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Journal of English Language Teaching

Volume LXI Number 2 March–April, 2019

Padmashree S. NatarajanOur Founder Editor and Publisher

2 Editorial

3 Learn, Relearn, Unlearn: Professional development Albert P. Rayan

opportunities through ELTAI

5 To write or not to write S. Mohanraj

7 Making a case for social networks and apps in Tamasha Acharya

language classrooms

14 English language teaching through technology: A. Jayaprakash

Emerging possibilities

18 Setting the record straight K. Elango

20 Grammar Guru 1 V. Saraswathi

21 Synergistic relationship between language and Joycilin A. Shermila

literature in an ESl classroom

26 Teaching of English to tribals in Sipiti, Suneela Sarma

Himachal Pradesh

42 The story of English 1 C. A. Lal

44 Book Review V. Saraswathi

46 ELTAI Golden Jubilee Conference

47 Manuscript Submission Guidelines for Authors

2 Journal of English Language Teaching LXI/2, 2019

EditorialWelcome back to this issue of the journal, which is special in more ways than one. First of all,we have reproduced two significant articles, with the writers’ permission, that were publishedin a leading English daily, viz. The Hindu. One that was written by Albert Rayan and publishedrecently is on the need for the professional development of English language teachers andthe yeomen services being rendered by our association, ELTAI, towards helping and supportingthe teachers in this area. The other article, written by Elango and published in December2018 in the same daily, argues for a focus on developing our learners’ oral communicationskills in English and seeks to explode some of the prevailing myths about language andlanguage learning.

We are also happy to introduce two new columns from this issue – one on the importance ofgrammar in English language education and ways of coping with that “monster” (contributedby Saraswathi) and the other on the history of the English language (contributed by Lal). Wesincerely hope that you will enjoy reading them and pass on your excitement and insights toyour students. We hope you will also benefit, as potential contributors of research papers,from the useful tips on writing an effective research paper, which the writer, Mohanraj, prefersto call “his random thoughts”.

The core articles included in this issue are four. Two of them deal with enabling our learners tobenefit from their easy and comfortable familiarity with digital tools of the social media andapps. The first of these to appear here reports the findings of a study conducted by TamashaAcharya on students’ exposure to and learning from social media and apps. She argues that,contrary to the general perceptions about the impact of these means on students’ learning, herstudents have reported a positive impact in respect of both their confidence in and their use ofEnglish. The second article by Jayaprakash explores the possibilities of using such technologywith English language learners. His treatment of the topic is rather theoretical and speculative,not empirical. The two articles are thus complementary to each other.

The third of the core articles by Joycilin Shermila presents a sound argument for using literarytexts in ESL classrooms rather than treating language and literature as dichotomous entities.Literary texts can and should be used as valuable resources for enhancing learners’ awarenessof language features provided the texts for such a purpose are chosen carefully withoutlosing sight of the learning goal.

The final article in this issue by Suneela Sharma discusses the problems and difficultiesfaced by tribal learners in Himachal Pradesh (India) and presents the findings of a studycarried out to show how those problems might be overcome by adopting teaching by volunteers.It is claimed that such a measure would mitigate the problems reported and help in teachingEnglish to tribal children effectively.

We hope you will enjoy reading all the articles. Please do send your feedback [email protected].

P. N. Ramani, Editor

Journal of English Language Teaching LXI/2, 2019 3

Learn, Relearn, Unlearn: ProfessionalDevelopment through ELTAIAlbert P. RayanProfessor of English, KCG College of Technology, Chennai

CPD (Continuing Professional Development)is the latest buzzword in education. Theneed for teachers to focus on professionaldevelopment has been discussed andemphasized in various forums in the recentpast. Teachers become better teachers whenthey voluntarily and constantly take stepsto develop their subject knowledge andpedagogical skills. In order to stay relevantin their teaching profession, teachers arerequired to prove their professionalcompetence and demonstrate theireffectiveness in the classroom.

Professional development is a continuousprocess and a lifelong journey. It is arequirement for English language teacherswho aspire to climb the ladder of success intheir career. English teachers are requiredto learn, unlearn and relearn in order tomake their teaching more meaningful andrelevant. Achieving it becomes easier if theyare part of a wider network of teachers as itcan provide them with opportunities to learnfrom one another and share their knowledgewith others.

There is one teacher association that hasbeen supporting the professionaldevelopment of English language teachersacross the country, and that is the EnglishLanguage Teachers’ Association of India,

known by its acronym ELTAI. Founded byPadmashri S Natarajan, ELTAI is anassociate of the International Association ofTeachers of English as a Foreign Language(IATEFL), UK.

ELTAI that celebrates its fifty years ofexistence this year has been contributingto the professional development of Englishlanguage teachers in several ways. Itpartners with both government and privateeducational institutions in order to improvethe quality of English language teaching inthe country. The services the associationprovides include consultancy, trainingteachers, designing materials, and providingassistance with curriculum developmentand textbook preparation. ELTAI has about50 chapters across India and each chapterorganizes conferences, seminars andworkshops, and contributes to theprofessional development of Englishlanguage teachers of the region and somemembers are actively involved in carryingout action research.

The Journal of English Language Teaching(JELT), a bi-monthly published by ELTAI, isthe oldest ELT journal in the country. Thejournal is a forum for teachers, researchersand scholars to get their research workpublished. Besides JELT, the association


brings out three more [online] journals andprovides opportunities to the ELTcommunity in the country to make theirresearch work known to others.

The annual international conferences,organized by ELTAI in collaboration with theBritish Council and the Regional EnglishLanguage Office (RELO) of the US Embassy,attract hundreds of participants fromvarious parts of the country [and abroad].The conferences create opportunities forteacher participants to interact and networkwith globally well-known ELT experts andprofessionals.

The Golden Jubilee Conference of ELTAI isgoing to take place in Amity University,Noida, on 9-12 October 2019. The themeof the conference is “Right to English”.When asked why this theme was chosen,Dr K Elango, General Secretary, ELTAI, said,“English has percolated into the very psycheof the Indian subcontinent over the last fourcenturies, and the time has come when wecannot wish it away from our lives.Knowledge of English is no longer theprerogative of a few, but the need of themasses. It is essential to review our priorities

and methodologies related to ELT in India.Hence we have chosen the theme.” Headded, “The Right to Education (RTE 2009)implies the Right to English for all as well,as proficiency in English has become aglobal imperative today.”

What is going to be the focus of theassociation? Elango says, “The ELTAI’sprimary focus is to cater to the needs ofthose teachers who are toiling to teachEnglish with no exposure to English andnot even an iota of how to teach it as a skill.So, the association is set to identify themotivated ones in the unreached areas andinitiate the process through its chapters indifferent parts of the country. We haveenvisioned it as a bottom-up model totransform the way languages are taught inour country.”

Teachers interested in becoming membersof ELTAI can visit the site www.eltai.in

[Editor’s Note: The author is an academic,columnist and freelance writer; he may becontacted at: [email protected] (Email)and at: @albertprayan (Twitter). This articlewas published earlier in the EDGE sectionof The Hindu dated April 8, 2019.]


Writing a research paper is more ofprocrastination, speculation, hesitationthan execution. I do not say this in anynegative sense, but in reality this is whathappens to all of us. We do not sit at thecomputer and start keying in our papersimpulsively; a lot of thinking, introspection,revision, and discussion (within self or withothers) has happened before something canappear on the paper.

Research by definition is re-search. We donot aim to find out something new, invent anew thing, but make ourselves aware ofwhat has been around us for a long time,and giving it a reason for people to believein. If you look at several of the conceptsput forth in the field of ELT, you will becomemore than aware of this fact. We arereminded of what we have been doing inthe class as a good method with reasons toprove that it is good. For example, we havebeen teaching our learners to use languageby making them repeat what we have saidor make alterations to come out with theirown sentences. Using language as the bestmeans to learn it was well practised beforeit was said in most obvious terms.

Any good research paper should begin witha commitment, a sense of faith and belief inthe work we are doing. Why am I taking upthis research? Is there a genuine problem?Do my friends have a similar problem? Ananswer to these questions leads us to think

To write or not to ... The art of writing aresearch paperS. MohanrajRetd. Professor of English, EFLU, Hyderabad

and arrive at a problem (tentative orconfirmed) which can be stated crisply. Thetitle of a research paper should not read likethe title of a thesis. Here is an example:‘Teaching writing to undergraduatesthrough communicative strategies’ might begood enough for a paper, while in a thesis itwould be “Developing Writing Skills amongUndergraduate Students UsingCommunicative Strategies in the State ofJharkhand”. Perhaps, the research problemin both these cases remains the same, butthe scope may change.

Having arrived at the title, it is necessary toreason out what the focus of the paper ison. In this case, we may have studentswhose writing is weak because of weakcompetence in language, weak vocabulary,unorganized thought processes asmanifested in disjointed sentences or anyother reason. A research paper cannot focuson all these aspects. The author has to pickone of these, which appears to be mostimportant (prioritize), and pick that up andformulate a strategy (action research) to helpthe learners overcome the weakness. Thiscan be stated as a problem or a hypothesis.A hypothesis is a conditional statement thatcan either be proved and accepted orrejected. (Rejecting the hypothesis is not areflection on the scholar’s weakness orfailure.)

The Hypothesis when stated (e.g., ‘If learners


are exposed to good literary pieces, theirorganization skills in writing may improve.’)can help the researcher plan strategies ofteaching or remedying. In this case we havea hypothesis that needs to be established.The learners are undergraduate learners.Their textbooks have literary pieces. Canwe analyse these pieces and look for theirrelevance in terms of their lexical, syntacticand conceptual load and replace them withappropriate alternatives. The paper shoulddelineate what criteria are used in selectingthese pieces and how these can be analysedfor their organization.

Some graphics (e.g., flowcharts, web charts,outlines) can be used to help the learnersunderstand the structure of a paragraph,which basically has a topic sentence(obvious or apparent) and how this issupported by other sentences. The graphicscan show the linkers that bring about theunity among the sentences and how thesecan be made obvious to the learner. Thepaper should also suggest how much timeis required for the teacher to teach thesematerials (perhaps, six to eight teachinghours) and how these can be dividedrationally and what strategies of teachingare employed (e.g., analysis of the text,brain-storming, developing web-diagrams,flow charts, discussing with others, usingthe mother tongue as a support tounderstanding).

Notes on teaching in the classes followedby assignments written by the studentsprovide the data for analysis. The data hasto be presented in a proper form usingtables, or using simple percentages wherecomplex statistical analysis is not essential.Data organization in a systematic manner

facilitates analysis. Analysis for a simpleresearch paper can restrict itself togeneralizing using percentages, or analysisof variance to establish significance of theexperiment.

Once the analysis is over, an honestconclusion should be written suggesting tothe reader why the author thinks theexperiment has been either a success or afailure. Failures, let us remember, are thestepping stones to success. Let us not shyaway from them.

One last word! While writing the paper,you would have relied heavily on earlierresearch. You would have gathered ideasfrom a variety of sources through yourreading, discussion, etc. If you have usedthese ideas, remember to acknowledgethem faithfully. There are accepted waysof acknowledging, and these days yourcomputer helps you organize yourbibliography properly. Beware ofplagiarism. This is taken very seriouslythese days.

