Proceedings of International Conference on Contemporary Management - 2014 (ICCM - 2014), pp 549-562
BILINGUALISM AND SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION:
A REVIEW
T.Karunakaran
Abstract
In this paper, second language acquisition and bilingualism are focused and the relationship
between these is broadly analyzed. An attempt was made to probe into the factors which influence
the second language acquisition in bilingual contexts. This paper employed an analytical approach to
explore the viewpoints of various scholars with regard to second language acquisition and
bilingualism. In this regard, psycholinguistic issues, sociolinguistic issues, neuropsychological issues,
bilingual education issues, issues of formal instruction, issues of language input and issues of teacher
talk were analyzed. Besides these, the different learning models like interactional language learning,
content-based language learning, and cooperative learning were analyzed to find out how best these
models help the students acquire the second language. The analysis of research studies by different
scholars made one thing very clear that bilingual children do acquire the languages very easily
without encountering any major breakdowns in the process of acquisition.
Keywords: Bilingualism, Second language Acquisition
The Acquisition of a Second Language
Scholars usually differentiate the
acquisition of a second language from
learning of a foreign language. What is
meant by second language acquisition is that
the language learned becomes a functional
part in the life of a learner (Hakuta, 1993).
Most often the second language is acquired
by learners once they go to a country in
which that language is used at large. Foreign
language has always a context in which it is
learned. The context of FL is usually a
classroom (Hakuta, 1993). The notable
difference between SL and FL is the criterion
against which it is adjudicated and the
learners in the second language are
compared with native speakers of that
language. The salient features lie in the rate
of second language acquisition that usually
varies with situations, personalities and
language aptitude which are usually
ignored, when evaluating the second
language programs (Hakuta, 1993).
How is a Second Language Acquired?
`The way second language forms
are totally different from learning one's
first language. For instance, in the first
language, a child learns this
unconsciously. Even a child with mental
Senior Lecturer in ELT, University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka.
549
difficulties can learn a first language, if
he has the fundamental brain structure.
There are many diverse viewpoints on
how first language happens. There are,
for instance, a few that come to mind.
The Innatism theory, Cognitive theory,
Social Interactionist theory, and
Behaviorist theory are some of them to
note here. Whichever one may deal with
really doesn't matter. It is, nevertheless,
essential to point out that we will never
know precisely which one is true- we
cannot measure brain structure
(Lightbown, 1993). Perhaps, there is a
bit of truth in all of these theories.
Second language acquisition is more
complex. Now, we get to use Stephen
Krashen' s Creative Construction Theory
(1982) that could be used to understand
the complex process of second language
acquisition. This theory describes five
hypotheses. These hypotheses were
formed in order to offer reason for errors
made in the second language acquisition
process. Krashen is a supporter of the
innatists' beliefs in first language
acquisition, so this theory is built upon
from this view. The five hypotheses are
as follows: (order does not represent
significance)
1.
The Acquisition learning
hypothesis Acquisition and
learning are two separate
functions, acquisition is to know
the language, learning is to know
about the language, Krashen holds
true that these two functions are
learned differently.
2.
The monitor hypothesis -In this
550
3.
4.
5.
hypothesis, Krashen says that it
does little good to correct or
monitor errors if the child is not at
a certain cognitive level in the first
place
The natural order hypothesis- In
this hypothesis, language is
learned in a natural sequential
manner. The learner begins with
simple to complex information.
The input hypothesis- Krashen felt
that comprehensible input is all a
learner must be exposed to in order
to learn a target language.
The affective filter hypothesisThis is the idea that if a second
language learner is filled with
anxiety when studying a second
language, he will not be able to
comprehend the information at
hand. Furthermore, an
unconscious filter will block
information when student is
stricken with anxiety, and the filter
will be down if the student is calm
and anxiety-free (Krashen,
1982:70).
Generally, research in language
learning moved from empiricism to a
simple cognitivism with greater
sensitivity to the environment where
learning takes place (Hakuta, 1993). The
empirical studies show that second
language learning involved with transfer
of habits from the mother tongue to the
second language. Similar features
between languages were found to
facilitate learning, but differences were
found to hamper the learning process.
The empirist's view of second language
acquisition was questioned and replaced
with a new view which was called
cognitive view. Chomsky made a lot of
changes in the field of Linguistics by his
revolutionary ideas in late 1950s. He
spoke of a 'language acquisition device'
which takes incomplete linguistic data as
input and produces very detailed and
abstract knowledge of linguistic rules as
output (Chomsky,1957). It is believed
that language is an innate endowment of
human species: it is a mental organ
which acquires the language. This
endowment of human species is an
innate one that refutes the earlier concept
that language could be acquired through
experience: contradiction with the
decontextualised view of learning
evolved, once the sociolinguistics
developed within linguistic discipline.
Concurrently, the psycholinguistic
aspect started to permeate into the field
of Linguistics and to create input on the
perspective of language acquisition. As a
result, the role of teacher and society in
directing the interconnection between
the different capacities of children
became eminent (Hakuta, 1993). From
the data Hakuta (1993) gathered over the
years, he could draw up a decision that a
layman might express his/her
understanding as follows:
The best way for a kid to learn
English is to be immersed in it. For
example, my grandfather was an
immigrant, and he did not speak a word
of English when he came to this country.
But he learned English tine without
being put in a special class for bilingual
kids. In fact, the native language
probably gets in the way of learning
English, serves as' a psychological
crutch, and probably blows their fuses
because not all kids can handle more
than one language. If a kid is just
exposed to English, he'll pick it up in no
time, matter of a few months or a year at
most (Hakuta, 1993:125).
Nonetheless, the perspective from
which the language acquisition
researches were done create some
expectations which are very much
unrealistic (Hakuta, 1993). The view that
native language hinders the second
language has been proved to be baseless
and L1 lays a foundation on which
English is built. Hence, bilingual
education assists to achieve the goal of
English language development (Hakuta,
1993). No research has supported the old
notion that mother tongue distracts
learning of second language and many
results have revealed that greater
elaboration of the native language will
result in more efficient learning of
second language. There was an
increasing correlation between Spanish
and English and vocabulary scores in
several groups of Puerto Rican bilingual
education learners confirmed this
authentically (Hakuta, 1993). Several
other studies conducted by Cummins
(1984) and Snow (1987) report high
correlation between two languages. The
551
older children are more efficient in
acquiring the second language than the
younger ones. It gives us evidence that
native language proficiency is
transferred into effective second
language learning. Hakuta comments on
the language proficiency as follows:
Language proficiency is not
monolithic, but consists of a diverse
collection of skills that are not
necessarily correlated. Minimally, a
distinction must be made between
contextualized and decontextualized
language skills. Contextualized, face-toface conversational skills seem to
develop more rapidly than
decontextualized skills, although the
latter is more important for academic
success (Hakuta, 1993:126).
According to Hakuta (1993) the
transformation has changed the way we
understand the language proficiency
over the years. The previous view that
complexity of human intelligence could
be reduced to a single IQ test allowing
individuals is found to be invalid
(Sternberg, 1985 cited in Hakuta, 1993).
The language could be carved up beyond
the simple notions of language aptitude.
Cummins (1984) brings out the
distinction between communicative
language (usually called BICS) and
academic language (usually called
CALP). Snow (1987) also distinguishes
differences between contextualized and
decontextualized language skills. These
conceptualizations prove that there had
552
been inadequacy in measuring the
proficiency in a unidimensional manner.
To attain age-appropriate levels of
performance in the second language
takes four to seven years (Hakuta, 1993).
In this regard, Collier (Collier n.d. cited
in Hakuta, 1993) briefed her studies
making a claim that immigrant students
from various backgrounds take two to
three years to catch up with native
speakers' English and those students are
supposed to remain in the bilingual
programs. As far as age is concerned, it
imposes some contradictions on
phonological and grammatical
acquisition of second language, but
never hinders the academic functions of
second languages (Hakuta, 1993). There
are so many evidences that older learners
perform well in L2 because of their
greater cognitive maturity. Collier (n.d.)
cited in Hakuta (1993) proposes that
children between ages of 8 and 12 are the
most suitable second language learners.
Researchers have revealed that
phonological and grammatical abilities
go down with age. According to Hakuta
(1993), the affective factors to second
language is not always applicable and
are likely to affect the extent to which
their native language is maintained.
Researches on English-speaking
Canadian learning French in Englishspeaking areas of the country emphasize
the role of attitude and motivation in
successful acquisition of French.
There are so many assumptions
of underlying efficiency of bilingual
instruction. Of these, the assumption that
skills and knowledge acquired in the
mother tongue are transferred to second
language is the most basic one
(Cummins, 1980a, 1981a). For example,
a child learning about the velocity in
Tamil needs to be able to transfer this
knowledge to English (L2). Actually, the
content knowledge already acquired in
L1 needs to be able to facilitate the
learning of appropriate vocabulary
items, because they give very pertinent
comprehensible input (Krashen, 1985).
Lambert and Tucker (1972) cited in
Hakuta (1993) also supports this view
stating that in Canadian French
Immersion program children received
instruction only in French, but reading
and arithmetic skills of the children in
English simultaneously developed. They
describe this phenomenon as follows:
We refer here to the higher-order
skills of reading and calculating, which
were developed exclusively through the
medium of French and yet seemed to the
equally well and almost simultaneously
developed in English. In fact, we wonder
whether in these cases there actually was
a transfer of any sort or whether some
more abstract form of learning took
place that was quite independent of the
language of training. These
developments took place so rapidly that
we had little time to take notice of them.
It seemed to us that all of a sudden the
children could read in English and
demonstrate their arithmetic
achievement in that language (Lambert
and Tucker, 1972 cited in Hakuta,
1993:127).
The concept of transfer of skills
is accepted by a number of studies with a
cognitive orientation. For instance,
Goldman, Reyes and Varnhagen (1989)
cited in Hakuta (1993) point out that
bilingual children use similar techniques
while listening to Aseop's Fables in two
languages, giving indirect proof that
higher-order cognitive processes
manifest themselves irrespective of the
language. Besides this, the researches on
adult bilingual memory for a list of
lexical items hint that the specific
language presentation of particular
words may be remembered under some
conditions (Hakuta, 1993).One question
arises whether transfer takes place on a
certain skill-by-skill basis, or globally
where the whole structure of skills in a
domain transfers as a whole. The
research findings reveal that transfer of
skills depends on the general proficiency
level in the mother tongue rather than on
the certain set of skills taught by teachers
(Hakuta, 1993). According to Hakuta
553
(1993), all the bilingual children tend to
demonstrate their considerable skill of
transfer irrespective of content.
Malakoff and Hakuta (1991)
documented the precious
psycholinguistic properties of
transferring ability in the research
conducted among the elementary school
children. Their findings revealed that
children did not have confusion between
two languages while they were talking to
their friends. And they skillfully
employed code-switching when
necessary.
Psycholinguistic issues in L2 Acquisition
There is a claim that second
language acquisition is not the central
psycholinguistic phenomenon but the
basic phenomenon by which the
linguistic development of the learner in
L2 happens(Spuch n.d). Henceforth, it is
believed that if the goal is to get a general
view of L2 acquisition, L2 acquisition
should be addressed from multiple interdisciplinary dimension. Applied
linguistics, bilingual education and
foreign language teaching are likely to
benefit from the broad view of L2
acquisition. There are two key historical
milestones in the development in the
field of second language acquisition.
One is Chomsky's (1957) theory of
grammar-theoretical linguistics and the
other is Corder's(1967) distinction
554
between systematic error and random
mistakes-applied linguistics. These two
scholars brought changes in the
perspective of viewing language as a set
of habits and they claim that language
acquisition is a mental representation of
a set of abstract rules which took other
linguists to the study of L2 acquisition
into processing studies-description of
the underlying psychological
mechanism by which a second language
is understood and produced. Spuch(n.d)
describes that concepts of interlanguage, transitional competence and
approximate system and underlying
processes sustain L2 acquisition. When
learner is acquiring an L2, s/he acquires
grammar of it and it takes learner long
time to achieve this. With respect to
acquisition of grammatical rules,
Spuch(n.d:113-114) says 'in the process
of acquiring a grammar of the target
language(TL), learner build a number of
other grammars which are not the same
as grammar of target language(TL)'. The
structuralists and behaviorists state that
learner would find difficulty, when the
L1 and L2 are dissimilar whereas
similarities between both would
facilitate learning. Here, there is a
contradiction that all the errors cannot be
traced to L1 interference. It is argued that
linguistic difference between languages
do not take either the absent or the
present error into account. On other
hand, these errors would be results of
non-linguistic factors (affective factors).
So, errors need to be explained in terms
of the setting where L2 is acquired and
learners' stage of development.
Therefore, linguistic difficulty does not
correspond with learning difficulty
(Dulay and Burt, 1974). The issue
addresses the way in which affective
factors affect the L2 acquisition. Here,
the underlying psycholinguistic
characteristics foster the learning
(Rubin,1975;1987; stern,1975; Naiman
et al. 1978; Schumann, 1978; Krashen,
1978; Brown,1981;Wenden,1987; 1991;
Gillette,1974; Taylor,1975 cited in
Spuch n.d).
Sociolinguistic and social
Psychological issues in L2 acquisition
Many linguists discussed both
sociolinguistic and social psychological
issues in relation to L2 acquisition under
the 'sociolinguistic approach' to L2
acquisition. They reviewed how social
factors like age, class and sex influence
the linguistic performance of the L2
learners. But, later the sociolinguists like
Labov, Hymes and Fishman have done
in-depth studies on underlying linguistic
science and made clear relationship
between linguistic variation and social
characteristic of speakers. Therefore, the
recent perspectives of L2 acquisition
challenge the previous claims made by
the linguists. Sociolinguistic relevance
illustrates why social factors determine a
systematic variation in language
performance. Competence is now
elucidated not only from form related
linguistic perspective but also from the
sociocultural aspects. Beebe (1988)
stresses the difference between L2 and
L1 performance and L2 performance is
developmentally not complete, but the
learner uses limited and changing
repertoire which adult native speakers
got from their mother tongue. L1 sociolinguistics cannot be applied to L2
acquisition, if we do not consider the
difference between the two kinds of
performance. In the case of L2
performance, factors regarding the
social psychology of language-e.g., the
speaker's subjective feeling, values and
motives need to be incorporated, as the
kind of behaviors is determined by these
factors (Beebe, 1988).
Teacher Talk in Bilingual Class
Teachers and researchers are
preoccupied with classroom tasks as
they initiates learners into discovering
conventions of schooling. Generally,
classroom is an organized environment
where language-mediated social
practices happen (Mickan, 2006).
Instruction in classroom is carried out
with a language and children learn to
understand and create spoken and
written texts associated with classroom
tasks. The students learn to pick up
spoken and written instructions and to
choose discourse suitable to different
tasks. Students share linguistic
experience in the first-language
classrooms and this linguistic
experience lay the foundation for
instruction required for classroom tasks.
555
In the case of L2 learners, they face
different conditions. Even if they have a
prior experience in their L1, the
classroom is a vital situation for setting
discourse resources (Duff, 2002 cited in
Mickan, 2006). Psycholinguistic and
sociolinguistic research in L2
acquisition viewed the centrality of
learners' communicative experience for
learning additional language. Krashen
(1981) stressed the vitality of
comprehensible input in acquiring an
L2. Long (1983) recognized the
significance of interaction and
negotiation of meaning for language
development. Current linguistic theories
identify the close-knit nature of language
and contexts. Systematic functional
linguistics (Halliday, 1994 cited in
Mickan, 2006) and integrational
Linguistics (Harris, 1998 cited in
Mickan, 2006) depict the inseparability
of language use from social interaction.
These theories have raised the awareness
of language in human activities. The
semiotic functions of language in
society, the production and reproduction
of meaning in an intricate social liaison
are key concerns for the present social
models of L2 acquisition.
Although there are a lot of
criticisms of classroom task, the
importance of classroom talk cannot be
overlooked. Chaudron (1988) says that
teacher took dominance in the classroom
and students get very little to use the
target language and there is no
556
opportunity for negotiation of meaning.
Macaro (1997:95) cited in Mickan
(2006:343) views classroom talk that
“classroom discourse, based on eclectic
communicative approach, which relies
entirely on message for promoting
language learning is unrealistic and
unachievable.” but classroom language
is instructional discourse with
significant established social practices
(Mickan, 1999 cited in Mickan, 2006).
The school curriculum and school
activities are designed to broaden
learners' experiences of structured social
life to initiate them into fresh discourse
patterns for social interaction in new
relationship, tasks and curriculum
practices. Willett (1995) cited in Mickan
(2006:344) states that “Speech events in
classrooms are prime time for initiating
learners into differentiated and
appropriate language uses, which are
functionally integrated into the routine
and predictable events of class work”.
Halliday (1978) cited in Mickan (2006)
holds a view that texts come from its
situations and are determined by the
particular features of the situation.
Social function and language use are
related with meaning potentially
encoded through lexicogrammatical and
discourse-semantic selections:
conducting the classroom activities in
target language is a potentially very rich
source of meaning-making language
experiences for learners to understand
and take part in interaction. There is a
dispute on the exclusive use of target
language (Canagarajah,1995), but in
forcing situations wherein learners' L2
experiences are limited to school lesson
as seen in many Sri Lankan schools,
observation and participation in
language practices are very pivotal. In
countries like Sri Lanka, pupils just get a
chance to observe and hear teacher's
physical expressions in the L2 connected
to behavior and to the material
environment. Particularly, in northern
part of Sri Lanka where 90% of the Tamil
community doesn't have exposure to L2
needs the classroom talk necessarily?
The students from the districts such as,
Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Vavuniya, Mannar
and Mullaithivu entirely depend on
teacher talk and classroom activity to get
input in L2. The teachers who are
proficient enough in the target language
adjust their tasks and give scaffoldings to
students to understand of what is going
on. They simplify their tasks by means of
selection of familiar syntactic and words
through adjustment of the speech.
Teachers usually scaffold children's
participation by way of rephrasing and
introducing alternative and fresh
expression (Gibbons, 2002 cited in
Mickan, 2006). Classroom provides the
learners a range of language exposure
which gives them very vital input to
improve their L2.
The issue of formal instruction in L2
Acquisition
Some researchers have
addressed the effect of instruction on
inter-language and revealed a fact that
the recent L2 acquisition research
findings have rightly shaken quite a large
number of unsubstantiated
pronouncements on the efficiency of
various methods and techniques for
language teaching. This has raised a
situation to probe classroom language
teaching and the L2 promotion. Dulay
and Burt (1977) and Felix (1981)
indicate that there are common
characteristics of untutored and
instructed L2 acquisition because of a
common underlying acquisition process.
Hence, the role of the learner to the
learning identified and the joint
partnership the teacher and learner are
recognized. Subsequent to these
research studies, the inefficiency of
instruction that was permeated in the
learning process came up. Long (n.d)
cited in Spuch (n.d) holds a view that
many findings on the limitations of
instruction were related without
enquiring the outcome of the instruction
,but the outcomes were compared with
the similarities of the inter-languages of
untutored and instructed learners. Long
(1983) started to probe the effects of
instruction on the acquisition process.
He found some of these processes have
been related to different contextual
factors-i.e pidginization, fossilization,
transfer and restrictive simplification.
Given these findings, he concluded that
they were mostly concerned with
untutored L2 learning and consequently
he made a claim that utility of contextual
variation needs to be considered in order
to understand instructed acquisition. It
was noticed that two main options
557
summarized the varied selection from
which L2 instruction is selected-e.g. the
frequency with which they are met and
the saliency of those encounters. The
other option means the kind of
production activities imposed on
students: to check if they permit or
prevent errors; and to encourage the
talking of linguistic risk (Spuch n.d).
Pica (1983) cited in Spuch (n.d) carried
out a research and looked for both
similarities and differences. She
discovered three acquisition
environments in her studies: naturalistic,
instructed and mixed. She found two
learner types indicating similarities in
their morpheme acquisition orders: (1)
learner factors, not contextual or
environmental factor decide larger part
of acquisition of L2; and the effect of
instruction on production is to create an
excess of grammatical morphology and
to prevent the use of ungrammatical
constructions like those found in
pidgins.
Long (1983) makes a reference
to the Quebec findings to indicate the
impact of instruction on acquisition
sequences. Pienemann's (1984) cited in
Spuch (n.d) study reports that formal
instruction cannot subvert the order of
acquisition of linguistic features, as there
is a sequence of development for their
acquisition and learners have to cope
with this developmental sequence. A set
of processing strategies are represented
in each stage of sequence and by this
558
learners have to proceed. The sequence
by which learners acquire certain types
of linguistic knowledge cannot be
altered by instruction. In other words,
instruction on the basis of the
development sequence is highly
restrictive. The learners are required to
alter to certain psychological reading in
order to learn these developmental
structures. This is what
Pienemann(1984) calls learnability or
teachability. The structures like be
copula, progressive ing or prepositions
are variation and they might be acquired
at some point of times by different
learners and they are not learned in a
fixed order (Spuch n.d). So, the relation
between instruction and learning is so
complicated. The available evidence
suggests that learning would depend on
what sort of input is given to the learners
(Swain, 1985).
From input to Output
Van patten and Cadiemo(1993)
cited in Vanpatten and Sanz(1995)
carried out a research on the issue of type
of grammar instruction that needs to
provided to second language learners.
Using a model of second language
acquisition proposed by
Vanpatten(1992) cited in Vanpatten and
Sanz(1995 ), Vanpatten and Cadiemo
probe the impacts what they termed
process instruction and the impacts are
compared with the impacts of both no
instruction and traditional instruction.
Processing instruction is an explicit
focus on form which is based on input. In
traditional instruction, learner does not
alter structure or form in output. But in
process instruction learner seeks to alter
the way in which the learners perceive
and process linguistic data in the input to
give the internal learning mechanism
with high grammatical intake. Many
linguists agree the role of
comprehensible input in the
development of the learner's internal
grammar. Second language acquisition
is always considered a set of processes as
shown in figure 1. There are three
distinict sets of process in acquisition.
The first set of processes converts input
into intake. This is called as input
processing (Sanz &Vanpatten, 1995).
The second set of processes comprises
those that urge accommodation of intake
and the restructuring of the expanding
linguistic system. Third set of processes
must be deposited to account for certain
aspects language production:
monitoring, accessing, control and so
on(Schimidt, 1992;Terrell,1991 cited in
Vanpatten and Sanz,1995)
Figure 1 process of second language
Acquisition based on Vanpatten, (1995)
L2 acquisition. Many researchers are of
the opinion that bilingual education
would certainly be a fruitful means
through which the children acquire the
L2 very effectively and quickly. The
importance of language input in the
process of L2 acquisition has been
elaborated extensively citing pertinent
examples from authentic sources. The
issues like sociolinguistic,
psycholinguistic, neurolinguistic and
pedagogic principles discussed in this
paper would give many useful insights as
to how they influence the SLA,
particularly in the bilingual contexts. In
the second language acquisition,
Krashen's (1981;1985) comprehensible
input hypothesis is the primary aspect
which says the language input given to
the L2 learners needs to be
comprehensible. Then only, acquisition
becomes e easy, and this view is accepted
by the linguists like Cummins (1994)
and Genesee (1987). The views on this
hypothesis have been described citing
the available research findings from
research studies carried out in many
countries. From the arguments made in
this section, one could understand that
bilingual children do acquire the
languages very easily without
encountering any major breakdowns in
acquiring languages.
4. Conclusion
Bilingualism contributes to
second language acquisition enormously
and many studies cited in the paper are
evident that bilingualism has impacts on
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Proceedings of International Conference on Contemporary Management - 2014 (ICCM - 2014), pp 563-569
LARGE STAKE NET FISHING METHOD IS A NEW THREAT
IN SOUTHERN MANNAR ISLAND AREA
A.S. Sosai
Abstract
Using illegal fishing methods in the form of dynamite, stupefying substance, other noxious, harmful
materials or substance and bottom trawling methods are common practice throughout the coastal
areas of Sri Lanka, especially in the northern Sri Lanka. As a result, marine resources especially,
corals, mangroves, mammals the marine organisms of the sea bed and aquatic resources have not
only been destroyed but also disrupted. In addition, valuable human life has been lost in these illegal
processes. On the whole, it affects the entire fishing community. The fisheries act 1996 of ministry of
Fisheries and aquatic resources strongly prohibits the above mentioned illegal fishing methods.
Further, the department of fisheries in Mannar has also taken action to prohibit illegal fishing
methods, such as tree logs, concrete logs, stones, car bodies, monofilament nets, and tree branches
for cuttlefish (squid) fishing in the district since 2010. There was an urgent need for identifying the
prohibited or illegal fishing activities and the use of dangerous or harmful substances in fishing. The
present study was carried out in Mannar coastal area from June 2013 until the later part of December
2013. Such identification was focused on the major threats and impacts on the fishing community
and the socio, economic and ecological impacts through case studies, field surveys and library
methods. The study targets to find out appropriate planning and remedies to minimize illegal fishing
and to save the coastal fishing community.
Keywords: Illegal fishing, Northern Sri Lankan waters, Fishing industry, Depletion of marine
resources, Fishing community.
1. INTRODUCTION
Fisheries is the main source of
income in the Mannar district.According to
the Fisheries and Aquatic Resource and
Development of Mannar district,fishing
population in Mannar consisted of 29,506
persons from 8,052 fishing families and 36
fishing villages,approximately 16% of the
population of the district.When compared
with the other parts of Sri Lanka, the sea of
Mannar has remarkable marine
environmental resources suitable for
fishing.Two types of fishing methods are
identified in Mannar ,traditional and modern
Kaddumaram (theppam),vallam, are the
boats used in traditional fishing.Set nets or
Stake nets beach-seine,cast net,trap diving
and hand line .These methods are used by
30% of the fishing industry in
Department of Geography, University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka.
[email protected]
563
Mannar.Trawler (28-32feet,IBM) and
(FRGB boats (17.5-23 feet,OBM) with gill
nets,trawl nets and ring nets are modern
fishing tools in use. The fishermen using
gill nets are 65%, Set nets 20%, Trawl nets
and other nets 10%. Around 5% of the
fishermen dive for fishing.
Mainly the reserch has focuss only
on the Stake nets.Locally the stake nets are
called siragu valai or patti valai or set
net.Two types of stake nets are used in the
Mannar area, i.e,small stake and large
stake.Small stake nets are used in shallow
area of the northern part of Mannar from
Thevampiddy to Konthaipiddy but cannot
be used in the coastal area of the otherparts
of Mannar The stake net has a long tradition
in the Mannar District, but its use has always
been limited to the lagoon and shallow water
area from Thevampiddy to Konthaipaddy.
Its size has been limited, and only wooden
poles were used and they are not permitted to
be used in coastal areas of the other parts of
Mannar. But subsequent to the end of the
war, metal poles are used nowadays. The
type of stake net described above, which has
developed only after the war, is significantly
different. We are also fully committed to the
development of improved types of fishing
gears, but not if they are clearly dangerous
and affecting existing sustainable fishing
methods.
A Large Stake net or pound net is a
fixed fishing device that consists of poles or
stakes secured into the bottom with netting
attached. The structure includes a pound or
Chamber with a netting floor, a heart,or wing
and a straight wall or leader or fencing
564
net(Figure1and 2). Large Stake nets are
generally set close to shore and the leader is
set perpendicular to the shore to guide
migrating fish into the pound.
Set nets are large stationary fishing gear
which are set in 01 to 15 m depth in the
migratary path of the target species in order
to guide them in to trapping enclosures.
2. Study Area
Location of the study area is a Gulf
of Mannar from south part to Vankalai area
in the Mannar District. See the figure 01.
Figure: 01 Study Area
Source : Marine Chart.2007
0.1 Objectives
This study has three objectives like,
 To identify the operation areas of the
stake net methods.
 Find out the major threats and
impacts (socio, economic and
ecological) on the fishing industry by
the Stake net method and
 Find out the appropriate solutions
and remedies
Figure : 02, Large Stake nets
Source: Field Survey,2013
2. METHODS AND MATERIALS
Primary data and the Secondary
data related to the illegal fishing nets were
used for this research such as modes of stake
nets, Socio, economic and ecological
damages, and affected fisher folk.
(b) Heart/wing
The fish are guided by the leader
net to the retaining area known as
playground. The playground area iss
called Heart Net or Wing Net, with a pair
of wings being made.
Direct observation and group
discussion among the affected fisher folk in
the research area were used as primary data.
Secondary data were collected from the
relevant institutions, such as DFEO's office,
and Fishermen co-operative societies'
reports the year of fromJanuary 2012 to
December 2013. Some pictures had been
taken by the Video camera. The primary and
secondary data were analyzed through the
descriptive statistical analysis for the result.
(c) Chamber
The fish move through the
narrow entrance to chamber or pound
area where they are caught and removed.
The gear depending on the type are either
fixed to the ground by stakes in coastal
waters.Modern large stake nets are
constructed of synthetic netting
material.Mesh size of the leader net
ranges from 20to 30mm,pound and wing
nets 25mm.large meshes are used for
catching Mackarel,Seer and other
species which move in shoals.Visibility
of netting has a positive effect on guiding
.The twine diameter-mesh size are 9 to
12ply.Major species cought in set nets
are herring, Mullet,snapper,silver biddy.
pony fish, catfish, cuttle fish,
prawn,travelly,spinefoot and others.
3. RESULTS
According to the research findings
are higlighted bellow,such as components of
stake nets ,socio-economic and ecological
impacts in the particular areas by the
stakenets as well as find out the appropriate
solution and remedies.
Components of the Net
(a) Leader
A leader net which is of 30 to 50
m in lenghth depends on the size of the
set net. Mesh size of the leader net
ranging from 50to 65mm,is set at an
angle between 130* to the migratary
path of fish.The fish are guided by the
leader net to the retaining area known as
playground from where they move
through the narrow entrance to chamber
or pound area where they are caught and
removed
(d) Metal Poles
Length ; 11-12 M.
Diameter; 1.5 Inch or 65mm
Considerable attention has been directed
towards the development of Stake net
fishery in Mannar.These nets are highly
fuel efficient compared to other fishing
systems and are very efficient for
catching migratory fishes.The gear
could be operated continiously day and
night requiring only periodic tending for
565
removal of fish and maintainance .An
obvious disadvantage is that they are huge
structure requiring large amount of netting
materials and metal and wooden poles and
labour for their intial installation.
However,this Large stake net is like
a large fence in the sea, consisting of 30 to
50 pieces of 9-11 metre galvanised iron
poles (very sharp), to which the enormous
nets are fixed in a stretch of about 50 metres.
As hundreds of these nets have been placed
recently, as a whole about ten kilometre of
sea is fenced in this fashion from the South
Bar Beach up to Coral Reef Bar. As a result,
marine resources especially, corals, and the
marine organisms of the sea bed had been
destroyed.And this note is to draw attention
for a seriously affected development in
Southern Mannar Island area, where small
scale.
Fishermen and beach seiners are
getting increasingly obstructed by this
fishing method and drift netters are unable to
operate in the area. OBM boats are unable to
travel in the midnight through the areas.
Drift nets and OBM boats have been
damaged by the metal poles. The issue is a
newly developed type of stake net or wing
net which demands serious and immediate
attention of the government.
50
75
Source: Field Survey,2013
566
Length (m)
68
Cost Average
(RS00000’)
15
20
Depth(No of
meshes)
15
30
Number
Twine(PLY)
1112
Diameter
(cm)
Meshsize(mm)
Stak
e
Net
Metal
poles
Height(m)
Type of Nets
Table: 1, Details components of stake nets
150
250
50
5-6
Figure : 3, Stake net
Source: Field Survey,2013
Figure: 4 . Types of Stake Nets
Source: Field Survey,2013
As this type of nets is highly capital
intensive, the fishermen involved will not be
happy to see their activities restricted and
large interests are at stake. Of course, the
fishermen from these areas have only
succeeded in the instalment and operation of
these wing nets with the influence of
powerful political supporters.
There is an urgent need for
identifying the prohibited or illegal fishing
activities and the use of dangerous or
harmful substances in fishing in Southern
island of Mannar. And the present study will
be carried out in January 2013 until the latter
part of December 2013. Such identification
will focus on the major threats and impacts
on the fishing industry and the socio,
economic and ecological impacts through
case studies, field surveys and library
methods. The study targets to find out
appropriate remedies to Minimize such
harmful stake net fishing.
Table:2, Fish production by the Beach seine(kg), January December2013
J
Total
Production
Number of days
F
M
A
M
154
114
120
139
18
20
20
21
Average
Production (per
Source: Field survey in Vankalai.2013
This has the following implications:
Economic impact.
Andthis note is to draw attention for
a seriously affected development in
Southern Mannar Island area, where small
scale fishermen and beach seiners are
getting increasingly obstructed by this
fishing method .Practically all shoals of fish
coming from the north of Thalaimannar get
caught in these nets, whereas the fish
movement towards the shore is highly
restricted.
Beach seining is an important
means of livelihood for thousands of people
in Vankalai in Southern Mannar. More
then100 of families depend on 6units of
beach seines such area.
Due to the current presence of the
wing net, however, the beach seine
production has completely collapsed as all
fish is fenced off by these stake nets.There
has been dramatic decline in the production
of fish caught by beach seine in the same
areas.(Table: 2)The range of average
production was from 3.5 k.g/month to 11.6
k.g/month in unit I, and from 4.0 to 10.9 in
unit II at Vankalai area.
Drift netters or Gill netters are unable to
operate in the area.
OBM boats are unable to travel in
the midnight through the areas. Drift nets or
Gill nets and OBM boats have been
damaged by the metal poles. The fishermen
using fibreglass boats find it very difficult to
navigate especially in the nights avoiding
the protruding poles, which will make a hole
in the boats when they come into contact. A
number of boats have already been damaged
this way (pictures)
Social impact.
As this type of nets is highly capital
intensive,(More then Five to Seven -LKR.)
567
the fishermen involved will not be happy to
see their activities restricted and large
interests are at stake. Of course, the
yields, while leaving another community
without fish, it is not surprising to witness a
serious increase in communal clashes,
which are highly undesirable.
Figure:5, Metal Poles
Ecological mpact.
As a result, marine resources
especially, corals, (Vankalai coral reefs,and
Arippu coral reef) and the marine organisms
of the sea bed had been destroyed by the use
of heavy metal poles. The use of these nets
on shallow waters, coral reefs and rocks has
been prohibited as they destroy the fishing
habitats,according to fisheries act no.
Source: Field Survey,2013
Figure:6, Damaged Boats by Metal
Poles.
According to fisheries experts using
such nets in coastal and lagoon fishery in Sri
Lanka damages bottom juveniles and
habitats such as coral reefs.Using those nets
in the bottom layers of the sea after
increasing the weight used in the nets is also
damaging as they disturb the fishing habitats
in deep layers of the sea. Endangering
damaging as they disturb the fishing habitats
in deep layers of the sea.Endangering
species including turtles are destroyed by the
use of this net.
Figure:7, Endangering species (Turtle)
Source: Field Survey,2013
Fishermen from these areas have
only succeeded in the instalment and
operation of these stake nets with the
influence of powerful political supporters.
As a few people are gaining enormous
568
Source: Field Survey,2013
Remedies.
Considering the above, it may be
clear that the wing net is an unacceptable
type of gear, against which measures have to
be taken urgently to avoid further
destructions and communal clashes.
The fisheries and Aquatic Resource
department of the Fisheries Ministry as the
regulatory and implementing agency of the
Fisheries Act No.2 of 1996 and regulations
frame under it and amendment of No.4 of
2004 has empowered
the fisheries
Inspectors functioning under fisheries
directors in 14 districts to take action
against such illegal fishing net.Regulations
are in place, but are to be implemented.
It is recommended that an
awareness program should be organised to
enlighten the net users of the evils of the use
of such nets.
Regulations should be enforced, as
a joint effort by both Fisheries Department,
security forces and fisheries societies!
Organizing an awareness programe among
the different users of marine resources in the
affected area..
Nevertheless, for the benefit of the
Mannar fishing community at large, the use
of this wing net should be stopped and
prohibited as soon as possible. The Fisheries
Department of Mannar which is the
regulatory body to oversee the fisheries
industry in Sri Lanka observed that illegal
modes of fishing which adversely affects the
industry has increased during this year.
The victims affected by the use of metal nets
complained to the police about it.The police
brought the issue to the Mannar majistrate
court,through ADF /Mannar.Subsequent to
investigations,the Majistrate court,Mannar
issued orders for the restriction of the use of
metal nets in such areas.
Unfortunately the court order has
not been honoured.
REFERENCE
MaddumaBandara,C.M.(1989).A Survey of
the Coastal Zon of SriiLanka.Coast
Conservation Department,Sri
Lanka.
Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic
ResorurcesDevelopment.(2012).A
nnual Report 2011/2012.Mannar
District, Ministry of Fisheries and
Aquatic Resource Development.
Satchthananthan,K.andThevathasan,A.(197
0).Siraguvalai:A Passive Fishing
Gear in Ceylon.Bulletine of the
Fisheries Research Station.
Ceylon.21(2):75-85.
Report of the Magistrate's Court ,Mannar
District.2013.May10.
569
Proceedings of International Conference on Contemporary Management - 2014 (ICCM - 2014), pp 570-576
RHYTHMIC DISORDERS IN THE PERFORMANCES OF
MUSIC & DANCE STUDENTS
S.Darshanan1 and M.Thushyanthan2
Abstract
Rhythm is considered as the father in Carnatic Music. The importance and training given to
rhythmic skills in western classical music and Indian Cinema Music are considerably higher than
Carnatic classical music. This research is to find out whether and how the rhythmic disorders affect
the performance of the music and dance students of the University of Jaffna. The stratified random
sampling method is used and the students who gained A and A+ grades in Vocal Music, among the
Music and Dance students in their last semester, as their statement in their questionnaire are
selected for the testing of this study. The students' performance are recorded, analyzed and
measured with the Metronome software application. The empirical research is appointed to find
out, how the rhythmic disorder patterns differ among them. The results prove the hypothesis that
“There are identical rhythmic disorders in the performance of the music and dance students of the
University of Jaffna”. The contribution to the society as the systematic approaches and modern
rhythmic measures has to appointed in Carnatic music teaching.
Key words: Rhythmic Disorders, Carnatic Music Teaching, Music students, Dance students,
University of Jaffna, Rhythmic Patterns
1. INTRODUCTION
Pitch and Tempo is the most
essential basics in Carnatic music. (Meera
V., 2000)The pitch is considered as the
Mother and the tempo is considered as the
father in Carnatic Music. (Sampamoorthy P.,
2004) There are lots of rhythmic structures
(ThaaLam) in Carnatic music, but, very few
of them are used in practice. The rhythmic
hand action is used to express the Rhythmic
Structures while singing in Music concerts
and dance concerts. As per the human
behavior, the performer used to adjust the
hand action to fit their singing.
The beginning tempo should be
maintained up to the end of the composition.
But, inside the beats, the singers have the
independence to adjust the singing in
Carnatic music in practice. This research is
to prove that the music and dance students of
the University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka don't
maintain the correct tempo while singing.
These findings will guide them to use
modern metronome applications for their
practice.
1.2. Research Problem
The accompanying artists found
difficulties to co-ordinate with the main
1. Senior Lecturer & Head ,
2. Temporary Lecturer in Vocal, Department of Music, University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka. [email protected],
570
singer on the stage, in Tempo. This shall
leads to an unsatisfactory performance to the
audience.
1.3. Hypothesis
The music and dance students'
performance in the examination and lecture
sessions are not in the perfect tempo.
1.4. Methodology
Direct observation, Action
Research and Analytical methods are used in
this research. Among the BFA (Music) and
BFA (Dance) students, the students who
obtained A and A+ in main practical
subjects, were selected as the subjects for
this research. The Dance students were
requested to sing the rhythmic syllables of
4/4 Time signature (Chathustrajaathi
AehaThaalam) in three speeds as well as in
¾ Time Signature (Thistram). The music
students were requested to sing the music
notes pattern (Alankaaram) of 4/4 Time
signature (ChathustrajaathiAehaThaalam)
in three speeds as well as in ¾ Time
Signature (Thistram).The performances
were recorded and analyzed with the beat
finder, the automatic metronome software.
The data is produced in the table format and
made comparative analysis.
2. DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
According to the tables 1 and 2,
most of the dance students have increased
their tempo of singings, while changing to
2nd speed from 1st speed. All dance students
have increased their singing tempo while
changing to 3rd speed from the 2nd speed. The
most of the dance students decrease the
tempo while transferring to ¾ time
signatures from the 3rd speed.
According to the table 3, 4 and 5; the
58 Percentages of music students are
st
nd
increasing their speeds from 1 speed to 2
speed and 42 percentages of them are
decreasing. 76 percentages of music
students have increased their singing tempo
while changing to 3rd speed from the 2nd
speed, while 24 percentages of them
decreasing. The 70 percentage of the Music
students decrease the tempo while
transferring to ¾ time signatures from the 3rd
speed, while 30 percentages of them were
increased.
