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HURDLES AND SOLUTION IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: A STUDY ON UNDERGRADUATE AND
HIGHER SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS FROM EDUCATIONALLY BACKWARD ERANAD TALUK
OF MALAPPURAM DISTRICT
SUMMARYMinor Research Project
Completed with the Financial Support of
UNIVERSITY GRANTS COMMISSION
By
ABDUL RASHEED P
Assistant Professor
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISHEMEA COLLEGE KONDOTTY
KERALA2016
English language has emerged as the most sought after second language in the world.
There is a huge demand in the job market and elsewhere for those who are adept in
English language. There for learning English language ha become prestigious one and
every student has a dream to acquire communication sklls in English irrespective of their
disciplines. But when it comes to English language acquisition in third world countries,
teachers and learners face a number of problems in their English classrooms. Since
English is spoken globally, problems in learning and teaching are quite complex and
complicated, often related with their regional specific characteristics like culture, native
language and socio-cultural backgrounds etc. Psychological aspects of students do have
deeper impact in learning and teaching process of any language. This research mainly
focuses upon problems faced by Higher secondary and Under Graduate students from
Eranad Taluk of Kerala, one of the most educationally backward areas in India, according
to the census, 2001. Eranad Taluk is a highly populated place with major percentage
belongs to Muslim minorities and scheduled castes. Most of the students find it difficult
to acquire English language and often English language frightens them. Their social and
psychological background has something to do with their problems with English. This
study intends to unravel the problems of Eranad Taluk Higher Secondary and College
students English language students and propose some solutions to come out those
identified problems.
Objectives
To understand the various English teaching learning problems of Eranad Taluk
Higher Secondary and undergraduate Students
To understand the approach towards English language Eranad Taluk of the
students in Higher Secondary and Undergraduate level
To unravel the impact of psychological and sociological aspects in English
language acquisition of Eranad Taluk Higher secondary and undergraduate
Students
To understand various aspects of teaching methodology used in Eranad Taluk to
teach English
To propose adequate solutions to the problems identified in English language
acquisition of Eranad Taluk Higher secondary and undergraduate Students.
NEED AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The number of students from Eranad Taluk who study English is large in number
but their proficiency in English seems to be very pathetic. Even those who pursue UG
courses are not able to communicate properly in English despite the fact that they have
studied English for more than 10 years. The social and psychological background of
students seems interfering with the capacity to acquire English language. This study
intends to look into the major hurdles of HSE students as well as UG students from
Eranad Taluk in acquiring English. The significance of the study is that it tries to propose
some solutions to counter the problems prevalent in the learning of English in Eranad
Taluk.
It was found that the problems acquire various dimensions in the Eranad Taluk. it
was also felt that the problems need to be looked at with a new perspective. Keeping
these factors in mind, the investigator tried to locate the problems by making an extensive
survey among the teachers and students of Eranad Taluk.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The present study is entitled ‘Hurdles and Solution in English language
Acquisition ; A Study on Undergraduate and Higher Secondary School Students from
Educationally Backward Eranad Taluk of Malappuram District.
DEFENITION OF KEY TERMS
a) Hurdles
The term ‘Hurdles’ used in this study refers to the difficulties, problems and
obstacles in teaching and learning English faced by teachers and students of English at
higher secondary and Undergraduate levels..
b) English Language Acquisition
The term English language acquisition means the proficiency in listening,
speaking, reading and writing English language without mistakes.
C) Higher secondary level
The term higher secondary level refers to classes plus one and plus two of the
schools of Eranad Taluk.
d) Undergraduate Level
The term undergraduate level refers to classes of degree (BA/BSC/ B.COM) of
different colleges of Eranad Taluk affiliated to University of Calicut.
METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY
The present investigation has been designed with a view to find out the hurdles
and solutions in English language acquisition by the students and English teachers in
Eranad Taluk at higher secondary and Undergraduate level.
SAMPLE SELECTED FOR THE STUDY
The study designed to investigate the hurdles and solutions in English language
acquisition by the students and English teachers in Eranad Taluk at higher secondary and
Undergraduate level was done confining to the teachers of Higher Secondary and College
level from Eranad Taluk consists of Hundred in numbers, out of which 40 are from
Kerala state HSE, 30 from CBSE HSE and 30 from various Colleges. Students consist of
250, in which hundred students are from CBSE HSE and 100 students from Kerala state
HSE and 50 students are from College of various schools and Colleges of Eranad Taluk.