These are a few stray thoughts I have puttogether on how to write a research paper.The key features of the process can be listedas follows:

a. Choose a genuine problem that bothersyou.

b. Crystallize it in the form of a title.

c. Define your hypothesis – researchproblem/questions.

d. Plan your action and describe it.

e. Produce relevant data and analyse it.

f. Give your conclusion.

g. Acknowledge the sources you have used.

Happy writing!


Making a case for social networks and appsin language classroomsTamasha AcharyaAssociate Professor of English, Shri MD Shah Mahila College of Arts and Commerce,Mumbai.

ABSTRACTThe impact and use of social media and other learning apps even among non-nativeusers of English like our students cannot be underestimated or negated in our classroomtoday. New-age jobs, research activities and assignments and a powerful peer pressurehave made the use of social media a necessity everywhere. In this context, can wesay that knowledge of English among the vernacular-medium undergraduate learnersis a deterrent and does not enable them to use social networks and language apps? Astudy was conducted among undergraduate learners in a suburban college tounderstand the situation. This paper argues that incidental and sometimes deliberatelearning of English occurs during such use. Analysis of the results showed that limitedor lack of knowledge of English language, grammar and spelling rules is not an obstaclefor students while using social media and apps, and that learning occurs even inthese digital spaces.

Keywords: English language teaching and learning; social media and apps inlanguage learning; virtual learning;

Social media started in a very small way in1997 but went on to have a major surgearound 2003. The present proliferation, orrather blitzkrieg, can be dated around 2004-2005 with Facebook and the entry of Twitterin 2006. 2016 witnessed yet another shiftthat was revolutionary, a buy-button whichmade advertising and shopping handy. Thescene today includes thousands of mediaplatforms and apps with different featureswhich are easily accessible, simple to useand free. With affordable and accessibleprices and plans, and dozens of features,smart phones are gaining more popularity

especially among the millennials. A quicklook at some statistics by statista.com aboutthe number of social network users in Indiareveals active internet users soaring to 462million and social media users to 250 million(January 2018). The study further claimsthat this will increase to 258.27 million in2019, from 168 million in 2016, whileFacebook is projected to reach 319 millionusers in India by 2021. Interestingly, morethan 50% of active users are collegestudents.

The fact that the pervasive presence and use


of the smart phone in our classrooms todayis here to stay should make teachers havea relook at the teaching-learning scene. Bothteachers and learners are co-participants inthis process where not only the teaching-learning process but the evaluation ofreading, interpreting and assimilating needsto be redefined over the existing traditionalpatterns. Technology-mediated teaching andlearning with systematic use of onlinedictionaries, language apps, educationalvideos and games is the need of the hour. Itcan be seen that the exponential growth ofsocial networks and apps has brought aboutan increase in new and alternativevocabulary which has been fuelled bymessaging apps such as Snap Chat,Facebook, Instagram, Twitter andWhatsApp. Today, students arecommunicating with one another as theynever did in the past and are also randomlyforming groups with shared values andinterests; it is time to develop the verychannels they use to do it.

The range of activities engaged in bystudents includes posting comments onlinein the form of emoticons or GIFs, accessinga wide variety of audios and videos, whichare either forwarded or self-created, utilizingGoogle maps, booking tickets online, andusing food apps and shopping sitesextensively. Everywhere the dominantlanguage used is English. The use ofinternet-enabled apps and social mediaincludes an exposure to English in differentformal and informal settings and is a globalphenomenon that has caused changes incommunication patterns as well as in the

English language used. About the use ofsocial media and apps, Sockett (2014) pointsout that “these activities are frequentlyconducted in English, so that, for manyyoung people, the classroom settingrepresents only one amongst a multitude ofopportunities for contact with the targetlanguage.” In another study, Toffoli andSockett (2015) observe that young peoplespend more time learning English onlinethan in formal, institutional settings. Thisexposure of non-native English users toEnglish language media and communities isbringing about an awareness of the processof using social media and the influence ofEnglish is enormous.

I teach in an urban, only-girls college inmetropolitan Mumbai. My students havecleared their board exams in the vernacularmedium and are presently completing theirundergraduate studies in the vernacularmedium. English is a compulsory paperwhich they have to study for three years.The aim of this paper is to address some ofthese points by presenting the findings ofan empirical study conducted with 82vernacular students from Marathi and Hindimedium from my college. Hindi and Marathiare the dominant languages used at home,college, workplaces and other social spaces.The study included their frequency of use,perception of usefulness of technologies andtheir observation about their language skillsin English. (See Appendix)

There is a constant outcry amongacademicians about a remarkable reductionin learning skills by students in all the fourlanguage skills (LSRW). Studies suggest that


young people no longer know how to spell,or use correct grammar because they useprogrammes that auto-correct their workand features like predictive textingsometimes disable their ability to think. Thiscan be further substantiated by thecommunication done during texting andposting, which includes shortened turns ofphrases, use of keystrokes, expressiveemoticons and acronyms which havebecome mainstream and are greatly in use.Acronyms such as ‘brb’ and ‘lol’ ‘ikr’, ’asap’,‘idk’ and words such as cool, selfie,awesome, wassup, bro, have made their wayinto the ordinary speech of young people,and even into the pages of some respectabledictionaries. Socio-linguists can endorsethis.

The hypothesis of the study is thatincidental and sometimes deliberatelearning of English occurs because of theuse of the language in several internetplatforms and is equally important, as itadds to their knowledge. This paper arguesthat there is more reading and writingamong our students than ever before, andthat, with greater exposure to social mediatools and apps, there is greater learningpotential.

A pre-test conducted orally before the surveyamong approximately 300 studentsconfirmed the finding that more than 95%,write in the English script phonetically,while using varied media forms. Even whenwriting or responding in their nativelanguages like Marathi or Hindi, thepreference is to use the English script.Encouraged by this finding, a survey was

conducted using a popular online appSurvey Monkey. The link was sent with tenquestions to different WhatsApp groups ofstudents which had been created earlier tofacilitate interaction in the classroom. Thesurvey was spread over four days at the endof which 82 completed responses werereceived. Questions included hours ofinternet usage, reasons for using sites, withoptions like communicating with friends,family members, learning, working, sharinginformation, preferences and practicesrelated to the use of different social mediaand apps. Other questions tested whethertheir knowledge of English was a barrierwhile accessing different sites, and whetherthe use of these sites advanced theirknowledge of the language, improved theirconversation abilities, grammar andspelling, and brought about a sense of easewhile using the language. (See Appendix)

From the responses it was concluded thatwhile the learners think in their nativelanguage they prefer writing using theEnglish script, which for them makes itfaster and less complicated. They alsounanimously agreed that it was easier toread this kind of writing, instead of scriptsin their own language.

Given this finding, the question arises: whatwould the future of compulsory English andits scope of learning as the majority of usersuse the language as a second, third or evenfourth language? It cannot be denied thatthere is an increase in the exposure toEnglish at many different levels. With thespread of various apps and the social media,functional usage of English has gone up and


communicative competence has improved.These young learners who were notcomfortable using the English language informal situations had no compunction usingit in their smart phones for a maximumperiod of six hours on a daily basis.

There is a passionate debate worldwideabout whether reading has increased ordeclined after the introduction of internetplatforms with protestors and defendantswaxing eloquent on both sides. With eachtext and Facebook update, students becomemore familiar with and adept in writtenexpression and they practise it too, morethan any group of college students inhistory. Crystal (2004) remarked that withthe spread of English as an internationallanguage, it is currently used by more non-native speakers than native speakers.

The need to ensure enhanced levels ofEnglish use and an improved impact onlearning outcomes among our students iswhat we are striving for in our classrooms.Standardized assessment patterns andtraditionalists who equate learning with thereading of physical books and otherresources also claim that students spendmore time in the virtual world, therebyreducing literacy and attention span. Buthaving seen the proclivity towards thismedium and its exponential growthworldwide, can we really dismiss its definiteintrusion and potential in our classrooms?

The analysis of the survey results hasindicated that the students’ presentknowledge of the language is not a deterrentwhile using social media and apps, nor is

not being aware of correct grammar andspelling rules. About 49 percent claimedthat they had started speaking more inEnglish and 41percent said they sometimesdid so. About 82 percent claimed that theywere more comfortable using the languageafter using the sites. The responses ofstudents concretised the finding that useof social media and apps does enable betterunderstanding, acceptability and use of theEnglish language.

The oral pre-test elicited responses wherestudents eagerly admitted the importanceof social media and the usage of apps intheir lives and detailed the improvementsin their vocabulary, which now went beyondbeautiful and nice to awesome, gorgeous andsuper. Emoticons are a useful bridge aidingand enabling them to tide over the languagebarrier. They admitted that Facebook usedby 67 users out of 82 was used extensivelyto check on friends and relatives, and thetrailing posts in the comments section oftenmade them write or at least attempt to writein English.

Use of Facebook, Messenger, TikTok, Googlemaps, apps downloads from Play Store,Google translator, dictionaries, PPTs,searches about different topics, videos onbeauty tips, recipes, cartoon shows (likeDoraemon, Tom and Jerry, and Shinchan)were some of the most used and followedsites. The feature of auto spell was helpfulin enabling them to learn the right spellingand not being very conversant in Englishwas not a barrier. The discussion clarifiedthat though Hindi and Marathi were thedominant languages used at home, college,


workplaces and other social spaces, Englishtook over while using the internet. Errorswere not highlighted by both sender andreceiver, with the comfort feeling ‘people willunderstand what I mean anyway’.

It can be concluded that English is usedprofusely both in its oral and written formtoday. While Twitter forces one to writeconcisely and briefly, acronyms reducespace, but they just cannot be placedanywhere. The use of the English scriptwhile writing definitely augurs well foracademicians, as it proves that, whetherthe students surf, research or text, onecannot discount the fact that there is adefinite engagement and understandingwith the English language.

Research activities on the internet requirehigher-level reasoning and critical thinkingskills. With the deluge of information, thestudent actually requires intelligence tosurf, skim and scan through what isrequired and useful. Social media may notaim at improving creative writing but is afast and convenient way of interacting withan audience. Crystal, the renowned linguistand author, mitigates all fears when hedispels accusations about texting andmisspelling by speaking for the motion that“texting is the latest manifestation of thehuman ability to be linguistically creative”and adds ‘patterns’: “You’ve got to know thatthe letters are there in the first place in orderto leave them out!” He clinches the argumentby speaking for “texters” as the best spellers,and finally stating that texting improvesliteracy skills, contrary to popular opinion.

Thus, the potential for using this medium

to teach effectively cannot be underrated. Aheadline in The Times of India, Mumbaiedition (Jan. 2018) claims that vernacularusers will form the largest, i.e. 75%, ofinternet users base by 2021 in India. Toaccept that social media and apps are not atemporary event but are here to stay isadvisable. Traditional modes of assessment,reading, analyzing, interpreting andassimilating, need to be redefined as muchas changes in vocabulary, spelling,grammatical structures and functionalusage. Communicative competence isrequired in a multilingual setup like Indiaalong with confidence and greater receptivityto the language. The millennial users finallyhave drawn up new rules bringing abouttheir own alignment with digital age jobs.

