CHAPTER - I

INTRODUCTION

1.1. Introduction

Language is an essential part of Inuman life. It is the

method of communication. It is man's greatest achievement that

distinguishes the human being from animals. Man is therefore

rightly called a 'talking animal', Birds, insects and animals

produce particular sounds in particular occasions but the sounds

cannot be called Speech. One observes various things in the

world, meets different kinds of people and uses various words,

sentences and phrases etc., to communicate with others. It is

only through the language that human beings are able to learn,

think, feel and express themselves Language helps past case to

be true in terms of present. Language is one of the most

important and characteristic forms of human behaviour. The

English word language is derived from the Latin Word, Xingua

which means tongue Lingua is a special form of speech ohe can

recognize it by its usage 'Language', 'Parole' and 'Language are

French terms and bear an impression on the word "Language".

Language is a complex phenomena associated with the vocal and

auditory communication of emotions, ideas, thoughts and feelings

of human beings. 'Parole' is speech an individual speaks,

expresses his emotions, thoughts, desires, feeling etc.. In a social

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atmosphere, 'Parole' is associated with the individual side of

language. In a broader sense, one can say that language is a

means of expressing thoughts, feelings ideas etc of a persdn.

In the modern computer world every society today is faced

with serious social, economic and political problems. These

problems need systematic intelligent and practical solution, for

that language is important in the life of any nation as well as that

of an individual person. The members of a social group need a

language to communicate with each other. 'Language is to

intellect what body is to the soul'. Hence language is used for

all social purposes, education, inter personal communication and

a variety of other needs. 'Language provides the medium of

fresh and free thinking and for self expression'. 'Language is the

instrument of the society'. It is used not only for out going and

incoming information but also for conveying emotibns and

feelings'. The ideas emerge and crystallize in the mind by means

of language.

An individual cannot function as a member of the

community unless he/she can use that community's language

effectively, thus language not only makes it possible to think and

feel but also act as well, Language is now viewed as a social

event. Therefore to widen their scope for communication, over a

billion people in the world speak more than one Language.

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More over the educational system of a country needs to make

provision for ttie younger generation to study and master other

languages like Telugu (A.P's regional language) Kannada, Tamil

apart from his/her mother tongue (Urdu).

In spite of all the above said languages, today it is well

accepted that English is useful and necessary language for the

development of the individuals and nations at large. It is a known

fact that in our motherland, English Language is taught in all the

states from Kashmir to Kanayakumari as a Second Language/

Third Language (as it is taught in local state of Andhra Pradesh).

The following are some of the reasons for the preference of

English.

1. It is acclaimed as International Language,

2. It is the foreign language which has got long association

with Indian people.

3. In our country Muslims being a Minority will have to

come to the main stream and study and work like all

others in the community.

4. The result of X standard (i.e. Board of Oriental

Secondary School Certificate Examinations) have shown

that Urdu medium students are failing in the public

examinations mainly in English.

5. Finally, it is the Language of World Technology.

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 Hence, the investigator Inimself being teacher of English,

planned to study the causes for such large number of failures of

Urdu Medium Students in English Language.

It is really saddening to note that the religion wise analysis

of Census data in India (Analysis of the 2001 - causes) shows

that Muslim Minority have significantly lower literacy rate i.e.

59.1% than other Christian Minority i.e,. 80.3%.

Now in the beginning of a new century, a new rnillennia

that is witnessing a profound social, economic and political

changes tal<ing place at the state level, national and

international level. In the present context the growth and the

development of a country is determined on the basis of the

advancement it has achieved in the field of science and

technology. The level of prosperity, welfare and security of the

people of a country greatly depends and the progress

accomplished in the sphere of education with English language

background.

It is a known fact that six decades have already passed

since India got independence in 1947 and now the country has

already celebrated her 62"^^ Independence Day (as on

15.08.2009). Yet it is highly distressing to note that a

considerable percentage of Indian Muslims still remain illiterate

despite the various measures constantly taken by the

Governments both at the Centre and the State to eradicate

Illiteracy from the Land. This is same thing that deserves the

serious attention of both politicians as well as academicians.