METHOD ADOPTED
The method adopted for the study is normative survey, which is generally used to
ascertain the typical condition of a phenomenon.
TOOL EMPLOYED
The tool employed for the collection of data is a questionnaire developed by the
investigator with the help of experts in English language teaching.
STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES USEDThe statistical technique adopted in the present study was the estimation of
percentage score of each question.
SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
The study is intended to get a comprehensive idea about the relevant factors that
contribute to the hurdles faced by students and teachers in English language acquisitions
at higher secondary and undergraduate level. It is expected that the result of analysis will
help the investigator in making certain valid suggestions for improving the conditions.
The sample of the study is a representative group of higher secondary and undergraduate
students and English teachers in Eranad Taluk based on stratified random sampling
techniques. With this purpose, sample size 250 was drawn giving due representation to
CBSE and Kerala syllabus HSE schools and students from Colleges in order to make the
results of the study more acceptable, the sample was drawn from various institution of
different parts of Eranad Taluk. This in one sense is a limitation of the study. It would
have been more useful if a representative sample from all parts of Eranad Taluk were
attempted. But due to lack of time and resources,the investigator was forced to restrict the
study in the certain parts of Eranad Taluk. The tool used for collecting the data is
reasonably satisfactory.
ORGANISATION OF THE REPORT
Chapter 1 presents a brief introduction of the problem comprising the need and
significance of the study, definition of key terms, objectives of the study, methodology,
scope and limitations of the study.
In Chapter 2, the attempt is to give a brief summary of reviewed studies done in
the area. This will, in effect give the reader a proper understanding of what is already
known, what is still unknown and untested. The review of expert researchers was fruitful
in providing helpful ideas and suggestions.
In chapter 3, the focus is on the sample selected for the study, procedures tools,
adopted in the process of data collection and the statistical techniques used for analyzing
the data. It is in one sense an outline of the whole research plan.
Chapter 4 examines the analysis of data and interpretation of the results in detail.
This clearly gives a concrete picture of the various aspects of the problem.
The concluding chapter details the major findings and educational implications of
the study and also highlights the suggestions and solutions for the problems identified in
the research.
FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
Percentage analysis revealed the major problems in English language acquisition
at higher secondary and under graduate level as follows:
Content and syllabus
It is found that there is no shortage of time for completion of lessons in English
Almost all students agreed that they get sufficient time to finish their syllabus on
time . only 20% of students were not able to finish their syllabus and majority of
students (84%) are happy with their syllabus .
82% of teachers participated in the survey said that they get enough time to finish
the portions.
The syllabus of English is far removed from the realities of students daily life.
A striking discovery is that 64% of students of kerala syllabus background at HSE
found that the syllabus they study has no relationship with their daily life and 52%
of UG students found their syllabus has no any resemblance with their daily life.
There is less elements to relate with students daily life in the English curriculum of
HSE and UG (64% of HSE and 52% of UG students said so)
65.71% of teachers said the lessons at higher secondary level are challenging.
73% of HSE teachers said the contents do not relate to the daily life of students
Meanwhile only 36.6%of college teachers said the degree syllabus has anything to
do with the daily life of students.
The contents of the syllabus found not to the level of students at Higher secondary level Only 28% of HSE teachers said the contents of the syllabus are upto the level of
students at the same time 66% of college teachers believe that the syllabus is upto
the students class level.
At HSE level, the syllabus is not capable of imparting basic LSRW skills
Only 28% of HSE teachers believe that the contents of the syllabus are capable of
imparting the basic skills of second language acquisition(LSRW)
College teachers are not confident enough with the syllabus to teach reference
skills and study skills
93% of college teachers said that they are not able to teach study skills and
reference skills by following the contents of the prescribe syllabus.
Writing is the most difficult part of second language acquisition among
students.
Writing is the most difficult area for students to learn (94%)
98% of Kerala state syllabus (HSE) said learning writing is difficult .
