A cognitive approach to language learning

School Choice: The case of Sri Lankan International Schools

This study seeks to provide some comprehensive information on EFL students’ learned helplessness when learning English, by exploring the causal relationship between three variables: failure to learn English, personality traits and intrinsic/extrinsic motivation. Eighteen students and two English teachers participated in this study with a gatekeeper’s consent. This was done mainly through focus group interviews. The data was elicited from the NEO-FI Personality Trait Inventory with a cross analysis done on the in-depth interviews. The findings indicate that students with different personality traits do regard their failure to learn English in different ways. This in turn, leads to various influences that decrease their intrinsic motivation. The intrinsic motivation for all of the participants is inevitably affected by failure, but learners with a neuroticism trait are the most sensitive to failure. Therefore, these are the students who are most susceptible to experiencing learned helplessness when learning English, while students with traits of openness, extraversion and agreeableness can reactivate their extrinsic motivation when appealed to by external incentives. However, this study also discovered that there was a mismatch between a teacher’s judgment on student amotivation and the student’s self-assessment of his/her motivation to learn English.

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A Qualitative Analysis on the Occurrence of Learned Helplessness among EFL Students

As per the Sapir-Whorf theory, languages determine thought. Thus, whatever the atmosphere created by a language, be it first or second, determines the outlook of the learner towards the society. Textbooks are a key factor in exposing learners to a new language, especially in Sri Lanka, where the majority of the lesson time in English is allocated for studying the textbook. It then becomes imperative that the textbooks be analysed for their use of language as textbooks are often the only mode through which learners get to view the world associated with the English language. Textbooks prescribed by the Ministry of Education for grades 9, 10 and 11 were therefore analysed using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The purpose was to determine whether the textbooks were partial to one gender or sex and if so, understand in what way it was biased. It was identified that there are clear demarcations of sexism in the texts analysed, with the males being given a dominating, powerful and central role while females were relegated to a secondary supportive role. It was also identified that representation of female role models was inadequate and severely out of date. The findings have considerable implications in that the female students studying these texts would not only be unable to relate to the content, leading to poorer performance in studies but also in that the females would be embedded with the incorrect notion that the role of a woman is secondary. This trend could have a grave impact in terms of creating the next generation of Sri Lanka as the exposure provided to the learners does not expose them to a more gender-sensitive society.

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Sexism in ESL textbooks in Sri Lanka: A case study of the G.C.E. O/L textbooks

The Australian Government is using many of its Department of Defence capabilities in operations abroad and at home. To achieve this, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) has increasingly relied on the capability of the Reserve Forces; in particular the Army Reserve (ARes). While demand for Reservists has increased, the overall force numbers have been decreasing. This creates problems not only in Defence capability but also in the quality of training, morale and attendance. Defence has conducted many surveys of serving Reservists to understand their motivations from a qualitative standpoint. It is the aim of this descriptive empirical phenomenological research, through the lived experience of the participants, to complement that work by understanding the experiences and perspectives of those experiencing military service in two part-time army organisations (Australia and the United Kingdom’s Territorial Army (TA)) in order to better inform Human Resource (HR) policy and practice within the Australian Army Reserve.
A descriptive empirical phenomenological study was undertaken to understand the lived experiences of Reservists and Territorial Army members. Nine participants reflected on their motivations to join, their experiences of recruitment, training, and promotion, and some of their most enjoyable and least enjoyable aspects of Reserve service. A human resources (HR) lens was used to focus the literature and research data approaches. The data was analysed using a descriptive empirical phenomenological method. As a result, both the participant and researcher voice is presented. This is then referenced against the data, models and theories presented in the literature to identify consistencies and points of difference between past research and this approach. This study suggests that the psyche of Reservist motivation is unique by being a combination of both volunteer and part-time employee motivation.
The conclusions drawn identify that most of the participant Reservists experienced service through both a volunteer perspective (value for time) and through an employee perspective (value for money); this in turn influences Reservists’ retention. HR practice in the Army focuses on the employee motivation of Reservists. As a result, developing HR policies and practices that considers the volunteer motivations of Reservists as well may enhance retention. The richness of the phenomenological results points to a worthwhile methodological strategy for future Reserve service research.

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Paid volunteers - investigating retention of Army Reservists

The main purpose of this collaborative action research was to find out strategies to minimize the problems arising as a result of student heterogeneity in the Sri Lankan second language classrooms. In this research the principal researcher and the two assistant researchers from the Department of Humanities Education, University of Colombo collaborated with five practicing teachers and two RESC staff to carry out this collaborative action research. First, the activities in the Unit six of the Pupils textbook (Grade 7 and 10) were matched with the Competencies identified in the Teacher Instructional Manual. Later, the activities given were adapted to cater to three different ability levels. Students were grouped into three levels based on their marks obtained at the second term test. In the same class the three different levels of students were taught using the different activities. Even though, at the beginning the majority of the students were not in favour of the same ability grouping, at the end of the intervention majority of the students were happy about it. The students’ marks at the end of the third term show an improvement. The teachers, the RESC staff as well as the University staff agree that teaching same ability groups using differentiated tasks was a success. Further, students’ marks at the end of the year tests also show a positive improvement, especially among the less able students. Therefore, the findings of this study indicate that using ‘same ability’ groups with differential tasks is a possibility in minimizing student heterogeneity.

/pdf/coping-with-student-heterogeneity-in-the-english-language-1egkjou2pm.pdf

Coping with student heterogeneity in the English Language Classrooms A collaborative action research

Based on a sub set of data from a study which investigated the role of motivation as a contributing factor in second language learning in a disadvantaged school setting in Sri Lanka, this paper attempts to show the relationship between a ‘culture of poverty’ and learning. Lewis, (1970 : p.85) states that ‘in addition to being a condition of chronic economic poverty, the culture of poverty is characterized by the cognitive poverty of its ‘members’, instilling a fatalism with reference to any possibility of ever achieving a different way of life’. Although education is one way in which such people could be empowered to develop a sense of self confidence and self worth, children acquire the adult fatalism early and become learned helpless. The findings of the study indicate that there is a correlation between motivation and a ‘culture of poverty’. Further, in spite of the adverse socio-economic backgrounds from which the students come, their motivation to learn the second language can be enhanced. However, it is not the ‘culture of poverty’ per se that affects motivation but the type of attributions that the students make regarding their prior learning experiences. Thus a relationship between attributions and ‘cognitive poverty’ was visible.

/pdf/why-not-but-i-can-t-influence-of-a-culture-of-poverty-on-1vuws7g9dy.pdf

"Why not? But I can't" – Influence of a 'culture of poverty' on learning - A case study

Overcoming learned helplessness

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Coping with student heterogeneity in the English Language Classrooms A collaborative action research

"Why not? But I can't" – Influence of a 'culture of poverty' on learning - A case study

Overcoming learned helplessness