Tamil Nationalism Research Articles

Tahap pemahaman dan penggunaan aplikasi Delima 2.0 oleh guru dalam pengajaran dan pembelajaran tatabahasa bahasa Tamil [The level of understanding and use of the Delima 2.0 application by teachers in teaching and learning Tamil language grammar

This study aims to examine the level of understanding and use of the DELIMa 2.0 application by teachers in the teaching and learning of Tamil grammar in Tamil National Type Schools. This research is in the form of a survey, using a questionnaire as a research instrument. The study respondents consisted of 60 Tamil teachers in 60 primary schools in the northern zone. The data of this study was analyzed using Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26.0 software. Descriptive analysis was used to show frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation. A total of 8 applications available from DELIMa 2.0 that can type Tamil text are used as test tools. The results of the study show that National Tamil School teachers in the northern zone recognize the 8 applications and know the features found in the applications. Knowledge of resource building among teachers is seen to differ according to the application used. The teachers are more knowledgeable in using Google Quiz Form, Google Slide, Kahoot and Quizizz compared to Canva, Powtoon. Plickers and build Youtube videos. The number of resources built is based on Canva, Powtoon applications. Plickers and build DELIMa 2.0 Youtube videos for teaching Tamil grammar are also seen very low. Resource builders using Google Quiz Form, Google Slide, Kahoot and Quizizz are also in moderate numbers.

Advantages of using Technology in Classroom Assessment to Improve Teaching Professionalism and Challenges among Tamil National Type School Teachers (SJKT)

Advantages of using Technology in Classroom Assessment to Improve Teaching Professionalism and Challenges among Tamil National Type School Teachers (SJKT)

The Psychometric Assessment of GRIT using Rasch Measurement Model for Vernacular Students Setting

In facing a competitive global landscape and an uncertain future, fostering a national character rooted in grit emerges as a critical necessity. Grit stands out as a multifaceted trait encompassing perseverance of effort and consistency of interest over an extended period. The innovative and groundbreaking research that contributes new insights to the field by improving the validity and reliability on quality of items in assessing grit for vernacular setting among Tamil students who rarely explored. Hence, this study will focus on the setting of vernacular students consist of Tamil National Type Primary School (SJKT) in Negeri Sembilan. The study aimed to test whether grit measurement items have good psychometric properties in the context of SJKT students based on Rasch analysis. Two grit constructs have been applied in this study such as perseverance and interest. The survey with quantitative approach was applied. Cluster sampling technique was used to select a total of 93 SJKT students studying in Year 6 from two districts in Negeri Sembilan. The total of 11 from 12 items met the requirements of Rasch’s statistical modelling using WINSTEPS 3.68.2 software. This psychometrics properties also reports on the strength of items through graphical analysis such as Wright Map. Person reliability shows the reading of 0.78 and item reliability shows of 0.84. Meanwhile, person separation is at 1.88 and item separation at 2.32 proved that items and persons can be categorized by the difficulty and ability. Cronbach Alpha shows the reading of 0.89 for internal consistency evidence. An implication of this is the possibility to generate more difficult items for SJKT students to measure grit and expand the impact of grit measurement that only focus on psychology part, but also the psychometric field. It is recommended that future studies can be conducted to examine the suitability of items using few other new settings such as Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK), Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina (SJKC) and private primary schools in Negeri Sembilan with larger samples. Future study for these items could be used as a self and peers -assessment for the self-improvement purpose in grit.

Tamil Language Teachers’ Teaching Practices for Factual Type Essays in Tamil National Type Schools in Malaysia

Tamil Language Teachers’ Teaching Practices for Factual Type Essays in Tamil National Type Schools in Malaysia

Anti-Dravidian Politics, Anti-Caste Tamil Nationalism and the VCK’s Lost Track: Reading the Politics of Madras

