Second Language Reading and Vocabulary Acquisition by Adult Learners of English

Even though vocabulary knowledge is crucial in receiving and producing meaning in a language, improving vocabulary knowledge can be challenging for both teachers and students. Exposure to the target language through meaning-focused reading can be considered one of the predictors that can address this challenge. As language learners are exposed to written language while reading, reading may help them enrich their vocabulary knowledge. Accordingly, this study investigated whether meaning-focused reading can contribute to the development of vocabulary knowledge (Breadth and Depth) among adult learners of English as a second language (ESL). Among the students of a Sri Lankan state university, a group of undergraduate students participated in the study. Measures of reading and vocabulary knowledge were administered to 189 participants as part of the research implementation. Additionally, a questionnaire was utilized to gather data on the participants' backgrounds, including their prior exposure to the target language. In a multiple regression analysis, reading significantly contributed to both breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge. However, it appears that reading contributes more to the breadth than to the depth of vocabulary knowledge. Thus, although meaning-focused reading can contribute to vocabulary knowledge, the contribution might vary depending on the type of vocabulary knowledge. Overall, the findings indicate that exposure to the target language through meaning-focused reading plays a significant role in enhancing vocabulary knowledge among adult ESL learners. DOI: http://doi.org/10.31357/fhss/vjhss.v08i01.1

The Role of Extensive Reading-Based Activity Approach in Developing Speaking Skills of Second Language (English) Adult Learners

Although structural rules are taught in a second language (English) classroom, second language learners’ speaking skills cannot be improved until they are exposed to the language and provided opportunities to practice it in a pedagogical environment. Extensive reading may help learners to be exposed to the target language and identify the use and function of structural rules in authentic situations. Additionally, activities based on extensive reading may help learners practice speaking in the pedagogical environment with peers. As a result, this intervention study was conducted to investigate the viability of employing extensive reading and such a reading-based activity approach in developing the speaking skills of second language (English) learners. The study was conducted for 48 hours with 60 second language adult learners in one of the public universities in Sri Lanka. Participants were divided into two groups: experimental and control. Both groups were taught precisely the same material by the same instructor. However, the experimental group (N = 30) participated in extensive reading-based classroom activities, whereas the control group (N = 30) did not. The speaking evaluation was conducted based on a standardized rubric by two evaluators. When the results of the two groups were compared, it was indicated that exposure to the target language through extensive reading and reading-based activities in the classroom has a significant effect on developing the speaking skills of adult second language learners. The results further indicate that when learners are provided more opportunities to be exposed to the target language and participate actively in reading-based activities in pairs or groups in the classroom, they can enhance their speaking skills. Therefore, an extensive reading-based activity approach can be suggested as an effective and useful instrument for developing ESL speaking skills. DOI: http://doi.org/10.31357/fhss/vjhss.v09i02.1

A Study of Fear and Stage Fright in English Oral Communication among Academics in the Humanities and Social Sciences

Although most academics in the humanities and social sciences use referencematerials in English in organizing their lectures conducted in Sinhala, they suffer a greatdeal of fear and stage fright while speaking English at private or official meetings and atpublic forums. Some have even completed their postgraduate studies through themedium of English but their oral communication remains very poor as a result of theirlanguage anxiety.The objective of the present paper is to discuss the major causes of suchlanguage anxiety which, in effect, are the major findings of a survey conducted by theresearcher in relation to a group of such academics from the Humanities and SocialSciences in the University of Ruhuna. The methodology comprised interviews, a formalquestionnaire, and discussions with about seventy academics from the Faculty ofHumanities and Social Sciences in the University of Ruhuna. The findings revealseveral conditions which affect negatively in their communication in their workingmilieu: the standards imposed by the elite in the stratified society of Sri Lanka upon thequality of the English spoken in public, the negative attitudes the fellow academics holdtowards English oral communication, lack of support from the environment where theyhave to practice their English, lack of confidence they suffer as personalities whiletrying to speak English, lack of integrative and instrumental motivation caused by theprofessional needs of their duties, and their own complacency and lethargy caused bythe professional security they enjoy without any competency in oral communication inEnglish. All these barriers and difficulties create an environment where the academicsin Humanities and Social Sciences suffer from fear and stage fright in oral Englishcommunication and as a result the competency level of their oral communication inEnglish remains poor.Key words: English, Oral communication, Educatio

Comparison of Filter Media for Wastewater Treatment by a Prototype Trickling Filter

