Publications

English Medium Instruction (EMI) is a growing educational praxis in the world. Sri Lanka also practises EMI in primary, secondary and university education contexts. Nevertheless, EMI is not adequately researched: the existing scholarship alludes to the significance of its context-dependency (eg, Snchez-Prez, Maria del Mar 2020). Moreover, there is a lacuna of scholarly knowledge of how EMI works in Sri Lankan educational contexts. Hence, this exploratory study examined lecturers’ practices of, and insights into, EMI within the context of Sri Lankan higher education. The data were drawn from in-depth qualitative interviews with ten lecturers who teach Social Sciences through EMI at three state universities in the country. Interviewees–encompassing males and females and belonging to varying age groups–have a range of EMI teaching experience and different professional and educational qualifications. Qualitative thematic analysis was utilised to uncover themes related to EMI in the data. Findings disclose a few issues and problems associated with EMI. They underscore the belief that EMI enhances L2 (Second Language) proficiency, thus creating a space for job opportunities for undergraduates, and higher education and professional development for both lecturers and students. Nevertheless, EMI is problematic mainly due to (i) low L2 proficiency in both lecturers and students,(ii) lecturers’ inconsistent praxis in assessing and teaching students,(iii) the shortage of training programmes on EMI, and (iv) arbitrary administration issues including the recruitment of EMI lecturers. The paper provides insights into EMI implementation in English as L2 …

Electricity is the primary source of power in most countries including Sri Lanka, and saving or minimising the waste of it has become crucial in facing the world power crisis. Electrical power is wasted in various ways including reactive power waste due to induction and capacitance of appliances, and standby power loss. These two contribute most to the waste. This paper focuses on reducing the reactive power waste of inductive electrical appliances commonly used in home and office by increasing the power factor. An attempt was made to reduce the power waste of inductive electrical appliances by connecting a capacitor bank with a variable capacitance in parallel with the appliance. Optimal capacitance and the power factor are determined using the capacitor bank. Results indicate about 30 percent of power saving could be achieved for fluorescent tube lamps using a power factor correction. A maximum power factor of 0.93 is achieved at the capacitance value of 2.99 μF. It is not possible, by this method, to increase the power factor of more capacitive equipment such as CFL bulbs and ceiling fans. In this case, power minimisation could be tried connecting inductors in parallel with the equipment. Power factor and power consumption of home electrical appliances were measured for advising the general public of high power consuming equipment, especially in stand-by mode. To attain a further reduction of power waste it is proposed to measure inductance, capacitance and resistance of appliances using Hendry, Farad and Ohm meter. Total impedance can then be calculated and the power waste could be minimised using appropriate capacitors and/or inductors.

Brief introduction about Technology, features and facts of the Main Sound Systems in the World !!!

Corrective feedback (CF) has been proven to be effective in Second Language Acquisition (SLA). With the increased usage of technology in the field of education, learning a second or foreign language in a computer mediated environment is widely discussed in current literature, thus paving the way for research on computer mediated corrective feedback (CMCF). As such, CMCF, especially through tools such as text chat, has gained increasing attention from researchers. Nevertheless, the scholarly focus has often been confined to certain aspects such as peer CF or CF given by native speakers (NS) in telecollaboration projects. As teachers could provide step by step scaffolding to make learners notice their errors and correct them, teachers’ CF in text chat environment could be more useful. However, text chat has rarely been discussed as a mediating tool to provide teachers’ CF. Addressing this potential gap in research, the present study aims to explore the perspectives of university teachers and students on the potential of using text chat for teachers’ CF, while discussing the challenges they would encounter in the process. Applying the sociocultural theoretical framework, the study discusses text chat as a mediating tool and the role teachers could play in assisting learners in the zone of proximal development. The data were collected from five Sri Lankan university teachers and two groups of university students (five in each group) through individual and group interviews, respectively. An Affinity Diagram was employed to analyse the data thematically. The study suggests that teachers’ CF through text chat could play a significant role in a context …

