SURVEY OF ENGLISH & GUJARATI MEDIUM SCHOOL STUDENT’S APPROACH TOWARDS ENGLISH LANGUAGE

        SURVEY OF ENGLISH & GUJARATI MEDIUM

           SCHOOL STUDENT’S APPROACH

          TOWARDS ENGLISH LANGUAGE

English Medium School-

The KPES English School

Gujarati Medium School-

Shree Divyjyot Primary School

SUBMITTED FOR

THE FIRST GLOBAL CONFERENCE ON CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN ENGLISH STUDIES: GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

ORGANISED BY

THE GLOBAL ASSOCIATION OF ENGLISH STUDIES

Prepared by

Urvi Dave

dave.urvi71@gmail.com

Divya choudhary

choudharydivya400@gmail.com

Department of English

Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University

Bhavnagar, Gujarat

India

                                          ABSTRACT

How do we empower the learner to become an active creator of knowledge and to acquire and develop new skills? What are the barriers in this process? These are the key questions that this paper tries to seek answers to. The paper tries to illustrate ways in which a bias in favour of English Medium possesses series problems for non- English Medium students in accessing knowledge and adapting it to their needs. This research paper is based on a survey of English and Gujarati Medium School Student's approach towards English Language. A study was attempted to investigate the Sixth standard student's attitude towards English language. The survey findings of the 40 Students (20 Gujarati medium and 20 English Medium) highlights that students have affirmative attitude and medium level of enthusiasm towards English language. A standardized questionnaire was made. We wanted to check their attitude towards English language and how much are they competent with each other and the World. From this survey, we tried to identify their mistakes in grammar, vocabulary, sentences, spellings, pronunciations etc. Some simple grammar questions and two descriptive questions were given them to write and a small paragraph was given to test their reading and speaking skills. The study of language of the classroom is important for understanding how learning takes place through language interaction. A large number of students didn't have English language till Fifth Standard in Gujarati Medium School. The students were not able to spell common words as their base was not clear. Students in Gujarati Medium School preferred Gujarati language How do we empower the learner to become an active creator of knowledge and to acquire and develop new skills? What are the barriers in this process? These are the key questions that this paper tries to seek answers to. The paper tries to illustrate ways in which a bias in favour of English Medium possesses series problems for non-English Medium students in accessing knowledge and adapting it to their needs. This research paper is based on a survey of English and Gujarati Medium school student's approach towards English language. A study was attempted to investigate the Sixth Standard student's attitude towards English language. The survey findings of 40 students(20 Gujarati Medium and 20 English Medium) highlights that students have affirmative attitudes and medium level of enthusiasm towards English language. A standardised questionnaire was made. We wanted to check their attitude and aptitude towards English more as they faced difficulty in all the four basic skills i.e. listening, speaking, reading and writing. English Medium students faced little problem in grammar and spellings. They are of the view point that English is important as it helps in business too.

Keywords- Three language formula, Attitude and Aptitude, LSRW Skills, English language, Competency

 "Learning a Foreign language and the culture that goes with it, is one of the most useful things we can do to broaden the empathy and imaginative sympathy and cultural outlook of children"

                                                        - Michael Gove

1.    INTRODUCTION

Research means a careful investigation or inquiry especially through search for new facts in any branch of knowledge. There are many types of research and one of them is descriptive research which is used in this paper.

            English in India is one of the main communication languages in a multilingual state. Teaching of English at the primary level is a worldwide phenomenon. The goals of English Language learning at primary level are two-fold: attainment of a basic proficiency as it required in natural language and development of language into an instrument for knowledge acquisition.

            1.1 ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN INDIA-HISTORICAL CONTEXT

India is a multilingual country with numerous languages and dialects. There are 1652 languages/dialects belonging to five different families in this country. Only 47 languages are used as the medium of instructions in schools and English is one of them. English as a language has been in India for more than a century. But the ration of English speakers is low still it has become a lingua-franca at National and International levels and is commonly used in Offices, Business, and Industry etc. English Language gained entry in India with the entry of East India Company. Macaulay's "Minutes of Indian Education(1835)" advocated the use of English as it was felt that 'Indians cannot be educated by means of their mother tongue. English is the Language'. After Independence, several states adopted the policy of discontinuing teaching of English in primary classes in Government schools. As English is becoming a major language to be used in Scientific Research, Information Technology and commerce sectors, there has been a significant change in public opinion in favour of English in the recent years resulting in revival of teaching of English as a Language at the primary level. Some of the factors behind the increasing use of English Language in the recent years include the growth of the middle class, outsourcing of jobs to India in the IT sector, widespread use of internet in daily life etc, resulting in increased pressure of admission of young children in English Medium schools. The 1968 policy of THREE LANGUAGE FORMULA states:

·         The language to be studied must be the mother tongue or the regional language.