The microbial process of wastewater treatment, attached growth, has significantly improved during recent years. Different filter media are used for microbial attached growth in trickling filters (TF) in the world. One of the main functions of filter media is the high surface area for the attachment of microorganisms to grow. Major wastewater treatment plants use stones as a medium for increasing the surface area in TFs. The proper grade of stone could not always be found within a reasonable distance from the wastewater treatment plant sites, significantly increasing transportation costs. Low-cost substitute materials, instead of stones, can reduce the cost of TF while increasing their treatment efficiency. This study attempted to use crushed waste polythene as a low-cost substitute material for stones. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the performance of prototype TF with crushed waste polythene and; to compare the treatment efficiency of two prototype TFs (with stone and with crushed waste polythene). Two prototype TFs were prepared using plastic barrels (250L) with two types of filter materials. The flow rate of the filters was 922mL/min and trickling filters were evaluated for two months for treatment efficiency. Water samples were taken before and after the trickling filter to determine the treatment efficiency. During the process of trickling filters, COD removal appeared to increase and it may be due to the adaptation of microbes to the new environment. The COD removal was comparatively higher in trickling filters with crushed polythene (62%) than in stones (42.6%). Almost similar results of pH and EC were found in both trickling filters. Total solids in treated wastewater were also almost similar in the two trickling filters. Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that crushed polythene is a good alternative for stones in trickling filters.  Keywords: Crushed polythene, Filter material, Stone, Trickling filter, Wastewater&nbsp

MEASURING BURNOUT OF HUMAN SERVICE WORKERS: TESTING THE COPENHAGEN BURNOUT INVENTORY IN SRI LANKAN CONTEXT

Measuring of directly unobservable or latent variables has been a serious concern among researchers engaged in quantitative research in the fields like social sciences, and humanities. This is mainly because of the challenges in quantifying the data related to latent variables. Purpose of this article was to test the reliability of the English version of the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) developed in Denmark during the PUMA (Danish acronym for Project on Burnout, Motivation and Job Satisfaction) Project in Sri Lankan context with a sample of 180 pre service ESL teachers. The data analysis shows how certain items in the CBI work in a different cultural setting. The overall conclusion was that the English version of the CBI is a reliable tool to measure burnout status of pre service ESL teachers in Sri Lanka.  Article visualizations

WHAT DETERMINES RECREATIONAL TELEVISION BEHAVIOUR OF PEOPLE? A STUDY WITH REFERENCE TO THE GAMPAHA DISTRICT

Although the television industry carries great importance in micro andmacroeconomic aspects and supports a great demand as a recreational orleisure source among people, it seems that the television industry is laggingbehind its actual capacity and is widely contributing to the domestic GDP.Less effective management and poor identification of choices of people hasdriven the industry toward poor conditions. Therefore, this studycontributes to identify the factors that support the television programpreferences of people, selection of public or private channels and timespent in front of the television. These identifications would indeed help thetelevision industry to achieve maximum capacity while competingeffectively in an oligopolistic market and achieving higher contribution tothe national GDP.In order to obtain the statistical analysis, primary data has been gatheredfrom four Grama Niladari Divisions of the Gampaha Divisional Secretariatin the Western Province, Sri Lanka. Simple random sampling procedurehas been carried out in the sample selection process and data has beengathered from 609 individuals in 168 households; from February 2015 toApril 2015, to identify determinants of programme preferences andpublic/private channel choices, the binary logistic regression model hasbeen applied. The semi log regression model is used to identify thedeterminants of television watching hours of the people.Results in the binary logistic model of programme preferences emphasizethat old, male, married and employed individuals are showing more interestin news and knowledge related programmes while creating positivesignificant relationships with the news and knowledge based programmedemand. When a person is being employed, public channels were mostlypreferred creating significant positive relationship while when a person ishaving specific political norm, they prefer mostly private channels andcreate significant negative relationship in the model. Regarding the hoursallocated for watching television by the people, age, marital status andemployment status shows positive relationships within the model.Considering the employed segment; when a person has more than 8 hoursof working time, it shows a significant negative relationship with televisionwatching hours. In descriptive statistics, it shows that old and middle agedpeople are more interested in watching news and politics related programmes while females mostly prefer programmes containing softcontent such as tele-dramas and religion based programmes. Considering news preference in separate, Hiru TV was leading among other channels. “Atapattama” on ITN was the most preferred knowledge based programme followed by “Doramadalawa” on ITN. “Satana” programme on Sirasa TV was the mainly preferred political programme among individuals. On the other hand, when it came to tele-dramas, the largely favoured Indian mega dramas were “Me Adarayai” and “Sapna”, telecast by Sirasa TV. “Hiru CountDown” was leading among the respondents when it came to their most preferred musical programmes. Keywords: Demand for Watching Television, Hours Spent Watching Television, Programme Specific Demand, Public/Private Channel Choice

