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Hurdles to teaching English in rural India

CLEARING THE PATH
Last Updated 30 September 2015, 18:45 IST

Over the years, English has emerged as the language of choice for commerce, economic growth and social mobility. It has helped India transform itself directly from a primary (agriculture-focused) economy into a tertiary (services)-focused one. Teaching students English has consistently emerged as one of the top expectations of parents from schools.

However, quality of teaching-learning in English remains a deep concern to educationists and policy makers across the country. Many of the so called “English medium” schools have teachers struggling to teach English as a language, leave alone use it as a medium of instruction for all subjects. This leads to poor understanding and internalisation of concepts by children and increases focus on rote learning.

Some of the biggest challenges being faced in this regard are:

*Teacher preparation:
Our teacher preparation courses are not able to equip our teachers with adequate knowledge, skills and the ability to be able to teach the subject in class. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that English is not the language of transaction in rural India, thereby giving teachers very little chance of practising what they have learnt. It is thereby imperative to ensure that we are able to continuously build the English capabilities of teachers through a variety of means – periodic workshops, video/audio recordings of content to be taught, platforms to practice what they have learnt and ask questions, projects and assignments etc.

*Expressed need versus actual need:
While English is seen as the path to growth as a student and as an earner, it is not necessary for our students as a language of communication. With little scope for using the language outside the classroom, they end up learning English just to get through exams. Hence, most students look at this subject with a prejudiced vision and bear the fear through the year. To overcome this fear, it’s necessary to make English a part of a child’s daily transactions through encouragement and motivation and not through the mechanism of fear and punishment. Use of English for simple instructions, conversation and directions which comprise basic communication between teacher and child needs to be ensured. Conversation in English between children themselves and use of key phrases as part of these interactions would go a long way in bridging this theory-practice gap.

*Appropriate pedagogy:
The translation method is widely used in rural areas. It helps the learner to understand the content of the text, but impedes learning of the language. The main purpose of teaching the language is ignored and the teaching of content and theme is given importance. Translation method is thus a great problem in learning English.
The primary aim of teaching English in school should be to concentrate on the fundamental skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing English. If children are able to comprehend what’s being said in class through an initial focus on listening carefully, using picture cues, asking questions and speaking the language clearly, it will lead to internalising English rather than reciting stock sentences memorised. It would then make the subsequent process of reading and writing much simpler.

*Parental involvement:
A lot of the homework given to children focuses on repeating what they have done in class, thereby adding little value to the child from a learning perspective besides practice.
Using concepts like story cards, worksheets, e-readings on smart phones etc., ensures that parents get involved in their child’s learning as part of the after-school work, thereby bringing English into the home environment. Home ‘work’ then truly becomes home ’fun’!

*Appropriate and cost-effective teaching learning materials:
Given that the rural milieu provides little opportunity for children (and teachers) to practice the skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing (LSRW) English as part of their daily lives, it is important to continuously develop and use affordable tools to help facilitate this. Use of storytelling, independent reading, group reading, role plays, show and tell etc., are  effective ways to help promote better understanding and enable practice. One needs to continuously innovate to produce written, audio and video content for use in and outside the classrooms.

Most educationists stress on the use of the local language/mother tongue to impart early education as it improves the child’s ability to grasp and learn concepts. However, there is no running away from the fact that teaching English as a language has become a key determinant for future success and mobility of a child. Focusing on some of the aspects mentioned above would help improve the quality of English teaching that we are able to impart to our children in rural areas, while simultaneously ensuring affordability. This needs to be a key focus area for the country to ensure that we are able to deliver on our huge demographic promise.

(The author is founder & CEO, Hippocampus Learning Centres)

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(Published 30 September 2015, 17:05 IST)

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