During the 1990s, the VCK evolved as a radical Dalit movement. Pledging to revolutionize the history of Tamil politics, Thirumavalavan, an icon of new generation Dalit activists, mobilized the lower castes of Tamil Nadu. The party emerged as a representative of Dalits, since Dravidian politics turned ineffective in handling Dalit concerns and caste issues. The main Dravidian parties—DMK and AIADMK—have moved a long way from the self-respect movement of Periyar. The Dravidian leaders, while abandoning Periyar’s social radicalism, introduced a philosophical tradition, Tamil nationalism—inspired by the Tamil literary tradition. However, this linguistic nationalism deserted caste issues while romanticizing the antiquity of the Tamil language and culture. In contrast, the VCK vociferously campaigned on a concept of anti-caste Tamil nationalism in the early times. It engages on the liberative Tamil Buddhism—advocating the need for a collective identity, caste-less-Tamilians. However, in the latter stage, Thirumavalavan focused much on Tamil Eelam politics, turning into in an explicit supporter of LTTE. The VCK has almost lost track of the anti-caste Tamil nationalist politics in the present times. This article focuses on how these political shifts and dimensions are represented in a Tamil film, named Madras, directed by Pa. Ranjith. Through an effective screenplay with strong symbolisms, Madras discusses one of the significant histories and trajectories of Tamil politics. The film commemorates the social movement politics of VCK during the 1990s. It counters the Tamil literary tradition of Dravidian parties and criticizes their linguistic nationalism. It portrays VCK’s anti-caste Tamil nationalism. Further, it criticizes the VCK for losing-track from the anti-caste politics. This article examines how Madras represent these political shifts. It explores how Madras presents a Dalit criticism of the Dravidian parties and also on the Dalit party.

APLIKASI KONSEP 6C DALAM PENGAJARAN DAN PEMBELAJARAN DALAM KALANGAN GURU-GURU PENDIDIKAN MORAL SJKT DAERAH KUALA MUDA

Acceptance of 21st century learning characteristics among Moral Education teachers in Tamil National Primary Schools (SJKT) in Kuala Muda District was found to be still at a low level, especially the 6C application. Therefore, this study aims to review the application of the concept 6C among Moral Education teachers at SJKT in Kuala Muda District. The design of this study uses a qualitative approach using purposive sampling. Questionnaire data was obtained from a questionnaire that was emailed in Google Forms to 6 selected study participants. Study participants can access the questionnaire through a link provided via Whatsapp. In addition to questionnaires, researchers also used observation methods, document analysis and transcription of conversations through voice chat. Data analysis shows that the application of the 6C concept among the study participants is at a moderate level. Only 3 study participants mastered the 6C competency skills at a good level and the remaining 3 people were still at a low level. Even so, the Ministry of Education still has room to improve the 6C application among Moral Education teachers at SJKT in Kuala Muda District through Professional Development Courses. Researchers have the opportunity to study the impact of training on the application of 6C.

Fantastic GRIT: Celebrating the determination of Tamil National Type Primary School (SJKT) Students in Mathematics Learning

Grit is defined as passion and perseverance for long-term and meaningful goals. In the subject of Mathematics in primary school, there is a need for students to persevere to get answers. Grit encourages students to continue working hard despite difficulties or failures and this trait is very important in the workplace. However, there are not many discussions that debate issues related to grit in Mathematics in the context of Tamil National Primary School (SJKT) students. There are three main issues that cause the grit issues expressed in this concept paper: (i) an attitude of giving up when solving high-level math problems; ii) no clear goals due to a lack of interest in learning Mathematics, and (iii) the ambiguity of grit level measurement in Mathematics in the context of SJKT students. This concept paper is unique because it elaborates on grit issues in Mathematics, especially among Indian students. This study suggests that grit empowerment should be done from primary school at SJKT through an effective student development program. This paper needs to be given attention so that the community is more aware of the development of grit in Mathematics, especially in the Indian student community. The proposed solutions can be developed through the school’s efforts to make students more persistent and not give up when solving difficult Mathematical problems.

Gender and the Nationalist Imagination of Women in Sri Lanka

The paper focuses on how hierarchical gender relations that form the basis of the patriarchal Sri Lankan society allows women a very limited role within nationalist politics. It explores both Sinhalese and Tamil nationalism, exposes their inherently patriarchal nature and their respective nationalist imagination of women. It further sheds light on the myriad ways that Sinhalese and Tamil women submit to or subvert this nationalist expectation of them through their actions.