According to first Central Union Education Minister of

Indian Republic (Janab Maulana Abul Kalam Azad 1947 - 1955).

"Every individual has a right to have education that will

enable him/her to develop his/her faculties and live a full human

life. Such an education is the birth right of every citizen. A state

cannot claim to have discharged its duty till it has provided

every single individual the means of the acquisition of

knowledge and self betterment."

It is true that achieving cent percent literacy among

Muslim community in India is an uphill task given the

innumerable hurdles that come in the way though the factors

contributing to such a sorry state of affairs are many, but the

most outstanding and serious of them is poverty in Muslim

community. As long as poverty is allowed to exist among this

community in India, the objective of achieving cent percent

literacy will remain a mirage. And secondly, the children are

forced to toil in some working place in order to earn daily bread.

This deprives them of the benefit of education at the early stages

of their life. At a time wiien they ought to have been placed in

some school to educated they are compelled to work, for that

reason's the boys strength in Urdu (Medium Schools is veqy thin

when compared to girl students.

That is why the present study was necessitated by the

investigator's serious concern about the poor performance of

some of his students in English despite his sincere efforts to

improve their lot. An analysis of the various factors that could

possibly be the reason for the defective learning ability of the

student made the investigator arrive at the assumpticn that

English has become a totally strange Foreign Language similar

to French, or Russian though the country has strong bc^nds of

association with English for more than 300 years.

Lastly, Teachers of English have been advised to jzhange

the methods in teaching English. Yet there is no suitable ijnethod

/ methods to teach English as a second / Third Language. Added

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to this, there are not many competent teachers to teach English

to the Urdu Medium students and at times there is frequent use

of mother tongue, i.e., Urdu in the English class - sometimes it

leads to translation method with defective pronunciation and bad

reading habits. Self learning/ reading efforts and use of dictionary

are non existent due to non availability of suitable te)«ts and

dictionary with the students. Lack of use of Teaching Aids,

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A.V Aids and communicative activities in teaching Englisli in Urdu

medium sclioois results in their poor learning of the language.

The gap between the new method and actual practice in teaching

at the school level is one of the important causes for the poor

learning of English in Urdu Medium schools.

1.2 Importance of Education

Education teaches a man how to face adversities and stand

up to them and also how to conduct one self during periods of

prosperity without losing one's head in pride. Education makes a

child honest. Ruskin observes in " Time and Tide" : To make your

children capable of honesty is the beginning of education". A

country's life depends upon education. Benjamin Disradi spoke in

the British Parliament thus on the education of the people of this

country the fate of this country depends".

There is a common similarity among men and what makes

them different among themselves is education only. A Chinese

proverbs adverts to this aspect: "By nature all men are alike but

by education widely different". Education lifts up a person from

aquagmire of narrow sectarianism and makes him universal,

belonging to all , the entire humanity. Paul Goodman observes in

his "Compulsory Mis Education" . "The philosophical aim of

education must be to get each out of his isolated class and into

one humanity". The values of this statement need not be over

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emphasized. If the entire world is so much educated, there will

be no conflicting feuds and destructive wars that endanger the

whole world today. The same aspect is emphasized by

H.G. Wells in his "The out line History of the world". Human

history becomes more and more a race between education as the

institutions are indispensable for imparting knowledge by

systematic methods. Robert G. Ingersoll in "Prose, Poems and

Selections' is pertinent here " Colleges are places where pebbles

are polished and diamonds are dimmed No one need be

instructed that pebbles are prolific and diamonds are scarce in

number".

Education is an effective tool for eradicating the evils of

ignorance and superstitions prevailing in the society. The children

of a society are developed into a balanced personality by

inculcating in them social values - aesthetic, physical, socio-

cultural values and the sustaining traditions of society which are

passed on to the successive generations after their lives, ensuring

the continuity and perpetuation and advancement of culture. The

extent of education determines the nature of the world countries

with reference to their economic development and standard of

living and the categorization of the countries as developed,

developing, under developed, and undeveloped is based on

their economy which in turn is shaped by the extent of

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education those countries imparts. The less educated the less

developed.

