English Language teaching

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?

Answers to these questions will help you to build up a picture of what the status of English is

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.