TEKNIK PENGAJARAN PENDIDIKAN MORAL DI SEKOLAH JENIS KEBANGSAAN TAMIL DALAM BANDAR SEREMBAN [TECHNIQUE IN THE TEACHING OF MORAL EDUCATION IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS (SJKT) IN SEREMBAN

Moral Education is an effort to educate students to become moral and virtuous human beings by emphasizing the developmental aspects of moral reasoning, moral feelings and moral behavior. In this regard, the teaching process of Moral Education teachers plays an important role in producing students with noble morals. This study aims to examine the teaching of Moral Education teachers in Tamil National Type Schools in Seremban district. The design of this study was an action research. The sample of this study consists of 76 teachers from 20 Tamil National Type Schools in Seremban District, Negeri Sembilan. The data of this study were obtained by using a questionnaire instrument constructed by the researchers themselves. To identify the teaching methods of Moral Education teachers, descriptive analysis was used to obtain the frequency, percentage and mean. The findings of the study show that most teachers still use traditional methods and focus more on examinations only.

Rajanarayanan in the Dravidian Aesthetic Tradition

The tradition of Dravidian ideology encompasses a variety of material and historical implications. None of the literary and artistic activities emerge in isolation, but rather from the folds of history and social upheavals, and history has two sides. Which side we stand on has to do with our mental system and cultural understanding. The 2,000-year-old Tamil tradition has been influenced by various kinds of literature that support the foundations of Dravidian philosophy. Jain Buddhism, which was once very strong in the Tamil community, took materialism to the fore. They classified human beings on the basis of their actions. When we look closely at the lines such as ‘Ittar Periyor idathor izhikolathor (Those who helped others are great those who ignored others are inferior)," etc., they did not discriminate on the basis of birth but were defined on the basis of morality. The question of whether the concept of Dravidianism has reached the youth properly in today's time is very important. This is because there is an increasing tendency to project Dravidianism against Tamil nationalism. The Tamil tradition is the rational tradition, and the knowledge tradition of the Siddhas is presented as the Dravidian tradition. Therefore, Dravidianism should be matched with Tamil. The word Dravidian acts as a link to Tamil Nadu. The Dravidian will be the weapon to defeat the conspiracy to alienate the people who have accepted the dignity of the Tamil land. On that basis, this article attempts to link the aesthetic elements of Ki.Ra., which recorded the lives of the Telugu-speaking people, with the Dravidian elements.

The names of the leader: the political deification of prabhakaran

ABSTRACT This essay investigates the deification of Prabhakaran, the leader of the Sri Lankan Tamil insurrectionary group, the LTTE. I describe the centrality of death in the ideological economy of the LTTE, with the leader Prabhakaran as the love-object who consecrated and directed such death. Following Ernesto Laclau, I propose that a chain of equivalences is forged in LTTE ideology: to get to Tamil Eelam is to love Prabhakaran. While Tamil militancy’s common solution to the Tamil community’s malaise and suffering under state discrimination and violence was a self-described Tamil homeland, a ‘Tamil Eelam’, the LTTE came to actively create a set of equivalences that centered Prabhakaran as the name of the fullness of that community. This chain of meanings created a path dependency between Tamil Eelam and Prabhakaran, the former actualizable only through the latter. Thus, contemporary Tamil nationalism still labors under the Prabhakaran problem, even after his killing.

TAHAP KESEDIAAN GURU TERHADAP PERLAKSANAAN PENDIDIKAN ABAD KE 21 DALAM KALANGAN GURU SEKOLAH RENDAH DI DAERAH KUALA LANGAT

This study aims to examine the level of readiness of teachers towards the implementation of the 21st century education among primary school teachers. This study uses quantitative method using questionnaire. A total of 132 teachers in the Tamil National Type School in Kuala Langat District were selected by random sampling method as a sample of the study. Researchers have used descriptive analysis and inferential analysis in responding to research questions. The results showed that the level of teacher readiness was at a high level with a mean value of 3.83 and a standard deviation of 0.298. The implications of this study can be seen through the Teachers to find out the level of readiness they have to the implementation of the 21st century education, especially in the cognitive, behavioral and affective aspects of the teacher towards the implementation of the 21st century education. In addition, to teachers in identifying the importance of knowledge and skills aspects that are the basis of the implementation of the 21st century education in primary schools. Therefore, all parties, especially teachers in schools who play the role of the implementing body should prepare themselves for any change introduced by the government for the goodness of the students.

