Teaching of English: A Plea for Practical Attitude by R. K. Singh (Indian Institute of Mines Dhanbad)

Teaching of English: A Plea for Practical Attitude by R. K. Singh (Indian Institute of Mines Dhanbad)

English is the language that can do people to enable to give stand in the world. After highlighting certain theoretical aspects of the notion “objective of language teaching,” we discuss the functionally determined sub categorization of languages into first language, second language, foreign language and also classical language. We then focus on the objectives of teaching English as a second Language in India. her is some terms that comes in our way to discuss.

♦ L2: Second Language
♦ SLA:  Second Language Acquisition

            English in India today is a symbol of people’s aspirations for quality in education and fuller participation in national and international life. The level of introduction of English has now become a matter of political response to people’s aspirations, rendering almost irrelevant an academic debate on the merits of a very early introduction.  The global objectives of language teaching can be defined as helping children learn a language or also languages to perform for a variety of functions. These range from the sociable use of language for phatic communion and a network of communicative uses to its use at the highest level of “Cognition”, “Catharsis” and “Self expression”. Underlying these functions are two fundamental functions: helping children learn how to ask questions, the most important intellectual ability man has yet developed, and helping children use this language effectively in different social networks. (Vyas)

            Here one can say that ater the colonial era, English was used throughout Indian by very few speakers and Hindi was still preferred. Since English was the reminder of the colonial power of England, there was a resistance against its spread and use during this time. English could not be the symbol of national identity due to its foreign and colonial nature. The tendency to replace English with an Indian language was part of the nationalistic ideology since the 1920's. However, this tendency didn’t succeed because of the international salience of English. A large number of educated people spoke English. While English is regarded as an official language alongside Hindi nowadays, many Indians do not accept it as the national language.



Now, I want to discuss about few matters and that is we can see in our present life of English. English, the other official language did not suffer from this disability. Its major strength is argued to be the fact that is cannot be identified with anyone region and therefore, English is one pan-Indian’ language that would promote National Integration, as regional would. So while the Indian languages, as regional languages, English a ‘foreign’ language, promote unity and integration. Centralism has an inherent appeal for the intellectuals at a time when an impatient unitary centralism was the dominant political ideology. To further buttress this argument, a whole mythology got built up around the role of English in which the central metaphor is the metaphor of the’ window’:

 ♦ English is the language of knowledge (science and technology),
 ♦ English is the language of liberal, modern thinking
 ♦ English is the link language
 ♦ English is the lingua-franca.

The Lingua Franca :

            The term lingua franca was first used during the Middle Ages and described a language created as a combination of French and Italian that was developed by the Crusaders and tradesmen in the Mediterranean. A lingua franca basically means that a language commonly understood while communicating irrespective of your mother tongue. Lingua Franca  also known as ‘‘linking language’’.  It has an important significance in a multilingual setting. English play a role of ‘‘bridging’’ among the two people, their ideas, views, cultures, traditions. It is also chain the two countries and nations. English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) is English when it is used between two or more people who do not have the same first language. 

Modern Lingua Franca
Today, lingua franca play an important role in global communication as well. The official language of international air traffic control is English, while multilingual places like Asia and Africa define several unofficial lingua franca to facilitate easier communication between ethnic groups and regions.





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