ENGLISH PROBLEMS AND INDIAN SOLUTIONS

Dr. P. Dhanavel

The English language has lived in this country ever since the days of the East India Company. But, the problems of teaching-learning English have continued to pose further problems. First, it is a colonial legacy. Next, it is a post-colonial necessity. Hence, it is both a blessing and a burden.

No doubt English was a foreign language, when it touched the shores of India. There was no problem. It became a ruling language. Then also there was no problem. When it was dressed up in the cloak of the Associate Official Language, problems galore cropped up. Now we are reaping the harvests. Perhaps our future generations will also taste the remnant as well as fresh fruits. The basic problem is that we do not have a consistent and comprehensive language policy with reference to English. Probably we cannot have one, given the socio-cultural and historico-political climate.

All figures of language, including paradox and irony, run amuck, when we think of English Education in India. On the one hand, the State and Central Governments are taking special and vigorous steps to localize language of instruction, administration, and mass media. On the other hand, they are giving recognition to more and more of English medium schools and colleges multinational companies, and international communication networks. The learners, parents, and employers, including Governmental organizations, want English but the politicians and educational administrators legislate that English should not come in the way of passing years, including the Ph.D. year, even in English language and literature. Teachers are appointed to teach English but they entertain or excruciate the students in their mother tongue. Students of B.A. and M.A. English literature are expected to become teachers of English language but they are deprived of a sound training in English Language Teaching. Of course, B. Ed. is there for school teachers. There is a popular misconception that College and University teachers do not require any training. A Central Institute of English was established to nourish English but was expanded to contain Foreign Languages for its survival. A politician can decide that English is no longer needed and the English educated administrators will implement the policy. Whatever policies and practices are perpetuated, the worldly wise people will send their wards to USA, UK, Australia, Canada, Singapore, etc.

Are these the consequential achievements of our political independence? Does dignified democracy mean debilitations and degradations? Let us proceed farther than hopping to foreign countries for education. When a student tries to speak in English with his teacher, he is likely to get low grade. He may also be harassed by the administration for having offended the teacher. A real life incident places the problem in a proper perspective. A girl student of a local college answered in English a boy student’s question in his mother tongue. The boy got furious, gathered his friends, called for a strike, raised slogans against English, the girl, the teachers and the principal who tried to protect the girl, and demanded dismissal of the girl from college. The college was closed down for a few days on account of this language. Does the incident sound a romantic film story? Then, where is the difference between imagination and reality? How far do we live our real life?

These are some of the interesting problems that need illuminating solutions. Who will give them? Of course, the teachers, the students, the educational administrators, the Boards of Studies/Examinations, the parents, the politicians, and the interested persons at large will have to think together as well as shed the double standards we have about English. Let us not play with English any further. We are celebrating our fiftieth year of independence. We are entering the globalized and liberalized markets world over. Let us be honest with English which has willy-nilly become a major symbol of our contemporary India. It is true that only 3% of the population uses English. But, it is also true that more than 30% of the population desires to be English-educated for its practical uses. It is not impossible to fulfill the aspirations of the emerging youth from every nook and cranny of the land.

Let us see what everyone concerned can do. The English teachers can first of all learn to become sincere and ask themselves how they can improve their own English so that they could help improve the English of their students. Among others, they can do through distance mode certificate and diploma courses offered by the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages. Hyderabad, Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi, and other Universities throughout the country. While they keep on learning, they can find some motivations for themselves which they can pass on to their students. They can organize Teacher Groups and Student Groups to discuss the problems of language that they face.

The students can understand the importance of English in developing their job potentials and socia1 prestige. First they should buy a good dictionary like A.S. Hornby’s Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English. Next, they should use it as often as possible, almost everyday. They can develop their reading habits not necessarily in Shakespeare. Milton, Words worth, Tennyson, Browning, Yeats, Eliot and their ilk. Closer home we have great many novelists and short story writers such as R K Narayan, Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao, Shashi Deshpande, Anjana Appachana. Besides, there is a wide variety of articles on different subjects in the newspapers and magazines. The students can attend English classes regularly, do assignments, and participate in several activities which involve speaking, listening, reading, and writing English. Most importantly, they should stop memorizing select answers and start communicating in English. Unless they plunge into English, they cannot pass the test of life, even though they may get through their years one after another without interruptions.

The School/College administrations can make every effort to appoint teachers who have not only a degree in English but also a good knowledge of English. When they have problems of any kind, including reservation or pressure, they can always help such teachers who are appointed against reserved quota or pressure to acquire the necessary skills. No one should feel upset to fulfil one’s job requirements. The administrations can encourage the teachers to go out to participate in national and local academic activities. They can help establish an English Library meant for intensive and extensive readings. A group of administrations can organize periodical workshops and training programmes for their teachers. They can provide audio-video educational aids. They can allot more hours for teaching of English. They can organize several programmes like Debates, Group Discussions, Essay Writing, Poetry Reading, Drama, Public Lectures, and so on. In short, the administrations should not be resistant to better English Education, even if it means some trouble. Let us inscribe the words of Swami Vivekananda on the corridors of learning everywhere: “No good thing can be done without obstruction. It is only those who persevere to the end that succeed”.

The Boards of Studies/Examinations can look into the actual needs and interests of the students for preparing the English syllabi. They can go in for alternative methods of instruction as well as examination. They can undertake monitoring exercises and incorporate the feedback in successive syllabi.

The parents can help their wards buy prescribed textbooks and other supplementary materials. They can desist from forcing their sons and daughters to memorize answers to select questions. They can discourage the students from using guide books at home. They can take real pride in the real achievement of their children.

It is felt by different sections of the society that the actual pinpricks are our honourable politicians. If they stop politicking with English and adopt a consistent and comprehensive language policy, several fringe but badly damaging problems could be solved. Whether it is language policy or economic policy, honesty is the best policy. Let us remember this adage and rehearse it in our actual life instead of relaying it for others.

Our psychologists, sociologists, economists, historians, and their community of social scientists can open their eyes to the phenomenon of English Language Learning Teaching in India. They Can analyze the various problems of rural-urban, poor-rich, regional language- English etc., environments and offer useful suggestions or at least project the problems in the right perspective.

As we move into the next century, problems proliferate but solutions shrink. Now we have vocationalized English in an effort to impart the language skills to our students. We have not visualized the bitter relations between teachers as well as students of vocational and mm-vocational English. What will be the future of English vocation and avocation in India, time only can answer. At best we can hope for additions to K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar’s Indian Writing in English and M.K. Naik’s A History of Indian English Literature. Our creative writers will continue to offer creative solutions. It is for all of us concerned to make the best use of them.

Back