1.3 Aims of Education

Education is a social process on which foundation one

should like to build a strong nation, self sufficient in economy,

non - corrupt in character and scientific in thinking . Education -

provides an apprenticeship for life as an accelerating agent.

Education aims at refining one's sensitivities and perceptions

that contributes to national solidarity, scientific attitudes and

independence of thought and also to help one to hold a firm

belief in achieving the chosen goals. As Dr. S. Radha krishnan

puts it,

" Every thing that exists suffers change. Every actuality is a

becoming, and has in it the principal of unrest. All life is a

constant, birth or becoming, all birth entails a constant change

that a dissolution of such becomes in order that which may

change into new becoming. Incessant change is true of infinitely

small as a well as of the infinitely great".

A human being, in the real sense, is not human until he/

she is educated. Education alone develops innate talents. As

Addison puts it, " What sculpture is to a block of marble,

education is to the human soul". Human resources development

recognizes the permanent need to utilize fully the human

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resources and relates education to the needs and aspiration of

the people. It serves to bring the benefits of education to the

disadvantaged classes of the population, to create a climate of

discipline and hard work and to assist the demand for

educational expansion and improvement of quality. If a country

is to advance, the capacities of men and women, the human

resources, physical, mental and spiritual, are to be developed

extensively. As the dictum goes" There is so much good in the

worst of us and so much which is bad in the best of us". People

should be able to form a judgment of their own on economical /

political issues as social individuals. Education has a far -

reaching influence on the nation's economic headway.

1.4 The Psychology of the Language

The principal concern of the psychology of language is to

give an account of the psychological processes that go on when

people produce or understand utterances, that is, the

investigation of language performance, but one of the ways of

investigating this is to try and understand how people acquire

such an ability. This is the study of language acquisition. It Is

important, if we one are to prejudge the issue, to make a

distinction between language acquisition and language learning.

Language acquisition takes place in the infant and the young

child at a time when he is acquiring many other skills and much

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other knowledge about the world. Language learning i.e. learning

a second language, normally starts at a later stag^ when

language performance has already become established and when

many other physical and mental processes of maturation are

complete or nearing completion.

Language performance and language acquisition, them,

are the two principal concerns of the psychology of language, or

to use the more recent term for these studies, psycholinduistics.

The much intensified study of psycholinguistics in recerit years

has produced a considerable amount of literature and some

significant advances in our understanding of language

acquisition. The same cannot be said about the st:udy of

language learning.

1.5 Language is the Dress of Thought - Johnson

English language is one of The factor impinging on the

spread of education.

Education, the process of training the individual for his/her

environment, consists of a great deal more than language. Yet it

is too often forgotten that language is the medium whereby that

training is over whelmingly imparted. Scientific, definition,

historical and geographical accounts, sociological and economic

descriptions all come in linguistic form. Aside from all this, a

large percentage of the educational process deals with language
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itself - the national language as a means of self- expression

and under standing foreign language as a means of international

communication or for cultural values. Of primary interest is the

imparting of language as a natural medium of communication

with one's fellow man.

Ideally, the medium of instruction for a child living in its

own language environment should be the mother tongue

(Urdu). But as a second language is necessary for education at

higher levels, the child should be educated in the mother tongue

as long as is feasible, while also being taught the second

language so as to acquire a command of that language sufficient

for his or her needs. Without English, the vehicle of

communication, there can be no History, or Geography,

Mathematics or General Science teaching. Unless the pupils are

accustomed to English the whole of their work will suffer,

1.6 Language - The Salt of Life

It is impossible to imagine life without language. Such a

life would be as tasteless as salt less food. Life may offer

color and variety. But man will remain dull and dumb if he is

not able to communicate / share his feeling and expressions with

others. Non - verbal communication is possible to a certain

extent only. It would be like the traffic signals that display limited

number of commands like. Stop, Go, Turn right etc. Had language
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not been developed in both its media, (Spol<en and written)

man's thoughts and experiences could not have come down

through generation after generation. Infact language in the most

wonderful gift of nature which has added essence and spirit to

Man's life and there by made it colorful and tasteful.

