For next generation of corporate and social leaders - 2012 ‘Leadership in Action Summits’ at Harvard and Stanford Universities in USA

For next generation of corporate and social leaders - 2012 ‘Leadership in Action Summits’ at Harvard and Stanford Universities in USA

June 18, 2011, 7:13 pm


Since the year 2000, over 550 Sri Lankan teenagers have experienced an amazing week in the USA which changed their lives forever. 470 of them entered foreign Universities. These include Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Brown, Upenn, Washington, Mt. Holliork, Notradam, Macalister, Clark, Wisconsin in USA, Sydney, Melbourne and East Sydney in Australia and Oxford, Nottingham, Warrick, Leeds, Sheffield, Kings, LSE and Sussex in the United Kingdom.


The majority of these students, after graduation, came back to Sri Lanka to take on new careers or to join their parents’ companies and organizations to lead them to a new level.


In 2012, Sri Lanka will send 30 student leaders for The Leadership in Action Summit at the prestigious Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts and Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, USA. The program will be conducted by ‘People to People Leadership Programs’ of The Dwight Eisenhower Foundation, founded in 1956 by the late US President, Dwight Eisenhower. Students from outside USA represent 38% of the summit. For more information and applications visit www.futureworldleader.org


This once in a lifetime opportunity is open to the next generation of corporate, social and political leaders, who are now between 16 to 19 years. Every year The Leadership in Action Summit brings together 300 promising student leaders from 30 countries to explore and challenge leadership skills.


In addition, these students gain an enhanced university resume with credit marks and preference for admission and scholarships to universities in U.S.A. The Harvard University and Stanford campuses provides the perfect location for students to develop leadership skills, prepare for University admissions, build their communication and presentation skills, said Ananda Rajapakse, the South Asia Representative for People to People Leadership Programs, USA. For selection criteria email; futureworldleader@eureka.lk


In July this year, 33 Sri Lankans and one Maldivian will attend the Harvard University Leadership in Action Summit. They are Shenelle Siriwardena (Head Girl), Wiyan Perera (Head Boy) Nitya Amalean, Migara Cabraal, Jaikishan Jayesinghe, Rashida Patel, Nishath Karim, Prashan Mendis, Ruchira Nanayakkara, Udesh Dharmadasa, Lishan Perera, Toshan Wickramanayake, Senal Rajamanthri, Lahiru Gamage, Lakshitha Weerasuriya, Aqil Refai, Tisura Goonewardena, Shimmer Milfer and Kavindu Ranasinghe from Colombo International School; Akana Jayawardena and Amani Wickramasinghe (Head Prefect) from Bishops’ College, Nimantha Fernando from S. Thomas’ Mt. Lavinia, Minura Tissera from Lyceum International School, Shireen Akbarally , Upeksha Narayana, Tarangee Mutucumarana, Mansha Abdulla, Aqla Mizver and Sachini Egodage (Head Girl) from Asian International School, Raga Raghuraman and Sasha Chatoor from The British School in Colombo, Lukshmee Saravanapavan from Elizabeth Moir School, Dmitri Cooray from St. Josephs College and Gimantha Perera from S. Thomas’ Prep, Colpetty.


Mrs. Rochelle Melder, an American trained student counselor will be the Delegation Manager.

www island.lk

The Hindu : Education : Numerous resources and opportunities for students

The Hindu : Education : Numerous resources and opportunities for students

The Hindu : Education : Path to a career in teaching, research

The Hindu : Education : Path to a career in teaching, research

The Hindu : Education : No Indian university in global top 200

The Hindu : Education : No Indian university in global top 200

‘The great Indian Education Fair 2011’ was held recently at the ‘Sri Lankan Exhibition and Convention Centre’ with the sheer purpose of EDU INFO.!!!

Indian education fair
Text and pix- Amalshan Gunarathne

‘The great Indian Education Fair 2011’ was held recently at the ‘Sri Lankan Exhibition and Convention Centre’ with the sheer purpose of providing Sri Lankan students with insightful information on Indian University system. The exhibition gave its visitors the opportunity of gaining expert opinion, career guidance and comparative insights on how to compete with the current global education trends.


