INDEX NO:

TTIE INSTITUTION OF ENGINENIS, SRI

Language SkiII Development-

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Time allowed:2 hours

LANKA

I0Ot

Decemberr20ll

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES

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.

This paper contains 5 questions in7 pages.

This examination accounts for lA}oh of the module assessment. The total maximum
mark attainable is 100. The marks assigned for each question & section thereof are
indicated in square brackets.

o
o
o

This is a closed pook examination.

Answer all questions.
Answer Question 2r3 and 5 in the space provided.

HM -1001
Ouqs(iop

l.

Imagine that the government is going to close a school and arrange the
students to be transferred to a few other schools in the vicinity. The viilagers
oppose this and demand that the school should be rehabilitated and provided
with more teachers and facilities.

The following arguments are put forward to

Counter the arguments.

justiff

the closure of the school.

Write at least five sentences to substantiate your argument against each of

the six arguments given.

[25 marks]

The student population is comparatively low and hence any fuither

development would not be justified. It would lead to a situation where
valuable resources will be underutilized.
I

ll.

The expenditure involved in upgrading the infrastructure and other

facilities to a reasonable level would be very high and time consuming.
atfract qualified teachers to the school due to its
remoteness from the main city. Those who are appointed from the urban
areas as a rule try to go back to their home areas as soon as possible.

IV.

students would not be sufficiently motivated due to lack of competition.

v.

i,i

Ouestion

It is difficult to

lil-

2.

students will miss the opportunity of mixing with those coming from
different backgrounds.

Read each

of the following

seven sentences and rewrite it to give

approximately the same idea using the words given belorv each of thefr to
begin your sentence.
marks]
[15

i.

Many people argue that our higher education system needs to be radically
changed because it cannot accommod. ate a reasonable number of the
students who pass their GCE (Advanced Level) examinations.

A fundamental change in the existing system

opportunities for those

is

expected to generate more

continued ...
Pase 3

of7

.-

ii-

We see more newS-dbout unemplqyqqnt

shortage of giaduates to fiIl available jobs'

than
4140ng graduates

Our problem is more a matter of

their
There are many disappointed young people who have passed
to enter
Advanced Levei examination quite well and yet are unable

1u-

university.
to the
The inability of many AL qualified students to gain admission
T

i'

university

iv.

facilities and
The argument is that if all districts were equal.in terms of
would be similar'
access to education, the performance of their students

to
The rationale was that the availability of equal facilities and access
education would

v.

of the
To achieve this goal of equality, cleverer students are deprived
opportunity to reciive a degree while we accept weaker ones'

Weaker ones are admiued at the cost of

continued ...

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HM -1001

vi.

Do they, Withmeir bresent-ieiOords of atrodities committed, have a riSt-to

dictate such terms to Sri f,a*il

;
Do their present records of atrocities

vii.

justiff their

It is thought that the facilities of a particular

performance of students in the Arts stream

area make no difference to the

It is thought that the performance of Arts students is not affected

Ouestion

3.

Write a summary of the following passage in approximately

109 words.

English as a second language is indispensable for us Sri Lankans to have a good modern
education, and to be successfully comietitive in the job market. Someone's kn"owledge of a
Ianguage is usually represented as their ability to speak it. For example, we may ask a
[erson,
"Do you speak English?", but not "Do you writeiread English?" when we want to find oui
whether that person knows English. This is because ordina'rily we assume that speech is the
most basic form of language.

But you can't just speak English or any other language for that matter unless you have
something to speak about; even when you have ro*"thlrrg that you could speak about you
may not speak about it unless you feel an urge/ a desire/ a need to do ro; uguin your urgent

desire to speak about a particular subject may not make you speak about itir English if that
language is not your mother tongue or first language. So speaking in English-involves a
strong enough motive to speak about a worthwhile mattei in efttish, ina in no other
language. Providing such a motive is crucial for students to respond p"ositively to any course

of

English language instruction. Our failure

to do this, dr. to a variety of

causes/circumstances, goes a long way towards explaining why so many earlier initiatives

Howatt (1984) identifies two "versions" of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT): a

strong version and. a weak version. The "strong" version is explalnei as "using:Englisf to .
learn it, instead of learning English to use it", whereas the "wJak" version is interp[ted as
"learning English to use it".
continued ...

Page 5

of7

of CLT (strong--61 weak), a maJor responsibility that devolves on teaChers is to

generate oppo.toriti.,'ht i"arneis to uie En[iish for meaningful commrrsioation and

Iir- terms

Interaction.'Along with this, it is now generally accepted by second languago acquisition

theorists that rea"iling and writing activities, al-ong with listening, speaking, and thinking

+(109)

Page 6

of7

HM
Ouestion

4.

-1001

Edit and rervrite the following passage to make it more readable. you may
focus on: deleting needless words, correcting spelling or awkwari
phrasing/words, adding words/phrases where n...rrary
"t".
marks]
[20

Aluminium is using luxuriously in the modern world, and the usages of metal is extremely
diverse due to it's
-many unusual combinations of properties. No other_ metallic element
cannot be used in so many ways across such a variety of atmospheres, like in the home, in
transport, on land, sea and in air, and in industry and tommerce.
Aluminium's uses are not always as oblivious as they may see, with sizeable proportions of
manufactured aluminiuq and aluminium oxide being into other separate processes, like
the manufacfure of glass than towards the commo, .orrro*er products that.we most
voluntarily associate Aluminium.
One of the most common end users of aluminium is packaging, including drinks cans, foil
wrappings, bottle tops, foil containers. Each of these rely inaluminium to provide a way of
containing the food clearly and to protect them from changes in the local invironment out
of the packaging. Aluminium still used in a very big way in the food packaging industry
though recent health sorows linking aluminium io Alzheimer's decease.

Aluminium's natural resistant to corrosion aids it in its roll in packaging, as unless in iron,
aluminium oxide forms a protective and not destructive layer. Aluminium also completely
impermeable, (even when rolled into extremely lean foil),Ld d.o do not let the *o-u o.
taste to out of food packaging, the metal is non-toxic and aroma-less itself too, making
perfect for package.
Ouestion

5.

Fill in

the blanks

with suitable words.

[20 marks]

With the invention of televisions,

mzury
......of entertainment have been
replaced. Lively programs like television serials and world news, have .
from us the need to read books or papers, to listen to radios or even to watch movies. In
fact, during the 1970s, when televisions were first introduced, cinema theatres
great losses as many people chose to stay in the comforts of their
:.....-.
homes to watch their favorite
and pressing some buttons world happenings iue .
loT"
before

..... pr"..rt.a

us' Children nowadays develop faster in language, owing to the early exposure to
te,levision programs. At such tender age, it would be ...
for them to
read- books or papers. Thus, television programs are a good source of learning for them.
Furthermore, pronunciations by the newscasters, ictors or actresses *" usually
standardized, hence young children watching these programs will leam the 'righi'
pronunciations
Owning a telivisio., i, ulro extremely beneficial to
working parents who are usually too ..
or tired to take their kias out for
entertainments. Surrounded by the comforts of their home, the family can have a chance
to get
... ... and watch their favorite televisio, prog.u*r.
End ofpaper.

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