1.7 Power of Language

Language is certainly the most important form of

communication among human beings, though successful non -

linguistic means of communication like shrugs, head - shakings

and so on are examples for non - linguistic means of

communication. Our entire social structure is mediated through

language. Social interaction is not at all possible without spoken

as well as written language at our disposal. So the particular

qualities of language which enable so powerful a role with in us

and between us deserve a close lock.

1.8 Importance of Language at School Stages

Language is the cultural medium to the whole process of

education and is the principle means of transcriptions of

culture. Education in this multilingual, plural, cultural world must

aim at providing abilities to meet all exigencies of life. The

primary function of language is communication. Communication

may be from the speaker to the listener or writer to the reader

or sometimes both. All human societies employ language as

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means for communicating ideas, emotions, information, and

experience as well as for transmission of values and culture.

Language is also used as an instrument for controlling one's

social and emotional temperament.

Study of language at school stages forms an important

aspect of school curriculum. The importance of the role of

language in the learning process cannot be under estimated.

Language plays a key role in the unifying a vast complex.

Children will start developing language ability at home. But

school must be a place where children use language in many

ways. Further more, language is generally involved in thinking,

memory, reasoning, problem solving. Language is a system

which is actually comprised of two sub systems which is

shown below.

Language

Receptive Productive

t t
Listening Reading Writing Speaking

(Note: - The above shown is the expression of language in the

out put of productive system).

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 Children must be encouraged to find pleasure in their own

language. They should be helped to feel pride in a choice of

idioms perhaps based on a regional dialect. They express an

idea or emotion that cannot be expressed in any other way.

They should be assisted in exploring the ways that language

can be manipulated to produce variety of form and subtle

differences in connotation. They should be guided to discover

more effective ways of making themselves and their ideas are

meaningfully understood. They should be encouraged to be

creative, not only in the uses they make of a language but in

the language itself. Language must be constantly created and

re-created to meet the changing needs of its users.

Language, both spoken and written is the most important

social communication system. Just as a man lives in the world

of air and water he also resides in the world of words (Krech

1962). The organization of the human society depends entirely

on the flow and exchange of information In recent years

therefore, a new science of information system, has been

evolved and is holding strong roots in the scientific soil.

Language is the instrument with which we thinking.

Mature thinking is impossible without language. Language is

a major portion of our cultural heritage and at the same time it

is the primary means for preserving, transmitting and adding to

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it. In a sense, language is the sliorthand of the thlnl<ing

process. Experience is the substance of language and language

is the instrunnent of learning, thinking and eventually, writing in

children.

1.9 Importance of English Language

Infact, English is now no more the language of the English

people only. It has became an International language. It Is a

language which is understood in most of the world. Even

those countries which have no connection with England or the

English people are also now learning English very fast. In this

regard, India is placed in a very fortunate position as most of

the educated people here know English. Japan, China,

Myanmar and Countries of the l^iddle East are now making all

efforts to learn the English language.

In this way, one can see that English has a very

Important role to play in the national and international affairs

of India. It is also a very important link for forging the national

unity in India between the Northern and Southern (i.e. from

Kashmir to Kanyakumari). In reality, English also belongs to

the same Indo - European Language family to which Sanskrit

and Hindi belong.

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 After Independence it has become necessary to determine

what place should be assigned to English in free India. It was

realized that if the use of English language was stopped in India

with an in decent haste, the work of more than a century would

be undone in a few years and the quality of education would

also be seriously affected. English has became one of the

major languages of the world. Maulana Abul kalam Azad once

said at a press conference " 150 years of intimate contact has

made English an integral part of our educational system and

this cannot be changed without injury to the cause of

education in India". There fore it becomes necessary to maintain

the standard of teaching of English at secondary level.