Indian High Commissioner Ashok K Kantha with the exhibitors

The event was organized by the ‘Affairs Exhibitions & Media Private Limited, India’. Speaking on behalf of the organizing committee, the Managing director of the Affairs Exhibitions and Media Pvt. Ltd, Sanjeev Bolia articulated: “The exhibition will demonstrate how Indian education can help students to achieve success in an extremely competitive world. The Indian education seeks to provide its students a very high brand of education at a relatively lower cost.”

Compared to western universities in United Kingdom, USA, Australia and Europe, the Indian education comes at a very affordable cost. In fact the cost of higher education in India is one tenth the cost of a European university. Even at such a lower rate, most reputed universities in India provide the students with best learning environment. They provide the students with a reputed international staff, plush interior, rich infrastructure and wide variety of outdoor sporting activities.


Indian High Commissioner Ashok K Kantha presenting certificates to exhibitors

Many of India’s most reputed, schools, colleges and universities participated to the exhibition. The exhibition was segmented in to two divisions. The first division showcased what India has to offer for the primary and secondary education.

Many reputed schools including, Woodstock School-Mussori, Singapore International School (Mumbai), Akash International School (Banglore), Comorin International School (Kanyakumari), St. Jhon’s Residential School (Chennai), Prudence International School (Mumbai), participated to the event. The schools cater to students in both primary and secondary level.


Indian High Commissioner Ashok K Kantha and other distinguished guests at the opening ceremony

The other division provided the visitors with a very in-depth analysis on the Indian university system. Many renowned universities including NITTE University (Bangalore), Alliance University (Bangalore), Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Science (Nagpur), KIT university (Bhubaneswar) VELS University (Chennai), Acharya Group of Institutions (Bangalore), Dayananda Sagar Group of Institutions (Bangalore) participated to the event.

The exhibition was also expected to bridge the gap between the two countries. Speaking at the opening ceremony Indian High Commissioner Askok K Kantha stated: “Considering that the education has always been an integral part of India and Sri Lanka’s multi facet relationship, the fair is expected to make a positive impact on the growing bilateral cooperation between the two countries. Through such collaborative effort we can take the regional growth to higher standards”

DAILYNEWS.LK

The Colombo University is calling for applications for Masters, Postgraduate Diplomas and Diploma in Travel, Tourism Economics and Hotel Management.!!

Applications called for Masters, Postgraduate Diplomas
Nethli Struys

The Colombo University is calling for applications for Masters, Postgraduate Diplomas and Diploma in Travel, Tourism Economics and Hotel Management.

This aims to enhance the required manpower of tourism and hospitality industry with academic recognition and professional excellence, Colombo University Senior Lecturer and Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management Director General Dr DAC Suranga Silva said.

The duration of the two year part time program is two years. the first year will be devoted to the Postgraduate Diploma in Tourism Economics and Hotel Management (DTEHM) while the second year will be allocated for the Masters in Tourism Economics and Hotel Management (MTEHM) program. Diploma in Travel and Tourism Economics and Hotel Management provides practical and analytical competence in socio-economic, ecological, marketing, managerial, accounting, information technology and legal aspects of the travel and tourism industry through interactive and application-oriented study approaches.

The course targets those engaged in the travel and tourism fields at different professional levels, tourism related policymakers, planners and researchers, and also those who aspire to be in a career in the travel and tourism sector.

This course gives an opportunity for travel and tourism sector oriented personnel to benefit from studying at the premier national university in Sri Lanka, he said.

The duration of the course is one year. The closing date for applications is March 20. Applications and informations can be downloaded from http://www.cmb.ac.lk/academic/arts/econ/index.php or http://www.sltda.lk/education or collect from the library of the Department of Economics, Colombo University.

Application fee is Rs 1,500 payable at the interview. Inquiries can be made on (011) 2502722, 2582666, 2596889 or 5355809.

DAILYNEWS.LK

Produced by Lake House Copyright © 2011 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.

Confidence building to learn English....!!!

