Arguments against authentic materials

It should be noted that there are some conflicting views concerning the use of authentic materials in the teaching of English. Williams (1984) and Morrison (1989) maintain that using authentic materials may lower student motivation while Bacon and Finnemann (1990) investigated the attitudes, motives, and strategies of university foreign language students and their disposition to authentic oral and written input. They found that their subjects reported somewhat negative reactions to the use of authentic oral and written input. Peacock (1997) investigated the impact of authentic materials on the classroom motivation of his students. His results were mixed. On the one hand, he did find evidence in support of authentic materials, on the other hand, the results of a questionnaire revealed that, “overall, learners found authentic materials to be significantly less interesting than artificial” (p. 151).

The criticisms leveled against authentic materials are mostly based on studies which have investigated the effects of authentic materials on motivation in classroom situation. Therefore, the effects of authentic materials cannot be extended or generalized to other situations, other skills or subjects who learn English in different contexts. Based on the positive results that emerged from a study I conducted with a group of undergraduate students using authentic materials ranging from print media to electronic media, it can be stated that the  authentic materials  provided the learners with more authentic language they are likely to meet in real-world situations. Therefore, my study provides further evidence to support the notion that authentic materials are more effective and useful in foreign language courses aimed at improving students’ oral proficiency provided that they are properly selected, controlled, and designed with relevant teaching activities  taking learner variable into account.

The gap between authentic language and textbook language

Empirical studies which have investigated textbook language readily confirm that textbook language is inadequate in developing learners’ overall communicative competence. Authors such as Holmes (1988), Tannen, (1989), Altman, (1990), McCarthy (1991), and Wajnryb (1996) have found that a majority of textbooks that claim to focus on developing learners’ communicative competence lack adequate models for practicing spoken language. To support the view that textbook language does not provide adequate spoken language, Holmes (1988) provides evidence on the relative frequencies of lexical items expressing doubts or certainty in written and spoken corpora from a survey of ESL textbooks. She reports that more common modal lexical items are often under-represented in comparison to modal verbs so that this kind of condition can potentially have serious consequences for learners because the pragmatic function these modal lexical items play in the language is important. Moreover, McCarthy and Carter (1995) present the results on distinctions between spoken and written grammar found in CANCODE (Cambridge and Nottingham Corpus of Discourse in English), a spoken corpus of around five million words collected between 1995 and 2000. They illustrate how standard grammar fails to account for pervasive features in spoken discourse such as ellipsis or ‘slots’ at the beginnings and ends of clauses for speaker orientation and stress importance of an interactive interpretation on verb-form choices in real data (Gilmore, 2007b, pp. 99-100).

Basturkmen (2001) demonstrates how learners are often misled by descriptions of questioning found in ELT materials and argues for authentic texts to be used with higher-level learners to give more realistic models. Commenting on the agreement/disagreement speech acts, Pearson (1986) also notes that agreement/disagreement speech acts are frequently given equal emphasis in language textbooks, perhaps presenting a misleading picture for learners since native speakers are more likely to agree with each other than disagree and frequently employ face-saving strategies when they do disagree. Powell’s (1992) analysis of spontaneous conversation from the London-Lund corpus finds high frequencies of evaluative, vague, intense or expressive language in informal contexts. This meets the interactional and affective needs of speakers in informal contexts and contrasts sharply with the ‘safe, clean, harmonious, benevolent, undisturbed world presented to learners in textbooks (Wajnryb, 1996).

An extract taken from a commercial textbook where learners find textbook language.

D: Here’s your medicines. The doctor has given you two sets of anti-biotic. Ah..take them before meals three times a day. Drink plenty of water. <r> Also…also try not to drive after taking them. They would make you  drowsy. This is first packing is for your headache (mispronounces). Make sure you take all (    ) the medicines until there is no left.

(D: is a pharmacist who gives instructions of how to use medications to a patient)

The above is a part of transcription of students' conversation. Compare the transcription with the extract taken from a commercially produced English textbook meant for teaching oral English.