1.10 Position of English Language in India

Looking at the present scenario of English language in

India, It is undisputedly true that the knowledge of English

language is a concrete legacy of England to India. English,

infact, has now come to stay so permanently that Indian

communication network in any form depends largely upon the

knowledge of English language, the result of which is, in

addition to wider communicability with in India, India has at

present established international communicability as well.

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1.11 Need for Teaching English in India

a. Utilitarian Values

English serves as the best tool for international

communication by accident of history and by rapid spread of

individual development, science and technology, international

trade and by explosion in the speed and ease of travel, English

has became a world language. It is said that about 300

million people use English as their first language and about

300 million people know it. People belonging to different

countries can exchange their ideas and views through English.

b. Cultural Values

English has a more varied and richer Literature than many

other languages. If something about philosophy is to be learnt,

there are plenty of books in English. If some doubts in

medicine are to be clarified there are plenty of books in English.

Similarly there are plenty of books on Science, Art, History,

Politics, Economics, Geography, Engineering etc. written in

English. A very large number of the text books of the world have

been translated into English.

Leisure time can happily be spent with the help of English.

Novels, Poems and Plays of great writers can be read and

enjoyed. The works of great men like Spencer, ]ohn Milton,3ohn

Keats, Shakespeare and Dickens would delight any reader.
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English has a rich vocabulary . In English plenty of scientific

and technical terms and words are used. The study of English

literature broadens the mental horizon of pupils. It strengthens

the feelings of patriotism, options, freedom and democratic

liberalism.

Linguistic chauvinism academe to the irresistible force of

English. The English language in fact, as Robert Burch field, one

of the great classic Lexicographers , points out. "English has

become a lingua Franca to the point that any literate educated

person on the face of the globe is in a very real sense deprived if

he does not know English". Poverty, famine and disease are

instantly recognized as the cruelest and least excusable forms of

deprivation, linguistic deprivation is a less easily noticed

condition. But one nevertheless of great significance (John

Swales, 1993).

Lord Macaulay (1835) wrote with boundless assurance and

mighty eloquence: "We have to educate a people who cannot at

present be educated by means of their mother tongue. We must

teach them some foreign language. In India, English is the

language spoken by the higher class of natives at the seats

of Government. It is likely to become the language of

commerce through out the seas of the East. He made fun of

Indian Philosophy, Medicine, Astronomy, History and Geography

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made up of seas of butter". So he concluded " English is the

language of civilization, and English education is the door for

Indians to become Modern.

1.12 The Role of English Language in India

When the Britishers ruled India, English became the

language of trade and the knowledge of English became a

necessity for commercial transaction . The East India company

needed to work in their commercial house. Later the British

Government was also in need of Indians to work as clerks and in

the other lower posts in the Government. Therefore many

Indian came forward to learn English in order to earn their daily

bread. In 1813, the East India Company, set apart lakhs of

rupees for the education of Indians. Some people wanted to

spend the amount in starting institutions of western

knowledge. Some others wanted to start institutions of eastern

learning. Thus started the controversy. Raja Ram Mohan Roy

stood for western knowledge. But W. Hasting and S.W. Jones

advocated oriental learning . But Lord McCauley played a

remarkable role in writing a famous Minute on this question in

1835. Because of him, English education became permanently

established in the country.

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1.13 Aims of Teaching English at Secondary Level

The overalls aims of teaching English as secondary level

are:

> To enable the learner to communicate effectively and

appropriately in the real life situation.

> To use English effectively for study purposes across the

curriculum.

> To develop and integrate the use of four language skills

i.e., Listening, speaking, reading and writing.

> To develop an interest in literature.

> To recycle & reinforce statements already learnt.

Apart from helping students to achieve their aims the

teacher has an important role to play in improving the

linguistic competency of the students. The main principles of

teaching English, which help towards this end are 1. creativity

2. Self-monitoring and liberal education.

1.14 English as a Compulsory Subject

Some people (especially Urdu speaking) feel that English

should not be a compulsory subject of study. They argue that

English is difficult to learn because there is the direct influence

of left/ right orientation on the learning of English by the Urdu

Medium students. Especially the linguistically backward children

find the study of English quite difficult. More over, English is of

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no use for the rural children who are going to look after

agriculture/ child labour and millions of students who learn

English don't use it in later life as seen in our day to day life.

