TEACHING OF ENGLISH AT THE PRIMARY LEVEL: ISSUES UNDER PERSPECTIVE

-NILANJAN BALA, RESEARCH FELLOW (GRADE-II), SCERT, WB

English in India is a symbol of people's aspirations for quality in education and a fuller participation in national and international life. The visible impact of this presence of English is that it is today being demanded by everyone at the very initial stage of schooling. The NCF-2005 stresses on the use of child's mother tongue as a medium of learning at the primary level. The Position Paper / 1.4, National Focus Group on teaching of English of
NCERT clearly stated that The goals for a language curriculum are twofold: attainment of a basic proficiency, such as is acquired in natural language learning, and the development of language into an instrument for abstract thought and knowledge acquisition through, for example, literacy. < At the initial stages, English may be one of the languages for learning activities that create the childs awareness of the world; at later stages, all learning happens through language. < The aim of English teaching is the creation of multilinguals who can enrich all our languages; this has been an abiding national vision. The above paper has also called for the initiation of research projects grounded in an awareness of current thinking is necessary for the provision of baseline data in language education, for curricular innovations and their implementation, and for theoretical progress in understanding second-language acquisition. And perhaps this is not out of place to mention that two of the five suggestions for broad areas within which such research projects may be conceptualised are1. Status of English at the Primary level

Outcomes of teacher training programmes . The English teaching profession has consistently recommended a relatively late
2.

introduction of English and this is reflected in spirit in policy documents, starting from the Committee on Secondary Education in India (Tara Chand Committee) of 1948, & The
(First) School Education Committee, WB (1948) under the chairmanship of Rai Harendra Nath Chaudhuri.

Even the recommendations of the First Syllabus Sub-committee under the Chairmanship
of Dr.S.N.Laha (1950) were-

This contains no agendum of teaching a second language till Class-V, It prescribes the use of only one language text-book for each class from class-II to V.

The only Education committee to deal with the Primary Education in West Bengal,
Committee on Course of Studies and Syllabi at the Primary Stage, WB(1974-79) under the

Chairmanship of Prof. Himangshu Bimal Majumder was more candid The committee thinks that in Govt and Govt. aided Secondary Schools, the knowledge of English is not compulsory at the time of admission to Class-VI.

TEACHING OF ENGLISH AT THE PRIMARY LEVEL: ISSUES UNDER PERSPECTIVE

The School Education Committee(2001-2003) under the Chairmanship of Prof. Ranju

Gopal Mukhopadhyaya, and of which the Principal of David Hare Training College, Dr. Rathindranath De was the Member- Secretary very poignantly pronounced Only one language , the mother tongue / regional language sgould be taught up to ClassIV, Preparation should be made for result oriented teaching of English as the compulsory second language from Class-V. The dissatisfaction with these recommendations are evident in the mushrooming of private English medium schools and the early introduction of English in State schools. The level of introduction of English has now become a matter of State policy to respond to people's aspirations, making almost irrelevant an academic debate on the merits of a very early introduction. English is introduced as a subject in class I in 18 States. In Orissa, English is introduced in Class II while in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar, Assam and Goa English is introduced in class III. The teaching and learning of English today is characterised by the diversity of schools, classroom procedures and teaching of textbooks for the purpose of passing the examination. The concept of diversity of schools is best described in the NFG paper. And again to quote the Position Paper / 1.4, National Focus Group on teaching of English
One way to broadly characterise English-teaching situations in India is in terms of (a) the teachers English language proficiency (TP), and (b) the exposure of pupils to English outside school, i.e. the availability of English in the environment for language acquisition (EE). (The reference for these parameters for school classification can be found in Nag-Arulmani, S. 2000. Types and manifestations of learning difficulties in Indian classrooms. Paper presented at the first orientation programme for schoolteachers, National Institute for Public Co-operation and Child Development (NIPCCD), Bangalore) John Kurrien (2005) thus identifies the four types of schools below: 1) 2) TP, TP, EE (e.g. English-medium private/ government-aided elite schools): proficient teachers; EE (e.g. New English-medium private schools, many of which use both English and other varying degrees of English in the environment, including as a home or first language. Indian languages): teachers with limited proficiency; children with little or no background in English; parents aspire to upward mobility through English. 3) TP, EE (e.g. Government-aided regional-medium schools): schools with a tradition of English education along with regional languages, established by educational societies, with children from a variety of backgrounds.

TEACHING OF ENGLISH AT THE PRIMARY LEVEL: ISSUES UNDER PERSPECTIVE

4)

TP,

EE (e.g. Government regional-medium schools run by district and municipal education

authorities): They enrol the largest number of elementary school children in rural India. They are also the only choice for the urban poor (who, however, have some options of access to English in the environment). Their teachers may be the least proficient in English of these four types of schools.

