ELTWeekly Vol. 4 Issue#35 | August 27, 2012 | ISSN 0975-3036
The primary aim of establishment of polytechnics inIndiais to produce technicians. Students who are admitted in polytechnics are expected to develop practical skills that are required by the industry. English being a universal language, communicating fluently in English has become essential for every one who wishes to communicate well in the academic or professional spheres. Even though the majority of tasks performed by an engineer or technician are of technical in nature, their success to a great extent depends on the effectiveness with which they assimilate or disseminate technical or formal information. Effective communication is essential for any organizational unit including industrial unit. As a result, the communication skill becomes mandatory to be developed among the students of polytechnics. Therefore, the syllabus of polytechnics is designed to meet the requirement. InGujaratstate Communication skills is taught as a subject to the students of polytechnics in Semester—I. In this semester students have to learn many technical words and terminology and these are often very long and strange. Technical communication is mostly formal and hence very often requires the use of set formats to get the required technical message across. As compared to general communication which is mostly oral, technical communication necessitates a lot of documentation. The other major feature of technical communication to be kept in mind is audience specificity. Unlike ordinary day-to-day communication, formal communication is prepared for specific target segments of the society. Hence, it is important for newly admitted polytechnic students to understand clearly the intricacies of listening, speaking, reading and writing in the chosen medium. In short, a diploma pass out should possess good communication skill in English language i.e. he must be able to read, write, speak and comprehend English so that he can communicate effectively for industrial purpose.
When the newly admitted students come to attend their class for the first time in polytechnics, the teacher of Communication Skills faces many difficulties to teach those students technical English inGujaratstate, as they do not have the base of general English. In this research work, we propose to study the difficulties that the English teachers of polytechnics face while teaching technical English to diploma students inGujaratstate. We also propose to find out its causes by the method of survey of polytechnic teachers who teach technical English in different regions ofGujarat. We would also propose to offer its remedies.
Difficulties
It is a very challenging task for a lecturer in English of polytechnics inGujaratstate to teach English communication to newly admitted students as they are far behind of the required knowledge of English language at the entry level. During our teaching experience as a lecturer in English, we came across many students of 10+ level. While teaching technical English to them we came across many difficulties in teaching them technical English. We have consulted 10 faculties who teach communication skills to diploma students in different regions of Gujarat state and all have agreed to some of the difficulties in teaching Technical English to diploma students inGujaratstate.
The first difficulty they face is lack of Basic English skills. The base of general English is necessary to teach technical communication that is very formal in nature. The first semester students are expected to possess reading, writing, listening and speaking skills but they do not have much idea of these skills. They are unable to express themselves comfortably in written or oral form. They are not habituated to speak English, nor are they habituated to listen to even instruction in English language.
“Most of the students don’t understand the instructions given in English; their reading, writing, listening and speaking skills are very poor.”(B. J. Dave)
Many students even struggle to introduce themselves in English as they suffer from a kind of phobia of speaking English in the classroom. They are not prepared to believe in themselves that they can learn English language. Confidence level of the students is very low as they have never been encouraged to express themselves. Consequently, they want to escape from attending class in polytechnics.
I feel a kind of void between me and my students caused by the phobia of English which is deeply rooted in them. (J.N. Mehta)
The English used by the 1st semester students is not considerably good in the sense they use broken English as they do not have a clear idea of basic sentence patterns of English. They even do not have sufficient writing practice. Whatever they write is full of grammatical errors and spelling mistakes.
In grammar also the students are very weak; even after completing some basic topics like tense; they are hardly able to form a simple sentence in English. (Ajay Patel)
Another difficulty, according to me is most of the students of 1st semester of diploma engineering are from Gujarati medium schools where they learnt English language through grammar-translation method only therefore they have not developed listening and speaking skills. They always expect Gujarati translation of each and every word. When the teacher starts delivering lecture in throughout English, the students get nervous and request the teacher to translate in the mother tongue i.e. Gujarati. If the teacher continues to translate everything in Gujarati the purpose of the subject does not serve or if he continues to deliver lecture in throughout English, the student finds it difficult to understand as they are not habituated to it. If the teacher starts, at first, to develop the basic skills of English by giving them enough practice, he will not be able to complete the syllabus. Under these circumstances, it is very difficult for the teacher to teach in throughout English.
