English language teaching methods, tools techniques

2 The Place of English in Indian Education Introduction: English plays a key role in our educational system and national life. The British introduced English in our educational system in order to produce cheap clerks for their colonial administration and to produce, what Lord Macaulay called: a class of people, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste~ in opinions, in morals and in intellect." So long as the British ruled over India, English could not be displaced from the position of predominance given it by Lord Macaulay. British came here as traders and their first,attention was on trade. At first they did not concentrate their attention on teaching of English. English helped the growth of nationalism which ultimately freed India from foreign fetters. U English is rich in literature and culture. English served as a great unifying force in India''s freedom struggle. English is a link language. It has greatly contributed to the advancement of learning. It reflects in our ways and views. After independence, the English spread like water in India and it became very essential for India to have a national language. The teaching of English should be made more practical and language-oriented. English is to be taught as language of comprehension rather than as literary language. The role of English within a nation''s daily life is influenced by geographical, cultural and political factors. The role of English at a given point in time must affect both the way it is taught and the resultant impact on the daily life and growth of the individual. Position of English: English is the language that is found in all comers of India. English is the language of the global village. It is a language of trade and industry. English is full of knowledge and information. English is the language that is used for The Place of English in Indian Education 3 IMPORTANCE OF SECOND AND FOREIGN LANGUAGE ~ 1 "'' INTERNATIONAL LANGUGE .,J LmERARY IMPORTANCE .1 NATIONAL IMPORTANCE l .1 RECREATIONAL IMPORT ANCI!: "'' I I I I .I EDUCATIONAL IMPORTANCE I J CULTURAL IMPORTANCE , I VOCATIONAL IMPORTANCE I I 1 4 The Place of English in Indian Education connecting peoples having different tongues. Champion has said: In considering the position of English language in India, the outstanding consideration in the English is the language of the government public administration, the legislature and law courts. It is the language of commerce and business. It is the medium of communication between two persons and between various language areas. When India became independent then a controversy began about the place, importance and study of the English. People like Rajgopal Chari favoured its importance and place. But who were nationalist, they did not support the view of Rajgopal Chari and said that British should leave this place early with English. They declared that students can express their ideas and thought in their mother tongue language. Other causes responsible for revolt against English were lack of use of English in every day life, defective method of teaching of English and British policy of preserve clerks. But we can ignore that by learning and speaking for the last 150 years, English has become the language of Indians to a great extent. This language has taught them to love freedom and democratic way of life. It has knit them into one unit. It has made them capable to take an advantage of western scientific researches and inventions. We should give the Hindi place of national language. But we should not forget that English is too important for us so it should not be completely removed from the Indian curriculum. The Place of English in Indian Education (1) 5 Place of English in Curriculum of State: It is misfortune of Gujarat people that Gujarat Government has not decided its language teaching policy and in clear terms. It runs without visualizing the benefits and advantage of English language from students'' point of view, from national point of view and the state development point of view. The place and position of English can be summarized as under: • English is not being taught as a compulsory subject at lower primary level. It is taught only in some private school. • English is taught as a compulsory subject at upper primary level in class V, VI and VII. But there are no enough qualified teachers of English. • It is being taught as a compulsory subject at secondary level in class VIII, IX and X. It is not compulsory at H.5.C. Examination. • In higher secondary level, it is being taught as compulsory subject in class- XI. • It is also being taught as compulsory subject at college level. Students passed H.S.C. Exam without English are allowed offering English at college level in some universities and they have to study English compulsory. Thus indefinite English language teaching policy of Gujarat state has become the main reason for low education standard and poor performance of Gujarati students at national and international level. 6 The Place of English in Indian Education (2) Importance of Second and Foreign Language Teaching: English is the language of the world and the knowledge of the language makes a person, a citizen of the world. Pandit Nehru has said "English is a big key on the modern world." Its importance as international language can be denied by none. For this ours reasons are as follows: 1. International Language : English is the international language. International English is the concept of the English language as a global means of communication in numerous dialects, and also the movement towards an international standard for the language. It is spoken all over the world. This language is mother tongue of nearly 320 million people and another 200 million people use it as second language. So it is vary useful to establish international relation for communication purpose and for the exchange of views with different qmntries of the world. It is also referred to as Global English, World English, Common English, or General English. Sometimes these terms refer simply to the array of varieties of English spoken throughout the world. The English language evolved from a set of West Germanic dialects spoken by the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, who arrived from the Continent in the 5th Century. Thus English is more closely related to West Frisian than to any other modern language, although less than a quarter of the vocabulary of Modern English is shared with West Frisian or other West Germanic languages because of extensive borrowings from Norse, Norman French, Latin, and other languages. The establishment of the first permanent Englishspeaking colony in North America in 1607 was a major The Place of English in Indian Education 7 step towards the globalization of the language. British English was only partially standardized when the American colonies were established. Isolated from each other by the Atlantic Ocean, the dialects in England and the colonies began evolving independently. In the 19th century, the standardization of British English was more settled than it had been in the previous century, and this relatively well-established English was brought to Africa, Asia and Oceania. It developed both as the language of English-speaking settlers from Britain and Ireland, and as the administrative language imposed on speakers of other languages in the various parts of the British Empire. The first form can be seen in New Zealand English, and the latter in Indian English. In Europe English received a more central role particularly since 1919, when the Treaty of Versailles was composed not only in French, the common language of diplomacy at the time, but also in English. English as an additional language (EAL) usually is based on the standards of either American English or British English. English as an international language (ElL) is EAL with emphasis on learning different major dialect forms; in particular, it aims to equip students with the linguistic tools to communicate internationally. Roger Nunn considers different types of competence in relation to the teaching of English as an International Language, arguing that linguistic competence has yet to be adequately addressed in recent considerations of ElL. International English sometimes refers to English as it is actually being used and developed in the world; as a language owned not just by native speakers, but by all those who come to use it. It especially means English words and phrases generally understood throughout the English-speaking world as opposed to localisms. The importance of non-