Analysis of the textbooks (undertaken by SCERTs & resource groups) in J&K and Assam has indicated the completely inappropriate nature of the books and the lack of a comprehensive strategy for English language teaching, also the competence of teachers to understand and teach the texts of class III/IV etc. It also revealed the complete mismatch between the level of English language used in the language textbooks and the difficult concepts used in the English medium textbooks of classes III, IV & V. Discussion with teachers and classroom observations need to be carried out in order to understand the lacunae in teaching of English at the Primary level suggestions for its improvement. In teaching English to young learners it is essential to consider how children learn. There are recognised stages of cognitive development that every child passes through, and teaching material should take account of this. There is also a very great need for the motivation to learn English for both the pupils and the teachers. The majority of primary school teachers, pardon me if its a generalization, have an insufficient command of English to be able to teach it effectively. Teachers with insufficient subject knowledge have very little if any confidence. Without subject knowledge then subject application cannot take place, and it is unfair to place expectations on primary school teachers of child-centred learning or participatory practices. Where should they start if they do not understand the materials and their own knowledge of the language is so shaky? Lack of subject knowledge is one of the main causes of the present problems in teaching English in primary schools. The teachers are not assisted by their materials. The materials are not prepared with the level of available teacher expertise in mind. The teachers need help and it is not being provided. Teachers are not even being treated as out-patients and yet the reality of their condition is for treatment in intensive care. The textbooks have been updated and classroom activities and exercises have been incorporated. The greatest need is for the teachers books to be in Bengali. This would be in-line with most other countries where the teachers materials are in the native language, or L1. For instance, in England to make

TEACHING OF ENGLISH AT THE PRIMARY LEVEL: ISSUES UNDER PERSPECTIVE

teachers who teach French have all their teachers materials in English. This is essential if they are to understand the instructions and explanations. It is pretentious and suicidal in West Bengal to continue to give the teachers materials in English when Bengali is the commonly understood language.
Another problem is the lack of differentiation between the pupils and the allocation of teachers.

There is urgent need to differentiate between the younger pupils and the older pupils; partly because of the pupils developmental stages but also because of the allocation of teachers. Thus pre-primary, Class- I and Class- II pupils have teachers who are with them all day long and the teachers allocated to those pupils tend to have lesser subject skills than those teachers allocated to older pupils. The older pupils are taught English by teachers who have some subject knowledge, but who only teach for time-tabled 4045minute periods. These two categories deserve urgent, separate attention. Class- I and Class- II pupils are only just beginning to gain literacy and numeracy skills in Bengali . They are in the stages of pre-operational thought moving to concrete operations (Jean Piagets stages of cognitive development). In addition attention should be paid to how the brain works. Glover and Bruning have summarised six major principles of cognitive psychology as they relate to instruction: 1. Pupils are active processors of information 2. Learning is most likely to occur when information is made meaningful to pupils 3. How pupils learn may be more important that what they learn 4. Cognitive processes become automatic with repeated use 5. Meta-cognitive skills can be developed through instruction 6. The most enduring motivation for learning is internal motivation There is scope for frequent, short sessions of English using a number and variety of activities, and these should take account of the notional 7 intelligences using both sides of the pupils brain. Given that the teacher is with the pupils of Class- I and Class- II all day there is scope for real meaning and practical application of English by using English for classroom routines such as the register, lining up, writing the date, distributing or collecting books etc. An examination of language and its influence will show that young pupils already know several English words without realising that they do so. The teachers need a clear framework, models for pronunciation, a scheme of work and teaching ideas. It is not sufficient to leave these teachers with inadequate support. They must now be spoon-fed with lesson plans, detailed ideas for games and activities and material for inter-cultural studies, as well as basic structures, words and phrases for

TEACHING OF ENGLISH AT THE PRIMARY LEVEL: ISSUES UNDER PERSPECTIVE

them to conduct classroom routines in English as well as delivery of some specific English tuition. It seems fair but to state that the majority of primary school teachers have an insufficient command of English to be able to teach it effectively. Good command of grammar and vocabulary is lacking and alongside this the most striking failing is in the pronunciation. Interference from Bengali and particularly its ultimate vowel sounds is the main problem.
Let me conclude here with Tantalus ever remaining thirsty that teacher training should be concerned with two elements as suggested by Keith Sharpe, Modern Foreign Language in the primary school in England some implications for initial teacher training, 1999, Routledge 1. Subject Knowledge ensuring that the future teachers know and understand enough about what they are to teach to be able to teach it effectively 2. Subject Application ensuring that the future teachers know and understand enough about how to teach what they are to teach to be able to do so effectively Taking cue from this, Katy Allen, Director, Village Education Project Kilimanjaro has suggested the following which suggests how the elements of subject knowledge and subject application underpin effective teaching of a foreign language (eg English):

TEACHING OF ENGLISH AT THE PRIMARY LEVEL: ISSUES UNDER PERSPECTIVE

Subject application cannot take place without subject knowledge. Without subject knowledge it is unfair to place expectations on primary school teachers of child-centred learning or participatory practices. Perhaps, now after enactment of RTE, 2009, this is high time that we may seriously think about incorporating Project Based Learning (PBL) in transacting English classes at the Primary Level and like Kajer Majhe Bigyan or Kajer Madhyame Ganit, we should start thinking of Kajer Majhe Ingreji. In Kajer Majhe Ingreji, students will go through an extended process of inquiry in response to a complex question, problem, or challenge. While allowing for some degree of student "voice and choice," rigorous projects will be carefully planned, managed, and assessed to help students learn key academic content, practice 21st Century Skills (such as collaboration, communication & critical thinking), and create high-quality, authentic products & presentations.