ELTWeekly Vol. 4 Issue#40 | October 1, 2012 | ISSN 0975-3036
This paper is submitted by Dr. R. Srividya. Dr. Srividya has an MPhil on ESP and a PhD on ELT. Currently in Dr. Ambedkar Govt Arts College, Chennai-39, as Assistant Prof of English, she has of late evinced keen interest in teacher development programs. This article is inspired by her lecture given a year or two ago,at the Orientation course for school teachers of English (organised by Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan at KV,Tambaram,Chennai).
Abstract
In India, English is a library language. Most of the Indians tend to reserve it for formal occasions and don’t get chatty in English, unless they are from convent schools. We chat in our own local languages. English is used to communicate with those who don’t understand the local language. English does have immense potential for humour and chatting in English does help in enriching ourselves in the English language. This can be done by getting students do extensive secondary reading where they get to learn informal usages. Unless students who reach middle school understand the distinctions and get sensitive to words and its meanings, they are likely to commit malapropisms that would cause serious troubles not only to themselves, but to the organization or nation which they are to handle in their later life.
Very few percentage of Indians have realized that English is mainly a “chatty language” (Alex), unlike the formal languages like French, Latin or Sanskrit (sic).
Just as the Tamil language has two types of Tamil- The formal Tamil and the Chatty Tamil, English language has two types of styles- one for formal speeches and the other for light conversations.
Few Indian Teachers of English, have brought this into light and focused on the distinctions of style. It is high time we did because after all we are the makers of future presidents, IFS officers and Prime ministers. We don’t want them to commit gaffes in public forums, do we?
You well know that when the US President Mr.Obama spoke of India that was not acceptable to Indians, an Indian official was quoted making an irreverent gaffe like,
“He is barking up the wrong tree.” The American media was a little unsettled by the words, but they rightfully wrote it off as ignorance of the nuances of the language.
This was from a Government officer holding a high post.
The mistake would be traced and rightfully so, to his English teacher, who hasn’t taught him connotations of language use.
To say,
“May I have the honour of introducing the new president, Mr. Charles Wood to the audience present?” is one style and
“Hey, this is my old chum, Charlie!” is another.
The difference is lost among Indians and often Indians do get away with,
“Hey, that one is Charlie!”, a possible public gaffe and make the most formal introductions in informal situations.
The reason is that English is not our mother tongue. We use it only when there is no other alternative and it makes “educated” people as much inadequate speakers as the uneducated ones.
Making students do the fill ups, match the following, answer textual questions, write essays and précis is not just about teaching English. The true teacher is one who has explained at least once to the students how important it is to be a sensitive writer and a sensitive speaker. That makes all the difference.
Loud Reading as an Art
English novels do refer to characters reading poetry or prose pieces aloud and the appreciation they command for good reading. Reading is not only done before sick people and the old, but as an art in its own right. People would read good literature as part of drawing room entertainment. It feels good. England still has preserves of the voices of Dickens Browning, TS Eliot, reading their own works aloud and some notable voices reading Shakespearean pieces.
There are loud reading sessions in Indian classrooms too but this is more to give the teacher some much needed respite rather than an exercise in itself. We haven’t yet made reading aloud an art that can help students learn English pronunciation or and pick up its cadence. Just as prizes are often given for the best hand writing or the best essays, we do need to seriously think of giving prizes to the best loud reading where the student has paused at the right punctuations, pronounced the words right or exclaimed at the exclamations rather than simply read in one tone of dull monotony.
We correct the grammar, the written English, the spellings but we don’t pay attention when a student pronounces the “r” in words like “work”, “door”, “fever” with a rasping sound.
Constant practice in loud reading or excelling is loud reading is not considered so very important and no wonder our students miss much of the educative value that such sessions can impart.
As for the vocabulary, instead of using different nuances like-
Adorable, marvelous, incredible, exquisite; to express adoration
many Indians people subscribe to the same old run on the mill -nice!
This is because we limit our vocabulary to what we hear. Through “loud reading” sessions, more words would gain ocular familiarity and it can become part of active vocabulary.
English through extended sessions
I have a good mind to banish textbooks from the English classroom. English or any language for that matter is not a subject like maths or physics where you need a textbook. We do need workbooks for the grammar. But a textbook is a seriously limiting factor because the student thinks by reading the text questions and answers his job is done;in fact, it is never even half finished. It is a barely a scratch. Good schools still follow the practice of giving adequate library hours, encourage them to take a story book each and return after a week to tell the story in class. At the risk of sounding blasphemous, I suggest that it is still better to play an English movie in the class, get them to write their critical review on it, rather than teach grammar! Successful researches have been done by professors in CIEFEL Hyderabad, to prove that watching a film a week, or viewing the same set of may be a half a dozen films available in the school itself within an academic year makes sporadic improvement in a student’s use of language.
Another thing which I have personally tried is to collect good articles from newspapers or magazines and get the students to summarize it in one or two sentences. It has helped them get sharp and pithy; though it has only worked on those whose efforts are self motivated.
English through Drama and Play acting
English drama is indeed an important part of cultural programs during the school annuals. Let us not think that only a handful of students who act in the play get the benefit of it. It benefits the audience quite as much. It can be followed by regular play reading in the classroom, assigning the parts to other students present. Everything constitutes language learning which is why language teachers should shudder from confining themselves to mere lecture method of teaching. Drama as such has never been part of school syllabus and that is rather unfortunate. By the time a student comes to the 9th or 10th standard, excerpts from Bernard Shaw, Ibsen or Oscar Wilde could be included in the non detail text. You will be amazed to see how easily students take to it. Anybody can read and understand novels and essays but it is the drama that is difficult to comprehend because they carry in nuen does that we tend to miss. This is where a teacher is needed. It also helps one learn the etiquette and culture of the people to a certain extent.
When chatty language through drama, cinema and loud reading is introduced, we do more than mere teaching of the language. We sensitize the the second language learner to “Two Englishes”, which will help them in the long run.
Conclusion
Therefore,it is high time we resolve to do away with major chunks of prose essays, grammar exercises and get students to do something different, maybe do their own reading and record their reading experience in a notebook. This notebook could be monitored by the teacher to check whether one is doing the job.
In fact, all readings should be vast and also in non detail. This helps the language to rub off on one,as they don’t need to recall every single detail and merely get the feel of good reading. The choice can be anything, left to the individual choice of the teacher or students; on what to read- science fiction, sports, detective fictions or romantic novels .
Through the span of middle school to high school, if a student has had exposure to active language use through these activities, the number of gaffes and malapropisms that abound in the national and international circles could be halved if not mitigated.
References
Games Alex: Kick the Bucket and Swing the Cat ( BBC Books, A Random House Group Co,UK: 2007)
Maley, Alan and Alan Duff : Drama Techniques (CambridgeUniversityPress,Cambridge,UK: 2005)
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