Teaching in the New Age demands a strongerand more focussed interrelationshipbetween technology-mediated teaching andlearning methods than the one that prevailsnow in traditional classrooms. Encouragingstudents to evaluate and contributeresources that they find appropriate will givethem an opportunity to developindispensable digital literacy skills.Systematic use of online dictionaries,language apps, educational videos andgames, and enabling students to find andshare digital resources that are related tocontent/topics in the curriculum are somesteps which can be taken up.

References

https://www.statista.com/statistics/278407/number-of-social-network-users-in-india/


http://faculty.winthrop.edu/kosterj/engl507/slideshows/crystal2013.pdf

h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 0 5 7 /9781137414885_4

Toffoli, D. and G. Sockett. (2015). Universityteachers’ perceptions of Online InformalLearning of English (OILE). ComputerAssisted Language Learning, Taylor.

APPENDIXSurvey on ‘Using English while operatingon social media and Google apps’1. How many hours of internet usage do

you have per day? [No. of Respondents:82]

2 hours 40.24%4 hours 28.06%6 hours 13.41%> 6 hours 18.29%

2. Which sites do you like to access themost? [No. of Respondents: 67]Facebook – 100%

3. Why do you use them? [No. ofRespondents: 79]

To communicate with friends 29.11%To communicate with family 05.60%To share information 08.86%Learning 32.91%Working 03.80%Others 20.25%

4. Does your present knowledge of theEnglish language prevent you fromusing these sites?[No. of Respondents: 80]

Yes 40.00%

No 23.75%Sometimes 36.25%

5. Does using these sites add to yourknowledge of the English language?[No. of Respondents: 79]

Yes 74.68%No 05.00%Sometimes 20.25%

6. Do you think you speak/converse morewith people in English after using thesesites?[No. of Respondents: 80]

Yes 45.75%No 10.00%Sometimes 41.25%.

7. While answering or replying in Englishdo you focus more on correcting yourgrammatical errors? [No. ofRespondents: 79]Yes, I do consciously try to type thecorrect answer. 54.51%No, I don’t pay attention to grammaticalerrors. 07.59%I sometimes try to check or try autocorrect while typing comments.

37.90%

8. Do you use the corrected spelling whichyou get with auto correct in othersituations?

[No. of Respondents: 80]Yes 63.75%No 06.25%Sometimes 30.00%


9. Are you more comfortable in usingEnglish after using these sites?[No. of Respondents: 78]

Yes, I am more comfortable now. 82.05%No, there is no change in me. 17.95%

10. Do you think use of social networkingsites and apps helps you in the way youare using English now? [No. of

Respondents: 70]Yes 78.57%No 04.29%Maybe 04.29%Sometimes 01.43%

Note: The responses of 8 of the subjects weretreated as null and void because of thosestudents’ wrong understanding of thequestion (i.e., 11.42%).

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only. Those who are interested may send a DD—no cheque, please— drawn in favour of ELTAIfor Rs.600 to our office or through NEFT (SBI, Santhi Colony, Annanagar, Chennai-40 A/C No.

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English language teaching throughtechnology: Emerging possibilitiesJayaprakash AGovt. Women’s Polytechnic College, Nedupuzha, Thrissur

ABSTRACTThis paper tries to explore how the widespread percolation of technology in our dailylife can be used favourably for English language teaching and learning. The learningspaces created through the establishment of language labs in schools and collegescould be expanded to include smartphones and wearable devices. Such liberatingspaces can not only make language learning interesting, but also render it flexible tothe varying levels of the learners. There are also possibilities of combining electroniclanguage learning with traditional classroom methods. Technology is not new to thecontemporary learner, though it might be to some members of the teaching community.The present learner is born into the world of technology and therefore, any classroomdivorced from technology would make the learner feel like fish out of water. But withtechnology, the modern student can be scaffolded from “remembering” to “creating”,which is the ultimate stage in Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Keywords: English language teaching; Technology in language teaching.

Technology has become so ubiquitous thatit has slipped to the background in our dailylife so much that we have stopped noticingthe impact of technology in our daily life.For instance, when we order food throughan app on our phone, we take for grantedthe change that technology has made in oureating habits. This paper tries to explorehow this widespread percolation oftechnology can be used favourably forEnglish language teaching and learning.

One of the major advancements in usingtechnology for English language teachinghas been the establishment of language labsin schools and colleges. However, with

technology becoming very mobile, thelanguage lab has almost become a restrictivespace like a classroom. As Chapelle (2003,pp.11-12) observes:

“Twenty years ago the computer lab was aplace for peers at a university to meet andwork on the computers, but the modern dayversion of communication and collaborationamong peers at their computers hasexpanded beyond the computer lab. Ratherthan requiring learners to meet in a singlephysical location, the Internet is host to newspaces in which learners communicatethrough chat rooms, e-mail, and discussiongroups. Some of these meeting places are


constructed specifically for ESL learners,but most, like the physical computer lab,are places where people come to meet withtheir peers while they are working orplaying.”

These spaces that Chapelle refers to includebut are not limited to smartphones andwearable devices. Such liberating spacescould not only make language learninginteresting, but also render it flexible to thevarying levels of the learners. While thelanguage lab also could have such varyingstages according to the learner’s attainment,the environment of the classroom providedby the set-up prevents any practicalimplementation of individual learner-centricapproaches. Further, the overemphasis onaccent and accurate pronunciation in thelanguage lab could drive many a learneraway from seriously attempting to acquirethe language skills. Pronunciation is onlyone aspect of the multiple facets of alanguage. However, this is not to underminethe relevance of the language lab, whichcontinues to be the mainstay of technology-assisted language learning.

Chapelle (ibid., p.16) also raises the questionwhether the emergence of interactive voiceresponse systems (IVRS) do not alsonecessitate the English language learner tobecome proficient in that kind ofcommunication apart from the now existingoral and written methods of communication:

“In many language programs, thecurriculum distinguishes between oral andwritten language teaching explicitly (e.g.,with different courses) on the assumptionthat the two modes should imply different

abilities to be learned. But what aboutcomputer-mediated communication? Doesthis represent a third mode, and a third setof abilit ies that students should belearning?”

One of the reasons why such a mode oflearning becomes necessary is that artificialintelligence systems use specific patternsof language functions for communication.

There are also possibilities of combiningelectronic language learning with traditionalclassroom methods. It is possible for theteacher to use the evidence of an actualcommunication made electronically todemonstrate the errors of omission orcommission that the speaker/writer makes.

One major benefit of technology-assistedlanguage learning is that the learner getsan opportunity to listen to and interact withnative speakers without having to travel andmeet them. So, it is not entirely aninteraction with an automated system asin a language lab, but an example ofcomputer-assisted language learning(CALL). Learning new words does not needinterruption of the task at hand because ofthe presence of online dictionaries, whichhelp in the development of vocabulary.Chapelle (ibid., p.58) observes:

“Research has also investigated the effectsof learners’ focusing attention throughmodification of what might be consideredthe normal interaction in the CALL task,e.g., continuing to read or listen withoutstopping for help. The most prevalent ofthese studies investigates vocabularyacquisition through reading tasks which aresupported with on-line glosses.”


In a traditional classroom, the learner wouldbe hesitant to interrupt the teacher tounderstand the meaning of a difficult word.The teacher too would not want the flow ofthe class to be disturbed for offeringclarification to a single student. In fact, thepresence of the computer is not as an inerttool, but as an active facilitator, which cantake the role of assisting the human teacherin the human-computer interaction (HCI).Chapelle (ibid., p.105) goes on to explainhow the machine successfully slips into thisrole during the teaching-learning process:

“For example, the computer offers help,gives help, judges responses, etc.; thelearner requests help, responds, declinesoffers, etc. This perspective adds apragmatic dimension to HCI that opens thepossibility for comparison with the types offunctions that learners can engage in acrossdifferent learning environments, includinga variety of programs for learner-computerinteractions, those for learner-learnerinteraction and class-room interaction, aswell.”

Thus, it can be seen that the computer playsa complementary role in the language-learning process rather than function as asubstitute for the human teacher, thoughit can take up the role of one if needed. Infact, the human teacher can keep track ofthe learning process of the students withthe machine as a go-between in the teacher-student relationship. Erben et al. (2009,p.49) observe that “according to Vygotsky,the individual is inseparable from his/hersocial context and consequently cognitivedevelopment is viewed as an essentially

sociocultural activity.” Vygotsky’s study inthe development of thought and languagein the human child is worth consideringhere. Vygotsky (1986, p.94) argues thatthought and language development is not anatural consequence of biological growth:

“Thought development is determined bylanguage, i.e. by the linguistic tools ofthought and by the sociocultural experienceof the child. Essentially, the developmentof inner speech depends on outside factors;the development of logic in the child, asPiaget’s studies have shown, is a directfunction of his socialized speech. The child’sintellectual growth is contingent on hismastering the social means of thought, thatis, language.”

Thus, a case can be made for moving fromcomputer-assisted language learning (CALL)to mobile-assisted language learning(MALL). It is a fact that the modern studentspends most of her/his value time in thevirtual world, especially preoccupied withsocial networking apps like WhatsApp andFacebook. Instead of attempting to divertthe student’s attention from them to the“real” classroom, it would be moreworthwhile to take the learning tools, or evenbetter, the classroom itself to the virtualworld. Erben et al. (ibid., p.65) remind usof the famous Chinese proverb: “Tell me, I’llforget. Show me, I’ll remember. Involve me,I’ll understand.” This saying is quite popularamong all teachers as a major principle ofeffective teaching. However, the authors(ibid., 65) suggest that the changing timesneed to take this saying to a new level byadding to it: “Differentially instruct me, I’ll


internalize. Use technology with me, I’llparticipate, I’ll transfer, I’ll employ and I’llcreate.”

Technology is nothing new to the modernlearner, though it might be new to someamong the teaching community. Themodern learner is born into the world oftechnology and therefore, any classroom,including the English classroom, divorcedfrom technology would make the learner feellike fish out of water. But with technology,the modern student could be scaffolded from“remembering” to “creating”, which is theultimate stage in Bloom’s (1956, pp.1-2)Taxonomy: “Teachers building a curriculumshould find here a range of possibleeducational goals or outcomes in thecognitive area (‘cognitive’ is used to includeactivities such as remembering and recallingknowledge, thinking, problem solving,creating).”

It may not be either possible or evennecessary to induct the student directly intowebsites entirely dedicated to education orthe English language. Rather, it would beeasier to create a WhatsApp group of thelearners. The advantage of such a WhatsAppgroup is that the students could participatein the learning process without inhibition.It is observed that people in general andstudents in particular open up in virtualspaces like social media better than theydo in real life. Such a situation could befavourably tapped by teachers of thelanguage. In case a student does not wishto post her utterances in the group, shecould communicate with her teacher with apersonal message using the same app.