According to the readings of the
metronome beat finder application, the
students are deviated from the starting
tempo while changing to various speeds.
While their rhythmic hand action, the
students are doing this mistakes without
realizing the errors. (Tables 1-5) This
readings support the hypothesis.
3. CONTRIBUTION TO THE SOCIETY
The dance and music students, who
learn vocal music, shall use the metronome
and metronome beat finder applications for
practice. The music educators shall utilize
these modern equipments to increase the
confidence level of the students.
REFERENCE
1. Meeravillavarajar, Isaiiyalvilakkam,
2000 , Colombo
2. Sambamoorthy.P, Karnaticmusic Book
3, 2004, Chennai
571
5. Appendix
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1 Mk; ml;ruk;
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khzth;fs;
A
572
1 Mk; fhyk;
66
4 Mk; ml;ruk;
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Table 2 eldj;Jiw %d;whk;; tUlkhztu;fs;
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573
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574
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khzth;fs;
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fhyk;
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72
575
Table 4 ,irj;Jiw %d;whk; tUlkhzth;fs
khzth;fs;
1 Mk;
fhyk;
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60
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Table 5 ,irj;Jiwehd;fhk; tUlkhzth;fs
khzth;fs;
1 Mk;
fhyk;
576
R
65
S
60
Proceedings of International Conference on Contemporary Management - 2014 (ICCM - 2014), pp 577-583
EFFECTIVE L2 LANGUAGE LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES
THROUGH GROUP WORK IN TERTIARY LEVEL
ESL CLASS ROOM
R. Shanmugayogini
Abstract
Teaching is an art that incorporates many methods. Second language teachers adopt
various strategies to enable the L2 learners to achieve their learning goals. This study explores the
possibilities of obtaining effective second language learning opportunities through group work in
tertiary level ESL class room. The data were procured from pre and post test performances in group
work activities of the first year student from the Faculty of Management and Commerce Studies,
University of Jaffna and from the teachers' observation. The objective was to find out whether the
group work activities pave the way for effective second language learning opportunities. The findings
prove that the participants and the teachers have found that the opportunities of learning in groups
increased effective L2 learning opportunities. The study also presents the benefits of using the group
work activities in second language classroom.
Keywords: : L2 language learning opportunities, Group work, Tertiary level ESL class room
1. INTRODUCTION
ESL teachers utilize various
techniques to make their learners achieve
their learning goals.
In the context of the present study
the first year students from the Faculty of
Management are the participants. The total
number of students in each group assigned
for teaching comprises of more than fifty
five students. The teachers therefore are
unable to take individual attention. As a
result majority of the students do not play an
active role in learning. Majority of them
remain silent and teachers have to make
them talk and respond with great attempt.
Yet teachers have to make the learners
practice the language skills and enable them
to obtain proficiency in all four skills. One of
the ways of giving students more of the time
they require to practice a language than is
possible in the ESL classroom is by dividing
the class into groups. Grouping is utilized
as the main strategy. By assigning students
to groups on a random basis various writing
tasks were administered to the participants.
Grouping helps teachers to individualize or
match their teaching to individual learners.
This study therefore emerges as an
experimental one to explore the possibilities
Senior Lecturer in English Language , [email protected]
577
of tertiary level learners' effective second
language writing skills learning
opportunities through group work in ESL
class room.
Definitions Language Learners (ELLs)
English Language Learners (ELLs),
who constitute the most rapidly growing
segment of the student population in Sri
Lankan schools, are an immensely diverse
group. Among the variables that account for
the diversity are place of birth,
developmental differences, language
exposure, parental education, community
attitudes, socioeconomic status, and after
effects of war. Because of the diversity of
ELLs, there is not a one-size-fits-all
approach to instruction. Rather, teachers
will need to be aware of and responsive to
the diversity of the students and the assets
and resources they bring from their
individual contexts to the classroom.
However there is a serious concern about the
current instruction this diverse group of
students is receiving: In a typical ESL
classroom situation, most students perform a
listening role and a few have a speaking or
active role.
Group work
Group work came into the standard
EFL teaching repertoire with
communicative methodologies in the 1970s.
At that time, studies of contemporary
foreign language classes revealed that as
much as 80% of lesson time consisted of the
teacher talking to (at) the students. In a class
of, say, 30 students, it is evident that the
learner hardly got a chance to practice the
language. Gradually teacher centred classes
became unpopular and ways were devised to
578
stamp it out and train the students to actually
perform in the language they were learning.
Freiberg & Driscoll,( 1992: 32) define
grouping as
“…a way of organizing
students for teaching and learning”).
Through dividing the class into groups the
practice can be controlled or cued, as in a
drill, or more creatively, as in role-play or
discussion, where the focus is on
communication rather than language
practice (Gower & Walters, 1983According
to Sidin (1993), groups are more than
collections of individuals and are formed
because members need to get something
done or to produce something using
knowledge and skills.
Objective
The objective was to find out
whether the group work activities pave the
way for effective second language writing
skills learning opportunities.
Research problem
Majority of ESL teaching strategies
are utilized to teach one or two language
skills. The learners do not obtain practice in
all four skills in a class. Teachers work
according to the syllabus. The increasing
number of students in the classes exceeds
fifty (even to seventy five) due to lack of
space and other resources.
Therefore
teachers are unable to pay attention to the
learners individually. Very often the ESL
classes are teacher centered. This study
therefore attempts to explore whether group
learning can promote student centered ESL
learning and provide opportunities to learn
second language effectively. Due to the
limitation, the study focuses on the
opportunities of increasing writing skill
proficiency of the learners through group
learning.
3. METHODOLOGY
Fifty first year students from the
Faculty of Management were the
participants of this study. The data were
derived from pre writing skill test and post
test performances in group work activities of
the first year students from the Faculty of
Management and Commerce Studies,
University of Jaffna and the teacher's
(researcher taught the class and conducted
group work based research with them)
observation. At the beginning a pre test was
conducted. The participants were instructed
to write an essay on an unforgettable event.
The performance in the pre test was utilized
to group the participants. Except for the
performance of a few students, others'
performances were found unsatisfactory.
The participants were then divided into five
groups (ten in one group). Teacher gave the
same writing task that was given in the
pretest to the groups to write. The students in
each group were then instructed to work
together to write the essay. Teacher went
round the class to supervise the work and
instructed each person to take a responsible
role. The performance of each group was
then compared and discussed.
In this
respect, within different group structures,
learners had various language learning
opportunities to work independently,
cooperatively and competitively. Seven
weeks from the first year first semester were
utilized for group work learning. Each week
one hour class was allocated for group work.
Writing composition on various topics,
describing pictures, interpreting graphs and
writing advertisements were among the
many tasks. The final week five groups
wrote short conversation. Initially the
groups needed the teachers' guidance and
comments. Later on the participants worked
on their own and responded to the
instruction of the teacher and completed
each writing task through group and
intergroup activities which brought much
benefit to the learners.The teacher's
observation and students' group
performance were used as data for the study.
4. ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
At the beginning the participants
were administered a writing task. Based on
the performance in the writing task the
participants were grouped. The participants'
proficiency levels in writing skills could be
gauged from their writing tasks. The
researcher then divided the participants
further into five groups according to the
marks they obtained in the writing task (pre
test) and ranked them from the highest
marks (group 1) to the lowest marks (group
5) they obtained. The researcher thus put the
participants with different proficiency levels
in five groups to observe their performances
in the writing tasks that were later assigned
to them. After the grouping; to each group
one student from the five students who
performed well in (pre test) writing an essay
was sent. The researcher could make the
instruction according to the various learning
needs from the participants. As the
multilevel students could now fit into the
same level of learners in each group; the
learners as well as the researcher could find
the learning and teaching needs, and
problems while introducing a new writing
task. It was obvious that the participants
freely communicated within particular
579
groups which reduced learning barriers. The
purpose was to help the multilevel ESL
learners and to avoid teacher centeredness
and for assisting others in the group. The
participants were guided to sit in a circle so
that they can see each other. The participants
were then assigned the written work. They
were guided to finish activities on a common
topic within the time limit. They were
instructed to submit the final writing task by
writing on a sheet of paper. During the first
year first semester for seven weeks the
teacher reserved one hour in each week for
group learning. Week by week teacher could
observe
lot of positive changes in the
participants. The students' confidence in
doing an activity increased as there were
others to support him or her to do it. At the
end of the sixth and the seventh week the
participants showed much improvement in
language use in the writing skills.
Findings from Post test
The participants who were divided
into five groups were administered a writing
task on the seventh week. They were given a
task on interpreting graphs. After supplying
the task sheets the participants were given 30
minutes to work on the task. The teacher
collected the final task sheets from the
students. The five groups' performances
were compared. As the students had several
days' writing practice in the class all five
groups completed the task within the
stipulated time. The teacher could notice the
active roles of all the participants. Each
student came forward to help in suggesting
new vocabulary needed to write. Many got
involved in studying the graph properly to
understand the content correctly by
interpreting appropriately. The general trend
580
of the participants was to use appropriate
vocabulary, write good opening sentences,
paragraphs, and conclusions. They finally
checked whether their ideas are put forward
in a coherent and cohesive manner. Each
participant in the groups attempted to write
the task in an interesting and meaningful
manner without any spelling and grammar
mistakes. They put all their efforts to obtain
the highest marks. Finally they showed
interest in giving the writing task to a person
whose handwriting is best in the group. The
researcher (the teacher) read all five groups'
answers. The following were the noticeable
features of the participants' performances.
Vocabulary: all the groups used the cues that
were given to interpret the graph.
Vocabulary usage: appropriate usage of
vocabulary could be noticed.
Spelling: a few spelling mistakes associated
with the tenses were found.
Sentence construction: each group used
similar types of sentences.
Variation in the position of frequency
adverbials and clauses could be noticed.
Paragraphing: the participants could use
different styles.
Coherence: Participants found it easy to
write descriptive writing; using graphs and
pictures. On the whole all the (groups)
participants showed lot of improvement in
writing skill. The major finding is that the
participants who were at different
proficiency levels in writing have obtained
more proficiency in writing skills through
the various learning opportunities that were
provided through the group activities and
tests assigned by the researcher. The
findings prove that through group work
effective language learning opportunities
could be provided and to tertiary level
learners in the classroom.
Teacher's Observation
Teacher, the researcher could
observe striking improvements in the
participants' writing proficiency. At the
beginning the participants were reluctant to
work in groups. Later on they preferred to
sit in groups for other ESL lessons too. The
group learning encouraged the dull and
reserved students. The researcher could
move close to each student in a group and
could induce the passive students to work
with them. The participants sat and
contributed to develop any writing task that
was assigned to them. The researcher found
how the participants could learn L2 without
much support from the teacher. It was also
found that group learning promoted
corporation, collaboration and
communication among the participants
within the group and among the groups. It
was found that natural learning environment
could take place without teacher's
interference. Each group benefitted very
much through group activities in learning
new vocabulary, using correct spelling
writing good sentences and paragraphs.
Through discussion they exchanged ideas
and came out with new, attractive and
innovative ideas. The participants used
language in real life, functional interaction
which reduced learning problems to a
certain extent. They had opportunities to
correct each other, add points, avoid
irrelevant facts, rewrite and edit, draft and
redraft by adding and rewriting until they get
satisfaction in their final draft. All had a role
to play in group learning. The students in the
groups had different roles such as leaders,
interpreters and editors. Majority of the
students had a positive attitude towards
learning in groups as they could work with
their peers who are also in the same level of
L2 writing proficiency. On the whole it was
found that opportunities to learn all four
skills-especially writing skills - were
promoted through group work.
5. CONCLUSION
From this study it is evident that
ESL teachers should consider and utilize
group learning as a strategy to inspire the
dull and passive learners to participate fully
in the class. The study confirms that group
learning is ideal for the first years in the
universities to make them know each other
and to build up good rapport with the teacher
and with the large number of students- in one
ESL class- who never have opportunities to
know each other. While participating in
group work the students from various
families, schools, and educational
backgrounds have opportunities to relate
their ideas and think creatively and
constructively.
Each student gets an
opportunity to express his views and share
his knowledge of grammar and other aspects
of the language. The teacher becomes very
familiar with each person in the group while
moving around the class prompting,
instructing, and assisting the learners in each
group. Teaching becomes an easy task when
the teacher identifies the problems the
participants encounter with each activity.
Teachers have an opportunity to know the
language needs of the students. At the same
581
time while working with the others the
learners come to know their proficiency in
the language skills and their batch mates'
capabilities to write, read, listen and speak
English language. The findings prove that
Teachers can successfully adopt group
learning as one of the effective strategies as
group learning gives ample opportunities to
improve the learners' proficiency in all four
skills and provides many chances to gauge
the learners' language needs. When all this
information is taken into consideration, the
teachers will be ready to make effective
decisions with regard to the process of
grouping for teaching and learning activities
in ESL classrooms. Thus effective L2
language learning opportunities could be
devised through group work in tertiary level
ESL class room.
6. RECOMMENDATIONS
Teachers should make decisions
about how to cover the syllabus and how to
make the learners achieve the learning goals.
Depending on the number of students, infra
structure, time and the learners' needs; the
teaching and learning strategies could be
utilized. Group learning can be used as an
effective teaching learning strategy as
grouping could best be scheduled in short
time periods, with opportunity for
movement around the room between
activities. The teacher can decide which skill
could be given more emphasis depending on
the learners' proficiency level in it. They can
device various group work activities to
promote effective learning. The teacher will
be able to have more movement within and
between groups, as well as provide more
concurrent group activities, making time
less structured.
582
According to Freiberg and Driscoll
(1992), the kind of classroom that would
best support grouping practices is a cohesive
classroom.
In a cohesive classroom,
students develop socially and emotionally
and are able to be group members. In this
respect, the classroom teacher should
consider the norms of the class to determine
its cohesiveness. Norms are shared
expectations of how group members should
think, feel and behave (Weber, 1994).
Norms greatly influence interpersonal
relationships because they provide
guidelines that help members understand
what is expected of them and what they
should expect from others. Productive
group norms are essential to group
effectiveness (Weber, 1994). Therefore,
one important task of the teacher is to help
the group establish, accept and maintain
productive group norms.
To achieve these, there must be
frequent opportunities for student
interaction. In this respect, several planned
activities and assignments may provide such
opportunities. Student committees can be
formed to design and construct bulletin
boards and displays. Student teams may also
be responsible to discuss and solve class
problems. In addition, student pairs may be
encouraged to volunteer for classroom
responsibilities, and students may also be
encouraged to critique each other's work and
assist with revision. A teacher may have the
beginning of group development if students
get to know each other well. Therefore, to
keep the interaction going, the teacher
should change group membership from time
to time (e.g. every three to four weeks). He/
She should also provide opportunities for
students to get to know those of differing
abilities. Having set up the practice, the
teacher can then withdraw and monitor what
is going on, giving help only when
necessary.
REFERENCES
Chitravelu, N., Sithamparam, S. & Teh, S.
C. 1995. ELT Methodology:
Principles and Practice.
Shah Alam: Fajar Bakti Sdn. Bhd.
Cross,D. 1992. A Practical Handbook of
Language Teaching. London:
Prentice Hall Int. Ltd.
Freiberg, H. J. & Driscoll, A. 1992.
Universal Teaching Strategies.
Needham Heights, MA
Gower, R. & Walters, S. 1983. Teaching
Practice Handbook. London:
Heinemann Educational
Books.
Sidin, R. 1993. Classroom Management.
Kuala Lumpur: Fajar Bakti Sdn.
Bhd Underwood, M. 1987.
Effective Class Management.
England: Longman Group Ltd.
We b e r, W. A . 1 9 9 4 . C l a s s r o o m
Management. In J. M. Cooper (ed).
C l a s s r o o m Te a c h i n g S k i l l s ,
Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath and
Co. pp. 234-269
583
Proceedings of International Conference on Contemporary Management - 2014 (ICCM - 2014), pp 584-591
A CRITICAL STUDY ON WITTGENSTEIN'S LOGICAL
ANALYSIS ON LANGUAGE
N. Sivakaran
Abstract
The objective of this paper is an attempt to explicate the two different kind of logical analysis
of Wittgenstein, which was formulated in his two reputed books Tractatus and Philosophical
Investigation, in order to elucidate the meanings of sentence by analyzing the basic structure of the
language. Wittgenstein attempts to show that all the traditional philosophical problems can be
avoided entirely by application of an appropriate logical analysis. The analysis of language is an
important tool for solving philosophical problems. The role of language is a central concerned in his
philosophy, because Philosophy, in general, is a study of knowledge. Knowledge is conveyed through
our ordinary language; in other words, it is ordinary language that carries knowledge. However, the
ordinary language often creates troubles in understanding the true meaning of philosophy. It also
creates ambiguity and confusion. Therefore, the ambiguity and uncertainties inherent in language
misleads understanding of knowledge. Wittgenstein believes that by explicating “language” they
could unravel the meaning of knowledge as an objective independent entity. In this way
Wittgenstein, as an analytic philosopher, adopted two different analytic methods to analyze
language and produced two philosophies on the basis of his theories of meaning which are picture
theory and language game. Therefore, this study intends to explicate these two theories of meaning
through the Wittgenstein' different analytic method. This study mainly a qualitative research solely
based on a literature review on the different method of Wittgenstein and hence scholarly original
works of Wittgenstein will be reviewed. As such analytic, descriptive and comparative methods will
be employed to reveal Wittgenstein's direction of philosophical activity on language. This study
gathers a details reference from the original writings of the Wittgenstein. In addition, secondary
related sources such as books, related documents, paper clipping and various other details from the
internet will be utilized for this research.
Keywords: Analysis, Language, Picture theory, Language game,
1. INTRODUCTION
Ludwig Wittgenstein is one of the
most influential philosophers of the
twentieth century and regarded as the most
important since Immanuel Kant. A number
of examples can be given for this claim for
the greatness work of Wittgenstein. It has
been said that every great philosopher has
turned the direction of philosophical
activity. Wittgenstein can be commended as
an innovator who has occupied his own
place in the history of western philosophy.
Department of Philosophy, University of Jaffna, [email protected],
584
He changed the method and direction of
philosophical pursuit twice during his life
time. (Arif Ahmed, 2010: 32) There are
commonly two recognized stages of
Wittgenstein's thoughts early and later.
Both of that attempt to critique all of the
traditional philosophical problems. He look
at the profound philosophical problem is
understands of true meaning of philosophy.
The philosophical problems occur only due
to ordinary language which represents the
most serious philosophical problems that
must be answered before any other question
is considered. Therefore, this study is going
to claim the proper activity of philosophy as
clarifying the meaning of language (Ibid
33).
Wittgenstein attempts to show that
all the traditional philosophical problems
can be avoided entirely by application of an
appropriate methodology or logical analysis
of language. The logical analysis of
language is an important tool for solving
philosophical problems.
The role of
language is a central place in Wittgenstein's
philosophy because Philosophy, in general,
is a study of knowledge. Knowledge is
conveyed through our ordinary language; in
other words, it is ordinary language that
carries knowledge. (Robert R. Ammerman
1990: 2) However, the ordinary language
often creates troubles in understanding the
true meaning of philosophy. It also creates
ambiguity and confusion. Therefore, the
ambiguity and uncertainties inherent in
language misleads understanding of
knowledge.
Wittgenstein believes by
explicating “language” they could unravel
the meaning of knowledge as an objective
independent entity. In this way Wittgenstein
adopted two different analytic methods to
analyze language and produced two
philosophies on the basis of his theories of
meaning which are picture theory and
language game. Therefore, this study
intends to explicate these two theories of
meaning through the Wittgenstein' different
analytic method (Ibid 7).
2. RESEARCH BACKGROUND
The nature of logical analysis on
language and its significance has been
recognized not only in philosophy but also in
many other disciplines. The method of
logical analysis has been central to the
development of other disciplines as well.
The origin of logical analysis could be traced
back to the Greek period. It became a
revolution in the later part of 20th century by
Wittgenstein and some other analytical
philosophers. After the Greek period, the
trend of philosophy could be broadly
classified into three categories:
1. Middle age philosophy which is known
as the age of faith, dominated by the
church
2. The philosophy of modern age which is
also known as the age of reason, where
philosophical teaching was developed
only by reasoning.
3. Contemporary philosophy which is
known as the age of analysis. It emerged
as a branch of philosophy to solve the
philosophical problems which occurs
due to ordinary language. It often creates
troubles in understanding the true
meaning of philosophy. Wittgenstein
claims that the proper activity of
philosophy is clarifying the significance
of language or the concept of meaning.
The aim of this activity is to settle any
585
philosophical disputes and resolve the
existing philosophical problem (Scott
Soames 2006: 54).
Wittgenstein's view on Logical analysis
on language
In fact, human language has been
significant in most fields of human
endeavor. Certainly no other human device
or invention has had a tremendous influence
on the development of human civilization
more than human language. Thomas Hobbes
and John Lock highlighted two main
characteristics of language with regard to
thought: one is that it is used to assist
memory or the representation and records of
one's own thoughts. The second one is that it
is used as a required vehicle of
communication of one's own thoughts to
other people. Every major investigation into
the many areas of philosophy and criticisms
of different schools of thought and different
thinkers has relied on language (Ibid 60).
In the twentieth century, many
disciplines focused on the study of language
and its different structural, social and
political dimensions. Mainly Linguists,
Philologists, Grammarians, Lexicogra phers, etc are involved in the study of
language. However their interest lies
primarily in empirical investigation. They
are interested in discovering facts about how
a language is used, what meanings words
have, how language begins, change and die,
etc. These scientific questions about
language can only be answered through use
of scientific methods. But the analytic
philosophers' study on language not in order
to formulate scientific hypothesis about it,
because they believe that such a study is not
586
a viable tool to achieve their primary goal of
setting and resolving philosophical
problems and questions 2 . They are
concerned with problems associated with
the meaningfulness of language and the
clarification of concepts to solve
philosophical problems (Ibid 62-4).
His Logical analysis on language
has been shaped by two leading ideas. The
first is that the philosophical problems exist
due to the misuse of language, and therefore
the philosopher should not to construct or
elaborate theories to solve philosophical
problems but to expose linguistic
confusions. The second idea centers on the
idea of meaning, which is the key to achieve
progress in philosophy. Meaning does not
view from an abstract scientific or
theoretical perspective; rather philosophers
should assemble observation about the
ordinary use of words and show how the
misuse of certain words leads to
philosophical perplexity. Actually these two
ideas distinguish Wittgenstein's philosophy
from other areas of language studies.
According to Wittgenstein, the goal
of philosophy is not to prove or disprove the
basic propositions. Beside the central task of
philosophy is to explain how we know and
understand them. He claims that the main
aim of philosophy is to resolve philosophical
dilemmas.
Characteristics of Wittgenstein's
philosophy
1. T h e p r i m a r y c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f
Wittgenstein's philosophy is always
concern on language and its use of
meaning. It is a fundamental tenet of
Wittgenstein's philosophy. This criterion
that distinguish analytic from non
analytic philosophy. Wittgenstein
claimed that there are three common
tenets to entire linguistic philosophy.
a) The goal of philosophy is the analysis of
structure of thought.
b) The study of thought is to be sharply
distinguished from the study of thing.
c) The only proper method of analysing
thought consists in the analysis of
language
2. Another characteristics of Wittgenstein's
philosophy is a clear light- footed style
which often contrasted with the dour,
obscure and unnecessarily complicated
character of the continental philosophy
3. Another characteristic of Wittgenstein's
philosophy is the sake of clarity.
Wittgenstein like to define precisely the
terms that they use. They delineate the
relevant domains of application of their
terms and try where possible to make
sharp distinctions such as those between
analytic and synthetic, observational and
theoretical, cognitive and non-cognitive,
science and pseudo science, meta and
object levels and so on (Alice Marguerite
Crary, 2000: 187)
4. Wittgenstein's philosophy has a high
opinion on empirical science and has a
close relationship with the natural and
social science. Wittgenstein's philosophy
likes to display their kinship with
experimental scientists; he feel that the
scientific method provides a certification
for discoveries that are objectively
testable and not merely the products of
various speculations or idle dreaming.
They do their best to much their theories
5.
6.
7.
8.
1)
2)
to current scientific knowledge and they
prefer not to make a priori assertions
about matters which evidently ought to
be settled by experiment.
Wittgenstein's philosophy concerns not
so much the form as the content but
mainly by its choice of subject.
Wittgenstein's philosophy takes up
certain topics or more accurately, they
avoid certain others. Among the
undiscussed topics are not only all purely
metaphysical questions but also sociopolitical and religious matters.
Wittgenstein's philosophy is an anti
psychologism
his philosophy is
characterized by reference to anti
psychologism. He has argued that Frege
disentangled logic from psychology, and
give it the place in the forefront of
philosophy which had hitherto to been
occupied by epistemology. It is this fact
which allows Wittgenstein
to be
regarded as the founding father of
analytic philosophy
Laws of logic are a main tool in
Wittgenstein's philosophy.
Wittgenstein's philosophy has been
characterized as a linguistic turn.
Richard Rorty indicated that a deep and
important change had occurred in
analytic philosophy in the periods of
1930s and 1940s. Particularly, the
periods of Wittgenstein. The linguistic
turn was taken
The goal of analytic philosophy is the
understanding of the structure and
articulations of conceptual scheme.
the relationship of the problem of the
philosophy which stem from unclear
about the use of words from covert
misuse and misleading surface
587
grammatical analogies in ordinary
language
3) The primary method of philosophy is the
examination of the use of words in order
to disentangle conceptual confusions.
Philosophy is not a contribution to
human knowledge about reality, either
superior to or on the same level as
scientific knowledge, but a contribution
to distinctive form of understanding
(Oliver Crisp 2009 : 70)
Theoretical frame work of Wittgenstein's
Logical Analysis
There are two theories are very
important which deals with language and
conceptual frame work. They are picture
theory of meaning and language game. Both
theories appeared in the famous books
Tractatus Logico - Philosophicus and
Philosophical investigation The Tractatus is
Wittgenstein's first contribution; published
in 1921, just after World War I. The second
found final form in his Philosophical
Investigations published posthumously in
1953, after World War II. These two major
works created a new movement and turned
philosophy in another direction. It may be
said that without knowing Wittgenstein's
philosophy, it is perhaps not possible to
understand either the philosophy of
language in a general sense. His
contributions to philosophy have
substantially changed the theory of
description and meaning, and sever the
tradition from Bertrand Russell and G. E.
Moore within British contemporary
philosophy (Humlyn, D. W. 1967: 106).
Throughout his life, Wittgenstein
588
consistently viewed philosophy as linguistic
or conceptual analysis. In the Tractatus he
argued that “philosophy aims at the logical
clarification of thoughts. And all philosophy
is a 'critique of language. In the
Philosophical Investigations, however, he
maintained that “philosophy is a battle
against the bewitchment of our intelligence
by means of language (Michael Hymers,
2009: 56).
The early work of Wittgenstein is
mainly devoted to a study of the structural
meaning of language in relation to the reality
of the world. Russell's remarks that
Wittgenstein is concerned with a logically
perfect language and not with any ordinary
language is just true if we see that
Wittgenstein is interested in the problem of
description. Wittgenstein argued in the
Tractatus that Language is composed of
complex propositions that can be analyzed
into less complex propositions until one
arrives at simple or elementary propositions.
Correspondingly, the world is composed of
complex facts that can be analyzed into less
complex facts until one arrives at simple, or
atomic, facts Ibid: 109-10). The world is the
totality of these facts. According to
Wittgenstein's picture theory of meaning, it
is the nature of elementary propositions
logically to picture atomic facts, or “states of
affairs.” He claimed that the nature of
language required elementary propositions,
and his theory of meaning required that there
be atomic facts pictured by the elementary
propositions. On this analysis, only
propositions that picture factsthe
propositions of scienceare considered
cognitively meaningful. Metaphysical and
ethical statements are not meaningful
assertions. The logical positivists associated
with the Vienna Circle were greatly
influenced by this conclusion (Ibid: 294)
However, Wittgenstein came to believe that
the narrow view of language reflected in the
Tr a c t a t u s w a s m i s t a k e n . I n t h e
Philosophical Investigations he argued that
if one actually looks to see how language is
used, the variety of linguistic usage becomes
clear. Words are like tools, and just as tools
serve different functions, so linguistic
expressions serve many functions. Although
some propositions are used to picture facts,
others are used to command, question, pray,
thank, and so on. This recognition of
linguistic flexibility and variety led to
Wittgenstein's concept of a language game
and to the conclusion that people play
different language games. For example, the
scientist is involved in a different language
game than the theologian. Moreover, the
meaning of a proposition must be
understood in terms of its context, that is, in
terms of the rules of the game of which that
proposition is a part. The key to the
resolution of philosophical puzzles is the
therapeutic process of examining and
describing language in use.
Critical view on Wittgenstein's logical
analysis of Language
The first criticism of the picture
theory I want to address, the criticism was
raised by Kenny, and is concerned with how
we are suppose to know what exactly is a
picture of what. His attempted clarification
in the Tractatus is somewhat vague, and thus
causes Kenny to question this point. Kenny
uses an example of a musical score
consisting of phonetic symbols supposed to
represent sounds ( Michael Hymers , 2009:
231). It is clear that the symbols are
supposed to be a picture of the sound, as the
sound is the primary need for having this
kind of notation in the first place. Kenny's
problem is that Wittgenstein 'does not here
make clear what, in addition to A's having
logical structure, and pictorial relation to B,
is needed for A to be a picture of B rather
than the other way round.' He recognizes that
to solve this problem there must be some
element to this process that makes the
representation one-way, but Wittgenstein
does not offer any satisfactory answer
(Michael Dummett,1996: 45).
The second criticism is regarding
the pictorial relationship between object and
representation, and attacks the Tractatus on
the grounds that it relies heavily on ostensive
definition the explanation of a name by
pointing to the object to which it refers. The
argument is that ostensive definition cannot
possibly fulfill the role the Tractatus seems
to expect, because much more is required in
terms of stage-setting for such a method of
definition to succeed (Byong-Chul Park
1998: 76).
The third criticism is one that stems
from Wittgenstein's own later thought,
creating a contradiction between his earlier
and later philosophy. It is a straightforward
criticism, arising from the fact that
Wittgenstein later on is notably anti-theory.
The picture theory is clearly a philosophical
theory, which means it would by its very
nature be rejected by Wittgenstein himself in
his later philosophy( David Pears 2008: 87).
The final criticism is also one that was raised
by Wittgenstein later on, and relates to how
the picture theory claims to explain the
589
concept of representation by revealing some
underlying structure common to all forms of
representation. In his later thought, he
questions why this must be the case, because
upon observation, it becomes apparent that
there is actually a much greater diversity
within representation than he first thought.
Take, for example, a toolbox. Wittgenstein
states that all the tools are obviously very
different, and have very different purposes,
yet we still assume that there must be
something that they all have in common. His
argument is that we have no reason to
assume this, which seems plausible given
that no evidence has been provided as to why
we should assume it. it is simply something
we believe out of habit (Ibid 84).
3. CONCLUSION:
this study reveal that picture theory
and language game are important element of
Wittgenstein' philosophy to understand his
logical analysis on language. It was aimed as
an effort to clarify how we should think
about the sense and meaning of certain
words. When we look at his entire work, it
seems that Wittgenstein had a negative
remark about his earlier work Tractatus
where referring his later work philosophical
investigation. The crucial different between
these two method is that whereas early
Wittgenstein had attempted to provide an
analytical definition of all words to
understand the relationship between
language and world. His early philosophical
work has influenced the emergence of the
new philosophical movement of the Logical
Positivism of the Vienna Circle. And the
later work has given a new impetus in the
development of ordinary language
philosophy that centered on the Oxford
analysis. By his own philosophical works
590
and through his influence on several
generations of other thinkers, Wittgenstein
transformed the nature of philosophical
activity. From two distinct approaches, he
sought to show that traditional philosophical
problems can be avoided entirely by
application of an appropriate methodology,
one that focuses on analysis of language
REFERENCE:
Alice Marguerite Crary, (2000) The New
Wittgenstein: Routledge
Arif Ahmed (2010) Wittgenstein's
Philosophical Investigations: A
Critical Guide: Cambridge
University Press
Byong-Chul Park (1998) Phenomenological
A s p e c t s o f Wi t t g e n s t e i n ' s
Philosophy: Springer
David Pears (2008) Paradox and Platitude
in Wittgenstein's Philosophy:
Oxford University PressDewi
Zephaniah Phillips, (2005) Religion
and Wittgenstein's Legacy: Ashgate
Publishing, Ltd.
Humlyn, D. W., ( 1967) “ Analytic and
Synthetic Statement” in the
Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Vol
1&2 ( Ed, Paul Edwards), London:
Macmilan Publishing.
Michael Dummett,
(1996) Origins of
Analytical Philosophy, USA:
Harvard University Press.
Michael Hymers (2009) Wittgenstein and
the Practice of Philosophy:
Broadview Press
Michael Beaney ( 2007), The Analytic turn:
analysis in early analytic
philosophy and phenomenology,
New York : Routledge
Oliver Crisp ( 2009) Analytic Theology: new
essays in the philosophy of
theology, London: Oxford
University Press
Robert R. Ammerman ( 1990) Classics of
Analytic Philosophy, Hackett
Publishing,
Scott Soames
(2006) “Analysis
Philosophical” in Encyclopedia of
Philosophy
Robert R. Ammerman ( 1990) Classics of
Analytic Philosophy, Hackett
Publishing,
Scott
Soames
(2006) “Analysis
Philosophical” in Encyclopedia of
Philosophy
591
Proceedings of International Conference on Contemporary Management - 2014 (ICCM - 2014), pp 592-605
THE ROLE OF KANNAKI VAZAKKURAI IN UNDERSTANDING
THE CULTURE OF SRI LANKAN TAMILS
E.Cumaran
Abstract
The epic Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai and its different versions, Kōvalanār Katai and Cilampu Kūral,
are believed to be composed or compiled during the period of Kingdom of Jaffna. These are popular
in Batticaloa, Jaffna and Mullaitīvu respectively. Though these three versions may be considered as
three different works, there are similarities in their narration, division of chapters and diction; so that
it is difficult to distinguish them from one another. The similarities among these three works led the
scholars to opine that there ought to be a common source as a pioneer to these versions. This
pioneer work may have been adapted by the copyist to suit their respective claims and needs, along
with their necessity and creative ability. Though the story of Cilappatikāram is the main theme of this
epic, it preserves uniqueness profoundly in its structure, style and the narration of story. Certain
portions of the story of this epic are the sole imagination of Sri Lankan author whose name is even
now in dark. Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai is in abundance in recording the cultural patterns of Sri Lankan
Tamils such as art, religion, educational and literary heritage, believes, customs and habits. These
valuable facts could not be derived from other sources. As this epic has close association with folk
literature, the life style of folks is also brought out obviously. In short Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai and its
difference versions are the treasure trove who delves deep into the study of Sri Lankan Tamil culture.
This paper tries to bring out such cultural aspects in descriptive manner as related in Kaṇṇaki
Vazhakkurai.
Key words: Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai, Tamil Culture, Tamil epic
1. INTRODUCTIION
Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai one of the
epical work composed during the period of
Kings of Jaffna has two more different
versions, Kōvalanār Katai and Cilampu
Kūral which are popular in Jaffna and
Mullaitīvu respectively . Though the story of
Cilappatikāram is the main theme of this
epic, it preserves uniqueness profoundly in
its structure, style and the narration of story.
By perusing Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai and its
versions they are amply rich in folk literary
aspects in their narration, diction, and
composition. The story of these three works
ought to have been very familiar with the
common folks in the form of folklore, before
it was compiled as an original literary work.
A.Vellupillai opines thus a narration popular
among the common folks may have attracted
the attention of the Kings of Jaffna who were
keen in collecting, preserving and
maintaining Tamil literary works (1989:60).
Hence, there may be possibilities that this
original work of these versions may have
been composed or compiled by a King of
Senior Lecturer, Department of Tamil, University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka. [email protected]
592
Jaffna or anyone under his patronage.
Though this original work is believed to
have been composed during the regime of
Kings of Jaffna it is difficult to determine its
exact date. Likewise the name of the author
or the compiler of this work also remains in
dark.
Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai and its
different versions depict a poetical diction
and style very different from what is seen in
the epic Raguvamsam. They do not entirely
adapt the epical characteristics in Sanskrit or
use similar rhetorics in plenty. No
educational haughtiness can be seen in these
works. On the contrary, they amply exhibit
qualities of public orientation such as
simplicity, poetical merits, discipline, and
dramatic characteristics. In fact these works
have to be taken as a literary blend of Sri
Lankan folklore with the classical Tamil
poetical traditions (Sivalingarajah.S,
2001:48).
Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai is rich in
portraying of Sri Lankan Tamil Culture.
Many valuable recordings of Tamil culture,
particularly religious condition, art, believe,
customs, and habits of Sri Lankans, that
could not derived from other sources, are
accumulated in this work. Attempt is made
in this paper to bring out such cultural factors
portrayed in Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai and its
different versions.
2. The worship of Kaṇṇaki
The literary works, Kaṇṇaki
Vazhakkurai, Kōvalanār Katai and Cilampu
Kūral portray the esteemed position of this
worship in Batticaloa, Jaffna and Vanni
regions respectively. It could be seen
distinctively that these works are adding
fresh ideas with the purpose of elevating
Kaṇṇaki as an incarnation of a goddess or
the embodiment of the same.
Cilappatikāram only relates the story of
Kaṇṇaki with the intention of lauding her
chastity, but Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai and other
versions give more prominence to the
deification of Kaṇṇaki throughout. This
characteristic appears in Kōvalanār Katai
profusely with sporadic hymns, venerating
Kaṇṇaki as a goddess.
The classical literary works except
Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai and its different
versions do not mention about the worship
of Kaṇṇaki. Perhaps, the fact that this
worship is very much related with the folk
traditions, may have caused the avoidance
by the other classical literatures. Many folk
songs and Pattatis connected with the
Kaṇṇaki worship, are preserved in the
temples of Batticaloa and Vanni regions,
where the annual Poṅkal celebration and
other rituals are performed on the basis of
Pattatis. Reciting the epics, Kaṇṇaki
Vazhakkurai (Batticaloa) and Cilampukūral
(Vanni) piously and singing the folk songs
are the common features of the annual
festivals of Kaṇṇaki in these regions.
3. Art of Sri Lankan Tamils:
a)Music:
Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai and its
different versions are providing several
593
literary evidences to confirm the influence
of classical music (Karnātic Music)
flourished in the courts of kings and public
stages. The interest of the Sri Lankans in
classical music and the scholarly attainment
they had in it, is categorically expressed and
described in Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai. The
description of the musical aspects, given in
detail by the author of the above literature
shows that he took a keen interest in
documenting such matters for posterity. The
art of dance as well as that of classical music
has been intertwined with each other. As a
result, whenever the descriptions of dance
are referred to in Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai, the
author records the details of classical music
there. It is very important to observe the
phrase 'Paṇṇamainta Kūttu' (The dance
accompanied with music), mentioned in
Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai, since it expresses the
importance of classical music in dance
(M.A.K:87). Mātavi Araṅkēṛṛu Kātai' in
Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai deals with different
Rāgās (musical modes) of Karnātic Music
acquired by Mātavi. The following verse
may be quoted as an example:
'mupaFuy; Jj;jk; iff;fpis ,iscop
,Utpsup jhukpit nay;yhk; - njupaNt
fz;zhd khjtpiaf; fhrpdpNahu; kdkfpog;
gz;NzOk; ghLtpj;jhu; ghu;j;J'
(M.A.K:49)
It is known that well developed
tradition of playing different kinds of
instruments prevailed during this period.
Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai list different kinds of
instruments, played in temples and courts of
kings.
594
'jhiurpd;dk; vf;fhsk; rq;Fnfhk;G ehjRuk;
Ngupifjk; gl;ltu;f;fk; Nguhd jtpy;KuRk;
tPuKld; kj;jsKk; kpfKoq;fp epd;wjpug;…'
(A.P.K:53)
It is important to note that the drum
and the pipe (Nātaśwaram), mentioned in
Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai' is being used to this
day in temples. 'Tampurā', flute, Vīṇā, 'Cura
Manṭalam' which are closely associated
with classical music are mentioned in
Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai
as musical
instruments used in palaces of kings
sporadically (M.A.K:55).