96% of girls who participated in the survey said that they have problem with
writing.
There is major problem in the usage of grammar among UG and HSE students.
88% of male students have issues in the usage of grammar.
78% of HSE teachers and 72% of college teachers said students have problems
with grammar.
64% of UG students are deeply unmotivated learning English because of their
problems with grammar.
Subject verb agreement is still clueless among the majority of students.
72% of students made errors in the subject verb agreement.
86% of Kerala HSE syllabus students made mistakes in the usage of concord.
52% of students made mistakes in the usage of correct tense form.
College and HSe students make gross mistakes in the usage of correct tense
forms
70% of college students made gross mistakes in the usage of correct tense forms.
72% of students participated in the survey do not have any idea about ‘word class’
68% of college students and 86% of Kerala HSE students gave wrong answers to
the different word class questions.
Students find it difficult to answer for the usage of appropriate adjectives, word
class, usage of prepositions, and punctuation.
76% of students could not recognize adjectives 90% of Kerala state syllabus HSE
students could not write right answers for this adjective questions.
76% of college students and 90% of kerala state HSE students failed in using
correct verb forms.
64% students had no clues on the usage of prepositions. 84% of kerala state
syllabus HSe students groped in the darkness.
Correct pronunciation is a mirage to the students of Eranad Taluk
70% of students were very poor in the pronunciation especially to mark ‘stress’
points. HSE students were very weak in the pronunciation.
94% of HSE teachers and 73% of college teachers find the difficult to teach
pronunciation.
Syntactical errors are made quite often
The correct structure of the English sentence were also got very poor answers from
UG and HSE students . 72% of HSE & 60% of UG failed in recognizing correct
pattern of English sentence structure.
Spelling mistakes are seen very much in the usage of the English
91.2% of students found making mistakes in spelling . 88% of UG students and
78% of HSE students were not able to write the correct spelling.
Majority of students (90.4%) were not able to identify the ‘subject’.
Only 16% of students are confortable with the position of adjectives and
adverbs.92% of HSE students did not know the position of adjectives and adverbs.
89.2% of students loved to ‘prose’ and 95.2% of students loved to learn poetry and
English literature . It is a striking point that majority of students liked English
literature as part of curriculum.
76% of students are not able to understand English from T V and 98.4% of
students find difficult to follow native speakers of English. 96% UG students said
they have no clues with native tongue.
81.6% of students do not like memorizing their lessons and only 19.3% of girls
liked memorizing their lessons.
Policies and curricular objectives
Only 7.2% of students are aware of the curricular objectives of the lessons before
the class starts .
91.4% of HSE and 93.% of college teachers agreed that there is some ambiguity of
objectives at HSE &UG level.
95% of HSE and 93% of college teachers said expert advices must be included in
the framing of curriculum.
It is found 95% of HSE and 80% of college teachers do not personely like what
they are teaching.
Access and availability to instructional materials
Only 32% of students get their text books before their lessons starts.
80% of college students depend upon seniors text book for their study.
Learning without a textbook is okay with 88% of college students and 58% of
CBSE, Plus two students.
92% of HSE teachers said the unavailability of source book affect their teaching.
91% of HSE and 66% of college teachers said non availability of textbooks affect
the involvement of students in the classrooms.
Infra structure facilities
92% of students found that they have enough infra structure facilities in their
college or school.
90% of teachers said they have enough infra structure facilities at their institute.
The class strength exceeds 40 at most of the school and colleges.
90.4% of students said overcrowded classes make their English learning
uninteresting.
Activities, games are very less in college or school class rooms(only 16% of kerala
syllabus HSE students said that they learn English via activities and games.
91.2% of students said they study English exam oriented.
Availability of technology integrated classrooms
98% of the students said they like audio visual aids in learning English.
92% of HSE and 90% of college teachers said technological use help in effective
curriculum transaction.
95.2% of students have Radio, TV, computers, Smart classrooms in their schools
but only 48% of teachers make use of it.
94% of Kerala state syllabus HSE students said that they do not understand
English language used (RP) in the CD ROMs and videos.
According to 95.71% of HSE and 96.66% of college teachers said that CD ROMs
in the classrooms create issues as students are unable follow RP.