To motivate the students to communicatewell in the group, they should beencouraged to understand that it is normalto make errors in all aspects of language.Vygotsky (1986, p.221) says that it is notpossible to use language which is free fromerrors: “Absolute correctness is achievedonly in mathematics. It seems thatDescartes was the first who recognized inmathematics a form of thought that,although originating in language, goesbeyond it. Our daily speech constantlyfluctuates between the ideals ofmathematical harmony and imaginativeharmony.” While this is true of adults whohave been using the language for quite along time, hunting for errors in the babysteps of the new learners would be nothingless than utmost cruelty. The benefit ofusing social media platforms like WhatsAppis that the possibilities of such persecutioncould be avoided primarily because it is avirtual space.

References

Bloom, Benjamin S. (1956). The taxonomyof educational objectives: The classificationof educational goals. London: Longmans,Green and Co. Ltd.

Chapelle, Carol A. (2003). English languagelearning and technology. Amsterdam: JohnBenjamin.

Erben, Tony, Ruth Ban and MarthaCastaneda. (2009). Teaching Englishlanguage learners through technology. NewYork: Routledge.

Vygotsky, Lev. (1986). Thought andlanguage. Cambridge: MIT Press.


Unless many long-held myths are rooted out,learner of English and become proficientusers of the language.

That spoken English should be taught as aseparate subject in all Tamil mediumsections in schools, a plea made recently inthe Madras High Court by a former MLA,Appau, led the judges to seek details on thefunctioning of the English-Medium sectionsin the State’s government-run schools. Thisinitiative has triggered a flurry of questions,such as the following, among thestakeholders.

· Should spoken English be mandated asan independent subject?

· Why are millions of learners unable toacquire even the basic level of competence,although they have been taught Englishfrom the first standard?

· Are schools equipped to facilitate students’acquisition of oral fluency in English?

What has been the impact of the manytraining programmes undertaken byvarious agencies such as the ones throughstate partnership with the British Council,attempts of DIET, SSA and RSA totransform the pedagogical practicesthrough the years? Nothing seems toexplain why despite such well-intentionedefforts, speaking English fluently stillremains “an unachievable goal”.

Setting the record straightK. ElangoNational Secretary, ELTAI

Not too positive

When asked to describe the images thatcome to their minds whenever they think ofEnglish. Tamil-medium students in AnnaUniversity (which gets a huge chunk ofstudents from rural areas who are highscorers in English in their class XII exams– not less than 90%) describe English as a‘ghost’. ‘Pitch black’ red colour’ ‘wild beastchasing’, and so on – obviously only negativeones dominating their psyche. And theteachers in Tamil-medium schools are at aloss to teach English effectively due to theirlack of sufficient exposure to the secondlanguage, lack of role models (for example,their own teachers), lack of genuine need toemploy the language in their day-to-daycommunication, and the ineffective andinsufficient training programmes, makingthem diffident and undoubtedly scared.Besides this vicious circle, there are certaindeep-rooted myths, which have distorted thefocus of teaching English in our country overthe years.

Myth 1: Centrality of Grammar

Learning one’s mother tongue or any othertongue involves the same cognit iveprocess. No mother teaches the initialwords in Tamil, such as thatha, amma, orappa as nouns. So, in the case of Englishwhy is the approach skewed to teach itbased on or through grammar? Strangely,


English grammar, to say the least, appearsillogical and incoherent even to teachers.Besides certain rules, there are moreexceptions than rules and the samelinguistic item carries varied grammaticalroles/labels depending on the context.Even a thorough familiarization does notensure their automatized, accurateapplication.

Further, it has now been recognized(unfortunately not among the practisingteachers) that the grammar of spokenEnglish is different from that of the writtenlanguage. In spoken form, a word, a phrase,an incomplete sentence, and even anungrammatical construction can achieve thedesired communicative effect, whereas thewritten form has to adhere strictly to therules. Despite the leeway the spoken modeenjoys, the tragedy is that the grammar ofthe written language is thrust upon thespoken form, which impedes learning.Experts maintain that spoken language isnot written language spoken out, andsimilarly, the written language is NOTspoken language written down. So, the shiftshould be towards the grammar of spokenlanguage and not on dishing out grammarrules for the written mode.

Myth 2: Accurate Pronunciation

It is familiar to all of us that thepronunciation of our mother tongue variesfrom person to person, from community tocommunity, and from place to place. DavidCrystal, a well-known British expert onpronunciation, states that there are many

accents in any language, which depend onthe people we speak with. When we conversewith children, we adopt one kind ofpronunciation, which radically differs fromthe ones adopted when we talk with otherfamily members, colleagues or strangers,determined by the context and purpose. Hefurther observes that English pronunciationis not static or rigid as it is being influencedby other world languages. What mattersmost is intelligibility and not the so-calledReceived Pronunciation (RP). Instead ofmimicking someone else’s style, one has tospeak in one’s natural accent withoutsacrificing clarity.

Myth 3: High Volume of Vocabulary

No doubt, English is the richest languageembracing more than one million words andeach passing year adding more than 1,000words to its stock. However, it is statisticallyproven that the spoken form requires only3,000 high frequency words with “the, be,to, of, and” being the top five frequently usedwords. Against the traditional practice oflearning individual words, the shift hasmoved towards chunks of language,otherwise called lexical chunks. Althoughlearners have more than the requirednumber of words, the real problem lies withhow they string words together. Thus, thefocus of teaching English should hinge uponenhancing the opportunity to practise thespoken skill.

[Editor’s Note: This article appeared inthe EDGE section of The Hindu datedDecember 24, 2018.]


Grammar? Fun? You must be kidding! Evennow I shudder to think of those horrificgrammar classes in school. No more agoniesfor me, please! Leave me alone, I can hearyou say. But wait. Do give us a chance. Wedo know that grammar is the pet aversionof many a student. They hate grammarwholeheartedly, but they have to learn it;or rather, they are desperately eager tomaster the monster, but just don’t knowhow.This is just a helpline. It will help you tomaster grammar, to avoid common errors,to feel confident when you speak and write.Not as in the bad old days, but painlessly,effortlessly, easily. We shall show you thatgrammar can be fun; it can be exciting; itcan exhilarate you, enchant you, andentertain you.Who is this meant for? For everyone fromone to hundred: for anyone who wants tocommunicate effectively, and effortlesslyin English; for the teacher as well as thestudent; for the creative writer as well asthe diehard scientist; for those who hategrammar as well as those who love it; forthose who know grammar as well as thosewho don’ know it. In short, for one andall.Here is a story I read some time ago. A pupiltells his teacher, “I ain’t got no pencils.” Shecorrects him immediately. “The correct wayto say it is, I don’t have any pencils.” “Wedon’t have any pencils. He doesn’t have anypencils. You don’t have any pencils. Theydon’t have any pencils. Do you understand?’’“No,” the boy answered, astonished. “What

happened to all thepencils?” Well, all of us areonly too familiar with themoral of the story.Why does grammar terrorize us? First andforemost, it is because English grammar isdifferent from the grammar of my mothertongue. I can say suda suda kaappi orgharam gharam chai, but cannot say, hot,hot coffee. I can say idhu pusthakam, inTamil, but I have to say, ‘This is a book’, inEnglish. According to Latin grammar, It isI is correct, but English speakers prefer tosay, It’s me.Another reason for the problems is thatthere are exceptions to almost every rule inEnglish. We often master the rules, butforget the exceptions. The past form of talkis talked, but the past form of take is took.I may expect you to learn grammar, but Icannot make you to learn grammar. By theway, you cannot use to after make!So, folks, cheer up! After all, English wasinvented by people, not computers. Itreflects the creativity of the human race(which, of course, isn’t a race at all). That iswhy, when the stars are out, they are visible,but when the lights are out, they areinvisible![Editor’s Note: This is the first of a seriesof articles by the author and publishedearlier in The Times of India, EducationTimes from May 2008 to May 2013. Weare thankful to Dr Saraswathi, a legendin the field of ELT practice and researchin India, to permit us to publish thosearticles in our journal.]

Grammar Guru IV Saraswathi


Synergistic relationship between languageand literature in an ESL classroomA. Joycilin ShermilaAnnammal College of Education for Women, Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu

ABSTRACTLiterature and language are two sides of the same coin. Literature is rooted in languageand language gets life through literature. Literature helps in teaching and learningEnglish as a second language. Language skills can be developed through the study ofliterature; language can be learnt through literature. But the reality is that, in schoolsand colleges, literature and language are taught as two different subjects. This paperexplores the relationship between language and literature, and how they areinterconnected.

Keywords: Language and literature; Language through literature.

English language plays a dominant role inthe field of education. Success in educationand careers depends to a large extent onthe level of competence of learners in theEnglish language. A threatening factor foreffective acquisition of English language isthe method of teaching English literature,which separates it from the language.

Literature is a vehicle for students topractise their grammar and vocabulary. Itgives authentic examples of sentencestructure and language use. In the mid-1900s, the focus of language teachingstarted to change. Educators became moreconcerned with developing students’ abilityto communicate. Educators recognized thepotential of literature for meaningfulcommunication. Discussions, role plays andgroup projects dominated the languagelearning scene.

The term ‘literature’ is used in two differentsenses. It is used to refer to any writtenmaterial on a subject. Secondly, it is a termthat refers to a school or universitydiscipline. Scholars define literature indifferent ways. Literature is any imaginativeand beautiful creation in words whether oralor written, says Onuekwusi (2013). McRae,in his book ‘Literature with a Small 1’ (1991:vii), defines literature as “any text whoseimaginative content will stimulate reactionand response in the receiver.” It providesentertainment, information, education andexcitement to its audience. But at the sametime not all literature is imaginative. Someliterary works are semi-factual.

Literature is language in practice. Languagetheories, concepts and styles are put intofunction in the creation of a literary text.As a discipline, literature has some


functions to perform. Students derive morebenefits from literature. The utilities ofliterature are educational, cultural, oral,recreational and socio-political. Literaturehelps the learners to develop fluency. Manylibertarians support the inclusion ofliterature in language classrooms since itwill help in language enrichment.

Lazar (1993) provides five reasons for usingliterature in ELT:

· Motivating materials

· Encouraging language acquisition

· Expanding students’ language awareness

· Developing students’ interpretive abilities

· Educating the whole person

Literature is an important aid for culturalassimilation, emotional stability, liberaleducation and for developing a maturepersonality.

Literature and language are not onlyintertwined but also interrelated. Only withthe instrument of language, literature isconcretized. It sounds absurd to studyliterature without language. Literature isrooted in language and language gets lifethrough literature. So, literature andlanguage are closely interconnected.Teachers must use literature to motivatestudents for language acquisition. “Eachnovel, short story or play can spark off awealth of different activities. Tasks andexercises based on a literary text can providevaluable practice in listening, speaking orwriting, as well as improving reading skills.

Literary works of all kinds are now becomingincreasingly available in spoken form oncassettes” (Collie and Slater, 1996:36).

Valdes (2000) asserts that “It is simplyaccepted that l iterature is a viablecomponent of second language programs atthe appropriate level and that one of themajor functions of literature is to serve as amedium to transmit the culture of the peoplewho speak the language in which it iswritten.” As there is no dichotomy betweena father and son, so are English languageand literature integrated.