Moratuwa is traditionally famous for the carpentry and furniture manufacturing. There are several types of wood working industries in the cluster. Among them carpentry shops, sawmills and integrated sawmills were identified as the wood waste generating industries. Main objective of the study is to identify the current wood waste utilisation patterns and optimising the wood waste flow. Questionnaire surveys were conducted and field measurements were taken to gather reliable data. Stratified sampling method was followed. The prominent species use in the wood working industry is Teak (38.7%) followed by species are Mahogany (28.8%) and Albizia (3.1%). Machinery usage varies among different industries. Integrated sawmilling industry has the highest diversity of the machinery usage. Circular saw (44.6%) is the most abundant type of machinery used by integrated sawmilling industry. In carpentry industry planer saw (41.0%) is the most frequently using mechanical tool. Sawmilling industry uses different types of saws but the prominent type of sawing equipment is the circular saw (73.0%). 6,489.879 MT of total wood waste is generated within a month by entire population of wood working industries in Moratuwa. Out of them, sawmills produce 4,279.750 MT/month of wood waste, 2,003,467 MT/month of waste by the integrated sawmills and carpentry shops produce 206,662 kg/month. Among the total wood waste generation saw dust contributes 76.5%, 16.5% of wanes and 6.9% of offcuts. It was found that 63.4% carpentry shops, 100.0% of sawmills and 91.0% of integrated saw mills already utilise their wood waste. Quantity of current overall wood waste utilisation within the area of 20 km radius is calculated as 2,903,625 kg/month which has a possible increment up to 4,198,319 kg only by improving the current wood waste transportation. Wood waste generation and utilisation flow diagram and shortest path among the utilisers and waste collection points were illustrated. By adopting this waste utilisation methods, several business opportunities can be created and waste can be utilised in environmental friendly manner.Keywords: Sawdust, Wood waste, Utilisation

Main important information, factors and features about the Wireless Earphones available in the market !!!

The Moratuwa Woodworking Industry Cluster (MWIC) is a geographically concentrated cluster of over 1,600 small-to-medium scale wood-based manufacturing and retail facilities in Sri Lanka. Firms include furniture manufacturers, carpentry shops, sawmills, and integrated sawmills in Sri Lanka. The concept of industrial symbiosis was used to explore potential synergies and scale economies between cluster firms to share inputs such as energy and water, and currently common by-products, and waste to achieve higher efficiency in resource utilization. In this study, a survey of 180 primary and secondary wood product manufacturers was undertaken to quantify MWIC firm by-product production and consumption of wood residues to establish a baseline for possible end-use and waste synergies. The total population of enterprises generating wood waste is 730; retail facilities are not included. Sawmills produce approximately 66% of the 6,490 MT of MWIC’s monthly wood residue generation, with the balance produced by carpentry and integrated enterprises. Teak (Tectona grandis) and Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) are the dominant species used in the MWIC, accounting for most of the wood waste. The survey identified three main types of wood waste: sawdust (76.5%), boards with significant wane (16.5%) unusable for further products, and offcuts (6.9%). Sawdust accounted for 77% of wood waste generated within the study area. Only 55% of the wood waste generated in MWIC is currently utilized; the remaining 45% is taken to landfills or disposed in other ways such as simply disposed in waterways or non-approved locations. Improved wood waste sorting by type at the mill level and aggregated within the MWIC was determined to substantially increase the usability of wood waste as potential inputs in other wood manufacturing sectors in the MWIC.

Landfill leachate has created significant environmental issues throughout the world. Most of the developed countries have strict guidelines for the management of solid waste landfills as opposed to the open waste dumps commonly used in developing countries. Karadiyana is an open dumpsite which is in operation for nearly 20 years, located in the Western Province of Sri Lanka with a total area of about 25 acres. This open dumpsite is located very close to the Weras Ganga - Bolgoda Lake wetland system. A small stream known as Meda Ela runs parallel to the site A of the dump receives landfill leachate as overland flows and as leachate contaminated groundwater polluting its waters. Meda Ela intercepts the Weras Ganga - Bolgoda Lake adjacent to the dumpsite and delivers most of its polluted waters to the lake. In this paper, the water quality of Meda Ela and two ground water monitoring wells were investigated to assess the impact of the dumpsite on water quality deterioration. Water quality parameters; electrical conductivity (EC), pH, ORP, dissolved oxygen concentration, total dissolved solids (TDS), ammonia, nitrate, Cu, Mn, Fe, Zn, Cr and Cd were studied over two years. Investigational analysis of experimental data was carried out with principal component analysis, box plots, and ANOVA to identify the degree of water quality deterioration. Comprehensive pollution index method has been carried out with eleven (11) water quality parameters to determine the overall water quality of Meda Ela which categorized its water as moderately polluted water. PCA was used to identify four principal components demonstrating 89.8 % cumulative variance. The concentration of ammonia, nitrate and phosphate in monitoring wells were significantly higher with average values 346 ± 39 mg L−1, 151 ± 48 mg L−1 and 62 ± 11 mg L−1 respectively.