Critical Review of Teaching English as Second Language in India

CRITICAL REVIEW

of

TEACHING ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE IN INDIA

(Written by: Murali. M)

By:

Teguh Raharjo

NIM : 100221509261

Email: teguhraharjo71@yahoo.com

Abstract

This paper reviews the chapter entitled “Teaching English as a Second Language in India” by Murali M from MJAL (The Modern Journal of Applied linguistics) Volume 1: January, 1^st 2009. In this article, the author will also give the pro and contra side about the material discuss in the chapter. However, the author will not only criticize the chapter but also he will a solution or advice to the things being critic later on.

Keywords: Critical review, teaching English, Second Language

A.    INTRODUCTION

Every educational system has certain objectives which aim at bringing about desirable changes in students. In order to bring about those changes, the institutions arrange learning experience. The success of learning can be judged only in terms of the changes brought about by this experience. This is a learning experience and evaluation. Through the globalization era in all the fields, it necessitates the learning of a language which is international. Undoubtedly, English has become an international language rather than the language of only the English speaking countries such as the United Kingdom and the USA because the number of the people who use English as a means of communication exceeds much more than the number of the people who speak it as their mother tongue.

In this case of English in India, more than two centuries, India has been directly and indirectly influenced of the language, English on all the fields, such as Education, Medical Science, etc. Text materials relating to the subjects of science, engineering and technology as also medicine are available only in English. Moreover, all over India, there is no single language to unite the whole country. Since, in India, several languages are spoken and also one set of people are reluctant to learn one common Indian language, we have to borrow a new non-Indian language.

Considering the above facts, learning English, the universal language, as a SecondLanguage, becomes inseparable branch as also unavoidable in Indian education system. So it is necessary to apply the appropriate methods in teaching English as a second language. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in Savignon (1991) involves learners as active participants in communication. Language skills are not divided into active and passive skills but rather as productive and receptive skills that involve a collaborative nature of meaning making, and this collaborative nature is best illustrated by interpretation, expression and negotiation of meaning. CLT has become a term for methods and curricula that embraces both the goals and the process of classroom learning. The goal is to reach communicative competence of the target language, and the process is by building learners' grammatical, discourse, strategic, and sociolinguistic competence through communicative activities (Canale & Swain as cited in Savignon, 1983).

B.     BODY/DISCUSSION

1.      Common Factors Affecting Teaching/Learning English As a Second Language

There are so many factors that affect the teaching-learning process in India. The students in India can be categorized into two; the one is having the regional language as medium of study from the primary level and the other is having English as the medium of study. Hence, the problem of teaching English as a second language, to the Indian students starts from the pre-schooling.

Further environment and family background play vital role in success of learning process. For example, countries like India, where majority of the people are farmers, have the poor background in education. Moreover, the income of majority of the families is not adequate. Hence, the parents are not interested in giving good education background to their children. In contrast, they are willing to engage the children in some jobs in order to earn money. This is the very basic reason and the affecting factor in teaching.

Secondly, the infrastructure, viz. school buildings – class rooms, labs, etc. is not adequate as required. The first category of the students are almost compelled to attend their classes under the trees even after several five year plans.

Majority of the students are coming from village and also their parents are farmers and uneducated. If the nature fails, the survival of the farmers will be questionable. Hence, the students are mentally discouraged due to the family conditions.

In the second category, the students are having enough background in basic education since their parents are educated and they do not depend on the nature much. Many of the students from second category are joining in English medium schools and hence, they do not find much difficulty in pursuing their higher education. Moreover majority of the families of second category are dwelling in towns and cities and hence, they have easy access of quality education. But, the first category of students are scoring good marks the examinations conducted. It proves that they are having good writing skill in English. The only thing is that they have to be given training in oral English communication also. Hence, a common programme for English language teaching must be framed in the pre-schooling itself.

