I have been teaching English for the
last eighteen years and the question that has always puzzled me all these years
is: Why, after learning English for so many years, do our students find it
difficult to deal with the English language?
When it comes to expressing their ideas in English whether in writing or
while conversing, they cut a sorry figure. How can this happen? In my opinion
the answer lies with the kind of the syllabus we design for the learners. Long
ago one my colleagues asked me what kind of reforms I wished in English subject
text-books. I had replied the text-book which has less content is the best for the
teacher and for the student as well. After all these years in English teaching
I have realised that prescribed text-books, rather than proving helpful to the
teacher, become a stumbling block to him. What is the role of a teacher? The
role of a teacher is to make sure that his students learn the subject he is
teaching and master it to a satisfactory level. But what is happening in the classrooms
is completely distressing. We see English teachers busy teaching the units
included in the text-books. Their primary worry is to complete the course! It
is natural he diverts from his original role despite his strong desire to
fulfil that role honestly. And what happens to the learners? They are tired
memorizing the question-answers for the three-hour exams. Where is the romance
of teaching and learning in this scenario?
Why is English or, for that matter,
any language is taught in schools? What is the purpose? The purpose is to make the
students competent enough to express their ideas at whatever forum which maybe
an ordinary day-to-day conversation or appearing in the interview or delivering
a speech at a particular occasion. But are they competent enough at the end of
their schooling? English medium students have the edge over those studying in
regional language medium schools because they have studied all subjects in
English and have good command over vocabulary. It is often seen that the
students coming from English medium schools adjust themselves without much
problem to English medium colleges while those who took their education through
regional language medium find it much more hellish adjusting to English medium
colleges although initially. As the subject of this article is not the medium
of education, I would not dwell much on that. Having said that I would like to
add that parents who want their children to command a good mastery over English
language, need not take this which-medium-is better- for-my-kid question too
seriously. Psychologically, it is proved
that the use of mother tongue in schools makes the learning easier for the
child at primary level. It also enhances cognitive growth.
While discussing the role of a
teacher, Gandhiji, in his autobiography ‘The Story of My Experiment with Truth’,
has noted that the teacher himself is a text-book. He believes that when
text-books become mandatory ‘the living word of the teacher has very little
value. A teacher who teaches from text-books does not impart originality to his
pupils’. English or any language as a subject is quite different from other
subjects taught in schools. While designing the course for any language, it is
vastly important to keep in mind its utilitarian aspect. More so when it is
English language which is completely different from Indian languages. A glance
at our textbooks is enough to see that there is no leeway for the teacher’s
role. He becomes just a pawn, always worrying about finishing the course before
the due dates given to him. Now there may be times when the teacher wants to
teach his students about a particular aspect of a language, but where is the
time for that? As for the students, they are following what their teachers are
teaching in the class. If they are supposed to memorise the questions-answers,
they would happily or unhappily do it. They want to pass the exams with flying
colours after all. This is a rut we teachers and our students have got into.
How does, then, an ideal English
language classroom look like? In an ideal classroom a teacher should be given a
leeway to conduct a class in the manner he wants. There should be less outside
constraints on him. It is he who has to decide what his students would be
learning and how. Once all these constraints are removed the teacher will feel
the freedom and boost his confidence. He will have space to make new
experiments with his students. He doesn’t need costly equipments to do these
experiments, but he has at least a TV, a tape recorder and a DVD at his
disposal. Classes would be more interactive because they would be filled with a
lot of fun-loving activities where students will feel the warmth of the
language. They will be aware of the utilitarian aspect of the language. Of
course, the teacher will have to be more and more ingenious to make this
possible. He will have to come out of the rut and take recourse to all types of
material that can be helpful to him to make his class interesting and fruitful
to the students. There are enough books available in the market that can help
our English teachers to do so. Besides, there are regular training provided by
different state-level teacher training agencies. The MHRD is also doing a lot
to provide training to English teachers.
As said earlier the role of a teacher
is very important. We need talented teachers who are fully aware of how a
language should be taught. Considering the dearth of such teachers it is
important to make organise fruitful training programmes for them. During my
short stint as a resource person (RP) for District Centre for English (DCE),
Rajkot (Gujarat), I had opportunity to train English teachers of my district.
While I did come across some brilliant teachers, there were may who themselves
were poor English users. I wondered what would they be teaching to their
students inside the classrooms if they themselves can’t speak English properly?
Grammar was their strong point, but grammar isn’t the be-all and end-all of
English language teaching (though none can deny its important). Grammar is just
one aspect of learning English. If you master it, fine but other aspects should
also be emphasised like pronunciation, vocabulary(graded according to the
level), listening (songs, stories, interviews, serials, news, movies speeches,
group discussions) reading (stories, essays, articles), speaking (simulations
and role-plays, mock interviews, debates) and writing (essays, articles, stories, songs,
drama scripts). Such teachers should realise that it is the time they pulled up
their socks and do some worthwhile with their students. Considering the
teaching-aides in the form of CDs, games etc available in the market now, it
doesn’t seem impossible to do. What we need is just will to do better.
When I think of an English teacher, I
think of a teacher who knows his subject well and has complete plan on how to
teach his subject to his students. I never doubt his capabilities. If he lacks
the capabilities, I hope he will master it sooner or later. All I want for our
teachers is freedom from the textbooks, partial if not complete. I have no
doubt that given a chance to teach the language on his own terms, he would
bring a sea change in their students covering all the aspects mentioned above.
The only thing needed is teacher-friendly textbooks which allow a leeway to the
teacher and give him freedom to follow his own course. And I am sure he would
do wonder with the students.