In 'Kōvalanār Katai', names of
instruments played at a wedding are
described (p.116). These instruments were
used specially to entertain the assemblage at
the wedding. It is clear from this verse that
musical programmes were being conducted
as a performing art in the weddings of the
wealthy and influential in the society. Names
of numerous instruments used in the stages
are given in 'Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai'
(M.A.K:47-55) . Further, while giving the
description, how Mātavi learnt Music, the
virtuosity of the preceptor, modesty and
interest of the trainer, auspicious time to
initiate the lessons, the scheme or syllabi of
the course of music are given elaborately by
the author of Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai. In short,
Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai seemed to be a
treasure trove, as the epic of
'Cilappatikāram' for those who like to study
the tradition of classical music and the
educational heritage of the same.
a) Dance
Kaṇṇki Vazhakkurai has recorded
ample information in the canto of, 'Mātavi
Araṅkēṛṛu Kātai about the dances in the
stages. The virtuosity of a dance teacher, the
modesty of the disciple, the procedure of the
training, the curricula and the suitable place
and time to get the practice are given in detail
there. Similarly, the stage performance of
Mātavi is also elaborated in this work.
Kaṇṇki Vazhakkurai is the only literary
work that gives a detailed stage performance
of dance since Cilappatikāram.
It could be seen that there are verses
in Kaṇṇki Vazhakkurai that agree with the
musical rhythms (jhsf;fl;L) of ballad
norms.
Quoting these verses
S.Sivalingarajah claims that there are
several useful evidences available in
Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai for those who wish to
study the Sri Lankan folk dramatic tradition
(2011:51). For instance the following verse
could be pointed out:
'jf;ff; nff;fp wPq;F jBq;F / jhj jpq;fpz
jupfpzNjhk;
jpf;Fl jpf;Fl jpkpfpl jpf;F / jpf;fpz
nrffpz nrffpzNjhk;
njhf;Fl njhf;Fl Njhnjhf; fpl / njhfpl
njhfpl Njhnjhf; fpl
ru;g;gk jhbd Nfhyk njd;dr; / Rw;wpNa
khjtp ahbdNs'
(M.A.K:284)
Detailed description of the stage for
dances is given in Kṇṇaki Vazhakkurai with
astrological directions. The techniques and
procedures of selecting a particular place to
construct a stage and theatre, setting up the
pillars, planking them and other
constructing techniques are elaborately
described in the above literary work
(M.A.K:111-115). Apart from these, the
author further relates that the stage was
decorated with different kinds of silk,
precious stones, festoons, young coconuts
and various paintings (M.A.K:164-166).
Bedecking dancers with special
attires seemed to be a special feature in the
art of dance. Particularly, Kṇṇaki
Vazhakkurai gives a long and elaborate
description in Mātavi Araṅkēṛṛu Kātai,
about the art of bedecking the dancer Mātavi
for her debut. It is very important to note the
details like bathing, draping silk sarees, and
adorning with different ornaments are
recorded meticulously by the author of
Kṇṇaki Vazhakkurai (M.A.K:185-200).
Although it is doubted whether the dancers
in Sri Lanka followed all the modes referred
to in Kṇṇaki Vazhakkurai to bedeck
themselves, it is evident that they had a fair
knowledge in these methods.
b) The Art of Jewel Craft
K a ṇ ṇ a k i Va z h a k k u r a i a n d
Kōvalanār Katai furnish much information
about the jewel craft and the skilled artisans
of this period. The marriage canto of
Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai describes one of the
important rituals of 'Ponnurukkal', melting
gold to make 'Tāli' by an artisan of that trade
(pp.106-109). It also describes the exquisite
workmanship in jewel craft of melting gold
and the respective tools they handle, the
rituals to be followed during such occasions
and all these are given briefly. Nothing is
mentioned about the working of jewellery
from molten gold there. The detail of the
dust to make the gold glitter, known as
'Minnuppoi' (kpd;Dg;nghb) is also given in
this literary work (p.107).
595
While Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai gives
these facts briefly, Kōvalanār Katai
elaborates in its section 'Maṇamālai
(pp.106-109). The author describes lucidly
and elaborately the process of turning out
jewellery including anklet of Kaṇṇaki
before her wedding. Kōvalanār Katai gives
information along with Kaṇṇaki
Vazhakkurai about the tools used in
jewellery making and the prayers during the
melting of gold etc. The turning out of anklet
using the molten gold is described acutely
which is a novelty in Kōvalanār Katai. This
description reflects the art of jewellery
making clearly. Further the opening of the
aperture of the anklet with ritualistic
splendour and with the prayer of goldsmiths
also is elaborated clearly in Kōvalanār Katai
(p.107).
nfhl;btisj; njhUNfhb $whfr; re;J}jp
ntl;bnahU jfLjd;id NkyPlh fg;Nghl;L
xlb
; aNkw; nghbfnsyy
; hk; Xuplkhaj
; ; jhdk
; pDff
; p
jlb
; nahff
; g; gupthAe; jdpjj
; pUfF
; nkLjj
; dNu'b
Above verse may be taken as
example given in Kōvalanār Katai about the
art of jewellery making.
c) The Art of Erecting Pandal
Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai
and
Kōvalanār Katai (pp.109-111) dwell
elaborately about Pandals with marriage
chambers, its decorations and adornment,
the things needed to construct a marriage
chamber, its proper decoration and
embellishment, the techniques used to fit
and set the various units are given with
minute details. Carpentry with sculptural
elegance and nimble handed artisans alone
could setup a marriage chamber. This could
be inferred from the descriptions in these
596
literary works. This shows that there were
artisans skilled in erecting Pandals with
exquisite marriage chambers in Sri Lanka
during this period.
d) The Art of Ship Building
The art of ship building too was very
popular among Sri Lankan Tamils during the
period to which this study is focussed.
Detailed information related to this art is
given in Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai. According
to this literary work and Kōvalanār Katai it is
known that there were master ship builders
for generation in the North and East of the
island nation, particularly in the littorals.
These literary works further affirm that
quality timber used to build ships was
obtained from the Southern part of the island
nation (K.V.K:108).
Most of the verses in the canto of
K a p p a l Va i t t a K ā t a i o f K a ṇ ṇ a k i
Vazhakkurai, speak profusely about the
techniques and the art of ship building.
These describe the various spare parts, and
how to set and fit them accordingly, the
auspicious time to use them in the places
(K.V.K:229-250). They not only give
information pertaining to astrological
matters but furnish the techniques during
ship building and the minute details of
observances also. Fitting and setting the
masts of ships, warming the planks to bend
them, embellishing the ship too are given in
detail (K.V.K:221-232). These seem to have
been composed by well experienced master
ship builders with skillfulness in this art or
some one who was well versed in the science
of ship building. The author of Kaṇṇaki
Vazhakkurai was well aware of the littorals
and harbours of Sri Lanka. He also knows
about the legends popular among the fishing
community such as Vetịyarcan, ViỊaṅ
kuēvan and Vīranārāyaṇan. He narrates the
story of Mīkāman in mythological style.
When considering the above facts he seemed
to be well acquainted with the community of
the navigators or fisher folks. This close
acquaintance may have made him to record
the matters pertaining to the art of ship
building.
1. Rituals and Customs:
a. Postnatal Rituals
Many rituals connected with the
birth of a child are mentioned in Kaṇṇaki
Vazhakkurai. Considering lunar station and
asterism of the new born child (Puttiramuka
Taricanam), giving auspicious bathing to the
new born baby and mother
(Vañcāmaruṅkai), wearing of Pañcāyutam,
wearing of gold bangles/ bracelets, naming
ceremony (Nāmakaraṇam), feeding milk
(Pālparukkal), Cūriya Cantira Darsanam
(ñāyirukāatl)̣ and wearing the waist cord (Gstring) and the Ciṛṛātaị (Mini Saris) are some
of such rituals elaborated in Mātavi
Araṅkēṛṛu Kātai (M.A.K:34-38; K.K,pp.3042). Description of rites that followed in
these rituals, details of auspicious time and
the suitable age are given in accordance with
astrological guiding. According to the
internal evidence Caracotimālai may have
helpful to the author of Kaṇṇaki
Vazhakkurai to formulate the codings of
these rituals (M.A.K:284).
b. Marriage Custom
Many references to marriage rites
are found in Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai. Through
marriage social recognition is obtained for a
youth and a maiden to have a family life. The
marriage rites, which were very simple in the
Tamil cultural background, became more
and more complicated in course of time. The
Aryanization that took place among the
Tamils and the lies and thefts that became
rampant in society, contributed to the
multiplication of the marriage rites. As a
result a matrimonial system that is an
amalgamation of the traditional Tamil and
the Aryan marriage system gained
popularity.
Iraiyanār AkapporuỊ Urai mentions
that according to the Tamilian tradition the
marriageable age for males is sixteen years
and for females is twelve years (Sutra: 32).
Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai also follows this
tradition and mentions that negotiation for
Kōvalan's marriage was begun when he had
completed sixteen years and was just
s e v e n t e e n ( K . P. K : 4 2 ) .
There is
contradictory reference in Kōvalanār Katai
as to the proper marriageable age of women.
In one context this book mentions that
negotiation for Kaṇṇaki's marriage started
only after she was sixteen years old and in
another instance says that negotiation for her
marriage started when she had reached the
age of eleven (p.102). It is plausible that this
contradiction is due to the textual variations
in these texts.
The astrological belief to look for
compatibility between the couples by
examining the horoscope of the prospective
bride and bridegroom has always been
present among the Tamils. Kaṇṇaki
Vazhakkurai make mention of intricate
methods of examining horoscope
agreement. it says the agreement was
597
examined for the marriage of Kōvalan and
Kaṇṇaki.
'ghu;j;Jey;y
Ngu;g;nghUj;jk;
ghitjpU
ehl;nghUj;jk;
Vw;wey;y
fzg;nghUj;jk;
kpf;fapw;Wg;
nghUj;jKld;
Mw;wy;ty;y
rpfg;nghUj;jk;
mq;Fey;y
kq;fpypak;
Nru;j;Jkpfg; nghUj;jnky;yhQ; rPu;ngwNt
ghu;j;jdNu'
(K.K: p.103)
The varied customs of the groom's
party going to the bride's house for
negotiating marriage and that of the bride's
kith and kin going to the bridegroom's house
for the same purpose are referred to in
Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai and Kōvalanār Katai
respectively. In Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai it is
mentioned that Kōvalanār's father
Mācāttuvar visited his cousin Mānākar and
asked for Kaṇṇaki to be wedded to Kōvalan
(M.K:7,8). In Batticaloa district where the
society is predominantly matriarchal the
custom of the groom's party going to the
bride's house with a view to negotiating
marriage has been in vogue to this day.
Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai which was composed
in this district appears to have reiterated this
custom. But Kōvalanār Katai mentions that
it was Kaṇṇaki's father Mānākar who went
to Mācāttuvar for negotiating marriage. It is
plausible that Kōvalanār Katai which was
composed in Northern Sri Lanka had
recorded the tradition prevalent there. In
Northern society where the patriarchal
system was deep rooted from days of yore,
the bride's party would have gone to the
groom's house for matrimonial negotiation.
The fact that this tradition is preserved even
to this day is further proof of the references
in literature.
598
It is customary for the bride's
parents to provide dowry so that the married
life of the newly wedded couple will be
happy and without any impediments
whatsoever. Gold, property, house and land,
gold jewellery and cattle were usually given
away as dowry. Kōvalanār Katai enlists in
detail the things that the bride's parents
promised to give as dowry (pp.105-106). It
can be presumed that the custom of
providing Cīrvaricai gradually developed
into dowry system (Cītanam) that gained
popularity among the Tamils. There is a
considerable difference between Cīrvaricai
and dowry. Cīrvaricai is that which is given
voluntarily whereas dowry is something
demanded from the bride's parents.
Kōvalanār Katai directly uses the terms
Cītanam (dowry). It says that there was the
custom of giving dowry legally written on
the day of the marriage.
Mq; F epd; w
Nfhtyw; F k;
moFjpfo;
fz; z iff; F k;
jhq; F Gfo;
rP j dKe;
jhndOjp …'
(Ka.K:63)
Fixing the date for marriage follows
the negotiation of marriage. It is usual to
invite an astrologer, honour him by giving
betel, arecanut etc. and ask him to fix a date
for the marriage. Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai
mentions that prior to fix the date for the
marriage the place is smearedung, sprinkled
with milk and strewn with flowers for the
worship of God. In Kōvalanār Katai also
there is information about determining the
auspicious hour for marriage (p.115). There
are many references in Kōvalanār Katai
(pp.106-108) and Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai
(Ka.K:15-20) to the ritual of gold melting
which takes place prior to the marriage. This
ceremony of gold melting is usually
performed at the bride groom's house where
a piece of gold is melted by the goldsmith
who is commissioned to make the 'Tāli'.
Presenting cloth to the goldsmith, the
prayers of the goldsmith before melting the
gold, the way he put the piece of gold in the
melting pot (crucible) and melted it,
forecasting the beneficiary result of the
marriage from the manner in which the gold
melted all these are describe detail in
Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai. Kōvalanār Katai
(pp.121-123) and Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai
(Ka.K:41-47) mention, how the bride and
the groom were given the ceremonial bath
and bedecked. The ceremony of giving the
couple a bath is an age old custom among the
Tamils. A number of verses in the books
referred to above gives an account of how
the bride and groom were bathed in water,
made fragrant with various perfumes,
dressed in attires that befit the marriage
ceremony, bedecked with jewels, smeared
with perfumes and made ready for the
marriage ritual.
Kōvalanār Katai, composed in the
Northern Sri Lanka refers to the marriage as
having been solemnized according to the
Vedic rites. This book mentions how the
bridegroom takes the hand of the bride in
front of the sacrificial fire with the chanting
of Vedic mantras by Brahmins.
'Xd;Wglj; jhdpUj;jp NahkkJ jidtsu;j;J
edw
; pAid kiwNahuf
; s; ehjdU shrpnrhyy
; '
(K.K:p.123)
This reflects a state where the
influence of the Brahmins and Brahminic
rituals had set in the life of the Tamils.
Kōvalanār Katai refers to giving off a
maiden in marriage in accordance with
Vedic rituals and receiving the blessing of
Brahmins. Moreover there are references
placing the bride's foot on the grindstone
(Ammi) and showing her the celestial star
'Aruntati'. These rituals too are a result of
Brahminic influence. 'But Kaṇṇaki
Vazhakurai does not mention at all of the
marriage ritual as taking place according to
Vedic rites. On the contrary it refers to the
marriage ceremony having been conducted
to the accompaniment of auspicious musical
instruments and with the blessing of the
elders.(Ka.K:57-59)
2. Beliefs:
Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai have a lot of
information about the various beliefs among
the people. As this works was people
oriented and had been preserved by people
for long, these beliefs were recorded
lavishly.
a. Omens
Observances of omens had their
strong influence on the life of people.
Omens are innumerous and can be
categorized as, good omens and bad omens.
These omens are supposed to foretell the
imminent benefic or malefic results in life. A
good omen at the beginning of an activity
encourages confidence and success; on the
other hand a bad omen begets malefic
results. Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai has a number
of references to such omens.
Omens at the commencement of a
journey or a trip are of a particular variety.
The people or beasts or birds that come
across and their behaviours or the sounds
599
heard at the commencement of a journey,
indicate whether the trip will be successful
or not. This is known as a travel omen. In
Tamil this is known as 'Muzhuviyalam'
(derived from Muka Vishēsam - The effects
of the face or view that appears first). The
travel omens mentioned in astrological
works are frequently referred to, throughout
Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai. The Kappal Vaitta
Kātai tells about the periods favourable and
unfavourable to embark on sea voyages in
terms of Kappal Sastira and Cōtia Shāśtra
traditions (K.V.K:233-255). A number of
travel omens and their evil effects are
referred to in Atạ i kkalakkātai when
Kaṇṇaki and the gypsy woman warned
Kōvalan when he leaves to sell the anklet
(A.K:50-55).
Blind people, beggars, mendicants
wearing yellow robes, a lone Brahmin,
people with dishevelled hair, bare necked
people, women in white attire, people with
tonsured head, someone carrying faggot of
firewood on their head, are all evil omens.
Likewise, a crow, rat the snake (Cārai), a
bitch, a donkey, a chameleon, a fox , a cobra,
a crow-pheasant, and an Ōntil creeper, if
they happen to pass one by moving from
right to left motion, the mission undertaken
will be a colossal loss. Similar fate will
befall if one comes across brand-new empty
vessels, lightning or rain clouds, and a
sneeze on the left, according to Kaṇṇaki
Vazhakkurai. On the contrary, it says that if
the traveller sees a mongoose, an Ōntil
creeper, or a crow-pheasant on his right side
at the outset of his journey, the journey
would bring beneficial results and make the
traveller wealthy. While the astrological
600
works give the outcome of the omens in
brief Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai elaborates them
vividly with details.
b. Chirping of gecko and sneezing
The Ataị kkalakkātai of Kaṇṇaki
Vazhakkurai, speaks in another instance,
about the effects of the chirping of gecko
when one sets about on a journey. A gecko
chirping or seen on the right side of the
person going out, is a sign of misfortune.
Deciding the effects, on the basis of the
direction and the time of chirping, is current
to this day, despite all scientific
developments.
'kWfpyt
; Uk; msTjdpy; tygg
; yy
; p jLjj
; plTk;'
(A.K:90)
'gyy
; pnrhdd
; jpirahYk; gfUfpdN;wd; Nfsk
; fNd'
(A.K95)
The author of Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai
has expressed his belief on the effects of the
sneezing omen, while relating the effects of
travel omens and the sneeze of the wife of
Mālakan when he sets out to his court. It is
worth noticing that the effects of sneeze had
been unfavourable, on the occasions
indicated in Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai (A.K:
51).
c. Throbbing of shoulders
Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai speaks about
the good and bad effects of the throbbing of
shoulders (A.P.K:193). There was a belief,
that the throbbing of the right shoulder for
males, and that of the left for females have
beneficial effects while the effects of
throbbing vice versa is malevolent. Another
belief recorded in Kōvalanār Katai is that,
when a gold sovereign is melted for the
purpose of a wedding, the shape of molten
gold foretells the lot assigned to the couple.
d. Viricci
Another feature of the belief is the
yearning for Viricci which means listening
for a good word at the outset of doing
something. This has been an age old custom
among the Tamils. Tolkāppiyam, while
speaking about the fields of Vtec̣ i in
Purattinai Iyal, mentions about the habit of
listening to Viricci. Here, a good message
denotes a word primarily uttered, wishing
favourable results on the mission they set out
for. Not only for war, even before
commencing any other activity, the habit of
seeking Viricci had been rife. The
Mullaipātu,̣ a Caṅkam literature refers to
this belief as follows in an instance where a
wife seeks Viricci to ascertain whether her
husband who deserted her, would come
back, or not. Those who like to listen to
Viricci would go to a nearby temple with a
measure (Nāzhi) full of paddy, and such
fragrant flowers as Mullai (Jasminum
Trichotomum) and oleander (Nerium
Odorum), after a prayer to God, stand at the
border of the village, throw off the paddy
and water and wait to hear for a good word.
This belief prevailed in Sri Lanka,
with some alternations, as may be witnessed
from Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai.
Like
Mullaippāu, Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai also
gives in detail, the rites and rituals in
connection with Viricci. This work, while
referring to the fact that Kōvalan sought
Viricci at the request of Kaṇṇaki, quotes the
details of all the rituals performed by him.
Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai says that to seek
Viricci one must take a tray full of rice, milk
and white Aruku grass to the house of a
cobbler, scatter them with his hands on the
roof of that house, worship the Sun and then
listen to the word that comes from that house
(A.K:58-60). Here instead of the term
Viricci, the phrase 'good message' (Ciranta
Mozhi), is used.
The reference “Hear thee a word of
good from the house of a cobbler” compared
with Mullaippāu, bears evidence to show
how the various practices, and beliefs
related to seeking Viricci, evolved in a
unique way in Sri Lanka. Instead of, taking
the measure of paddy, flowers, and water, to
a temple, the practice of taking milk, white
Aruku, and rice to the house of a cobbler and
worshipping the sun before seeking Viricci
are unique to Sri Lanka.
e. Dreams
The belief of interpreting dreams as
foreshadowing future episodes
(oneiromancy) is common among the
Tamils to this day. Classical literatures have
a number of references about this practice,
particularly even in Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai.
Though it is a common feature that dreams
have their importance in epic, they seem to
be merely epical, but dreams in Kaṇṇaki
Vazhakkurai have the flavour of reality and
with human touch. They are intertwined
with the life of the people. Cilappatikāram
mentions only of a few bad dreams, whereas
Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai speak about more bad
dreams in 'Nīlakēci's dream'(K.O.K:9-12)
and in 'Amman's dream' in Amman Kanāk
Kaṇt K
̣ ātai (A.K.K:191-198).
601
Fall of meteors from the sky,
unusual darkening of the earth, earth set
ablaze, falling of sacred Bo (Peepul-Ficus
relligiosa) trees, pathetic death of deer by a
hunter's arrow, are some examples of bad
dreams that foreshadow evil consequences
as mentioned in Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai.
6. Habits:
a. Food habits
Tamil literary works furnish ample
information about the popular food varieties
and procedures adopted in cooking, serving,
and partaking these food items. When
analyzed further, these information reveal
some common features as well as
peculiarities according to the social status of
the people. Much importance was given to
cleanliness, in preparing food that were to be
served at Hindu religious festivities and
occasions of parties. Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai
stresses the need to disinfect the floor of the
cooking booth, smearing it with cow dung,
after which the cook had to bathe and get into
clean attire, before starting his cooking. It
also says that the hearths have to be installed
in the north-eastern corner of the kitchen
(A.K:22-25).
Rice and curry had the first and
foremost place among the victuals of the
Tamils of Sri Lanka. Lunch is made up of
rice and, at times in dinner also. Rice was
prepared mainly out of the Cambā variety, as
indicated in Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai (A.K:18)
Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai (A.K:19) and
Kōvalanār Kathai (p.23), mention a number
of vegetables used for cooking by Tamils.
Vegetables such as bitter gourd, kidney
602
beans, snake gourd, bananas, jak, pumpkin,
VeỊỊari melon (the green cucumber-cucumis
sativus), mangoes, VaỊutilaṅkāi (aubergine),
VaỊỊi yam, and Ciru kizhaṅku (yam) were
used for cookery. Apart from these, lime,
mandarin (citrus aurantium), and the milk of
young coconut were also used for cooking.
Kōvalanār Kathai adds further varieties like
brinjals, Cēvaṛkāi (a kind of bean), and
Tūvaṛkāi. The names of spices used to
flavour the curries are also mentioned:
“kQ;rs;cs;sp
fdkpsF
tz;ikahd
ngUq;fhak; ,Q;rpAld; rPufk; ,dpJw thHj;
Jg;G kpl;L .... ” (A.K:20)
Sitting cross-legged on the floor and taking
meals served on leaves was very common
among the Tamils every where. Plantain and
lotus leaves were used for serving food.
Though Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai
mentions about other kinds of utensils used
for serving food, there is no other
information about the type of vessel or plate
used for this purpose (A.K:20).Wooden
stands similar to teapoys, were used to keep
the eating vessel just raised above the
ground level as may be seen from the line;
'Kālum Kalamum Vaittu'. The first meal of a
newly wedded couple after the
solemnization is served in a brazen salver.
Such serving is known as 'Kalattil pōutal'
(Serving in a plate) (K.K, p.280).
b. Adornments
Much information is available from
literary works about the adornments among
the people. The luxurious and elegant
apparels worn by kings and men of trade
guilds have enabled them to be easily
distinguished from the others in the society.
A male generally drapes Vērti (dhoti) with a
shawl on his shoulder. The cost of these
attires, ranged according to the status of the
person concerned. Kings drape silk Vērties
(dhotis) and shawls. They wear overcoats
worked with gold filigree. Those in royal
services, the officers next to the king, those
engaged in trades and the VeỊỊāỊas who hold
a key position in the society, also wore silk
Vērties (dhotis) and shawls like the kings.
On their heads they had turbans decorated
with flowers as may be seen from the
following verses in Kōvalanār Katai (p.118).
“jiyRw;wp Nkyhd jhkiug;G+ tJrhj;jp
miyRw;Wk; ghunjy;;yh kq;fq;Nf ajprapg;g
tpiyRw;W khiltif tPuKl Ndrhj;jp
epiyRw;W khrhj;jH ePjpkW fpilapy;te;jhH”
In Kōvalanār Katai the jewellery
worn by Mācāttuvar is given. These include
Cavai, CarappaỊi, chains (kinds of
necklaces), ear studs, ear rings, and rings. In
another place, it speaks of the following
jewellery worn by Māṇākar: Pearl necklace,
garland of precious stones and chain with
flower designs, as may be seen from the
following lines:
“nghdD
; KjJ
; j; jhtlKk; nghUeJ
; eyy
; G+tlKk;
kdD
; et ujj
; pdkzp khiynrwp khdhfH.... ”
(K.K,p.119)
There is no mention about the
jewellery worn by men who belonged to
ordinary classes. However, wearing of ear
studs by males, in all stratas has been
popular till the mid twentieth century which
was a unique feature of Tamils. Males grew
well trimmed moustaches to give them
manly appearance.
c.The clothings and ornaments of females.
Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai abounds in
references to apparels and ornaments used
by women to make them attractive. Women
generally drape Saris and brassieres. Saris,
varied in value according to their social
status. Expensive saris were draped for
festive occasions and other special
functions. Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai speaks
about the bridal bedecking with silk saris
(Ka.K:43).
The names of several varieties of
saris used concurrently are given in
Kōvalanār Katai. Since the saris mentioned
in the above verses, had been given by
Mācāttār for the wedding of his daughter
Kaṇṇaki, it is quite evident that they were of
very high quality w ith exquis ite
workmanship, procurable only by the
affluent classes. Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai
mentions another variety of Sari
Muttuccariyan (M.A.K:187).
Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai abounds in
information with literary enrichment, about
the jewellery worn by females. The cantos
dealing with the bridal bedecking of
Kaṇṇaki (Ka.K:44-47) and the way Mātavi
adorned herself for her debut of dance, has
the names of a number of jewellery and
ornaments (M.A.K:191-197) such as
CitarupāỊai, KūrpaỊai, Koppu, Taṇt.utāṅki,
Neṛṛimālai, Mutturuvi, Irat.aināṇ,
Kaṇtṅ
. kārai, Pendant, Chain, CarappaỊỊi,
Ponmālai, Mēkalai, Kaivanti, Kaikkat.ayam, ring, Tat. ṇai, Pāakam, Cilampu,
M u t t u m ā l a i , Va Ị a i y a l ( b a n g l e ) ,
Māṇikkamālai, Kuzhai (Earring) etc. One
cannot assure that all Sri Lankan Tamils of
that period wore all these jewellery. Some
of the very expensive items might have
possibly been worn by women belonging to
affluent families. However, the detailed
description of jewelleries in Kannaki
Vazhakkurai shows the knowledge they
possessed about the art of ornamentation.
603
d. Cosmetics.
Women from affluent families used
many kinds of perfumes. They used mostly
sandalwood, Puṇuku (Civet) and musk to
add fragrance to their bodies. These were
used lavishly to beautify the body and to
have their body sweet smelling. The habit of
females using these perfumes was more
common during special occasions and
festivals (M.A.K:185-189). Perfumes were
not only used by females to please
themselves, but also offered at times of
receiving invitees in an occasion
(K.K,p.115). It could be noticed that
invitees being offered sandalwood and
welcomed at the entrances to occasions like
weddings, house warming ceremonies, and
age attainment ceremonies to this day.
The habit of bathing in rosewater
and turmeric water has been prevalent, as
may be seen in Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai
(M.A.K:189). The body was smeared with
turmeric or sandal paste, before bathing.
Even after the bath, these pastes were
applied to the body. Perfuming and drying of
hair was done in fumes from burning
incense, Akil, musk etc. on ember. Hair was
decorated with sweet smelling flowers.
Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai gives a list of such
flowers. This may have been done with the
dual purpose of perfuming and beautifying
hair (M.A.K:190). This may be compared
with the habit of males wearing flowers like
lotus over their turbans.
4. Values and Norms:
Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai and its
different versions, Cilampu Kūral and
Kōvalanār Katai, put forward the values and
norms on the background of Kaṇṇaki
worship. The gist of Cilappatikāram is as
follows:
604
a.
b.
c.
When the royalty defaults the very
Dharma itself will be hostile
The great and the renowned laud the
chaste woman.
Nemesis haunts where transgression
prevails.
Cilappatikāram is in fact an epic
composed on the above bases. Though,
Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai and its different
versions speak particularly of the divine
birth of Kaṇṇaki, her nurturing, her
disputation with the Pāṇt. iya king, and the
miracle of reviving Kōvalan, it never fails to
keep up the values in Cilappatikāram.
Besides, the awful result of the
acquaintances of courtesans (Cilampu
Kūral), kingship (KolaikkaỊakkātai and
Vazhakkurai Kātai), the excellence of
hospitality (Vazhinaaikkātai and At. aikkalak
Kātai), kind deeds and words (Kalyāṇakkātai), revering parents, preceptors and
elders (Araṅkēṛṛu Kātai), adhering to the
military norms (Kaalōt. u Kātai), the
excellence in education (Araṅkēṛṛu Kātai),
honesty in amassing wealth (Cilampu Kūral)
etc. are being put forward, in the plot of the
story. 'God is always with those who adhere
to the social norms and values' is the
message of Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai and its
different versions.
5. Conclusion
By perusing the above facts, it is
quite clear Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai and its
versions secure importance in
comprehending the long cherished culture of
Sri Lankan Tamils. As the availability of
archaeological and historical evidences
lacking in Sri Lanka the need of literary
works like Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai, become
more indispensable to learn the Tamil
culture. The fact that Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai
and its versions not only portray the culture
and lifestyle of the people in the upper strata
of the society but also the common folks
adds more importance to this literary work.
In short Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai is a treasure
trove for a researcher who wishes to delve
deep into the culture of Sri Lankan Tamils.
REFERNCES:
Cilampu Kūral. (1989). (ed.) Ragunathan.
M. Jaffna: Unpublished M. A thesis
submitted to the University of
Jaffna.
Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai. (1968). (ed.)
Kandiah V.C. Batticaloa: Hindu
Religious and Cultural
Development Society.
Kōvalanār Katai. (1962). (ed.) Chelliah,
M.S. Point Pedro: Kalabavanam
Printers.
Vellupillai, A. (1989). A Comaparison of
some of the Tamil Versions of the
Anklet story in Sri Lanka. Chennai:
Journal of Asian Institute, Vol. II
Sivalingarajah, S. (2001). Izhattu Tamil
Ilakkiya Celneri. Jaffna: Thana
Luxumi Book Depot.
Abbreviations:
01. K.V
02. K.K
03. C.K
04. V.K
05. M.M
06. M.A.K
07. A.P.K
08. K.V.K
09. K.P.K
10.M.K
11.Ka.K
12.A.K
13. K.O.K
14. A.K.K
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
;
:
:
:
:
Kaṇṇaki Vazhakkurai
Kōvalanār Katai
Cilampu Kūral
Vazhakkurai Kātai
Manamālai
Mātavi Araṅkēṛṛu Kātai
Amman Piranta Kātai
Kappal Vaitta Kātai
Kōvalan Piranta Kātai
Mīkāman Kātai
Kalyāṇak Kātai
At. aikkalak Kātai
Kat. alōu Kātai
Amman Kanā Kaṇt. a Kātai
Transliteration Guide:
அ: a
ஆ: ā
இ: i
ஈ: ī
உ: u
ஊ: ū
எ: e
ஏ: ē
ஐ: ai
ஒ: o
ஓ: ō
ஒள:au
க்: k
ங்: ṅ
ச்;: c
ஞ்;: ñ
ட்: 
ண்:ṇ
த்;: t
ந்;: n
ப;: p
ம;: m
ய்: y
ர்: r
ல்: l
வ்: v
ழ்: zh
ள்: Ị
ற்: ṛ
ன்: n
605
Proceedings of International Conference on Contemporary Management - 2014 (ICCM - 2014), pp 606-608
KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL LEVELS IN VIOLIN MUSIC
AMONG THE VOCAL MUSIC STUDENTS OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF JAFFNA
1
2
S.Darshanan and P.Kayathiri
Abstract
The students for the Bachelor of Fine Arts (Carnatic Vocal Music) students have been selected
to the course based, on their advanced level (+2) Results for the subject Carnatic Vocal Music, and on
their Z score and on the entrance practical examinations for Carnatic Vocal Music. But, during their
2nd, 3rd, and 4th year studies inside the University of Jaffna, Department of Music, they have to choose
their elective course units among the pool of Violin, Veena and Mruthangam. The results of the pilot
study show that there are identical differences in the performing skills and knowledge in Violin
Music, among the vocal music students who selected their choice as violin music. Therefore this
study determined to find out the various knowledge and skill levels in violin music of the 2nd year
B.F.A. (Vocal Music) students. The hypothesis is set as “There are significant differences in the
knowledge and skill levels in violin music among the vocal music students.” The research adopts the
questionnaire survey method and through a statistical analysis on the grades which the students
gained for violin music in the in course assessment results as they mentioned in the questionnaire, in
order to find out the results. The analysis reports support the hypothesis. The conclusion would be
there are three categories of students among the vocal music students who choose the violin music
as their elective course unit and they are; already learnt violin in private classes and obtained
certificates from the private exam boards, Already learnt violin privately but doesn't obtain the
certificates, not learnt the violin music at all. The recommendation to the society would be, the
different teaching strategies have to be introduced for the each three groups in order to improve
their examination performance in future.
Keywords: Violin, Violin music, Violin education, University education, Violin educational strategies
1. INTRODUCTION
This is essential to teach the
students with full of knowledge and skill in
the institutional education system.
Therefore, the violin music education
system, shall givethe full satisfaction for the
vocal music student who avail their elective
practical subject as the violin too.
1.1. Research problem:
The duration of the assigned
semester is insufficient to train with violin
music practical, all the students
satisfactorily.
1.2. Hypothesis:
There are significant differences in the
knowledge and skill levels in violin music
1. Senior Lecturer & Head ,
2. Temporary Instructor in Violin, Department of Music, University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka [email protected],
606
among the vocal music students.
1.3. Objective of the Research:
The BFA(music - vocal) four years
special degree students should be avail a
stringed instrument in their second year in
the university of Jaffna Sri Lanka.The
available subjects in stringed instruments
are violin and veena. The students are
allowed to choose violin or veena as their
elective practical unit.In the institutional
system, there is a syllabus defined for the
particular course unit.
The teaching methods and
strategies have to induce the students to
learn the subject. But, during the lecture
session,the lecturer faces difficulty to train
all the students before the semester end. This
research is to find out the reasons for
incompletion of the trainingbefore the
semester ends.
1.4. Research method
The second year BFA(music vocal) students of the University of Jaffna,
have been selected for this research. Among
the students,especially who selected the
violin as their elective practical unit has been
selected as the research subject. The
questionnaire has been distributed among
the students. The direct observation during
the lecture session is also used to collect data
for this research.
2. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
Discussion is totest the hypothesis
“significant differences in the knowledge
and skill levels in violin music among the
vocal music students”.
There are three students who
already obtained certificates in violin music.
According to their in course
assessmentsmarks in the same subject,they
all obtained the top result “A”. Therefore,
the 100 percentage of this group obtained
“A” grade. Personally, the researcher
observed that, they are considerably better
than the other twenty three students in the
knowledge and skills. (In course
Assessments-10.10.2013)They didn't feel
any difficulties or delays during the lectures.
But, according to the analysis of their
answers for the distributed questionnaire,
insufficient practice and examination
tension are affecting their performance in
the examination.
The second group of the students,
are already had training in violin music, but
didn't obtain any relevant certificate.
Through the analysis of questionnaire, the
researcherfound that they wereunable to
continue their violin training in the private
classes, due to theloss of interest or lack of
opportunity. When comparing the results
st
with the 1 group of students, the second
group of students' results in the incourse
assessments in violin music in the
University of Jaffna are lower. The total
twelve studentsof this group obtained totally
seven “A” and five “B” in violin music in
their in course assessments. The 58.3
percentages of the students of this group
obtained the grade “A” and 41.6 percentages
of them obtained the grade “B”. This group
of students face difficulties to understand the
musical note and changing the performing
speed. According to the analysis of their
answers for the questionnaire, the results are
found that the reasons for their low
607
performancewould be lack of continuous
practice and lack of recalling ability.
The third group of studentsdon't
have any previous knowledge in violin
music.Among this group of students, some
of them were loss of interest, lack of
understanding and lack of concentration
during the lecture session.The total eleven
students of this group obtained totally two
“A”, four “B” and five “C” in violin music in
their in course assessments. The 18.1
percentages of the students of this group
obtained the grade “A”, 36.3 percentages of
them obtained the grade “B” and the 45.4
percentages of them obtained the grade “C”.
This group of students started to formally
play the violin after the full four lecture
sessions.According to the analysis of
questionnaire, some of them were suffering
with health problems like joint pain, leg
pain, neck pain, and also face difficulty to sit
in position, holding the bow, fingering in the
finger board and managing the bow
application. This group of students
expressed the lowest performance in the in
course assessment examinations.
The discussion supported that
hypothesis. The hypothesis “There are
significant differences in the knowledge and
skill levels in violin music among the vocal
music students” has been proved by the
research. So, there are the three categories of
students in the BFA(Vocal-Music) students
among who avail the Violin Music as their
608
elective practical subject. The categories are
as follows.
1. Already learnt violin in private classes
and obtained certificates from the
private exam boards.
2. Already learnt violin privately but
doesnot obtained the certificates.
3. Not learn the violin music at all
3. CONTRIBUTION TO THE SOCIETY
The lecturer shall clearly identify
the above three categories of student by a
questionnaire, interviewing the students or
direct observation during the lecture session.
There shall be different appropriate teaching
methods and strategies to bedefined for each
category of students. They shall be divided
into separategroupsduring the lecture
session. The curriculum shall be revised to
fit to the all three categoriesof the students.
Then only the each student would be
benefited by the violin music teaching in the
department of music of the University of
Jaffna.
REFERENCE
Carnatic music 2009-Teachers guide grade
9 1st Print
Incourse exam( second year) University Of
Jaffna (RAFA)- 10.10.2013
P a k k i t i s a a m y p a a r a t h y. a . k
2009
inthiyaisaikkaruvuulam kuseelarpathippakam
Sellathurai.D.P- 2010 Thennakaisaijiyal
Vaikaraipathippakam - Thindukkal
Proceedings of International Conference on Contemporary Management - 2014 (ICCM - 2014), pp 609-612
RHYTHMIC ANOMALY IN MUSIC OF THE
BHARATHA DANCE CONCERTS
1
S.Darshanan
2
and K.Sivanujah
Abstract
The Carnatic Music is the Classical Music form, which is used for the Bharatha Dance concerts.
Pitch central and Rhythm are considered as Mother and Father of the Carnatic Music. The both are
the fundamentals for not only the Carnatic music; those are essential measures for all the music
forms of the world. Even though, the significant importance is not given to the rhythmic structure of
the music in the Bharatha Dance Concerts. It shall affect the appreciation level of the audience of the
concert. This research is to prove the hypothesis “The significant importance is not given to the
rhythmic structure of the music in the Bharatha Dance Concerts”. The Varnam, which is the Main
composition of the Bharatha Dance concert, is collected as the research sample. The convenient
sampling technique is used. The different five Varnam compositions, performed for the different
recognized dance concerts of the top most eminent artists of India are collected as the audio
recordings. The recordings are analyzed and the rhythmic structure is measured with the
Metronome Software applications. The results support the hypothesis. The recommendation is
given to the society as follows. A proper mechanism shall be adapted to Bharatha Dance Music, in
order to maintain the rhythmic structure of the concert. The modern rhythmic measures like
Metronome or Thala Meter shall be used for the Dance Music training.
Keywords: Bharatha Dance, BharathaNatyam, Dance Music, Varnam, Rhythm,
Metronome, Dance Concert
1. INTRODUCTION
There are 64 art forms in the world.
The most important fine arts are literature,
music and drama. The Bharatha Dance is the
formation of these three. The Bharatha
dance introduces the lyrics of the songs, the
music and the dramatic actions.
NowadaysBharatha dance concerts are
performed all over the world. The music is
used for the bharatha dance concerts in two
ways. One is the live music accompaniment
and the other one is recorded music with all
accompaniments on the stage. There are
advantages and disadvantages in the both
live and recorded music forms. This research
referencing the dance concerts with live
musical accompaniments. During the live
concerts withaccompanying musicians,
especially vocalists need to concentrate on
each actions, steps, facial expressions and
body languages of the dancers. All
accompaniment artists on the stage need to
1. Head/Department of Music,
2. Temporary Instructor, Department of Music, University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka. [email protected],
609
consider the dancer on the stage. The
performance of each of them should be
centredonthe dancer(s).
While observing the dancers, they
should recall the memorisedsongs or
rhythmic syllables and also they have to give
more consideration on their performance
and handling and managing the audience.
Also they have to co- operate and coordinate with all the musicians on the stage.
