Browsing by Author "Rathnasena, U"

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Austen, Cinderella Complex and beyond: An analysis of Austen’s portrayal of her Heroines in Juxtaposition to the Cinderella Complex
(Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, SLIIT, 2022-09-15) Rathnasena, U
Jane Austen is one of the most prominent writers of the 19th century. In terms of chronology, her six novels fall between the 18th-century neoclassical formality and the effusive romanticism after the 19th century. Her novels portray the socio-political and cultural landscape of Regency England even though her prose style, manner, and approach held no resemblance to her contemporaries. Austen seems to operate in a limited landscape and writes about what she is most familiar with birth, love, marriage, death, faith, and judgment. She details the tedious business of living of the gentry in her society and displays unrivaled knowledge of the upper middle class. Even though issues of women were at the crux of Austen’s writing, Austen is not considered to be a staunch feminist writer. She concentrated on upper-middle-class women whose marriage, and courtship were the cynosure of her plots as she thoroughly examines the right basis for marriage in her work. However, most of her heroines have been written off critically as the selfsame Cinderellas. Therefore, the monotonous aura engulfing Austenian heroines who are in search of marital bliss has been inadvertently appendaged to the Cinderella Complex and hence the prejudiced critique. Austenian heroines are said to lack passion and vibrancy and by extension, character. This paper intends to analyze the portrayal of two Austenian heroines in view of the Cinderella Complex with the objective of exploring these portrayals beyond the Cinderella archetype.
Open Access
A Needs Analysis in Second Language Teaching (English Language): A Study on Grade 10,11 Students in the Sri Jayawardenapura Educational Zone
(Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, SLIIT, 2023-11-01) Boteju, T; Rathnasena, U
The purpose of this study is to investigate the needs of English language learners in grades 10 and 11 who attend schools in the Colombo area specifically within the Sri Jayewardenepura Educational Zone. Statistics demonstrate that a significant number of students failed the Ordinary Level English paper, despite evaluations and curriculum reforms undertaken by the government. A thorough needs analysis was required to determine the causes and provide a solution to this situation. The objectives of this study are to investigate the purpose of students learning English as a second language, to conduct a needs analysis to critically analyze the needs, necessities, and lacks in grade 10, 11 students in Colombo District, and to suggest and recommend ideas to incorporate needs analysis findings. For this mixed-method study, information is collected using questionnaires and interviews, and the quantitative data is represented through graphs and tables, while the qualitative data is shown through a theme-based analysis. Based on the outcomes of this study, it is anticipated that the current curriculum will undergo modifications and adjustments to align with the authentic needs and requirements of students, thereby ultimately achieving a high level of student proficiency.
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To Comment or Not to Comment: Exploring the Engagement Levels of ESL Learners in Facebook Groups
(Faculty of Humanities and Sciences,SLIIT, 2021-09-25) Rathnasena, U
Phenomenal changes have taken place in English Language Teaching (ELT) in the last few decades. With e -Learning being the norm, Technology has become an integral part of education and Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) has revolutionized human communication. Proving to be a very useful tool with its abundance of input, authentic materials, and interaction opportunities the positive influence of CMC has been documented. Lately, the immense popularity of Social Networking Sites (SNSs) such as Facebook and Twitter have reshaped the pedagogical landscape of ESL as more ESL practitioners are adopting SNSs as learning platforms. Its potential as a learning tool in L2 is being widely researched. Facebook has become the way the 21st century communicates and especially the young adults worldwide whose primary medium of communication is Facebook. The advantage of using Facebook as a tool is its unchallenged popularity and the array of options such as uploading, tagging, comments, personal information sharing, connecting with other users, creating groups with common interests offered. This paper examines the impact a Facebook group has on the engagement levels of a class of young adults in a General English Course at a private institute. In a one-year course, the researcher who is also the teacher created a private Facebook group for the students. Incorporated with the regular classroom activities, the students were assigned scaffolding activities, which could be done online. Further, this paper discusses the levels of engagement and the features of interaction observed in the participants’ Facebook Page behavior. In addition, the study provides insights for ESL practitioners regarding the usage of Facebook activities in order to enhance their learners’ engagement levels.
Open Access
Writing Assessment Literacy: A Study of Formative Assessment Practice Among Wattala International School English Teachers
(Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, SLIIT, 2024-12-04) Hafsa, S. F.; Rathnasena, U
Research into the technicaliti es of Writi ng Assessment Literacy (WAL) is an expanding domain, with many scholars stressing that its complex nature has not been fully developed in both pre- and in-service teachers due to oversights in teacher educati on and professional development. This study used survey data (N=20) and interviews (N=5) to investi gate the practi ces of English language teachers related to formati ve assessment of writi ng in internati onal schools in the Watt ala Divisional Secretariat. The results complement existi ng fi ndings that a majority of teachers mirror summati ve assessments in the practi ce of formati ve writi ng assessment, misrepresent their understanding of rubrics and feedback, and face limitati ons in the eff ecti ve use of assessment results. The study concludes that specialized training in theory and practi ce related to WAL is needed to broaden the scope of classroom assessment methods used by internati onal schoolteachers with focus on alternati ve assessment, transparent feedback practi ces, and purposeful collaborati on between educators.