Williams (1988) compared the language used for meetings in authentic business interactions with the language taught for meetings in 30 business English textbooks. She found almost no correspondence between the two, with only 5.2% of the 135 exponents presented in the classroom materials actually occurring in genuine meetings. She criticizes material writers for relying on introspection rather than empirical research when selecting which exponents to present in the classroom. Bardovi-Harlig, Hartford, Mahan-Taylor, Morgan and Reynolds (1991) surveyed conversational closings in 20 ESL textbooks and found that, despite claims of naturalness or authenticity, the models presented were often only partially complete, with the pre-closing or closing moves missing. They criticize the lack of pragmatic information available to learners in textbook materials. Furthermore, Boxer and Pickering (1995) assess the presentation of complaint speech acts in seven EFL textbooks, finding that all deal with direct complaints rather than indirect complaints. (in direct complaints, the addressee is seen as being responsible for the perceived offence whereas in indirect complaints they are not). This is despite the fact that, in normal conversation, indirect complaints are much more common and play an important affective and discoursal role. Indirect complaints give an addressee the opportunity to show rapport by commiserating with the speaker’s complaint and open up the subject of ‘what’s wrong with X’ to further topical development. The authors also criticize the lack of contextualization in the textbooks examined, without which it is impossible for learners to know in what situations, and with whom, the target language is appropriate.

For students to learn how to manage conversation effectively in the target language, they need to have realistic models of proficient users (Brown & Yule, 1983). To develop conversational management in the learners, Eggins and Slade (1997) argue that the best model is the casual conversation but this is largely ignored in textbooks because casual conversation is thought to be unstructured. Language teaching materials tend to concentrate on monologues or dialogues in which turn-taking is structured and predictable, with some kind of transactional goal. However, more interactional, non-goal oriented language, used to develop relationships, is much less common and it is hardly surprising, therefore, we find that learners experience more difficulties with carefully chosen and structured language.

Concerning the accuracy of spoken genres represented in textbooks, there have been some arguments. Yule (1995, p. 185) reported that there ‘continues to be a considerable mismatch between what tends to be presented to learners as classroom experiences of the target language and the actual use of that language as discourse. Scotton and Bernsten (1988) compared how people give directions in natural conversations with textbook dialogues and found that authentic interactions were much more different and complicated than the three-step model presented in the textbooks (request for directions – direction-giving – thanks). This was evident even in my study where students were required to give directions. When my students were giving directions, they typically used other elements such as an opening sequence which could be a filler, a pause, a repetition of the question, an interjection or a comment such as “Can I walk?”, a pre-closing where the direction-giver provides a kind of an evaluative comment such as “This is a one way, use the way on the other side of the hospital”. Given this kind of complicated generic structure in the natural discourse, Scotton and Bernsten (1988) suggest that learners be given authentic interactions in the classroom with awareness-raising tasks to highlight the discourse structure involved in giving directions.

Wong (2002) examined model telephone dialogues in eight ESL textbooks and assessed their faithfulness to the correct way of sequencing identified by the conversational analyst, Emanuel Schegloff (1993), in American English. The opening of a telephone conversation is typically composed of four parts: (a) a summons-answer sequence, where the telephone rings and the receiver answers, typically with a ‘Hello’, which provides the caller with a voice sample for recognition purposes; (b) an identification-recognition sequence, where the caller identifies him/herself with a voice sample such as ‘Hi’ or by name, depending on the relationship with the receiver; (c) a greeting sequence; an adjacency pair, often ‘Hi’ or ‘Hello’, and (d) a how-are- you (hay) sequence, where the caller normally produces the first ‘How are you?’ inquiry (to which the receiver can reply with a neutral response, such as ‘Fine’, that closes down the topic, or a plus/minus response, such as ‘Great’ or ‘Terrible’, that invites further topical moves), followed by a second ‘How are you?’ from the receiver. However, Wong found that none of the textbook telephone dialogues she examined contained all four canonical sequences and concludes that telephone openings were not designed in a more authentic fashion by textbook writers. This is usually the pattern, even though in real life, humans are much more complex and unpredictable.

Given the findings from various studies described above concerning the gap between textbook language and authentic language, what can be concluded is that the lack of realistic models in course books means that learners are unlikely to experience the typical patterning of spoken discourse and as a result learners will not be able to use the target language properly for communicative purposes once they leave the sheltered confines of the classroom.

