1.1 INTRODUCTION
The nature of
teaching-learning of any language in the world will always remain deeply
connected to the 'need ‘motivations of the learners to acquire that language.
For example. i) A Bengali child in Hyderahad is likely to pick up Telegu
because that is the language spoken by his peers. The child's need to
communicate with his peers motivates him to learn the language. ii) A child who
has Hindi as her mother tongue (MT) may learn English because it is a
compulsory part of her school curriculum. iii) A street vendor:
selling handicrafts on the pavement may pick up enough English to be able to
sell his wares to foreign tourists. In this unit we will attempt to examine the
link between the needs/motivations of learning English in our country and its
influence on the objectives and nature of English language teaching in India in
formal settings such as schools: colleges and other English language teaching
institutes. Language is a
gleans
of discovery:
discovery
of the self and of the world. The human urge to Share with others or express one's
thoughts and desires drives the learning of a language.
1.3 THE STATUS
AND NATURE OF ENGLISH
LANGUAGE
TEACHING IN'INDIA
According to the
constltutlon of India, English 1s a second language. But what is it in fact?
Think ahout how English is used in your state. Does it have the status of a
second language or a foreign language? Educators define a 'foreign' laiiguage
as one which is studied for the insight it affords into the life of another nation,
and a 'second' language, as one which is studied for more utilitarian purposes,
because of its direct value to the spearker or writer as a citizen of his own
country. This is by no means an absolute distinction (Pride, 1971,22-23)
To answer the
above question you should think about the purposes for which you and the
people you know
use English.
1. What language
is most commonly used in offices?
2. What
percentage of people (approximately) read newspapers (a) in English and (b) in
the
regional Language
MT (Mother tongue)?
3. Which
language do people generally use in restaurants, at railway booking counters,
when
shopping, etc.?
4. When people
meet people from other states do they use EnglishIHindilsome other
Language?
5. What is the
language you find used most often in advertisements and hoardings in
(a) towns and
(b) in cities?
6. . What are
some of the most popular T.V. programmes? Which language(s) are they in?
Has the Cahle T.V.
become popular among people? If yes, what are the most popular
Channels? If
people watch programmes in English, do they have any difficulty in
Understanding
the language?www.egyankosh.ac.in
7. To what
extent does the man in the street use and understand English? For example, if
you asked an
autorickshaw driver or a shopkeeper in your town a question in English
would he be able
to understand it easily with difficulty lnot at all? Would he be able to
answer in
English? Generally/occasionallyi~ioat t all?
In your state,
its importance, and normally, then the extent to which its development is
possible.
The question of
the status of English in India is important if you want to think about your
Teaching
situations 'effectively' because your language teaching situation cannot be
separated
from the
language learning environ lent outside the classroom. We need to consider the
Language
environment if we are desirous of making a change in the classroom.