The study of literature enhances thedevelopment of extensive reading skills.There is a correlation between extensivereading and language acquisition. Readingcan provide a ready means of the acquisitionof vocabulary which in turn helps in effectivewriting. Reading instruction is mosteffective when intertwined with writinginstruction. Research has found that whenchildren read extensively they become betterwriters. Reading a variety of genres helpschildren learn text structures and languagethat they can then transfer to their ownwriting. Reading broadens the students’familiarity with language and readingenables students to compare their ownexperiences with others. Thus, reading hasan important place in writing.

Literature is the main vehicle for teachingand learning language. Literature is theproper place where language gets anexcellent position. Literary works provideadditional material for grammar practice,vocabulary learning and translation (Liaw,


2001). According to Moody, literature is anumbrella term giving information on everybusiness (Moody, 1971:1, cited in Turker1991: p.299). McKay (1982) argues that “…literature offers several benefits to ESLclasses. It can be useful in developinglinguistic knowledge, both on a usage anduse level. Secondly, to the extent thatstudents enjoy reading literature, it mayincrease their motivation to interact with atext and thus, ultimately increase theirreading proficiency. It may also enhancestudents’ understanding of a foreign cultureand perhaps ‘spur’ their own creation ofimaginative works.”

Krashan (1984, 1985, 1987) points out thatthe relationship between reading andwriting is like the relationship between amother and her baby. Good writing is theby-product of vast reading. He maintainsthat a large amount of self-motivatedreading for pleasure would give rise to thedesired effect on writing. Reading acts as astimulant for writing. People read in orderto obtain information, develop vocabulary,make inferences, classify, observe, analyze,draw conclusions and make generalizations.Reading literature enhances languageacquisition in general and effective writingin particular.

There are many reasons for using literaturein the language classroom. Carter andLong’s (1991) three models of why teachersuse literature in the language classroom arethe cultural model, the language model, andthe personal growth model. Scott (1964)strongly advocates the use of literature as acultural way-in. Literature is the product

of historical and social circumstances.Literature is “one of the most obvious andvaluable means of attaining culturalinsights” (Scott, 1964, p. 490). The focus ofthe language model is psycholinguistic.Teachers may choose to focus on howlanguage is used within a given text. Thebenefits of the language model are theexpansion of vocabulary, increased readingfluency, and enhanced interpretive andinferential skills. The personal growth modeloffers a more student-centered approach toliterature study. The purpose is to useliterature as a vehicle to educate and topromote critical awareness. To reap the fullbenefits of literature in the languageclassroom, a combination of all the threemodels has to be used.

The choice of literary works used in thelanguage classroom determines the success.If the language is too difficult or tooculturally distant, the learning gains will beminimum. Teachers must try to engage,entice and enthrall learners by the righttexts followed by lively discussions. The textmust not be too long since the students willbe scared to read a long text. If the teachershows boredom, the teacher cannotmotivate the students. Text selection is a‘crucial factor’ (Maley, 2001: 184) in makingliterature a resource for l inguisticdevelopment, personal enrichment andcultural appreciation. Ayo (2003, p. 130)opines that “through the creative methodsof teaching literature, the students can behelped to develop confidence in themselvesin producing coherent and cohesive spokendiscourses and in organizing sentences into


paragraphs with effective linkers andorganizing paragraphs into coherent andmeaningful written discourse.”

Literature is a vehicle for students topractise their grammar and vocabulary. Itgives authentic examples of sentencestructures and language use. In the mid-1900s, as it was pointed out earlier, thefocus of language teaching began to change.Direct method and audio-lingual methoddominated the language classrooms.Educators became more concerned withdeveloping students’ ability to communicatein real life situations. With the advent ofthe communicative approach, educatorsrecognized the need for meaningfulcommunication. Discussions, role plays andgroup projects started to take over thecommunicative language classroom. In anylanguage, great literature leads to greatconversation, and great conversation is theultimate goal of language learning.

Literature is the artistic expression oflanguage and it cannot exist withoutlanguage. For cultural enrichment andawareness, literature is to be used in thelanguage classroom. Literature is thereflection of the society. Literature canbroaden one’s outlook. All human emotionslike anger, happiness, sadness, passion, loveand hatred are expressed in literature.Maley (1987) enumerates some specialvirtues for learning English throughliterature: universality, non-triviality,personal relevance, variety, interest,economy and suggestive power, andambiguity. The themes literature deals withare common to all cultures though their

treatment may be different – Death, Love,Separation, Beliefs, Nature, etc. Literaturedoes not trivialize or talk down aboutanything. Literature is about things thatmattered to the author when he wrote them.It offers genuine as well as authentic inputs.

Teaching literature develops the intellectual,social and moral values of students.Constant exposure to literary texts canfoster intuitive awareness in students. Ifliterature and language are taught togetherthey may enhance the level of understandingof the students. Literature can impress andeducate the individuals. Choosing the rightliterary text is important in using literaturein language teaching. If the students in theclass are interested in sports and games,romantic literature may not attract them.A book about a famous athlete or cricketermay be interesting to such students in theclassroom. Chunks of vocabulary are to betaught to the students in advance. That willgive confidence to the students to discussstories in meaningful ways. Discussionquestions can be given at the end of eachchapter. Instead of the routine question-answer method, students can be allowed todraw a picture or a graphic organizer toexpress their ideas about the literary text.Literary texts can provide multiple sourcesof linguistic output. Texts can besupplemented by audio, music, film clipsand podcasts, and all these will enhance thesensory input.

Thus, it is clear that there is a relationshipbetween language and literature. Anintegrated approach of using literature inthe language classroom can enhance the


proficiency level of the students. Languagelearners get the opportunity to developtheir linguistic and communicative skillswhen literature is used in the languageclassroom in an interesting and motivatingway.

References:

Ayo, O. (2003). Developing L2 learners’communicative competence throughliterature in English. In Oyeleye, & Olateju(Eds.), Readings in language and literature(pp. 127-136). Ile-Ife: Obafemi AwolowoUniversity Press Ltd., Nigeria.

Carter, R., & Long, M. (1991). Teachingliterature. Harlow, UK: Longman.

Collie, J. and Slater, S. (1996). Literature inthe language classroom . Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.

Krashen, S. D. (1984). Writing: Research,theory and application. Oxford: PergamonPress.

Krashen, S. D. (1985). Language acquisitionand language education: Extension andapplications. New York: Prentice-HallInternational.

Krashen, S. D. (1987). Application of psycho-linguistic research to the classroom. InMethodology in TESOL: A book of readings.London: Newbury House Publishers.

Lazar, G. (1993). Literature and languageteaching. London: Cambridge University

Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511733048

Liaw, M. L. (2001). Exploring literaryresponses in an EFL classroom. ForeignLanguage Annals, 34: 35–44.

Maley, A. (1989). Down from the pedestal:Literature as resource. In Literature and thelearner: Methodological approaches .Cambridge: Modern English Publications.

Maley, A. (2001). Literature in the languageclassroom. In R. Carter and D. Nunan (eds.),The Cambridge Guide to TESOL. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press, pp. 180-185.

McKay, S. (1982). Literature in the ESLclassroom. TESOL Quarterly, 16 (4), 529-536.

Onuekwusi, J. A. (2013). A nation and herstories: Milestone in the growth of Nigerianfiction and their implications for nationaldevelopment. Imo State Inaugural LectureSeries, 13, 6.

Scott, C. T. (1964). Literature and the ESLprogram. The Modern Language Journal, 48,489-493.

Turker F. (1991). Using “Literature” inlanguage teaching, Hacettepe ÜniversitesiEAltim Fakültesi Dergisi, 1991, 6/299-305.

Valdes, J. (Ed.). (1986). Culture bound:Bridging the cultural gap in languageteaching. Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress.


Teaching English to tribals: A case study ofSpiti, Himachal PradeshSuneela SharmaAssociate Professor of English, Dept of Higher Education,Govt. of Himachal Pradesh

Introduction

The current paper reports an empirical studyof the impact of voluntary teaching ofEnglish on the tribal learners in the tribalarea of Kaza, District of Spiti, HimachalPradesh. The study had the followingobjectives:

· To study the challenges faced by the tribalstudents of Spiti by adopting MunsellingSchool for poor children of Spiti for a casestudy.

· To study the role played by the trainedteachers of English, individualvolunteers, volunteers from premiereorganizations/institutions from India and

abroad, in the teaching of English totribals at the Munselling School at Kaza,Spiti.

· To study the role played by the localcommunity by their participation ininviting volunteers for educating thetribal children.

· To study the reasons for theeducational backwardness of triballearners with special reference toEnglish language.

· To identify answers, solutions andmethods to work on the drawbacks andproblems of the teaching and learning ofEnglish in the tribal areas.

ABSTRACTThis paper is based on the case study conducted to understand the educationalbackwardness of tribal learners in the tribal district of Spiti, Himachal Pradesh withspecial reference to English language. It describes the language learning problems oftribal learners and analyzes the causes of their backwardness in respect of English.A micro approach was used to study and analyze the quality in the education of Triballearners of Munselling School in Rangrik, Kaza, in the setting chosen for the study.The study was a qualitative study as the hypothesis was formulated after the datawas collected through interviews, observations, case study and focus group discussion.It reports the findings on the impact of teaching English to these tribal learners byvolunteer teachers.

Keywords: Teaching English to tribals; difficulties in learning English;


Methodology

The paper is based on the researcher’s longassociation with the theme of this study, viz.,the impact and role of voluntary teaching ofEnglish to the tribals. Therefore, the issuebeing close to the heart was pursued with aclear hypothesis. An empirical approach wasmade to study and analyze the status andquality of the teaching and learning of triballearners of a school called Munselling inRangrik, Kaza, in the Tribal District of Spitiin Himachal Pradesh. The data for the casestudy was collected and compiled from theexperiences of the workshops conducted byvolunteer teachers from St. Bedes College,Shimla, Spiti Valley project of St. StephensCollege, Delhi and a one-month programmeof teaching of English by Miss Fanni fromCanada during the session 2017-2018.

Need for and significance of the study

The low literacy rate of Scheduled Tribes is aserious threat to Indian education. It issignificant even in Himachal Pradesh, thestate with the highest literacy rate in India.The intensity of the problem is reflected inthe SSLC (Secondary School LeavingCertificate) examination results that showvery low pass percentage in tribal areas ofthe state. The lack of proficiency in Englishlanguage is identified as a major obstacle tothe education of Schedule Tribe learners. Theinappropriate syllabus and teaching methodof English develops a negative attitude inlearners towards learning. The fear oflearning a foreign language is one of thefactors to stop their education becauseEnglish language is a compulsory subjectrather than an optional one at higher

education level. It is clear that tribal learnersare not motivated well. They have adjustmentproblems with school curriculum andteaching of English language. At the sametime, the community-run schools with thehelp of NGOs, voluntary organizations andindividual voluntary institutions andteachers show a far better performancecompared to the State Board schools. Thoughthe Government can provide grants andscholarships for the betterment of learners,the responsibility of their educationaldevelopment is ultimately in the hands ofthe teachers teaching them or the teacherswho empathize with the need to spreadeducation in a holistic manner throughoutthe society as one world, one entity.