The Dance teacher who is performing
Nattuvangam on the stage use to
concentrates on the dancer. But, in some
situation the Nattuvangamperformer used to
control the dancer by the Nattuvangam
performing. There for specially the vocalists
face difficulties to maintain the perfect
rhythm all over the composition.
1.1. Research Problem
The audience for bharatha dance
concerts cannot always satisfied and enjoy
the performance with all live
accompaniments, with their own general
body rhythm.
1.2. Objectives of the research
The overall performance of all
artists on the stage is the total outcome to the
audience. Even though the concerts seem to
be success, there are invisible or
unidentifiable mistakes to be held.
Therefore this research is to find out the
rhythmic anomalies on the bharatha dance
concerts and to recommend the relevant
suggestion in order to overcome.
1.3. Hypothesis
This research tries to prove the
hypothesis “the significant importance is not
610
given to the rhythmic structure of the music
in the Bharatha dance concerts”.
1.4. Research methods
The recognised video recorded
dance concerts are downloaded from the
YouTube and measured with metronome
and Beat finder software programs, in order
to find out rhythmic anomalies. Also the
experiences of the dance vocalists are taken
by interviewing them.
2. DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
2.1.Factors leading to rhythmic anomaly
The rhythmic accompaniments
miruthangam, Tabla,GatamandMorsing try
to synchronise with the dance teacher, and
the dancer's dancing stepswhile the tone
accompaniments (Violin, Veena and Flute
etc.) follow the vocalist. This leads to the
rhythmic anomaly on the dancing stage.
In most of the cases the vocalists
need to concentrate on the specific mood
(Raagam) of the song and the dancer's facial
expressions at the same time. The singers
need to decide the singing variations on the
spot to fit to the new improvising ideas of the
dancer. These factors lead the all performers
on the stage for rhythmic anomaly.
The recognized dance vocalists told
that the dance vocalist should have the
unambiguousknowledge and practice the
dance songs and the dancing actions and
rhythmic structure of the songs. That
knowledge should be obtained by the
vocalist by continuous experiencesor
rehearsals.(subhakaran,2013)Therefore the
lack of experience in Dance singing and lack
of rehearsals are also can be the reasons for
the rhythmic anomaly.
Most of the song lines should be
repeated for more than once. In such
situations, vocalists missed some lines, in
the tested recordings. Dance performers and
teachers are also missing the planned steps.
In such situations, the vocalists face
difficulties and they need to change the
counts of the specific song line to be sung on
the spot. This may lead to a fluctuation in the
perfect rhythmic structure of the
composition.
In most of the Bharatha dance
compositions, the rhythmic syllables and the
song lines are mingled. The song lines to be
sung by the vocalists, but the rhythmic
syllables are to be performed by the dance
teacher. (Appendix 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
The carnatic music vocalist used to
sing for the Bharatha dance. The carnatic
music vocalist is strictly trained to maintain
the same pitchfor a specific music or dance
concert. The pitch instrument (Tampura)
and all other accompanying instruments
should be set to the same central pitch level.
If an accompaniment deviates from the pitch
central the vocalist lost the mood for singing.
In most of the dance concerts the instrument
nattuvaangam is in a different pitch central.
Also the dance teachers are not aware about
the pitch central. These may lead the vocalist
to an unsatisfactory performance on the
dance stage. Such situation shall lead the
concert for rhythmic anomaly as well.
2.2. Common Rhythmic Errors found in
the all tested Videos
These are the similarities and the
common errors found while measuring with
the beat finder, in all recordings those are
measured for this research.The recognized
bharatha dance concerts of India have been
measured by the metronome and the beat
finder.
There is a huge deviation found
while changing from song line to rhythmic
syllables in all examined recordings.The
percentage of deviations isdifferent from
concert to concert and from artist to artist.
But the deviation is clearly identified and
confirmed.
The tempo of the composition is low
at the beginning and it will be increasing up
to the end of the competition. (Appendix 3,
4, 5)
The tempo is fluctuating during the
performing of rhythmic syllables.
While performing the composition or the
part of the composition which have more
importance to the expressions of feelings,
the tempo of the song is not considered.
After the huge deviation of tempo
while performing the rhythmic syllables, the
following song line is also needs to be sung
in the same but changed from the original
tempo level.Therefore, themistakes made by
one artist lead other artists to perform with
the same errors.
Analysing the above arguments and
observations, this research concludes that
the moods and expression are given more
importance than the tempo in the
traditionalbharatha dance concert in
practice.
But according to the basic theory of
carnatic music “The pitch is the mother and
611
the tempo is the father of carnatic music”.
( p a k k i r i s a a m y p a a r a t h y. a . k , 2 0 0 9 )
Therefore, the tempo shouldbe given more
importance in the bharatha dance concerts.
3.CONTRIBUTION AND SUGGESTION TO THE SOCIETY
In order to increase the appreciation
level of bharatha dance concert among the
audience, the tempo maintenance should be
given more importance than in present. The
Bharatha Dance Music educatorsor trainers
shall utilize the modern rhythmic measuring
equipment like metronome, beat finder or
such software applications to measureand
teach the correct tempo of the Dance
singing.
REFERENCE
Alarmelvalli- bharatanatyam http://youtu.be/QNNFbAxBouM
Karunakaran.A.k- (visiting lecturer)_
th
January 10 6.00p.m
Padma subrahmanyam dance- http://youtu.be/N7aKJ4jEgec
p a k k i t i s a a m y p a a r a t h y. a . k
2009
kuseelarpathippakam
inthiyaisaikkaruvuulam
th
Prabalini.S _(BFA)- December 12
10.00a.m
Rama vaidyanathan- Bharathanatyam on
M a y u r A l a r i p p u http://youtu.be/ops5EwguyJE
SavithaSastryBharathanatyam performance
- http://youtu.be/SgiLOzFQh14
Shallumenon- Varnam 2011- dance to
s i v a s h a m p o http://youtu.be/a_fvuxJcCWE
Subhakaran(visiting lecturer Music)
December 10th 1.00 pm
Vidhya Subramanian- varnam- manavi
http://youtu.be/YDk5fd9MoKI
Vineeth& Lakshmi gopalaswamy- Varnam
2 0 1 1
http://youtu.be/LPs2s14RoM8
5.Appendix
Dancer’s Name
Tempo
in BPM
before
Jathi
Tempo in
BPMDuring
Jathi
Tempo in BPM
After Jathi
-
132-134
130
80
132-139
100
125
135
130
-
102-104
-
95
110
99-100
103-109
94
105
3.Rama vaidyanathan- Bharathanatyam on
4.Savitha sastri- thillana
5.Shallu menon- Varnam 2011
6.Shobana
612
Proceedings of International Conference on Contemporary Management - 2014 (ICCM - 2014), pp 613-617
LEARNING THE CARNATIC MUSIC COMPOSITION VARNAM
IN THE TIME SIGNATURE 3/4
S.Darshanan1 and H.Hamsathvani2
Abstract
The Carnatic music is divided in to two major divisions as taught compositions and improvisation of
music. This research focuses on the first part, the taught compositions, because the improvisation of
music is almost not based on the knowledge, which is given by the teacher. It is mainly based on the
skills of the learner. Among the taught compositions, The Varnam is the most significant
composition. This is being taught in the schools and universities which provide carnatic music
education and training; as well as performing in the concerts. But, the results from the pilot study say
that performing the varnam in the time signature 3/4 is the most difficult activity in carnatic music, in
students' perspective. Therefore, this research is to test the hypothesis “The Most complicated
learning process in Carnatic music is performing varnam in the time signature 3/4.” The
questionnaire survey method is appointed for this research. The results of the survey analysis
supported the hypothesis. The conclusion is derived that the significant importance is not given to
the teaching and learning process in the performing Varnam in the time signature 3/4. The research
recommends adopting the modern techniques and instruments in the teaching and learning process
of the performing varnam in the time signature 3/4.
Keywords: Music composition, Varnam, Carnatic Music teaching, Carnatic music learning,
Complicated compositions, Modern teaching techniques
1. INTRODUCTION
Va r n a m i s t h e c o m m o n
composition, can be used in practice and
concert. The varnam has the parts as pallavi,
anupallavi, mukthayiswaram, charanam
and chittaiswaram. This is the most
important composition for practice,because
the actual essence and the complete
grammatical structure of relevant mood
(ragam) is clearly exhibited invarnams. The
categories of varnams areth Anavarnam,
adathAlavarnam, padhavarnam, and
tharuvarnam.
The varnam is use to sung in the
beginnings of the carnatic music concert.
But the padhavarnams are taking important
part in the bharatha dance concerts. The
lyrics are maintained as minimal in the
v a r n a m s . ( S a m b a m o o r t h y, P. 1 9 9 7 )
Performing the varnam in ¾beat which is
composed in 4/4 time signature in the
concerts are nowadays being popular. The
artists try to express their rhythmic talent
while synchronize with the mood through
this procedure. This research is to test the
hypotheses “The Most complicated learning
1.Head, Music
2. Temporary Instructor in Music, Department of Music, University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka [email protected]
613
process in Carnatic music is performing
varnam in the time signature 3/4.”
2. METHODOLOGY
This process is included in Jaffna
University the second year B.F.A(Music)
syllabus, in the course unit AMUC 21013.
Therefore, the second year students are
taken as the subjects for this research.
Generally in this process, the first part of the
varnamshould be sung in ¾ beat. The pretest and the post-test questionnaires are
specially distributed among the students.
Avarnam is taught by the researcher to the
target group. At the end of the teaching, the
students' performances are evaluated and
scored by the researcher. Direct observation
method is also used to observe the students'
activities during the teaching sessionsin
30hours.
3. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
There many categories of
compositions in carnatic music, based on
notes and lyrics. Those are geetham,
jatheeswaram, swarajathi, keerthani,
kruthi, thillana, andvarnam. Some of those
are little difficult to learn and
perform,because of its stuff in notes or lyric
part.Most of the students face some
difficulties in heavy compositions.
(Muthaiyabagavathar L., 1977)Before the
classes a questionnaire was distributed to
students to know their opinion about these
categories of compositions. In that
questionnaire they state many difficulties in
each composition that they faced.The
pretestquestionnaireanalysis states that 82%
of students faced more difficulties in
varnamwhen changingthe time signature.
Students feel that varnam is a difficult
composition in carnatic music. According to
the students' statements, the researcher
found the most difficult parts of the varnam
and planned to introduce a new method of
teaching which waseasier to follow. For this
purpose, researcher chosen the varnam“Sri
rajamathangi”. This varnamis composed
tosuddhadhanyAsi mood (ragam). In this
mood, there are only five musical notes.
Those are sadjam, sAdhAranaGAnthAram,
suddhhamatthimam, panchamam,
andkaishikinishAdham. These notes are
easy to sound in actual mood. Especially in
this varnamthere are simple notes. Every
varnam contained 32 matthiraiin a cycle.
This varnamis also set in a manner of this
calculation in 8/4 time signature rhythmic
style. These are the technical terms we use to
sing 3/4 time signature in varnam
scalculationmethod.
Generalyvarnamsare set to double
beats(rattaikaLlai) Adhithalamin 8/4 time
signature.AdhithAlamhas 8 beats.
Eachbeatcntains 4 sub counts
(mAtthirai).(Sangeethanubava Sara
Sangraham, 1974)
So one full aadhithalamwill contain
(4 x 8 = 32mathirai) in a
Cycle(Avarthanam).
16 +8+ 8 = 32 Pa PaMGSa
PMGS
SNSa /
GGSM MGPM / NNPM
GS GM //
Sri . . . Ra. aJa .aMa .a / Tan Ki . . Sa/ Mun .
D e s w a r i //
The same notation isshould be rearranged in the time signature ¾.
Therefore,the each beat contains 6 sub
beats, filled with notes. Therefore,one
full AadhithAlamcontains (6 x 8 =
614
48mAtthirai) in a cycle. When singing
in3/4beat, the first 32 notes will appear like
this.
PaPa-MG Sa- PMGS SNSa- GG
SMMGPM/NNPM-GS
GM-GMP-S /
GMPN-PP MMGGSS//
Based on this calculation, the actual three
lines set on 8/4 beats are equal to two
fullcycles on 3/4beats.
32+32+32= 96, 48+48 =96
Sri . . ra . . j a . a
m a . . * than . ki .
. cha * mun . . deshwari *
GGS MMG GM GS NP NSGM- PP Ni
SNPM / PM GMPa ,a GM PN / PNS-S
N- N
P MGSGM //
R a k shim
chu* gow . .
r. i . .* De
rakre . . cha r u dow .* shyaama r a . j e
*ndra dha n a . ya*
(Sangeethanubava Sara Sangraham, 1974)
According to the analysis of the pretest questionnaire, 82 % of the students were
finding difficulties in the ¾
beatvarnamsinging process. Also they stated
that the reason as the amount of the lyrics
isconsiderably lower than the musical notes.
T h e
v a r n a m o f
Harikeshanlloormuthayabhagavadar,
which is set in mood suddhadhanyAsi ,the
time signature 8/4 and set as Sri
rajamathangi.The comments of direct
observation of the researcher, while teaching
thevarnam are as follows.
Most of the students faced difficulties
in the following manner.
1. To synchronize their singing with their
rhythmic hand beats.
2. While dividing the words (sahithyams)
of the varnam they faced difficulties to
fit to the beat.
3. Because the students need to
concentrate on the beat change, they
made mistakes in the actual composed
musical notes.
4. The difficulties they faced to fit with the
tempo while singing the rests.
5. They faced difficulties to express the
mood.
6. They faced difficulties to manage the
breath.
78% of students state that they have a
problem to synchronize their singing with
their rhythmic hand beats. This may happens
frequently. Because the actual rhythm
pattern is on 8/4 beat,when they try to change
it to¾ beat, the placement of words will
differ from the original. Also it happened due
to lack of concentration.At the end of
learning in the new teaching method
introduced by the researcher,80% of
students state that they understood the issue
clearly.
57% of students state that while
dividing the words (sahithyam) of the
varnam, they faced difficulties to fit to the
beat.this may happen without knowing the
meaning of lyrics.After understanding the
meanings, 84% of students sung the
varnamto fit to thebeats easily.
Most of the students faced the problem
without knowing the essence of the mood.
This issue reduced the rhythm sense of them.
They made mistakes in the actual composed
musical notes.After learning under the
615
researcher with new method, 76% of
students state that they overcame from
thisproblem.
Students faceddifficultiesto fit with
the tempo while singing the rests.Varnam
seems to be most complicated because of
itsfrequent rests in lyrics. Also they faced
difficulties to express the mood.They faced
difficulties to manage their breath with
enough sustaining. (Krishnan R.V., 1990)
After learning under researcher 89% of
students overcame from this problem.
After completing 30 hours of teaching
observation, the post-test questionnaire was
issued to the students. It contain the
questions about the teaching method used by
the researcher, how it was helped them? Are
they feeling thatit's easy to understand? How
they experienced it?On the pre-test
questionnaire, they stated that, singing
thevarnam in changing beatsis the most
difficult lesson to learn and sing. But, after
the teaching sessions, in the post-test
questionnaire, they stated that they learnt it
easily and this exercise will helpthem to sing
varnams in future,without any difficulties.
Therefore, the post-test questionnaire
analysis report was also supported to prove
the hypothesis. The discussion concludes to
support the hypotheses.
4. CONTRIBUTION AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE
SOCIETY
In order to help the students to
overcome the issues in varnam singing,this
new teaching method with new strategies,
designed by the researcher.Most of the
616
students were scared while started to learn
the difficult compositions likevarnam.First
of all, teachers should rise up students'selfconfidence. Guiding the students to focus on
the major parts of the varnam, where the
possibilities to make mistakes, will help
them a lot. Thesekinds of guidance will
make them mentally strong to adopt the new
lesson.
Because the students have to
concentrate on the beat change, they made
mistakes in the actual composed musical
notes.In varnamthey have to focus three
major things those are note(swaram), lyrics
(sahithyam),andrestkAarvai.Varnam is a
composition stuffed with essence of mood,
belongs to that swarams,kArvais and also
meaning full minimal lyrics. Before
teaching varnam teacher can give an
exercise by singing swaramson that mood,
include similar phrases of that varnam.
The teacher shall give practice to
manage the breath with dividing the words
of the varnam.
Introducing the calculation methods,
before singing the varnam, will misguidethe
student. They will focus on that calculation
and lose concentration on singing.
The students won't grasp the song
easier,if the teacher ask them to practice
again and again. During the lesson generally
all will sing together. But after the end of
teaching, if the teacher asks them to sing
alone, some of the students may feel shy to
sing alone. Asking the students to sing two or
three together, and correct their mistakes
during the classes will help thembetter.
REFERENCE
Krishnan.R.V.,&Ragavayya.R.V, (1990),
Sangeetha saar-3, Rex Printers
Mylapoor, India.
Muthayabagavathar. L. (1977), Sangeeth
Kalpathrumam-1, Trivandram
government printers of Kerala,
India
Sambamoorthy.P., 15th(1997)
Karnatic
Music book 3 , Indian music
publishing house, Chennai
Unknown Author, Sangeethanubava Sara
Sangraham, (1974) India.
Karnatik, Song: shreeraajamaatangi
,taanavarNam, [online],
Available:http://www.karnatik.co
m/c2110.shtml (06/10/2005)
Teaching methods for varnam the Carnatic
Music Lessons taught by top gurus
[online], You tube, Available:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=nbRWteR9FCgPublished on Sep
18, 2012
varnam, MadhuraGaanaRanjani - Sri Raja
Mathangi - T.N. Seshagopalan,
[online], You tube,Available:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=HK1YwQdWZ1APublished on
Mar 2, 2012
varnam speed changes ,Subramaniam L., Ninnukori (varnam) - 15
s p e e d s [ O n l i n e ] , Yo u t u b e ,
Available:http://www.youtube.com
/watch?v=w4oOB8EOe5g,
Published on Jun 9, 2013
617
Proceedings of International Conference on Contemporary Management - 2014 (ICCM - 2014), pp 618-631
A STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF MICROFINANCE IN
ALLEVIATING THE RURAL POVERTY IN SRI LANKA
(WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO HAMBANTOTA DISTRICT)
J. Krishanthi Mallika
Abstract
Sri Lanka has been successfully achieving the millennium development goal of poverty
alleviation for last two decades showing a rapid reduction of poverty head count ratio from 26.1
percent to 8.9 percent from 1990/1991 to 2009/10. Hambantota District recorded the highest
reduction in poverty head count ratio from 32.4 percent to 6.9 percent during the same period.
Microfinance sector is dominating as a major poverty alleviation tool in Sri Lanka. The problem of this
research is to what extent the microfinance contributes for poverty alleviation The data and
information were collected from 240 samples the researcher has selected 150 treatment groups and
90 comparison groups randomly selected from three Divisional Secretariats representing all five
selected microfinance institutions of Samurdhi, SANASA, Janashakthi bank, SEEDS and Rural banks.
The structured questionnaire was the major research tool used in collecting primary quantitative
data. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression models were used for the analysis tools. On
the basis of analysis, author found that Poverty reduction of the area was highly contributed by
microfinance institutions of SEEDS, Janashakthi Banking Societies, and Co-operative Rural Banks
while Sanasa and Samurdhi Banks contributed less.
Keywords: Poverty, Poverty Alleviation, Microfinance, Treatment groups, Comparison groups
1. INTRODUCTION
Poverty has become a multidimensional issue in the most of countries in
the developing region. The concept of
poverty has many meanings to many people.
Poverty refers to the state of being poor; lack
of the means of providing material needs or
comfort. Poverty has drawn the attention of
the World Bank, sociologists, researchers,
politicians and academicians to come up
with various definitions. Accordingly many
researchers, Academics and Organizations
have defined poverty is various ways but it is
clear that poverty is a deep and very broad
concept. Among them Asian Development
Bank (ADB), (2001) defines:
“Poverty, as a deeply entrenched condition,
has a profound effect on how people struggle
to manage the life. It is often defined in terms
of lack of something - lack of employment,
insufficient income, infrastructure, housing,
land, water, and food (p.09). ”
According to Sen (1999) poverty is
the general status of deprivation. In contrast,
some explanations on poverty are
Rajarata University of Sri Lanka, [email protected]
618
exclusively focused on individual traits such
as lack of motivation, determination and
self-drive among the poor themselves.
Alternatively, more comprehensive
explanations on the concept are focused on
the structural and institutional factors. In this
view, the poverty does not derive internally
from some unique values attributed to the
poor, but the inevitable consequence of the
poor occupying an unfavorable position in a
restrictive socio-economic structure.
Schiller (2001) calls it as “the restricted
opportunity argument”. Sewamala et al.
(2006) make a similar argument and point
out that the poverty alleviation is a key
challenge in development effort in less
developed countries where more than one
billion people are the poor.
The Countries of South Asia has
shown significant level of poverty compared
with other Asian countries. Considering
about the countries of South Asia named as
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India,
Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka the
combined population was 1.5bn and the
poor population was 460mn in 2008.
Therefore, the policy makers in this group of
countries have given priority to find the
solutions to reduce the poverty. Among
them, Microfinance has gains a great deal of
international attention in recent years, as an
effective tool nor reducing poverty and
improving welfare of beneficiary
households.
The Asian Development Bank in
2000 has defined microfinance (MF) as:
“The provision of a broad range of financial
services that includes services such as
deposits, loans, payment services and
insurance to poor and low income
households and their micro enterprises.”The
first initiator of micro-credit programme,
Yunus (1999) refers the microfinance as
“providing the credit to poor people with
collateral substitutes” or “freeing of credit
from the bondage of collateral”. The
awarding of the Nobel Prize (2006) to
Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank has
rekindled interest in this form of banking
services to the extent that the United Nations
and even the multi-lateral funding
institutions are considering it as an effective
tool for poverty reduction
The services provided by
microfinance institutions (MFIs) can be
broadly categorized into two as 'Financial
intermediation' and 'Social intermediation'.
Financial intermediation generally includes
savings, credit, insurance, and payment
services while the social intermediation
includes group formation among members,
leadership trainings and cooperative
training etc.
1.2 Background of the Study
In Sri Lanka, provision of financial
services to the poor has a long history and it
can be traced back to the early 1900s. In
1911, the British government passed
legislation to set up credit co-operatives in
Sri Lanka. In the post-independence period,
the government concentrated largely on
agricultural credit, particularly for paddy
cultivation. These credit facilities were
granted mainly through two state-banks:
Bank of Ceylon and People's Bank. The
Central Bank of Sri Lanka through its
various rural credit scheme provided funds
to these two state-owned commercial banks
619
at subsidized interest rates. Strengthening
the involvement of the government, in 1964,
the government established the Cooperative Rural Banks (CRBs) as the
banking aim of the Multipurpose
Cooperative Societies [MCSs]. While the
main functions of CRBs are the mobilization
of savings, extension of credit to member
borrowers and providing payments
facilities, this was a major contribution in the
field of MF. During 1986-1991, the
government initiated an array of policy
measures to expand credit facilities to the
poor under its poverty alleviation strategy.
The Ministry of Finance and the Central
Bank initiated the Regional Rural
Development Banks (RRDBs) in 1986.
During the last few decades however,
microfinance sector in Sri Lanka has grew
significantly, with the support of all the
sectors in the country such as government,
non-government and co-operative sectors.
As a major poverty alleviation strategy, the
government launched the Janasaviya
programme in 1989. In 1996, the
government replaced the Janasaviya
programme with the Samurdhi
Development and Credit Scheme to promote
income generating self-employment
opportunities among the poor so as to raise
their income levels, thereby making them
self-reliant and self-supporting. In 1997, the
government established the Samurdhi
Authority and its microfinance scheme.
C o u n t r y L e v e l E ff e c t i v e n e s s a n d
Accountability Review (CLEAR) of
Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest
(CGAP) has estimated that more than
14,000 microfinance suppliers are doing
microfinance-business in Sri Lanka at the
end of 2009.
620
In practice, Sri Lanka has made
considerable progress on poverty reduction
over the last decade. For example, about 3.8
million persons (or about 22.4 percent) of
the population in the country were deemed
to be poor in 1990-91. It has been marginally
increased further to 22.7 percent in 2002
(HIES, 2002). On average, the percentage of
the poor population in Sri Lanka is 5.6 in
terms of income less than a dollar per day
while the percentage of less than 2 dollar per
day is 41.6 during the period from 1990 to
2000. However, poverty headcount ratio (%
of populations) in the country has
remarkably declined from 15.2 percent in
2006 to 8.9 percent in 2009 (Central Bank of
Sri Lanka, 2010).
Hambantota records the highest
reduction of poverty in comparison to the
other two districts in Southern province. In
turn, Southern province where the
maximum numbers of microfinance
institutions are located seems to be very
attractive for microfinance supply (GTZ,
2009). This means that market saturation of
microfinance in the province is very high.
Therefore, the study selected Hambantota
district to examine the influence of micro
finance on poverty reduction
1.3 Problem Statement
When it is considered the number
below the poverty line in the region-wise
south Asia and Sub Saharan, Africa takes a
higher proportion. In South Asia it was
reported that 35%, 33%, 31%, and 36% of
decrease and again increase is shown in the
years of 1990, 2002, 2004, and 2008
respectively. (World Bank 2005, word
development Report, 2011). According to
these data, it is proved that the poverty is still
a regional problem. However, considering
Poverty Indicates of the Region World Bank
data shows that the percentage of the
population living in households with the
consumption or income per person below
the poverty line has decreased in each region
of the world since 1990.
Sri Lanka, as an opened, smallIsland economy, indicates a fair level of
Socio Economic indicators relative to other
South Asian Countries. However, poverty
has been identified as a major challenge for
development.
When examine the overall poverty
level of Sri Lanka, the poor households'
percentage in 1990/1991, 1995/1996, 2002,
2006/2007 was 26.1, 28.8, 22.7, and 15.2
respectively.It has reduced as 8.9 in
2009/2010, but fluctuated. Gunatilaka in
2000 as revealed that since 1991 the
respective rates have decline (except
1995/96) gradually in case of national level
of poverty. When we pay the attention on the
rural and urban sector poverty in rural sector
is higher and there it shows a fluctuation.
Within a region, rural poverty is generally
higher than urban poverty.
The poverty level of Southern
province was a low level when it is
compared with the other provinces. On the
other hand, 24% of microfinance institutions
have been established in Southern province.
It was ¼ of total microfinance institutions. In
comparing with Galle and Matara districts of
southern province, in Hambanthota district
it has shown a speedier reduction of poverty.
In 1990/91, 1995/96, 2002, 2006/07,
2009/10 years this reduction has been
reported as 32.4%, 31%, 32.2% 12.7% and
6.9% respectively. However there is no
evidence to state that whether there is an
effect of microfinance on reduction of
poverty in Southern province as there were
no research studies.
Despite the large number of
institutions involved in providing
microfinance facilities in Sri Lanka, their
impact on reducing poverty or improving
household welfare is not very clear
(Tilakarathna,2004). Only few studies have
been undertaken to assess the impact of
microfinance in reducing poverty and
improving the living conditions of the
households. Even these studies, in general,
are confined to one or a few microfinance
institutions. Having these limitations, it is
more important to assess the impact of
microfinance in the level of households in
the country context of Sri Lanka.
Poverty alleviation has become a
key challenge in many regions in the
world, specially in South Asia. In the
case of alleviation of poverty, as that of
microfinance, many studies have been
done internationally by the researchers.
In this case, i.e. in the alleviation of
poverty, the international community
has given a priority and been working out
very keenly. Poverty alleviation has become
a key challenge.
However, in reviewing the
empirical evidence, considerable
disagreements on microfinance can be found
in the literature. Some writers Mahabub
Hossain , 1988 ; Holcombe,1994; Helen
621
Todd, 1996, argue that microfinance do
bring about immense socio economic
benefits. In contrast, some other researches
Adams and von Pischke, 1992; Mustafa,
Hussain 1992-93/ 1996-97; Johnson and
Rogaly point out the negative impact of
microfinance. Between these two extremes,
there are some other writers Hulme and
Mosley, 1996; 2001,2003, 2004; Elizabeth
Dunn and J. Gordon Arbuckle Jr. 2001 who
believe that although microfinance has
several beneficial effects, it does not help the
poorest, means that there is not clear
consensus among researchers about the
impact of microfinance in alleviating
poverty. In reviewing these diverse views, it
is important to assess the impact of
microfinance on beneficiary individual,
household and enterprises in the context of
rural Sri Lanka.
In this research, the researcher tries
to understand the contribution of
microfinance for poverty alleviation.
Therefore the problem of this research is to
what extent the microfinance contributes for
poverty alleviation?
2. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The main objective of the study is to
assess the impact of MF in changing the
socio, economic conditions and style of
material wealth of the beneficiaries and their
households. The study focuses also on the
following specific objectives,
1. To identify the composition and nature
of microfinance in the study area
2. To examine the contribution of
microfinance on changing the living
standard of the beneficiary households
(BHHs)
622
3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS OF THE
STUDY
1. What is the composition and nature of
microfinance in the study area?
2. What is the contribution of microfinance
on changing the living standard of the
beneficiary households (BHHs)?
4. METHODOLOGIES
Microfinance has been viewed from
different perspectives. A very common
perspective has been poverty alleviation.
The study collected both the
primary and the secondary data using
different sources.
As this study is empirical in nature,
a great attempt was made to collect primary
data using deferent research tools. Major
research tool is the household sample survey
using well-structured questionnaires.
Alternatively, interviews with managers of
selected microfinance institutions and
interviews with key informants, focus group
discussion were used for primary data
collection. In addition to this 150 clients for
treatment group and 90 clients for
comparison group of MFI's were
interviewed and filled up questionnaires
with face to face interview.
150 clients as Treatment groups and
90 clients as Comparison groups were
selected using lists of MFI's as a simple
random sampling method. The comparison
group's data were used only for the
comparison purpose.
This study Tables, Chart, Graph and
Maps are used to present the collecting data.
In addition descriptive statistics methods
were used on essentially.
As the data was gathered, it was
entered into the Statistical Package for the
Social Sciences (SPSS) for analysis. After
the complete data was entered, frequencies
were run for the generation of descriptive
statistics. Simple regression and Binary
logistic Regression were used in analyzing
data.
5. DATA PRESENTATION AND
ANALYSIS
It was studied that the impact of
microfinance on alleviation of poverty and
what type of impact it had been done using
the three DS divisions in Hambanthota
district which the five microfinance
institutions have been engaged in.
According to the sample, it is very clear that
the majority of the sample is women, i.e.176
(73.3%). It means that nearly two third of the
sample are women. When the age limit is
taken into consideration the majority is
between 36-45 years old and The majority of
this sample is married.
When the standard of the education
is concerned as a whole in the sample it is
reported to have a lower level. The above
table proves that out of the total 88.8% have
come only up to the level of O/L or below
that level.
When the number of dependant is
concerned in the whole sample of 240
families there are only 87 families whose
dependants are limited to 4 members and it is
36.2% out of the total.
According to the data, the majority
is the farmers (45%). 19% of respondents are
engaged in micro business. The 17% of the
total is engaged in self employment. The
respondents who seek new job are 31.3%
and 68.7% in the comparison group and the
treatment group respectively.
Table 5.8 Main income of the respondents
Main income of the respondents
Percentag
Income level Frequency
e
15000<
137
57
15000-24999
74
31
25000-34999
18
8
35000>=
11
5
Total
240
100
Source: Survey data, 2012
According to above table, the
majority i.e. 137 people get less than Rs.
15000 whereas 31% get an income between
Rs. 15000-24999.
This study was done having based
on the report of per-capita expenditure
issued by the Department of census and
statistics in year 2012. The average percapita expenditure of the month of June,
July, August, and September is calculated.
The poverty line is formed and it was Rs.
3477. The poor and non-poor are
categorized accordingly. Those who are
having per-capita expenditure of Rs.3477 or
more than that is taken as non-poor and the
others are as poor. According to the table
non-poor of the comparison group are
calculated as 57% but it has increased up to
65% of treatment group. By this situation it
is clear that the long span of time being with
microfinance is a reason to have a non-poor
condition.
623
Table 6.7 Impact of the microfinance on
absolute poverty
Loan History
Total
Comparison Treatment
Group
Group
poverty
2 -3477 Nonline
poor 57
poor 43
Total
100
65
35
100
62
38
100
Source: Survey data, 2012
Regression models of the Poverty
alleviation & microfinance
Poverty variable is calculated using
Per Capita Expenditure and the poverty line
is defined using the average value of four
poverty lines from June to September 2012
in Hambantota District. Therefore the
poverty line for this study is 3477.
The
influence of different microfinance
institutions on poverty is different.
Following Binary Logistic Regression
shows the impact of different microfinance
institutions on poverty.
Depend
ent
Explanatory
variable variables
Having loans
more than 3
years (1),
Having loans
less than year
poverty/ (0)
3477
Constant
624
B
-0.36
0.65
Odds
Ratio
more3*samurdh
i
0.72
more3*sanasa
0.24
more3*seeds
-0.98
poverty/
3477
more3*janashak
thi
-1.54
more3*rural
bank
-1.70
Constant
-0.20
2.07
1.27
0.37
0.21
0.18
0.82
Source: Survey data 2012
Binary Logistic Regression models
According to Binary Logistic
Model, Microfinance programme (treatment
group of more than three years) of SEEDS,
SANASA and Rural Bank has negatively
affected for poverty, reference to the
comparison group with short micro
financing history. However Samurdhi has
established positive association with
poverty. The reasons for this are the
Samurdhi is mainly target the poor people
and it is totally subsidized programme and
most of the beneficiaries tried to hide their
real income and expenditure.
According to below table using
simple regression model tested that How did
microfinance effect to increase income and
savings of the treatment group.
6.5 Simple regression models
depen
dent
t
variabl Explanatory
val
e
variables
B
ue
Having loans
more than 3
years (1),
Sig
nifi
can
ce
Having loans
less than
year (0)
2803
2.1 0.01
19.
20302 1
0.02
Income Constant
Having loans
more than 3
years (1),
Having loans
less than
year (0)
12836 2.7 0.03
Saving Constant
18015 4.8 0.03
Source: Survey data 2012
Income of the treatment group
(More than three years) has significantly and
positively related with income of the control
group while that recorded same positive
relationship with savings also. It says that
monetary security of time people delay with
treatment group is relatively higher that the
people with comparison group (less than one
year).
According to the Appendix 01,
regression model included the treatment
group with long history of microfinance
more than three years. The reference
category is the group with microfinancing
from Samurdhi and with long history of
microfinance more than three years. The
microfinance holders that belong to SEEDS,
Janashakthi Banking Societies and Rural
Bank have established significant negative
relationships with poverty reference to the
microfinance holder from Samurdhi. The
highest reduction of poverty was recorded
related to the microfinance holders from
rural banks while the second highest
reduction was recorded by the Janashakthi
Bank holders. Janashakthi Bank
microfinance holders are totally females and
the programme is highly target women
empowerment. SEED are facilitating
investments especially for Small and
Medium Entrepreneurs and that also has
established a negative significant
relationship with poverty. Sanasa Bank does
not show a significant relationship with
poverty reduction according to data shows in
the above regression.
Samurdhi holders who have obtain
microfinance facilities are taken as the
reference category. Samurdhi is fully
targeting poor and that is the only
programme with full responsibility of the
government. To avoid the problem of data
endogenity with the dependent variable,
Samurdhi is not taken as separate dummy
variable.
6. CONCLUSIONS
In this case microfinance
institutions had given them the fullest
cooperation and helping hand. In obtaining a
big amount of money as a loan, it was not
able to release it at once and therefore it was
seen as a weakness of microfinance. A group
whose arrears are to be paid, a member of
this group is not able to borrow loans and it
seems to be great trouble for them. Apart
from supplying the financial services, it was
said that other services also supplied for the
members and the customers were also
expecting such services from the
institutions. Counseling services, training
programme input reasonable prices
supplement etc. were such services.
625
Savings was once a dream for the
poor and it came to be a reality through the
microfinance institutions and the poor were
capable enough to save much and all are
keeping savings account and it is a must to
deposit money for obtaining a loan. That is
why they had much tendency to save money.
A very little amount of money is enough to
start a saving and it may be a reason to have
such higher tendency for the savings. The
group savings had also continued
successfully through these microfinance
institutions. These people were empowered
to shoulder (hold) some position in various
associations, societies and they can manage
to be and work with the officials well.
One of the very specific objectives
is to see whether the microfinance
institutions have been an impact of
empowering the economy. Accordingly
those who have joined to microfinance
institutions since treatment group compared
with comparison group and the clients of
treatment groups were paid into the attention
to see how their impact of economy was by
using some variables.
In the case of per capita income the
treatment groups had more means of income
than that of the comparison groups. It is
significant even in the paired sample test and
therefore there is clear difference between
treatment groups and comparison groups.
According to responder's income per hours,
the treatment groups' higher mean value than
that of comparison groups and it is a
significant matter. The family income is also
taking a higher level and it is very vivid in
the significance.
According to the researches done by
626
Mahabub Hossain (1988), Holcombe
(1994), Remenyi (2000), Martha Chen and
Donald Snodgrass (2001), Carolyn Barnes
(2001), microfinance has affected positively
for the increase of income. However,
Mohammad Noor, (2010) Wright (1999)
said that the increasing of income has not
been caused by the help of microfinance.
According to the findings of this research
microfinance has positively affected for the
rising of income.
According to the simple regression
model Treatment groups and income of them
have a significant positive relationship. In
the case of significance it is clear that the
treatment groups have kept higher savings
level and the saving and treatment groups
have a positive relationship.
According to Pitt Khandker (1996)
Mohammad Ariffujman Khan and
Mohammad A. Rahman, 2010, Lapenu and
Zeller (2001), Fernando (2004),
microfinance has affected to increase the
savings. But Mustafa Hussain (199293/1996-97), Wood and Shariff (1997), Brett
Coleman (2006) found that microfinance
has not positively affected on the
increasement of savings. However, it is clear
that according to the present study
microfinance can effectively use to increase
the savings.
As follow it was tested to know
whether there is an economic empowerment
of the treatment groups, the treatment group
had a develop incensement of living
standard than that of the comparison groups,
while the economic status of the family had
gone up than the comparison groups, though
microfinance helped to develop the fixed
income source between both treatment
groups and comparison groups, there was no
much differences of it.
with microfinance and when the security of
the people is considered the treatment
groups are higher than the comparison
groups.
According to the Binary Logistic
Test it can be concluded that, purchasing of
durable consumer goods had a positive
relationship while it was 18.76 times higher
than the comparison groups.
By joining to microfinance
institutions and having transaction for a long
period they can get a loan of much amount of
money. Therefore treatment groups are with
very higher satisfactory level of getting loan
than comparison groups and it is 18.5 times
significantly higher satisfactory level.
The development of business
occupation of treatment group was higher of
the treatment group that is 8.36 times higher
than the comparison group. Then these
microfinance institutions are sources of loan
income is a clear matter. Majority paid
positive response while the treatment groups
were to be the new more income source
owners.
According to Khandker in 2001 and
2003 in Bangladesh, the microfinance has a
positive effect on the economical
development and also the same result could
be found in the present study.
The economical development of the
family of treatment groups were 30.59 times
higher than comparison groups and by this it
was very clear that the economical
development of family has a great effect
from microfinance institutions and it is
highly significant.
The saving ability of treatment
groups has an incensement than that of the
comparison groups. Financial and
employment security of workers in future
are considered that it has a positive effect
Besides the supplying of loan, some
other services to the borrowers is given,
specially in the subject area of the loan is
supplied to, and the vocational training can
also be concluded. By that way it can
significantly be concluded that through such
vocational training, the income of the
treatments group has been increased.
However these factors, in various
levels have been effective positively for the
economic empowerment of the treatment
group and however, according to the binary
logistic test significantly it can be concluded
that it has not affected for the improvement
of employability.
Based on the result of paired sample
T test, simple regression and Binary logistic,
it can be concluded that the economic
empowerment of treatment group has a
positive effect in the case of microfinance
institutions.
In the case of the social
empowerment and microfinance, the
microfinance institutions had taken some
steps to minimize the child abuse, use of
627
alcohol and implement some awareness
programme on harmfulness of such addicts
and counseling programme. The leadership
program that was conducted by these
institutions has positively affected to
develop leadership of the clients.
The social harmony was established
by conducting some mutual assistant
programme such as Cheetu etc. using groups
of five members. According to the Binary
logistic test, the social harmony of the
treatment group is 6.3 times higher than that
of the comparison group.
microfinance and poverty of the treatment
group. It means that having a relation with
microfinance caused to reduce poverty.
Brett Coleman (1999, 2004, 2006), Halder
(1998), Wood and sheriff (1997), Navajas et.
al. (2000), Rutherford (1999), presented an
idea that microfinance did not have any
impact on poverty alleviation while the
present study could find that a positive
impact of microfinance in the case of
poverty alleviation.
