http://drr.vau.ac.lk/handle/123456789/244 2026-08-12T22:13:01Z http://drr.vau.ac.lk/handle/123456789/2164 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 http://drr.vau.ac.lk/handle/123456789/2163 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 http://drr.vau.ac.lk/handle/123456789/2162 Implementing Student-Centered Learning Method in English as a Second Language Classrooms in Sri Lankan Universities -Challenges Sebarajah, A. The concept of learner-centred is traditionally related to student teaching (Ulmer, 1969). Though, “it is not defined in Dewey's work, there exists a clear link from learnercenteredness to the concept of learning through experience (Delaney, 1999) and Rogers 1969) later notion of student-centered learning”. Renandya and Power (2016) state that a set of teaching and learning strategies deliberated to facilitate and encourage students to be active in the classroom such as; collaborating with the teacher and other peers and relating critical thinking and problem-solving skills in classroom. In student-centred learning, students are accountable for their learning, while the role of a teacher is to facilitate the teaching process (Schweisfurth, 2013). Definitions of learner-centred learning are based on group activities and teaching methods in the classroom and focus on the conditions under which learner-centredness occurs. Early definitions emphasize learner control (Lytle, Belzer, Schultz & Vannozzi, 1989) and learner needs as the central consideration of "the ways in which we schedule classes, choose materials, deliver instruction, and integrate technology" (Soifer, Young & Irwin, 1989, p.65- 68). However, the point of reference for learner-centredness is that it is different from what has existed previously in education: a shift from traditional education to modern that mixes all that is considered learner-centred (Smith & Kolosick, 1996). McCombs and Whistler (1997) define learner-centredness as focusing on both the learner and learning: The perspective that links a focus on individual learners (their experiences, perspectives, attitudes, backgrounds, talents, behaviours, interests, capacities, and requirements) with a focus on learning. The focuses then influence and drive educational decision-making. The learner-centred perspective is a reflection of the learner-centred psychological principles in the programmes, practices, policies, and people that support learning for all. "Traditionalists feel that the move toward a more inclusive curriculum has led to a decline in the quality of programmes within universities, while progressivists welcome such a move" (Nemec, 1997). Within the academy the demand to hear the voice of learners comes from several sources, including the senates and boardrooms, but Graff (1992) contends that the undergraduate student voice has been essentially ignored in the debate over curriculum reform. Student-centred learning focuses on the learner, and the teacher acts as a facilitator, assisting students in order to gain knowledge (Hawker, 2000). When students diversity is considered in the learning process and supported by a comprehensive environment, their learning becomes applicable to them and holds more meaning, which may cause students to be more motivated and engaged in learning (Yilmaz, 2008). In addition, Gibson (2006) found that the teachers can design lessons that are authentic and connect them to students' real-life experiences, which gives students the opportunity to actively construct and acquire knowledge as they connect their prior experiences with the new information they learn. 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z http://drr.vau.ac.lk/handle/123456789/2161 Investigating the Perceptions of Reading Comprehension in English of the Undergraduates of Swamy Vipulanandha Institute of Aesthetic Studies Sebarajah, A. The present research aimed at exploring the students’ perceptions of reading comprehension and their English Language proficiency because the learners were passive in reading comprehension classes at the university. In this study, the Mixed Methods Approach (MMA) was employed to collect and analyse data. Fifty-two participants were randomly selected for the study. The data were collected using a student questionnaire comprising closed and open questions related to quantitative and qualitative data. The study brought to light that a lack of English language proficiency, schemata and reading comprehension techniques or strategies had negatively influenced the reading comprehension abilities of the undergraduates in the English as a Second Language (ESL) classes. 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z