In sum, the main advantages of using authentic materials are as follows (Philips & Shettlesworth, 1978; Clarke, 1989):

• They relate closely to learners ' needs.
• They support a more creative approach to teaching.

Even though the merits of using authentic materials in classroom instruction has been highly favored and empirically proven, the argument against the use of authentic materials in EFL classroom situation seems to be quite tense especially in terms of reading and listening. It is to this topic, I next turn to discuss.

English conversation course and group work

A course in English conversation for intermediate level learners was started today. The number of students who had enrolled for the course was 17. However, there were 14 students present for the first class today. These kinds of study programs are organized by the Department of Languages and Linguistics, Prince of Songkla University, Hatyai Campus, for adult learners. The students of this course are of various age levels and educational backgrounds.

Of the 14 students who were present today, there were three police officers, one pharmacist, two lecturers working at the faculty of Nursing, PSU, one house wife, one school student, one accountant, one doctoral student from the faculty of Agro-industry, PSU, one dietician working at Songklanagarind Hospital, one undergraduate student from another university, one student handling her own business. As is often the case with low participation of males in education, there were only 4 male students. Most participants could communicate in the target language to a certain degree in that they could introduce themselves and introduce their friends.

Today I assigned them with the group activity given below:

 Would you like to go shopping?

Topics:      Dresses, shoes, food items, department stores, and bargain sale

Functions: Greeting people and responding to greetings, asking for help, offering

                   help, accepting an offer, giving and responding to invitations, asking

                   prices for consumer goods, asking for discounts, making appointments,

                   accepting and rejecting invitations, inquiring about movies, and rejecting

                   offers politely

Structure: Simple present, requests with can/may/could, offers with will/would you

                  like? Wh-questions/ yes-no questions, conditionals -if you buy two, you
                  will get one free

When we do shopping, we buy various items such as food, vegetables, fruit, dresses, electronics and electrical appliances

The language you may need

I want to buy a shirt /I’m looking for a shirt

How much is this blouse?

No thanks

Anything else?

Do you have other colors?

This is an imported one

Is this locally made?

Can you give me a discount?

Sorry, we don’t have it at the moment.

It is out of stock.

Do you have a home delivery service?

Roles: A: you    B: your friend       C: a salesperson      D: a ticketing clerk at a cinema  

Role-play

A: Suppose today is Sunday and you are free so you want to go shopping with one of

     your friends in a department store.
     First, call your friend and ask if he/she is free today and tell that you want to buy a

     pair of shoes. So you would like to go with him/her. If he/she accepts your

    invitation, make an appointment to meet him/her at a designated place and time.

    Example: Hello Mai, are you free today? I want to go shopping with you.

    Accepts the invitation: Yes, definitely, I’d love to.

    Rejects invitation: Oh, sorry, Mew. I’m busy cleaning my room right now. How

    about later?

    Where would you like to go shopping?

B: You see your friend waiting for you at the designated place. Greet him/her and

     thank him/her for coming. Then go for shopping at the place you have chosen

C: You are a salesman at a shoe shop. Greet the customers and ask if you could help

     them. Attend to their requirement and finish the transaction.

     Now you have bought the shoes and come out of the shop. Your friend suggests

     seeing a movie at the theatre housed in the same shopping center on the 6^th floor.

     Both of you go to the theatre and enquires about the film.

D: You are at the ticket counter and someone is enquiring about the film. Tell him/her

     that all the seats are full and if he/she likes the tickets can be issued for the next

     show.

A&B: You both don’t like to wait until the next show so turn down her request

     politely and leave the shopping center.

What I observed when learners were put into groups and made to interact with each other within their group is the group dynamics. When one wants to talk about the nature of effective teaching and learning, one has to agree with Earl Stevick’s statement which I quote below:

[In a language course] success depends less on materials, techniques and linguistic analysis, and more on what goes on inside and between the people *(learners) in the classroom (Stevick, 1984, p. 4). *(bracketed word is mine).

What Stevick states become practically true if a teacher carefully observes his/her students working together in a group because group work provides learners with opportunities to negotiate meaning, expand their language resources, notice how language is used, and take part in meaningful interpersonal exchange. Given the importance of group dynamics in language classroom, L2 teachers are encouraged to introduce group activities in their teaching contexts where learners receive no opportunities to use the target language outside the classroom.