As a second language learner they are not aware with new words, and other technical words which we have to teach in our syllabus so that we have to use grammar translation method. (M. J. Vanazara)
The difficulty for English teacher is many teachers of other subjects teach in Gujarati language since the medium of teaching and examination is not strictly English.
Another difficulty is the outdated syllabus. The present syllabus of communication skills aims at developing reading and writing skills only. Other two important skills speaking and comprehension remain in the background.
As the text-book prescribed for them contains many out-dated passages for comprehension, it becomes a Herculean task for the teacher to maintain their interest in the class. (B. J. Dave)
No doubt the present syllabus contains topics of grammar that are useful for technical communication and the passages for comprehension also enrich their vocabulary for technical English. But students can not get conversation practice and writing practice in current syllabus. Therefore, when they complete the course they are unable to express themselves orally or in written form.
The subject Communication Skills is taught only in the 1st semester and students take it as only one time hurdle and pass the examination. The students do not understand the importance of communication skills in their future; therefore they do not pay much attention to the subject. The teacher is unable to develop all the required skills for communication in a four month semester in those students who do not have the base of English.
Generally the students are examination-oriented. They just want to pass the subject, and are not having much interest in the subject. (K. H. Talati)
Reasons
The foremost reason of the above mentioned difficulties of polytechnic teachers in Gujarat State while teaching the 1st semester student is; lack of proper exposure. Many students are from rural and tribal areas of the state where they hardly get proper exposure for developing their language skills. Even in urban areas the exposure is limited.
In school education, English is taught rather as subject than a language. The syllabus up to SSC is designed to develop four basic skills of English but students hardly develop these skills even if they pass the examination with good marks in English.
The main reason for this is that their basics have not been properly taught at the school level. Only exam oriented teaching at school level is responsible. (J. N. Mehta)
Another reason is many students who secure admission in polytechnics are from Gujarati medium schools. So they are not accustomed to English conversation. Students who have studied in English medium schools are fluent in English. They have developed their speech but many grammatical errors can be observed in their speech as well as in writing. Their pronunciations are not proper either.
It is also true that they also do not get motivation from their school teachers whose primary task is to finish the syllabus in stipulated time. In our schools, the emphasis is laid on teaching process, not on learning process.
Another reason is that many teachers who teach English in the schools inGujaratare not competent enough. They do not have any idea of the real aim of the subject. Some teachers can not speak fluently and with proper pronunciation. They are unable to teach the students in throughout English. So, the basic language skill remains undeveloped in the students they teach.
The role of Government of Gujarat also needs to be taken into consideration. In Gujarat English was neglected for a long time. One could complete graduation without studying English as one of the subjects. As a result of this, there was a lack of suitable atmosphere of English in the state. The students learn more from atmosphere than by studying rules of grammar. English speaking people around you are rare in the state. Now the state Government has realized the necessity of developing English communication skills and English subject has been made compulsory in SSC and HSC examination.
The newly established Gujarat Technological University passed a resolution that the medium of teaching and examination to be English only in the year 2008 but had to put off its implementation because of several representations from student unions and had to allow Gujarati medium in both teaching and examination.
Moreover, Mr. B. J. Dave points out following reasons for the difficulties the polytechnic teachers face:
Frequent breaks due to mid-semester exams and all other exams with which the students of English have nothing to do but because of it their study suffers, centralized admission process which results in the students getting admission far away from their native town which again causes communication gap between students-parents and also parents-teachers. (B. J. Dave)
It is not only duty of English lecturer to develop communication skills in polytechnics; the lecturers of all disciplines should make efforts. If they continue to teach in Gujarati medium, the students will hardly develop the basic skills by studying the subject communication skills theoretically.
Solutions:
To overcome above stated difficulties, grass root level changes are required. The level of English inGujaratstate will improve not only by changing syllabus. It is highly necessary to create awareness among school children about the need and importance of learning English language for their future.
The English teachers in schools should also understand their responsibility and the objective of teaching English language. They must change present teaching methodology that does not develop basic skills of language rather they should give adequate exposure to students. If the students have not learnt basic skills of English at school, they will not be able to develop good communication skill during their study in polytechnics.
The frequent teacher’s training programme should be arranged to develop competency of the teachers and to make them aware with the latest trends of teaching.
