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Conference Presentations by Dr. Shashini Tennekoon

Research paper thumbnail of Beyond the borders:challenge of training teachers of English to handle culturally and linguistically diverse students

Sri Lanka is a pluralist society which shelter many cultural groups. Nevertheless, our schools ar... more Sri Lanka is a pluralist society which shelter many cultural groups. Nevertheless, our schools are segregated based on the medium of instruction reinforcing the cultural conflicts which took place over many centuries. However teachers of English have a salient opportunity in this divided society as they are often required to work in schools where medium of instruction is not their mother tongue and therefore, they have to work with students coming from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to their own. Accordingly, the competence of communicating across cultural boundaries has become a prerequisite of professional competence of English language teachers and this paper attempted to identify whether the teachers of English trained by NCOEs possess the positive perceptions on cultural diversity and intercultural competence in order to handle these CALD students .

Research paper thumbnail of Knowing Me - Knowing You": Fostering Intercultural Competence of Prospective Teachers of English

This study explores the possibilities of developing Intercultural Competence of prospective teach... more This study explores the possibilities of developing Intercultural Competence of prospective teachers of English undergoing their training at a preservice teacher education institute in Sri Lanka, through a curriculum intervention which provides them with extensive opportunities to engage in intercultural interactions while learning English in the classroom together with their counterparts from other major ethnic groups. During a classroom-based study over an academic term runs for three months, a specially designed intercultural syllabus was implemented in an English Language Course based on four skills which aimed to facilitate new understandings and insights around cultural diversity and contribute to learners‘ development of intercultural competence. Findings reveal that most of the trainee teachers possess ethnocentric attitudes towards other cultures, however, after the intervention they developed more positive ways of accepting and tolerating other cultures. Although the main purpose of the investigation is to develop intercultural competence in the participants with the expectation that they will not only play their role effectively as their English teacher with the students coming from linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds but also pass on to them the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for survival in a multicultural society.
Key words: Intercultural Competence, Preservice teacher training, Linguistically and culturally diverse students, English language teaching

Research paper thumbnail of "Cultural perceptions of teachers of English: Bridge or gap in language teaching?"

Key words: cultural perceptions, intercultural competence, pre-service teacher training, CALD stu... more Key words: cultural perceptions, intercultural competence, pre-service teacher training, CALD students
Abbreviations: CALD-Culturally and Linguistically Diverse
NCOE-National Colleges of Education

Sri Lanka is a multicultural society. Although schools are segregated on the medium of instruction, teachers of English are increasingly being required to work in schools where medium of instruction is not their mother tongue and therefore, they have to work with students coming from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Accordingly, the competence of communicating across cultural boundaries has become a prerequisite of professional competence of English language teachers. This includes areas such as attitudes, cross-cultural understanding and multi cultural awareness .which also are important components of intercultural competence. This paper is a part of an MPhil research and attempted to identify whether the teachers of English trained by NCOEs possess the positive perceptions on cultural diversity and multicultural awareness in order to handle CALD students .
The paper reports findings from a mixed method study carried out in Pasdunrata National College of Education and data includes a survey based on an attitudinal scale implemented with a convenience sample of 20 second year trainees and 20 internship trainees undergoing training at Pasdunrata NCOE and 20 permanent teachers passed out from the institute who work in schools where medium of instruction is not their mother tongue and telephone interviews conducted with ten teacher trainees randomly selected from the above sample.
Findings revealed that majority of the student teachers trained by the NCOE has negative perceptions on cultural diversity which would ultimately have a negative impact on handling classrooms with students coming from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and this paper suggests practical ways to overcome the defect.

Papers by Dr. Shashini Tennekoon

Research paper thumbnail of Role of the Top Managers in Co-Curricular Program Implementation in Preservice Teacher Education Institutes

International Journal of Advanced Research, 2021

This study is directly related to understanding the process of co-curricular implementation in a ... more This study is directly related to understanding the process of co-curricular implementation in a Preservice Teacher Training Institute in Sri Lanka, in order to get the maximum benefit of it with the view of making teacher training more effective in these institutions.

Research paper thumbnail of Redefining the Role of the Second National Language Teacher: Existing Perceptions vs. Changing of Practices

Applied Science and Innovative Research, 2021

Sri Lanka is a multicultural country with a diverse population coming from three major ethnic gro... more Sri Lanka is a multicultural country with a diverse population coming from three major ethnic groups, Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims. Though they have been living together for several centuries in the country, it is not without conflict. After three decades of an atrocious war which erupted as a result of these ethnic clashes, currently the country is enjoying some peaceful times. To make this peace last for long the government has taken several important measures and teaching the second national language in the school for children, and appointing the first language speakers as the second national language teachers is one of the most important. Nevertheless, second national language teachers have a very different interaction with their students when compared to other teachers. They are required of an unusually high level of cultural nuance as members of a different culture to their students and need to develop cultural intelligence to overcome this challenge. This study attempts at finding the present cultural perceptions of these teachers and suggesting ways of changing practices to bridge this gap.