The education commission has recommended the three

language formula. That is the children have to learn English,

Hindi and regional language ,(Telugu) But English should be

taught as a compulsory subject at the school stage. Pupils need

to know English to pursue higher education. As the technical

and professional education is offered only through English, and is

important for those among the children would become Doctors,

Engineers, Scientists, etc. so English has to be offered to

everyone.

Moreover, to have contacts Internationally with reference to

profession or commerce, the Study of English is an essential one.

Therefore, English has to be retained for International

Communication.

1.15 Condition under wliich English is Taught

English is taught in India under condition which are far from

satisfactory. Some of the weakness in our programme of teaching

English are discussed below.

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Lack of clear-cut policy

It is admitted on all sides that the standard of Learning

English language has gone down in Urdu Medium schools and

colleges. One of the reasons for the decline in the standard is

the lack of clear - cut policy regarding the place of English in

the school curriculum.

"There have been frequent changes in Governmental policy

towards the teaching and learning of Englisii in several states".

Today largely because of the mounting concern caused

by an alarmingly high percentage of failure in the subject at

different end of the year and school leaving examination, the

governments have decided that success in English at school

level no longer be considered essential for admission to the

under - graduate English at the university". Educationists,

Politicians and Journalists express different views as to the place

that English should be given in India. As views expressed out

side do have their impact in the classroom, it is time to lay

down a clear - cut policy regarding the place of English in Urdu

Medium schools and Urdu medium college curriculum for an

effective study of the language.

^The man who knows no Foreign Language knows nothing

of his mother tongue" - Goethe

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 To quote a funny fable before discussing tine subject

matter", a mouse and her child were being chased across the

polished floor by a large cat. Mother mouse, gathering courage,

called out " Bow wow" in her loudest voice and frightened the

cat away, Having a sign of relief she said "My Child now you

see how important a second language is" .

Now it is hoped that one will not ask what is the need

for learning English as a Second Language. Can English be the

Medium of Instruction? Should English be prescribed as a

Compulsory Subject?

English has swept the face of the earth and has attained

an unassailable place internationally. Even the territories such

as Japan and China which are traditionally known for their

linguistic chauvinism have now opened up their linguistic

chauvinism to the irresistible force of English.

Little Understanding of Aims

Unfortunately, the average Indian teacher of English loses

sight of the aims of teaching the language in his day to day

work. All that he/she remembers is that his aim is to enable his

pupils to get through the examination. It is to enable them to

master answers to some set questions important from the

examination point of view. The result is that the language is not

24
taught as a skill subject as it ought to be taught but as a

knowledge subject so that at the end of the course the pupils

have acquired a very little proficiency in the linguistic skills that

really matter. They cannot express them selves in English, they

are incapable of writing a few correct sentences. They acquire

no love for reading books/ novels/journals etc in English.

The Incompetent Teacher

Not all teachers of English are fully equipped to discharge

their duties. Some people believe that no specialized training is

needed to teach this language. In some cases, teachers who

teach English in school did not offer his/her subject from their

training as the adopted routine methods in their schools. By

and large, teachers of English themselves are unaware of the

latest techniques of teaching the language. Their knowledge of

the latest techniques of teaching the language is in sufficient

and their pronunciation is defective.

As professor V.G. Gokale has pointed : " The foundational

years for the teaching of English in schools are in the hands of

teachers who neither know enough English nor are familiar

with latest and far - reaching developments In the pedagogy of

English".

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 According to the report of the study group (1971), " there

is a grave shortage of trained and fully qualified teachers of

English at almost all stages of the educational system."