However, taking those institutes
separately SEEDS, Janashakthi, Rural Bank
had done great impact on reducing poverty.
All these relationships are significant.
Sanasa Bank does not show a significant
relationship with poverty reduction.
As a result of housing loan with the
low rates of interest provided by the
microfinance institutions, housing condition
of the treatment has been improved. On the
other hand Education level of children was
significantly and positively affected by the
microfinance programme.
Helen Todd (1996, 2000, 2001),
said that they could find an increasement on
women empowerment as a results of
microfinance. But Halder (1998), Wood
Shariff (1997), Mustafa (1996-97), Jonson
and Rogaly 1996, 1997 Gertler (2003)
pointed out the microfinance has no any
positive effect on the increasement of
women empowerment. According to the
present research the same result could be
found in the case of women empowerment.
Samurdhi has established positive
association with poverty. The reason for this
is that the Samurdhi is mainly targeting the
poor people and it is to be a Samurdhi
animator who has been able to help to end
poverty. On the other hand comparing the
other four institutions Samurdhi is totally
subsidized programme that extreme poverty
has only been focused to give incentives.
Most of the beneficiaries tried to hide their
real income and expenditure, because they
are the dependents of government
incentives. Therefore it can be concluded
that these conclusions are reasonable.
This study examined the impact of
microfinance on absolute poverty. Based on
the data it can be concluded that the long
span of time being with microfinance is a
reason to have a non-poor condition.
According to the Binary Logistic Test there
was a negative relationship between
Out of these four institutions rural
bank has given the most effective
cooperation for the poverty alleviation. The
second highest contribution is given by the
Janashakthi Bank. It is the bank of women
and its main objective is to empower the
women and by this the family living
628
standard has increased supplying facilities
for preventing poverty. The SEEDS also
stretches its helping hand in this case.
As a whole those who have joined to
microfinance institutions in the treatment
groups can have a reduction of their poverty.
As well, the variable taken for economic and
social development, the treatment groups
have indicated an increase. Accordingly the
living standard of the families working with
Microfinance institutions has gone up than
that of those who have not connected with
microfinance institutions.
Ultimately, considering all these
facts it can be concluded that, although the
weaknesses are to be seen in the case of
alleviating the poverty microfinance
institutions have done great impact on this
matter. As a development tool and anti
poverty tool Microfinance has been
implemented as a successful instrument in
different countries. Present it is speeding
ahead as an industry and millions of poor
people, poor women, small entrepreneurs,
peasant farmers and whole society are enjoy
the benefits of it.
7. RECOMMENDATIONS
According to the findings of this
research the successful areas are to be more
developed and it is highly needed to avoid
the weaknesses.
Most of the customers of
microfinance institutions expect to get loan
facilities but the problem is they receive
small amount of loans. By using such a loan
no source of income earning can be done.
Therefore, it is suggested to increase the
amount of loans and loan must be issued
based on the current needs of the customers.
In protecting the resume of MFI's and
recovering of outstanding loan it is a
requirement of having appropriate legal
framework. After issuing the loan the prepost inquiries must be conducted to see
whether they have used the loan for the due
purpose.
By these microfinance institutions,
besides supplying loan, the training for the
due field for which the loans are taken must
be planned. Especially self employment
training programme is to be given.
Robert McNamara an economist
from World Bank in 1950, quoting a Chinese
proverb said that the poor must not be given
foods E.g.: Fish should not be given to the
fisheries, but they must be given only the
hooked and the fish rod and they must be
educated how it is done. If not, they may get
the rod break. Accordingly in the case of
alleviating poverty, besides supplying loans
the borrowers should be enhanced by giving
training programs. Some programs are to be
ended within two three days. But it must not
be limited only for two or three days. It is to
be extended at least once a month and they
must be educated well. By this way the
feedback must be got by inquiring their
progress and it may be a great help for the
self employment in a better way. These
training must not be just only lectures or
seminars. They must be very understandable
and practical to the members. These
seminars should be enhanced the
knowledge, training and such aspects should
be expected through the attractive manner.
629
The importance of banking sector is
to be motivated in the rural community. By
the microfinance institutions it is a must to
be aware of the structure of indebtedness and
the poor. The poor community has been
found that they have been the victims of the
higher interest rate and the indebtedness and
the reason for the poor to be the indebted and
how the microfinance institutions must work
in this case. (The real situation of the
informal financial sector must be informed
and they must be educated of such matter).
To have a developed and suitable
Microfinance industry, it is the role of the
government that is to keep a management on
the macro economy and financial stability.
In addition the way of controlling the
inflation rate and the establishing of suitable
regulation aiming at the interest rate and
reformation of credit and savings is also the
other responsibility of the government. The
women member hood of Janasakthi Bank ,
having a women empowerment in their
houses, are also free from poverty is yet
another impact of Janashakthi banking
system. Therefore women empowerment
programs should be implemented. Specially
at rural level gender balance is required in
the country wise.
The rehabilitation program for
alcohol addicted people should be launched
and alcohol production and trading ought to
be minimized. This is because many poor
people spend much more on alcohol
consumption.
The government intervention must
be there in the development of the rural
sector. The transportation, communication
630
and other infrastructures must be supplied
and for this microfinance institutions must
act to motivate the government. Then the
gap between the rural production and the
market can be reduced.
It is the opinion that we are with
which a national microfinance policy
package for the industry ought to be
introduced and implemented by the
government. The proposed programs
approved by donors are to be ensured by the
government accurately and the operational
guidelines should be implemented
confirming the general standards. To
establish a self-sustainability in the MFI'S
there should have been an intervention of the
government and by that the success of
Microfinance can be ensured.
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poverty, and the Millennium
Development Goals; Country
gender strategy Bangladesh,
Manila, Asian Development Bank.
Carolyn, B., Gaile, G., and Kibombo, R., et
al. (2001). The Impact of Three
Microfinance Programs in Uganda.
Central Bank of Sri Lanka (2010). Annual
Report Central Bank of Sri Lanka,
Colombo.
Coleman, B.E. (2006). Micro finance in
Northeast Thailand: Who Benefits
a n d H o w M u c h . Wo r l d
Development 24(19): 161238.
Consultative Group to Assist the Poor
(CGAP)
Sri Lanka, CLEAR
Review- (2009).
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Colombo.
Dunn, E., Arbuckle, J.G. (2001). The
impacts of microcredit: a case study
from Peru. AIMS, USAID.
Fernando, N. (2004). Microfinance
Outreach to the Poorest: A Realistic
Objective?. Finance for the Poor,
GTZ Promis- Outreach of financial Services
in Sri Lanka -2009.
Gunatilaka, R. (1997). Credit-Based
Participatory Poverty Alleviation
Strategies in Sri Lanka: What Have
We Learned?. Poverty and Income
Distribution Series, No. 2,
Colombo, Institute of Policy
Studies.
Gunatilaka, R., & Kiriwandeniya, P.A.
(1999). Protection for the
vulnerable: Policy Framework for
Poverty Reduction in Sri Lanka
[presentation], October 1999.
Halder S, R. (1998). Measurement of
poverty and its correlates. Husain
AMM (ed.) Dhaka, BRAC.
Holcombe, S. (1995). Managing to
Empower: the Grameen Bank's
Experience of Poverty Alleviation.
London, Zed Press.
Hulme D., Mosley P. (1996). Finance
against Poverty. Routldge: London.
Johnson S., Rogaly B. (1997). Microfinance
and Poverty Reduction. Oxfam
Poverty Guidelines. Oxfam,
Oxford.
Lapenu, C., Zeller M. (2001). Distribution,
Growth and Performance of
Microfinance Institutions in Africa,
Asia and Latin America. Food
Consumption and Nutrition
Division Discussion Paper No.114,
Int. Food Policy Res. Ins.
Navajas, S., Schreiner, M. and Richard, L.
et. al (2000). Microcredit and the
Poorest of the Poor: Theory and
Evidence from Bolivia. World
Development,28 (2) 33346.
Pitt, M M. and Shahidur, R., Khandker.
(1996). Household and Intra
household Impact of the Grameen
Bank and Similar Targeted Credit
Programs in Bangladesh. World
Bank Discussion Papers 320.
Washington, DC.
Remenyi J., & Quinones, B. (2000).
M i c ro f i n a n c e a n d P o v e r t y
Alleviation. Case studies from Asia
and Pacific. Great Britain: Book
Ens limited, Royston, Herts.
Rutherford, S. (1999). Self-help groups as
microfinance providers: how good
they can get? Mimeo, Philippines.
Sen, B. (2001). Poverty reduction and
graduation: emerging trends from
PKSF-supported MFIs. Zohir et al.
(eds.) In Monitoring and Evaluation
of Microfinance Institutions,
Dhaka, PKSF-BIDS.
Von Pischke, J. D. (1991). Finance at the
Frontier, World Bank, Washington,
DC.
Wood G., and Sharrif S. (1997). Credit
Where Credit is Due. Dhaka and
London, UPL and Zed Press.
Yunus, M. (1999). Banker to the Poor:
Micro-lending and the Battle
against World Poverty. New York:
Public Affairs Press
631
Proceedings of International Conference on Contemporary Management - 2014 (ICCM - 2014), pp 632-640
INDIA'S TRADE PERFORMANCE DURING THE PRE
AND WTO PERIOD
A.M.Sheela1 and Ramani Mabel2
Abstract
Economic liberalisation in the early 1990's and implementation of the provisions of the
WTO after 2004, have had far reaching consequences for India. While it did spur economic growth, as
far as trade was concerned India was moving from a controlled trade regime with restrictions on the
exchange rate of the rupee. In this study an attempt has been made to examine India's trade
performance both with respect to exports and imports to the major trading regions of the world, viz.,
the EU, North America, Asia, the Gulf region, Japan and Australia. In addition to growth rates, a
Markov model has been fitted to study the dynamics of India's exports and imports. Overall India's
trade performance against its trading partners has been very small and has not progressed much
after the WTO regime . India's share of trade has concentrated on the Gulf countries with share of
6.82 percent of the exports and 9.56 percent of the imports mainly accounted for by oil. From the
results it could be seen that India's share of imports for Australia has increased quite substantially in
recent years. Barring trade with the EU and North America, the trade deficit were large particularly
with Australia (68%) and the Gulf (42%) counties. Overall while trade grew at the rate of about 8
percent in the pre-WTO period and it increased to around 19 percent per annum in the WTO regime.
It is noteworthy that trade growth to Asia and Japan which was low in the pre WTO era grew
significantly in the WTO period.
Export market stability was witnessed with EU, North America and the Gulf countries as indicated by
the Markov chain analysis. So far as imports from India were concerned, most of the countries
including Asia and Japan were dependable suppliers. This goes to show a degree of ad hocism with
regard to export strategy, which does not augur well for the development of exports from India in the
long run, calling for a stable export policy for the Country. Further, a policy to boost exports and
reverse the current account deficit is the need of the hour, else it could have far reaching effects on
the economy and exchange rate of the Rupee.
Keywords: Economic liberalisation, Gulf countries, exports and imports
1. Associate Prof, St Josephs College of Commerce, Bangalore
2. Professor in Commerce and Management, CMR Institute of Management, Bangalore
632
1. INTRODUCTION
The New Trade Regime is
momentous in India's economic history as it
witnessed a successful transition of India
from a closed, slow growing economy to an
open economy that found a place amongst
the fastest growing economies of the world
(Kulwinder 2012). Unilateral economic
reforms were undertaken with regard to
exchange rate, foreign investment, external
borrowing and foreign trade policy (Chadha
et al., 1999). Trade reforms formed an
integral part of the overall structural reform
process (RBI, 2001-02). The multilateral
aspect of India's trade policy refers to India's
commitments to the World Trade
Organization (WTO) with regard to trade in
goods and services, Trade Related
Investment Measures (TRIMs), Trade
Related Intellectual Property Rights
(TRIPs). This open trade regime has been
viewed as the least vulnerable form of
globalization with enormous opportunities
for higher growth emanating from higher
exports (Krueger, 1998).
With this
background the study was undertaken to
explore India's trade during the pre and
WTO period.
The study has attempted to examine
India's trade performance during the Pre
WTO ( pre 2004) and WTO (Post 2004)
regime. Indian economy had to change its
trading policy with the changing multilateral
trade the WTO. Creation of WTO through
Uruguay Round (1986-94) brought out
renewed order to the Multilateral Trading
System by applying multilateral disciplines,
which provided a lot of scope as well as
challenges for export expansion. An attempt
has made to quantify the impact of this
domestic and global economic
transformation on various aspects of Indian
exports. The relevance of the paper is further
enhanced taking into account increasing
popularity of regional trading agreements at
global level and particularly in Asian region,
opened up many the opportunities for
Indian trade to reap the benefits of
comparative advantage, lower tariff and
non-tariff barriers.
2. METHODOLOGY
The study is based on secondary
data, spread over from 1987-2013, the
statistics for which have been derived from
Monthly Statistics of Foreign Trade,
Directorate General of Commercial
Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S),
Calcutta; Economic Surveys, Ministry of
Finance, Government of India(GOI), New
Delhi; Reserve Bank of India, Bombay;
International Financial Statistics, Unctad,
Washington. A comparative analysis of the
pre WTO and WTO period helps to analyse
if the WTO agreement on free trade
agreements and low tariff rates for
developing countries have helped India to
increase its international trade.
The
Countries of North America, Asia, Australia,
Japan, Gulf Countries and those under the
European Union are taken up for the study as
they form an major composition on India
International Trade.
The reference period has been
divided into two regimes. Period 1 from
1987-88 to 2003-04 and Period 2 from
2004-05 to 2012-13. Average annual exports
of each commodity have been worked out
for both the periods separately and the
compound annual rate of growth has been
633
worked again period wise using the growth
equation. The MARKO Chain analysis was
carried out with export destinations and
importing sources as the states and a
transition probability matrix was
constructed using the Minimisation of
Deviations (MAD) estimator which was
done in the Linear Programming
framework.
A Markov chain is a stochastic
process which describe the finite number of
possible outcomes si = (i=1,2,…r) which a
discrete random variable at ( t=1,2,….T) can
take during a number of time periods. The
assumptions that underlie a model are:
a) The probability of an outcome on the nth
trial depends only on outcome of the
preceding trail, and
b) The probability is constant for all time
periods (Lee et al, 1970).
The diagonal elements of the
transitional probability matrix indicate the
probability of export shares being retained in
a particular head and the off diagonal
elements reveals the probability that imports
would shift from one country to another with
the passage of time, The coefficient read
along the row indicate the probability of loss
of share and read along the column shows
the probability of gain to the commodity in
the column. The transition probability
matrix was estimated using the
Minimization of Absolute Deviation (MAD)
technique which is estimated in the Linear
Programming framework. For details see
Lee et.al, 1970.
3. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
The first systematic analysis of
India's export performance and potential,
634
which cogently argued that India's export
stagnation was largely 'home made', was by
Manmohan Singh (1964), the Prime
minister of India. Since then, there have
been a number of other important studies,
reinforcing the view that India's exports
could be significantly increased through
policy reforms and poor export performance
was a significant factor in India's lack-lustre
economic performance in general (Prema
2008) . According to Veermani 2007, the
pace of India's export growth in contrast to
the pre-reform period, have been growing
faster than the rate of growth of world
exports during the post-reform period. The
negative competitiveness effect and
negative commodity composition effect had
been the major retarding factors of export
growth in the pre-reform period. According
to Nilanjana Kumari, 2012, India's trade
regime has drastically changed in the post
liberalisation period. It has shown a
favourable trend as the policies has been
liberalised and tariffs removed which has
helped in uplifting the trade to overcome the
deficit BOP position. The export
performance for the period has shown an
increasing trend in absolute terms but in real
terms it has always been affected by the
increased imports. Thus, the study suggests
that the policies should be formulated such
that they would be centred on Gross
Domestic Product, Imports and Per capita
Net National Income, which would help to
increase the export growth of India.
Kulwinder's study 2012 was based on the
relative prices of India's overall exports and
market share indicates increasing price
competitiveness of India's exports in global
export market. The constant market share
analysis makes it clear that increasing world
demand (World Demand Effect) for exports
has played a significant role in the India's
outstanding export performance. Apart from
expanding world demand, India's export
performance primarily has been attributed to
competitiveness of exports. Speaking on the
new initiatives which India can take Sethi
2012 suggests that India should initiate
bipartite trade agreements with the countries
rather than complying only on the WTO
agreement for enhanced trade. It should
look on the sectors where there are less
trading activities and explore new
possibilities in different sectors as the
regional trade agreements can lead to
synergy in foreign trade. India should
promote more patent registration by
improving capacity building to enhance
exports and also take benefit of forex
volatility. The exploration of possibilities of
trade with countries of African and Asian
continents should be prioritized in foreign
trade policy.
Many studies on International trade
state that exports of India to have increased
during the reform period and also due to
increased world demand and owing to
growth competitiveness. The undertaken
study helps to understand both exports and
imports in the pre and post WTO period to
find if the free trade regime has helped to
boost international trade.
4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The WTO regime brought in the
non-tariff regime into the forefront. This has
encouraged many countries to improve their
international trade. The trade performance
has been juxtaposed against imports and
exports of the major countries (Table -1) of
each geographical region, to analyse India's
share and the changes taken place over time.
Table-1 India's Import and Export Performance During the Pre and WTO Periods
Exports
Period I
Imports
Period II
Period I
Total Trade (growth)
Period II
Period I
Period II
Countries
EU
NORTH
AMERICA
8.95%
14.07%
5.58%
13.31%
6.99%
13.68%
11.47%
11.31%
5.15%
15.51%
9.00%
12.92%
ASIA
1.34%
14.23%
2.63%
18.46%
2.05%
16.89%
AUSTRALIA
8.36%
17.13%
8.99%
16.57%
8.84%
16.65%
JAPAN
1.13%
14.72%
2.57%
18.16%
1.92%
16.89%
GULF
15.61%
23.08%
3.80%
43.69%
8.83%
34.85%
8.96%
15.03%
5.41%
22.09%
7.08%
18.97%
WORLD
Source: Unctad, IMF,and self calculation
635
Period I 1987-88 to 2003-04, Period II
2004-05 to 2012-13
India's exports to all the major
countries increased in the post WTO period.
Majority of exports was to the Gulf
Countries which continued to dominate in
the post WTO period(from 15 to 23%) apart
from the EU countries which increased by 6
percent.Exports to Australia also increased
to 9percent.
Very striking change is
witnessed in India's exports to Asia and
Japan which increased from a mere 1% to
14.7% in the WTO period. A publication on
India's trade and investmentby Exim
bank2013, highlights the trend in exports
moving towards southern countries,
particularly to the Asia and Africa regions.
Asia is a key destination of India's exports.
From 40.2% in 2001-02 its grew to 51.6% in
2011-12. The only Country where Indian
exports decreased slightly was North
America.
Thus according to
Kulwinder2012,Veeramani 2007, export
friendly environment, provided by export
policy reforms with their focus on
liberalization, openness, transparency and
globalization as well as creation of WTO,
was considered a crucial determinant of
export performance.
The import figures show a dramatic
increase in India's imports in the WTO
period. India's imports from Gulf Countries
grew at the highest rate of 43.7% accounting
to almost fifty percent of India's total import
share owing to the import of petroleum.
Likewise Indian imports from Asia and
Japan grew by 17%. Which included
electronic goods among others. Australian
exports also increased by 16% and that from
European Union by 13.7%. Imports from
Australia consisted of iron ore, coal and
other metals Comparing India's exports
versus imports it is seen that Indian imports
from the major group has increased
substantially compared to its growth of
exports.
Table -2 Current Account Deficit (as a percentage of total Trade)
Country
Pre WTO (1987 - 2003) WTO (2004- 2013)
Grand Total
EU
-9.50%
-3.50%
-5.09%
NA
27.38%
13.49%
17.19%
ASIA
-6.23%
-29.57%
-21.41%
AUSTRALIA
-50.43%
-73.08%
-69.28%
JAPAN
-5.81%
-29.50%
-21.08%
GULF
-31.59%
-42.64%
-41.50%
The Current account deficit shows a
sharp increase in the Post WTO period. This
was mainly due to India's increased import
against exports. Except for European and
North America which showed a reduced
636
deficit in the post WTO period. The deficit
on the current account seem to be the highest
(-42.64%) with Gulf countries mainly
accounting India's increased import of Oil to
support its rapid industrialisation process
and also due to increased prices of oil at the
International market, coupled with the
deteriorating Rupee exchange rate. The
deficit with Austrialia Asia and Japan which
grew substantially is attributed to excess
imports of manufactured goods, electronics,
and machinery among others from these
countries and also due to the volatility of the
Indian Currency.
The transitional probability matrix
in the pre WTO period, presented in Table 3,
shows the countries that were main
contenders of Indian exports.Though Indian
exports to European Union increased
considerably, it was at the loss of Australia
and Asia unlike that of Japan whose import
retention stood at 0.9. But in the Indian
exports to Asia which was 0.8 probability
which was consistent.Kulwinder 2012
Developing countries and Gulf both
emerged as the potential markets for Indian
exports with their increasing shares. The
share of Africa and Asian developing
countries, particularly SAARC region, too
showed an upward trend and these countries
has emerged as the good markets for Indian
exports.The gains of Indian exports to North
America shows a retention of 0.8 though
leading to loss to North America and Gulf
Countries.
Table 3Transitional Probability Matrix for Export shares of India
Pre WTO 1987-2003
Countries
EU
NA
ASIA
AUSTRALIA
JAPAN
GULF
EU
0.8561
0.0730
0.1444
0.9535
0.0000
0.0000
Countries
EU
NA
ASIAN AUSTRALIA JAPAN GULF
0.1063 0.0000
0.0376 0.0000
0.0000
0.7779 0.0043
0.0017 0.0051
0.1380
0.0000 0.8474
0.0082 0.0000
0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0465 0.0000
0.0000
0.0000 0.0782
0.0000 0.9218
0.0000
0.2302 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.7698
WTO (2004 -2013)
NA
ASIAN AUSTRALIA JAPAN GULF
EU
NA
ASIAN
AUSTRALIA
JAPAN
Gulf
0.9047
0.1040
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000 0.0300
0.7533 0.0652
0.0000 0.1848
1.0000 0.0000
0.9376 0.0000
0.0000 0.0121
0.0213
0.0041
0.0132
0.0000
0.0000
0.0624
0.0000
0.0643
0.2504
0.0000
0.0000
0.0612
0.0000
0.5648
0.0000
0.0000
0.0206
0.0398
0.9061
637
The closed economic Policy of the
Government of India did affect the imports
of the Country. However this policy
changed with the New Economic Policy in
1991 leading to slow changes in the Indian
imports. Except for the Gulf and the
European Union which had a steady trade
relations in the pre WTO period. The other
countries did have an extremely low import
levels. North America has a retention level
of 0.3 whose losses were scarcely shared
between the Gulf Asia, North America and
Japan. ( Table 5)
Table 5 Transitional Probability Matrix for import shares of India Pre WTO
TRANSITONAL PROBABILITY MATRIX FOR IMPORT SHARES OF
INDIA
Pre WTO 1987-2003
EU
NA
ASIAN AUSTRALIA JAPAN GULF
Countries
0.6896 0.1331 0.0423
0.0854 0.0496
0.0000
EU
0.0532 0.3132 0.1723
0.0000 0.0411
0.4202
NA
0.4550 0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.5450
0.0000
ASIAN
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000
AUSTRALIA 1.0000 0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.4716 0.4587
0.0000 0.0698
0.0000
JAPAN
0.0944 0.0478 0.0227
0.0440 0.0157
0.7755
OPEC
Table – 6 Transitional Probability Matrix for import shares of India WTO
Countries
EU
NA
ASIAN
AUSTRALIA
JAPAN
OPEC
EU
0.8405
0.0314
0.0000
0.2611
0.1403
0.0000
WTO (2004 - 2013)
NA
ASIAN AUSTRALIA JAPAN GULF
0.1595 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000
0.3114 0.0530
0.2836 0.0478
0.2727
0.0000 0.6946
0.0000 0.3054
0.0000
0.5728 0.0237
0.0634 0.0000
0.0790
0.0000 0.0468
0.3667 0.4463
0.0000
0.0000 0.0086
0.0000 0.0087
0.9827
The WTO period saw Indian
imports from Gulf and European Union
dominating overall imports seen in the high
retention levels of these countries. Though
imports from Asia has a probability level of
0.7, it has lost to Japan whose retention was
less than 0.5. The Imports from North
638
America has been more or less constant.
Australian exports is seen has lost to
substantially (0.5)to Asia and Japan. The
above analysis Indicates India's imports
have increased substantially to that of its
exports, which has created a deficit in the
Balance of trade
5. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
The major changes in India's
International trade came after the New
Economic Reforms of 1991 which saw its
transition from a closed economy to an open
economy, which was strengthened by the
free trade regime of the WTO. Indian
exports grew at a moderate level in the post
WTO phase then it was in the pre WTO
period. While trade grew at the rate of about
8 percent in the pre-WTO period and it
increased to around 19 percent per annum in
the WTO regime. It is noteworthy that trade
growth to Asia and Japan which was low in
the pre WTO era grew significantly in the
WTO period. Export market stability was
witnessed with EU, North America and the
Gulf countries as seen through the Markov
chain analysis.
Despite notable tariff reforms since
the early 1990s, tariff protection in
India(revealed through the various studies)
is still substantially higher than in most other
developing Countries in the region.In India,
consumer goods industries, which are the
basis for labour-intensive manufacturing
export expansion, are generally more
insulated from international competition
compared to capital and intermediate goods
industries (Prema 2008). Private investors
require a large number of approvals from
state governments to start business and they
also have to interact with the state
bureaucracy in the course of day-to-day
business. Only tiny companies that are
unable to compete with the large firms, are
allowed to operate. There are major
constrain on the expansion of labour
intensive manufacturing where India's
comparative advantage in international
production lies (Das 2006). Much of FDI in
the Country (other than that in the software
and IT sectors) has been in domestic-market
oriented (tariff-jumping) production.
Failure to attract MNEs engaged in
international production networks has been
a key factor behind India's inability to
benefit from the thriving productionfragmentation related international
specialization in high-tech industries.
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Foreign Affairs, 85(4), 2-9.
Chand (2008), Indias export performance,
depot1.gdnet.org/hind/pdf2/gdn_li
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Prema-Chandra Athukoral ,(2008),Export
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Proceedings of International Conference on Contemporary Management - 2014 (ICCM - 2014), pp 641-651
IMPACT OF INFLATION ON ECONOMIC GROWTH
IN SRILANKA
Gowshiga Sabaratnam and Mitharshana Satkunaratinam
Abstract
This paper attempt to examine main impact of Inflation on Economic growth in SriLanka
over the period of 1990-2012. One of the Sri Lanka's central bank objective of micro economic
policies is to promote economic growth and price stability(inflation)however there has been
controversial debate on whether inflation on promotes or harms economic growth. Based on this
debate this study examines the impact of inflation on economic growth in Sri Lanka. This research
examines some variables such as Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) was used as a proxy for
inflation and the GDP & GNP as a perfect proxy for economic growth to examine the relationship. The
study considers the independent variable is inflation (CCPI)and dependent variables are economic
growth (GDP & GNP)and the data are mainly collected from economic and social statistics of Sri
Lanka. Correlation and co efficient technique, regression curve fit, compare the inflation and
economic growth by using line diagram method establish the relationship between money and
economic growth. Monetary policy practitioners are of the view that inflation is detrimental to
economic growth while structuralizes believe that moderate inflation can contribute to economic
growth. Finally research suggests that inflation has a negative impact on economic growth in Sri
Lanka. The research also established that there was no more correlation between inflation and
economic growth during the period of study in Sri Lanka.
Keywords: Inflation, economic growth, Price stability, SriLanka, core inflation
1. INTRODUCTION
The most of the developing
countries aim is sustainable high macroeconomic growth together with low
inflation. Likewise Sri Lanka also has these
same objectives. The relationship between
inflation and economic growth remains a
controversial one in SriLanka. Inflation can
lead to uncertainty about the future gains of
investment in a country especially when
faster inflation is high also associated with
increased price variability.Inflation may
also reduce a countries international
competitiveness, by making its exports are
Department of Financial Management, Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce, University of Jaffna
[email protected]@gmail.com
641
more expensive, this activity impacting on
the gross national product (GNP) and
inflation interact with the tax system to
distort borrowing and lending decision.
Inflation means that general price level
continuously increasing and economic
growth means that gross domestic product
continuously increasing in a country.
Economies that are not fully adjusted to a
given rate of inflation usually suffer from
relative price distortions caused by inflation.
Nominal interest rates are often controlled
and hence real interest rates become
negative and volatile, discouraging savings.
Economic growth and price stability have
been two leading goals in monetary policy of
the central bank in SriLanka. To this end, this
paper presents the results of an empirical
investigation using yearly data for the period
from 1990 to 2012. The monetary authority
of SriLanka has been of the view that
inflation is harmful to economic growth and
hence price stability has been an essential
goal in its monetary policy. Inflation is the
biggest problem; it is continuously
increasing in SriLanka. Basically the rate of
economic growth depends primarily on the
rate of capital formation and the rate of
capital formation depends on the rate of
savings and investment (Datta and Kumar,
2011). World economic growth and inflation
rates have been fluctuating. Likewise,
inflation rates have been dominating to
compare with growth rates in virtually many
years (Madhukar and Nagarjuna, 2011) and
relationship between inflation and the
economic growth continued to be one of the
most macroeconomic problems. So this
research attempts the impact of inflation on
economic growth. Whether the research
642
examines the relationship between growth
and inflation is strong or weak or moderate
relationship in SriLanka.
Figure 01 and 02 explains the over view of
the GDP & GNP in Sri Lanka. Figure 03
explains inflation rates in Sri Lanka for 23
years. Figure 04 & 05 illustrates the time
path of inflation and economic growth in Sri
Lanka. Table 01 explains the descriptive
s t a t i s t i c s o f i n f l a t i o n a n d G D P,
table02descriptive Statistics for inflation
and GNP. Figure 06 stated the pattern of
relationship between inflation and GDP for
the period of 1990 to 2012, figure 07stated
the pattern of relationship between inflation
and GNP for the period of 1990 to 2012,
table 03 explains results of the correlation
analysis for inflation and GDP and finally
table 04 stated results of the correlation
analysis for inflation and GNP for 23 years.
Research Problem
SriLanka cannot achieve the highest
growth percentage and fluctuating growth
percentage for the period of last 20 years.
Research Statement
Highest inflation rate mainly impact
economic growth in SriLanka. It is obvious
from the above discussion that the
achievement of stable inflation not only the
target of central bank of SriLanka but also
almost the whole central bank in the world
have the same target.
Continues increasing inflation causes
decreasing the purchasing power therefore
decreasing the saving, due to that there was a
drop in investment so it's affect growth rate
in SriLanka.
Scope of the study
This study explores the impact of
inflation on the Sri Lankan economy and the
financial sector in Sri Lanka using annual
economic and social statistics of Sri Lanka
and data collected from1990-2012 and
covers econometric analysis. The data
sources are mainly Central Bank of Sri
Lanka data bases.
2. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
The study of the existing literature
starts with an overview of most relevant
theoretical studies, which investigate the
determinants of economic growth. Then, we
will discuss related empirical studies and
their findings concerning the inflation and
economic growth relationship.
At the same time several theoretical
studies argued that depending on its level,
inflation can either promote or harm
economic growth. For instance, Lucas
(1973) explained that low inflation allows
overcoming rigidity of nominal prices and
wages. Huybens and Smith (1998, 1999)
found that even predictable inflation may
harm economic growth by impeding
financial sector allocating resources
effectively. Other theoretical studies focused
on the question of how expected inflation
impacts the financial system. For instance
Choi et al. (1996) and Azariadas and Smith
(1996) showed that only when inflation
exceeds some critical level then it hampers
economic growth, otherwise inflation has a
favorable impact on growth rate.
According to the Dorrance (1966)
he found there is no conclusive relationship
between inflation and economic growth. But
Barro (1995) said there is a negative
relationship between them. Some studies
have shown that higher inflation rates could
significantly reduce the rate of economic
growth rate for an economy (Serven et.al,
1992). However, Mallik et al (2001) said
most open market economics have found a
positive long run relationship between
economic growth and inflation. Stockman
(1981) explains inflation generates negative
effect on growth.Fischer (1993) found a very
few negative impact of inflation on growth.
Some theories find that there are no effects
of inflation on growth (money is
superneutral, or example Sidrauski , 1967).
Some other theories like Tobin (1965) said
that money is a substitute for capital, so
inflation effects on positively in
growth.Based on Rangarajan (1998), the
question, in essence, presupposes a possible
trade-off between price stability and growth
either in the long or short run. The new
endogenous growth theories, for example,
surmised that inflation has an adverse
impact on growth because of its harmful
effects on productivity and efficiency.
3.METHODOLOGY
For the purpose of analysis,
secondary data for period of 1990 to 2012 is
used in the study all data have been obtained
from the annual report of the Central bank of
SriLanka. This test involves estimating the
effect of inflation on growth. This study
employs the descriptive statistics and
correlation and using line chart method. All
the correlation on the variables is expected
to have a significant effect. Growth of real
GDPis measured as annual percentage
growth rate of GDP. Inflationis computed as
annual percent change of average Colombo
consumer price index. Data for inflation are
averages for the year. Correlation results
643
were taken through the SPSS (16.0) software
and descriptive statistics results also got
from SPSS (16.0) software. The line chart of
inflation, GDP & GNP also gathered from
Microsoft excel.
Research Question
 To what extent the inflation affect on the
growth in SriLanka
 Whether there is any relationship
between inflation and economic growth
Primary Objective
The general objective of the paper is
to examine the effect of inflation on the Sri
Lankan economy and the financial sector.
To identify the impact of inflation on
economic growth in Sri Lanka. The most
damaging costs of inflation on economic
growth are perhaps related to anticipated
inflation, which may cause uncertainty
between relative and aggregate price
changes.If inflation increases then it reduces
real rate of return on assets. In this situation
more people want to be borrowers rather
than savers. Because value of the money
decreased, at the same time new borrowers
have higher default risk because they were
not initially interested in getting credit,
creating adverse selection problem for
investors, which is called credit market
rationing. However investors will not be
interested in providing loans for new
borrowers, causing fewer loans in the
financial market. Due to that it will reduce
the investment in Sri Lanka so growth also
will be reducing by inflation.This lead to
misallocation of scare resources which is
turn leads to lower growth.
Secondary Objective
 To identify the factors which determine
the economic growth in Sri Lanka
644


To identify the factors which determine
the inflation
To identify the growth and inflation in
the line diagram
Conceptualization model
Independent
Dependent
Inflation
Economic
Hypothesis
H0 There is no relationship between
inflation and economic growth
H1 There is strong negative relationship
between inflation and economic growth
H2 -There is weak negative relationship
between inflation and economic growth
H3 - There is strong positive relationship
between inflation and economic growth
H4 - There is weak positive relationship
between inflation and economic growth
Operational Model
Concept
Variable
Indicator Measurem
ent
Economic GDP
Growth
Ratio
GNP
Ratio
GDP=Agr
iculture +
industry +
Services
GNP=
Agricultur
e+
industry +
Services +
Net factor
income
Inflation
CCPI
Ratio
(Changes
in general
price
index /
last year
general
price
index) *
100
Figure 01
An overview of the behavior of growth
(GDP) in SriLanka
This figure explains economic
growth in SriLanka for last 23 years. Varies
base year are used for calculate the growth
(GDP) such as 1990-1995 growth rates
were based on base year 1982 and 19962001 growth rates were based on base year
1996 and 2002-2006 growth rates
werebased on base year 2002.
GDP is calculated based on thirteen
products such as 1 Agriculture, Livestock
and Forestry 2.Fishing 3.Mining &
Quarrying 4.Manufacturing 5.Electricity,
Gas and Water 6.Construction 7.Wholesale
and Retail trade 8.Hotels and Restaurants
9 . Tr a n s p o r t a n d C o m m u n i c a t i o n
10.Banking, Insurance and Real Estate
11 . O w n e r s h i p a n d D w e l l i n g s 1 2 .
Government services 13.Private Services.
According this last 23 years there is no
steady in growth rates. Since 1994 to 1996
GDP is continuously decreasing and 2001 to
2003 it's slightly increasing in SriLanka. But
last three years GDP is increasing. In 2012
SriLanka achieved 6.4% in growth rate.
Figure 02
An overview of the behavior of growth
(GNP) in Sri Lanka
This figure explains economic
growth in
Sri Lanka for 1990 to2012.
Varies base year are used for calculate the
growth (GNP) such as 1990-1995 growth
rates were based on base year 1982 and
1996-2001 growth rates were based on base
year 1996 and 2002-2006 growth rates were
based on base year 2002.
GNP is measured based on GDP and
adding net foreign income. GNP also like
GDP fluctuating in Sri Lanka but in 2001
there is a big drop in GNP as -1.3%. After
2002 there was a slightly increasing.
However GNP was decreased in 2012 based
on 2012 Central bank report.
645
Core inflation
A measure of inflation that excludes
certain products that face volatile price
movements.
Figure 03
An overview of the behavior of inflation in
SriLanka
The line chart illustrates the
inflation in SriLanka for the period of 19902012. Inflation is the man made enemy, it is
caused lot of economic problem and it is
reducing the growth also. CCPI (1952 = 100)
computed by the Department of Census and
Statistics (DCS) was used as the official
price index forin Sri Lanka. In SriLanka
inflation is calculated on varies index but
Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) is
the popular index. For last 23 years base year
also changed such as 1952=100 & 1974=100
& 2002=100 & 2006/07.According the
Central bank report 1990 to 1995 inflation
rates were reducing and suddenly there was
an increase in 1996 as 15.9% then again
reducing still 2000. In 2007 & 2008 was
higher inflation in SriLanka as 15.8% &
22.6%. Finally, inflation is slightly
increasing since 2009. In 2012 7.6% is the
last inflation rate based on CCPI.
646
Core inflation eliminates products
that can have temporary price shocks
because these shocks can diverge from the
overall trend of inflation and give a false
measure of inflation.In Sri Lanka core
inflation is calculated after 2002. Food and
fuel is taken for core inflation.Such foods are
Meat, Fish, Small Fish, Milk, Fresh Fruits,
Low Country Vegetables,Up Country
Vegetables,Leavy Vegetables Condiments
Perishable, King Coconut and Kurumba.
Drawbacks in calculating the GDP &
GNP
 Because of the civil war north and east
province products are not accumulated
in the GDP and GNP. More than 20
years government didn't calculated the
total country's output. So the GDP &
GNP not showing the actual output of
the country.
 For more 20 years Sri Lanka was spent
more money for civil war, this defense
spending was reduce the actual output
of Sri Lanka.
 Sri Lanka has been spending more
money to reconstruction expenses to
north and east province people since
2009, so that it is not directly increase
the productivity.
 Now Sri Lanka is developing the
infrastructure however it is not showing
sudden increase the productivity.
Drawbacks in calculating the inflation
 Sri Lanka is calculating core inflation
since 2002. Food and fuel price always
fluctuating but it is not including in the
inflation calculating, therefore inflation
rates also not showing actual inflation
existing in Sri Lanka.
most observation indicates that negative
relationship such as in 1996 inflation
increase as 15.6% because of that GDP
changed as 3.8%, or in 2001 inflation
increase as 14.2% due to that GDP changed
as -1.5% or in 2008 higher inflation is 22.6%
caused 6% in GDP.
Figure 04
The time path of inflation and growth
(GDP) in Sri Lanka (1990-2012)
On the other hand GDP increased as
6.3% because of reduction of inflation as
9.6% in 1997, or in 2002 inflation decreases
as 9.6% at the same time increase in GDP as
4% or in 2005 inflation decreases as 11% at
the same time increases in GDP as 6.2%.
According to this figure we can be
clearly seen that there is negative
relationship between inflation and gross
domestic product.
Economic growth relationships,
respectively, have lived separate lives but
one obvious link is that inflation might be
affecting economic growth through action
on the financial sector.
Figure 05
The time path of inflation and growth
(GNP) in Sri Lanka (1990-2012)
The above picture demonstrates to
get to know about the time path of both
inflation and growth over the period of 1990
to 2012. Based on this figure higher
reduction of inflation is associated with the
increase in growth of GDP. It can be clearly
seen that there is negative relationship
between inflation and economic growth.
That means if there is increase one variable
that caused to drop in another variable or
other hand if there is drop in one variable it
caused to increase in another variable.
