Teaching English at College Level: Problems and Possibilities

Teaching English at College Level: Problems and Possibilities

English is being treated as a global language because of its vast presence all over the world. More or less English is enjoying the status of lingua franca of the world. With the IT revolution, most of the software and operating systems being in English Language, a new utility for written and oral communications in English language has emerged. English is used all over the world not out of any imposition but because of the realization that it has certain advantages. A very important reason for regarding English as a world language is that the most of the world’s knowledge is enshrined in English.  It is, undisputedly, a progressive, dynamic and flexible language. Over and above English is universally renowned for its power of expression and its rich literature. So, English has been lauded as the most successful language. In modern prospective, English symbolizes as better education, better future, better culture and higher intellect, therefore, in present times, English is the most preferred language for higher education as well as technical education.

The advent of English in India happened as early as in 1800 AD as the East India Company (EIC) imparted English education only to the children of the European employees of the company and to the very small percentage of Anglo-Indians in the country, hence English has a very limited sphere of dominance and it was an extremely marginalized language used only by the British. Invariably English has co-existed in the Indian sub-continent along with hundreds of local languages.

It was an historical movement when Lord Macaulay’s ideas took a clearer picture in 1835 when he presented his ‘minute’ on 2^nd February 1835 in the ‘Manifestation of English Education in India’. This ‘minute’ is often quoted as ‘the real beginning of bilingualism in India’.  This ‘minute’ was very clearly pushed for the English education for ease in administration and in civilizing ‘race of half-naked, uncivilized’ people in India. This controversial ‘minute’ was given the Seal of Approval by Lord William Bentinck in 1835 in spite of facing strong protests by the orientalists on the pretext that Indians ‘wanted’ English Education. This resolution “formed the cornerstone of the implementation of a language policy in India and ultimately resulted in the dissemination of bilingualism in English” and paved way to Christian missionaries to enter India to establish a number of schools and colleges.

Of course all these facilities are only benefited the students of cosmopolitan cities like Calcutta (Kolkata), Bombay (Mumbai), Madras (Chennai) etc., According to recent surveys, approximately 4% of the Indian population use English. This figure might seem insignificant, but out of the total population it represents 35 million people communicate in English. It means India is the largest English speaking community outside USA and UK.   English may be virtually the mother-tongue for many educated Indians, but for the vast majority of people, it remains as a second language.

Language learning is a natural process for the natives of any country. The approach to this learning process is called the ‘behavioristic approach’. But the students of other languages, deliberate efforts are required to learn a foreign language which requires a ‘mentalistic approach’. The students of rural and semi-urban areas in India face such problems because English is not their mother-tongue. It is either instinctive nor intuitive. Language acquisition seems to be a process of both of analogy and application, nature and nurture. In the process of teaching English as a second language in India the teachers of English language have adopted, invented and developed a variety of methods to teach English. Edward M. Anthony says in his book “Approach, Method and Technique – Teaching English as a Second Language”, “Method is an overall plan for the orderly presentation of language material no part of which contradicts and all of which is based upon, the selected approach. Approach is axiomatic and a method is procedural”. The orderly presentation of language to students is influenced by several factors. The teacher has to keep in mind the age of the student, his native language, his cultural background and his previous experience with English. The experience of the teacher and his level of mastery over his English language are equally important. To achieve desired effects, the goal of course must be kept in mind – whether it is aimed at reading, fluency in speech, inculcating translation skill. All these objects shape methodology.

Being English as a second language, Students of rural colleges face a number of problems. Learning second language means acquiring a system of rules with little knowledge of those rules. Students learn basic grammar at school level for the purpose of passing in the school examinations and not to face any real life situations.  Application-oriented grammar is rarely taught. Inadequate practice and facilities are provided to students to learn English language. In this phase a student grows from a small child to a grown-up when he/she completes higher secondary examinations. In this transition period each student has his own whims and fancies about college life because of the tremendous influence of mass-media. Many a time the media project a false perception about colleges and life of a student. On seeing such things in movies, students take it for granted. As a result of this, they have formed an image for a college and want to act upon those images.

