June April 2011 Pedagogic Challenges in English Language Teaching to Heterogeneous Class at Professional Courses in India-A Study Abstract B. SRINIVAS REDDY is at present working as an Assoc. Prof. in the Dept. of English in Sree Chaithanya College of Engineering, in Karimnagar, Andhra Pradesh, put up with a total of 19 years of teaching experience at PG & UG levels, besides B.Sc., M. A. in English, PGDJ, completed PGDTE course from EFLU, Hyderabad and pursuing Ph.D. from Kakatiya university, Warangal, participated and presented papers at five national and two international conferences, conducted communication and soft skills programmes in Engineering and Degree colleges to students and teachers, authored a book on career guidance for technical students, had taught classes for IELTS and GRE for four years. English has been considered and taught to meet the secondary needs of the learners in a non-english speaking country like India for many years. Hence, the concentration given in English language teaching and learning so far is only on reading and writing skills. But with the changing demand for English in the global context, the students, especially at professional courses, are in dire need of all four language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) at all levels. English language is introduced in professional courses to develop their communication skills to pursue their course successfully and excel in their field after their education. They need communicative competence in their field. The English teacher for professional students has various pedagogic challenges to develop language skills among the heterogeneous class. As the students entering into professional courses after their 10+2 education have various standards in English language, their comprehension levels and problems are different. The teacher finds less time to concentrate on each individual to meet the pupil's specific linguistic needs like vocabulary development, reading skills, note-making skills, writing skills, and speaking skills. This paper discusses the challenges faced by English language teachers in dealing with a heterogeneous class specially, in professional colleges in India. Language teaching at general academic courses at school level (up to 10+2 level) and at professional courses usually differs because of the difference in class room environment and the priorities of the students at both levels. English language teachers at professional courses usually come across various challenges in meeting the demands of students in terms of communication skills. As the students entering into professional courses after their 10+2 education have various standards in English language, their comprehension levels and problems are different. The teacher finds less time to concentrate on each individual to meet the pupil's specific linguistic needs like vocabulary development, reading skills, notemaking skills, writing skills, and speaking skills. The present paper deals with the reasons for the pathetic situation in an English language class room at professional courses in India, pedagogic challenges to English language teachers at professional courses and some of the possible solutions to these problems. 1 21
June April 2011 Mixed Group (Heterogeneous class): A group is defined as a set of people who have the same interests or objectives and who organize themselves to work or act together. In this sense, the learners in a class constitute a group since they have common interests and objectives which happen to be learning English language as far as an English classroom is concerned. But, in the present context of a mixed group, the class involves learners from two or more different levels of linguistic and communicative competencies in case of English language learning and performing. Hence the task of an English teacher in teaching especially at professional courses in India is challenging. REASONS FOR A MIXED GROUP: All learners used to be homogenous belonging to same race, caste, religion, gender and age in the early days of education in ashrams in ancient India. The same used to be the case with Europeans. But the homogenous class gave a way to the heterogeneous class, because of the following reasons: Educational opportunities: Education has been democratized as a political necessity in the modern period. As a result, educational opportunities are opened to the people belonging to the marginal groups such as lower castes, minority religions and women. These people have realized the growing importance of education and started to avail themselves of the newly available educational opportunities. Resultantly, the classrooms in India today specially at professional courses consist of learners from various languages, castes, classes, religions and every age groups. Mobility: Second reason for the heterogeneous class is the constant mobility or migration of the people from one region of the country to another region. The modern man has become more and more mobile in search of better educational and employment opportunities. As a result result, a classroom in the urban schools and colleges started to contain learners belonging to the regions and languages other than the local ones. Flexibility in selecting the languages at school level: Though the three language formula was introduced in India, there is flexibility to learners at school level in selecting the first language, the second language and the third language. Furthermore, some students don't have English language subject till entering their professional courses. Flexibility in admission to professional courses: Though the medium of instruction at professional courses in English, many admission tests meant for admission into professional studies are not testing the students English language proficiency and not bothering the candidate's ability in English language to pursue his professional course successfully. MIXED GROUPS AND PEDAGOGIC PROBLEMS: Mixed group at professional courses poses special problem for both learners and teacher. Learners in a mixed group class at professional courses possess different levels of linguistic and communicative competencies. Most teachers understand in practice that the learners have different linguistic standards in 22