RNA pathogenesis via Toll-like receptor-activated inflammation in expanded repeat neurodegenerative diseases

Previously, we hypothesized that an RNA-based pathogenic pathway has a causal role in the dominantly inherited unstable expanded repeat neurodegenerative diseases. In support of this hypothesis we, and others, have characterized rCAG.rCUG100 repeat double-strand RNA (dsRNA) as a previously unidentified agent capable of causing pathogenesis in a Drosophila model of neurodegenerative disease. Dicer, Toll, and autophagy pathways have distinct roles in this Drosophila dsRNA pathology. Dicer dependence is accompanied by cleavage of rCAG.rCUG100 repeat dsRNA down to r(CAG)7 21-mers. Among the “molecular hallmarks” of this pathway that have been identified in Drosophila, some [i.e., r(CAG)7 and elevated tumor necrosis factor] correlate with observations in affected people (e.g., Huntington’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) or in related animal models (i.e., autophagy). The Toll pathway is activated in the presence of repeat-containing dsRNA and toxicity is also dependent on this pathway. How might the endogenously expressed dsRNA mediate Toll-dependent toxicity in neuronal cells? Endogenous RNAs are normally shielded from Toll pathway activation as part of the mechanism to distinguish “self” from “non-self” RNAs. This typically involves post-transcriptional modification of the RNA. Therefore, it is likely that rCAG.rCUG100 repeat dsRNA has a characteristic property that interferes with or evades this normal mechanism of shielding. We predict that repeat expansion leads to an alteration in RNA structure and/or form that perturbs RNA modification, causing the unshielded repeat RNA (in the form of its Dicer-cleaved products) to be recognized by Toll-like receptors (TLRs), with consequent activation of the Toll pathway leading to loss of cell function and then ultimately cell death. We hypothesize that the proximal cause of expanded repeat neurodegenerative diseases is the TLR recognition (and resultant innate inflammatory response) of repeat RNA as “non-self” due to their paucity of “self” modification.Robert I. Richards, Saumya E. Samaraweera, Clare L. van Eyk, Louise V. O’Keefe and Catherine M. Sute

Genetic and other risk factors for suicidal ideation and the relationship with depression

BackgroundThere is a genetic contribution to the risk of suicide, but sparse prior research on the genetics of suicidal ideation.MethodsActive and passive suicidal ideation were assessed in a Sri Lankan population-based twin registry (n = 3906 twins) and a matched non-twin sample (n = 2016). Logistic regression models were used to examine associations with socio-demographic factors, environmental exposures and psychiatric symptoms. The heritability of suicidal ideation was assessed using structural equation modelling.ResultsThe lifetime prevalence of any suicidal ideation was 13.0% (11.7–14.3%) for men; 21.8% (20.3–23.2%) for women, with no significant difference between twins and non-twins. Factors that predicted suicidal ideation included female gender, termination of marital relationship, low education level, urban residence, losing a parent whilst young, low standard of living and stressful life events in the preceding 12 months. Suicidal ideation was strongly associated with depression, but also with abnormal fatigue and alcohol and tobacco use. The best fitting structural equation model indicated a substantial contribution from genetic factors (57%; CI 47–66) and from non-shared environmental factors (43%; CI 34–53) in both men and women. In women this genetic component was largely mediated through depression, but in men there was a significant heritable component to suicidal ideation that was independent of depression.ConclusionsThese are the first results to show a genetic contribution to suicidal ideation that is independent of depression outside of a high-income country. These phenomena may be generalizable, because previous research highlights similarities between the aetiology of mental disorders in Sri Lanka and higher-income countries.</jats:sec

Millimeter wave radiation-induced magnetoresistance oscillations in the high quality GaAs/AlGaAs 2D electron system under bichromatic excitation

Millimeter wave radiation-induced magnetoresistance oscillations are examined in the GaAs/AlGaAs 2D electron system under bichromatic excitation in order to study the evolution of the oscillatory diagonal magnetoresistance, R-xx as the millimeter wave intensity is changed systematically for various frequency combinations. The results indicate that at low magnetic fields, the lower frequency millimeter wave excitation sets the observed R-xx response, as the higher frequency millimeter wave component determines the R-xx response at higher magnetic fields. The observations are qualitatively explained in terms of the order of the involved transitions. The results are also modeled using the radiation-driven electron orbit theory