Cohen (1994, p. 1) defines group work as, “students working together in a group small enough so that everyone can participate on a task that has been clearly assigned”. Cohen (1994), furthermore, observes that learning of language and the improvement of oral communication in any language teaching context, in bilingual, or for students of any age who need to improve skills in oral communication, active practice is essential. Therefore, in order to provide students with opportunities to practice and use the target language, group work is an effective teaching technique because students in group work can communicate about their activity with  each other and this kind of communication involves a number of functions such as asking questions, explaining, making suggestions, criticizing, listening, agreeing, disagreeing, or making joint decisions.      

Long and Porter (1985) present five pedagogical arguments for the use of group work in second language learning such as 1. group work  increases  language practice opportunities, 2. group work improves the quality of student talk. 3. group work helps individualize instruction. 4. group work  promotes  a positive affective climate in the classroom. 5. group work increases student motivation. Since these arguments are relevant to the current study, I examine them in detail. Long and Porter (1985) argue that one of the main reasons for low achievement by many L2 learners is simply that  they do not have enough time to practice the new language. Therefore, they assert that even though group work cannot provide each learner with more time to practice entirely, group work can help each learner to receive a fair amount time for practice the new language compared to the time each learner is likely to receive in a teacher-led class.

In a teacher-led class, Flanders (1970) reports that each learner receives 30 seconds as the talk time per lesson in a class of 30 students in a 50-minute lesson. Concerning the second argument, Long and Porter point out that a teacher-led class can limit not only the quantity of talk students can engage in but also its quality because teacher-led lessons are mostly based on conventionalized variety of conversations. In other words, a teacher asks a series of known information or display questions from the students and they answer with one word or two. Long and Porter maintain that the kind of conversations described above which the teacher conducts with the learners may not improve the conversational skills students will need outside the class. To improve the quality of talk, they suggest that students should do group work in which they sit or stand facing each other and work together to accomplish a given activity.  This argument seemed true for my experimental students because face to face interaction with each other demanded a response or attentive behavior when they were working in groups consisting of four or five students.

The next argument which Long and Porter advanced addresses the potential of group work that can help individualize instruction. They say that in a given group of students, there are individual differences in language abilities. Therefore, students with low proficiency can benefit working with a different set of materials suited to their proficiency levels thereby avoiding the risk of boring other students who have high proficiency and need less time to complete a given activity.

The fourth argument proposed by Long and Porter concerns a positive affective climate. They agree that students who are shy or linguistically insecure, experience considerable stress when they learn a foreign language in a teacher-fronted classroom because the shy students feel that they must respond accurately and above all quickly to the teacher’s questions. In contrast to the atmosphere of teacher-fronted instruction, they argue that a small group of peers provides a relatively intimate setting and, usually, a more supportive environment in which shy students can develop their foreign language skills. In other words, small group interaction provides learners with an opportunity to enjoy freedom from the requirement for accuracy at all costs and entry into the richer and more intimate relationships with their group members. A condition of the type described in small group above promotes a positive affective climate which in turn allows for shy and linguistically insecure students to develop their aural-oral skills in a given target language.

In view of the last argument which suggests that group work motivates learners, Long and Porter admit that group work allows for a greater quantity and richer variety of language practice which is better adapted to individual needs and conducted in a more positive affective climate. Students are individually involved in lessons more often and at a more personal level. For all the reasons stated above, Long and Porter believe that group work motivates the classroom learner. In order to support the belief that group work motivates learners, they provide empirical evidence from several studies. Littlejohn (1983) found that small-groups in which learners studied independently  led to increased motivation to study Spanish among beginning students while another study  in 1982, Littlejohn reports that learners responding to a questionnaire reported that they felt less inhibited and freer to speak and make mistakes in the small group than in the teacher-led class. Similarly, in a study of children's attitudes to the study of French in an urban British comprehensive school Fitz-Gibbon and Reay (1982) found that three quarters of the pupils ranked their interest for French as a school subject.