92.8% of students said that they want to learn pronunciation and intonation
formally.
97.14& of HSE teachers and 93.33% of college teachers believe that teaching
pronunciation and intonation are necessary.
Personalized invigilation
Only 30% of students get personalized attention in learning English.
93% of HSE and 84% of college teachers believe that their classes are
overcrowded.
64% of students started learning English in the 4th standard.78% Kerala HSE
students believe that their late entry to learn English has created issues in learning
English and 80% of college students are of same opinion.
98.57% of HSE and 96.66% of college teachers said that the age at which the
students get enrolled affect the learning capacity of students.
Communicative competence
Only 13.2% of students are confident of their English communicative competence.
90% of HSE teachers and 54% of college teachers said that they can’t interact in
English only mode in their classrooms.
Majority of HSE teachers are not comfortable to communicate in English to the
students
91.2% of total participants in the study said that they have no interest in
communicating in English.
96% of college students said that they need more training on learning to speak
English.
93.33% of college teachers and 98.57% of HSE teachers believe that they need
more training.
83.4% of students said they do not have opportunities outside of their classroom to
practicing English.
Only 18.4% of students have members who speak English at their home
proficiently.
Library facilities
Only 44% of participants have adequate library at their school or college. Only
24% of students have a librarian at their school or college.
96% of CBSE students said the lack of library facilities affect adversely in their
project works & assignments.
Only 26% of Kerala HSE students have a good dictionary at their institution.
According to teachers participated in the survey 80% of the colleges and 22% of
HSEs provide dictionaries.
Additional efforts to improve English
84% of Kerala HSE and 91% CBSE(HSE) students are interested in co-curricular
activities.
Only 16% of HSE students know what is ASAP. Only 12% of participants are
actively participating in English club or literary club of their respective institution.
Teacher training and professional development.
91.42% of HSEs and 70% of college teachers said the presently available pre-
service training is satisfactory.
87.14% of HSEs and 96.66% of college teachers said in service programs are
highly helpful for classroom teaching.
Methods of Teaching
18.4% of students liked the present methods of teaching English while 82.6% of
students said they do not like the current method.
91.42% of HSE teachers use grammar translation method, at the same time
46.66% of college teachers use the same method.
Only 5% of HSE and 26% of college teachers believe that their classrooms are
feasible for classroom activities and games.
84.8% are depending upon teacher’s class.
Only 6% of students read English news papers and magazines while 96.8% like
watching English movies.
92% of students like their English class rooms with full of activities and games .
Motivation
Only 8% of students are self motivated to learn English.
Only 5.71% of HSE teachers and 26.66% college teachers said their students are
motivated to learning English.
97.14% HSE teachers and 96.66% of college teachers believe that their home
atmosphere is playing with their motivation level to learn English.
Only 44% of teachers motivate students to learn English, at the same time 48% of
parents motivates their children to learn English.
92% of students believe their home environment affects their motivation to learn
English.
90% of Kerala state HSE students do not mind failing in their exams .
98.57% of HSE teachers and 96.66% of college teachers believe that students
attitude as a big hindrance in English language acquisition.
77.14% of HSE teachers and 56.66% of college teachers find there is an
indifferent s among students to learn English language for vague reasons.
Social and psychological reasons
90% of total participants said their economical back ground has to play with their
motivation to learn English.
92.85% of HSE teachers and 83.3% of college teachers said poor economic
background of the students give rise to minimum interest among students to learn
English.
91.2% of students said the fear of making mistakes is an hindrance in learning
English.
93.33% of college teachers and 97.14% of HSE teachers approve that the fear of
making mistakes affects students performance.
60% of college students and 80% of HSE students said that they have been
criticized in front of others by their teachers.
Only 32% of students dare to go to the department or staffrooms to clarify their
doubts.
89% of college teachers said their students keep mum for classroom involvement
queries and call to involve in discussions.
95.71% of HSE teachers and 43.33% of college teachers have some part time job
other than full time job at college or school.
Evaluation
89.8% of students do not like the present examination system and they hate
cramming and by hearting for exam.
Only 6.4% of student s said that they favor memorizing.
Only 15% HSEs and 23% of college teachers are satisfied with the effectiveness of
present continuous assessment system.