The twelve years of school life is considered as a restricted life of students. They are taught with heavy dose of discipline and obedience. The moment they enter into college life; they think as if they got freedom from their confinement. During adolescence students usually embark to learn all bad things and forget good things, which have learnt through twelve years of rigorous training in schools. Carefree life and without responsibilities give them opportunity to implement whatever they can think off. No compulsion for attending classes and being away from family elders’ supervision make them feel difficulty to sit in the classes and listen to the lessons. The students of UG Courses are neither immature nor fully matured group. This adolescence is really a challenging age to deal with. They are egoistic in many ways. The students of this group are tend to be identified by many means. They are more idiotic than rationalistic understanding. For them, sitting and listening a language class is something an uphill task. 

English is made compulsory as a second language for all students who seek admission at U G level. A large number of students are really not interested in studying English however they are all forced to undergo this trouble despite their lack of basic knowledge in English in previous classes. Many students in B.A. and B. Com classes are not able to read the simplest sentences even though they are very familiar to them. Further, they are not able to mange to read the sentences meaningfully dividing them into meaningful units. Such students do really lose interest in learn English and fail in the examinations.

The hackneyed, stereotyped and traditional pattern of exams aims at clearing English not as a language but as a subject. The students, therefore, are guided to practice pick and choose method from the sub-standard material available in the market. So, the students merely pass the subject far away from learning any level of the Language. It is shocking to learn that even the questions that students supposed to answer are told to learn through their own vernacular. Lack of proper vocabulary, lack of skill in making the sentences, no knowledge of English usage forces the student to adopt a casual approach. Even after studying English for 14 to 15 years the level of student’s skills in English remain poor.

Generally, the classrooms are often overflowing with students in rural and semi-urban colleges which have a name and little fame despite the poor performance of students. The strength of each class may usually ranging from 250 to 300 students comprising with students of mixed ability. English Language Teaching (ELT) experts suggest ways for teachers to teach English meaningfully by grouping them according to their ability as ‘very able’ ‘able’ ‘less able’ and ‘unable’ students.  No doubt some good teachers are trying to group the students with the limited resources and time available to them. However, a large number of college teachers do not do such activities because of their apprehension that they won’t be able to complete the syllabus within the set time frame. Teachers cannot be blamed for this because they are answerable to the stakeholders as well as institutional authorities and hence their aim is to teach in such large classes and make a good number of students pass in the examinations. Thus, testing and evaluating designed by boards of education and universities have a negative effect on their teaching efforts in the classrooms.

It often surprises to hear that many of the ‘less able’ and ‘unable’ students have scored first class marks in their previous qualifying examinations although spellings of simple words are also a great puzzle for them.  For obvious reasons, let us not discuss their failure in constructing simple meaningful sentences. Such weak knowledge of English underscores the fact that there is something awfully wrong in the way the typical student is ‘brought up’ to do his graduation in colleges where all efforts of teachers to reform their English language skills prove futile.

To solve above discussed problems a systematic approach is required. Governments of the states should develop sufficient infrastructure in the schools and appoint well trained teachers to teach English more impressively on modern lines not knowledge but skill. Teachers of English should be very resourceful to help students to enjoy their language activities in the classroom. Exposing students to the language laboratories may enhance their confidence in the process of learning language. Students learn by way of imitation, similarly, the students tend to follow the example set by their teacher.  The English teacher should be more resourceful with considerable amount of enthusiasm and imagination in inculcating the habit of learning new words in them. Students newly learnt words will become a part of their vocabulary and they will be in a position to use those words purposefully and meaningfully. This enhancement of vocabulary will result into better expression. Timings for English teaching in the college time-table should be convenient for the students who travel from remote places. Appointing good number of language lecturers and reducing student and teacher ratio may yield better results. Minimum student strength of each class, regular attendance and personal assessment of each student are to be exercised in every college. Personal guidance is to be provided for the students who are less able and unable students through remedial classes.

At the outset, teachers should motivate students for participative learning. This will solve all the stumbling blocks in students. Above all, a teacher is not only a teacher but also a friend, guide and a philosopher to students. The teacher guides not only to pass in the exam but also to face challenges and take right decisions during the time of crisis in life. This is, of course, a real and tough task ahead of a good teacher.

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