Persepsi Guru-guru Bahasa Melayu di Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Daerah Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan terhadap Penguasaan Kemahiran Lisan Bahasa Melayu Sepanjang Pandemik COVID-19

Mastery of listening and speaking skills (oral) in Malay language is a major problem in Teaching and Learning (PdP) in schools. Moreover, teachers who teach Malay mostly have no option. This problem became more serious when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world. Can teachers teach oral skills virtually? A study was conducted to identify the perceptions of teachers who teach the mastery of Malay oral skills to non-native speaking students throughout the Teaching and Learning at Home (PdPR) period. A total of 101 teachers participating in the Malay Language Knowledge Sharing Program virtually were selected as respondents. They consisted of teachers who teach Malay in 16 Chinese National Type Schools (SJKC) and 17 Tamil National Type Schools (SJKT) in Port Dickson District, Negeri Sembilan. The study was conducted using a quantitative design. The research instrument used was a questionnaire that was adapted, containing 34 items using the 5-point Likert scale feedback and semi -structured questions. The data were supported by interviews with 4 teachers and one SISC+ officer from Port Dickson District. The discussion is based on the Behaviourism Theory. The data obtained were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 25.0 using descriptive statistics. The findings showed that the perception of teachers who implemented PdPR in this new norm is encouraging. Various initiatives and sacrifices have been made by the teachers at SJK to continue the PdP of students throughout the COVID-19 pandemic that hit the world. The impact of the program is expected to improve the performance of Malay language in SJK after the face-to-face classes are conducted again.

Caldwell's Dravidians: Knowledge production and the representational strategies of missionary scholars in colonial South India

AbstractThis article examines British Protestant missionary scholars' representations of Tamil culture and history, analysing how this form of knowledge evolved in relation to missionary concerns and the intellectual trends of nineteenth-century India. I focus on the work of Robert Caldwell, whose scholarship had a profound influence on the identity discourses of twentieth-century Tamil nationalism. I situate Caldwell's work in ethnography and philology within the broader field of colonial knowledge produced about Tamils in nineteenth-century India and within a broader study of British missionary concerns in South India. I examine two of Caldwell's publications to argue that his later work, far from being driven by mere scholarly interests, was also shaped by his concerns as a missionary, and that his evolving scholarship mirrored the development of anti-Brahmanism in British Protestant missionary circles of the time. Missionary anti-Brahmanism arose as a response to the caste system, which missionary groups came to regard as the biggest obstacle to Christian conversions. Departing from some of his earlier ideas, Caldwell strategically positioned his later work to challenge Brahman influence, which he saw as being intrinsically tied to the strength of caste sentiment in Indian society. Caldwell's construction of a discursive framework for understanding Tamil linguistic identity was informed by public reactions to his first publication and his subsequent understanding of the dynamic relationship between European scholarship and Indian social relations. More broadly, this article demonstrates the close relationships between Protestant Christian missionary activity, Indian social politics, and the field of knowledge production in colonial South India.

How the Tigers Got Their Stripes: A Case Study of the LTTE’s Rise to Power

Over the course of six months in 1986, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) eliminated their rival militant organizations, despite being significantly outgunned and outmanned by some of these groups. Relying primarily on contemporaneous accounts in Tamil and English, this article traces the process by which the LTTE became the primary avatar of Tamil nationalism, and explores the question of why consolidation unfolded so violently in this case. We argue that the answer lies in the LTTE’s successful portrayal of this violence as order-upholding rather than destructive, and attribute their ability to do this to the fact that much of the population perceived the LTTE as the most legitimate user of violence among the militants.

