http://drr.vau.ac.lk/handle/123456789/975 2026-04-05T18:49:13Z http://drr.vau.ac.lk/handle/123456789/2833 The implication of syllabification on the use of comparative and superlative adjectives in essay writing Subajana, J. Adjectives are one of the main parts of speech of the English language, although historically they were classed together with nouns. Adjectives play a significant role in grammar and writing. The comparative and superlative adjectives are formed based on the word syllable. Depending on the syllables, the form may differ. Using adjectives in writing is a challenge for many ESL students. The students of the Faculty of Business Studies, Vavuniya campus, find it challenging to use the forms correctly. This paper investigates incorrect forms of comparative/superlative forms in the “compare and contrast” essays written by the students during the first-year English course. The research problem is why ESL learners find it challenging to use the above forms in their writing, although they have learned and known the relevant rules for years. The objective is to draw attention to their use. The data were collected from direct classroom observations, interviews, and structured questionnaires administered to 50 students. They were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The findings show that (1) the students are not aware or not clear of the demarcation of the syllabic systems such as mono-syllabic, di-syllabic or poly-syllabic because the forms of adjectives vary based on the number of the syllables, (2) they do not incorporate the grammar rules in their writing to overcome these challenges and( 3) there is no knowledge of the relevant suffixes and the placement of the definite article ‘the’ in the superlative form. Further, the mother tongues, Tamil and Sinhala, do not have specific comparative, superlative markers based on the syllables as in the English language. These are some of the other reasons which have been discussed in detail in the paper for the malformations of the adjectives. Thus, this study recommends specific strategies to improve teaching and learning the degrees of adjectival use. 0030-06-20T00:00:00Z http://drr.vau.ac.lk/handle/123456789/2832 The effect of work environment on employees’ job satisfaction in selected state sector organizations in jaffna district Shanthakumary, M.C.M.A.; Nirushika, G. The work environment of the employees is one of the most important set of factors that impacts on job satisfaction of them. Generally, state sector organizations in Sri Lanka pay less attention to work setup and job satisfaction of their employees. The study examined the effect of job context on work-related attitudes of the employees who work in selected state sector organizations in Jaffna District. A self-administrated questionnaire was designed with a five point Likert scale, to obtain the required data from the respondents. A sample of 300 employees for the study was selected from divisional and district secretariats using a systematic random sampling technique. The descriptive statistics and regression analysis were used to analyze the data. The results showed that the work environment significantly effects on job satisfaction of the employees in district and divisional secretariats. The study reveals that among all components of the work environment, work aides have a strong impact on job satisfaction of the employees. 0030-06-20T00:00:00Z http://drr.vau.ac.lk/handle/123456789/2831 Is entrepreneurship career goal among youth? An analytical study on institutional and policy expectations of youth Dambugolla, D.W.C.P. Many countries of the world, developed and developing, are trying to foster entrepreneurship to accelerate the rural economy. However, there has been no systematic attempt to view this by young people as the goal of their careers. The main objective of this study was to examine the policies of entrepreneurship education and the dimensions of institutional support regarding the expectations of the entrepreneur in choosing entrepreneurship as his career goal about the youth sector. For this study, 70 registered young businessmen from 10 different sectors of the Ministry of Technology and Research (MTR) VIDATHA program were identified in 2012. Primary data was collected directly from young people through a questionnaire. The regression model was used to predict the level of entrepreneurial expectations of youngers as a dependent variable. The independent variables were categorized based on the criteria of entrepreneurship policy (the importance of policies, effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability) and institutional support standards (entrepreneurial culture, education, business development support, and access to finance). The results of the study indicate that promoting the culture of entrepreneurship and business development support services were essential factors in the expectations of young entrepreneurs for institutional support and that the efficiency of policy is a crucial unique factor in predicting the entrepreneurial aspirations of youth in the field of entrepreneurship Policy. The main challenge for young entrepreneurs is to transform their business into a competitive and commercially viable business. Entrepreneurial education projects also have different goals and objectives depending on the target group, political agenda and types of interventions. Also, there is no single policy model to foster and encourage entrepreneurship among young people. Therefore, it is recommended to create a unique institutional framework to promote entrepreneurship amongst youth and suggest a formulate single policy model for promoting entrepreneurial activities among youth and the established key agency for coordinating of all sectors. 0030-06-20T00:00:00Z http://drr.vau.ac.lk/handle/123456789/2830 Impact of board diversity on firm performance: Evidence from listed material companies in sri lanka Dedunu, H.H.; Anuradha, P.A.N.S. The study aims to investigate the impact of board diversity on firm performance through board meetings based on listed material companies listed at the Colombo Stock Exchange in Sri Lanka. Diversity of the director board is measured through bio-demographic diversity and job related diversity. The bio-demographic diversity of the director board measured by gender, age and race, and job-related diversity measured on functional, education and organizational tenure—firm performance measured through Tobin Q and Return on Sales. The number of board meetings conducted per year was taken as a mediating variable. Listed material companies at Colombo Stock Exchange from 1985 to 2019 were the population from which twenty-eight firms that have been operating from 2013 to 2017 were filtered as the sample. Annual reports, published financial documents collected required data, and on which gender index, age index, race index, functional index, education index and organization tenure index were calculated separately. Multiple regression analysis was used to measure the direct and indirect impact of board diversities on firm performance. The light of the regression indicated a significant positive impact of gender diversity on firm performance; however, age and race diversities had an insignificant impact. Further, the impacts of functional, education and organizational tenure diversities to firm performance were negative. Finally, the study found a significant indirect impact of bio-demographic and job-related diversities to firm performance through board meetings confirming the mediating effect of the board meeting. Accordingly, policymakers and authorizes listed material firms should identify the escalating trend of women participation, educational improvement in the director board and ought to take necessary actions to maintain appropriate diversity levels in terms of bio demographic and job-related to enhance the firm performance. 0030-06-20T00:00:00Z