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The Teaching of Communicative Skills in English
Language and Society
Man is a social being who cannot live without communicating with others in the society. He uses language to convey his thoughts. So the purpose of language is to communicate thoughts to others in the society. 
It is for this purpose that he should be able to use his language efficiently. He is able to use his mother tongue efficiently as he is able to communicate his thoughts to others through his speech and writing in his mother tongue. For, the child has been exposed to it ever since he was born; this is his first language or mother tongue. It is learnt naturally by imitating others in the family and friends outside. However, the second language poses a serious problem, as exposure to it is not easily available. In this era of global opportunities communication in mother tongue alone will not suffice and so, learning a second language becomes imperative. In the Indian context, that second language is English since learning it, besides one’s own mother tongue, has become very essentials if one wants to acquire wider knowledge and seek greater opportunities. But it is not the same with the learning of a second language, since exposure to which is rare in the case of rural population. It is to bridge the gap between these two types of languages that a few thoughts have been presented here after experimenting on them. Moreover, it is unjust to leave one section of society-the rural section without the privilege of learning equally with their city bred brethren and hence this study!
English in India
English is a ‘de facto’ link language in India since it is a common language to contact with each other in the country with as many as16 major regional languages. One can not learn all these languages or a few of these to have contacts with his neighboring states. As English had been in the land for more than one and a half century, familiarity with it had been established, though not proficiency in it. So English was perceived as the only language that could connect the varied states within India and the world without. Moreover, the Indian has been a constant seeker of knowledge whether physical or metaphysical. It is to seek the physical knowledge and through that wider and greater opportunities that he goes abroad which necessitates his proficiency in English. As such, the growing use and importance of English at international levels has become indisputable, and competence in English has become mandatory in the modern age. The concept of global village is becoming more and more of a reality and the knowledge acquired in science and technology through English is becoming greater. The opening of new avenues in the field of business has given an enormous impetus to the use of English. As a consequence, the study of English can neither be diminished nor ignored. Despite this growing use of English, it remains neglected, especially in the rural parts of our country.
The idea of language as thought-transmitter has been undermined as far as English is concerned since proficiency It is in the language has become a rare phenomenon, especially in the rural context. One can experience difficulty even in his neighboring state if he is not able to communicate in his mother tongue One can freely express his thoughts and ideas through a language if only he is proficient in that language. He is able to communicate his thoughts without any difficulty quite efficiently and effectively in his mother tongue since it is his natural language, but not in English which is his acquired language, not his own! So it is essential to take up some measures to raise the standards of the learning of English as a second language to communicate effectively in it.
An awareness of this situation should be created in the minds of learners and their parents. It is the responsibility of the English teachers to take some remedial steps to better the situation. It is necessary to probe into the linguistic-backgrounds of the weak students and teach them correct language habits. This can be done only at the college level since it is here that one faces realistic situation and real problem as they were not able to get what they needed at the school level. Moreover, most of the schools are state managed which encourage only mother tongue medium of instruction as a policy. If any high school teacher is really committed to her students’ well being and progress, she/ he is most welcome to do so. If not possible to do at the school level and the students enter college without correct language habits, they must be extended a helping hand at least at the college level.
It is here that the high school students with mother tongue habits become new entrants and they are to be handled with care. The bridge between unlearning the old and wrong language habits and learning new and correct ones should be built in order to reach the global levels.
Curriculam : Method and Support
It is, no doubt, a formidable task to achieve the above objectives when the present program is not a part of the curriculum. The teachers, despite their readiness to help, feel dejected when their learners are unable to acquire proficiency in English. Because they have to face the problem of completing the prescribed course of study replete with a number of text books within the stipulated time. So, some extra hours, outside the stipulated hours, are to be devoted for administering the need-based courses by applying innovative methods to meet classroom demands. A new syllabus, independent of university intervention, to meet the needs of the students, is to be evolved and extra efforts are to be put in to bring about expected results.
In fact, it is ideal to start imparting communicative. English by using innovative methods as early as possible. As primary education is the nucleus for rural development, sound basic education is to be imparted to the rural children, especially with good language habits. As it is said that primary school is the cradle of learning and that the seeds of habit formation are to be sown here, this stage is ideal for intellectual and physical development. The second language habits along with those of the first language will be formed here. So the primary duty of the English teacher at this stage is to impart the first two skills, namely, listening and speaking, stress can be laid upon writing, though writing is not to be neglected. A graded course can be taught, catering to the needs of the learners at the middle school level. Every effort should be put in to make the students “unlearn” their wrong language habits like “ He come” and the learners can cross the hurdles and acquire competence in English. It is the English teacher who can make it easy for the learners to ascendthe highest goal in life. She can teach functional English even without text books by using one or two Standard English news papers to teach English.
Making students read well established English News papers is an innovative method of teaching communicative English. As suggested earlier, a specially trained and committed teacher may be given the responsibility of teaching English through the standard English news papers which can get multifaceted results!!
The teacher of English can use the following methods in teaching communicative English to her students, though absolute freedom to the teacher in is mandatory and the teacher, on her part, has to devote her entire concentration in using various methods to be effective in bringing about desired results, as follows:
- It should be made compulsory to every student to buy a dictionary-English to English(pronunciation) while strictly discouraging them from buying one with meanings in their MT(Mother Tongue)!
- Standard English news paper can be used to teach functional English. At this stage, the teacher can divide the class into viable groups and choose a head of each group on the basis of his/her ability in managing his own language and that of his friends. For, it’s he/she who should be able to direct his friends to a)read the newspaper to pick up difficult words, b) consult dictionary for the meaning of those words , and c) use each of them in the sentences of his own! This exercise will help the students to enrich their vocabulary which they can use in their day to day realistic situation
- The next step in this methodology is to correct the sentences written by the learners which involves a considerable amount of work to be managed by the teacher, herself. She can adopt an innovative method by taking the help of the class leaders. The teacher should correct the exercises done by the group leaders and explain the mistakes to them to make it easier and make them correct the mistakes of their group. There are the following advantages of this method: i) both, the group and the leader, will be encouraged indirectly in performing better without fear or favor since it is their peer who points out their mistakes andii) the leader is encouraged to put in sustained efforts to maintain his dignity. iii) The weak students feel free to get their doubts cleared from their peers! iv) It is the best opportunity to train the good students to improve their leadership qualities and to reduce the burden of their teacher!! In such an atmosphere they will be able to do better day by day
- The duty of the teacher here is to make error analysis of the weak and prepare material to meet their needs. For example, If the majority of them is not able to differentiate between present indefinite (Simple present) and present continuous tenses ( a common error) concentration should be paid on this aspect by asking questions and eliciting answers from them which will take care of spoken English, too. In fact, this is a Herculian task which requires a lot of patience on the part of the teacher, when that is paid, one can be rewarded with equal amount of dividends! For, the learners will not only be able to enrich their vocabulary but improve their written and spoken skills at a time!! They are ready now to enter the “magic” world of literature to understand the “magic” of words!!
The methods mentioned above are well proven, as such could be adopted in a rural situation in order to take them abreast of their counterparts in small towns and metropolitan cities alike and enter the “Global Village” with them hand in hand!
Contributor Dr. Prafulla Kumari V has been a teacher of English for last four decades in various institutions of South India. Dr. VPK is a polyglot with profiency in 7 languages and is also a freelance translator and author. Dr. VPK can be reached at prafulla_kv@yahoo.com. This is her first Contribution for Pentasect.
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