In addition to the above pedagogical arguments, Long and Porter (1985) assert that there is a psychological rationale for group work in second language learning.  Referring to psychological rationale for group work, Long (1977) posits that group work increases the intellectual and emotional involvement of the individual pupil in learning a foreign language. He, furthermore, argue that learners with different personal characteristics such as intelligent, gifted, outgoing, communicative, shy, withdrawn, extroverted, and introverted can meet and mix, compensating for one another’s strong points and deficiencies as language learners. What Long (1977) emphasize concerning the psychological rationale for group work becomes a reality in my class. Because I notice that students of different personal traits as discussed above interact together displaying the degree to which they are behaviorally conditioned. For example, extroverted students are very active and want to present their role-plays first before the others while shy students wait until all the groups finish their presentations.

Emphasizing the research findings that support the quantity of practice stated above, Long and Porter (1985) illustrate that students receive significantly more individual language practice opportunities in group work than in lockstep lessons. They also receive significantly more practice opportunities in non-native/non-native speaker than in native/non-native speaker dyads (Porter, 1983), and more in two-way than in one-way tasks (Doughty & Pica, 1984). The view expressed by Long and Porter (1985), Pica and Doughty (1986) in terms of the practice opportunities which the students receive in group work can further be supported from the evidence of my class. I observe that when my students are engaged in group work, they share ideas, discuss certain issues to reach an agreement (depending on the task). Furthermore, I have observed that some members assist others who are not proficient in their groups and some groups seek assistance from other groups. In addition to the merits of group work as an effective classroom technique that can be used to help students improve their oral proficiency in the target language, research has shown that group work can facilitate error correction (Porter, 1983; Bruton & Samuda, 1980).

Watch this video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh2mzhRRgOY to get an idea of how students practise a given activity before presenting it to the class and watch the next video at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouVDHNC2P2I where the intermediate learners do a role-playing activity on "Would you like to go shopping".

Colorful Vesak celebrations in Colombo, Sri Lanka

                                   Vesak festival in Colombo, Sri Lanka-2012
                          

The month of May is important for Buddhists all over the world because it was in this month that the birth, the enlightenment, and the passing away of the Lord Buddha occurred. Therefore, in order to commemorate those three events of the Lord Buddha, Buddhists hold a number of festivals during the month of May. The name ascribed to the month of May is Vesak and the name of Vesak is associated with all kinds of religious activities performed during this month.

During the Vesak month, I was in Sri Lanka, so I was lucky to witness the Vesak festival which was held in the city of Colombo for a week. For the last few years, the Sri Lankan government has taken a keen interest in celebrating the Vesak festival in a grand manner within the city of Colombo where a part of it is officially allocated and named as the Vesak zone.  A number of religious activities are performed in this Vesak zone with the participation of devotees, religious organizations, government bodies, and others. 

                                            A colorful scene in the Vesak zone
  Watch this video at (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bJq1yg021k)

On the last day of this colorful festival, we went to see it in the afternoon. Since it was the last date, a a large number of people had come to the Vesak zone. When the Vesak festival is celebrated in the Sri Lankan context, one can see that Sri Lankan Buddhists organize a number of religious activities. Among them, erecting Pandals (Thorana- The scenes of a Jathaka story are drawn in a sequential manner on separate pieces of canvas and fixed them onto a tall wooden frame erected upright on the ground. The scenes of the Jathaka story is illuminated with electric bulbs fixed around them) Dansala (a temporary erected place where people are offered food and drink free of charge during the Vesak festival), adorning public and private buildings, junctions with Vesak lanterns, singing Buddhist devotional songs (Bakthi Gee), observing ‘sil’, and delivering sermons are considered to be important highlights of Vesak.

                  A group of devotional song singers being carried in a boat around Baire Lake

                      A colorful Pandal erected in the Vesak Zone, Colombo

In order to see the colorful Vesak Pandal with your own eyes, please watch a video at(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQRdZbIEWqM)

Even though the people who live in cities go to see Vesak in their private vehicles as separate families, the situation in villages is different. In villages, people go to see Vesak a group rather than separate families and villagers mostly use a lorry, hired bus, van, or a tractor for transportation. Villagers begin their Vesak journey at dusk and visit as many places as they can, eat at Dansala, worship at sacred places, and return to their village at dawn.  

