Abstract:
This research focuses on the mistranslations and miscommunications that
occurred by word-for-word translation by Japanese language learners in Sri
Lanka. Vise-versa there are many difficulties faced by the Japanese natives who
study Sinhala as a foreign language. In order to prove these, questionnaires from
50 students and 40 students from the University of Kelaniya and University of
Sabaragamuwa respectively, 40 Japanese Language teachers from national
schools, 15 Japanese nationals who are working as JICA volunteers in Sri Lanka,
03 Sinhala Language teachers who teach Sinhala to Japanese people, 05 Japanese
translators, are used. It is proved that The Grammar Translation Method has been
ineffective in enabling students to develop an understanding of the different
usages of words and phrases in their specific cultural context. As a result, students
tend to randomly select a word among many synonyms, referring to the word-to
word meaning given in the traditional Japanese-English dictionaries regardless
of its contextual meaning. The next point focuses on the Japanese natives
learning Sinhala as a foreign language. JICA volunteers have pointed out that the
diglossia of the Sinhala language poses significant challenges due to the fact that
some verbs possess multiple meanings exclusively in the spoken variety.
Therefore, this research suggests that Japanese Language Education in Sri Lanka
needs major revisions in its methodology of teaching, as they should shift to the
Communicative Approach Method from the Grammar Translation Method. In
favour of the foreigners who are interested in the Sinhala Language, it is
suggested that we should promote the Mediwahara introduced several years back
by a Sinhala language veteran Ajith Thilakasena. It would be better to introduce
it to the primary schools as an initiative. As a result,Sinhala would be an easy
language for foreigners to learn and it will guarantee a future for our native
language, Sinhala.