17% of HSEs and 60% of college teachers are doubt full about the sincerity of the
assessment.
Following methods can be adapted to enhance the skills in english language acquisition at
HSE and College Level in Eranad Taluk
1. Communicative Approach
Group Discussions, Debates, Roleplays, Outbound classes, English picnics etc.
a) Group Discussions
Interactive modes of teaching English seem to be effective since most of the students are
having a fascination to interact in English, but in the study it is found there are no much
chances to do so. In order to achieve this students must be given chances to speak up and
open up in a motivating circumstances. To create this environment, teachers can conduct
group discussions, and students are left to speak only English.
Various types of discussions also help students to improve their general awareness and
understanding about current affairs. It gives a lot of scope for good imagination and deep
thoughts. This type of discussions helps the students to listen to the views of fellow
students which in turn helps them to gain knowledge and enrich the vocabulary also.
b) Debates
It helps them to speak up while it assists them arrange their thoughts. For excellent
communication skills, one must know how to arrange their thoughts.
c) Role Plays
In role plays, the students think and imagine themselves as one of the characters and
speak accordingly. It makes speaking and thinking fun. The teacher should assist them to
understand the character and help produce appropriate voice modulation.
d) Outbound classes
Comingout of the classrooms creates a newness feeling and it helps relax the students.
The mental make up can be easily altered so that the students would find it easy to speak
to. A student may find it fun and energising. Outbound classes at different locations can
make wonderful changes in the outcome of English classes.
e) English Picnics
One day picnic trips with a plan to speak only in English can make learning English
adventurous. It can be scheduled once in a month for reviewing a lesson or it can be
utilised to teach English in realtime situations.
A few more suggestions
1. It will be highly helpful if textbooks are prepared understanding the standard and
level of students with special reference to the regional background of students.
Rural and Urban syllabus should not be the same. Teachers, experts, parents, local
leaders can be consulted for this.
2. Make it mandatory that each teacher must be trained in phonetics and
pronunciation, and such trainings must give special focus to the teachers who
teach English in the educationally backward areas like Eranad.
3. The textbooks should be supplied in advnace and teachers should introduce the
objectives and goals of the syllabus well in advance of the classes.
4. There should be proper evaluation and grading of the syllabus.
5. Give special attention to help the students learn Reading and Listening skill. Entire
efforts are focussed on speaking in the expense of other skills seem to have a
corrosive impact among students.
6. Teachers should be provided training on each part of syllabus with tools required
to teach it. Teachers and syllabus must move parallel in their intimacy and
familiarity to each other.
7. Libraries should be renovated with books and technology with students friendly
atmosphere. Librarian should be there to help them out.
8. Orientation classes for teachers must be conducted at regular interval with a
compulsory attendance note.
9. There should be a minimum student-teacher ratio, lest all facilities made will be
futile. In the rural areas, govt should make sure that each student is getting
individual attention and such measures should be implemented in the policies.
10. The teaching-learning environment must be entertaining and fun. Unless and until
the school and curriculum motivate the students to learn, nothing will help to sort
out students’ improvement.
11. No more emphasis on memorising. All tests must be reframed accordingly.
12. Good students with exceptional speaking, writing, reading skills must be promoted
and rewarded. Prizes should be awarded for good handwriting too.
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FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
Percentage analysis revealed the major problems in English language acquisition
at higher secondary and under graduate level as follows:
Content and syllabus
It is found that there is no shortage of time for completion of lessons in English
Almost all students agreed that they get sufficient time to finish their syllabus on
time . only 20% of students were not able to finish their syllabus and majority of
students (84%) are happy with their syllabus .
82% of teachers participated in the survey said that they get enough time to finish
the portions.
The syllabus of English is far removed from the realities of students daily life.
A striking discovery is that 64% of students of kerala syllabus background at HSE
found that the syllabus they study has no relationship with their daily life and 52%
of UG students found their syllabus has no any resemblance with their daily life.
There is less elements to relate with students daily life in the English curriculum of
HSE and UG (64% of HSE and 52% of UG students said so)
65.71% of teachers said the lessons at higher secondary level are challenging.
