UNIT 2- LANGUAGE ACROSS THE CURRICULUM-Understanding Language across Curriculum - Part 2-BEd notes
Prepared by
Sabarish P
Contents
- Theory of Agnihotri – implications in Kerala classroom context
Theory of Agnihotri
Ramakant Agnihotri argues for a pedagogy rooted in multilinguality that would ensure the emergence of a society that is marked not only for its happiness and peace but also for its justice, equality, liberty and care for others.
Ramakant Agnihotri suggests that language be conceptualised as multilinguality seen as a verbal repertoire which is constitutive of being human.
The following are the observations made from the studies conducted by Ramakant Agnihotri with regards to linguistic skills in the Indian context:
The unmarked classroom in India is essentially multilingual and multicultural and these features can be used as resources rather than seen as obstacles.
A similar approach should inform the teaching of English. Children do need to learn English but not at the cost of their own languages.
It should also be a society that encourages rationality and respect for diversity.
English in India should flourish in the company of other languages and not at their cost.
Language has traditionally been seen (by both lay persons and professionals) either as a mere ‘means of communication’ or as an external object, or as an innate capacity for careful systematic enquiry by linguists.
Its diversity, iconicity, symbolic power and its association with ethnicity, cultural practices and socio-political dynamics have often been ignored.
The most celebrated of our politicians including Gandhi and Nehru, though using language with great skill and intense emotion themselves, could not appreciate the symbolic and iconic aspects of Indian multilingualism.
Multilinguality thus defined subsumes not only linguistic resources but also cultural practices and the local knowledge systems.
One of the major reasons for ignoring multilinguality, in addition to the linguist’s obsession with ‘a system’, has been the emergence of the concept of nation-state in which a territorial identity has to be, even if by force, coupled with linguistic and religious identity.
Societies and individuals across the globe have maintained different degrees of multilinguality at different points of time in their history. India of course has always been an example of multilinguality par excellence.
Bilingualism can be described as a special frame for observation of language change; besides the proposed models of stratified equilibrium, can we not think of a model which measures the dynamics of bilingual situation.
India is often described as a linguistic and a sociolinguistic area because languages here travel across all kinds of boundaries without any passports.
It is not inconceivable that a group of people develop a secret argot with a new lexicon and frame it in the morphology and syntax of an existing language.
Multilinguality then is a default human situation and every classroom is inherently multilingual.
Multilinguality can be used as a resource, a teaching strategy and a goal.
Multilinguality correlates positively with cognitive growth, divergent thinking and social tolerance.
It is also now well established that levels of language proficiency enhance significantly with metalinguistic awareness which is most eminently achieved if multilinguality is maintained at the centre of language teaching activities.
A dialogue on English in India/Indian English held at the Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore made two things very clear:
that Indian English was an integral part of the language ecology of India, a variety in its own right which need not look at any external norms and
secondly, it is no longer possible to ignore the socio-political matrix in which English functions.
The curriculum, syllabus, materials, teaching methods and evaluation systems of English needs to be reformulated.
However, even before that a common school system is needed.
Noticing the widening social distance between the different classes, the Kothari Commission recommended a common school system based on the concept of a neighbourhood school.
This is obviously the most rational and humane thing to do. All children, whatever be their background, must have access to comparable schools and education.
It also seems obvious that such a system will have to be run by the State and the right to education will be a fundamental right.
One major advantage of the common school system would be that it is the multilinguality of the neighbourhood that would get reflected in the classroom and the school.
Languages available in the classroom will no longer be strange objects.
This multilinguality will also receive automatic support from the community outside.
It will be far easier to build bridges between the knowledge systems that children bring to school and the ones they are expected to acquire through formal education.
The following facts are to be kept in mind about the nature and acquisition of language before the objectives of English language teaching can be formulated:
Every child is born with a Language Faculty that enables her to acquire as many languages as she needs.
Languages can’t be taught; they are acquired.
Languages are acquired as the child’s Language Faculty interacts with processes of socialisation and language becomes inextricably linked with the social, political, gender and power structures of society.
It is not possible for teachers to teach the rules of language simply because they don’t know them (not their fault at all; what is available in the name of school grammars and what is taught as grammar is often inadequate and wrong).
The child has the potential to acquire the most complex rules at the levels of sounds, words, sentences and discourse on his/her own.
He/she gives us enough evidence of it as he/she becomes a ‘linguistic adult’ by the age of three, at least in terms of the basic lexicon and structures and rules of discourse.
No amount of formal teaching of grammar can promote the levels of creativity and fluency and accuracy that a child so effortlessly displays at a very young age without any formal intervention.
In fact, most parents enjoy and celebrate the ‘errors’ children make in the process of learning.
There is no reason to believe that what works in the acquisition of first languages in childhood will not work, with some careful effort, in the acquisition of additional languages.
The role of the teacher is not to teach the rules of grammar or paraphrase texts but to facilitate maximal exposure to languages being used in different domains in situations free from anxiety.
The tasks that children undertake should have the message at their centre and children should feel engaged in activities that would challenge their thinking abilities; as thought is not divorced from language, language proficiency will automatically develop.
Languages flourish in each other’s company; their nature is fundamentally porous; they tend to wither away if they are isolated from other languages.
‘Errors’ are necessary stages in the path of language acquisition; they automatically disappear in due course.
The amount of time a teacher spends on ‘correcting errors’ (they are not errors if seen in terms of the system a child has at that point of time) could be more usefully spent on carefully planned language exposure and innovative activities.