The Defective Method

This Translation Method which is not useful is still followed

in a majority of the Urdu Medium Schools. Oral work which is

the soul of any good method is neglected. There is no oral

practice on the part of the students as a result of which they

cannot construct a few sentences on their own accord. All that

they do is to cram answers to certain questions and the

teachers of Urdu medium help them to do so. A student, even

though he / she passes the public examination by such cram

work has not acquired any linguistic skills. The method to be

followed is the aural - oral method approved and popularly

known as structural approach in our country.

Sub - Standard Text Books

English reader and text books are sub - standard, in their

writing. No attention has been paid to the selection and

gradation of structures. Although vocabulary has been graded

from year to year, yet the authors of these books do not take

pains to see that it is properly used in a manner to facilitate

easy grasping by the students. Some of the words which are

sought to be taught appear only once in the text. In our

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textbooks we lay more stress on the subject matter rather

than an the teaching of the language. The author of a textbook

Is required to include chapters in the Biographies of great men,

on Health and Hygiene, Road Sense etc. As a result he pays

more attention to the subject matter rather than the language.

The illustration on these books, which are in deed few, leave

much to be desired. There are no practice exercises to teach

the language to the students. Rather, these are testing

exercises.

1.16 Problems in Teaching & Learning English at Urdu

Medium High Schools

Mother tongue is learnt by a child in a natural way. But

learning a foreign language, that is English, is an artificial

process. The child is continually surrounded by mother tongue.

But the learner of a foreign language encounters the language

only at intervals. His native language habits are in continual

conflict with those needed for the new language. Secondly,

learning a foreign language requires a lot of practice. Constant

and sustained practice is the key to language learning.

Therefore it becomes a painful process for the Urdu Medium

students so the teacher has to create an artificial situation in the

classroom to over come these problems. One of the difficulties

that the Urdu Medium students have to face in learning a foreign

27
language is to acquire correct pronunciation. They carry tlie

habits of the mother tongue to the speaking of the foreign

language with the result that their pronunciation is far from

intelligible to native speakers. The muscles of their speech

organs have become accustomed to make the sounds of their

own language. But these differ in some important respects from

the sounds of other languages. In learning a foreign language,

the pupils have to learn new speaking habits this requires

practice and patience. This means special training is required

for producing new speech sounds. Indian students face

difficulty while producing the English vowels and consonant

sounds. Which are not available in his mother tongue. The

students find difficulty in learning English stress, rhythm and

intonations and also there is the direct influence of left/ right

orientation on the learning of English by the Urdu medium

students. This slows down the speed in writing and probably in

the thinking and conceptualizing in the language and producing

sentences in English as well. Further, there is an entirely

different set of structural features in English that don't

compare with the structures of Urdu. English is not a phonetic

language. There is no one to one correspondence between

spelling and pronunciation. The borrowed words from foreign

languages also cause difficulty in learning the correct

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pronunciation. Tiie teaciier has to devise individual, group or

ciiorai drills giving practice to his students in English

pronunciation. The mother tongue (Urdu) and the Foreign

Language (English) differ in structure too. Because of this the

Urdu nnedium students connmit many mistakes specially while

constructing sentences in English. English idioms and phrases

are difficult to learn as the students translate them literally.

Therefore the teacher has to compare and contrast the structures

of the mother tongue (Urdu) and English language. He has to

teach the meaning for different idioms and phrases. Students

find it difficult to learn English Spellings, which are irregular and

illogical. The teacher has to devise different ways to improve the

spelling of his students. Cultural differences also play a role in

causing difficulty in the learning of a third language. The

sentence structure and grammar are not taught inductively and

there is no opportunity provided to imbibe the structure of the

language.,

The child is exposed to the mother tongue from the time of

its birth. But it is not so in the case of English. The child begins

knowing English only at school. Moreover the study starts in

Andhra Pradesh during the third year of schooling. The child

starts learning the mother tongue earlier and uses the mother

tongue for a longer duration. That is, the duration of exposure to

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the mother tongue is more. The child depends on the English

language teacher as the only source of instruction. The mother

tongue is taught not only in school but also in society. For

instance the parents, relatives, and peer group and even

strangers use the mother tongue. But it is not so in the case of

learning English Language (That is why it is so called Foreign

Language). The learners of English do not have adequate

opportunities to practice the language they want to learn. They

do not have maximum exposure to the target language. In order

to over come this problem, students should be provided

maximum exposure to English language. Video equipments

would help them to have practice in the target language.