Confidence building to learn English
Peer intervention as a teaching method:



Dr Asantha U Attanayake

Peer intervention is used in the form of a correction method in the language classroom. Contemporary times, in English language teaching, it is used as one of the correction methods and not as a major part of teaching methodology. But in the Sri Lankan context, for adult learners (those who have five - ten years of English language learning background in school behind them), I have experimented that it helps immensely in language teaching as an independent discourse. In other words, it could be used as a complete language teaching methodology.

Basic mechanisms
One basic requirement is that learners are in small groups (of four - five). They work on the basis of the sameness. When the sameness is emphasized, sharing steps in. The idea is to make learners use their previous knowledge to accomplish the task given to them. It is assumed here that any Sri Lankan adult learner who decides to follow an English course would have some knowledge of basic language structures, some basic vocabulary, and some ability to read at least a couple of words in English. It is understood that this knowledge has various levels in it. One might find this disadvantageous in a classroom that requires catering to different language improvement needs. But when using peer intervention as the main teaching technique, this heterogeneity in language ability is exploited as one of the main assets.

The struggle
In using peer intervention as a complete teaching methodology, a task is given to a small group, for instance, a simple task such as to read instructions and understand the task or read a small paragraph. Students are asked to read aloud in the group. One student reads aloud while others listen or they could take turns to read aloud.

As it is natural for them to find many words that they do not know how to pronounce, there is a struggle to pronounce those words from the part of the reader. It is crucial that this struggle takes place and the reader and the other members in the group feel this effort. It is at this juncture that peer intervention is required.

Peer intervention comes in here as a support for the struggle. There is a possibility that a group member or members who listen to the loud reader will know the correct pronunciation and helps in the reading. This I would name as the first correct input. Correct input is essential in the learning process, yet it has to be given only when it is required to make the learning effective and meaningful. The necessity is created via creating the struggle. Then the first correct input from peers will be helpful and remembered by the reader/s who struggled. In addition, those who listened without knowing how to pronounce the very word/phrase would also benefit as they also faced a silent struggle.

On the other hand, there is uncertainty from the part of the reader and listeners when faced with a word/phrase whose pronunciation is not known by anyone in the group. Still, in such an occasion, the most important elements for the discourse that I am discussing here are present: the struggle and the need to know the way to pronounce the word/phrase correctly. This is true about getting to know the meaning of a word as well.

Teacher’s role
A teacher needs to give students the time required for loud reading and should see that the loud reading takes place. Herein, teacher is required to monitor the task by going round the class, moving among groups, listening to students’ reading aloud, making sure that every member in the group gets the chance to do loud reading, etc.

The next step is the second correct input. Once the group members read the instructions/paragraph within a time period that is sufficient as perceived by the teacher depending upon the proficiency level of the students, teacher must read the text (for instance, instructions to carry out the task or the paragraph) aloud. With the previously created struggle to read/pronounce, students will be alert to catch the word/phrase they could not pronounce while they were reading aloud.

This way, that is, by creating a struggle, the learners are made to feel the need to know the correct way of pronunciation and then by giving the opportunity to listen to the correct input twice, their need is gratified. This is the opposite of Behaviourism. Behaviourism is a learning theory that only focuses on objectively observable behaviours and discounts any independent activities of the mind. Where Behaviourism professes that behaviours are acquired through conditioning, herein, learners are made to undergo an internal process of ‘searching for’ in the form of a struggle. Once what the learners ‘search for’ through a mental process is given in the form of correct input, then the entire learning process becomes a cognitive exercise.

Sameness
In carrying out a task, be it reading or writing, sameness is emphasized. Learners in a group are asked to write the same thing and are required to check for the sameness among the group members.

Herein, the philosophy behind is that the first correct input would be given by a member/members of the group. This is on the assumption that a learner who knows how to pronounce a word correctly or how to use the simple present tense correctly (if it is the task assigned to them) will not agree to read or write it incorrectly for the sake of getting the sameness in the group.

He/she will argue, point out to others the correct way/correct verb to use and this becomes the first correct input. The second correct input will come from the teacher, and what has been done by the group will be checked immediately when the teacher’s input is given.