·         In Hindi speaking states, the second language will be some other modern Indian language or English and in non-Hindi speaking states, the second language will be Hindi or English.

·         In Hindi speaking states the third language will be English or a modern Indian language not studies as the second language.

This survey was conducted to check the attitude, aptitude, level of competence, skills etc of Gujarati and English Medium Students towards English Language. English in India is one of the main communication languages in a multilingual country. It is a symbol of participation in National and International life.

                     2. OBJECTIVES                     

The objective of this survey was to ascertain the difference between the level of competence among the students of English Medium and Gujarati Medium. Another objective was to know their perspective towards English Language which means do they find this language easy or difficult, what problems they face while using it and the reasons behind making errors etc.

3. METHODOLOGY

The information of schools was gathered in order to initiate the survey and permission was sought from Principals. Questionnaire are any written instruments that present respondents with a series of questions or statements to which they are to react either by writing out their answers or selecting from among existing answers. Questions are particularly efficient for gathering data on a large- scale basis (Brown). A questionnaire was prepared in which ten objective questions of grammar and two descriptive questions i.e. favourite festival and five sentences about themselves were given to test their writing skills as well as grammar. A comprehensive paragraph was given to test their reading as well as speaking skills. A diary was also maintained in which all the observation was recorded. Describing a Diary Study, it is that "The diary study is a method of understanding participant behaviour and intent by having participants record events as they happen. This recording usually occurs in two ways: participants answer predefined questions about events (feedback studies) or participants capture media that are then used as prompts for discussion in interviews (elicitation studies) (Carter).  There are basically three types of interviews-  Fully structured, Semi- structured and unstructured. The aim was to explore the thinking behind teacher's and student's approach towards English language using Semi-structured and unstructured style (Drever).

3.1 DATA COLLECTION

An interactive session was organised with students and their English teacher in which questions were asked like student's level of the base of English Language, to which extent were they serious about their studies, and is it necessary to learn English Language in primary level etc.

 

3.2 DATA ANALYSIS

Data collected was both quantitative and qualitative when it was analysed accordingly. The interpretation of information is corroborated with the qualitative analysis of data from classroom observation, interaction with students and interviews of teachers teaching English. In English Medium school, most of the students think that English is easy but just a few of them had problem regarding spellings and grammar. The students think that English Language is important as it may be helpful to them in the future. Some students preferred to speak in the language which they were having as the subject for example Sanskrit Language in Sanskrit         class and Gujarati Language in Gujarati class. In Gujarati Medium School, students faced problems in reading and writing and most of them were not able to pronounce simple words. They were taught English in Gujarati Language which is also called the grammar-  translation method.

 

3.3 INFRASTRUCTURE

Infrastructure also plays a vital role in shaping students to become a good individual. School is the place where children feel safe. Organised and decorated classrooms where there are charts stacked on the walls are attractive and students remain joyful. The physical environment plays a vital role in learning. It is imperative to have some of the essential learning conditions for primary school. If there are no facilities, students will not be interested in coming to school like adequate furniture and well- ventilated classroom, playground, well painted blackboards or green boards etc should be available. Library is also one of the important things. Those who are interested in reading can issue books and as they read, they cultivate the habit of thinking and so can become creative.

3.4 MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION

The language generally used for giving instructions is the mother tongue or the regional language i.e. Gujarati in Gujarati Medium School and in English Medium School, generally both mother tongue and English was used. The reason for this in Gujarati Medium School was that children were not able to understand English and so translation of English words, phrases, sentences in the language of convenience helps children comprehend the content. When asked about their strengths and weakness, children of English Medium responded that sometimes they hesitated in speaking English because they needed an advanced level in learning grammar, speaking skill and creative writing.