I still remember going to see Vesak when I was in a village near Galenbindunuwewa in Anuradhapura district in 1980s. I stayed with a family who was closely related to me then. On a Vesak full-moon day, two families including me started our Vesak journey around 6p.m on a bullock cart with no roof. The bull which was tied to the cart drew it along a gravel road that ran through villages and juggles. As I remember, the distance from the village where we started our journey to the bus route was about 6 or 7 kilometers. Since it was a full-moon day, the moonlight was shining brightly. Therefore, we did not need any light to see the road on which the bullock drew our cart. Traveling in a bullock cart sitting on the wooden planks is not easy because the cart sways while it is drawn by the bullock. I experienced the difficulty of traveling on a bullock cart from the so-called journey.

             Galenbindunuwewa Map 

However, after a 3 or 4 hours journey, we could reach the nearest town; Galenbindunuwewa which then had only two streets. The bullock cart stopped and the bullock was released from the yore and then we began to walk from one end of the street to the other end looking around. There were a few Dansalas where we had some refreshments and the main Dansala offered rice for which there was a long queue. We had to stay in the queue for about 15 minutes before we got our turn. We entered the hall where there were two long improvised tables. Once we sat, we were offered plates of rice with two or three curries. Since we were tired and hungry, we tasted the food delicious. After the Dansala, we went to see a Pandal erected by the side of the main road using bamboo trees. When we reached there, we found the place full of people who were eagerly watching the Pandal which depicted a Jathaka story. I really cannot recollect which Jathaka story was depicted in the Pandal that day. The scenes of the Jataka story depicted in the Pandal were described one by one in verse by a man with a small drum in his hand. The entire town was illuminated with bulbs of various colors while the streets were decorated with colored papers.

Our Vesak journey ended in a temple where we offered flowers and worshiped. Around 2p.m. we started our journey back to the village and when we got down from the bullock cart, it was around 5 or 5.30a.m. It was such a thrilling experience which still stark in my memory even after many years have passed.

The Vesak journey I described above was made nearly 30 years ago and my recent journey to see Vesak in Colombo occurred on 8^th May, 2012. My recent visit to see Vesak in Colombo is entirely different from my previous journey in that the present journey took about 2 hours to see the entire Vesak zone in Colombo. Instead of a bullock cart, I traveled in a vehicle through colorfully decorated streets that were illuminated with thousands and thousands of electric bulbs. As I described earlier the town of Galenbindunuwewa also had been illuminated not with electric bulbs but with torches made of coconut fruits. From the beginning to the end of my Vesak journey in and around Galenbindunuwewa, I noticed that the Vesak lanterns had been made in the shape of an octagon or a star. However, in the Colombo Vesak zone, I beheld a hundred lanterns made in different shapes and colors using various raw materials at a glance. It can be stated that the collection of Vesak lanterns displayed in the Vesak zone, Colombo is a matter of creativity and the application of modern technology. In a city such as Colombo, one may find adequate resources and technocrats to make marvelous creations out of any materials.

                       Lord Buddha spends one of the seventh week

                     Another Vesak lantern made form different materials

                     A Vesak lantern displayed in the Vesak Zone, Colombo

It is no wonder that Sri Lanka may be the only country that celebrates Vesak in such a grand manner in Asia. There is evidence to prove my claim. If someone visited the Vesak zone located in and around Gangaramaya temple in Colombo, he would unarguably accept the claim I made.

May Buddhism survive as long as the Sun and Moon exist in the world!    

              A Buddha statue is housed in the shrine room built in the Bere Lake

A picnic to “Little England” in Sri Lanka

During the month of May, 2012, my family and I went on a picnic to Nuwara Eliya, the city of lights or more popularly known as “Little England” in Sri Lanka. Nuwara Eliya, surrounded by lush green tea plantations is situated at an elevation of 6182 feet above mean sea level and it is gifted with cold and pleasant climatic condition throughout the year.

                                                   A part of Nuwara Eliya town

Nuwara Eliya has been the main hill resort of Sri Lanka and the heart of the tea industry from the times of the colonial period up to date. Nuwara Eliya used to be a pleasure retreat of the European planters. Therefore, the town still looks very much an English town with many English-style bungalows and buildings.

