Paper - 12 English Language Teaching

Topic                   :-       Teaching English as a Second  Language   in 

                                       India: Focus  on Objectives.

Paper 12             :-       English Language Teaching

Name                  :-       Devender A Joshi

Class                   :-       M.A. Sem-1

Submitted To      :-       Smt. S. B. Gardi

Department of English

Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji

Bhavnagar University

Teaching English as a Second Language in India: Focus on Objectives

The objectives of language teaching:

The global objectives of language teaching can be defined as helping children learn a language or language to perform a variety of functions. These use of language for phatic communion and a network of communicative user to its use at the highest level of “cognition”, “catharsis” and “self-expression” underlying these functions are tow fundamental functions helping children learn now to ask question, the most important intellectual ability man has yet developed, and helping children use this language effectively in different social networks.

A system-network language in a multilingual setting, each language in this network has a function-determined value of the other languages in the system network in terms of its-own policy of language planning. But the system network in terms policy of language planning, but the society or government must realize that this assignment of a new value o language will produce a chain reaction in the network. The values of the other languages in the network are bound to undergo changes. The notion of “link language” or “lingua-franca” has an important significance in the multilingual setting. It encourages wider mobility, notional interrogation, and a sense of tolerance. It enriched other languages in contact and gets multilingual is a powerful way of enriching the linguistic repertoire of individuals. These resource offered by plurality of language can be used for rapid social and economic changes and modernization programmer.

            Learners are not just passive recipient of socially accepted languages patterns. They play an active role in this teaching learning process. They actively strain filter and recognize what they are exposed to. Their imitations are not photographic reproductions but artistic recreations. The learners are meaning-makers. The main objectives of every level of teaching should be to help learners learn how to draw out their latent creativity. Every learner is born with a built-in language-learning mechanism. This mechanism gets activated when the learner’s s exposed to that language. What is, therefore, essential is to create an atmosphere where learning can take place.

Children learn the language they hear around them. A rich variety of linguistic material is as important in first language acquisition as in second language learning. The teaching of English as has often been less successful that it might have been, as a result of the restricted variety of linguistic contexts with which students are provided. Learners should ideally be exposed to a variety of contextualized language materials. They must hear and see language in action. The emphasis should shift from encourage in learning to memorize paradigms and them interact with people using different registers of language in a variety of situation. In that process the learners internalize not only the linguistic but also the sociolinguistic rules of the game, system which enables them to focus on “what to say when and how”. It should also enable them to organize words in sentence and sentences in texts effectively keeping in view “the topic of discourse”, “addresser-addressee relationship” and “socio-cultural setting”, learning a language is not just a question of learning to produce sentences and utterance which are grammatical and acceptable they must also b appropriate. Each of the four major skills; reading, writing, listening and speaking and understanding, is composed of a hierarchy of sub-skills.

            What is necessary is to identify the sub-skills that are to be strengthened and explained first language, a second language our foreign language.

Second Language:

            Second language may be used as an auxiliary or associate language as a functions which are not normally performed by first language. For a vast majority of educated people living in turns and cities, English as s second language functions primarily as an interstate or international link language. Some of them also use it as an international language of knowledge, trade and industry. An important question here is, is L₂ the main or associated medium of instructions at all levels or of a particular level.

            The objectives have to be formulated in the light of what we perceive our needs for English to be in a multilingual setting, of both the national and individual levels. This is related to the following questions what are the roles of Hindi, English, regional languages, classical languages, foreign languages, and languages of the minority group in our multilingual setting? What are the topics and situational that will necessitate the use of English?

            What is the kind and amount of English that the learners will need? At the national level, English must serve as our “window on the world” as the language in which nearly all contemporary knowledge of science and technology, trade and commerce, political science, economics and international relations English will be important for industrial and economic development. It will function as the “language of development”. Our scientists, technologists, engineers, doctors and economists must be able not only to have access to professional literature in English but also to contribute to it and to communicative in other counterparts in other countries. The continuation of English seems important if our science and technology, trade and commerce, are be truly international. It is hearing to not that English based-Indian bilinguals constitute the third and technical manpower in the world.

            “English has important functions to serve internally in addition on the world”. English may be continuing to the medium of instruction in several faculties at the college level. These students will need a greater proficiency in the skills listening, writing and (perhaps) speaking than students being taught through other languages.

            At the level, English continues to be “the language of opportunity” and “the language of upward social mobility”. Any individual seeking socioeconomic advancement will find ability in English an asset. It is clear, that, the English has important functions in communication will continue to be at a premium, and teaching will have to try to import to retain minimal competence in these skills.

            The primary aim of teaching English as a second language at the secondary level should be to give the learners an effective mastery of the language, that is, to help them acquire.

            Ability to read easily, and with understanding books in English written within a presented range of vocabulary and sentence structure and to read with good understanding easy unsimplified texts on familiars topics, fully glossed and annotated in their known language.

           The ability to understand a talk in English on a subject on general experience and interest, clearly spoken and restricted in vocabulary and sentence structure to the range of the syllabus, the ability to write comprehensibly in English, and without gross errors, on a familiar topic which lends itself to expression without the range of vocabulary and sentence structure that has been taught, an ability to carry on comprehensibly a conversation in English on a topic fully within the range both of their experience and interest and well within the range of the active command postulated by the syllabus. 

We must ensure that English:

1]. Function as a “service – language” for the various categories of learners.

2]. Promotes intellectual and cultural awareness of the contemporary world we live in and,

3]. Provides “information content ’’ necessary for the modernization of our country.

    It is also important that special opportunities are made available to help the weaker sections of our society to acquire advance adequate competences in English so that they do not remain forever disadvantages in areas of higher education and in terms of upward social mobility. In order to achieve these objectives we will have to introduce changes in our syllabus, methodology of language teaching, materials, training programmers attitudes to learners and their language and the system of evaluation.     We may need to change the school its physical structure, its atmosphere, its functions, its facilities, its roles and responsibilities. Teachers and learners are the greatest resources available to any society.

      English is now widely taught as subject of study in different languages teaching situations of different levels in India.

          It is essentially taught as a second language in different language teaching and learning situations. In view of the lack of an overall language policy, and clear cut curriculum planning, the teaching of English as a second language faces a lot of challenges and does not seem to serve a useful purpose. Here an attempt will be made to indicate soon of the prominent problems the teaching of English as a second language is conformed with and to make some suggestions for teaching English in school educations.

  

        As a second language teaching situation, it is regarded necessary to import instruction in the four basic language skill – [1] listening, [2] speaking, [3] reading, [4] writsing. The language curriculum objectives of different skills have their different levels.

       

         To achieve the above objectives, there is a need to use selected reading materials to supplement the texts used in class more time should be devoted to general reading. This would help the students to expand their knowledge and experience of the language by reading at their own pace.

The complex grammatical structures need to be explained preferably in their actual use in the text. Oral drills and written exercises can be use in reinforcing them. The development of oral skill should form integral part of the course both accuracy and fluency should aim at students should be function in natural situation.

         Teaching English as a second language as illustrated above can be achieved in individualized programmed instruction for those students who are unable to attend formal classes in any institution. In following individualized programmed instruction in English, the main learning effort required from the students involves the use of audio-visual presentation of lesson material, reinforced through drills and exercises in the in the language laboratories.

Conclusion:

         So English will continue to play an important role in education in India for years to come. It is imperative to make the teaching of it as effective as possible at different levels. The language policy defining the role of English curriculum planning, designing of syllabuses, selection and gradation of instructional materials including audio-visual aids, and teaching methodology deserve to be given a serious thought keeping in views aims and objectives for teaching English.