Tribals in Himachal Pradesh: An OverviewIn Himachal Pradesh, the 3.92 lakh peoplebelonging to scheduled tribes counted in2011 include the Gaddis and Gujjars; thereare smaller tribes that are limited to specificregions of the State. There are Kanaurasor Kinnaras of Kinnaur district; Bhots orBodhs, who are akin to the Bots or Botosof Ladakh and inhabit Lahul and Spiti andKullu districts; Pangwalas of the Pangivalley in Chamba; Swanglas of the Pattanvalley in Lahul and Spiti; and Lahaulas ofthe Lahaul valley. Of these, Bhots arelargely Buddhist, Pangwala and Swanglaare largely Hindu, and Kanauras andLahaulas are partly Hindu and partlyBuddhist. During 2001-11, Kanauras, whoare the largest of these tribes, declined byabout 17 percent and Lahaulas, who arethe smallest, grew by about 66 percent.Bhots, Pangwalas and Swanglas have allgrown by about 7 to 8 percent.


The tribal areas in Himachal Pradesh arevery remote and inaccessible having toughmountainous terrain and inhospitableclimatic conditions. With such tough livingconditions, the cost of developing anyinfrastructure is extremely high, especiallythat of providing education at par with theeducation in urban and even rural areas ofthe state. Out of the 55673 squarekilometers of geographical area of HimachalPradesh, 23655 square kilometers fall inscheduled area. The scheduled tribepopulation density in these areas is 7 persquare kilometer.

Background to the Case Study

Until 1992, the entry of even Indianoutsiders into Spiti was restricted due tothe proximity of a sensitive border .Due tolong winter and excess snow, Spiti remainsisolated from the rest of the world for ¼ ofthe year. It is because of this isolation Spitihas remained undisturbed and remained

economically backward and educationallydeprived.

Spiti, originally pronounced “Piti”, means“The Middle Land”, is an area situatedbetween Tibet and India on the northernborder of Himachal Pradesh state. Locatedamong one of the most beautiful and breath-taking sceneries, the people of Spite seemto live an idyllic life. But due to the politicalsituation (the Spiti Valley is in a sensitive,hostile border area), life is rather difficult.Spiti Valley is approximately a hundredmiles long but the population does notexceed more than fifteen thousand andsuffers from a high infant mortality rate aswell.

During the summer months, peoples’ mainoccupation is farming, but the winters arelong and cultivable soil is scarce. Snow oftencovers the fields for more than half a year.Dried yak dung is used as the main sourceof fuel for cooking and heating. Heating mud

Table 1: District-wise Tribal Population of Himachal Pradesh

Name of District No. of Census Villages Total Population Population of(Inhabited) Scheduled Tribes

Bilaspur 953 381956 10693Chamba 1110 519080 135500Hamirpur 1671 454768 3044Kangra 3617 1510075 84564Kinnaur 241 84121 48746Kullu 314 437903 16822Lahaul-Spiti 280 31564 25707Mandi 2850 999777 12787Shimla 2705 814010 8755Sirmour 968 529855 11262Solan 2383 580320 25645Una 790 521173 8601Total 17882 6864602 392126


houses costs a lot of dung as temperaturescan drop down to -35ºC.

Due to a complete lack of access to the outerworld, not many Spitian had qualified tostudy one of the major professions, such asmedicine, till the 1990s in spite of theenthusiastic backing of parents. Not onlythat, the teaching of our own language,Tibetan (Bhoti), was minimal, ceasing afterprimary level, and children who left schoolwere hardly able to read even the titles ofthe Buddhist scriptures.

Rinchen Zangpo Society

The Rinchen Zangpo Society for SpitiDevelopment provides a combination ofmodern and traditional education to youngpeople from Spiti and other underdevelopedtribal areas in the Indian Himalayan region.The Rinchen Zangpo Society EducationProgram has been operating since 1993 withthe generosity shown by various westerncharities, regular contribution byindividuals and financial assistance fromthe Department of Tribal Affairs,Government of India at both state andcentral levels. It now has more than 1000young people of all age groups fromkindergarten to college goers either receivingdirect supervision from the society orreceiving financial assistance to pursue theireducation outside Spiti Valley.

The various schools opened by the societyare listed below:

1. Munselling School, Rangrik

In the year 1996 the Society establishedSpiti Children Home School “Munselling” in

Rangrik. It is the second biggest villagecentrally located in the Valley. His Holinessthe Dalai Lama inaugurated the new school.

2. Kaza Public School, Kaza

Kaza Public Buddhist Model School is a verysuccessful part of the Rinchen Zangpo’sEducation Programme. Due to the successof our educational program enrolment hasincreased dramatically and the number ofstudents at Munselling was consistentlyincreasing every year. Hence there was theneed for a new school.

3. Reva Buddhist School for Girls

Last year the Society opened a newschool with the chief purpose of givingmore opportunities to girls. 119 Girlchildren have been enrolled in the schoolso far.

4. Spiti Children Hostel School, Sidhbari

For higher secondary education beyondClass 10, the Society runs a hostel for Spitichildren at Sidhbari, Dharamshala. Thehostel has separate blocks for boys and girls.Residential tutors from renowned schoolsin and around Dharamshala are providedto students for coaching them.

5. Spiti Feeder Schools

To address this issue of the inability ofchildren between 3 and 5 years to avail theeducation opportunities in boarding, lastyear the society opened feeder schools atremote areas of Spiti where educationaccessibility was almost nil. The presentstrength of the enrolment of students isrepresented in Table 2.


With a total of 1112 students beingimparted education here, for more than twodecades now, the society is planning toestablish an institution for the higherstudies of these tribal children. Out of allthe above mentioned schools, Munsellingis the school with maximum number ofresidential students and the subject of ourcase study.

Voluntary teaching in Munsellingresidential school

Although the society established a schoolof teaching for poor Spiti children in 1992,the involvement of voluntary teachers andorganizations in Munselling School run bythem at a village called Rangrik, Kaza, theDistrict headquarters of Spiti, is a recentdevelopment in the past one decade.Numerous workshops for academics,personality development, careercounseling, health and hygiene are

conducted by teacher volunteers fromdifferent parts of India, England, Canada,New Zealand and America, an annualfeature of the school curriculum. TheUniversity of Brit ish Columbia isassociated with the school with missionaryspirit. This has happened because over therecent years Spiti has become moreaccessible and open to the outside world.The researcher of the present study hasseen in the past six years a rapid progressof the school in terms of quality in theoverall performance and achievements of theschool as well as its students. Figure 3shows the board exam results of the pastten years and reveals improvement in thequality of education. At a closer observationit was found that the major cause of suchrapid improvement was the progressiveinitiative of the management to invitevoluntary teachers from privilegedinstitutions in India and abroad for allsubjects especially English.

Table 2: The Present Strength of Students

Location No. of Students

Munselling School 560

Rewa Buddhist Model School 119

Kaza Public School, Spiti 250

Feeder Schools in Spiti 102

Hostel in Dharamshala 46

Delhi, Chandigarh and other places 34

Total 1112


Data based on empirical study ofworkshops and projects of the voluntaryteaching of English by:

1. Professors Anuja, Anupama and Nandinifrom St. Bedes College, Shimla.

2. Volunteers from staff and students fromSt. Stephens College, Delhi.

3. Miss Fanni De Maio, Research Fellowfrom Amsterdam University, Holland.

Based on the feedback from all the voluntaryagencies and teachers and on the six-year-long association and experience of theresearcher herself, the following conclusionshave been drawn from the case study.

Conclusions

On the basis of the study the feedback fromthe host school and the volunteers forteaching English, the following conclusionsare derived:-

• Qualified teachers are not willing towork on a regular basis because of lackof basic facilities like water, electricity,internet connectivity, roads, andmeans of transport. They come andserve until they get better options.Voluntary teaching is the mosteffective method of providing the latestresources of education - books,materials and methodology especiallyin the absence of long term regularteachers.

• More trained teachers/volunteers areneeded to enhance the competence ofthe students.

• While frequent interactions with thevolunteer teachers from different partsof India and the world have inculcatedconfidence amongst the students inusing English as a medium ofconversation, they also seem to havepicked up various accents of English.

Table 3: Year-wise Results Data


• Learners seriously lack proficiency ingrammar and spelling, the intensiveteaching of which is recommended bythe majority of volunteers in the casestudy.

• Students are enthusiastic but the lackof exposure to the world outside impedestheir creativity seriously.

• It was observed that not only thestudents but the teachers in the schooluse their native dialects/Hindi. It isrecommended that the use of Englishas the only medium of communicationinside the classrooms and even in thehostel should be encouraged.

• It was observed that there is serious lackof parental participation in theeducation of tribal students. This is dueto poverty, ignorance, lack oftransportation, difficult geographicalterrain and long distances. It issuggested that participation of parents,especially of educated parents, in theeducation of children should beencouraged wherever feasible.

• Majority of the volunteer teachers ofEnglish observed that the learners tooka couple of days to adapt to the newclassroom teaching and methods. Theywere extremely responsive and keen tolearn more and more, driving home thefact that the teaching sessions ofvoluntary teachers should not be for lessthan a week.

• It was observed that there was a lack ofoverall discipline due to the lack of a

rapport between regular teachers andstudents, with the teachers quitting jobsfrequently.

• It was observed that connectivitybetween the learners and the voluntaryteachers should be maintained throughfollow-up workshops on an annual basisfor more effective and long-lastingimpact on the learners.

Suggestions

• The case study of Munselling proves thatvoluntary teaching of English to thetribal learners by professionals fromoutside is beneficial as English is acompulsory rather than an optionalsubject at the higher level of education.And exposure to the best and latestteaching in English at their doorstepprepares the learners to compete withothers in a world of tough competitionoutside their comfort zone.

• The tribal learners need to be motivatedand encouraged to treat English as amedium of communication and not as aforeign language. The volunteers shouldexplore the needs of tribal learners andprepare their teaching aids andmaterials in order to cater to the specificneeds of learners.

• Tribal learners face the stress ofadjustment to the school syllabus at parwith that being taught to the learnersin cities and performing at the same levelin examinations as well. They lack theconvenience of technology as well as aconducive environment for studies. In


this context, the students from schoolsrun with the help of volunteers inteaching might perform better thanthose in state board schools.

• A friendly and practical approach ofteaching and learning of English will notonly relieve the learners from a yardstickof perfection but encourage them tooutgrow their fear and hesitation ofusing the language and be free of anyinhibition.

• Given the fact that development in tribalareas requires higher financialinvestments and efforts, it becomesimperative for stronger educationalinstitutions to associate themselves withcommunity teaching to tribal learners.The idea of establishing communityschools and voluntary teaching is costeffective for the schools that invite andhost the volunteer teachers.

• Government of India, under itscommunity development programme,following the special rights given totribals under Article 46 of theConstitution should encourageprivileged educational institutions tocontribute to the upliftment of thedisadvantaged communities by sharingknowledge and education. Governmentand its agencies of social welfare mustencourage the NGOs, institutions,organizations and individuals engagedin voluntary teaching by awards orpromotional benefits based on authenticcontribution.

