Volume 06, Issue 01, 2024

Integrating socio cultural theory and bloom’s taxonomy to overcome xenoglossophobia and anxiety in English language speaking in Sri Lankan undergraduates

2024-08-09T10:10:58Z

Integrating socio cultural theory and bloom’s taxonomy to overcome xenoglossophobia and anxiety in English language speaking in Sri Lankan undergraduates Wijetunge, MTN The importance of knowing a second or a foreign language today has become a pivotal factor with regard to education, travel, trade, business, information, communication and most importantly to acquire a recognizable occupation. Even so, obtaining a job related to a graduate’s educational background in the Sri Lankan context at present, is a challenging task. Having realized this, the local government of Sri Lanka have been taking measures in teaching English at local government schools from Grade 3 onwards since 1950’s. Nonetheless, even by the time the Sri Lankan local government school children enter university after engaging in English language learning for over a decade and subsequent to Ordinary and Advanced level examinations, their English-speaking skills stand at a marginal level with traits of xenoglossophbia and anxiety. Thus, the aim of the study is to find out the main factors that influence xenoglossophobia and suggest strategies to overcome them. A sample of 32 Engineering undergraduates from the first year of General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (KDU) was selected based on purposive sampling technique. The selection process was performed based on an Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI). After having exposed the students to a teaching process for 15 academic weeks, they were re-administered through a post-OPI. The lesson plans were set according to Blooms Taxonomy knowledge based objectives. Socio-Cultural Theory (SCT) was incorporated when designing the lessons. Data was analyzed via a mixed approach. The findings revealed that the students had increased motivation and confidence to speak English as they were exposed to a gradual process of self-autonomy. Paving way for authentic speaking opportunities via Task Based Activities (TBA) and making students aware of the importance of English language communication for employment purposes from school levels is highly important. Further, teacher, learning environment and material play a considerable role in motivating language learners while self-negativity is a main reason for the majority to possess xenoglossophobia which adversely affects their future employability.

PERMA profiler: Adaptation to Sinhala

2024-08-09T10:09:02Z

PERMA profiler: Adaptation to Sinhala Solomons, TH; Katriarachchi, S.; Galante, J.; Waas, D. Recent history has seen an increased interest in wellbeing. This interest has been observed in clinical settings as well as at the level of state policies and at corporate levels. Following this interest, many models of wellbeing have been developed. The PERMA model of wellbeing was a more recent development forwarded by Martin Seligman, which measures the five core elements of wellbeing that are referred to as PERMA. The acronym stands for positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment. This model is based on the conceptual framework of positive psychology. PERMA profiler is a psychometric measure of wellbeing, which is based on the PERMA model. This tool has been gaining recognition as a reliable and valid tool for the measurement of wellbeing, especially in occupational settings. The current study aimed to adapt the PERMA profiler to Sinhala, which is the language used by the majority of Sri Lankans. The tool was translated by two psychologists and was synthesised to one single translated version by a panel of three experts, and it was evaluated for clarity and relevance by another panel of experts. The pre-testing was done in a sample of 15 individuals and the back translation was carried out by a professional translator. The adaptation was completed in consultation with the original authors of the scale. Results indicated that the Sinhalese adaptation of the PERMA profiler was deemed to be well-suited to be used with Sinhalese speaking populations with an average education.

Socio-economic implications of domestic violence in Thenmaradchi Divisional Secretariat in Jaffna District

2024-08-09T10:06:09Z

Socio-economic implications of domestic violence in Thenmaradchi Divisional Secretariat in Jaffna District Sarththiga, G.; Sivakanthan, S. Domestic violence against women is one of the most contemporary social issues in Sri Lanka. This study aimed to identify the socioeconomic implications of domestic violence experienced by women. All 107 women were selected in Thenmaradchi Divisional Secretariat. The mixed method research design was undertaken with the help of a questionnaire survey and interviews. The Chi-square for univariate analysis was employed to analyze quantitative data with the usage of SPSS version 21 and qualitative data were analyzed thematically using the thematic analysis. According to the results, Hinduism (98.1%) was the predominant religion and 24.3% of the respondents’ age range was 26-30 years. The majority of the victims (54.2%) were educated up to secondary educational level. Wage labour was the primary livelihood of many women and most of the respondents’ monthly income was less than 20,000 Sri Lankan Rupees. There was a significantly high status between economic domestic violence and the variables including education (p<0.000); occupation (p<0.000) and income (p<0.000). Further, financial instability, low income, financial insecurity, unemployment, debt, poverty, low level of living standards, helplessness, lack of social recognition, and lack of social support were the significant economic and social impacts on women. In addition, stress, fear, tension, low self-esteem, and eating and sleeping disorders were the major psychological impacts on women. Additionally, cultural norms, fear, and stigma often cause women to stay silent about their experiences with abuse. Most of the women used coping mechanisms to cope with their implications. The research concludes that psychological implications were the most severe implication among the participants. This study suggests that vulnerable communities should be identified and services such as counselling and legal aid should be made easily accessible.

Adopting ISO 9001:2015 & ISO 21001:2018 EOMS to the Sri Lankan Higher Educational Institutions: A Review of Literature

2024-08-09T10:03:49Z

Adopting ISO 9001:2015 & ISO 21001:2018 EOMS to the Sri Lankan Higher Educational Institutions: A Review of Literature Ramese, WKD; Jayasooriya, SD; Lakmal, AH Higher education is the critical economic sector that is eventually followed by all other major service sectors in an economy such as financial services, healthcare, telecommunication, aviation, transportation etc. Today, higher educational institutions all over the world operate in a fast-dynamic environment with high competition for reputation, talent acquisition, and student attraction. Following the basis of that high competition that is leading to a significant focus on quality. It is not easy to define the quality in terms of higher education since due to the complexity in relationships of higher education to students and the different roles played by a student in the higher education process. Addressing the issue, International Organization for Standards (ISO) has recently published a new quality framework for higher educational institutions; ISO 21001:2018 EOMS and most of the institutions adopted ISO 9001 standard series until the publication of the new ISO standard for higher education. This study employs an evidence-based approach and systematically evaluates the existing literature on ISO QMS implementation in higher education institutions in different countries with the intention of elaborating on the necessity of adopting it in the Sri Lankan context. Further, it attempts to summarize the key benefits, challenges, and critical success factors of ISO implementation considering Sri Lanka. According to the findings, the key benefits of ISO adoption by higher education institutions are cost reduction, consistent customer satisfaction, risk management, international recognition, adopting rapid changes, attracting grants/ funds, and strengthening international linkages and relationships. In addition, the challenges and critical success factors which were extracted from the literature are also stated for easy implication. Thus, the study highly recommends implementing ISO-standardized quality management systems in all higher education institutions in Sri Lanka to mitigate the serious limitations while achieving international recognition for all educational programmes to finally generate a quality workforce for the economy.