PROBLEMS IN TEACHING ENGLISH AND THE SOLUTIONS

INTRODUCTION:

Language being the vehicle for communication of ideas, is a set of symbols which functions sufficiently to meet the communicative needs of man.since the people of different groups and tribes followed different patterns of symbols, namely Languages; which as the means of communication varry in their form from people to understand express and make others understand their  Language patterns among these different groups gave rise to the teaching and learning of their Language patterns.

                            Teaching English Language overseas in an incredible and recording experience.An experience that also comes with challenges along with the rewards.

               Softskills are part of communication skills.It comprises of the skills which an individual uses to  inform, to persuade ,to explain, to present, to understand.An English as turned as universal Language, it’s presence  and value in the world has expanded.Enormoursly  in the past decades.Many money earning activities such as BPO,Medical transcription and IT could to the importance and relevance of English in every walk of life.

                                            No one would deny nowadays that the general field of Language teaching as a scientific and academic discipline and, more particularly English Language Teaching as a part of  it stand out for their strong dynamism and continuous evolution and development.

CONTENT:

CONVENTIONAL LANGUAGE TEACHING:

  In the past students were introduced to English only in their sixth standard.students learned English just as another subject like Physics And Mathematics and got varry little opportunity to using of with in the school as well as outside of the school.

SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION :                          

The term second language acquisition refers to the process which someone acquires one or more second or foreign languages.Second language acquisition reseaches look at acquisition in naturalistic contexts and in classroom settings.Reseachers are interested in both Product and Process.

                                                  The discipline now known as SLA (second language acquisition) emerged from comparative studies of similarities and differences between language.

   Teaching English  is a challenging ,yet regarding career choice.A ESL (english as a second language )teacher  must learn to constantly adapt the students needs.Many times , this means dealing with a variety of problems in the classroom, many of which are all  too common occurrence.A good teacher  must be recognize these common problems, and work to find solutions.Even a small change in teaching methods can help to create a more productive and  a visual environment for both teacher and the students.

         The teaching of English has always been in different circumstances.This  is so because of the  large population of the  country,bleak  economic conditions , the cultural and social diversities, insufficient men and  meterial etc….

     LET US DISCUSS  SOME OF THESE HERE……………

·        LACK OF CLEAR CUT POLICY

One of the main reason for the poor standard of English is the lack of a clear cut policy. There have been frequent changes in the policy of the government towards the teaching and learning of English.Through English is taught  as a compulsary subject, only the passmark is taken in to consideration.Asthe percentage of low achievers has been ever increasing, the government  has decided not to consider mark in English as essential for admission into a university course.The Educationists and politicians differ on the role and status of English in India.If we are to learn and to aim at good standard in English ,it is high time that the government  takes a strong decision to formulate and implement appropriate policies that promote students learning of English.

·        LACK OF EXPOSURE TO THE LANGUAGE

  Most of the students are exposed to their mothertongues.They do not get adequate opportunities either to listen to or speak in English. They listen  English only in the English class . The teaching of the other subject is mostly in their regional languages as the medium of instruction is in their vernacular languages.It is only in the languages of cities and urban areas that we find english medium schools.

·        NON AVAILABILITY OF SUITABLE TEACHING /LEARNING METERIALS

Many teaching /learning  meterials like good textbook ,workbooks and handbooks for teachers.T.V, Radio ,charts or other useful visual meterials are essential for effective teaching.unfortunately  many teachers and students are not provided with these meterials.Hence, sometimes the teaching and learning becomes more imaginative than practical.

·        LACK OF GOOD TEACHERS IN ENGLISH

Good teachers are found in very small number.Hence not having a good teacher of english is a common experiences of all the students of english.The teachers of  english are either not trained properly or they are the teachers  of other subjects.Even  if they  are trained , they  are  trained by the teachers of english,but not by a native speakers.even the meterials and methodology used in these training  programmes are outdated.As such ,it is the same limited experience that is shared.There is hardly any scope to improve inductive and spontaneous knowledge of the language.

·        DEFECTIVE METHODS

The methodology which is practiced to teach english in schools is not appropriate.The oral work which is the soul of any method in totally neglected.Writing which  is an advanced  skill to be learnt is taught right from the beginning .Students are not given exposure to the use of language.Language is taught by the rules and learnt by the memory.As a result, students fail to achieve any compel the use of language.

·        LACK OF MOTIVATION

At students do not find any immediate need for english, their interest naturally slackness.similarly ,as there is no immediate reward for their acheivement,the interest decreases.The poverty and the insecure sociological conditions also force them to neglect the language.

·        LARGE CLASSES

With our large population do not find any class where students menber is less than 60.As the students in the class are always heterogeneous,there is hardly any time to pay attention to the weak  to creative child.Even the average students do not get enough experience in the use of language.There is no scope for individual attention.This ,certainly hinders the intellectual growth.

·        FAULTY EXAMINATION SYSTEM

Generally,the methodology of teaching is fashioned on the type of evaluation,through it should be happening the other way.our examinations of english encourage the students for rote memory because many times the questions are based on summarizing either a poem or a narration.The language skills are not tasted to any appreciable degree.speech skills are totally  neglected.Teachers also find it very difficult to  motivate the students in the class because the  students always aim at memorizing the notes from  lowstandard guides and reproducing  them in the  examinations.