The competency of teachers should be assessed periodically and frequent training should be given to them by university professors and CIEFL experts. (B. J. Dave)
The medium of instruction, if not teaching, should be made compulsory from the 1st standard at school and the medium of teaching and the examination should be only English in polytechnics.
The subject, Communication Skills, in polytechnics should be taught at least for four semesters.
The students of polytechnic should learn English at least for four semesters. (D.A.Maru)
The present syllabus needs to be changed as it is out dated and also boring. In place of technical passages, interesting stories and novels should be introduced so that English sentence structures can be taught through literature and it is an easy task for teachers to maintain interest in the classroom.
As students are already learning other technical subjects technical passages should be removed from English and more weightage should be given to short stories and abridged novels should be introduced in the syllabus. (Miss Mansi Joshi)
Competitions like elocution, essay writing, quiz, group discussion, seminar, report writing should be arranged frequently in polytechnics to apply the basic skills of language. Students should be encouraged to participate in such competitions.
Separate classes of general English should be arranged after regular classes for the students who are from tribal belt and rural areas of the state or who have poor communication skill.
The teachers who teach English in polytechnics must explain the students the importance of the subject for their future and how communication skill is helpful in the industrial as well as other organizations.
A language lab should be established in all polytechnics and communication Practice should be given to the students by using the software in language laboratory.
Every polytechnic should have a language lab. to create the interest of the students. (Dr. N. J. Dave)
In short, the management also should take interest and an atmosphere of English must be created in all polytechnics of Gujarat state. All teaching faculties should be compelled to use English for teaching and instruction and to motivate the students to use English language for conversation. If the management succeeds in creating suitable atmosphere for English, the students will undoubtedly develop good communication skills.
Conclusion
The research paper entitled Difficulties faced by Polytechnic English teachers in teaching Technical English in Gujarat State has been an attempt to present observations made during our teaching experience in Government polytechnic,Bhavnagar which falls under Saurashtra region ofGujarat state. We have consulted 10 faculties who have been teaching English language in polytechnics of different regions of the state for more than ten years so that we can present my observation with more authenticity.Gujarat is on the way of progress in industrial field as the state Government promotes the industrial development for the advancement of the state. The industrialists like Tata have chosenGujarat as appropriate for the development of industry. Many more industrialists are looking forward for the establishment of industrial units in the state. Under these circumstances the polytechnics of the state must produce technicians and engineers who have to be competent in all skills including communication skills. In short, the research paper is an attempt to provide suggestions to overcome the difficulties faced by the teachers of English in polytechnics in the state so that the diploma students develop excellent communication skills that is very essential for industrial as well as other organizations.
Faculties consulted
1. Mr. B. J. Dave, Sr. Lecturer in English, Government Polytechnic,Rajkot
2. Mr. K. H. Talati, Sr. Lecturer in English, Government Polytechnic, Gandhinagar
3. Mrs. D. A. Maru, Lecturer in English, Government Polytechnic, Amreli
4. Mr. Ajay Patel, Assistant Professor of English,NirmaUniversity, Ahmedabad
5. Mr. Jay N. Mehta, Lecturer in English, N. M. Gopani Polytechnic, Ranpur, (Ahmedabad)
6. Mr. M.J. Vanazara, Lecturer in English, Government Polytechnic, Bhuj (Kutch)
7. Dr. N J Dave, Asst. Professor & HOD Humanity Department, Pandit Din Dayal PetroleumUniversity, Raisan, (Gandhinagar)
8. Dr. Dilip Barad, Sr. lecturer & I/C HOD, Department of English, Bhavnagar Uni. Bhavnagar
9. Mrs. Mansi Joshi, Lecturer in English, Government Polytechnic, Surendranagar.
10. Miss A D Dhandhukiya, Lecturer in English, Sir BPI, Government Polytechnic, Bhavnagar.
sir, this article seriously makes a sense to not only Polytechnic college teachers-students but all of us at some or the other time in our respective classrooms, whether it is technical education class or from other discipline. i sincerely feel this is absolutely required to give this issue a serious thought and put in the efforts to bring out some positive and fruitful result. Kindly forward wishes to Mr. Vaidya for bringing this issue on the surface..
Thanks for expressing your views Dhwani.