It seems to represent that increase in
inflation caused to reduction in GDP, the
647
The above figure explains to get to
know about the time path of both inflation
and growth for 23 years. Based on this figure
higher reduction of inflation is associated
with the increase in growth of GNP. It can be
clearly seen that there is negative
relationship between inflation and economic
growth. That means if there is increase
inflation that caused to drop in GNPfor
example in1996 inflation is increasing as
15.9% at the same time GNP decreasing as
3.2%, in 2001 inflation increase as 14.2%
because of that GNP changed as -1.3%,
higher inflation is 22.6% caused 4.6% in
GNP in 2008 or other hand if there is drop
inflation it caused to increase in GNP for
instance GNP was increasing because in
1995 there was a drop in inflation, in 2002
inflation decreases as 9.6% at the same time
increase in GNP as 4.17%, at the last these all
data are proof the negative relationship
between inflation and GNP.
Table 01
Empirical Results
The above chart illustrates the
descriptive statistics about gross domestic
product and inflation in SriLanka. GDP and
Inflation are the most important variable
according to the chart. Here we took 23
648
sample years for the research from 1990 to
2012. GDP is the lowest percentage in this
chart as -1% and highest percentage is 22%
in inflation. Based on this last 23 years
maximum growth rate in SriLanka is 8% and
minimum inflation is 4%. Finally the overall
mean for the economic growth is 5.45% and
inflation is 10.30%.
Table02
The above table demonstrates the
descriptive statistics about gross national
product and inflation in Sri Lanka. GNP and
Inflation are the most important variable
according to the chart. Here the study took
23 sample years for the research from 1990
to 2012. GNP is the lowest percentage in this
chart as -1% and highest percentage is 23%
in inflation. Based on this last 23 years
maximum growth rate inSriLanka is 8% and
minimum inflation is 4%. Finally the overall
mean for the economic growth is 5.45% and
inflation is 10.49%.
Figure 06
The pattern of relationship between
inflation and economic growth for the
period of 1990 to 2012
The above figure was taken from
regression, curve estimation model (SPSS
16.0). It should be noted that there is a
slightly negative relationship between
inflation and economic growth. The scatter
pots are very
also proofs the negative relationship
between inflation and gross national
product.
Table 03
Results of the correlation analysis for
inflation and GDP
close with the line. This testing also
proofs the negative relationship between
inflation and gross domestic product.
Figure 07
The pattern of relationship between
inflation and economic growth for the
period of 1990 to 2012
The above figure was taken from
regression, curve estimation model (SPSS
16.0). it should be clearly seen that there is a
slightly negative relationship between
inflation and GNP like GDP. This testing
According to the results shown in
table above, it is appropriate that the
relationship between inflation and economic
growth is slightly negative. But correlation
value not denotes more significant
relationship between inflation and GDP
based on this correlation method. Negative
Pearson correlation values even though
there were considerably low. This means
inflation is harmful to economic growth in
SriLanka, when inflation grows up growth
of GDP decline however correlation
analysis results do not provide more
information about the direction of
significant between inflation and economic
gross domestic product.
Table 04
Results of the correlation analysisfor
inflation and GDP
649

Calculate the total country's output of
Sri Lanka (including north and east
province).
Hypothesis testing
Hypotheses
Results
H0 – There is no
relationship between
inflation and
economic growth
Reject
H1 – There is strong Reject
negative relationship
between inflation and
economic growth
H2 -There is weak Accept
negative relationship
between inflation and
economic growth
According to the results shown in
table above, it is appropriate that the
relationship between inflation and economic
growth is slightly negative. But correlation
value not denotes anysignificant
relationship between inflation and GNP
because the significant figure is below 0.5
based on this correlation method. Negative
Pearson correlation values also were very
considerably low. Correlation analysis
results do not provide enough information
about the direction of significant between
inflation and economic gross national
product for this study.
Suggestions to improve GDP & GNP
 Developing the infrastructure facilities
in Sri Lanka thorough that attracting the
foreign investment.
 Controlling the money supply through
that reducing the inflation it will help to
improve the lending and borrowing
money therefore increasing investment
in Sri Lanka.
650
H3 - There is strong Reject
positive relationship
between inflation and
economic growth
H4 - There is weak Reject
positive relationship
between inflation and
economic growth
4.CONCLUSION
This research has been an attempt to
the impact of inflation on economic growth in
SriLanka. This study examined two important
policies in SriLanka such as inflation and
economic growth. Annual time series data for
the period of 1990 to 2012 were employed.The
main objective of this study to identify the
impact of inflation on economic growth in Sri
Lanka. The result of empirical evidence has
been obtained through correlation and
regression curve fit and time path of both
inflation and economic growth models to
examine the long run relationship between
inflation and economic growth. The study also
looked at the conceptual relationship between
different variable. Based on 23 years data
inflation and economic growth are
continuously fluctuating in SriLanka. But
since 2010 it can be clearly seen that the
country's GDP and inflation were few
fluctuate. The study examined both GDP and
GNPin Sri Lanka but the correlation results not
fully satisfy the negative relationship between
them but line diagram and regression curve fit
analysis shows slightly negative relationship
between economic growth and inflation in Sri
Lanka. Even though small amount of inflation
alsoharmfultoeconomy.
The diagnostic test carried out for all
variable were all satisfied, that is few
significant relationship observed from the
research. The empirical results suggest that
there is poor negative relation between
inflation and economic growth in Sri Lanka.
Malik et al (2001) said a positive relation arises
betweenthembutthisresearchisverydifferent
from his statement. However structuralists
believe that moderate inflation can contribute
to economic growth but examine this
controversial issue to SriLanka through this
study negative Pearson correlation values
even though there were considerablylow but
another statistics provide negative impact on
economic growth however we decide that
higherinflationharmfultoeconomicgrowthin
SriLanka.
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development,vol2,pp41-48
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(2009).inflationandgrowth
Central Bank of Sri LankaAnnual Report , Key
EconomicIndicators
Dorrance ,G.S (1966).Inflation & growth
staff paper international monetary
fund13(1)82-102
Economic and social statistics of Sri Lanka
2013
Faraji,kasidilkenaniMwakanemela2(2013).i
mpact of inflation on growth: acase
study of Tanzania. Asian Journal of
Empirical Research, 3(4)2013: 363380
Fisher ,Stanley .(1993) The Role of
macroeconomic factors in growth
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32:485-512
Robertj.Barro,(1995),inflationandeconomic
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Shahnawaz malik (2011) inflation and growth
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651
Proceedings of International Conference on Contemporary Management - 2014 (ICCM - 2014), pp 652-658
TEACHING SOFT SKILLS IN BUSINESS
ENGLISH CLASS ROOM FOR TERTIARY EDUCATION
A.Sriranjini
Abstract
This research paper deals with the importance of the recent notion of soft skills for workrelated language coaching, especially its role in Business English. It is argued that soft skills form not
only a crucial and increasingly important topic in careers and career negotiations, but are also part
and parcel of adult language teaching and learning which tries to take seriously learners' and
teacher's personalities. Both a number of general principles and concrete examples of making Soft
Skills 'work' in the class-room are discussed.
Objective of the Study
:
To lure the language practitionersto feel the importance of soft skills
and make the learners fit for career negotiations.
Methodology
:
Qualitative
Results & Conclusion
:
Notion of soft skills is greatly expected by employers and thus the job
seekers should update themselves with this notion to make them fit
for the competitive employment opportunities.
Key Words
:
Business English, Soft Skills, Career negotiations, personality
development.
INTRODUCTION
In today's fast growing world,
certain issues demand the youngsters to
make them fit for employment other than
proficiency in second language or computer
literacy.
Each company looks for a
different mix of skills and experience
depending on the business it's in. Thus it's no
longer enough to be a functional expert. To
complement these unique core
competencies, there are certain "soft skills"
every company looks for in a potential hire.
Soft skills are “Skills, abilities, and traits that
pertain to personality, attitude, and behavior
rather than to formal or technical
knowledge” (Moss and Tilly 2001)
"Soft skills" refer to a cluster of personal
qualities, habits, attitudes and social graces
that make someone a good employee and
compatible to work with. Companies value
soft skills because research suggests and
experience shows that they can be just as
important an indicator of job performance as
hard skills.
The very essential phenomena that are to be
cleared here are the difference between hard
skills and soft skills. Hard skills are usually
Lecturer, English Language Teaching Centre, University of Jaffna, [email protected]
652
related to professional knowledge, tools, or
techniques that allow us to work within our
profession. Examples of hard skills are
designing a bridge; developing software;
applying taxation laws; and injecting a
vaccine.
Soft skills are not normally found on
a CV, soft, or social skills are those personal
values and interpersonal skills that
determine a person's ability to fit into a
particular structure, such as a project team, a
rock group, or a company. The skills include
personality traits like emotional maturity,
eagerness to learn, and willingness to share
and embrace new ideas.
These skills are of growing
importance in a world where business is
marked by 'hot' buzzwords such as
globalization; decentralization; and lean
management. Of course it is a truism that in
real life soft and hard skills, such as subject
competence, resource handling, and market
knowledge, go hand in hand. Hence, the
selection instrument of an 'Assessment
Centre' is gaining in significance especially
for high potential recruitment. Through its
exercises in strategy development and
strategy implementation, many companies
and employment agencies argue that a twoto three-day intensive group performance
session brings to light candidates' abilities in
'conflict handling', 'co-operation' and 'stress
management'. Admittedly, a traditional job
interview or an old-fashioned IQ-test hardly
warrants these results.
Symmonds, A in the"Smart English
through Success Secrets" 2009 explains that
Soft skills is a term often associated with a
person's "EQ" (Emotional Intelligence
Quotient), the cluster of personality traits,
social graces, communication, language,
personal habits, friendliness, and optimism
that characterize relationships with other
people. Soft skills are personal attributes
that enhance an individual's interactions, job
performance and career prospects. Unlike
hard skills, which are about a person's skill
set and ability to perform a certain type of
task or activity, soft skills are interpersonal
and broadly applicable.
“Our future hinges on new
businesses, new products and new
technologies. We should make our corporate
culture more open, flexible and
innovative.”- Lee Kun Hee (Chairman of
Samsung)
In the new economy, innovation is
the primary path to the organizational
success and longevity. Every business
should proactively discover innovation
opportunities and differentiate itself from
the rest. Without innovation in business,
surviving in an era of very short product life
cycles and growing competition becomes
nearly impossible. Organizations must
therefore empower and encourage their
people to innovate and make innovation part
of the corporate culture.
Innovative companies are almost
always led by innovative leaders. But no
leader ever got anything extraordinarily
done without the talent and support of
others.
Leadership competencies change as
the competitive environment changes.
653
Critical forces that shape leadership
competencies in the future are global
competition, technology, the need for rapid
and flexible organizations, teams, and
differing employee needs.
Research Problem
In the fast growing world, multinational companies are seeking youngsters
with not only hard skills but also soft skills.
They accuse that today's Jaffna youth are not
competent enough to face the challenges of
the fast growing competitive environment.
This paper deals with this problem and the
ways to overcome this problem.
What Soft Skills are
There is some criticism of using the
term, soft skills, as it may suggest the skills
are “kind of fluffy, and they're not really as
important, and they're kind of just a nice
little add-on” (Schick, 2000 p. 25).
Soft skills encompass a range of
interpersonal skills such as courtesy, respect
for others, work ethic, teamwork, selfdiscipline and self-confidence, conformity
to norms, language proficiency, and
behavior and communication skills (Career
directions, 2003; Career Opportunities
News, 2002). These skills comprise a
cluster of personality traits, social graces,
language facility, personal habits,
friendliness, and optimism which
individuals acquire as they grow and mature.
Other soft skills are active listening,
negotiating, conflict resolution, problem
solving, reflection, critical thinking, ethics,
and leadership skills (Dash, 2001; Gorman,
2000; Isaacs, 1998; Schulz, 1998). In
teacher education, the soft skills of social
654
justice, caring, responsibility, and fairness
are called dispositions and are part of the
triad of knowledge, skills, and dispositions.
Competent teacher education candidates
should demonstrate according to the
National Council for the Accreditation of
Teacher Education (NCATE, 2001).
For the betterment of the future of
work, soft skills are fast becoming the deal
breaker in many of today's hiring decisions.
Executives, after all, are rarely measured
according to how well they can re-iterate the
technical specifications of their products and
services, but rather on their ability to
motivate an organization, to assess the
performance of their staff, to make clear and
well-balanced decisions, and, first and
foremost, their ability to develop and
communicate ideas and visions.
A list of the most crucial skills would look
something like the following:
1. Oral and written communication
2. Teamwork/collaboration
3. Wo r k e t h i c / s e l f m o t i v a t i o n /
dependability/honesty
4. Critical thinking/questioning/problem
solving
5. Leadership/influencing
6. Ability to work under pressure
7. Creativity/innovation/resourceful
8. Organizational/time management
9. Attention to detail
Why Soft Skills
“Knowledge without experience is
just
information” Mark Twain
Soft skills, the employability skills that
speak to a worker's interpersonal skills and
character, rose to prominence after 1990s as
a critical component of employability. The
commonly relied-upon soft skill is effective
communication which is not just around job
related tasks, but also around balancing
work life realities such as caring for a young
child, handling a disabled person, that may
affect workers in their efforts to obtain and
sustain competitive employment.Thus a
second language teacher has a major part in
developing soft skills in the learner. Students
have changed over the last several years, and
these changes are suggesting a need to teach
soft skills concurrently with the other
curriculum.
Changes in the Students
The changes in the present day
classrooms have occurred for a variety of
reasons. There are a larger percentage of
students who could be called nontraditional
students, early-matured students, or adult
learners. Thirty years ago the classrooms
were filled with students, who had less
knowledge of technological development
and varieties of interests. This trend is only
growing stronger with demands for
retraining in a fluid work environment
(Anderson, 2003). Political, economic, and
societal changes, as well as the changes in
gender attitudes have coincided with an
increase in women, minorities, and
individuals with lower socio-economic
status attending college in greater numbers
(Ogren, 2003). The U.S. Department of
Educationreported that almost 75 percent of
undergraduates can be considered
nontraditional as a result of their age,
financial status, or when they enrolled in
college (Evelyn, 2002). Today's students are
motivated to pursue knowledge and skills
useful in their life roles while maintaining a
sense of self-esteem and pleasure
(Boulmetis, 1999).
The society in which these students
have lived has also changed over the last 25
years. There are more college students who
have experienced alcohol and/or drug abuse,
domestic violence, mental health issues (i.e.
anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and
personality disorder) or have family
members who have experienced those
problems. A research article submitted by
Mrs. S. Anandakumarasamy at Jaffna
University International Conference in 2012
on the mounting crimes in Jaffna witnesses
the acute problem after the internal war.
These problems included the more
traditional issues of students, such as
relationship difficulties and developmental
struggles, as well as the more serious
diagnoses of personality disorders,
depression, suicidal ideation, anxiety, and
sexual assault. In fact, the number of
students diagnosed with depression had
doubled over the 35-year time period of the
war, the number of students with reporting
suicidal ideation had tripled, and sexual
assault-related issues had quadrupled
(Benton, Robertson, Tseng, Newton,
Benton, 2003). Additionally, the current
upsurge in the prevalence and abuse of
methamphetamines in many communities is
touching the lives of students and their
families and adds additional stressors to
adults attending higher education. The
results of all of these societal issues have
been changes in methods and curriculum
from what was used previously with 18 to 22
year olds and a discussion of the importance
of students demonstrating soft skill
competencies in the classroom along with
competencies in the core curriculum (hard
skills). At the 2005 Association of
Independent Liberal Arts Colleges for
Teacher Education, professors discussed
655
issues associated with today's adult learners.
The consensus was that the days are gone
when most of the students come to class on
time, without cell phones turned on, and
without munching something.
Accompanying these changes was the
presence of some students who could be
described as “more demanding,combative,
emotional, outspoken, and less respectful.”
It was stated that students see themselves as
consumers buying a product in the higher
education setting. They want their money's
worth, and they are willing to lodge a
consumer complaint if the service or
“goods” do not meet their expectations or
are perceived to be of poor value for their
money. Today's students enter classrooms
asking, “What is the reason I should learn
this? What will I get out of this class, besides
earning six or eight semester hours and
fulfilling a graduation requirement?”
Students bristle if they perceive assignments
are busy work, and they want authentic
assignments directly related to their career
goal.
It is reported by most of the lecturers
in English from all the universities of Sri
Lanka that students either keep away from
English classes or come without much
interest or try to excuse themselves from the
classes. The Business English classes will
become interesting if they incorporate soft
skills which would promote the
employability of the learners. While the
core disciplines cater hard skills, soft skills
are to be catered in English Language
classes.
Teaching Soft Skills
Though the skills would be difficult
656
if not impossible to teach 'straightforwardly'
in any course, teaching can create
contextualized tasks, and thus provide
skills-related learning experience. Collateral
learning seems to be the key word here, that
is, the notion of a learner learning more than
merely the subject that he or she is studying
at a given time. If 'attitude awareness' and
'problem solving' are what count in the
future, then, ideally, teaching should have a
share in attitude formation and comparison.
A soft skills framework should permit
Business English to emphasize the
interpersonal forces of language-use in a
work-oriented context, and teachers should
keep a sharp eye on the function of any
language item which they want to highlight.
In other words, they must teach the
pragmatic force along with the words,
evidenced, by textual (= structure-giving),
propositional (= intention-determining) and
interpersonal (= status-fixing) functions.
Any mismatch of linguistic form and
speaker's intention leads to confusion,
annoyance and misunderstanding, that is,
causes havoc: 'I'm not prepared to show my
homework', e.g., can signal unwillingness,
inability, criticism of unclear homework
assignment, simple forgetting, and other
things.
There are three common methods
for creating opportunities for experiential
learning of soft skills.One is interactive
teaching, through which instructions
facilitate exercises that provide
opportunities for experience, practice,
reinforcement and reflection. A system of
spiraling teachable moments that progresses
to increasingly more difficult soft skill tasks
reinforces the learning while building a
repertoire of skills. This approach requires
skilled instructors and a well designed
curriculum, but has the disadvantage that
exercises, no matter how well designed, lack
the authenticity of the real work place.
The second method for teaching soft skills
experientially is to use a coach is a
workplace setting. On-the-job training
work experience, internships and work
study programmes are all examples of
teaching both hard and soft skills in the
workplace in a manner that achieves optimal
authenticity.
However workplace
simulations will provide opportunities to
install soft skills in the learners.
The third method is to alter aspects
of the classroom setting where general
education or hard skills are being taught to
workforce entrants so that the classroom
simulates the workplace. This approach
provides authentic context for teaching and
practicing soft skills that entails minimal
costs and effort, affords the teacher control
over teaching agenda, and creates a
classroom environment that benefits from
the improved the soft skills of its students.
Conclusion
For the teacher the framework of soft skills
confirms the ideas that 'good English
teachers will always remain diligent English
learners' and also that 'students learn best
from what their teachers enjoy teaching'.
The two qualities inherent to all of the
abovementioned requirements of teachers,
i.e. their essential soft skills, are the notion of
holistic, situational problem solving, and the
willingness to continuously revise one's own
sense of meaning.
It is not a closed shop we want to
provide access to; it is not a finalised book
we have to work through and press home on
the learners. Rather, we should try to do our
best in achieving two results simultaneously
that are vital in view of the ever-changing
'face' of English: to enhance our students'
linguistic competence; and to pave ways
towards (inter)cultural competence, i.e.
prepare them for the extra-linguistic
demands that 'handling language aptly' via
soft skills will undoubtedly put on them in
their careers.
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Campbell. J.O. 1996."Interactive Distance
Learning and Job Support
Strategies for Soft Skills." Journal
of Interactive Instruction
Development 91: 19-21.
Carter, R. 1997. Investigating English
Discourse. Language, Literacy and
Literature. London: Routledge.
Conrad, C.A. 1997. Soft Skills: An
Annotated Bibliography. Prepared
for the Annie Casey Foundation
Seattle Conference. Washington,
DC: Joint Center for Political and
Economic Studies.
Crystal, D. 2000. "English - Which Way
Know?" SPOTLIGHT 4/2000: 5458.
Goffman, E. 1955. "On face-work: An
Analysis of Ritual Elements in
657
Social Interaction." Psychiatry 18:
213-231.
Harrison, B., M. Weiss and J. Gant. 1995.
Building Bridges: Community
Development, Corporations and the
World of Employment Training.
New York: The Ford Foundation.
Hertzberg, F. 19? Work and the Nature of
Man. ?
H o l l e t t , V. 1 9 9 8 . " E f f e c t i v e
Communication."English Teaching
Professional 8: 18-19.
Leigh, W.A., D.H. Lee and M.A. Lindquist.
1998. Soft Skills Training: Selected
Programs. Washington, DC: Joint
Center for Political and Economic
Studies.
McGinn, D. 2000. "College Online."
658
NEWSWEEK April 24: 58-64.
McGregor, Douglas. 1960. The Human Side
of Enterprise. New York: McGrawHill.
Murnane, R.J. and F. Levy. 1996. Teaching
the New Basic Skills: Principles for
Educating Children to Thrive in a
Changing Economy. New York:
Free Press.
Rogers, A. 1998."Up-front Feedback."
English Teaching Professional 8:
29-30.
Rogers, C. 1983.Freedom to Learn for the
80s. New York: Merrill.
Weber, S. and C. Mitchell. 1996. "Drawing
ourselves into teaching: studying
the images that shape and distort
teacher education." Teaching and
Teacher Education 12: 303-313.
Proceedings of International Conference on Contemporary Management - 2014 (ICCM - 2014), pp 659-663
THE EFFECT OF YOGIC TRAINING AND AEROBIC TRAINING
ON SELECTED MANAGERIAL MOOD : STATES AMONG
WOMEN UNIVERSITY PLAYERS.
Ramachandran Narayanan
Abstract
Forty five women players were selected as subjects at random from Department of Physical
Education Women University Players, Annamalai University at chidambaram and their age was 18-25
years. They were divided in to three groups such as Control, Yogic Training, Aerobic Training groups
prior to the experiment, all the subjects were medically tested and found physically fit. In this article
here only one variable was selected, Dependent Variable: Managerial Mood states- Mc Nair
Questionnaire tool was evaluated the players Managerialmood states. Analysis of Covariance
statistics technique was used to analyse the main and interaction effects of study. There was
significant difference in the Effect of Yogic Training and Aerobic Training among Women University
players.
Keywords: Yogic Training, Aerobic Training.
1. INTRODUCTION
The uniqueness of yoga and its
phenomenal popularity evoked the attention
of scientists to this ancient system. Some
scientific information is available at the
present time. Misconception still seem to
shroud the yoga system in mystery, and a
comprehensive assessment of the nature and
value of yogic asanas remain yet to be made
by scholars trained in modern methods of
scientific research.Sporting competition
promotes similar psychological and bodily
responses because there is often a threat
posed towards the ego; your sense of selfesteem.Mental health and physical energy
are difficult to quantify, but virtual everyone
who participates in yoga over a period of
time reports a positive effect on outlook and
energy level. Moya-Albiol Luis et.al, (2001)
Studied, Physical fitness moderates the
psycho physiological responses to stress.
This study attempts to determine whether the
degree of fitness could affect the response to
physical and psychological stress after
comparing two groups of men with good
physical fitness. Heart rate and skin
conductance level were continuously
recorded before, during, and after a modified
version of the Stroop Color-Word Task. With
similar scores in trait anxiety and mood, elite
sportsmen had lower basal salivary
testosterone, testosterone/cortisol ratio, and
HR before an ergometric session than
physically active subjects, but no differences
were found in salivary cortisol and blood
pressure. Salivary testosterone and cortisol
Assistant Professor, Management Wing, Directorate of Distance Education, Annamalai University,
659
responses were lower and testosterone/
cortisol ratio responses higher in elite
sportsmen. During the Stroop Task, elite
subjects showed lower heart rate and skin
conductance level over the entire
measurement period, and greater heart rate
recovery with respect to the baseline values
than physically active subjects. The effects
of two standardized laboratory stressors on a
set of psycho physiological variables were
different when elite sportsmen and
physically active subjects were compared.
Schell and others (1994)
Physiological and psychological effects of
Hatha-Yoga exercise in healthy women.
Hatha-Yoga has become increasingly
popular in western countries as a method for
coping with stress. Significant differences
between both groups were found in
psychological parameters. Significant
differences could also be observed
concerning coping with stress and the mood
at the end of the experiment. Moris (1994)
studied the dimensional structure of mood
following strenuous physical exercise.
Subjects were 123 members of the London
Road Runners Club. All were approached
15- 30 minutes before they began their run,
and they were asked to complete a POMS
questionnaire immediately after their race
registration and the end of the run also.
Positive mood was increased after running.
Improvement in
Managerialmood was
greater in women than in men, largely
because women experienced a worse
Managerial mood state than did men before
running.
Materials and Methods
Forty five women University
players were diagnosed free from diseases
660
and disorders were participated in this study.
The subjects were divided in to three groups
namely as Group I acted as Control group,
Group- II under went in (Experimental)
Yogic Training , Group III underwent as
Aerobic Training, fifteen subjects in each
group.The purpose of the research was to
analyze the effect of yogic asanas training
and aerobic training on Managerial Mood
states of women university players.
Procedures
The duration of the training
programme wereweekly 5 days of forty five
minutes in morning session to 8 weeks.
Their ages between 18 and 23 years
participated in the investigation with written
informed consent. Physical activity, Yogic
practices patterns were assessed throughMc.
Nair 's A profile of Managerial Mood states
questionnaire were used . Before and After
the training programme the pre and post test
were conducted.
Statistical Analysis
Differences between the three
groups for Managerial Mood states,
Analysis of Covariance were used. There
was a significant difference so Post Hoc test
were used.
Results
Psychological character such as
Mood states values for the three groups are
shown in Table- I. There was a significant
improvement in Managerial Mood states
due Yogic training and Aerobic training.
However the result was favor in Aerobic
training group when compare to yogic
training.
TABLE I
ANALYSIS OF COVARIANCE OF DATA ON MANAGERIAL MOOD STATES
BETWEEN PRE AND POST TEST OF CONTROL, YOGIC ASANAS TRAINING
AND AEROBIC TRAINING GROUPS
Test
Cont
rol
Gro
up
Yogic
asana
s
Train
ing
Grou
p
Aero
bic
Train
ing
grou
p
Sourc
e of
varia
nces
Sum
of
Squa
res
d
f
Mea
n
Squa
res
93.1
3
92.20
92.93
Betwe
en
7.244
2
3.62
4.57
5.85
8.17
Withi
n
1705.
07
4
2
40.60
92.8
0
96.80
100.8
0
Betwe
en
480.0
0
2
240.0
0
4.33
5.41
7.36
Withi
n
1431.
20
4
2
34.08
Betwe
en
505.0
5
2
252.5
3
Withi
n
230.5
5
4
1
5.62
Obtai
ned
‘F’
Ratio
Pre
test
Mean
SD
0.09
Post
test
Mean
SD
7.04*
Adjus
ted
Post
test
Mean
92.4
8
97.27
100.6
5
44.91
*
*Significant at 0.05 level of confidence.
661
TABLE II
SCHEFFE'S POST HOC TEST FOR THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THREE
PAIRED ADJUSTED POST TEST MEANS OF MOOD STATES
ADJUSTED POST TEST MEANS
CONTR
OL
GROUP
YOGASAN
AS
TRAININ
G GROUP
AEROBI
C
TRAINI
NG
GROUP
MEAN
DIFFEREN
CE
CONFIDEN
CE
INTERVAL
92.48
97.27
-
4.79*
2.20
92.48
-
100.65
8.17*
2.20
-
97.27
100.65
3.38*
2.20
THE ADJUSTED POST TEST MEAN VALUES ON MANAGERIALMOOD STATES
FOR CONTROL, YOGIC ASANAS TRAINING AND AEROBIC TRAINING GROUPS
ON MANAGERIAL MOOD STATES
662
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Asfar as the Managerial mood state
is concerned, the effect is evident after the
yogic asanas training and aerobic training.
Hatha yoga become increasingly popular in
western countries as a method for coping
with stress and is now being practiced in
India also. SCHELL et.al, (1994), studied
psychological effects of Hatha yoga exercise
in healthy women and found significant
difference in Managerial mood state. The
yoga group had significant higher scores in
high spirits and extravertedness.
KENNEDY (1997) conducted a study to
examine how aerobic exercise and exercise
intensity affect transient Managerial mood
states. He concluded that tension,
depression, and anger decreased while vigor
increased. These results are also supported
by the studies of MORRIS (1994) .
4. CONCLUSIONS
The purpose of the study was intended to
find out the significant differences on
selected Managerial Mood states variable
of women University players through
Yogic Asanas Training and Aerobic
Training. Exercise is fashionable, but
unlike most fashions it is also good; it is
great fun and makes life much more
enjoyable with exercise, like everything
else. Variety is the spice of life, and so
cannot stick to one sort. Paralleling these
findings, another study concluded that
women who exercised for reasons of
weight, tone and attractiveness
experienced lower self-esteem and body
satisfaction than women who exercised for
improved Managerial mood, health and
enjoyment (Strelan, Mehaffey &
Tiggemann 2003). There was a significant
improvement on selected Managerial
mood states variable.
REFERENCE
American Psychological Association:
(1991) Publication Manual of the
AmericanPsychologicalAssociation
(3 rd ef). Washington.
Biddle, Stuarty.H. and Mutrie, Nanette
(2001) psychology of physical
A c t i v i t y, N e w y o r k
:CurranPublishing Servers.
David S.Shannahoff-Khalsa.(2004),”An
Introduction to Kundalini Yoga
MeditationTechniquesthat Are
Specific for the Treatment of
Psychiatric Disorders” The Journal
ofAlternative andComplementary
Medicine.10(1)91-101.
Davis, Paul A, Sime, Wesley E. (2005),
Toward a psychophysiology of
performance: Sportpsychology
principles dealing with anxiety.
International Journal of Stress
Management. Vol.12(4), 363-378.
663
Proceedings of International Conference on Contemporary Management - 2014 (ICCM - 2014), pp 664-678
IMPACT OF L1 IN TEACHING MORPHOSYNTACTIC
FEATURES OF ENGLISH A CROSS LINGUISTIC APPROACH.
K.Sanmuganathan1, and A.Rasakumaran2
Abstract
Contrastive analysis is the method of analysis of the structure of any two languages under
study with a view to estimate the different aspects of their systems, irrespective of their genetic
affinity of level of development. Contrastive analysis of the two languages becomes useful when it is
adequately describing the grammatical structure of two languages. It is assumed that learning a
second language is facilitated whenever there are similarities between that language and the first
language. The present study aims to explore the impediments encountered by the first year
students of the Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies University of Jaffna in learning
morphosyntactic features of English. Such approach may facilitate the learning process especially if
the structures are difficult with respect to the learner's first language (L1). The formal investigation
was carried out by distributing the self-administered questionnaires among the subjects. The
subjects' responses and answer scripts were analyzed, and the findings were derived. The findings
show that there are number of problems which are found to impede the learning of English due to
the greater dissimilar features found between English and Tamil. The results will be beneficial for
material development, ESL teaching and learning process in future.
Key words: - Contrastive Analysis, grammatical structure, interlingual comparison,
morphosyntactic features, learning process.
1. INTRODUCTION
All language learners can develop
different sorts of linguistic knowledge. They
can develop a Chomsky-competence and /or
universal intuitions about their first
language or about a foreign language that
they are learning. There is a second sort of
linguistic knowledge people can have. They
can develop meta-cognitions of their
personal versions of their mother tongue
(MT) and the second or foreign language
quite separately. Still, there is another sort of
knowledge to take into account and that is
the knowledge of relationships holding
between one's languages; it can be the same
thing as cross-linguistic awareness in the
process of learning another language. All
these three kinds of linguistic knowledge
1. Senior Lecturer in ELT, [email protected],
2. Head, ELTC, Faculty of Arts, University of Jaffna, [email protected]
664
could be right or wrong. We can see positive
or negative L1 transfer within L2 learners.
For adult learners, learning a
foreign language is a complex process. The
confusion of language transfer and mother
tongue interference are more common for
the beginning of EFL learners. Beginning
English learners will be benefited if
provided with systematic and well-designed
grammar instruction in connection with their
first language, through which language
differences were indicated. Employing
technology to facilitate language instruction
is educator's new responsibility in today's
technological age to bring about greater
learning. The various types of views on the
teaching as well as the learning of a second
language have been given below.
According to Lado, (1957), the view
of grammar as grammatical structure opens
the way to a comparison of the grammatical
structure of the foreign language with that of
native language to discover the problems of
the student in learning the foreign language.
The results of such comparison tell us what
we should test and what we should not test, it
helps us devise test items and techniques that
also look quite acceptable from a
commonsense point of view, and this is the
important consideration we can actually test
the control of the language on the part of the
student.
Vildomec (1963) proposes that the
influence of the mother tongue on the
learners' language may also vary according
to the sociolinguistic situation.
He observes that the interference
between the bilingual's languages is
generally on the productive rather than the
receptive side. People often report instances
of intrusion of elements of their mother
tongue in speech production but rarely in
their understanding of another language.
Background of the study
Many studies indicate that, for ESL
students, there tends to be interference from
their first language in the process of learning
English (Chen & Huang, 2003;Lado,
1957).A better understanding of the L1
influence in the process of ESL learning will
help teachers know students' difficulties in
learning English. It will also aid in the
adoption of appropriate teaching strategies
to help beginning ESL students learn
English.
The language contact may cause a
structural change in one or both of the
languages concerned and this tendency of
changing the structure is termed as
interference (Suntharesan, 2002). In other
words, the violation of the norms of any of
the languages involved by the individual in
his speech as a result of language contact is
known as interference. Interference may
result into rearrangement of the definite
organized structure of a language from the
introduction of foreign elements such as
phonemic system, morphology and syntax
and certain part of vocabulary.
The learning problems and the
amount of interference depend on
similarities of the language in contact.
Accordingly the extent of interference may
665
vary whereas the mechanism of interference
remains the same between any languages.
The need for contrastive study
In Sri Lanka, since the introduction
of English to the school curriculum as a
second language in the early 1950s, the
Direct Method followed by GrammarTranslation Method was used for teaching
English. The Direct Method teaches the
target language in the target language
context while the Grammar-Translation
Method teaches the target language in the
students' mother tongue. However,
experience shows that these methods have
not been successful in improving English
proficiency of Sri Lankan school students
(Karunaratne, 1993). This view is further
supported by the study on the students'
proficiency in English at tertiary level
(Sunthareswaran, 1998). His findings show
that at the tertiary level in Jaffna, students
learning English as a second language do not
have equal proficiency in the English
language skills, i.e. as listening, speaking,
reading and writing.
At this juncture, it has been noticed
that teachers of English language ask
themselves why students are unable to excel
in learning English and why they struggle or
ignore it. Teaching English language to the
students cannot be considered an easy task.
Every teacher of English language finds
teaching English a pedagogically strenuous
task.
Notwithstanding enough serious
efforts have been taken in all aspects of the
educational setup, still there are some
bottlenecks in the road of learning English
666
language. There are host of factors, which
come into play in second language learning.
The factors such as teacher's competence,
motivation and attitude of learners, teaching
methods, instructional materials, the
structural similarities and differences
between L1 and L2 etc, can be the variables
that can significantly affect second language
learning and teaching.
One of the common and accepted
approaches to language teaching is through
contrastive method. In other words, the
language specific features of both mother
tongue of the learner and the second
languages are studied thoroughly before and
an attempt is made to teach the second
language and to prepare instructional
materials for second language teaching. The
contrastive analysis emphasizes the
influences of the mother tongue in learning a
second language in phonological,
morphological and syntactic levels.
Examination of the differences between the
first and second languages helps to predict
the possible errors that can be made by L2
learners (Krishnaswamy, Verma, Naharajan
1992).
Morphosyntactic features of English and
Tamil for contrastive study
The case for contrastive analysis of
morphosyntactic features of English and
Tamil is worth attempting. The learners of
English have a great deal of problems in
modifying one pattern into another due to
the differences, which are too many between
English and Tamil. The sense is conveyed
not only by the dictionary meanings of
words, but also by their arrangement in their
patterns. A sentence is not just a linear string
of words; it is a sequence grouped in a
particular way. The way groupings are
ordered is important for understanding the
sense. Each linguistic community has its
own rules and procedures for transforming
its “inner concepts” into “outside
manifestations” as speech or writing.
Selection of restriction features is to be
observed for all natural languages. In case of
syntactic feature in the languages, a
c a t e g o r y, f o r e x a m p l e , E n g l i s h
“preposition” can be used in Tamil as
“postposition”. While the former occurs
before nouns, the latter is used after nouns in
sentence.
The comments of Agesthialingam
(1966) on the difficulties of a Tamil student
of ESL are presented below.
“Another kind of problem that one
has to encounter while teaching English to
Tamil students is due to the difference in the
structure of Tamil and English. While
learning a second language in adolescence
and in adulthood it is very difficult to get rid
of the influence of the structure of one's own
mother tongue. We try to find out one to one
correspondence between the target language
and the mother tongue.” (p.506)
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
Contact and Interference
Suntharesan. (2002) has quoted that
the language contact may cause a structural
change in one or both of the languages
concerned and this tendency of changing the
structure is termed as interference. In other
words, the violation of the norms of any of
the languages involved by the individual in
his speech as a result of language contact is
known as interference. Interference may
result into rearrangement of the definite
organized structure of a language from the
introduction of foreign elements such as
phonemic system, morphology and syntax
and certain part of vocabulary.
A Tamil student of ESL may form
grammatically wrong sentences by using a
wrong preposition. For example, he may
construct a sentence, “Mohan comes to
school in bus.” instead of the correct form,
“Mohan comes to school by bus.” This
wrong sentence construction is the result of
the student's positive transfer from Tamil
into English.
I n Ta m i l , t h e
form,“MohanpaaTacaalaikkupasilvatukiraa
n” (Mohan comes to school by bus). is
grammatically correct. Here in this sentence,
the inflection 'il' occurs with the word, 'pas'
which is an English borrowing in Tamil,
meaning 'bus'. The direct and usual English
prepositional equivalent of this inflection 'il' is 'in'.
The learning problems and the
amount of interference depend on
similarities of the language in contact.
Accordingly the extent of interference may
vary whereas the mechanism of interference
remains the same between any languages.
Similarly, in another instance “I am
drawing a picture by a pencil.” Here again,
the Tamil aal as found in the Tamil sentence,
“naanpencilaalotupaTamvataikireen.” (I am
drawing a picture with a pencil.) is replaced
by the English 'by'.
667
Wrong selection of preposition is
caused by generalization also.
e.g.
She goes to the office by bicycle.
(Instead of “She goes to the office
on bicycle.)
The students' familiarity with the
sentences such as, “He goes to school by
bus” etc. makes him generalize the
prepositional rule in this manner.
Gunasekara. (2000) has
investigated the morphosyntactic errors of
fluent speakers of English in Sri Lanka and
her study has yielded clues on the influence
of Sinhala and Tamil syntactic structures on
Sri Lankan English. She has identified the
problematic areas of the tendency to
pluralize collective or mass nouns, the
problem with subject-verb agreement, the
overuse of prepositions, the active passive
confusion etc.
Some features of the system of Sri Lankan
English
Suntharesan. (2002) has quoted
some features of the system of Sri Lankan
English in grammar, collocation, lexis and
phonology.
In Grammar, the interference of the
first Language leads to deviation in Sri
Lankan English. The mother tongue
interference is identifiable in interrogative
sentences and tag questions. There are
instances when the position of subject and
auxiliary verb is not changed
E.g. (1). Where you are going?
(2). When he is returning?
In English, a tag question is formed
by a statement and an attached tag. An
668
affirmative main clause has a negative tag
and a negative main clause has an
affirmative tag. This rule is often neglected
and tag questions are structured in a wrong
manner in Sri Lankan English.
E.g.:- He is bathing, isn't it?
(instead of “isn't he?”)
Sivagurunathan. (1993) has also
quoted the mother tongue (L1) interference
in learning English. When we learn a second
language it is likely to be influenced by our
mother tongue. If the target language is a
foreign language and if there are no
similarities between the target language and
the mother tongue, then, there is all the
likelihood of inference of the mother tongue
in the target language. Weinreich (1979)
defines “interference” as follows:“Those instances of deviation from
the norms of either language which occur in
the speech of bilinguals as a result of their
familiarity with more than one language, i.e.
as a result of language contact will be
referred to as interference phenomena”
In the case of learning of English by
Tamil students, the target language does not
belong to the Dravidian family of language.
It belongs to the indo-European family and
both languages have different phonological,
morphological and syntactic systems.
Hence, the target language bound to be
interfered with.
Most of the Tamil students have
difficulties in constructing English
sentences. The syntactic structure and the
grammar are found to be influenced by their
mother tongue. ThiruKandaiah (as cited in
Sivagurunathan, 1993) has given the
following example for Lankan English
(English that is influenced by the native
language, Tamil).
1) Five years his brother spent on the
course.
2) The talk is at what time?
3) Today no news paper
4) Straight away shall I do it?
5) All the books the boy collected and
went home.
6) Mangoes he likes very much.