The other importance of checking for/emphasizing on the sameness of answers within a group is that it makes the learner continuously interact with his/her small group. For this interaction, certain amount of Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) in English is required if the environment to be conducive to English language learning. While monitoring, the teacher needs to give basic essential utterances for the groups to interact in English. For instance, utterances like, “What is your answer?”, “Mine is this”, “I think it is...”, etc could be given to groups and could even be drilled/parroted as the chance to use them immediately in groups will produce immediate results. Herein, students whose proficiency level is very low will be more than happy with the newly found ability to use one or two utterances in English in groups in order to carry out a task. This will make them feel confident about themselves and this confidence in speech will project them to be confident in doing the task (loud reading, fill in the blanks, etc) assigned to them in the group.

Psychological approach
In relation to English language teaching in the Sri Lankan context, more than a pure educational approach, what is appropriate and effective is a psychological approach. Herein, building confidence, developing confidence and maintaining it are three key concepts that should be used at different levels of teaching according to my perception. This is because, unlike in other countries, especially Western and European countries who profess the theories and teaching methodologies for English language teaching to the entire world may not necessarily have the attitudinal problems we encounter here in Sri Lanka.

Our closest neighbour India, as I stated in a previous article, does not discriminate a person who speaks in an accent that is highly inflexed with one of the 1652 mother tongues available in the sub continent. In addition, India has been able to produce a scholarly generation who speaks sense no matter what subject area they speak about. Therein, accent, pronunciation etc do not matter much (but one should not be misled here that the situation there is 100 percent perfect, but it is certainly better than ours especially where discourses at an academic level are concerned) as content and the quality of argumentation are what one is evaluated on.

Unfortunately in our context, we have not taught our English language learner who has undergone the English language learning process about 10 years to talk sense! Neither have we been able to persuade, or convinced the elitist community who have been projected as superior in their accent and pronunciation (Forget about the content they speak, whether it makes sense or not!) that what is important is not imitating or aiming to be like the native speaker of English, but to produce a native Sri Lankan speaker of English (with all kinds of Sri Lankanness attached to English) who uses rich content in his/her speaking. Herein, I admire the task of the Presidential Task Force on Language and IT and its convener, Sunimal Fernando’s untiring efforts to bring about a mass attitudinal change in relation to the speaking in English.

Teaching methodology
So, in short, in addressing the issue of teaching English to the vast majority of Sri Lankan youth who are from rural areas, the approach must be that of a psychological one. Therein we need to develop a homegrown teaching methodology with necessary incorporation of the accepted theories vis-a-vis language teaching the world over.

What we need to consider is the kind of language teaching we have carried out over the decades and the kind of input we have given to the learner in the process. It is obviously some knowledge about grammar which stands alone as a discrete entity, independent of being used in communication (be it speech or written), some vocabulary items and essentially “what is your name?” with the definite answer “My name is .......” and “How are you?” and “I am fine thank you” as the sure answer (forget even if the student is down with viral flu), the ultimate results of the so-called Communicative approach being used for teaching English, the achievements of the goal, communicative competence in the Sri Lankan context. The output is 63 percent failures in O-L English in 2006 that amounted to 73 percent in 2009.

Yet, without disregarding the fact that there has been some input over the years through their school career, we need to make use of it in planning curriculum for Sri Lankan learners of different levels and age groups. In such a context, making use of the learned knowledge, peer intervention could be used as a complete teaching methodology for adult learners in the manner that has been discussed through this article.


The writer is a lecturer in English Language, English Language Teaching Unit, Colombo University

What is important here is the process whereby the learner struggles and it is felt by the others and the support extended by the peers to cope with the struggle; and secondarily the support by the teacher. The mechanism should be carefully monitored by the teacher, and for this teachers should be trained accordingly.

Teachers must be made aware of the characteristics that are specific to the Sri Lankan learner and the failure we experience in teaching English. Without this, teachers may not be fond of deviating from the Western or European professed teaching methodologies which they have been following throughout their careers.

A complete paradigm shift is required in changing the attitude of the teachers of English and others who are at the decision-making level (to be open to changes as regards teaching methodologies) in developing and supporting a homegrown methodology to teach English in our country.

The writer is a lecturer in English Language, English Language Teaching Unit, Colombo University

DAILYNEWS.LK