Monday, 22 October 2018
B.Ed. I Sem - Special English - NPE 1986
National Policy on Education (1986)
Development
of languages:
Regional Languages: The energetic development of Indian Languages and
literature is a sine qua non for educational and cultural development. Unless
this is done, the creative energies of the people will not be released,
standards of education will not improve, knowledge will not spread to the
people and the gulf between the intelligentsia and masses will remain if not
widen further. The regional languages are already in use as media of education
at the primary and secondary stages. Urgent steps should now be taken to adopt
them as media of education at the university stage.
Three-Language
Formula:
At the
secondary stage, the State Governments should adopt, and vigorously implement,
the three-language formula which includes the study of a modern Indian
language, preferably one of the southern languages, apart from Hindi and English
in the Hindi-speaking States, and of Hindi along with the regional
language
and English in the Non-Hindi-speaking States. Suitable courses in Hindi and/or English
should also be available in universities and colleges with a view to improving
the proficiency of students in these languages up to the prescribed university
standards.
Hindi
Every
effort should be made to promote the development of Hindi. In developing Hindi
as the link language, due care should be taken to ensure that it will serve, as
provided for in Article 351 of the Constitution, as a medium of expression for
all the elements of the composite culture of India. The establishment, in
non-Hindi States, of colleges and other institutions of higher education which
use Hindi, as the medium of education should be encouraged.
Sanskrit
Considering
the special importance of Sanskrit to the growth and development of Indian
languages and its unique contribution to the cultural unity of the country,
facilities for its teaching at the school and university stages should be
offered on a more liberal scale. Development of new methods of teaching the
language should be encouraged, and the possibility explored of including the
study of Sanskrit in those courses (such as modern Indian languages, ancient
Indian history, Indology and Indian philosophy) at the first and second degree
stages, where such knowledge is useful.
International
Languages:
Special
emphasis needs to be laid on the study of English and other international
languages. World knowledge is growing at a tremendous pace, especially in
science and technology. India must not only keep up this growth but should also
make her own significant contribution to it. For this purpose, study of English
deserves
to be specially strengthened
Monday, 15 October 2018
B.Ed. I semester - General English - English as the medium of instruction
Do visit the following sites
https://www.slideshare.net/karthik960/medium-of-instruction-cie
http://www.bdu.ac.in/cde/docs/ebooks/B-Ed/I/LANGUAGE%20ACROSS%20THE%20CURRICULUM.pdf
B.Ed. I semester - Medium of understanding (Child's own language)
How
a country chooses the language for its education system is not an easy process.
The decision is usually influenced by multiple factors: colonial history,
origins of immigrants, legal recognition of minority languages, cultural
diversity, political interests – to mention but a few. In some cases,
instruction is provided in more than one language; in others the medium of
instruction may vary between primary and secondary education.
Underneath
this tangled and evolving web of policies and priorities, however, lies an
undeniable truth: teaching and assessing children in a language they
understand will result in better learning.
The Global Monitoring Report of “Education for All” (UNESCO)
2005 argued that there can be no discussions of quality in education
without consideration of the language of instruction. It lays out some key recommendations to ensure that children are
taught in a language they understand.
1. At least
six years of mother tongue instruction is needed, if the
gains from teaching in mother tongue in the early years are to be sustained.
2. Education
policies should recognize the importance of mother tongue learning. A
review of 40 countries’ education plans finds that only less than half of them
recognize the importance of teaching children in their home language,
particularly in early grades.
3. Teachers
need to be trained to teach in two languages and to understand the needs of
second-language learners. Teachers are rarely prepared for the reality of
bilingual classrooms. In Senegal, only 8%, and in Mali, only 2% of trained
teachers expressed confidence about teaching in local languages. The paper
suggests hiring teachers from minority language communities as one policy
solution to the problem.
4. Teachers
need inclusive teaching materials and appropriate assessment strategies to help
them identify weak learners and provide them with targeted support.
