Swarnamali Seneviratne

Site Last updated on: 07, July  2007

The man that hath no music in himself, Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils. The motions of his spirit are dull as night, And his affections dark as Erebus. Let no such man be trusted.- William Shakespeare Me with three of my four sons at their primary school [pre-primary] concert on the 2nd of May 2004
	Director          Swarnamali Music School  Darwin/Melbourne Director Australian Music and English Academy Founder/President/Public Officer Australian Multicultural Arts & Welfare Association Inc.

 

                                                 About Me

 

I’ve been a teacher of Senior School English and English Literature for a long time in Australia  and know that, almost every person I know who teaches literature, feels passionately about it.

I believe that learning about the contexts (aesthetic, formal, historical, social, cultural) of a work of art helps us understand its power. Teaching students to read closely, to attend to specific semantic nuances, rhetorical strategies, and artistic choices visible in a text, develops their understandings and skills as interpreters of all sorts of texts. We live in a world largely accessible to us through language and therefore, teaching and  learning how language works in different sorts of texts helps us become better readers, writers, speakers, and thinkers and of course more effective communicators.

As a teacher of English Literature I’ve learnt over the years that unlike soil, coal, or other geologic resources, art and meaning are infinitely renewable. Literature is not a zero-sum game: if my students love a text, and I love a different one I actually find it exciting. In a world in which so many forces work to limit human expression as many writers and poets have expressed in their work, the frustrations that come forth due to man limiting man, constraining human behaviour, and destroying human lives, it is indeed fascinating to find that others see beauty, and find pleasure, or gain intellectual satisfaction in a text that doesn't give me that same experience.

I have also been a lecturer in ESL/ Linguistics/and a teacher of Piano and Violin music and Voice at several institutions in Melbourne and Darwin. 

With my linguistics, I have a background in phonetics, phonology and ESL pronunciation and intercultural oral communication. With my music, I have a western classical music background and qualifications as well as a strong interest in social music and community music relating to many countries. I have a research interest in discourse analysis, ESL pronunciation and intercultural oral communication as well as the history of musical instruments.

In the area of linguistics, in general, I am interested in exploring and analysing and disseminating effective methods of teaching pronunciation and oral communication. I am also increasingly interested in policy and practice of ESL teaching, overseas students of English and their achievements. With my interests in the field of teaching pronunciation and improving oral skills of ESL students, I am exploring the incorporation of effective pronunciation lessons into the normal communicative ESL classroom, since, it is an important factor in ensuring that people with ESL needs can actually improve not just in oral communication but in general language skills. I am also interested in looking at aspects of language, meaning and culture, including ways in which cultural values and expectations can "shape" people's oral communication methods.

Language can be called a window on the mind that lies at the heart of understanding all aspects of human cognition, culture and conduct. I believe that we can successfully comprehend the intricacies of human nature, psychology and development through the study of language. I believe that the best teaching comes from innovative research. I have therefore undertaken to conduct research on different aspects of linguistic study, including theoretical linguistics, sociolinguistics, historical linguistics and cognitive studies of language.

It has always given me great pleasure to teach the workings of human language in all its various forms to my students, young and old and make them realise how it leads one to an awareness of the relationship between language, culture and social identity.

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