December 2008 — Volume 12, Number 3
** Forum **
Developing an Interdisciplinary Approach in ELT: The Case of India
Rashmi Gaur
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India
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Abstract
English learning is an ideational activity affected by the explicit and tacit knowledge base of the teacher. This perspective is significant as the pressure of globalization is replacing the classical model of language learning by an “instant-utility” one. Another factor further complicates L2 learning: the heterogeneity of the classroom, which often makes compromise teaching a viable option. Since language competence is linked with career options, status, and so forth, the presence of psychological, interpersonal barriers among the students also has to be acknowledged. This demands the induction of motivational technologies, group dynamics, and interdisciplinary approaches in ELT. These issues are discussed in the context of the syllabus, methodologies, and seminar activities that are used in Indian engineering institutions; I attempt to develop a cohesive model that can successfully address today’s needs.
Introduction
Though the learning of English is by necessity an ideational activity, it is also affected by the explicit and tacit knowledge base of the teacher. This perspective is particularly significant today, as the pressures of globalization are changing our perceptions of what constitutes education. The classical pattern of education in which the loop between knowledge and utility was based on indistinct future probabilities, in my opinion, is being replaced by a modern “instant utility” model in which knowledge is linked only with its saleability. In the absence of immediate saleability, particular knowledge is considered to be a redundant and useless acquisition. The article takes up some of the issues related with the teaching of English as a core subject in Indian engineering and management institutions in this context.
In today’s scenario, which is governed by this saleability criterion, students as well as management have several expectations from an English teacher. The students want to master the language, including fluency, vocabulary, and precise expression, as well as grammar. Management wants students’ mastery to be translated into better placement records. In this scenario, a teacher of English may feel encumbered by this multitude of demands. If, on the other hand, these demands are to be met and challenges accepted, it is imperative for a teacher of English to be proactive and develop an interdisciplinary approach to teaching. Such an interdisciplinary approach enables a teacher to help learners better manage self-directed learning. The teacher has to learn to instil confidence among the learners through activities and/or procedures that encourage them to be more involved with their own learning.
In a classroom situation, the personality of the learner, which plays a vital part in the learning process, is as important as the teacher’s. Hedge (1993, quoting Knowles) comments appropriately that pro-active learners learn more things and learn better than do people who passively wait to be taught. At this point the role of the teacher becomes important, too. Recent research in neurolinguistic programming have suggested that learners can constantly modify and update their self perception, which has a direct bearing on their learning capabilities and strategies. Therefore, it is important that the teacher becomes the motivator.
English in India
The scenario of English teaching in India is particular. The colonial past has equipped us with a language, English, that has become the lingua franca today. But English did not filter down equally among the masses. The feudal legacy, economic challenges, and rigid social stratification have created a peculiar situation in the average contemporary English language classroom, which is heterogeneous owing to these factors. There are students for whom English is practically the native language, and there are others who receive their education in English, even though it is not spoken at home; they are therefore hesitant to use it in daily conversation. Still, there are those students from the vernacular medium who have only studied English as a subject for a few short years. These students suffer in a climate where being fluently conversational in English is linked with social prestige. Their inability to converse in English, despite being familiar with the linguistic structure, generates severe psychological barriers. This heterogeneity puts several constraints on a teacher, who at best can have five-hours of weekly contact with his class in a semester of 14 or 16 weeks. Lecture classes are also large. Faced with such difficulties, a teacher often opts for a compromise level that leaves most of the students, particularly the brighter and the weaker students, dissatisfied.
Performance in English is not so obliquely linked with career options. Since language competence is linked with career options, as well as status, the presence of psychological and interpersonal barriers among the students needs to be acknowledged. This demands the induction of motivational technologies, group dynamics, and interdisciplinary approach in ELT. Depending on the needs of the students, it is also important that different frameworks for teaching English are brought together in a cohesive approach. Communicative strategies (using first language words in the second language), cognitive strategies (involving the use of analogy, repetition, inferencing etc.), metacognitive ones (incorporating planning of learning and self-evaluation after the completion of language activity), and social strategies (providing learners with opportunities for practice with native speakers) should be used after dividing the large lecture assembly into smaller tutorial/seminar groups.
A teacher of English must become a source of inspiration to the students. Teacher’s beliefs are important to establish a consistent and productive teacher-taught relationship. Teachers’ beliefs their own capabilities guide their thinking and classroom interaction. These beliefs may be about what is said (espoused beliefs) as well as about what is done (beliefs-in-action) (Borg, 2001). Borg defines beliefs as a proposition which may be “consciously or unconsciously held, is evaluative in that it is accepted as true by the individual, and is therefore imbued with emotive commitment” (2001, p. 187). The self-motivated teacher will be willing to incorporate new methodologies, to experiment, and to change.
Another factor that cannot be overlooked in this context is the shifting ELT paradigm. Hyperglobalist and skeptic approaches are being replaced by a transformationalist approach. This approach looks at ELT issues and related problems neither as benign cultural outcomes of globalizing forces, nor as evil linguistic imperialism; but as complex phenomena with variegated perspectives, ranging from the critical to the post modern (Block, 2004). Block (quoting Phillipson and Pennycook) has made the reasonable comment that ELT professionals have to consider the social, political, and economic factors that come into play when methods and materials cross borders (Block, 2004, p. 76). This approach has resulted in the development of a culturally appropriate teaching material in different countries.