History records that Nuwara Eliya was discovered by a hunting party led by Dr. John Davy in 1818. The British governor at the time, Sir Edward Barnes, was informed about this city and subsequently decided to reside there, thus creating a health resort, which soon became internationally renowned.Even though Nuwara Eliya was discovered by John Davy in 1818, it was Sir Samuel Baker who took initiative to convert Nuwara Eliya to be an English town in the 19^th century.

Travelers from the UK are particularly attracted by the architecture which is decidedly Victorian and even modern buildings are built in the same fashion to preserve Nuwara Eliya's unique atmosphere. Nuwara Eliya town is not big but it has many hotels, restaurants, and supermarkets. One of the most attractive places in the “City of Lights” is Victoria Park which is said to have been named to commemorate the 60^th Jubilee Coronation of Queen Victoria in the years of 1897.

                                               Victoria Park in Nuwara Eliya town

Originally the park was used as the the research field of Haggala Botanical Garden which is located 4 km away from the city center. Furthermore, it is known that this park was established by planting an Oak tree by a German Princes who visited Nuwara Eliya at the latter part of the 19th Century.

The park is 27 acres in extent and about 90% of the flora species available here are those of foreign plants. Since the park is a great tourist attraction in Nuwara Eliya, during holidays, local people visit the park in groups while foreigners never want to miss a stroll across Victoria Park with their cameras focusing on wide varieties of flowers. 

                                           Different varieties of flowers in bloom

                      Nuwara Eliya post office, one of the oldest English style buildings

              

While we were in the park, we noticed an Australian lady with her two kids doing some drawings seated on the grass. The two children (a boy and a girl) around 5 and 4 years old were drawing some figures on pieces of paper while their mother was teaching them how to draw. This activity has attracted the attention of local visitors who were curious to know what those two children were drawing. It should be specifically stated here that when most local visitors (not all) go on a picnic, they generally do not focus on educational activities such as the one described above instead they mostly enjoy taking photos or just seeing the place. However, this Australian lady and her two kids are exemplary in that they show us even a family picnic/trip can educationally be used to help children improve their life skills and knowledge.  

                    Australian mom teaches her two kids how to draw human figures

In a corner of the park is a children’s playground with a mini-train in which both children and adults can take a ride. It is maintained by the Nuwara Eliya municipal council. A train the ride will cost you 100 rupees per one. It can be a thrilling experience for both children and their parents alike because the procedure involved in traveling in a real train such as issuing tickets, checking tickets, sounding the horn before it begins to move, signaling, going through a tunnel, and leaving and arriving the train on the platform are performed on the same way as a railway station does. 

                                                   Mini-train in the Victoria Park  

Another an interesting place which we visited is a temple devoted to the Lord of Hanuman (a Hanuman is a Hindu a deity who is an ardent devotee of Rama, the seventh avatar of Lord Vishnu, and a central character in the Indian epic Ramayan. A general among the vanaras, Hanuman is a disciple of Lord Rama in the war against the demon king Ravan. (more information about Hanuman, Rama and Ravana of Lanka are available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanuman). Hanuman temple at Ramboda in Sri Lanka-devotees are waiting while the pooja is being conducted inside the temple This temple is called Sri Baktha Hanuman Temple and it has been constructed on the hills of Ramboda which is believed to be an area where Rama’s forces gathered against Ravana. The hills of Ramboda are also believed where Hanuman was searching for Sita. (The story of Rama and Ravana is an epic). The Chinmaya mission of Sri Lanka has built an Anjaneyar temple with Hanuman as the presiding deity.  The image of Lord Hanuman which is placed inside the temple is 16 feet tall. To reach the temple, one has to go 500 meters up on the road which branches off the Kandy- Nuwara Eliya main road about one-kilo meter before Tawalantena.         We posed for a picture while walking up the road leading to the Sri Hanuman temple Since the day we visited the temple was a Sunday (6th May 2012), there were many devotees belonging to both communities: Sinhala and Tamils. They visit this temple either to make a vow, make an offering or fulfill a vow made seeking the god’s assistance previously. As the temple is erected on a higher elevation, the surrounding mountains covered with tea plantations and hills replete with green vegetation can be clearly viewed from this temple.

 

                   A picture of Hanuman displaying at the entrance to the temple

 

                  Lush green mountains can be viewed from the temple of Hanuman