Performing nationalism: The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and Sri Lankan Tamil diasporic politics in Switzerland

AbstractThe history of post‐war Sri Lanka has seen an escalation of nationalisms that constantly collide. Post‐2009, with the end of the war, the reproduction of narratives around nationalisms has become intense, with home‐grown protests for accountability of minority injustices continuing to sustain its fervour over time. Within the context of Switzerland these events in Sri Lanka are invariably aligned with diasporic engagement. Dominant spaces such as the United Nations (UN) in Geneva, Switzerland become transnational sites for the performance of long‐distance nationalism by Tamil diaspora groups, raising questions around legitimacy and claims‐making. This paper presents empirical insights as to how long‐distance Tamil nationalism is manifested as political engagement, by groups, and/ or individuals, in formal and informal transnational sites within the socio‐political landscape of Switzerland. It argues that modes of political engagement are manifested through rituals of performance and performativity such as scripting and iteration of claims‐making processes that enable legitimacy in transnational sites of lobby and protest within the UN arena in Geneva during the Human Rights Council (HRC) sessions. The paper situates its analysis within a shift in post‐war Tamil diaspora claims‐making narratives from a separatist stance to that of victimhood and human rights producing narratives that present the Tamil diaspora as a singular actor albeit with complex heterogeneity.

Complicating ‘Victimhood’ In Diaspora Studies: The Saga of Tamils In Exile

As an interdisciplinary field, Diaspora Studies has drawn from many disciplines, including sociology, especially from its debates on migration, structure and agency. This lecture draws on my ethnographic fieldwork on the Sri Lankan Tamils in Germany. It analyses their transition following the civil war in Sri Lanka, from being refugee immigrants to becoming a successful diaspora, well integrated economically, yet holding a powerful identity as Tamil nationalists. Fuelled by political commitment and digital connectivity, their innovative strategies as a diaspora have contributed to the propagation of the Tamil cause. Their example extends and complicates the classic notion of ‘victim diaspora’, demonstrating the simultaneity of victimhood and agency.

Sinhala and Tamil Nationalism Through the Lens of Territorialisation and Memorialisation in Post-conflict Sri Lanka

Perera, Sasanka, Warzone Tourism in Sri Lanka: Tales from Darker Places in Paradise (SAGE Publications, 2016). pp. 256, ₹578.00. ISBN 978-9351509226 (Hardcover). Subramanian, Samanth, This Divided Island: Stories from the Sri Lankan War (Thomas Dunne Books). pp. 336, ₹1,312. ISBN: 978-1250069740 (Hardcover).

Diaspora Geopolitics in Toronto: Tamil Nationalism and the Aftermath of War in Sri Lanka

During the mid to late 1980s tens of thousands of Tamils from Sri Lanka sought and got asylum in Canada, forging the basis of the sizeable diaspora today. The Canadian state granted overwhelmingly ...

Mother as Witness: Poetry by Tamil Women in Sri Lanka

In the three decade long civil war between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government terrible atrocities were committed on the minority Tamil community by both the parties involved. This period of Tamil nationalism saw constructions of Tamil nation which were grounded on the construction of an ideal “Tamil Woman.” The period also witnessed a variety of cultural responses, including those by women poets. This paper broadly tries to elucidate how poetry was used to act as a witness to the experiences of the Tamil women during the Sri Lankan Civil War and how they responded to the Tamil nation making process. This paper will argue that the witnessing of war is “gendered” as can be evidenced in the critical reading of poetry written by Tamil women in Sri Lanka. Specifically the paper will look at how the figure of the mother has been used in this gendered witnessing. Different kinds of motherhoods were mobilized in Sri Lanka through the course of the war, namely the valiant mother who encourages her children to die for the country, the suffering mother and the mother who resists power for the sake of her children. One of the key constructs of women in Tamil nationalism in Sri Lanka was of the figure of the “Veerathayar” – the brave mother, who is the reproducer of the nation. In the context of a war fought over competing nationalisms, the figure of Veerathayar was constructed through reimaginations of the mythic characters from the old legends and classics. A much more radical positioning of the mother figure was seen in the 1980s with the construct of “social motherhood.” Even though social motherhood appealed to the naturalized and essentialized construction of women as mothers, it also revealed the transgressions of the Sri Lankan State and the LTTE which otherwise valorized the nurturance role of mothers. Set against this context, the paper will examine how the figure of the “mother” has been used by Tamil women in their poetry to write their experience of the conflict. This is done through a critical reading of their poetry by giving attention to the ways through which they have used the construct of mother to subvert the dominant notions of being an ideal “Tamil Woman” as perpetuated by Tamil nationalism.