However, we cannot ignore that the concept of ELF (English as a lingua franca) with all its associated demands, has now been subtly and almost imperceptibly incorporated in the syllabi, methodologies, and teaching goals of India’s professional institutes. This concept emphasises the use of English as a contact language between people who are from different linguistic, cultural, and social background and may not necessarily share English as a first language. ELF aims to prepare students to use English as a medium to communicate in their professional interpersonal communication, which may often be cross-cultural. In this context, the primary task of an English teacher is to train students for general linguistic awareness, basic grammar, and communicative strategies. The emphasis is on immediacy and clarity of communication, instead of on control over the nuances that are typical of native speakers. Though the need to sensitize students about such nuances is accepted, emphasis on teaching them (that is, to speak as a native speaks) is considered not only to be outmoded, but also rather archaic. This change has emerged in response to today’s job scenario, in which people change bases quickly and can suddenly move from one culture to another on a short-term basis. It is thought that once the students possess basic communication skills, they can learn the necessary local nuances— aspirated sounds, the “dark L“, the suppression of R, for example, by experience. The main concern of ELF, and by transference of ELT teachers in Indian professional institutes, is international intelligibility, which includes language as well as communication. The communication part needs interdisciplinary skills.
In order to teach communication skills, the traditional ELT methods are not enough. They have to be supplemented with a different knowledge base and have to borrow heavily from behavioural sciences and management. Since the emphasis is on the use of English not only for the communication of one’s own thoughts, but also on—depending on needs—using persuasive techniques or making the communication almost scientifically objective, and so forth—the methods of analyzing the receiver’s personality and the factors affecting the decision making process before the communication loop ends, have to be a part of the teaching. A teacher of English, for example, should be aware of the psychological and management-based concepts of Transactional Analysis, Johari Window [1], and multi-voiced communication. The teacher should also be aware of various concepts about using communication as a management tool, for example, the ideas of psychologists Abraham Maslow and Frederick Herzberg, and business theorist Chris Argyris, among others. An exposure to such techniques will benefit the English teacher as now s/he has to become a teacher of communication, which is not merely English, but English plus several other concepts. Some people may feel that a of psychologist or management specialist may be better suited to teach a communication course. However, an English teacher’s capabilities in this context are beyond doubt. A teacher of English is well equipped to teach a course on communication skills, since language is a typical prerequisite of human communication.
Certain changes in the teaching methodology are also suggested at this stage. An ideal teaching environment should expose learners to a variety of ways in which English can be used. Simulation of different circumstances can be easily projected with the help of multimedia techniques, imaginatively using the language laboratory and introducing group activities. Group activities should not be limited to holding group discussions or debates. The teacher should organize role-plays and games like Chinese Whispers [2]. keeping in mind the linguistic capabilities of the learner group. Suitable case studies should also be taken up which could promote better learner participation. These exercises should be done in small groups, the activities of which should be very closely linked with the lecture groups so as to avoid unnecessary repetition.
Each of these activities should be simultaneously done at three levels. First, the participants should evaluate themselves. This should be followed by a peer evaluation. The teacher, who should also review previous evaluations, does the final analysis. The teacher’s analysis should also address the kinesic and paralinguistic aspects of the learner in detail. An English teacher should also have adequate computer knowledge, and should freely use computers for audio-video recording and screening. Such activities promote fluency, impart confidence to the learner in effectively using English to communicate to an audience in interpersonal situations, and also foster learner engagement to distinguish between surface and deep learning. Special workshop sessions should also be held for weaker students, wherein they can be counselled on overcoming psychological barriers. In all these activities, the teacher must display a willingness to do more than the assigned task. A motivated English teacher can easily transform the life of a student by affecting his/her career performance. Administration should also realize the role an English teacher can play in a professional institute and should be supportive.
Notes
[1] A Johari window is a cognitive psychology tool devised in the U.S.A. in 1955 by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham. This technique used to help people understand interpersonal communication and relationships. It is used primarily in self-help groups and in corporate settings as a heuristic exercise.
[2] Known also as “Telephone” in the U.S.A. While the name “Chinese Whispers” is considered offensive in the U.S.A., it is the common British name for the game, in which the first player whispers a phrase or sentence to the next player. Each player successively whispers what that player believes he or she heard to the next. The last player announces the statement to the entire group. Errors typically accumulate in the retellings, so the statement announced by the last player differs significantly, and often humorously.
About the Author
Rashmi Gaur is Associate Professor in the Department of Humanities & Social Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee. She received her M.A. and D.Phil. in English from Allahabad University. She is the author of Anathamurthys: Samaskara (Prestige, New Delhi).
References
Hedge, T. (1993). ELT Concepts: Learner training, ELT Journal 47(1), 92.
Borg, M. (2001). Key concepts: Teachers’ beliefs. ELT Journal 55(2), 186-188.
Block, D. (2004). Globalization and language teaching, ELT Journal 58(1), 75-77.
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