• Professional courses to train resource

persons for voluntary teaching ofEnglish and other subjects should beintroduced at graduate andpostgraduate levels to enhance thequality of volunteers teaching themarginalized and disadvantagedsegments of society.

The following data from the workshops onteaching of English by the volunteers duringthe sessions in 2017 and 2018 has beencompiled in the form of their lesson plans,execution of their workshops, their feedbackand suggestions.

01. Voluntary Teaching by teachers fromSt, Bedes College, Shimla – A Report

Dear Suneela

Thanks to your suggestion and effort I alongwith Ma’am Nandini Pathania and AnupamaTandon, were able to see and experiencesuch beautiful people and their abode,Spiti. Here’s my report:

May 13th to 16th, 2018.

It was nearly evening when we arrived atMunselling School, Kaza. Totallymesmerized by the landscape, the serenityand the awesomeness of God’s creation, wemet Cherring sir, manager, teacher atMunselling. He had made very comfortablearrangements for our board and lodging.

Day -1 began with a meeting with thePrincipal, Sh. Subhash Katoch who is doingan admirable job in this remote part of HP.Soon we were guided to all classrooms aswe had to judge the most clean and creativeclassroom. We found most of the teachers


had taken interest in doing up theirclassrooms. In the junior section it was class1, the middle section, class 7 and the seniorsection class 9 which won the prizes. Afterlunch we were sent to the classes we had towork with. Anuja went to class 11, and didthe first chapter of their English textbook.The response of the students was beyondexpectations. They were not shy, wereasking questions etc. in English!!!!

Nandini did her Pidilite fabric art with thesenior girls in the Art room. Anupama tookclass 10 for Data collection related toeconomics. In the evening we playedTambola with the middle section and thusdistributed gifts to the winners. It wasthoroughly enjoyable for us and thechildren.

The evening was spent preparing for the nextday and with the yum food of Mr. Karmu.

Day-2: Nandini took up a personalitydevelopment and leadership skills workshopwith senior students and through gamesand interaction held a successfulworkshop. Anupama did math with class 9and also had a quiz on the logistics of ecoand math. It was enjoyed by the students.

Anuja went to class 10 and did aCommunication skills session with thestudents. The class was divided into sixgroups and each group was given a topic tospeak on. Simple topics like, my dream, abeautiful summer morning, what I lovemost, my Aha moment etc. Once again theresponse was very encouraging. I guessinteractions with various volunteers havemade the students less shy and self-

conscious.

The evening saw all three of us keenlyinvolved with the staff of the school. We dida SWOT analysis with them and I mustrespect their eagerness and genuinesuggestions for the improvement of theschool. The results of the SWOT werehanded to Mr. Cherring. On the last day wewere asked to give a report on ourobservations and suggestions to themanagement and staff and students.

Observations

1. Tremendous effort of Lamaji, whoenvisioned and started this selflessservice to society.

2. The teachers we found were committed

3. Students very keen to learn. (Thechildren knew a lot about the goodHollywood films like Stuart Little,Taming of the Dragon, Jungle book!!!! Itwas a pleasant surprise!! We too hadtaken a few wild animals documentaries,videos of Panchatantra stories andJungle book video for the students.) Anair pump for basketball and volleyballand pawns for Carom, books and fivevolumes of How to teach EnglishGrammar were also presented to theschool.

Suggestions

1. Counseling for senior students

2. Building teacher students rapport byassuring them of your love and that theirworth is never a question in your eyes


3. Evaluation of teachers by students. Wedrew up an evaluation form and gave itto the Principal.

4. Evaluation of volunteers who come. Aform was designed and given to theauthorities.

5. To plan teacher’s presence whenvolunteers interact and thus ensure thatprecious school time is not idled away.

02.

St .Stephen’s College Volunteers


Fanni De Saio

Hi Suneela

You have asked me to share the experienceI had teaching English at Munselling Schoolin Dharamshala. I was there for a monthand taught Class 8 A and Class 8 B everymorning. There was a definite differencebetween the classes in terms of level andability, but not in terms of enthusiasm. Mostof the students showed a high interest inlearning English. Class A had overallstronger students than Class B, which Ibelieve was a deliberate decision on theschool’s part. I am not sure whether thisselection/segregation of higher and lowerperforming students was to their benefit ornot.

I could tell that a lot of pressure was beingput on them in other classes and they werenot getting enough rest, which I thinkultimately impeded their learning.Therefore, I decided not to bombard themwith homework and assessments, butrather make the class an enjoyableexperience that would instill in them a lovefor learning.

In the first class, I asked each class toexplain what aspect of ESL they would liketo focus on. The choices were listeningcomprehension, reading comprehension,writing composition and conversationalskills. Class A voted for conversationpractice, while Class B opted for listeningcomprehension. Needless to say, these skillsare all interlinked and we had a chance topractice each one in turn.

I found that both classes were able tounderstand animated short stories at abeginner to intermediate level. Both classescould answer simple questions about thestories; however it was a challenge to getthem to answer in complete sentences. Theywould often give a one word answer andwould need to be redirected to answer in afull sentence. I came to realize that they wereoften not sure how to properly construct asentence. On the plus side, they understoodthe question and could recall the relevantinformation without fail.

In terms of reading comprehension, Idedicated some class time to helpingstudents make sense of homework andassignments from other classes that werein English, such as Civics. I was surprisedto see that the text in their Civics book wasquite complicated and well above theirEnglish level (upper intermediate toadvanced). I am not convinced that theywould be able to understand the text orcomplete the assignments without directassistance or someone to translate for them.It is clear to me that the Civics book wasdesigned for students in English mediumschools who are fluent in English, whereasthe grade 8 students have not yet reachedthe level of fluency required to interpret sucha text, which was problematic.

When it came to speaking practice, therewere some students who would dominatethe conversation, while others would beafraid to speak up. To combat this, I hadthem work in groups or pairs, or I wouldsometimes call on students one by one. I


think this was the most fun and enjoyablepart of classroom time as we incorporatedmany games as well. Over time, theconfidence of the students grew when itcame to speaking English in front of others.I told them not to be afraid of makingmistakes because that is how we all learn.

To practise writing skills, I had the classwrite short (1 page) compositions on varioustopics. Early on, it was decided that anotherEnglish teacher would focus on grammarwhereas I would focus more onconversation, pronunciation, etc. Inhindsight, perhaps we should have spentmore time on grammar in my class as wellas it is the foundation of every language.Before their board exam, we reviewed someof the grammatical points covered on theexam. It should have been just review forthe students but they still struggled, whichled me to believe that perhaps they neverreally synthesized the material.

All in all, I would say that the main focusmoving forward should be on grammar andsentence structure. Once these students areconfident about the grammar andunderstand how to form proper sentences,speaking and writing will develop naturally.Since they were so engaged when I broughtmultimedia into the classroom, it would benice to incorporate more technology andinteractive elements as well. I wish therewere more resources available such as aprojector and speakers in the classroom asusing only my laptop was difficult attimes. I hope this helps with your researchproject, and please let me know if you have

any questions for me!

Best,

Fanni

References

Ambasht, N. K. “Impact of education ontribal cultures”, ‘Indian science Congress,New Delhi, 199, pp.34-45.

Alexander, K. C., Prasad R. R. andJahagirdar, M. P. (1984). Tribal educationand tribal development, Tribal culture inIndia. Rawat Publications, New Delhi, pp.23-29.

Bapat, N. V. (1987). A few thoughts on tribaleducation, Vanyajathi Journal.

Bairathi, Shashi. (1992). Status ofeducation among tribals, In Tribal culture,economy and health, Rawat Publications,New Delhi.

Burman, B. K. (1996). Problems of triballanguage in education: A supplement to thespecial problems of tribes, Vanyajathi.

Chaudhari, B. (1992). Contemporary societyin tribal studies: Tribals in Meghalaya.Concept Publishing Company.

Chaudhari, B. (1992a). Socio-economic andeducational development. India Publications,New Delhi, pp.22- 34.

Gardner, P. M. (1966). Symmetric respectand memorate knowledge, the structure andecology of individualistic culture, South


Western Journal of Anthropology, Volume 2,pp.389-415.

Gosh and Das. (1982). Forest and the tribals:A study of inter-relationship in the tribaldevelopment in India. Inter IndiaPublications, New Delhi.

Haimendorf, (1990). The problems of tribaleducation. In Tribes of India: the struggle forsurvival. Oxford University Press, Oxford,pp.69-74.

Nath, G. K. (1991). Gender and tribes: Foresteconomy. Crescent Publishers.

Nayar, P. K. B, (1995). Evaluation of theeducational facilities of scheduled caste andscheduled tribe students in Kerala state.Tribal empowerment conference ,Trivandrum, Kerala.

Majumdar, D. N. (1995). The affairs of a

tribe. Universal Publishers, Lucknow.

Srikanth, L. M. (1997). Measures proposedfor the spread of education among theScheduled Tribes. In Indian tribes, SerialsPublishers, New Delhi, pp.90-96.

Srivastava, L R. N. (1996). The problem ofintegration of the tribal people, The IndianJournal of Social Work, Kurukshethtra,pp.67-76.

Acknowledgement

Thanks are due to the Principal and team ofSt. Stephen’s College Delhi, staff of St. BedesCollege, Shimla and Fanni De Maio, aresearch scholar in English, for sharing theirvaluable feedback and suggestions. Thesincere ef forts and dedication of themanagement, principal and staff of theRinchen Zangpo society in carrying out thestudy are also acknowledged.


The Story of English – 1. England before theEnglishC.A. LalProfessor of English, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram

When Julius Caesar landed on the coldmisty shores of England in 55 BC, the nativeinhabitants who flung spears at his legionswere not English. The English language wasnot born in England, and the story ofEnglish begins only a few centuries afterthe sulky Julius left England following hisnot-too-successful adventures there. TheCeltic tribes who were surprised by Caesar’sarrival had been there a few thousand years,though we do not have clear historicalevidence about exact dates. The tribe calledBritons occupied much of the Island, whileothers, like the Picts and the Gaels, lived inthe North. The name Britain is derived fromthese early Celtic inhabitants of the land,though they were later overrun by othertribes, who combined to form the people wecall English today.

The language of the Celts belonged to theIndo-European family along with othermembers like Italic, Germanic and Sanskrit.England was inhabited by hunter-gathererraces of people for at least 50000 years, andthe Celts came much later, either towardsthe end of the Bronze Age, or during theearly Iron Age. The Celts were indeed thefirst people to settle in England, about whoselanguage we have clear evidence today. Theywere also the first Indo-European branchto occupy England, and they were to befollowed by two more, the Italic (the Romans)

and the Germanic (the Anglo Saxons).

The Celts had initially establishedthemselves over large areas of Europe,extending from the British Isles in the NorthWest, down to the East even up to Turkey.Surprisingly, by about 5th century AD, theirdominion had been largely diminished, firstdue to the flourishing of the Roman Empireand then by the inroads of the ‘barbaric’Germanic tribes. Today Celtic remnants canbe seen in limited areas, including Ireland,Wales and Scotland, even where thedominant English language and culture arefast taking over.

