http://drr.vau.ac.lk/handle/123456789/244 2026-04-05T19:10:33Z http://drr.vau.ac.lk/handle/123456789/1688 Learning to Use English Prepositions: Structural Implications for the Tamil Students Jeyaseelan, G. The mastery of English prepositions poses a significant challenge for Tamil-speaking ESL students in Sri Lanka, attributable to profound morpho-syntactic structural differences between English and Tamil. English prepositions, functioning to establish syntactic and semantic relationships within sentences, contrast starkly with Tamil's case system where grammatical relationships are integrated into the noun through suffixes. This study, conducted with 84 Sri Lankan university students, investigates these implications through a corpus analysis of texts produced in formal assessments, focusing on the usage of prepositions in the discourse of business letters. The research methodology combined structural and functional analysis to identify prepositional errors revealing patterns that emphasize the influence of the Tamil linguistic structure on English language acquisition. Notably, the over-reliance on certain prepositions, especially in, for denoting place, time and manner, reflects a direct transfer from Tamil's case-ending equivalents. This tendency suggests a potential gap in understanding the complex requirements of English prepositional use leading to frequent misuse and overuse. Furthermore, the analysis highlighted difficulties with compound prepositions and phrasal verbs indicating a lack of familiarity with these constructs in English. The study extends beyond error analysis examining the cognitive, social and discourse dimensions. By applying theories such as Bandura's Social Cognitive Learning Theory and Piaget's Schema Theory, it explored how social interaction, environmental factors and cognitive structures influence the learning process. The findings revealed a significant pattern of errors related to incorrect replacement, omission and addition of prepositions, reflecting the complexities of the two different grammatical frameworks. This investigation’s implications are manifold. For ESL educators and curriculum developers, the results emphasize the necessity of targeted instruction that specifically addresses the functional use of prepositions in English contrasting them with Tamil's post-positional markers and case suffixes. Such pedagogical approaches should incorporate visual aids, contextual learning, corpus analysis tools and personalized feedback. Peer learning, role-playing and the use of digital language learning tools can further support the acquisition processes. Ultimately, this study contributes to second language acquisition by illuminating the specific challenges faced by Tamil speakers. 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z http://drr.vau.ac.lk/handle/123456789/1687 Making Sense of ‘Democracy’: Constructing Ideological and Attitudinal Positions in Media Discourse on Conflict and International Intervention in Sri Lanka. Jeyaseelan, G. This paper studies the media construction of ‘democracy’ in commenting on policies, nations, communities, parties, organizations and individuals in the background of the conflict and international intervention in Sri Lanka during the period of Ceasefire Agreement (2002–2006) between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. It analyzes the thematic construction of democracy by the selected editorials of the Sri Lankan English newspapers in projecting discourse of dichotomy and binary positions of ideological significance of Sri Lankan politics. The study uses the theoretical and methodological framework of discourse analysis and critical discourse analysis using the analytical tools of Fairclough (1989; 1995; 1995b), Fowler (1991) and Halliday (1985) to investigate ‘language in use’ and language in social context. It also investigates language as a ‘text’ in contexts and with co-texts at both micro- and macro-levels to establish or change social practices. It investigates how English language is utilized by the media in the established sense of empowerment of interested parties, or to control the access to knowledge and resources by the under-privileged communities. The study addresses the relationship between corporate power and ideology (Herman & Chomsky, 1988) and examines how democracy is thematized by the media in society oriented towards legitimization, political accommodation and ideological management in the name of democracy. This paper substantiates the claim that ‘liberal democratic doctrine has been salutary and far more beneficial for human rights and freedoms but to a considerable extent these are formal rather than substantive claims’. Thus the philosophical aspects and the political sociology of democracy are implicated in the identity politics in Sri Lanka. 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z http://drr.vau.ac.lk/handle/123456789/1686 The Thematic Diversity Reference Model for English Essay Writing and Assessment in Humanities & Social Sciences Jeyaseelan, G.; Subajana, J. he learners at the tertiary level show inadequacy in thematic diversity in their essay writing in English, especially in non-English speaking countries. Their effectiveness in developing the assigned topic in dissatisfaction. It affects clarity, richness, coherence and cohesion of their essays. Therefore, through these guidelines and textbooks for developing writing skills, the inadequate proper training with a proper practice model reflects weak performance at the university level. A topic-based pedagogical approach was applied. The theoretical base is drawn from writing process, writing process-product model and post-writing processes. It can be an efficient tool for the institution and teachers for writing process training and post-writing processes. It can be an efficient tool for the institution and teachers for writing process training and post-writing processes. It can be an efficient tool for the institution and teachers for writing process training and post-writing processes. It can be an efficient tool for the institution and teachers for writing process training and post-writing processes. It can be an efficient tool for the institution and teachers for writing process training and post-writing processes. It can be an efficient tool for the institution and teachers for writing process training and post-writing processes. This paper proposes a new thematic diversity reference model (TDRM) for writing process. It can be an efficient tool for the institution and teachers for writing process training and post-writing processes. The topic-based pedagogical approach is applied. It can be an efficient tool for the institution and teachers for writing process training and post-writing processes. It can be an efficient tool for the institution and teachers for writing process training and post-writing processes. It can be an efficient tool for the institution and teachers for writing process training and post-writing processes. 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z http://drr.vau.ac.lk/handle/123456789/1685 Ethnic Conflict, Peace and Development in the Editorials of the Sri Lankan English Newspapers - A Media Discourse Analysis Jeyaseelan, G. Discourse constitutes power in constructing ideational, textual and interpersonal constructs which are ideological. It can transmit and even legitimize power in society. In the post-conflict development scenario, the editors of Sri Lankan national newspapers should develop constructive discourse on political and development to make a positive impact on legislative changes. The media professionals must do this to counteract negativity of contributing to economic activities and development through ethnic-based representations. This paper is based on Herman and Chomsky’s propaganda model (1988, 2002). Media Monitor (2006) reports that ‘eighty seven percent of Sri Lankan journalists believe that the Sri Lankan media is failing to provide accurate, balanced and fair information’. The study focuses on whether the media has been a part of the problem or a part of the solution to peace building and development. It studies the reported attitudes of the Sinhala, Tamil and international communities since newspaper and editorial discourses are the constructs of journalists and editors of the media, mainly biased ideological or ‘hidden or public opinions and often revealed in editorials’ (Van Dijk, 1995). This study uses Social Constructivist approach, mainly discourse analysis, which focuses on the shared meanings and on how they are produced on the themes of ethnic conflict, peace and development. It uses qualitative research methodology. The objective is to investigate the dominant structures and discursive frames found in editorials and their representations. The results of the analysis use the ideological and attitudinal positions found in editorials to explain the patterns and trends of the discursive constructions. The findings reveal that the editorial discourse constructs power by identity-based. 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z