Hence, this study has been planned by the investigator for

the high school students and to suggest measures far

improvement. As for as oral communication is concerned there

are number of general difficulties faced by the Urdu Medium

Students. The below mentioned are some of the problems of Urdu

Medium students in Learning English Language at High school

level.

a. They have Language shocl< i.e. fear of making errors

when using a foreign Language.

b. Some learners are so afraid of being humiliated. That

they are reluctant to use English at all.

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The present structure of English syllabus enhances and

evaluates only memory power, and not functional

aspect of the Language.

The major problems for Urdu medium students is the

direct influence of Left/ Right Orientation on learning

of English. This slows down the speed in writing and

probably in the thinking and conceptualizing in the

language and producing sentences in English as well.

Further, there is an entirely different set of structural

features in English that do not compare themselves with

the structures of Urdu. They have lack of semantic

knowledge.

For them, English is an unphonetic Language and they

follow careless and hurried reading.

The sentence structure and grammar are not taught

inductively and there is no opportunity provided to

imbibe the structure of the language.

Generally they like Translation Method, but not the

Direct Method of Teaching English.

Majority of them have absence of reading readiness and

also reading practice.

They follow reading by letters and words, not the

sentence as a whole.

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 k. Urdu Medium students don't have new vocabulary and

also lack of writing practice.

I. The gap between the avowed new methods and actual

practice in teaching at the school level is one of the

important causes for the poor learning of English among

Urdu Medium students.

Thus the above mentioned are some of the significant

causes identified by the researcher among the Urdu Medium

students in learning English language at high school level.

1.17 Research Questions

• What is the level of writing competency of IX standard

Urdu Medium learners ?

a What is meant by psycholinguistic principles? And how

they could improve the writing competency of Urdu

Medium learners skills significantly?

• What is the role played by psycholinguistic principles in

enhancing writing competency of high school learners?

• Could psycholinguistic principles be enhanced for

enhancing writing competency?

a If so, to what extent psycholinguistic principles are

effective in improving writing competency among Urdu

Medium students?

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1.18 Objectives of the Study

The following objectives were framed in order to

carryout the investigation.

> To identify the problems faced by the Urdu Medium

students in writing English language.

> To assess the level of writing competency of the Urdu

Medium high school learners.

> To analyze the importance of implementation of

psycholinguistic principles in enhancing writing

competency among Urdu Medium students.

> To implement the psycholinguistic principles in

enhancing writing competency.

> To study the effect of psycholinguistic principles in

enhancing writing competency among Urdu Medium

students.

To find out the significant relationship between the

implementation of psycho linguistic principles and the

enhancement of writing competency.

1.19 Conclusion

Language is one of the most important and characteristic

forms of human behaviour so learning a language is an asset. It

is a human activity. English being a world language, its learning

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is indeed essential as it facilitates international communication

in English Language. Achieving writing competency is one of

the main aims framed in the study. The present investigation

reveals that the writing competency of the learner can be

improved with the help of psycholinguistic principles. The focus

of the implementation on writing competency brings effective

thought and effective communication. Thus this investigation

paved a path for the Urdu Medium High school students to

improve their written communication with the help of

psycholinguistic principles. The achievement level of the learners

can be enhanced by the implementation of psycholinguistic

principles and also psycholinguistic researchers on Second

Language Acquisition (SLA) have proved that the

implementation of psycholinguistic principles is an important

component of communicative ability and academic success.

Thus the above mentioned principles inforce the role of the

teachers to cater to the need of the learners.

Students' involvement and interest will be more if the

grammatical categories and Glossary are taught through the

implementation of psycholinguistic principles.

Hence, the researcher earnestly attempts to review the

literature contributed in the field of writing competency in the

next chapter.
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