73% of HSE teachers said the contents do not relate to the daily life of students
Meanwhile only 36.6%of college teachers said the degree syllabus has anything to
do with the daily life of students.
The contents of the syllabus found not to the level of students at Higher
secondary level
Only 28% of HSE teachers said the contents of the syllabus are upto the level of
students at the same time 66% of college teachers believe that the syllabus is upto
the students class level.
At HSE level, the syllabus is not capable of imparting basic LSRW skills
Only 28% of HSE teachers believe that the contents of the syllabus are capable of
imparting the basic skills of second language acquisition(LSRW)
College teachers are not confident enough with the syllabus to teach reference
skills and study skills
93% of college teachers said that they are not able to teach study skills and
reference skills by following the contents of the prescribe syllabus.
Writing is the most difficult part of second language acquisition among
students.
Writing is the most difficult area for students to learn (94%)
98% of Kerala state syllabus (HSE) said learning writing is difficult .
96% of girls who participated in the survey said that they have problem with
writing.
There is major problem in the usage of grammar among UG and HSE students.
88% of male students have issues in the usage of grammar.
78% of HSE teachers and 72% of college teachers said students have problems
with grammar.
64% of UG students are deeply unmotivated learning English because of their
problems with grammar.
Subject verb agreement is still clueless among the majority of students.
72% of students made errors in the subject verb agreement.
86% of Kerala HSE syllabus students made mistakes in the usage of concord.
52% of students made mistakes in the usage of correct tense form.
College and HSe students make gross mistakes in the usage of correct tense
forms
70% of college students made gross mistakes in the usage of correct tense forms.
72% of students participated in the survey do not have any idea about ‘word class’
68% of college students and 86% of Kerala HSE students gave wrong answers to
the different word class questions.
Students find it difficult to answer for the usage of appropriate adjectives, word
class, usage of prepositions, and punctuation.
76% of students could not recognize adjectives 90% of Kerala state syllabus HSE
students could not write right answers for this adjective questions.
76% of college students and 90% of kerala state HSE students failed in using
correct verb forms.
64% students had no clues on the usage of prepositions. 84% of kerala state
syllabus HSe students groped in the darkness.
Correct pronunciation is a mirage to the students of Eranad Taluk
70% of students were very poor in the pronunciation especially to mark ‘stress’
points. HSE students were very weak in the pronunciation.
94% of HSE teachers and 73% of college teachers find the difficult to teach
pronunciation.
Syntactical errors are made quite often
The correct structure of the English sentence were also got very poor answers from
UG and HSE students . 72% of HSE & 60% of UG failed in recognizing correct
pattern of English sentence structure.
Spelling mistakes are seen very much in the usage of the English
91.2% of students found making mistakes in spelling . 88% of UG students and
78% of HSE students were not able to write the correct spelling.
Majority of students (90.4%) were not able to identify the ‘subject’.
Only 16% of students are confortable with the position of adjectives and
adverbs.92% of HSE students did not know the position of adjectives and adverbs.
89.2% of students loved to ‘prose’ and 95.2% of students loved to learn poetry and
English literature . It is a striking point that majority of students liked English
literature as part of curriculum.
76% of students are not able to understand English from T V and 98.4% of
students find difficult to follow native speakers of English. 96% UG students said
they have no clues with native tongue.
81.6% of students do not like memorizing their lessons and only 19.3% of girls
liked memorizing their lessons.
Policies and curricular objectives
Only 7.2% of students are aware of the curricular objectives of the lessons before
the class starts .
91.4% of HSE and 93.% of college teachers agreed that there is some ambiguity of
objectives at HSE &UG level.
95% of HSE and 93% of college teachers said expert advices must be included in
the framing of curriculum.
It is found 95% of HSE and 80% of college teachers do not personely like what
they are teaching.
Access and availability to instructional materials
Only 32% of students get their text books before their lessons starts.
80% of college students depend upon seniors text book for their study.
Learning without a textbook is okay with 88% of college students and 58% of
CBSE, Plus two students.
92% of HSE teachers said the unavailability of source book affect their teaching.
91% of HSE and 66% of college teachers said non availability of textbooks affect
the involvement of students in the classrooms.
Infra structure facilities
92% of students found that they have enough infra structure facilities in their
college or school.