 

3.5 INTERACTION WITH STUDENTS IN GUJARATI MEDIUM SCHOOLS

When the students were asked the motive of learning English Language, most of them didn't reply and the reasons for this was according to them English Language was not important. Next question asked was whether they were happy to be in Gujarati Medium School or did they wanted to shift in an English Medium school. The replied to this question was that they didn't want to shift in English Medium School as they face problems in LSRW skills. When asked about cursive writing, only one student knew about cursive writing but was not able to write. The vocabulary was limited to simple words and phrases.

3.6 INTERACTION WITH STUDENTS IN ENGLISH MEDIUM SCHOOL

When asked about the importance of language, students replied that English Language is important as it helps in business and also in the use of technology. When asked about cursive writing, most of the students knew how to write in cursive writing and they applied it in writing. Students were in favour of learning English language as it offers better employment opportunities. Next they were asked whether they were happy to be in English Medium school or not and the reply was they were satisfied and didn't want to change the medium.

3.7 FACTORS AFFECTING PUPIL'S  ACHIEVEMENTS (PROBLEMS and ISSUES)

There are many reasons which affect student's performance. Some of them are as follows:

1) Students frighten during exams.

2) Students have the ideas but are unable to express them well. They know the grammar rules but can't use it whenever needed.

3) Absence of mind. It also has many reasons like the topic may not be interesting, teachers can't express their thoughts well, maybe the teacher is not creative, utilisation of higher level of English, and other personal problems.

4) Background of the family also matters as when parents don't give attention to their children and due to this, students also don't take much interest in studies.

5) Direct shift from Gujarati Medium School to English Medium School at a higher level decreases the self confidence of the child as they feel inferior compared to others.

6) Shyness and hesitation is the biggest hurdle which prevents them from taking part in the Student- Teacher interaction.

7) Psychological reasons also affect performance of the child as the child maybe having some bitter childhood experience.

 

3.8 INTERACTION WITH TEACHERS OF GUJARATI MEDIUM

When the teachers were asked about the level of the base of English Language, they replied that it is not much clear and they are trying to improve their base. The next question asked was “to which extent are the students serious about their studies” and in reply, the teacher told that “some are not at all serious while some are willingly studying”. When asked about “the importance of learning English in primary”, the reply was that English is important from primary as they learn everything very fastly in this age and can remember for lifetime. English is not at all harmful in this competitive world. They should be capable enough to compete with everyone are for this they should know English language very well as it is a global language.

3.9 INTERACTION WITH TEACHERS OF ENGLISH MEDIUM SCHOOL

The question asked was, "is it necessary to learn English language in Primary level" and the reply to it was that they should be taught English language from primary as it constructs a base when they are on the urge of learning language. Speaking should be compulsory and teachers insist every student to speak and communicate in English language in order to improve their command over it. Then next question raised was, "Is English necessary" and the reply to this was "In the modern era, English is necessary for everyone to become something, to reach to a national level and to compete with everyone.

                                               

4. MAJOR FINDINGS

This survey highlights some pressing concerns that show the ineffectiveness of the teaching learning process under present pedagogical practices. It is evident that Gujarati Medium students are themselves aware that they are at a disadvantage as compared with English Medium Students in accessing knowledge. Communication skills were not very good of Gujarati Medium Students as compared to English Medium students. They are not addicted to read extra books or newspapers. Extra reading like reading comics or any other literary work helps a lot in improving all the LSRW skills. Instructions had to be given in Gujarati and some board work was also done in Gujarati Medium School. Many students didn't have English as a language till Fifth standard. Some students couldn't read anything as their speaking and reading skills are not at all developed. In the contrary, English Medium Students were competent enough to read and write properly. Their sentences were also very much in structured form. Spelling errors were made in majority by Gujarati Medium Students as compared to English Medium Students. The accent of Gujarati Medium students also differs a lot and even their level of competency is lower than English Medium students.

5. LIMITATIONS

This survey has many limitations like students cannot be asked about their family and other personal things. The negative points of Gujarati Medium schools are highlighted.

6. CONCLUSION

There is a huge difference between the students of Gujarati Medium and English Medium. Grammar and spellings were also poor of Gujarati Medium students as they are not taught English Language from elementary level. This research study aimed at examining student's attitudes, motivations and anxiety levels towards English Language learning in a multilingual context as these have the potential to influence their second language learning interests and outcomes.

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