7) For the smell the rats must have gone.
(P. 113)
The students mostly formulate the
structure in Tamil and construct English
sentences. They adopt mostly the Tamil
wordorder for English too which is said to be
Sri Lankan English.
Shanmugadas. (1982) has investigated the
concord between subject and predicate in
English and Tamil sentences. Concord is
found to be essential when words are
arranged as constituents. In English,
concord is formed on the basis of number
between subject and predicate. For example,
the singular, subject 'He' takes the singular
verb 'runs' but the plural subject 'they' takes
the plural verb 'run'. This type of concord is
found only in the present. At the same time,
there is no concord between the subject and
predicate in the past tense. For example,
He ran.
They ran.
On the other hand, In Tamil, the
concord is formed on the basis of
grammatical categories such as animate/
inanimate, gender, number etc.
e.g.
avaḷvanṯaal. 'She came'
rd
[aval-animate, female, 3 person singular]
avanvanṯaan. 'He came' [avananimate, male, 3rd person singular]
aṯuvanṯaṯu 'It came' [aṯu- inanimate, 3rd
person singular]
The gender classification found in
nouns as subjects has concord with the
gender classification formed in verbs as
predicate in Tamil. This feature is absent in
sinhala and English.
Rationale for the study
The present study is primarily
intended to identify the impediments the
students of ESL [English as A Second
Language) whose first language is Tamil,
encounter while learning the ESL and to
suggest solutions to the learning problem.
Since the researcher is a lecturer in English
in the University of Jaffna where Tamil
students are following degree programme it
is hopefully assumed that he will be able to
personally observe the attitude and
classroom behavior of students. The
objective of the study is to identify the
learning difficulties of students of ESL in
relation with linguistics and social issues
and to suggest remedies to overcome such
problems so as to enable them to achieve a
good proficiency in English.
Statement of the Problem
A grammar is an attempt to expose
the structures of the sentences of a language.
In order to communicate meaningfully, the
learner must account for all and only the
grammatical sentences of the language.
Most of the scholars in the fields of language
learning and teaching assert that, when
confronted with difficult grammatical
forms, learners often conduct an L1 L2
669
comparison and this comparison is implicit,
it may result in the formation of wrong rules
due to an incomplete L2 knowledge
(Selinker, 1992: Robinson 1995). It provides
a kind of interlingual comparison on the
basis of contrastive analysis database. Such
an approach may facilitate the learning
process especially if the structures are
difficult with respect to the learners' L1.
The most important objective in
contrastive analysis is the notion of
difficulty based on the difference of the
native language patterns. The deviant
realizations of the target language system in
the language behaviour of the learner are
ascribed to the mother tongue interference.
The areas of difficulty experienced by the
learners are also known as “blind spots.”
Such problem obtained by contrastive
studies should be tested against the actual
performance of the learners with a different
language background.
Aims and Objectives of the Study
To attempt to identify, describe and
categorize errors in English essay writing of
Sinhala speaking undergraduates and
thereby make efforts minimize the
difficulties encountered by them.
Hypotheses
Negative L1 transfer/interference is
the major cause for morphosyntacticerrors
in the productive skills in English (speaking
a n d w r i t i n g ) o f Ta m i l s p e a k i n g
undergraduates.
Negative L1 transfer/interference is
not the major cause for morphosyntacticerrors in the productive skills in English
670
(speaking and writing) of Tamil speaking
undergraduates.
4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The subjects in the research were
150 students in the second year. The subjects
were all Tamil speakers of English. They
were selected randomly from a group of
male and female first year students studying
in the faculty of Management Studies and
Commerce, University of Jaffna. At the very
first stage of the research, it was intended to
estimate the general status of the students for
determining the possible areas of difficulty
as to grammatical knowledge. In order to
accomplish this task, three different
instruments were utilized.
First, a questionnaire was
distributed among the 100 students in order
to confirm the results. In this questionnaire,
the students had been asked to verify in
which areas of grammatical structures, they
had difficulty in learning and internalizing
the rules.
A second task was also done in order
to confirm the results. A validated General
English proficiency test was administered to
the 50 students randomly selected from the
same faculties of University of Jaffna in
order to further confirm the results derived
from the questionnaire. The test involved six
items consisting of 10 questions in each
item.
A third task was carried out through
the informal conversations with the
students, the study of their answer scripts,
observations and the discussions with the
Lectures/Instructors in English Language.
Data Analysis
Data analyzed from the study of
questionnaire distributed to the students
shows that the difference between Tamil and
English is greater (see figure 1) when
compared with sameness.
sameness
difference
Not responded
Fig. Difference
1 Difference
between
andEnglish
sameness
and Tamil
between English and Tamil
grammatical
features
grammatical
features
At the same time, the table given below shows the percentage of the student's inability in
writing in their day to day situation due to various reasons.
Student samples 100
Students’ ability to write in English language in their day-to-day situation.
Able to write in English language.
Unable to write in English language
12%
88%
Table 1.SS' behavioral results to
write in English language in their day-to-day
life.
In response to the item of the questionnaire
(if no, what is the reason?) out of 88% of the
students, 52% of the students say that they
have to think something in Tamil and then
translate it into English.
671
Student Samples 100
Reasons for students’ inability to write in English language
Think
Make
have
something
Makes
makes
mistakes
difficulties
in
Mistakes
mistakes in
in
in using
Tamil as
in using
using
using
adjectives
their
conjunctions
prepositions
correct
and adverbs
translate
tense
into English
1%
2%
5%
7%
52%
All the
above
21%
Table 2.SS' behavioral results to the reasons for the inability to write in English
language in their day-to-day life.
1. Make mistakes in using conjunctions.
2. Have difficulties in using adjectives and adverbs.
3. Make mistakes in using prepositions
4. Make mistakes in using correct tense
5. All the above.
6. Think something in Tamil then translate it into English.
Analysis of common errors of students of
ESL
To collect data to study the specific
features of common errors prevalent among
students of ESL and to confirm the data
collected from the questionnaire, a model
672
question paper was designed and it was
distributed to randomly selected group of 50
students who were from among the 150
respondents of the self-administered
questionnaire from the Faculty of
Management Studies and Commerce,
University of Jaffna. The researcher
revealed the purpose of this test to the
students to assure them that this test is not
affiliated with their degree programme, by
any means so that they could attempt the
paper with confidence.
After carefully marking the answer
scripts, the researcher noted the common
features of the errors made by the students
and explained the cause of errors, based on
his personal observation of the students'
performance.
The bar chart shown below
indicates the percentage of students who
have ticked the correct and the incorrect
answers in each section of the General
English Proficiency Test.
Areas of testing items
Table 4.16 SS'performance to the areas testing items in the proficiency test.
673
Findings
Most of the scholars in the fields of
language learning and teaching give
evidence for the L1-L2 comparison by the
learners when they are confronted with
difficult grammatical forms. Since this
comparison is implicit, it may result in the
formation of wrong rules due to an
incomplete L2 knowledge. In this study, an
investigation was made to identify
t h e “ I m p a c t o f L 1 i n Te a c h i n g
Morphosyntactic Features of English A
cross Linguistic Approach”. It provides a
kind of interlingual comparison on the basis
of contrastive analysis database. Such an
approach may facilitate the learning process
especially if the structures are difficult with
respect to the learners' L1.
The similarities and dissimilarities
between the two languages in different
structural features such as gender, number,
pronoun, case, tense, word order etc, have
been closely identified and listed after
individual descriptions of each feature. The
analysis reveals that while there are
similarities between these languages, the
dissimilar features are found to a greater
extent. In turn, greater extent of
dissimilarities causes hindrances for a Tamil
learner of ESL.
In this study, the researcher tried to
examine the effect of similarities and
dissimilarities between L1 and L2 in
teaching morphosyntactic features to Tamil
undergraduate learners of English at the
University of Jaffna. As results clearly
indicated from the data analyzed and derived
by the researcher, there is strong evidence,
which answers the research questions and
674
proves the hypotheses under study (negative
L1 transfer/interference is the major cause
for morphosyntacticerrors in the productive
skills in English (speaking and writing) of
Tamil speaking undergraduates). In turn, it
has been proved that the dissimilarities
between L1 and L2 cause impediments in
learning English for the Tamil learners.
But at the same time, these
impediments have been observed on a large
scale among the learners who have less
proficiency in the English language.
Because of the impediments caused by the
existence of dissimilar features between the
two languages, the learners tend to make the
wrong application of the rules in learning L2
or to generalize the L1 structures to L2.
There are, of course, many other influences
at play while learning a second language,
but the influence that the mother tongue has
on the language learners produce is usually
referred to as 'Language Interference',
'Transfer', or 'Cross-linguistic influence'. It
is suggested that the language produced by
second language learners is so unavoidably
influenced, and even distorted, by the
mother tongue of the learner that it should
rather be termed an 'Interlanguage', since it
will always be a blend of the second
language and the mother tongue. The better
the learner is at overcoming language
interference, the more diluted that blend will
be. This reliance on similarities between the
language being learnt and the mother tongue
can be both a help and a hindrance.
The present study has yielded
valuable clues and guidelines pertaining to
English language teaching. The theoretical
as well as the practical aspects of the study
have confirmed that there are similarities
and dissimilarities between Tamil and
English. There are, of course, many other
influences at play when we learn a foreign
language. But the influence that the mother
tongue has on the language we produce,
when we use a foreign language has become
a very important area of study for people
interested in second language learning,
language teaching, ELT publishing, and
language in general.
This study has also thrown light on
the potential errors that result mainly from
the mother tongue due to the difference in
grammatical agreement, which mainly
explains those phenomena that exhibit the
property of specific morphological form of a
word appearing in a sentence with respect to
the presence or absence of some other words
elsewhere in the sentence. So it deals with
the distribution of an inflected word with
respect to the properties of other words in the
sentence.
Though areas of similarities in the
structure of English and Tamil are quite few,
they only prove the fact that languages at
deeper level are similar and different at the
surface level. The inflections of the
grammatical categories like nouns and
verbs, whenever they are changed into
plurals and other tenses, are common to both
languages. The following are found
potential areas of difficulty for a Tamil
learner of ESL.
1. PNG suffixes in Tamil should agree with
the subject. In English, this feature is
absent except for the third person
singular present.
2. Almost all the grammatical categories
take the inflectional suffixes after them
in Tamil. But English is not inflected to
that extent.
3. The word order which is maintained in
sentence formation in both English and
Tamil greatly differs.
Problems of Tamil learner of ESL
In language transfer problems
between English and Tamil, the researcher
has identified a number of problems related
to morphoyntactic features like person,
number, gender, case and tense and other
grammatical issues listed below, which
hinder learning English. They are given
below in the order of difficulty encountered
by the Tamil learners,
a). tenses and subject- verb agreement
b). prepositions
c). word order
d). choice of words
e). subject omission
f). articles
g). adverbs
h). adjectives.
Apart from these problems, the
learners are found to have difficulties in
relation to the agreement with PNG suffixes
between Tamil and English.
Gender distinction in Tamil
language may be very difficult for learners
of English. In Tamil, gender is purely a
grammatical category. Except for nonhuman nouns, all human nouns come under
masculine or feminine gender and they are
syntactically more significant in Tamil. But
in English, though the third person pronouns
have gender properties, they do not have the
above said agreement found in Tamil. This
causes problems for the Tamil speaker
learning the English language.
675
In case of number, though there is
remarkable similarity found between Tamil
and English in relation to mass nouns in their
syntactic behaviour, the significant
difference is in the syntactic behaviour of
count nouns between Tamil and English.
The absence of formal distinction between
definite and indefinite singular nouns, in
English, causes problems in using the
articles for ESL learners.
As far as person is concerned,
though Tamil and English are said to have
three grammatical persons, the categories
and the features are different in both English
and Tamil. The difference is found in
proximity and honorific. Tamil has the
above said categories and features but
English lacks them. This will cause
problems to the Tamil students while
learning English.
5. RECOMMENDATION
Communicative competence is a
linguistic term which refers to a learner's
L2ability. It not only refers to a learner's
ability to apply and use grammatical rules,
but also to form correct utterances, and know
how to use these utterances appropriately.
The term unties the view of language
learning implicit in the communicative
approach to second language teaching. So
the grammatical proficiency is the
foundation of better writing and speaking
ability of ESL learners. Efficient grammar
instruction, especially for adult learners,
helps to learn English more effectively.
Therefore, understanding students' learning
difficulties and providing appropriate
grammar instruction is the key to effective
teaching for ESL teachers.
676
This study indicates various errors
and these errors have been ranked the most
frequent error categories, which can be an
indication for ESL teachers to better
understand what errors their students could
make and provide instruction thereby. Many
errors found in this study were considered
L1- related. It is apparent that L1 plays an
important role in the process of learning
English. The participants of this study were
the undergraduates of the University of
Jaffna who are all eligible to express their
ideas in a clear way. However language
transfer caused problems for them and made
the English learning process even more
complicated.
Clarifying learning difficulties can
be the first step that helps beginning ESL
learners master English grammar. Language
interference is apparently a common
problem for beginning ESL learners.
English teachers can help beginning ESL
learners reduce language interference by
specifying the differences between Tamil
and English in order to make English
grammar instruction more effective. Errors
in the use of tense and prepositions in this
study, for example, were ranked as the
number one error categories where the
greatest number of errors occurred. Such
errors should be paid attention by ESL
teachers. In addition to explaining
grammatical rules of English tenses,
prepositions etc. ESL teachers may also
compare the differences between Tamil and
English.
It has been observed that ESL learners with
different English proficiencies may have
different learning difficulties. When more
advanced learners may have more errors
which are not related to language transfer,
L1- related errors are prevalent for
beginning learners. English grammar
instruction with comparison of Tamil and
English can be a good option for ESL
teachers.
To prevent L1 interference on L2
sentence, various sentence types of both L1
and L2 should be differentiated and
distinguished and should be made known to
the students. The sameness about sentence
types of both languages will automatically
eliminate the errors in syntax. Thus, effort
has to be taken to create syntactic awareness
among the students. To prevent the
agreement problems, the relationship
between words should be taught and if the
problems are due to L1 structure, the
relationship and variation between L1 and
L2 in sentences should be indicated to the
students.
The teacher should identify the
differences between English and Tamil in
terms of morphosyntactic features of these
languages. To this effect the structural
elements found in English but not found in
Tamil should be well marked. Similarly
structural elements found in Tamil but not
found in English also should be highlighted.
The areas where structural contradictions
occur between these two languages should
be underlined. These are steps that would
make students well aware of the structural
dissimilarities between English and Tamil.
Then the teacher should be conscious of the
problem areas of students which are
generally caused by the structural variations.
Now the teacher should adequately focus on
designing tasks, and activities and exercises
for students in order to enable them to
overcome such problems. In this process,
graded drills are recommended so that the
students will be able to make progress
gradually and firmly. Simultaneous
concentration on the development of the
four language skills, with specific focus on
the problem areas caused by structural
differences would effectively lead to
successful learning.
The present study revealed the
importance of contrastive instruction in
learning English and in the light of the
findings, contrastive approach
and
contrastive linguistic input (CLI) can be
viewed as a foreign language learning
facilitator of such difficult grammatical
forms in foreign language settings. The
study also revealed the area / areas of
difficult grammatical features, which have
to be taken into consideration in teaching
and learning a foreign language. The
importance of sound knowledge of L2
grammatical forms for the development of
language skills which the learners of foreign
language expect to develop for their
communicative competence is strongly felt
from this study.
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Proceedings of International Conference on Contemporary Management - 2014 (ICCM - 2014), pp 679-686
A SMART CHOICE FOR INDIAN BUSINESS FIRMS
1
2
S. Lourdu Initha and J. Renugadevi
Abstract
Cooperation among countries has become a significant component to complement their
scarce resources, which in turn, have contributed much to the development of human race and the
economy. Therefore in a more globalized world, it becomes essential to be more integrated as it adds
meaning and strength to the linkages between countries. This could be possible when countries
come closer to one another under the banner of Free Trade Agreement. This paper on the proposed
topic explores whether India Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) is
the major determinant factor that influence the Indian business firms to consider Singapore a Smart
Choice for their business. The study also rekindled the ancient bonds of friendship between India and
Singapore and served to highlight the natural strategic imperative for the relationship in
contemporary times. It also reinforced the importance of strengthening connectivity in all its
dimensions between India and Singapore. The study also shed lights on the progress that has been
made in trade in goods, services and investments with the signing of CECA in 2005. It is concluded
that implementation of CECA alone does not influence the perceptions of Indian business
community. There are other factors such as strategic location, efficient administration system etc.,
that motivate Indian business community to consider Singapore a favorable export destination.
CECA will continue to be a pillar in India-Singapore commercial cooperation. It acts as a bridge for
India to reach out to the region.
Keywords: Factors, CECA, Business Community, Export Destination
1. INTRODUCTION
India Singapore commercial
relations began from ancient period, through
individual Indian merchants and traders
when Singapore was an ancient city called
Temasik, located at the southern tip of
Malaysian peninsula. It had developed
during the ancient and medieval period
based on geo-strategic position existing
around them. This trade continued till the
British period. The trade got momentum
when East India Company established
political control over India. During this
period, there was a great demand for India's
cotton and opium in the East and South East
Asian region. So, the British government
1. Associate Professor of Commerce,
2. Associate Professor of History, S.I.V.E.T. College, Gowrivakkam, Chennai 600 073, [email protected]
679
wanted to seize these opportunities by
establishing a trading port and sent Sir
Stamford Raffles, an employee of East India
Company along with 120 Indian sepoys to
find a place in the peninsula. After a long
search, this troupe landed in the ancient city,
Temasik, now being called as Singapore, on
29th January 1819. This historical event laid
the foundation stone for India-Singapore
trade relations during the British regime.
Since then, India enjoys a rich cultural,
commercial, and administrative interface
with Singapore. After the First World War,
Indian merchants went in large numbers and
promoted their family business in
Singapore. In August 1924, these merchants
formed an association which was
transformed into India-Singapore Chamber
of Commerce in 1937. By 1940, more than
70% of Singapore's trade with India was
routed through this Chamber.
Official relations between India and
Singapore really developed to a significant
level only after India achieved her
independence. Between 1947 and 1965,
India's export was mainly confined to
traditional goods. During this period, India
enjoyed trade surplus.
Following
Singapore's independence on 9th August
1965, trade surplus went in favour of
Singapore under the able administration of
the First Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee
Kuan Yew. Until India's economic reform in
1991, Indian decedents in Singapore were
active in trading and banking business for
generations without any formal trade
agreement. The commercial relationship
between the two countries became
systematic and extensive only after the
economic reform and Look East Policy
initiated by the then Indian Prime Minister,
680
Narasimha Rao, in 1991. During this
period, the share of the engineering goods in
the export basket was on the rise and that of
the traditional goods had declined. Many
Indian companies have set up joint ventures
and subsidiaries in Singapore. And a number
of Singaporean companies are actively
participating in the management of
industrial parks in India.
Rationale
The era of new economic policy of
India has generated many opportunities and
challenges for the Indian market from all
over the world. To meet these opportunities
and challenges, India and Singapore took a
giant step forward in expanding trade and
investment relations and signed a formal
accord called Comprehensive Economic
th
Cooperation Agreement, (CECA), on 29
June 2005. The agreement signed by Indian
Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, and
his Singapore counterpart, Mr. Lee Hsien
Loong. This formal accord laid the
foundation for a strong and fruitful
partnership between the two countries.
Under these circumstances, it is felt that it is
timely to explore and understand how
Singapore matters to Indian business
community in the broader world of
commerce. According to the data released
by the Department of Industrial Policy and
Promotion, Indian based companies in
Singapore in June 2010 were 4000 and
increased to 5000 in 2011.
Even after global crisis in 2008, the
bilateral trade between India and Singapore
has been on the rise till 2010-11 and there
was a small decline in the year 2011-12
(Table 1)
Table 1: India-Singapore Bilateral Trade (in million US$)
Year
2009-10
2010-11
2011-12
Exports
7568.29
10302.71
10431.09
Imports
6163.91
7139.31
5401.05
The steep increase in the number of
Indian based companies in Singapore and
steady increase in the total bilateral trade
between India and Singapore after global
crisis created inquisitive interest to carry out
this study.
Significance of the Study
For historical reasons and
geostrategic position of Singapore, India
had closer commercial relations with
Singapore from time immemorial. Further,
India- Singapore Comprehensive Economic
Cooperation Agreement, (CECA) serves as
a building block to find creative solutions to
overcome existing hurdles. But how far, the
Indian business community perceives this
trend and seeks opportunity in Singapore
needs to be evaluated in depth. Hence this
study is significant in the present day context
and will be of great interest to industrialists
of the two countries.
2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
An extensive study of relevant
books, journals, websites and documents
was undertaken to explore the extent of work
already done in relation to India-Singapore
commercial relations. In this connection,
the following literature merits a special
mention:
Total Trade
13732.20
17442.02
15832.14
P.S. Suryanarayan, (2008) in his
article Singapore Poised to Ride ChinaIndia Wave emphasizes that proximity in
terms of geography and culture enhances
trade relations.
Ishani Duttagupta in her article,
Shop for Jobs: Singapore is turning in to a
new paradise for highly skilled Indian
Professionals (2008), mentions the
prospects available to middle-level skilled
IT professionals in Singapore.
Highlights of the present study
Though India and Singapore have
engaged themselves in trade and commerce
since the colonial period, the commercial
relations between the two countries have
been at low ebb till the introduction of
economic reforms in 1991 and
implementation of CECA in 2005. The
reforms have brought closer engagements
between the two countries. Since then both
the governments have realised the need and
requirements of each other and have taken
various measures to stimulate bilateral trade
between India and Singapore. Although
many prior studies and articles have
assessed the economic relations between
India and Singapore this is perhaps the first
attempt to assess the motives of Indian firms
considering Singapore as a smart choice for
681
their business which have not been
significantly explored in any recent study.
The findings are significant for firms that
intend to do business in Singapore.
Objectives
1. To understand the historical perspective
of India-Singapore Trade Relation
2. To identify the significant factors
motivating Indian business community
favouring Singapore as an export
destination and as a gateway to South
East Asian countries
Hypotheses
1. Location of Singapore can be
considered as an important factor a
smart choice for Indian Business firms
2. Bondage between India and Singapore
can be considered as an important factor
for Indian Business firms to have start
ups.
These experimental hypotheses were
converted into null hypotheses and
validated using conventional statistical
tools.
3. METHODOLOGY
The study is an empirical study
using both primary and secondary data.
Articles from various national and
international journals, reputed papers and
magazines, and from websites were used as
sources for secondary data. One hundred
and twenty five respondents from Chennai,
selected at random, of various sizes of
business firms carrying trade with Singapore
were personally interviewed by the authors
using a well tested protocol.
The
information obtained from the respondents
in the primary survey were statistically
682
analysed using a standard package SPSS
(Version 21).
4. LIMITATIONS
Like any research, this research also
has its own limitations: The sample survey
for the research was confined only to
Chennai city due to its proximity and
familiarity with Singapore. Perhaps a large
number of respondents covering more
companies in several cities could have
helped in refining the findings of this
research.
Motivational Factors for Considering
Singapore as a Favoured Export
Destination
With a view to get industrial output,
an attempt has been made to identify the
significant factors that influence the Indian
business firms to do business in Singapore.
The opinion of the respondents of the
business firms has to be seen in the light of
their knowledge about Singapore economy
and market.
The questionnaire used to collect
primary data consisted of 16 parameters
related to motivational aspects for having
commercial relations with Singapore. The
respondents were asked to choose one of the
three choices, namely, Very Important,
Important, and Least important for each of
the 16 parameters. The list of parameters
include, strategic location, excellent trade
logistic facilities, easy interaction with
multinational companies, stable political
system, efficient bureaucracy, availability
of highly developed infrastructure, open
conducive international business
environment, wider use of English language
and laws, gateway to Asia and South East
Asia, Tourism push, strong traditional,
cultural and economic ties, no visa related
problems, no customs barriers, no rigid entry
regulations, CECA opened wider global
market network, and Indians account for
nearly eight percent in Singapore
population.
Ninety seven percent of the
respondents viewed Singapore, a favoured
export destination because of its strategic
location; about 94 percent respondents
opined that efficient bureaucracy are the
most significant factors motivating them to
do business in Singapore. Nearly 85 percent
respondents viewed excellent logistic
facilities were also the most significant
factors motivating them to do business in
Singapore. About 82 percent respondents
viewed Singapore as a gateway to East Asia
and South East Asian market and the same
percentage of respondents opine that CECA
opened up wider global network. Nearly 71
percent respondents hold that highly
developed infrastructure is an important
factor. The above six factors are the key
factors, which influenced the industrialists
to consider Singapore a favoured export
destination when they look east wards.
The respondents also viewed the
following as important, supporting and
facilitating factors to consider Singapore a
favoured export destination: no custom
barriers (68%), the open conducive business
environment (62%), interaction with
multinational companies (61), wider use of
English language and law (58%), stable
political system (51%., and Indian
population in Singapore(50%).
Factors analysis
Factor Analysis is used for
identifying the motivational factors for
favouring Singapore a smart choice for
doing business. Factor Analysis is a
technique used to reduce a large number of
variables to a smaller number of
hypothetical variables. Variables that are
interrelated to one another are combined and
made in to a single factor using this analysis.
For the present analysis, principal
component with Varimax method of rotation
has been used. An attempt is made using
factor analysis to identify the interrelations
between the 16 parameters favouring
Singapore a favourable export destination.
The results of the analysis are given in Table
2.
It is found from the table that the
contribution made by first factor to the total
variance is nearly 30 percent, the second
factor contributes nearly 23 percent of the
total variance and third factor contributes
about 13 percent and the last factor's
contribution is nearly 10 percent of the total
variance. The four factors contribute nearly
75 percent of the total variance.
The variables that are highly loaded
in the first factor include Strategic location,
Open, conducive international business
environment, Availability of highly
developed infrastructure, Strong traditional,
cultural, & economic ties, Excellent trade
logistic facilities and Easy interaction with
multinational companies. Since more
variables are related to easy accessibility to
product, management, technology,
operations, finance and legal for Indian
business firm to do business in Singapore,
683
this factor is termed as 'Location and
Accessibility Factor'. And this factor
contributes nearly 30 percent of the total
variance. Therefore the demand for the
Singapore market is influenced by location
and accessibility.
The variables that are highly loaded
in the second factor include Efficient
bureaucracy, No visa related problems, No
custom barriers, Wider use of English
language and law, Stable political system,
No rigid entry regulations, and CECA
agreement. Since more variables are related
to easy administration of firms to do
business in Singapore, this factor is termed
as 'Administrative Factor.' This factor
contributes about 23 percent to the total
variance.
Table 2: Factor Analysis and Percentage of Variance covered
Factors
Parameters
Factor
1
1
2
Location and Accessibility
Factor
Strategic location
Open, conducive international
business environment
Availability of highly developed
infrastructure
Strong traditional, cultural, &
economic ties
Excellent trade logistic facilities
Easy interaction with
multinational companies
Administrative Factors
3
4
5
6
Factor
2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
684
Efficient bureaucracy
No Visa related problems
No custom barriers
Wider use of English language
and law
Stable political systems
No rigid entry regulations
CECA agreement
Factor
Loadings
Variance
Covered
(%)
0.874
0.870
0.811
0.704
0.682
0.603
29.700
0.890
0.751
0.655
0.613
0.570
0.568
0.558
22.532
Factor
3
1
2
Factor
4
1
Factor 3 Marketing Feasibility
Factor
Gateway to East Asia and South
0.903
East Asia
Global access to IT centres of
0.790
excellence
Factor 4 Bonding Factor
Indians account for nearly eight
percent
in Singapore population
Total Variance Covered
The variables that are highly loaded
in the third factor include Gateway to East
Asia and South East Asia, and Global access
to IT centres of excellence. The two
variables are related to easy marketing of
Indian products to other Asian countries
through Singapore, and hence this factor is
termed as Marketing Feasibility Factor.
This factor contributes nearly 13 percent to
the total variance.
The only variable that is highly
loaded in the fourth factor is 'Indians account
for nearly eight percent in Singapore
population'. Since this variable is related to
the bondage between India and Singapore
through Indian population in Singapore, this
factor is termed as Bonding Factor. This
factor contributes nearly 10 percent to the
total variance.
5. FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS
Singapore is a natural port located at
a strategic point between Indian and rest of
the world including China- an emerging
market in Asia. Hence it is being used as a
12.834
9.758
0.863
74.824
major transhipment hub. This re-export
trade facility has resulted in the logical
development of several sectors doing
bustling trade. This made Singapore a much
more favoured trading destination,
attracting merchants, traders and settlers, not
only from India but from all over the world.
Indian firms find it advantageous to use
Singapore despite its small size as a platform
from which trade and services are launched
to the ASEAN and the rest of the world. Thus
the Strategic Location has greatly facilitated
the development of India-Singapore
commercial relations.
6. CONCLUSION
Singapore has long traditional,
cultural and economic ties with India. It is
considered as a Gateway to Asia and other
A S EA N countries .
Its location,
administrative conveniences, marketing
feasibilities, and the bondage with India are
the major reasons for Indian business firms
to consider Singapore as a smart choice for
commercial relations. There is some sort of
inadequacies in the application of CECA to
685
meet the needs of both the countries
according to their respective laws and
regulations. Trade alone cannot provide
long-term stability to bilateral commercial
relationship but mutual cooperation is also
crucial to a truly sustainable commercial
engagement. Hence it is concluded that the
implementation of CECA does not relevant
to the needs of Indian business community.
REFERENCES
C o m m e r c i a l R e l a t i o n s a n d Tr a d e
Agreements:http://commerce.nic.i
n/publications/annual-report-pdf2010-11/CHAPTER_7.pdf
(Accessed on 3rd Feb. 2013)
The Hindu, Sunday, March 9, 2008,
Chennai, Vol 131, N0 22, P 19.
Suryanarayan P.S., Singapore
poised to ride China, India wave,
says Prime Minister Lee.
686
Ishan Dutta Gupta, Shop for Jobs, The
E c o n o m i c Ti m e s , C h e n n a i ,
Thursday, June 26, 2008, p. 13.
Facilitating Global Business Singapore
Exporters, Services, Products, and
Brands, IE Singapore, Chennai,
rd
INSIA, 23 Edition, 2007, pages 9,
44, 45.
Suryanarayana, P.S., Singapore can be
growing bridge between India and
growing economies, The Hindu,
Monday, October 15, 2007
http://www.hindu.com/features/singaatday/
stories/20060809000101100.htn
The Hindu, Wednesday, August 9,
2006, On Line Edition, Newspaper,
celebrating a landmark agreement'.
Peter, S.J. Chen Tai, Ching Ling, Social
Ecology of Singapore, Federal
Publication Pte. Ltd., Singapore,
1977, p. 1.
Proceedings of International Conference on Contemporary Management - 2014 (ICCM - 2014), pp 687-692
TIRUVALLUVAR'S VIEW ON ALCOHOLISM
K.Kanesarajah
Abstract
The objective of this research to omit the alcohol habitual behavior. The Sangam poets
composed poems on various aspect of human emotions like love, bravery, generosity and eternal
beauty of nature. In the post-sangam period, the poets took themes relating to moral principles and
rules of conduct. Therefore, the post - sangam period is known as the period of ethical literature. It
said that during this period, there were some scholars who described about moral life. Specially
Tirukkural holds an important place. It is the book of 1330 couplets by Tiruvallvar with three major
chapter. It has been written for the wellbeing of entire humanity. It is a mine of information and It is
the foundation of wisdom. At the same time Tiruvallvar emphasis the “Kallunnamai” concept. This
study mainly uses an analytic, descriptive and comparative methods in this research.
Key words; Alcohol, addiction, disorders, immoral
Key words: Love, Bravery, Generosity, Moral life
INTRODUCTION:
The word 'alcohol' is derived from
the Arabian term, 'al-kuhul' which means
'finely divided spirit'. There are many types
of alcohol amyl, butyl, isopropyl, isobutyl,
methyl, ethyl, alcohol, etc. Different types of
alcohol have various industrial and chemical
uses. Alcohol is a clear, thin, highly volatile,
with a harsh burning taste. There are various
processes by which alcohol is obtained.
They are: alcohol is the product of a natural
process called fermentation.
human life. unfortunately some human
beings are having ling of addiction to
alcohol. This kind of addiction poses a
challenge for human existence. Alcohol is
one fo the bad habits for some human beings.
Tiruvallur explains kallunnami in his
chapter, Alcohol is the major issue in the
society. It damage whole human personality.
Most of the Indian and western scholars
described above issues. This alcohol issue
makes moral problems in the contemporary
world.
Research background:
Every human was born with
morality. Moral behaviors are basic for
History of Drinking
Ancient societies were familiar with
intoxicating beverage and the process of
Department of Social Science University of South Eastern Sri Lanka
687
brewing beer from cereals as a house hold
beverage can be gathered from ancient
Babylonian record. It is believed that
distilled liquor was produced for the first
time in Middle Ages in Europe through the
process of distillation known to ancient
Chinese, Hindu, Assyrians and Greek.
Drink was resorted to in time of recreation
and fester occasions and also where medical
practitioners prescribed to the patients. The
purposes of drink were either to
1. Make soldiers more militant and
zealous. or
2. Make kings, nobles, and courtiers more
lively or
3. Regain lost energy as a result of
continued long illness.
Wine has been the favorite subject
of poets, artists, writers, and authors. Many a
poem has been written in praise of wine.
Bacchus, the Greek god of wine has been a
source of inspiration to countries men and
women.
The use of alcohol may have impact
upon physical, occupation, marital,
educational, and other areas of function. The
condition can be lifelong but can be
sometimes treated through ongoing therapy
accompanied by attendance as self-help
meetings.
Alcohol dependence can be harder
to breath and significantly more damaging
than dependence on most other addictive
substance. The physical symptoms when
withdrawing from alcohol can be quite
severe and dangerous, with death reported in
extreme cases. The alcohol personality can
688
exhibit a radical change when they drink,
from passive when sober to aggressive when
drunk, though the reverse can also be true.
An alcoholic does not have to be
someone who is drunk every night, and a
functional alcoholic can have largely normal
work and family relationship. However,
alcohol represents the major focus of their
lives. The alcohol content and the source of
some alcoholic beverage are given below
Name of the
beverage
Source
Approximate
percentage of
alcohol
Brandy
Distilled wine
40-50%
Whisky
Cereals
40-55%
Rum
Sugar Cane
(molasses)
40-55%
Wines
Grapes
10-22%
Beer
Cereals (Barley)
6-8%
Toddy
Palm juice
5-10%
Arrack
Molasses
50-60%
The effect of alcohol is directly
related to its concentration in the blood.
Alcohol acts directly on the brain and
changes its working ability. The effects
depend on the speed at which the person
drinks, his weight, presence of food in the
stomach, his personality, and the type of
beverage taken. The effect on an individual
also depend on a variety of other factors like
the situation, one's attitude to drinking and
one's drinking experience.
The Short Term Effect
These effects appear rapidly even
after small or large doses and disappear
within a few hours. Alcohol affects the brain
and nerves cells, which in turn affect human
behavior. The brain is highly sensitive even
to very low alcohol concentrations. The
disturbances which result are shown in the
activities of the organs controlled by the
brain. A peculiar characteristic of alcohol is
that all the nerve cell in the brain is not
affected by the same Blood alcohol
concentration (BAC). Some nerve centers
Number of
drinks
are more resistant than other, and are not
affected by low BAC.
It also acts as a psychic anaesthetize,
temporarily erasing painful feelings of
anxiety, tension, hopelessness, anger, and
worry.
Further, the following table
illustrates the approximate effects produced
by alcohol when a person consumes it over a
period of one hour.
Approximate effects
1
Feeling of relaxation and an unhanded sense
of well being.
2
Feeling of well being and garrulousness.
3
Impairment of judgment and foresight.
4
Decision making capabilities get affected.
5
Lack of motor coordination.
6
Drunkenness becomes obvious.
7
Staggering and double vision. If this level is
rapidly reached vomiting can occur.
15
Loss of consciousness, but still the
drinks can be aroused.
22-25
Breathing stops and death ensues.
689
The Long Term Effects
When alcohol is repeatedly taken in
large doses over a long period of time, it
proves disastrous, impairing both the length
and quality of life. An excessive intake of
alcohol over a long period of time leads to
severe physical damages like, Gastritis,
Ulcers, Heart disease, including dilated
Cardiomyopathy, Polyneuritis, Cirrhosis,
Loss of liver function and Death,
Depression, insomnia, anxiety, and suicide,
Sexual dysfunction, Personality changes,
Significant damage to occupational, social,
and interpersonal areas.
The Content of Expectancies: Positive and Negative Effects
Expectancy
Category
Effect
Positive
Negative
Social
More social
Less shy
More talkative
Enhanced sex
Aggressive
Loss of control
Loud, obnoxious
Stupid, foolish
Physical
Get drunk
Increase energy
Hangover
Pass out
Sick, headache
Emotional
Relax
Feel good
Angry
Depressed
Ashamed, guilty
Negative
reinforcement
Forget problem
Relieve tension
Reduce stress
Cognitive
Fun
Consequences
690
Impaired judgment
Less alert
Poor concentration
Decreased motor
skills
Good time,
interesting
Pleasure, happy,
buzz, tastes good
Work problem
Accidents
Trouble with the
law
Trouble with the
family or friends
Opinion of the Tiruvalluvar about
Alcohol Habits from Kallunnamai
Chapter
Tiruvallur has been acclaimed as a
poet, scholar, philosopher, political scientist
other of wisdom soul of mankind. He was
one of the eminent personalities of the world
and his Kural is considered as a chef oeuvre
of world literature. His Kural is perfect in
itself with its greatness of universal outlook,
human approach and exquisite verses. It
transcend all barriers of race, religion, class,
language, etc. Thus Tirukkural occupies a of
pride place among the world literature.
Tiruvalluvar also explains about the drinks
in the kallami chapter.
,Ukdg; ngz;bUk; fs;Sk; ftWk;jpUePf;fg;
gl;lhH njhlHG. (Kural .920)
If princes are addicted to drink, their
enemies will not be afraid of them,
They will also lose their reputation.
Any person, be it a king or Ordinary man, if
he is addicted to the habit of intoxicating
drinks, he will surely lose his stature. His
foes will fear him no more. He will also lose
his erstwhile good name and reputation.
People will talk of him in just as Drunkard.
cl;fg; glhmH xspapog;gH
vQ;Qhd;Wk;¸fl;fhjy; nfhz;nlhOFthH”
(Kural .921)
Let none take to the drinking habit,
except those who do not value, their
reputation, and esteem among the righteous.
The wise men of learning
and virtuousness will not get into the habit of
drinking. Only those Persons, who have no
self-respect and do not care to be esteemed
among the wisemen of virtue, will develop
such a disreputable habit.
<d; w hs; K fj; N jAk; , d; d hjhy;
vd; k w; W r
;rhd;NwhH Kfj;Jf; fsp.” (Kural .923)
Drunken revelry is out of order
even, before one's own mother, that being so,
what will it be to the wise men of
righteousness?
One's own mother is so likely to
forgive and put up with quite a lot in respect
of the behavior of her son. But even she will
consider a drunken revelry by her son
grossly improper. When that is so, such
behavior in front of a gathering of 'Saanrone'
a group of wise and virtuous gentlemen, will
be definitely out of order and disgraceful.
ehzv
; dD
; ke
; yy
; hsG
; wqn
; fhLfF
; k; fsn
; sdD
; k;
Nghzhg; ngUq;Fw;wj; jhHf;F.” (Kural .924)
The lady of modesty will turn her
back on persons, who are addicted to, the
low and abiding vice of drunkenness.
The low and persisting crime of
drunkenness is so disgraceful, that even the
fair lady of shame will herself feel ashamed,
and be afraid to face such a drunken addict.
ifawp ahik cilj;Nj nghUs; nfhLj;J
nka;awpahik nfhsy;.”
(Kural .925)
It is characterless foolishness to pay
money to acquire drunken insensibility.
The expression 'kaiyari yamai' has been
interpreted differently by different
commentators: Parimel Azhagar would say
that it is ignorance induced by Karma
relating to a pervious birth.
691
JQ;rpdhH nrj;jhhpd;Ntwy;yH vQ;Qhd;Wk;
eQ;Rz;ghH fs;Sz; gtH.” (Kural .926)
Those who sleep resemble the dead
for the duration, but the drunken ones are, as
good as dead always, having consumed
poison.
Tennyson spoke of sleep as the twin
brother of Death. Shakespeare too has said
very much the same on several occasions.
But that is a comparison valid only for the
duration of the sleep. But the drunken person
is invariably like one, who has really crossed
the barrier of death, having consumed
poison.
cs;nshw;wp cs;SHefg;gLtH
vQ;Qhd;Wk;fs;nshw;wpf; fz;rha; gtH.”