Language is not a set of skills. It is not a sum of LSRW (Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing).
Language is best acquired in a holistic context where a total text (it could be a picture, a couplet, a story or an advertisement) is at the centre of classroom activity.
Every child must attain a high level of proficiency in English without losing any of his/her own languages; and also exploit the teaching of English as a space for generating subversive discourses.
The main purpose of English language teaching as in the case of teaching any other language is to sustain multilinguality and encourage critical thinking.
The whole English language programme should encourage the ability to speak effortlessly, listen and understand patiently, read with comprehension and sensitivity, write with confidence, clarity and precision, and learn to respect other languages.
In short, the child should be able to fulfill, as far as possible, interpersonal, aesthetic and mathematic functions in all the languages he/she knows.
It is imperative that a teacher must undergo a rigorous training programme.
There is no short cut to this and this cannot be achieved by short in-service training programmes which must continue as updating, sharing and content enrichment activities.
Any teacher who proposes to teach English must undergo a basic but intensive programme in linguistics with special reference to English
This is necessary because he/she can avoid all grammar teaching and organise different activities and tasks in such a way that they lead to simultaneous content enrichment and grammar discovery.
For example, at the level of sounds, a teacher should know what the sounds of human language look like, how they are produced and what kind of combinations are generally allowed.
The teacher should also know the structure of Received Pronunciation (RP).
However, the teacher should be made aware that there is now a fairly well-established General Indian English Pronunciation and that is all we can use as a reference point.
In addition to that, as in all other countries, ‘native/non-native’, there is a multiplicity of varieties of English and that it is a legitimate normal thing to happen.
Similarly, at the level of lexicon, it is important to realise that words travel rather freely across languages and that it is a good idea to let that happen rather than interrupt fluency.
At the level of syntax, teachers will soon discover, there is not much to write about.
The syntactic differences across the varieties of English, if any, are perhaps minor.
In addition to being trained in the nature, and structure, of language and its acquisition and change, a teacher also needs to be aware of the psychological and social aspects of language.
A teacher should be able to see what role language can play in steps towards creating a just society.
Implications in Kerala classroom context
The formulation of the curriculum framework should seriously consider the relevance of language learning in school education.
Modern Linguistics and Psychology underline the possibilities of multilingualism.
Language learning helps cognitive development as well as enhancement of logical reasoning.
The educational policy of post-independent India is based on three-language formula. It is suggested that in Hindi speaking regions, Hindi, English and one of the South Indian languages are to be taught.
In non-Hindi regions, along with regional language, English and Hindi are to be taught.
Kerala has effectively implemented the three-language formula.
Along with the three-language formula, there is also opportunity in the state to learn Arabic, Sanskrit and Urdu from the primary level itself.
This has been of great advantage to the learners of Kerala state. The importance accorded to literacy in Kerala has become a model to the entire country.
Mass movements like the Library Movement and the Literacy Movement in Kerala could create great impact in the society.
These movements paved the way for the awakening and empowerment of the oppressed.
Print media exert their increasing influence on the people of the state and this reflects one of the gains of the prevailing language learning environment.
In Kerala, a total transformation has taken place in content, methodology and evaluation. This has enriched language learning.
The process-oriented curriculum creates a conducive atmosphere for the generation of language and has helped in promoting the creative skills of the learners.
A system of examination that tests the language competency and the mental process of the learner has replaced the examination system based on the memory power of the learner.
Efforts have been made to design the textbooks into comprehensive units with integrated activities.
The new curriculum helped to activate the functioning of school libraries.
A number of publications for children have sprung up as a result of the importance given to language learning in the curriculum.
There are also efforts to include technology as well in language learning.
Though the infrastructure has improved considerably, the learning atmosphere in most schools continues to be unattractive.
For meaningful language learning, activities that are process-oriented and attractive are indispensable.
The new curriculum of language is based on the principles of Social Constructivism, Linguistics and NeuroPsychology.
But at the level of implementation it has yet to take roots.
Inadequate teacher empowerment programmes, absence of monitoring, limitations of awareness programmes and insufficient supporting system add on to the prevailing conditions.
Studies reveal that the existing language textbooks have limitations on the following grounds:
lack of effort for meaningful use of integrated approach
loaded content
less scope for self-learning in the textbooks
overlooking child's perspective in the selection of certain texts
Problems related to planning of learning activities, strategies for providing proper scaffolding, process of implementation and evaluation process are yet to be overcome.
Time constrain, abundance of activities, activities of the same kind in different subjects, rigid period structure etc. are different set of problems that seek answers.
Teachers are yet to be empowered to design activities that suit the needs of multi-level learners.
The process of refining products, related to the learner, have not been done.
The learners should get opportunities to examine their products by themselves and in groups.
The problems in sentence structure, the selection of words, the relation between language and expression and related errors made while constructing discourses need to be refined.
Library activity is an essential factor in language learning.
Schools, where libraries function, are neither effectively utilised nor follow a satisfactory lending system.
Today, Kerala has schools with Malayalam as well as English as medium of instruction.
Privatisation and the growing competition that take place in the field of education promote English medium schools.
This tendency can be seen in the middle and upper strata of the society.
The National Curriculum Framework points out that there is a deterioration of values among learners of such elite schools.
This can be attributed to the medium of instruction followed in these schools.
A language that does not assimilate the thoughts and ideas of learners of Kerala society cannot facilitate well their cognitive development.
Prepared by
Sabarish P
(MSc Physics, MEd, NET)Contact: pklsabarish@gmail.com
