate spellings as well as to enhance their overall confidence and engagement in the language learning. However, future research in this field may focus on digital adaptation of the chart incorporating interactive audio features to further reinforce correct pronunciation and facilitate autonomous learning in ESL/EFL context.

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Sebarajah, A. http://drr.vau.ac.lk/handle/123456789/2164 2026-07-31T07:54:19Z 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z

A Case Study on Effects of Communicative Teaching Method in Improving English Speaking Skills of Grade Ten Students Sebarajah, A. The research focuses on fostering speaking skills through Communicative Language Teaching, which has been attempted to be adopted in ESL classrooms in schools in Sri Lanka by the government since the late 1980s. (National Institute of Education, 1999). In this perspective this study was conducted at Mn/Vaddakkandal G.T.M School, Manthai West division of Madhu Education Zone, Mannar, where most of the students are unable to communicate spontaneously in English. The research problem of this study was to investigate how Communicative Language Teaching contributes to improve speaking skills of the grade ten students and how to overcome their speaking difficulties. Therefore, this research aims at investigating the use of the Communicative Language Teaching approach to overcome the students problems in speaking. In conducting the research, both quantitative and qualitative methods were adopted to collect and analyse the data for the study. A questionnaire was administered for the students to identify their attitudes about the speaking skill. The findings of the questionnaire clearly express the positive attitudes on implementing the CLT in the ESL classroom. Furthermore, pre-tests and post-tests were conducted in the study, and while comparing and analysing the means of pre-test (38.3) and post-test (52.16), this study found the effectiveness in implementing the approach to develop students' speaking skills. Therefore, the findings of the research demonstrate that communicative language teaching is an effective method to develop students speaking skills. It encourages students participation, promotes confidence, and prepares students for real-life communication. Besides, it gives an opportunity to the students to use the target language freely. Moreover, it allows students to make decisions about how to express and to achieve the goal of developing their speaking skills.

2017-01-01T00:00:00Z Sebarajah, A. http://drr.vau.ac.lk/handle/123456789/2163 2026-07-31T07:34:33Z 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z

The effect of Creating a WhatsApp group to improve Academic Vocabulary Skills in English among undergraduates of Aesthetic Studies at Eastern University, Sri Lanka. University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka. Sebarajah, A. There is a considerable demand for English Language Teaching (ELT) in Sri Lanka. Accordingly, the research is based on teaching Academic vocabulary skills in English to the undergraduates as the students had low academic vocabulary competency. Some previous researches generally explain that the use of social media is very effective techniques in the teaching-learning environment. However, this research specifically focused on WhatsApp group to fill the gap of the previous researches which did not explicitly focus on WhatApp media. Therefore, the aim of the research was to develop Academic vocabulary skills in English among the undergraduates by Whatsapping English Academic words in a WhatsApp group to motivate and improve the English vocabulary skills among the graduates. The research took an experimental research design. Random sampling method was used to select sixty second year undergraduates. The undergraduates belonged to two English Groups; each containing 30, but the students were engaged with the same ELT curriculum of the institution. Each group was pre tested on Academic vocabulary and the means of the pretest (36.3) revealed that the students of the two groups were in the same vocabulary competency. Furthermore, the students were put into two groups where the excremental group was exposed to WhatsApp Group for teaching Academic vocabularies in which every student was instructed to text two new vocabularies and meanings every day on given title in the WhatsApp group, as well as the researcher monitored the students writings text and corrected. The writing activity was stopped at 6.00pm and the students were instructed to make sentences in their note books using the vocabulary. Moreover, the students were requested to display their sentences with the new learned vocabularies in the following classes and the researcher and other students could correct the uses of the academic vocabularies in the sentences. On the other hand, the control group was involved in the ordinary Academic vocabulary sessions on the same vocabulary tiles given by the researcher. Moreover, the two group students were given a post-test where the marks obtained were compared. It was found that the students who were exposed to ordinary vocabulary session did not show considerable difference in the means (41.4) including some showing a little decrease in marks, whereas the students who were involved in WhatsApping words in the WhatsApp group showed a remarkable increase in obtaining marks as the means of the test was 57.4. Therefore, it was noted that the effect of creating WhatsApp group in teaching Academic vocabulary in English to the undergraduate students enhances their ability in improving Academic vocabulary skills in English.

2019-01-01T00:00:00Z