After Julius Caesar’s second landing inEngland and his return followed by the stiffresistance of the Celts, there was not muchtrouble from the Romans for about acentury. The actual conquest of the islandtook place after 43 A.D. and the Celtic peoplewere largely subjugated by the Romans,when much of the land, except Wales andScotland, became part of the RomanEmpire. This was followed by over 300 yearsof Romanization, when elaborate roadsystems, buildings, baths and even theatreswere built across the country. Latin becamethe official language, though the Celticmajority continued to speak their language.

The Romans never had any idea of settlingdown in the areas far from home that they


annexed to their empire. They were rulersof the land and therefore fiercely protectedthe British Isles and its Celtic inhabitantsfrom the increasingly frequent invasionsfrom ‘barbaric’ tribes from the northwest ofEurope. These invaders were variousGermanic tribes whose language soundeda nonsensical ‘ber ber’ to the Roman ears,which accounts for the rather scornfulnomenclature, ‘barbarian’. The intrudingGermanic tribes had ideas of permanentresidence in the newly conquered areas.Their designs were different from those ofthe Romans.

The interesting fact is that the Celts, theRomans and the Germanic people, allbelonged to the Indo-European family,though the divergence was already so muchthat the similarities were hardly visible.Eventually, the Roman Empire degenerated,and the officers and soldiers who guardedEngland from the new invaders began toretreat to their Mediterranean homeland.Centuries of subjugation had weakened theCelts and they no longer had the ability orthe machinery to resist the fierce inroads ofthe aggressive Germanic tribes whorelentlessly pushed their way into the islandacross the English Channel and the North

Sea.

By the early fifth century, the Romanlegions had totally withdrawn from theisland, and the Germanic tribes of Angles,Saxons and Jutes began systematicconquest and settlement in different partsof the island. They came as settlers, andwhat followed was systematic displacementof one race by another, more powerful one.In the centuries that followed, theseGermanic settlers emerged as theinhabitants of the British Islands, and theirlanguage came to be called English afterthe Angles. In several parts, the Celts weremassacred in large numbers, but many ofthem either fled to the west or becameemployees under the new masters, andeventually got blended with them throughintermarriage.

That is the story of how English came toEngland and laid the foundations of a legacythat prompts us to teach and learn Englishin a distant land like ours, and discuss thelanguage in platforms like ELTAI.

[Editor’s Note: This is the first in a seriesof articles tracing the history of theEnglish language, to be continued in thiscolumn.]

For ELTAI updates and News from our Chapters

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A Pedestrian on a Highway by Gayathri DeviDutt, Published by Notionpress.com, 2019.This is the autobiography of an educationist,gender development visionary, wife, mother,and grandmother. A Pedestrian on aHighway – a contradiction in terms? Does anondescript pedestrian have any right to walkon the highway? The cover page illustrationmystifies you all the more! It depicts a younggirl with a long plait, in a sari, walking on thehighway, carrying books. Well, in order tounravel the mystery, you must read the bookfrom cover to cover and I can assure you thebook will ensnare you even as Mephistophelesheld Faustus captive.This book is of interest to English teachers,as it tells the story of an English teacher,Gayathri Devi Dutt. She has made asignificant impact on ELT at all levels. We mayhighlight, for instance, her remarkablecontribution to the Regional Institute ofEnglish, South India. When she took over asDirector, the institute was not doing too well.Here are some of her major contributions: Shewas the first woman director of the institute.Her vision document, presented by her at thefirst Board Meeting was a plan ofinfrastructure improvements, a new ladies’hostel on the campus, new appointments, newpublications, and training programs to keepthe institute active: “These rooms neededdoors, those cockroaches had to leave, andthe women needed their own bathrooms.”The curriculum was revised; the thrust wason communication. The training program fortrainers had three advantages: The RIESIfaculty in the role of a trainer, getting a feelingof what the training would feel like to be aparticipant, and the feedback from theinstitute on their own material. On the RIESI

teacher training manual, A Passage toEnglish, Professor Jacob Tharu remarks, “Aninteresting innovation is placing the entiretraining program in a journey metaphor . . . .A lot of fun learning, without trivialisinganything . . .”The earlier chapters tell us the story of a girlchild, ignored by her father, the humiliationsshe faced, the challenges she overcame, thefinancial burden she had to shoulder as theeldest child of the family, the hurdles she hadto face as a female employee in a male-dominated milieu, and so on. What standsout is her indomitable courage, her passionfor education and her concern for women.Generally, ELT practitioners are regarded asanti-literary. However, in Gayathri Devi, wefind a creative writer to whom poetry came asleaves to a tree. She describes the reactionsof her mother and father on her birth:“Lovely eyes and long hair/What a beautycould I bear/The mother thought.On the news of birth/Babuji exclaimed/Oh,a girl? /And dark and dusky?”What Gayathri says in the Prefaceepitomises her personality: “I must confessthat I am not one of those who changed art,culture or history, but definitely one whotook every experience seriously. I believedin doing things differently and have lit somelight through education, keeping my desiresand aspirations in an imaginative, parallelworld.”“Thank you, Gayathri, for giving other readersand me, a chance to take this extraordinaryjourney with you. A very inspiring life,” saysDeepa Dhanraj. I hope the readers of thisreview will read the book in full and experiencethe same feeling.

Reviewed by Dr V. Saraswathi

BOOK REVIEW


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ELT@I Golden Jubilee Annual & 14th International ConferenceNew Delhi, India (9 - 12 October 2019)

Theme: Right to English

Sub-themes:Right to English:H Myth or RealityH A political tool, or an economic

advantage?H Linguistic jingoismH Promise of equity and inclusiveness?H English haves and have-notsH English for empowerment

Indian English:H Indian English in the global communityH Development of Indian English through

the agesH Global acceptance of Indian EnglishH Indianness of Indian English:

Ethnography; Morphology & Syntax;Phonetics & Phonology

H Indian literature in EnglishH National corpus and national lexiconH The role of mass mediaH Language policy, planning and delivery

English as a global language:·H Language wars around the worldH Global language but local perspectivesH Death of languages – sad storiesH Is there an epicenter?H A growing monopoly?H Colonizing minds?H Native and non-native varieties and

speakers

The teaching of English:H Precept to practice in ELTH ELT and critical pedagogyH Addressing heterogeneity in the language

classroomH Addressing varied learning stylesH Language Vs literature debateH Language teaching: Materials; Methods;

Assessment; EvaluationH English for Specific PurposesH Use of technology for language teaching

and learning

Dates to remember:

Submission of Abstracts : 15 June 2019Submission of Full Papers : 10 July 2019H The Abstracts will be published in the Conference Souvenir.H Selected full papers will be brought out in the Conference Proceedings published by an

International Publisher and a nominal additional charge will be levied for copiesrequested.

For further details, visit: www.eltaigoldenjubilee.com


SUBMISSIONS

The JELT is an international, peer-reviewedjournal published by the English LanguageTeachers’ Association of India based atChennai, Tamil Nadu, India, but with about50 chapters in different parts of India.Please see the front inner cover fordetails of the establishment andobjectives of the association.

The JELT is published six times a year –February, April, June, August, October andDecember. The overall aim of the journal isto promote the professional development ofits readers, namely English teachers teachingat all levels, researchers and teacher trainersaround the world. The journal, therefore,accepts submissions on all aspects andissues relating to the teaching and learningof English in ESL settings.

CRITERIA FOR EVALUATINGSUBMISSIONS

Each submission will be evaluated for itssuitability for publication in terms of thefollowing criteria.

The article should:

l Reflect current theories and practices inEnglish language teaching.

l Be relevant and appeal to the widereadership of the journal.

l Be well written and organized, withsufficient explanation and examples toenable readers to apply the ideas andinsights in their own classes.

l Discuss the topic in the context of otherwork related to the topic.

l Be written in clear and concise language,

making it easy to read.

l Be edited for language and style.

Please see the checklist for reviewingmanuscripts, given at the end of theseguidelines.

GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSIONS

There is no specific deadline formanuscript submissions for each issueand authors may send their submissionsanytime.

Authors are expected to follow theseguidelines while preparing their articles forsubmission:

1. The article should not have beenpublished previously in any form (printor online). A short declaration to thiseffect should be given on a separate pageat the beginning of the articlesubmitted.

2. The maximum length of the articleincluding figures and tables should be2000 words (excluding the abstract).The manuscript should contain anabstract in 100-150 words).

3. All pages should be double-spaced witha clear margin of 1 inch on all sides.

4. The title should be brief and focused,not broad or vague.

5. The article should carry only the title,abstract and the main paper.

6. The title, author(s)’ name(s) [the last namefirst], affiliation [i.e., the name ofinstitution(s) the author(s) belong(s) to;city, country] and email address shouldbe provided on a separate cover sheet forthe article, along with author(s)’ photo(s)[.jpg] against a plain background.

The Journal of English Language Teaching (JELT) – ISSN-0973-5208[A publication of the English Language Teachers’ Association of India (ELTAI)]

Manuscript Submission Guidelines


7. Only sources cited in the article shouldbe listed as references at the end of thearticle.

8. The article should use the author-dateformat for citations and references (e.g.,Anderson 1997; Anderson 1997, p.17).See the Chicago Manual of Style (15th

edn.) for more details and examples.

9. The tables and figures used in themanuscript should have numbers insequence and clear, descriptive titles.The titles should appear above thetables and below the figures. The tablesshould NOT be sent as images; thecontents of the tables should be typedand included in the manuscript.Reference to the relevant table or figureshould be made in the text.

10. If authentic samples of students’written output are included, theyshould be typed. The scanned copiesof such material should be sentseparately as attachments forverification.

11. A list of all the references cited in thetext should be given at the end of thearticle.

In each reference:

l Only the author’s last name and initialsare to be provided.

l The year is placed after the author’sname.

l Only the first word of the title and thesub-title (after a colon) are capitalizedalong with proper nouns.

l Titles of books and journals should be initalics.

l Quotation marks are not to be used inthe title.

l For electronic sources such as websites,

the date of accessing the source shouldbe given in brackets after the URL.

12. The filename of the article (in MSWord format) sent as an emailattachment should contain keywords from the title and the (lead)author’s name.

CHECKLIST FOR MANUSCRIPT REVIEW

1. Does this article present and/ordiscuss issues that are importantand relevant to the teaching andlearning of English in an ESL/EFLcontext?

2. Is the title clear, short and appropriatefor the content of the article?

3. Is the abstract brief, clear, inclusiveand consistent with the content of thearticle?

4. Is the introduction relevant,meaningful and purposeful?

5. Is the literature review relevant to thearticle and focussed?

6. Does the article establish a clearrationale for the study and state theproblem clearly?

7. Are the techniques and tools usedappropriate for the study?

8. Are the results clearly presented anddiscussed?

9. Are the findings based on a robustanalysis of the data and clearly presented?

10. Are the conclusions appropriate andreasonable, and linked to other studieson the topic?

11. Are implications of the findingsdiscussed in the article?

12. Are the references appropriate,current, sufficient and consistent within-text citations?

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