90% of teachers said they have enough infra structure facilities at their institute .
The class strength exceeds 40 at most of the school and colleges.
90.4% of students said over crowded classes make their English learning
uninteresting.
Activities ,games are very less in college or school class rooms(only 16% of kerala
syllabus HSE students said that they learn English via activities and games.
91.2% of students said they study English exam oriented.
Availability of technology integrated classrooms
98% of the students said they like audio visual aids in learning English.
92% of HSE and 90% of college teachers said technological use help in effective
curriculum transaction.
95.2% of students have Radio, TV, computers, Smart classrooms in their schools
but only 48% of teachers make use of it.
94% of Kerala state syllabus HSE students said that they do not understand
English language used (RP) in the CD roms and videos.
According to 95.71% of HSE and 96.66% of college teachers said that CD Roms
in the classrooms create issues as students are unable follow RP.
92.8% of students said that they want to learn pronunciation and intonation
formally.
97.14& of HSE teachers and 93.33% of college teachers believe that teaching
pronunciation and intonation are necessary.
Personalized invigilation
Only 30% of students get personalized attention in learning English.
93% of HSE and 84% of college teachers believe that their classes are
overcrowded.
64% of students started learning English in the 4th standard.78% Kerala HSE
students believe that their late entry to learn English has created issues in learning
English and 80% of college students are of same opinion.
98.57% of HSE and 96.66% of college teachers said that the age at which the
students get enrolled affect the learning capacity of students.
Communicative competence
Only 13.2% of students are confident of their English communicative competence.
90% of HSE teachers and 54% of college teachers said that they can’t interact in
English only mode in their classrooms.
Majority of HSE teachers are not comfortable to communicate in English to the
students
91.2% of total participants in the study said that they have no interest in
communicating in English.
96% of college students said that they need more training on learning to speak
English.
93.33% of college teachers and 98.57% of HSE teachers believe that they need
more training.
83.4% of students said they do not have opportunities outside of their classroom to
practicing English.
Only 18.4% of students have members who speak English at their home
proficiently.
Library facilities
Only 44% of participants have adequate library at their school or college. Only
24% of students have a librarian at their school or college.
96% of CBSE students said the lack of library facilities affect adversely in their
project works & assignments.
Only 26% of Kerala HSE students have a good dictionary at their institution.
According to teachers participated in the survey 80% of the colleges and 22% of
HSEs provide dictionaries.
Additional efforts to improve English
84% of Kerala HSE and 91% CBSE(HSE) students are interested in co-curricular
activities.
Only 16% of HSE students know what is ASAP. Only 12% of participants are
actively participating in English club or literary club of their respective institution.
Teacher training and professional development.
91.42% of HSEs and 70% of college teachers said the presently available pre-
service training is satisfactory.
87.14% of HSEs and 96.66% of college teachers said in service programs are
highly helpful for classroom teaching.
Methods of Teaching
18.4% of students liked the present methods of teaching English while 82.6% of
students said they do not like the current method.
91.42% of HSE teachers use grammar translation method, at the same time
46.66% of college teachers use the same method.
Only 5% of HSE and 26% of college teachers believe that their classrooms are
feasible for classroom activities and games.
84.8% are depending upon teacher’s class.
Only 6% of students read English news papers and magazines while 96.8% like
watching English movies.
92% of students like their English class rooms with full of activities and games .
Motivation
Only 8% of students are self motivated to learn English.
Only 5.71% of HSE teachers and 26.66% college teachers said their students are
motivated to learning English.
97.14% HSE teachers and 96.66% of college teachers believe that their home
atmosphere is playing with their motivation level to learn English.
Only 44% of teachers motivate students to learn English, at the same time 48% of
parents motivates their children to learn English.
92% of students believe their home environment affects their motivation to learn
English.
90% of Kerala state HSE students do not mind failing in their exams .
98.57% of HSE teachers and 96.66% of college teachers believe that students
attitude as a big hindrance in English language acquisition.
77.14% of HSE teachers and 56.66% of college teachers find there is an
indifferent s among students to learn English language for vague reasons.
Social and psychological reasons
90% of total participants said their economical back ground has to play with their
motivation to learn English.