2.      Learning A Language

Each language is structured differently, and the different structures offer users different suggestions to meaning. So when we learn our first language, our brain/mind ‘tunes into’ the way the particular works, and we learn to pay attention to particular cues to meaning that are most helpful. When we meet a new language, our brain/mind automatically tries to apply the first language experience by looking for familiar clues. Part of learning a foreign language is developing new understandings about the particular cues to meaning that the new language offers, and that differ from those of our first language. The transferability of knowledge, skills and strategies across languages depends closely on how the two written languages work.

3.      Role of a Teacher

Philip Sydney said that teaching is the end of all learning. A teacher’s primary role is not only to enable the students to understand what he is intending to say or teach. It is also the duty of the teacher to understand what the student wants and says.

In teaching-learning process, there are two things that play the vital roles. The first one is the delivering capacity of the teacher and the second one is the receiving capacity of the students. Without the two aspects, the teaching-learning process will not successful. Teaching-learning process is just like making sound by clapping. Without two hands we cannot clap. Like that without a right teacher and the students, the teaching learning process is meaningless. Teaching should be a worthy of learning a concept deeply and broadly. Teaching should facilitate the students to face the world which is full of political, social, international as well as personal controversies, without fear. It should give self-confidence to the students.

By the effective teaching, the students should be enabled to go for right choices, judgments and also decisions individually. In the process of teaching-learning, the teacher should try to understand the students first. Then only, he can enable the students to understand him or his teaching. Theory with practice on some of the teaching topics may enable the students to understand the concept easily. Success of a teacher in his/her attempt in enabling the students to understand what is the concept taught by the teacher, depends on the methods he/she applies. The teacher may be a good, but the students’ physical problem may lead him to ignore the teaching. Or sometimes, the background of family of the students may drive him to be dull. Hence, the teacher should take into account everything.

At the school level, the teaching-learning process is checked up the teacher by repeated class tests and examinations. Based on the result (marks scored by the students), different methods are adopted to improve teaching in case of negative result. At the college levels also the same traditional (Macaulay) method of examinations is used. The only difference is the volume of syllabus prescribed for the colleges students will be more than that of the school level.

4.      Teaching English as a Second Language

The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), U.S., defines English language proficiency in this way:

A fully English proficient student is able to use English to ask questions, to understand teachers, and reading materials, to test ideas, and to challenge what is being asked in the classroom. Four language skills contribute to proficiency as follows:

1. Reading - the ability to comprehend and interpret text at the age and     grade appropriate level.

2. Listening - the ability to understand the language of the teacher and instruction, comprehend and extract information, and follow the instructional discourse through which teachers provide information.

3. Writing - the ability to produce written text with content and format fulfilling classroom assignments at the age and grade-appropriate level.

4. Speaking - the ability to use oral language appropriately and effectively in learning activities (such as peer tutoring, collaborative learning activities, and question/answer sessions) within the classroom and in social interactions within the school.

Hence, the teacher should keep in mind while teaching English as a second language to the students.

C.    CONCLUSION

In Indian country, as already said 75% of the students are from rural areas and they are coming through regional language medium schools. Hence, based on their background, we have to design the syllabus and adopt methods to test their English language proficiency. Therefore, it is necessary to go for a detailed discussion as to whether the existing curriculum is fulfilling the need of the hour and suitable to the students in achieving their goals, the present methods for testing the proficiency of the students are suitable and opinion and suggestions from the teaching faculties of the English language in technical institutions are to be obtained. Taking into consideration of all the above points and undergoing a detailed analysis, a real solution may be found out for the betterment of the students as well as society.

References

Cummins, J. (1996). Negotiating identities: Education for empowerment in a diverse society. Ontario, CA: California Association for Bilingual Education

Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. (1997). ESL standards for pre-K–12 students. Alexandria, VA: Author.

U.S. Department of Education. (2001). Language instruction for limited-English proficient and immigrant students (Title III of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, PL 107–110). Washington, DC: Author.