Research paper thumbnail of Beyond the borders:challenge of training teachers of English to handle culturally and linguistically diverse students

Sri Lanka is a pluralist society which shelter many cultural groups. Nevertheless, our schools ar... more Sri Lanka is a pluralist society which shelter many cultural groups. Nevertheless, our schools are segregated based on the medium of instruction reinforcing the cultural conflicts which took place over many centuries. However teachers of English have a salient opportunity in this divided society as they are often required to work in schools where medium of instruction is not their mother tongue and therefore, they have to work with students coming from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to their own. Accordingly, the competence of communicating across cultural boundaries has become a prerequisite of professional competence of English language teachers and this paper attempted to identify whether the teachers of English trained by NCOEs possess the positive perceptions on cultural diversity and intercultural competence in order to handle these CALD students .

Research paper thumbnail of Knowing Me - Knowing You": Fostering Intercultural Competence of Prospective Teachers of English

This study explores the possibilities of developing Intercultural Competence of prospective teach... more This study explores the possibilities of developing Intercultural Competence of prospective teachers of English undergoing their training at a preservice teacher education institute in Sri Lanka, through a curriculum intervention which provides them with extensive opportunities to engage in intercultural interactions while learning English in the classroom together with their counterparts from other major ethnic groups. During a classroom-based study over an academic term runs for three months, a specially designed intercultural syllabus was implemented in an English Language Course based on four skills which aimed to facilitate new understandings and insights around cultural diversity and contribute to learners‘ development of intercultural competence. Findings reveal that most of the trainee teachers possess ethnocentric attitudes towards other cultures, however, after the intervention they developed more positive ways of accepting and tolerating other cultures. Although the main purpose of the investigation is to develop intercultural competence in the participants with the expectation that they will not only play their role effectively as their English teacher with the students coming from linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds but also pass on to them the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for survival in a multicultural society.
Key words: Intercultural Competence, Preservice teacher training, Linguistically and culturally diverse students, English language teaching

Research paper thumbnail of "Cultural perceptions of teachers of English: Bridge or gap in language teaching?"

Key words: cultural perceptions, intercultural competence, pre-service teacher training, CALD stu... more Key words: cultural perceptions, intercultural competence, pre-service teacher training, CALD students
Abbreviations: CALD-Culturally and Linguistically Diverse
NCOE-National Colleges of Education

Sri Lanka is a multicultural society. Although schools are segregated on the medium of instruction, teachers of English are increasingly being required to work in schools where medium of instruction is not their mother tongue and therefore, they have to work with students coming from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Accordingly, the competence of communicating across cultural boundaries has become a prerequisite of professional competence of English language teachers. This includes areas such as attitudes, cross-cultural understanding and multi cultural awareness .which also are important components of intercultural competence. This paper is a part of an MPhil research and attempted to identify whether the teachers of English trained by NCOEs possess the positive perceptions on cultural diversity and multicultural awareness in order to handle CALD students .
The paper reports findings from a mixed method study carried out in Pasdunrata National College of Education and data includes a survey based on an attitudinal scale implemented with a convenience sample of 20 second year trainees and 20 internship trainees undergoing training at Pasdunrata NCOE and 20 permanent teachers passed out from the institute who work in schools where medium of instruction is not their mother tongue and telephone interviews conducted with ten teacher trainees randomly selected from the above sample.
Findings revealed that majority of the student teachers trained by the NCOE has negative perceptions on cultural diversity which would ultimately have a negative impact on handling classrooms with students coming from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and this paper suggests practical ways to overcome the defect.

Research paper thumbnail of Role of the Top Managers in Co-Curricular Program Implementation in Preservice Teacher Education Institutes

International Journal of Advanced Research, 2021

This study is directly related to understanding the process of co-curricular implementation in a ... more This study is directly related to understanding the process of co-curricular implementation in a Preservice Teacher Training Institute in Sri Lanka, in order to get the maximum benefit of it with the view of making teacher training more effective in these institutions.

Research paper thumbnail of Redefining the Role of the Second National Language Teacher: Existing Perceptions vs. Changing of Practices

Applied Science and Innovative Research, 2021

Sri Lanka is a multicultural country with a diverse population coming from three major ethnic gro... more Sri Lanka is a multicultural country with a diverse population coming from three major ethnic groups, Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims. Though they have been living together for several centuries in the country, it is not without conflict. After three decades of an atrocious war which erupted as a result of these ethnic clashes, currently the country is enjoying some peaceful times. To make this peace last for long the government has taken several important measures and teaching the second national language in the school for children, and appointing the first language speakers as the second national language teachers is one of the most important. Nevertheless, second national language teachers have a very different interaction with their students when compared to other teachers. They are required of an unusually high level of cultural nuance as members of a different culture to their students and need to develop cultural intelligence to overcome this challenge. This study attempts at finding the present cultural perceptions of these teachers and suggesting ways of changing practices to bridge this gap.