1. Developing the communicative competence of bilingual Bachelor of Education undergraduates using the subject content; Action Research

2. Background
Lack of English Communication skills – one main reason for graduate unemployment ( Perera, Silva, & Marambe, B. 2009)
BME introduced in schools in 2001 – prepare students for higher education & employment
Important to B.Ed (E/M) students – two ways

3. The Iceberg Theory (Cummins, 2000)
Development of BICS – & CALPS.
Basic Communication Skills & Academic Communication Skills
Students not developed BICS
BICS & CALPS of B.Ed students should be developed simultaneously
Using the subject content is the most suitable

4. Objectives
1. Identify the problems students face in communication in the second language
2. Examine ways of minimizing the above problems
3. Implement a programme to develop the communicative competence
4. Assess the level of development of the students

5. Methodology Action Research Interviews, classroom observations
Identify Problems students encountered in speaking
Intervention – (8 weeks) to develop speaking skills
Sample – B.Ed Part 1 undergraduates

6. Data Collection - Observations - Recordings - Reflections
- Feedback of the students
The students recorded their own speech and were encouraged to identify their own errors in speech through reflection. Common errors were discussed at the end.

7. Activities (based on the content)
dialogues
group activities
asking and answering questions
explaining concepts in simple language
reporting and narrating
expressing preferences and objections
group discussions on issues
presentations and teaching a small section of the content

8. Findings Reluctant to speak - fear of making mistakes.
All the students made grammatical errors –word order, prepositions, conjunctions etc.
Did not use appropriate questioning structures
Eg. “True Education is what?”

9. Inappropriate use of vocabulary
Eg. “I think the major idea is an Education emerging the innate potentialities”
Main idea of Education is to draw the …..
“Education should be create a develop people.”
Education should contribute to ……

10. Common Pronunciation errors
different pronunciations of the same syllable in different contexts
Eg. district/diversity
silent letters in words - pour, halves.
consonant clusters
‘recognize’ pronounced as ‘recoraganize’

11. At the end of the Intervention
Ability for self and peer corrections (through reflections)
Ask simple questions, give simple, relevant answers accurately. (content based)
Explain parts of the content in simple language
Confidence to make presentations

12. Conclusion
Using subject content of the undergraduates to develop their communication skills is successful because;
Language used in practical, authentic situations
motivates the students to use the language meaningfully.
Dialogues, group discussions, competitions, explanations and presentations effective in the development of communication skills

13. References
Cummins, J.(2000).Language, power and pedagogy: Bilingual children in the cross fire, by J. Buffalo. NY: Multilingual Matters Ltd.
National Education Commission. (2003).Proposals for a national policy framework on general education in Sri Lanka; Envisioning education for a national policy framework. Sri Lanka
Common European Framework of Reference for Languages; Learning, teaching assessment. Language policy unit, Strasbourg. Retrived from
Perera, E.R.K., Silva, G.L.L.P. & Marambe, B. (2009). Development of an outcome based curriculum embedding employability skills, institutional goals and values: a Sri Lankan experience. Country Reports-Enhancement of Graduate Employment. ASAIHL Conference, 20th – 22nd May 2009, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Pp

14. Dept. of Humanities Education Supervisor : Prof. Marie Perera
Thank You
Sulochana Neranjani
Dept. of Humanities Education
Faculty of Education
Supervisor : Prof. Marie Perera