·        LACK OF INTEREST

Learning english being compelled has merely a hurdle passing.students only concentrate on passing marks.They do not care for learning the language as a tool of communication.

·        PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS

It is a widespread misunderstanding amongest students that english most difficult of all subjects.The result and the failure candidates act as evidence to prove this fact.Hence ,most of the students look at this subject with a predudiced vision and bear the  fear through the year.The psychological depression results in poor performance at the end of the year.

·        MOTHER TONGUE INTERFERENCE

Most of the problems arise due to the interference of mother tongue, in speaking english.both the teachers and students are very fluent taking their own mother tongue,but they  forget the essence of pure language.

·        DIFFERENCE IN ENGLISH

English is pronunced is a very different way from almost all other languages of the world.Every region of the world where english is spoken has a diferent acent when you difference between us english, Queen’s english and the entire sundry english’s of the world.This could lead to confusions.

·        LACK OF PRACTICE

Language could be mastered by practicing all the four skills viz..listening, speaking, reading, writing.The rural surrounding does not allow the learner to practice any of these skills.The lack of audio tools also adds in the problem of lack of practice.

True problem solving is the process of applying a method not known in advanced to a problem that is subject to a specific set of conditions and that the problem solver has not seen before , in order to obtain a satisfactory solutions.

PRINCIPLES FOR TEACHING PROBLEM SOLVING:

·        TEACH WITH IN A SPECIFIC CONTENT

Teach problem solving skills in the context in which they will be used, used in real life problems in explanations, examples, and exams.Do not teach problem solving as an independent abstract skill.

·        HELP STUDENTS UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEMS

In order to solve problems students ned to define the end goal.This step is crucial to sucessful learning of problem solving skills.If you succeed at helping students answer the questions ‘what’? and ‘why’? finding the answer to ‘how’? will be easier.

·        TAKE ENOUGH TIME

When planning a lecture/tutorial, budget enough time for understanding the problem and defining the goal ,both individually and as a class making anddealing with questions from the students and fixing mistakes; and solving entire problems in a single session.

·        ASK QUESTIONS AND MAKE SUGGESTIONS

Ask questions to students and predict ‘what would happen if……’or explain why something happened.This will help them to develop analytical and deductive thinking skills.Also, ask questions and make suggestions about strategies to encourage students to reflect on the problem solving strategies that they use.

·        UNITS AND SYMBOLS

This point included in the wood’s problem solving models.one key aspect in problem solving in teaching students how to select, interpret and use units and symbols.Emphasize the use of units whatever applicable.develop a habit of using appropriate units and symbols at all time.

·        END OF THE SOCIO PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS

Many think english as the most difficult language and many call it necessary to learn.The efforts of the teacher should be in eradicating the socio psychological problems of the students ,by motivating them and giving them some responsibility.

·        MAKE STUDENTS THINK IN ENGLISH

Make is a very firm rule but subtly implied that there will be no other language spoken in class other than english exhort them to think in english.This is a mamooth tasks, and can be achieved only aftersome weaks or probably monts of teaching.

METHODS TO ADOPTED TO IMPROVE SPOKEN SKILLS:

·        GROUP DISCUSSION

Now due to the world wide growing trends english,teachers give more emphasis to communicative approach rather than the lecture mode.Their main goal is to make the students effective communicators in english both inside and the outside of the class.

         To create this environment ,teachers can conduct group discussions where students are supposed to speak only in english.Hence ,they can give their views ideas and thoughts in english,due to which they develop the habit of speaking fluently in english like they do in their mother tongue.

·        DEBATES

Debates too play in an important role in improving the spoken abilities of the students both at school and at higher level. Debates not only make many students to speak boldly  and fluently but also help them to take one stand and be firm and consistent on that.

·        ROLE PLAYS

Role plays are another important task that can improve the basic colloquial english of the learners.In role plays the students assumes themselves as one of the characters and behave and speak accordingly involving in the given character completely.It should help the students now and then to understand and take up the role given to get a grip on the tone of voice.

·        COMPUTER ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING (CALL)

Now a days computer has become a part and parcel of our day to day life.It plays a vital role in the process of teaching and learning.It can be used to learn a foreign language like english. CALL has reduced the burden of the teacher.It is also described as one of the interactive methods that can help a learner according  to their  own ability to learn , which enrich language skills.CALL encourages the self learning too.

CONCLUSION:

To meet challenges in teaching english ,first of all english should not be treated as a subject as it is to be used actively in interacting  with one another throughout the world.Teacher should act as facilitators and should observe how well students organize their thoughts while speaking with their fellow members.Clear pronunciation, not perfect pronunciation, is the goal, students are now facilitated by software to practice pronunciation through phonetics.To achieve the goals  of the language learning today every colage should be provided with language lab, computers, LCD Projectors.

                If provided with the latest language  teaching  tools and with the suport of  technology.One  can teach the languge effectively and  motivate the students towards language learning……………………………………………………