Dr. V.K. Maheshwari, Former Principal
K.L.D.A.V(P.G) College, Roorkee, India
Rakhi Maheshwari, Research Scholar
Singhania University, Rajasthan, India
Webster defines education as “the process of educating or teaching.. Educate is further defined as “to develop the knowledge, skill, or character of…” Thus, from these definitions, we might assume that education means to develop the knowledge, skill, or character of students.
Teaching is a complex activity. It is a process in which students are provided with a controlled environment for interaction with the purpose to promote a definite learning in them. The environment provided to students is constituted by the content, the teacher who organizes and provides specific learning experiences, different ways and means of providing learning experiences and the school setting. All these components, called instructional components, interact in an interdependent and coordinated manner, in order to bring about the pre-specified desirable changes in the students
Conventionally, the word ‘teaching’ denoted a teacher-centred activity in which teacher imparted knowledge and students passively received it. Knowledge is the sum total of facts, truths, laws, principles, and ideas that man has produced.
In modern era teaching is viewed in a broader perspective. Teaching is viewed as a comprehensive process, and there has been a tremendous change in the way of understanding teaching and a teacher’s roles. Teaching is conceptualized as an active interactive process that goes on between the consciously designed environment and the student, Similarly language learning is not just acquisition of linguistic knowledge but application of it in real life situations. In this perspective, success of language learning depends on how well one is able to use the language to meet the demands of the situation in academic and professional settings.
At college entry level most of the students have a fair knowledge of grammar and general principles but lack the ability to put them to effective use. They can reproduce mainly by rote but are inefficient in production. So the need of the hour of this stage is mastery of language learning. This way the grammatical and functional dimensions of language can be integrated to the maximum benefit of the learner.
The learner’s grammatical knowledge should be viewed as an essential resource for communication which can be activated through appropriate class room inventions. Such an approach involves learners in comprehending, producing and interacting in language. They are forced to manipulate their grammatical knowledge to communicate meaningfully.
When communication become the focus of class room activity, other integral components of communication like discourse patterns and psycho-social aspects are naturally highlighted. The learners are forced to acknowledge the interplay of these dimensions in language use and act accordingly. In short, it is a practice session for real life communication.
Learner Oriented Activities
Successful fulfillment of this objective will depend on our choice of class room activities or tasks. We need tasks that stimulate and promote communication. The content as well as process should be means that enhance interaction. But no one strategy can be singled out as a panacea for all learning situations nor can it provide optimum learning to all learners. The best way is to mix and match the activities to suit the needs of different types of learners and situations.
In many language classrooms, lectures are making space for learner oriented activities like role play, simulation, skit presentation, book review, news reading, quizzes, group discussion and language games. Such activities encourage learners to explore authentic texts for gathering information and ideas. They give learners the chance to utilize their cognitive learning in an activity that would help them develop effective communication skills. These activities stimulate a lot of interaction among learners, thereby providing a stage for practicing communication.
Group Tasks
Apart from this, small group tasks encourage planning, team work and cooperation among learners which are integral to harmony in life. There is also scope to develop one’s creativity and leadership potential. It gives introverts a chance to step into the arena in a supportive role and gain confidence slowly. It helps in breaking the ice in a new class and serves as a good warm up activity throughout. The element of fun and competition involved in the conduct of these activities make them enjoyable experiences. But it is in the hands of the teacher to make them enjoyable learning experiences.
Teacher’s Role
As instruction is the complex process by which learners are provided with a deliberately designed environment to interact with, keeping in focus pre-specified objective of bringing about specific desirable changes. Whether instruction goes in a classroom, laboratory, outdoors or library, this environment is specifically designed by a teacher so that students interact with certain specific environmental stimuli, like natural components (outdoor), information from books, certain equipment (laboratory) etc. Learning is directed in pre-determined directions to achieve certain pre-specific goals.
Teachers have to have a clear view of the expected outcome in cognitive as well as co-native and psycho-motor domains of learning outcome. They should have a comprehensive picture of the values communicated and the facets of language usage and skills to be practiced through each activity. At the end of these sessions, it is the responsibility of the teacher to assess the extent to which this has been achieved. Feed back session can be the forum for highlighting learner strengths and discussing ways to minimize the lapses in use and usage. Based on the findings, the activities have to be refined and modified. Class room activities are accountable to objectives and should address the underlying linguistic skills the learners need to communicate well in their chosen field of study or work. It needs a lot of in-depth understanding and critical thinking on the part of the educator to tie the experiences of these ‘games’ with instructional objectives.
Fluency and Accuracy
This does not mean that the language classes have to be dominated by these activities alone. Grammatical consciousness raising activities, individual exercises and assignments focusing on usage are indispensable because they help us build on the learner’s database and balance accuracy and fluency in language use. These grammar focused activities can be followed by language games which enables learners to put these items to use.
Effective language teaching is a selective combination and application of different strategies. Diversified teaching strategies capture the attention of learners and the heightened interest provides the best avenue for learning. Those who have been exposed at school to a wide spectrum of language activities encompassing the grammatical and functional dimensions of language get a head start over others at college. But all learners can be helped if college teachers present a variety of stimuli which will motivate learners to practice the fundamental skills of communication. A rigid syllabus and administrative hurdles can restrict the freedom of teachers to organizing unconventional activities in class rooms. In such cases at least a proportion of time should be judiciously spent on such activities that induce learners to communicate. It is good starting point for acquiring proficiency in language.