English language, i.e. learning ability and ability to perform in English. An English teacher has to cater the linguistic needs of all the learners to pursue their professional courses successfully in English medium. Some of the problems of an English teacher to a mixed group are as following: Learning styles of heterogeneous learners: The teacher's aim is to reach all of our students. However, it is well known that every student has a different way of learning and learns and progresses at his/her own pace. Thus, while some students may find a learning task very easy to deal with and others may find it difficult to understand. Besides, learning also depends on what the students have brought with them into the class. Since each comes from a different family, a different environment and so on, it may be an obstacle for the teachers in reaching the students, which eventually results in ineffective learning. Different linguistic needs: Students in India enter the professional courses with different standards in English language. Although the goals of English language communication skills to a mixed group at professional courses are common, the immediate linguistic needs of each individual vary. Some students need accuracy in language and some students need fluency. Some students are poor in writing and reading and some students in listening and speaking. Some students need jargon of their professional course and some need not. Hence, it is the duty of the English language teacher to know the immediate needs of the learners at the beginning of the course in order to meet the common final goals. Materials: Since most language textbooks are designed for an ideal homogeneous classroom environment, teachers always have to deal with the problem that students react to the textbook differently due their individual differences. Many of the teaching materials presently used in an English class room are alien to the socio, cultural and geographical backgrounds of the learners in India. So, some students may find the textbook boring and very hard, whereas some find it interesting or very easy. In addition, as language teaching course materials are currently based on content-based or theme-based syllabi, some students may find the topics dull, strange, or meaningless; whereas others find it enjoyable, familiar or interesting. Therefore, it is usually necessary for the teacher to evaluate and adapt the materials according to his/her class. Participation: Since the classroom is the first and only environment for many good language learners, they should make use of this chance as much as possible. However, some of the students find it difficult to speak in the target language for many reasons ranging from interest to confidence, from age to knowledge. Other students, however, would like to express everything they think or feel by using the new language. As a result, some students may take many turns, while others do not speak for the entire lesson. It is the duty of the teacher to create the congenial atmosphere in the class room and build confidence among the students to perform in the target language. Interests: Interest problems may arise due to the differences among students in terms of their attitude towards the subject matter and/or the teacher; their knowledge of language; and their personality. For instance, 23
some students may find lessons boring, as the topic has no familiarity with their own life or their interests. Furthermore, some of the students may not be interested in the lesson, unless they do get the chance to express their own ideas since the teacher talks too much during the lesson or the other students take many turns. Hence, teachers should be aware of the different interests of the students to organize and to arrange activities accordingly. Discipline: Often the quicker students finish the tasks given before the other students. As a result, they may misbehave while waiting for the others to finish. The weaker students, on the other hand, cannot finish the tasks as quickly as the strong ones and may loose their confidence and/or show ill-disciplined behaviour for a variety of reasons related to that. Consequently, mixed abilities may result in classroom management problems. Hence, I can't single out a reason for this problem. Here is a checklist of the mistakes many teachers make when they fail to engage their learners' attention and that leads to discipline problem. A poor teacher Makes a poor first impression. Has no objectives. Is dull and dry. Stands or sits frozen in one spot. Makes no eye contact. Has no sense of humour. Is unprepared. Shows no enthusiasm. Has poor visual aids. Does not use the students' names. Is inaudible and writes illegibly, etc. Size of the classroom Classrooms in schools and colleges in India are usually over crowded. The number of students in each classroom varies from forty to sixty and sometimes even to eighty. Hence a language teacher can not concentrate on needs of each individual can not do justice to all students in developing their skills. In this situation, a fully equipped digital language lab can help in conducting a diagnostic test, knowing individual's problems in the language and assigning different exercises to practice according to their levels and needs. Evaluation system of the boards/universities: Many of the universities running the professional courses are prescribing syllabus and course books for English language class and conducting examinations based on their prescribed book. Questions in English language paper include the summaries of the lessons prescribed in the course book. So, students show interest in getting good marks in exam but not in getting the language skill. They mug up the summaries present the same in the examination based on their memory. This attitude of the students poses a great problem to an English language teacher in the classroom. 1 24
Attitude of the management: Though managements of many professional colleges realized the importance of English language communication skills, still, they are not treating English on par with other optional subjects. They are in the concept that anyone who speaks English can teach English. They think that English is a subject, explaining the lessons is teaching English. But the truth is, English language should not be seen as a subject, but as a skill and the language teacher should aim at developing the language skills, i.e. Listening, speaking, reading and writing. Only a trained English language teacher can do justice to students in this regard. SUGGESTIONS TO DEAL WITH THE ABOVE PROBLEMS: Here is a list of some suggestions to deal with the above pedagogic problems of an English teacher to a mixed group at professional courses. 1. Know the learner's profile. (socio-cultural, economic, geographical and educational of the students and their family members) 2. Conduct a diagnostic test to know the language standards of the students. 3. Categorize the students according to their levels in language standards. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Select appropriate teaching material (according to the language skill required to Develop and the level of the students, familiarity and interests, etc.) Motivate the students towards the topic and its importance as a skill. Build confidence among the students that they can excel in the target language. Build a congenial atmosphere to learn and practice the skill in target language. Choose eclectic approach according to the attitude and learning style of the students. Take the regular feed back tests and evaluate their standards at regular intervals. 10. Make use of appropriate teaching methodology and technique and audio-visual aids (including a digital language laboratory) to make learning effective. References - Harmer, J.1991. The Practice of English Language Teaching. Harlow: Longman - Penny, Ur 2005. A course in Language Teaching. Cambridge: London - Brumfit,C.J. Problems and Principles in English Teaching,Pergamon Press,1980 - Ghosh,R.N. et al. Introduction to English Language Teaching, Vol.3 Methods at the College Level, Madras:OUP,1977 25
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