(Kural .927)
“Those, who drink in secret, soon
become the laughing stock of the locality, for
the effects of indulgence cannot long remain
unknown”. Drunkenness cannot long remain
a close secret, because of the way it affects
subsequent behavior.
fspj;jhidf; fhuzk; fhl;Ljy;
fPo;ePHf; Fspj;jhidj; jPj;JhP, aw;Wk;.”
(Kural.929)
To show reason to one, who has
over- indulged in liquor, is like taking, a
torch to search for a man drowned in deep
waters, “The light of reason cannot pierce
through the darkness of a drunkard's mind,
even as a naked light cannot be taken under
water. The poison has left him
bereft of the power or response to reason”.
Conclusion:
It has been known that a person who
addicted to alcohol, the parts of his body and
692
his memory power are affected and also it is
brought down to his interaction in
personality. It is taken that when a person
who is addicted to alcohol has been losing
his personal behaviors and all his
performance. This research points out that,
Tiruvalluvar said those who take alcohol
encounter various problems. which are
included physical, mental, social problems,
personality disorders and loss every things.
Notes
J.Howard and J. Clinebell.,
(1980),Understanding and
Counseling Alcoholic, p.17.
T.T.Ranganathan,(1987) Alcoholism and
Drug Dependency, p.31.
Ibid., p.32.
S.S. Varmr, (2003),Alcohol and Drug
Dependence, p.14.
Chafeta,(2001), A New Day of Hope for
Alcoholics, p.118.
S.K.Mangle,(2004), Abnormal Psychology,
p.201.
.R.T.Comer,(1995),Fundamentals of
Abnormal Psychology, pp.293-295.
S. Peele, (1998),Drug and Narcotic
Dependence in Sri Lanka, p.13.
N.Ratnapala,(1985),Drug and dependence
in Sri Lanka, p.80.
J. Howard, op.cit, p.26.
Ibid., p.29.
ThayaSomasunderam.,(2000)ThamilSamut
hayathiel Ullanalam, p.50
T.T. Ranganathan, op.cit, pp.36-38.
Stanton Peele and Marcus grant.,(2002)
Alcohol and Pleasure, p. 218
S.M.DiazandN.Mahalingam,(2000)Tirukku
ral,Vol.II,pp.925-929.
Thamilannal,(1999)Tirukkural,pp.367-373
Proceedings of International Conference on Contemporary Management - 2014 (ICCM - 2014), pp 693-704
EMPOWERING PEOPLE TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT: HOPE AND DESPAIR OF E-GOVERNANCE
APPLICATION IN THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES
N. Tharmini
Abstract
Increasingly, governments in the Third Word countries are keen in the application of egovernance with their sustainable development goals. These Applications is said to have an effect on
empowerment, poverty reduction and improving government responsiveness to poor community
who have had little prior access to public services. However, this paper indentifies a few benefits that
have been realized between hope and despair. In general, the lack of resources and technical
capacity has meant that e-governance applications cannot be scaled easily. The list of applications
can be divided into three broad categories: (a) delivering information and transactions services to
citizens, (b) delivering services to business and industry and increased efficiency within the
government, and (c) delivering services to internal clients. Several e-governance projects have failed
because they were not aligned with realistic expectations and the willingness of governments to
introduce basic reform. A reform agenda needs to be encouraged more broadly and e-governance
cannot be perceived as a panacea or the driver of the reform. This collateral and explorative attempt
projects the major trends and issues in the application of e-governance relating to empowering
people towards sustainable development in Third World Countries.
Key words: Third World, Poverty, Community
Overall Picture of the Phenomenon
Assessments made by some
consulting companies indicate that egovernance the application of electronic
means in the interaction among government,
citizens and business - is in a nascent stage of
implementation in both developed and
developing countries1. But the problem is
much more acute in developing countries
than developed countries. Government
departments, in many developing countries,
publish information on websites as a first
step towards e-governance. Many of these
sites are poorly designed and the
departments do not update or monitor the
quality of information. Initially, the online
publishing of information was targeted at
attracting foreign investments, but as the
Internet penetration grew in urban areas,
many sites began to focus on delivering
information and services to the citizens and
businesses. A large number of developing
countries from Asia and Latin America have
implemented transaction-oriented e-
Assistant Lecturer Dept. of Political Science, University of Jaffna.
[email protected]
693
governance applications on a pilot basis.
However, only a few of these pilots have
been replicated on a wider scale.
Table 1.1 enumerates documented case
studies of e-governance applications from
different developing countries. The table
lists countries where such applications have
been developed and identifies a few benefits
that have been realized. These applications
represent the low hanging fruit: applications
that deliver significant benefit and yet are
not difficult to implement. This table is used
as a basis for further analysis to understand
the types of clients that have been served and
purposes for which e-governance
applications have been built. This paper also
presents salient features of design and
implementation and provides some idea of
the costs of different projects. Finally, some
key overall trends and future challenges are
enumerated2.
Table 1.1: Examples of application areas from different countries
Application area
Examples of countries
1. Delivering citizen services
694
Issue of record of rights of
land and mutation of land
records.
Computerized in 10 states in India.
Registration of property
transactions.
Issue of driving licence and
vehicle registration and
checkpost administration.
Computerized in 11 states in India.
Computerized in 12 states in India and several
developing countries.
Municipal services such as
issue of birth and d eath
certificate, payment of
local taxes, etc.
The best case example: Citizen Facilitation
Centres (CFC) of Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal
Corporation (KDMC), Maharashtra in India.
Passport.
Computerized in several developing countries
like
Singapore and Malaysia.
Income tax online
Brazil, Mexico and Chile.
Multiple services from
local, state and national
levels (bill payment, issue
of certificates, tax
collection)
Citizen servicecentres in Brazil, Bahia: e-Seva in
Hyderabad and 'Bangalore ONE' in Karnataka
in India.
Publishing budgets at
central and municipal level,
publishing project-wise
expenditure, executing
agency.
Turkey, Cristal: a tool for transparent government in
Argentina: Panchayat websites and website of Shimoga
district in Karnataka in India.
2. Delivery of services to business and industry
Several developing countries like Brazil,
Bulgaria,
Mexico, Philippines and Chile
Jordan, Jamaica, China and India.
E-procurement
New business registration.
Gujarat checkpost in India, Cameroon,
Chile and Mauritius.
Tax collection (sales tax,
VAT and corporate income
tax)
Customs online
A total of 70 countries, including India,
Philippines, Mauritius and Jamaica.
Trade facilitation
Dubai, Mauritus, Tunisia, Yemen, Singapore:
Trade facilitation in Singapore
3. Increased efficiency within government
Use of e-mail and video
conferencing.
Government offices in a large number of
countries.
Document management
The case on CARING-Gov in Andhra
Pradesh Sachivalaya
and workflow for paperlessin India.
operations.
Integrated Financial
Computerized treasuries in Karnataka
in India, Kosovo and
Management SystemAfghanistan.
4. Integrated portals
Information and
transaction services
organized by life events
of citizens and businesses.
US government's official web portal:
FirstGov. gov: UK Online
with all government departments fully online:
eCitizen, Singapore,
user friendly citizen-centric portal, gateway
to all government
services.
695
Nature of Applications for Different
Types of Clients
The list of applications of egovernance can be divided into three broad
categories:
(a) delivering information and transaction
services to citizens;
(b) delivering services to business and
industry and increased efficiency
within the government;
(c) delivering services to internal clients
(for example, employees in other
departments). Some applications serve
both citizens and businesses such as the
online tax payments.
Delivering Services to Citizens
The largest number of applications
have been built for service delivery to
citizens. Agencies which collect taxes from
citizens have been quick to embrace egovernance. Departments with regulatory
functions have also made early moves, while
developmental departments, such as
education and health, have been slow. A
large number of applications have been built
to issue certificates and licences and often a
fee is charged for such services. One of the
reasons may be that the informational
content for regulatory service makes them
more amenable to electronic delivery.
Applications have been built at all levels of
government-by local, state and federal level
agencies. In developing countries most of
these applications are at the second or third
stage of evolution (see Figure 1.1). There are
very few examples of integrated portals
offering services from agencies: it is
some­thing that is more common in
developed countries. Some of the direct
benefits to citizens include lower costs of
696
access, enhanced quality and greater
convenience.
Some countries have used egovernance applications to reach out to
communities that do not have easy access to
government information. Many of these
applications, done on a pilot basis, require
government departments to invest a
significant amount of time in developing
content that is relevant and useful to the
community needs. In rural South Asia and
Latin America, a number of these
applications have resulted in limited
empowerment of communities that
previously could not acquire information,
such as government rules or prices of
agricultural commodities, either due to
physical distance or corruption. A number of
governments in Asia, Latin America and
Central and Eastern Europe are using the
Internet to increase accountability through
publication of budgets, civil servant assets
and notices of procurement awards and
procedures.
Providing this kind of information
online has increased the transparency of
government spending and operations and
also enabled civil society to monitor
government performance and activities
better.
Delivery of Services to Business and
Industry
Tax collection, customs and eprocurement have been popular and
therefore quickly embraced by many
governments in developing countries as they
are often perceived to be more prone to
corruption. Tax collection agencies also
present opportunities for enhancing revenue
collection-something that is attractive for
most governments. Investments in such
systems tend to have a quicker payback
because of increased revenue collection.
Businesses are also quick to use these
services because they are provided with an
easier and hassle-free channel to interact
with the government.
Businesses are often burdened with
significant administrative road-blocks when
3
interacting with the government . Rules can
be made transparent and consistent across
departments. A number of countries have
implemented online business registration
and trade facilitation systems at ports and
customs to become more business friendly.
Increased Efficiency within the Government
E-governance can lead to higher
productivity by interconnecting different
government agencies and different offices of
an agency, enabling them to improve
communication by sharing data and
documents. Integrated Financial
Management Systems have been
implemented by a large number of countries
by networking treasuries at different
locations.
Significant reduction in costs (of
paper, storage space and processing time)
can result from a paperless environment in
which electronic documents flow across
workstations for approval and action.
Reduction in the administrative burden of
decision-makers is a very significant benefit
as it releases time for important issues of
policy and decision-making. Applications
that focus entirely on internal efficiency are
limited, primarily because these are difficult
to implement as they encounter resistance
4
from a well-entrenched civil service .
Challenges in Design and Implementation
The most severe challenge faced by
the developing countries is the inadequacy
of ICT infrastructure. Most government
agencies operate with manual systems and
procedures, making the digitization of
archived data a mammoth task. Departments
are not interconnected as the networking
infrastructure is weak outside the capital
cities and large urban centres. Internet
penetration is low and access to broadband is
limited. Some countries, like India, which
have adopted e-governance as a national
priority, are fast building such infrastructure.
Fortunately, the penetration of mobile
phones has ramped up very well in many
developing countries but e-governance
applications have not yet exploited the
mobile phone as a mode of delivering some
types of services.
Many developing countries have
adopted a creative approach in designing egovernance applications to overcome the
digital divide and lack of resources. As a
result, e-governance applications are quite
different from similar applications in
industrialized countries where the delivery
model is based on self-service through the
Internet. Often, the design is built around
assisted de­livery at community service
centres, and the process of delivery is a
hybrid of automated and manual processes.
For example, the payment processes in most
developing countries are not electronic,
Chile and Brazil being exceptions.
Payments are still handled by traditional
697
means of cash, cheques and credit cards. In
fact, in many developing countries, like
Africa and South Asia, credit cards are not
used by a majority of citizens. Government
service counters are not connected to credit
card processing bureaus, thus, verification
5
cannot be done online . Most countries have,
therefore, not implemented an electronic
payment gateway. For specific applications,
such as toll fee, stored value cards are being
tried. New technologies, such as radio
frequency identification have already found
a few uses such as collecting toll fee from
cars6. Many more applications are likely to
be found in the coming years. In the absence
of countrywide policies on data
standardization and data sharing, security
provisions have not been adequately
handled in designing systems. Surprisingly,
privacy has not been a major issue for
citizens in the developing countries.
Governments are now recognizing the need
for authenticating users (particularly in
highly distributed environments). Security
over networks is becoming an issue and the
need for a certification authority is being
felt.
The task of integration across
departments has been particularly difficult.
As a result, applications that involve a few
departments and deliver a specific service to
a limited constituency have had the most
impact. Consequently, local governments
have shown the maximum potential.
Amongst the countries that use
languages other than English, some
countries were quick to develop a local
language interface for their applications. For
example, the Middle Eastern countries that
698
use Arabic have been very successful in
developing a standard for the local language
interface. Similarly, in Latin America the use
of Spanish is well developed. Other
countries, like Malaysia, adopted the Roman
script for writing in their own language. In
India, which has many developed languages,
a standard for local language interface was
slow to evolve.
In general, the lack of resources and
technical capacity has meant that egovernance applications cannot be scaled
easily. Also, there is a great deal of
variability in the technical sophistication of
e-governance applications built in the
developing countries. Nowhere is it more
pronounced than in the large number of
websites put up by various departments.
Resource constraints often force
departments to use in-house software
developers who are not up-to-date in their
technical skills and tend to economize
7
hardware/software purchase .
Investments in E-governance
Costs of e-governance projects
depend on the initial conditions­whether the
application is built from scratch replacing an
existing manual system or an extension of an
existing computerized system. Major cost
elements are hardware and software at the
back-end, data conversion, training and
maintenance and communications
infrastructure to link the public access points
8
to the back-end . Costs vary quite
dramatically according to scope and scale of
application. Projects involving web
publishing may cost in thousands of dollars
(20 to 200), whereas online service delivery
portals for a country takes millions of dollars
to build. Table 1.2 indicates that the cost of a
typical project may vary from USD 50,000
to USD 80 million. Most projects were done
at a low cost because the design of these
projects done at local/state level is simple: it
does not involve any integration. Investment
in e-governance is relatively small in
comparison to other types of development
programmes or infrastructure project. For
example, in India, the total expenditure to
implement the National Rural Employment
Guarantee Act for the year 2007-2008 was
USD 419 million.' However, comprehensive
national programmes can be costly as in the
case of the National e-governance plan
(NeGP) in India.
Given the low rates of Internet
penetration, developing countries have to
invest heavily in creating the infrastructure
for citizen access. The cost of building
applications that will deliver services
through these centres would be separate. The
cost of building e-governance applications
also depends on whether the software is
developed or an existing packaged solution
is used. Unless inexpensive software
developers are available, as in India and
China, it is often more costly to make the
software than to buy it. Consultant services
for re-engineering and change management9
can also be expensive if they have to be
sourced from large multinational firms,
which is often the case as such capabilities
do not exist in developing countries.'
Capacity, both to build and manage
software, is a key consideration. Mistakes
made in software design can lead to high
expenses for correction in the future. A
balance between software alternatives-open
source and proprietary platforms and
applications-can provide avenues for
reducing costs.
Table 1.2: E-governance project investment
Project
National E-governance Programme, India
(spread over six years)
e-Lanka, Sri Lanka
Department of Company Affairs MCA
Treasury Computerization-Karnataka
Customs Modernization, Philippines
E-procurement, Korea
E-procurement, Andhra Pradesh
Computerization of Commercial Taxes
Computerized Interstate Checkposts
Bhoomi Online Land Title Registration
AP CARD Online Services
e-Seva, Andhra Pradesh
Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation
e-panchayat, Gujarat
Tax System in Thailand
Mandals Online
Citizen Service CentresPoupatempos
Current/projected investments ($)
50 billion
53 million
21 81.14 million
8.5 million
27 million
26 million
12 billion
2.70 million
4 million
3.7 million
4.3 million
4.5 million-(for the first phase)
5.88 million
35.28 million
55.8 million
13 million
1.8
Source: Compiled from investment amounts of various studies.
699
E-governance Readiness of World
Countries
A useful indicator to understand the
current status of e-governance in a specific
developing country is to compare its egovernance readiness rank with countries
that are known to be leaders. There are many
different e-governance readiness indicators
that are published. The UNPAN indicator is
published every year, it is used here to
analyze trends. Table 1.3 presents the
performance of 21 countries (covering the
entire spectrum of development and ICT
infrastructure) as a useful benchmark.
Australia, Canada, US, France and the
Republic of Korea are ranked very high in
telecommunications infrastructure and egovernance readiness. Developing countries
in South Asia rank lower on both these
indexes and China, Philippines, Vietnam
and Thailand are somewhere in the middle.
However, in web presence and eparticipation, the two measures that indicate
existing e-governance activity, India has
done as well as the middle rung country. The
use of community service centres as
opposed to individual access by citizens in
India seems to have enabled India to
overcome the handicap of poor performance
in telecom infrastructure index.
Table 1.3: E-governance readiness of countries
Country
Telecommu­
nications
infrastructure index
E-participation
E-gov.
Web measure
assessment
Index
Rank
0.7525
9
0.6884
0.8864
5
8
Bangladesh 0.3512
NA
0.0246
0.1364
78
142
Canada
0.7659
8
0.6966
0.6136
11
7
China
0.5084
47
0.1600
0.4773
20
65
France
0.8294
5
0.5992
0.9318
3
9
Germany
0.5753
33
0.6164
0.1591
74
22
India
0.4783
54
0.0435
0.2500
49
113
Indonesia
0.3344
NA
0.0702
0.0455
135
106
Japan
0.7425
10
0.6232
0.6136 11
11
Malaysia
0.67561
7
0.3022
0.2955
41
34
Mongolia
0.4214
NA
0.0911
0.2727
47
82
Nepal
0.2876
NA
0.0119
0.0227
152
150
Pakistan
0.4247
70
0.0540
0.0909
98
131
Philippines 0.5117
45
0.1006
0.2727 47
6
0.6886
0.9773
Australia
Index
Rank
readiness
rank
66
Republic
of Korea
700
0.8227
2
6
Singapore 0.6120
25
0.5853
0.6364
10
23
Sri Lanka 0.3946
NA
0.0656
0.0682
116
101
Thailand
0.5050
50
0.1510
0.2955
41
64
UK
0.6923
16
0.7022
0.4318
25
10
USA
0.9532
3
0.6663
1.0000
1
4
Vietnam
0.4448
63
0.1081
0.5227
16
91
Source: Compiled from UN Global e-Readiness Survey (UNPAN 2008).
The Balance - Sheet of E-governance
Applications
A major goal of e-governance
projects in developed economies is to
enhance productivity of both the public and
private sectors through the leveraging of
ICT. E-governance has captured the interest
of developing countries. There has been a
considerable demonstrative effect of the
well publicized large projects of egovernance in advanced economies in the
delivery of services, provision of
information and internal administration of
the public sector. Many developing
countries that have developed significantly
in building IT applications feel that they can
leap to take advantage of the new electronic
channels that are available for delivering
government services. The reasons for
investing in e-governance are quite diverse.
A country's ICT infrastructure and its
openness to public sector reform play an
important role in determining the types of
applications and kinds of goals for which egovernance is implemented10.
Countries that have an advanced
ICT infrastructure invest in e-governance
because they are faced with a population that
expects the government to provide services
at the same rate of efficiency and speed that
is offered by the private sector.
Citizens in developing countries are
experiencing a significant improvement in
service levels in e-commerce, vis-a-vis the
private sector. They feel that if the private
sector can make systematic improvements in
service delivery, why can the government
not use the same technologies? Thus,
citizens in some countries are, in fact, asking
the government to go online.
Yet, other countries are focusing on
improving the efficiency of the public sector
to increase economic competitiveness. A
number of countries have invested in egovernance applications that aim to reduce
administrative burdens on the private sector
and increase foreign direct investment.
Governments are also using e-governance
applications to encourage citizens to move
towards self-service to save cost and time for
both citizens and the government.
Countries, where external
accountability institutions are being
strengthened, often use e-governance tools
to augment basic democratic principles such
as citizen participation, fundamentally
altering the contours of democracy and how
citizens interact with the government. These
governments involve their citizens in
deciding the kind of services they should
offer and the platforms through which these
can be delivered.
701
Other countries, after experiencing
early successes, wish to be pioneers in the egovernance field. These successes are a
source of pride. For example, Brazil
launched an electronic voting system. They
are proud that it is a better system than that of
the United States. There is a competition
taking place amongst developing countries
and also with developed countries, which
spurs the development of new applications.
In the last decade, many countries
have gone through a process of political and
economic liberalization and economic
growth under advice from multilateral
lending agencies. Many large countries, like
India and China, have grown at 8 to 10
percent over the last decade. Having
completed the first phase of economic policy
reform, such countries are now under
compulsion to move to the next phase of
reform in the field of governance.
Governance reform agendas have included
e-governance pilots that aim to reduce
corruption, increase transparency and
quality of service. When e-governance has
been used towards a specific governance
goal that is backed by political leadership, it
is seen as an effective tool for governance
reform by these countries11.
Increasingly, governments in the
developing world seek to tie e-governance
with their overall economic and social
development goals. For example, in India,
alleviation of poverty is an important goal
and, therefore, many applications that
deliver services online in rural areas are
being tried out in spite of numerous
infrastructural constraints. These applications have an effect on empowerment,
702
poverty reduction and improving
government responsiveness to poor
communities who have had little prior
access to public services. Bhoomi in
Karnataka, India is a striking example where
land titles are delivered online to millions of
farmers in 15 minutes instead of the earlier
practice where bribes had to be paid and it
took weeks to obtain a land title. In other
cases, knowledge relevant to economic
activities is being delivered to communities
in local languages through rural Internet
Kiosks.
In Latin America, corruption has
been a key public issue and, therefore, eprocurement and transparency in public
spending have been emphasized. A number
of e-governance projects in other countries
have also focused on the reduction of
administrative corruption and increase in
transparency. E-governance can have a
direct impact on (a) reducing the number of
intermediaries that citizens need to interact
with in order to get a government service, (b)
improving government ability to monitor,
and (c) disclosing information about
government processes and public budget
spending to citizens. Increasingly,
governments would like to use e-governance
as a tool to enhance transparency and reduce
corruption, although this goal is sometimes
not stated publicly as it may create resistance
within the civil service.
A country's willingness to adopt
basic public sector reform must determine
the breadth and scope of e-governance
applications. Many times, e-governance
applications are used as a catalyst and
enables further reform. E-governance
projects are funded with the expectation that
these applications will increase efficiency
and bring about more transparency and
accountability to citizens. Success in
reforms is directly linked to the openness of
a government and its interest in pursuing
basic reform goals. For example, many egovernance applications would be
incompatible with a regime that does not
promote increased access to information.
Several e-governance projects have failed
because they were not aligned with realistic
expectations and the willingness of
governments to introduce basic reform. It is
critical that e-governance projects become
more closely aligned with the political
context of a country and its pace of reform. A
reform agenda needs to be encouraged more
broadly and e-governance cannot be
perceived as a panacea or the driver of
reform.
There is a real danger that some
governments may wish to appear to be
modernizing and may implement egovernance without making any serious
attempt to reform government's functioning.
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For Example, in Canada currently only
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703
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704
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E-Government for Development,
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Submission Date: August 2002,
http://www.egov4dev.org/beira.htm
Proceedings of International Conference on Contemporary Management - 2014 (ICCM - 2014), pp 705-712
'NOTICING' AS A SCAFFOLDING TO ENHANCE THE
VOCABULARY OF ESL LEARNERS AT THE FACULTY
OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES AND COMMERCE,
UNIVERSITY OF JAFFNA.
K.L.Ramanan
Abstract
Teaching vocabulary requires the knowledge of what should be taught about words.
Richards (1976) and Nation (2001), as cited by McCarten (2007), list them as ranging from the
meaning(s) of the word to its connotations. Having these in the back ground, this study intends to
utilize an experimental research oriented Task based Language Teaching (TBLT) method whereby
the researcher tries to motivate the ESL learners, at the Faculty of Management Studies and
Commerce, University of Jaffna, to improve their vocabulary by engaging themselves in capturing
photographs of billboards for collecting the English words on them. The primary objective is to make
the students see, notice, learn and familiarize the words via taking photographs. The secondary
objective is to make their passive vocabulary to be active. Nation (2001) introduced 'noticing' as a
prerequisite for learning words. According to him noticing is seeing a word as something to be
learned. The research makes the students notice the words and learn by engaging in relevant and
interesting activities which are based on TBLT. The research is designed so as to require the target
students to take photographs of bill boards of particular shops and to list the English words on them;
a pre-test will be conducted to test their background knowledge, tasks will be designed by the
researcher and they will be completed and a post-test would be employed to evaluate the
improvements in the understanding of those words.
Key words: Noticing, ESL Learning, Task Based Language Teaching (TBLT), Intentional Learning,
1. INTRODUCTION
The key issues in learning
vocabulary according to Schmitt (2010) are
the following: need of a large vocabulary to
function in a language, various kinds of
word knowledge to use a word well,
incremental vocabulary learning,
requirement of vocabulary consolidation,
and requirement of enhancement of partial
knowledge. He contends that a large
number of word families are necessary to
function in a language and quotes several
scholars for the minimum number of words
required. According to him Nation indicated
that general vocabulary is about 5000 word
families and Hazenberg and Hulstijn
indicated that learners need to have 10000
word families to use them in a variety of
contexts. McCarten (2007)contends that the
teaching of vocabulary should identify the
most frequent 2000 to 5000 words.
The academic programme for
students of the Faculty of Management
ELTC, University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka. [email protected]
705
Studies and Commerce is conducted in the
English medium. Though a flexibility in the
usage of English is maintained for the core
programmes, they struggle a lot to manage to
get through the examinations. The lack of
knowledge of what to learn and how to learn
and use them is the major factor for their
lagging behind. The abilities in the core
subjects cannot be exhibited by the students
when they need to show them. This study
tries to give them learning techniques. A
number of strategies and techniques are
involved in the learning and teaching of
vocabulary.
1.1 Important Techniques of Teaching
Vocabulary
The techniques, strategies of
teaching vocabulary are described below as
recommended by three leading scholars
namely I.S.P. Nation, Norbert Schmitt and
Jeanne McCarten. The techniques proposed
by them range from vocabulary card,
mnemonic, world building techniques,
guessing from context, L1 definition,
synonyms, picture/demonstration, revising
the vocabulary worked on previously,
noticing or focusing on vocabulary, offering
variety, repeating and recycling, providing
opportunities to organize vocabulary,
making vocabulary-learning personal, not
overdoing it, using strategic vocabulary in
class, vocabulary note book, research tools
like internet and teaching everyday usage.
Let us have a bird's eye view of what these
three scholars recommended.
Nation's article on 'Best Practices in
Vocabulary Teaching and Learning ' focuses
on the direct conscious learning of words in
and out of contexts (Nation. He emphasizes
form focused explicit learning for the
following reasons: speeding up of the
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vocabulary learning, availability of large
number of words in explicit knowledge for
form focused use , increasing the awareness
of systematic features of vocabulary and
contribution to implicit knowledge.
Techniques and procedures of teaching /
learning vocabulary is the important
discussion in the article. It suggests
techniques and procedures to be employed at
the beginner's, intermediate and advanced
levels.
The techniques for the beginner
level are vocabulary card on which a word in
L2 & L1 are written, combined with
mnemonic techniques like key word
techniques or word part analysis, or simply
creating a mental picture of the word or
situation where it is used; word building
devices like inflectional suffixes; guessing
from context strategy where clues from
situational context and grammatical context
are useful; L1 definition; synonyms and
pictures/demonstration.
The techniques for the intermediate
level focus on expanding the uses that can be
made of known words i.e. drawing attention
to the underlying meaning of a word by
seeing its use in a variety of contexts. The
techniques include continuing the guessing
from context strategy; word parts to help
remember the meanings of new words like
affixes; revising the vocabulary worked on
previously.
At the advanced level learners
should focus on the academic vocabulary. At
this stage less value is given to the direct
teaching and the learners must be able to do
substantial amount of direct learning. Still
guessing unknown word from context, using
word parts to remember the meanings of
words and using mnemonic techniques are
used at this stage. Anyhow the main focus of
teaching at this level is strategy development
to suit the needs of the learners.
Norbert Schmitt's (2010) article on
'Key issues on Teaching and Learning
Vocabulary' discusses the following key
issues in teaching and learning of
vocabulary of English language: need of a
large vocabulary to function in a language,
need of various kinds of word knowledge to
use a word well, incremental vocabulary
learning, consolidation of vocabulary
learning
and vocabulary learning
enhancement of partial knowledge.
Teaching vocabulary involves
pedagogical implications of the discussion
on the above mentioned five key issues.
Schmitt poses a question on how teachers
can ensure an extensive vocabulary
knowledge, as there is no best teaching
methodology. As an approach to this
question he suggests that the best teaching
method depends on factors which vary from
situation to situation. The factors are three
fold; the words, the learners, and the general
teaching approach.
The General teaching approach
involves two varieties of learning. They are
intentional and incidental learning. He
recommends intentional learning as it leads
to more robust & faster learning, involves
deeper engagement leading to better
retention, can focus on important
vocabulary selected by the teacher (high
frequency, technical, targeted). In his view
the incidental learning is useful as it can
address words which can't be explicitly
taught for time reasons, fills out the kinds of
contextual word knowledge which can't
easily be explicitly taught, provides
recycling for words already taught explicitly
and vocabulary learning occurs while
improving other language skill areas e.g.
reading. Schmitt concludes that both
approaches are necessary, as they
compensate for the gaps left by the other
approach.
McCarten's (2007) booklet 'Teaching
Vocabulary' has two chapters, one on
lessons from the corpus and the other on
lessons from the classroom . The second
chapter provides two sections, one on what
to be taught and the other on how to help the
students learn vocabulary. The second
section is the most important one in which he
suggests the usage of materials in two broad
areas. They are
1. materials need to present & practice in
natural contexts the vocabulary that is
frequent, current and appropriate to
learners' current needs.
2. materials should help students become
better learners of vocabulary by
teaching different techniques &
strategies they can use to continue
learning outside the classroom.
In the second area he advocates two
types of teaching namely teaching the
vocabulary in class and helping students
become independent learners in and out of
class. The techniques for the teaching of
vocabulary are focusing on vocabulary,
offering variety, repeating and recycling,
providing opportunities to organize
vocabulary, making vocabulary learning
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personal, not overdoing it and using
strategic vocabulary in class. The second
type, that is helping students become
independent learners in and out of class,
insists on having vocabulary note book,
research tools like internet and teaching
everyday usage.
Intentional learning approach of the
general teaching approach as recommended
by Nation is adopted for this research for the
following reasons; the adulthood of the
students, the time constraints, involvement
of deeper engagement as students are
required to use computer based tools and
cameras and ability to focus on the
vocabulary selected by the students
themselves. Technological knowledge of
using computer, internet and the search
engines motivates the students to explore the
new way of learning. At the same time the
present research concentrates on the second
type of vocabulary teaching techniques
suggested by Schmitt to enable the student
become independent especially through the
research tools like Google translate,
Dictionary.com. Thesaurus tool, reference,
synonym and antonym tools, example
sentence tool, nearby words tool, and visual
thesaurus link of dictionary.com and the
synonyms and thesaurus option given by the
MS Word application. Students were
demonstrated how to make use of all these
tools.
1.2. Objectives of the Study and the
Subjects
The present research is an attempt to
enable the students have a highly
qualitative-knowledge of the day to day high
frequency words. Though the learners are
exposed to these high frequency words
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several times a day, they are unaware of
their different dimensions. As indicated by
Schmitt (2010) there are a number of ways in
which the meaning of a word can be
intentionally learned. They are definition or
explanation, demonstration or gesture,
synonym or antonym, giving examples,
explanation in situational contexts. This
study tries to incorporate most of these
techniques to teach vocabulary. The primary
objective is to make the students see, notice,
learn and familiarize the words via taking
photographs. The secondary objective is to
make their passive vocabulary to be active.
Students belonging to the second
year at the Faculty of Management Studies
and Commerce were the participants of the
study. The total number of sophomores is
310.The subjects of the studybelong to
mixed ability group of forty three students
and out of them nine students did not follow
the instructions on writing about the same
words at the pre and post-tests. Therefore the
data regarding to them could not be included
in the study.
2. RESEARCH DESIGN
The study is based on McCarten's
suggestions on teaching vocabulary in the
class especially its important technique
called focusing on vocabulary by using the
strategy of 'Noticing' suggested by Nation.
This is combined with McCarten's
suggestion for helping students become
independent learners in and out of class
especially by employing the research tools
like the internet.
As the research is a combination of
Nation's 'Noticing strategy and helping
students become independent in learning the
vocabulary, it would be appropriate to
explain ' noticing'. It is a vocabulary
acquisition strategy which is seeing a word
as something to be learned according to
Nation as cited by McCarten (2007:20).
McCarten further adds that the teacher can
help the learners get into the habit of noticing
by making it clear in classroom instruction
and homework assignment. Having this
teacher's role in mind, the researcher wanted
the students to be independent in learning
the vocabulary, students were demonstrated
to uses some of the search tools for the
learning of vocabulary like Google translate,
Dictionary.com, Thesaurus tool of
Dictionary.com, reference tool of
D i c t i o n a r y. c o m , q u o t e s t o o l o f
Dictionary.com, synonyms and antonym
tool and the synonym and the thesaurus
facilities provided by MS Word application.
Assignments were given to the students to
work on their own to get into the habit of
noticing the words.
3. METHODOLOGY
A pre-test was designed employing
the techniques suggested by Notion and
Schmitt to teach the vocabulary. The
students were asked to photograph
billboards of shops in their vicinity and to
exhibit what they know about the words they
notice on the billboards. Each student was
advised to take photo of a billboard of shops
of different nature. The pre-test was
conducted to get an understanding of the
students' background knowledge, especially
that of the particular word of their choice
from the billboards they have photographed.
The main areas tested were the domain in
which the key word can be used, forms of
word class, meaning for each word class,
sample sentence using the word in context,
synonyms, antonyms, words deriving from
the key words, grammatical aspects, words
starting with similar sounds, equivalent
word in their mother tongue and a picture
that represents the key word.
After the pre-test, the students were
given a practice task sheet of the same type
of practices to work on their own at home.
They were instructed to get the help of online
tools to motivate independent self learning.
They were taught how to make use of the
websites like www.dictionary.com, its tools
like dictionary, thesaurus, reference,
quotation; Google translate to get the
meaning in their first language and MS word
application's synonyms option and
thesaurus option. The students were
practically taught online how to get the
meaning and other related knowledge of
words by utilizing different sources.
The task sheets were issued by
email to the students to get the
understanding of different dimensions of the
same word they wrote about, at the pre-test.
They were allowed to explore the words,
their meanings, their contexts in sentences,
their synonyms, their antonyms,
grammatical aspects and equivalent word in
their L1.A post-test was conducted, without
any changes, to test the knowledge retained
by them after their self learning. A
comparative analysis of data is done
afterwards using the quantitative analysis
and a quantified qualitative analysis of the
data.
4. DATA ANALYSIS
There is a slight improvement in the
spellings of words from the pre-testlevel to
the post-test level. The percentage of the
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students who correctly wrote the spelling of
the word in the pre-test was 91.1% and at the
post-testit was 97%. The increase in the
correct written form is an effect of repeated
'noticing' of the same word.The knowledge
of the domains in which the words could be
used remain at a high level of 100 %. This
indicates that the students have noticed the
domains that use the word, when they took
the photographs. This needed no
intervention of the instruction or intentional
learning.
The post-test shows an average growth
of 29.3% in the knowledge of word class
forms. Though the knowledge of each
separate class, namely the forms of noun,
verb, adjective and adverb, developed from
66.6%, 81.4%, 46.2% and 0% to 100%,
97%, 79.2% and 35.3% respectively.
Overall knowledge of meaning improved
by15.4%.
An immense growth was
observed in the knowledge of meanings of
adjectives and adverbs. This type of
knowledge was enhanced by 45% and 25%
in the cases of adjectives and adverbs. But
there was a negative growth witnessed at the
post-test with regard to the knowledge of the
meanings of nouns and verbs and this was by
-6.3% and-2.2% respectively.
This negative growth shall not be seen as
an indication of negative growth, as the total
number of the correct answers for these has
improved. Total number of correct answers
has increased from 26 at the pre-test to 30 at
the post-test, similarly the number of correct
answers for the knowledge of meanings for
verb increased from 17 to 24.
The knowledge of using the words in the
proper context in sentences has increased by
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an average of 21.2%. This also included a
negative growth in the knowledge of using
verbs in sentences. Yet the total number of
correct answers has doubled from 13.
The knowledge of synonyms was high
at 88.2% and 90.3% at the pre and post-tests
respectively and the percentage of growth
was very minimal. It was only a 2.1%. Yet
the total number of correct synonyms at the
pre-test was 25 and the same increased to 83.
This proves a qualitative improvement in the
stock f words. There was a significant
improvement in the area of antonyms, the
knowledge was enriched by 22.7%. Another
area in which the knowledge improved
significantly is with regard to the words
starting with similar words. The
improvement was by 27.5%. Knowledge of
equivalent word in their L1 also had a slight
improvement by 4.8%.
It is necessary to have a look at the area
where negative growth occurred.
Knowledge of derivative words from the key
word and the grammatical aspects had a
growth of-5.7% and-16% respectively.
Though this may seem significant, the
number of correct answers of the same
between both the tests increased. The
number of correct answers for the derivative
words at the pre-test was 7 and the same
thing at the post-test increased to 18. In the
case of the knowledge of grammatical
aspects, the correct answers increased from
14 to 21. This proves the widening of
knowledge among the students qualitatively.
The study shows a slight
improvement in all the types of knowledge
required to the students. The overall average
growth was 8.9% only. This may seem
trivial. Yet the research's secondary
objective was achieved as it was able to
enable the students to make their passive
vocabulary into active by making them write
about different dimensions of a word which
they failed to write about at the pre-test level.
This study could test only the final retention
of the knowledge.
A qualitative study of the
enhancement of the knowledge would prove
the worthwhile endeavour of this method of
learning. Qualitative measurement in the
form of correct answers is quantified and the
improvement in the number is shown in the
table 3.1. This is limited to the knowledge of
synonyms, antonyms, derivative words,
grammatical aspects, words with similar
sounds and equivalent words in L1.
Table 3.1: Quantified Analysis of
Qualitative Improvement
answer
Pretest
No. of
correct
answer
Posttest
% of
Increas
e out
of
Total
student
s
No. of
correct
N
o
Type of
Knowledge
1
Synonyms
15
28
38%
2
5
23
53%
3
Antonyms
Derivative
words
7
18
32%
4
Grammatical
aspects
14
21
21%
5
Words
starting
with
similar
sounds
Equivalent
word in
Tamil /
Sinhala
12
28
47%
6
20
34
41%
The improvement in the learning
of the antonyms grew up by 53%. This
indicates that the learners have gained a
new knowledge with regard to the word
of their choice. The next important gain
in the knowledge is of the words starting
with the similar sounds. This knowledge
would be of great help to recall similarly
sounding words and to make them active
in their usage. The increase was by 47%.
The next great growth is
experienced in the learning of equivalent
word in their mother tongues (L1). L1
word equivalent for the English words is
very important to retain the ideas and
leaning,as the L1 plays a pivotal role in
the learning process of a student.
Knowledge of synonyms will
multiply the stock of the words of a
learner and will help to use different
words in different and appropriate
contexts. A fairly good percentage of
students have learnt synonyms correctly.
The percentage of increase in the correct
synonyms was 38%. Another set of
knowledge required for students is that
of derivative words. This knowledge
offers them variety and would enable
them to be specifically expressive in
similar contexts. The increase in this
knowledge is 32%.
The lowest improvement rate
was with regard to the knowledge of
grammatical aspects. The improvement
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rate in the correct display of grammatical
aspects was 21%. This may be because
of the intentional and quick nature of the
learning strategy employed.
5.CONCLUSION
The above data analysis shows
that there is a significant improvement in
the knowledge of various types of a
particular word after an active
engagement in a self learning practice
introduced by the researcher to the
students. The learning techniques and
tools based on the usage of computer and
the internet search tool were
incorporated in the task sheet have
contributed to the retention of new
knowledge. The adult students' desire for
the usage of technological instruments
like digital camera, the computers and
the internet was aptly used to direct their
learning skills to enhance the vocabulary
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quantitatively and qualitatively. The
“Noticing” and other techniques have
proved to be worth and serve as a
scaffolding of learning vocabulary for
the students of the Faculty of
Management Studies and Commerce,
University of Jaffna.
REFERENCE
McCarten, J. (2007). Teaching
Vocabulary: Lessons from the
Corpus, Lessons for the
Classroom.New York: CUP.
Nation, P. (1995) Best Practice in
Teaching Vocabulary Teaching
and Learning. Retrieved January
04,2014fromhttp://cunningham.a
cer.edu.au/inted/eaconf95/nation1.
pdf
Schmitt, N.(2010).Key Issues inLearning
Vocabulary.Retrieved January 04,
2014fromhttp://www.norbertschmi
tt.co.uk .