92.85% of HSE teachers and 83.3% of college teachers said poor economic
background of the students give rise to minimum interest among students to learn
English.
91.2% of students said the fear of making mistakes is an hindrance in learning
English.
93.33% of college teachers and 97.14% of HSE teachers approve that the fear of
making mistakes affects students performance.
60% of college students and 80% of HSE students said that they have been
criticized in front of others by their teachers.
Only 32% of students dare to go to the department or staffrooms to clarify their
doubts.
89% of college teachers said their students keep mum for classroom involvement
queries and call to involve in discussions.
95.71% of HSE teachers and 43.33% of college teachers have some part time job
other than full time job at college or school.
Evaluation
89.8% of students do not like the present examination system and they hate
cramming and by hearting for exam.
Only 6.4% of student s said that they favor memorizing.
Only 15% HSEs and 23% of college teachers are satisfied with the effectiveness of
present continuous assessment system.
17% of HSEs and 60% of college teachers are doubt full about the sincerity of the
assessment.
Following methods can be adapted to enhance the skills in english language acquisition at
HSE and College Level in Eranad Taluk
2. Communicative Approach
Group Discussions, Debates, Roleplays, Outbound classes, English picnics etc.
f) Group Discussions
Interactive modes of teaching English seem to be effective since most of the students are
having a fascination to interact in English, but in the study it is found there are no much
chances to do so. In order to achieve this students must be given chances to speak up and
open up in a motivating circumstances. To create this environment, teachers can conduct
group discussions, and students are left to speak only English.
Various types of discussions also help students to improve their general awareness and
understanding about current affairs. It gives a lot of scope for good imagination and deep
thoughts. This type of discussions helps the students to listen to the views of fellow
students which in turn helps them to gain knowledge and enrich the vocabulary also.
g) Debates
It helps them to speak up while it assists them arrange their thoughts. For excellent
communication skills, one must know how to arrange their thoughts.
h) Role Plays
In role plays, the students think and imagine themselves as one of the characters and
speak accordingly. It makes speaking and thinking fun. The teacher should assist them to
understand the character and help produce appropriate voice modulation.
i) Outbound classes
Comingout of the classrooms creates a newness feeling and it helps relax the students.
The mental make up can be easily altered so that the students would find it easy to speak
to. A student may find it fun and energising. Outbound classes at different locations can
make wonderful changes in the outcome of English classes.
j) English Picnics
One day picnic trips with a plan to speak only in English can make learning English
adventurous. It can be scheduled once in a month for reviewing a lesson or it can be
utilised to teach English in realtime situations.
A few more suggestions
13. It will be highly helpful if textbooks are prepared understanding the standard and
level of students with special reference to the regional background of students.
Rural and Urban syllabus should not be the same. Teachers, experts, parents, local
leaders can be consulted for this.
14. Make it mandatory that each teacher must be trained in phonetics and
pronunciation, and such trainings must give special focus to the teachers who
teach English in the educationally backward areas like Eranad.
15. The textbooks should be supplied in advnace and teachers should introduce the
objectives and goals of the syllabus well in advance of the classes.
16. There should be proper evaluation and grading of the syllabus.
17. Give special attention to help the students learn Reading and Listening skill. Entire
efforts are focussed on speaking in the expense of other skills seem to have a
corrosive impact among students.
18. Teachers should be provided training on each part of syllabus with tools required
to teach it. Teachers and syllabus must move parallel in their intimacy and
familiarity to each other.
19. Libraries should be renovated with books and technology with students friendly
atmosphere. Librarian should be there to help them out.
20. Orientation classes for teachers must be conducted at regular interval with a
compulsory attendance note.
21. There should be a minimum student-teacher ratio, lest all facilities made will be
futile. In the rural areas, govt should make sure that each student is getting
individual attention and such measures should be implemented in the policies.
22. The teaching-learning environment must be entertaining and fun. Unless and until
the school and curriculum motivate the students to learn, nothing will help to sort
out students improvement.
23. No more emphasis on memorising. All tests must be reframed accordingly.
24. Good students with exceptional speaking, writing, reading skills must be promoted
and rewarded . Prizes should be awarded for good handwriting too.
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