5. Provide
culturally appropriate school-readiness programmes: Locally
recruited bilingual teaching assistants can support ethnic minority children
from isolated communities as they make the transition into primary school.
6. Second-chance
accelerated learning programmes in local languages can help
the disadvantaged to catch up.
In
an education system riddled with inequities, language can also be an obstacle
that comes in the way of learning. Educationists agree that it's best to teach
in the child's mother tongue, but the issue is a complex and emotive one, given
the diverse number of languages and dialects in the country and the attendant
linguistic chauvinism that politicians are eager to exploit for their own
gains. English, considered the passport to social mobility, is meanwhile
becoming the preferred language of instruction among parents.
The three-language formula
The National Curriculum Framework 2005, which lays down broad
guidelines for teaching and learning, sums up the views of experts when it
says: "A renewed effort should be made to implement the three-language
formula, emphasising recognition of children's home language(s) or mother
tongue(s) as the best medium of instruction. These include tribal
languages." The framework recommends that English should find a place with
other Indian languages.
The National Policy on Education framed in 1968 and later in
1986 also recommends the three-language formula. Three Indian states, Mizoram,
Manipur and Jammu and Kashmir, use English as a medium of instruction while all
other states use the regional language as the medium, he explains.
"English and Hindi are the second and third languages, with Hindi being
the second language for children who are non-Hindi speaking," says
Jalaluddin. In Tamilnadu, however, Hindi is an optional language.
The three-language formula helps in fostering bilingualism
and multilingualism, traits that improve "cognitive growth, social
tolerance, divergent thinking and scholastic achievement", according to
the National Curriculum Framework.
The
NCF report stresses that multilingualism should be made use of in the
classroom. For instance, it says, "Language teaching needs to be bilingual
not only in terms of number of languages offered to children but also in terms
of evolving strategies that would use the multilingual classroom as a
resource."
The
complexity of the issue is addressed by a paper on multilingual education
brought out by UNESCO in 2003, which looks at the "contrasting and deeply
felt positions" that the choice of language of instruction evokes in
people. "Questions of identity, nationhood and power are closely linked to
the use of specific languages in the classroom. Language itself, moreover,
possesses its own dynamics and is constantly undergoing processes of both
continuity and change, impacting upon the communication modes of different
societies as it evolves," says the introduction to the paper. The document
says that political changes have led to new language policies in post-colonial
countries; many languages have disappeared while others are endangered; the
Internet has "dramatically affected" the way in which languages are
used for communication and learning; and globalisation "increasingly
challenges the continued existence of small, local identities frequently based
on language". The paper supports multilingual education, and points to a
resolution adopted by UNESCO in 1999, which says that the "specific needs
of particular, culturally and linguistically distinct communities can only be
addressed by multilingual education".
Udaya
Narayana Singh, director of Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore, says
that internationally, experiments by experts have pointed to the fact that one
learns best through one's mother tongue. "This is also the basis of
UNESCO's recommendations on multi-lingual education. My choice would be to
educate the child through her mother tongue keeping a strong component of
English side by side.” However, one should be cautioned that when English is
the medium of instruction, many children could get "thrown out of the
system" if they have not been exposed to the language in domains such as
homes or playgrounds.
While state governments can decide the standard in which
English should be introduced, many have chosen to start teaching English from
class one itself. Ideally, the second and third languages should be introduced
from class three and above, says educationist A K Jalaluddin. The idea is that
by the time children complete their secondary education, they should know three
languages.
Jalaluddin notes that if children learn in English, they are
often not exposed to the literature in their mother tongue. "A major part
of the linguistic experience comes from literature," he emphasises. One
way of tackling this problem is to teach English as a subject well.
The other side of the problem
Students learning in regional languages do not have the kind
of resources they need, as English books [for instance, on Physics] are not
translated into their mother tongue, says Kumar. "Knowledge is available
only to those who understand English, and initiatives have not come from
regional languages for translation," he adds.
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