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Teaching in Multilingual Contexts Dr.
Ranganayaki Srinivas
Language
teaching strategies have to be reconsidered in the multilingual context of
countries like India. We
use a number of approaches, methods, tasks and techniques imported from
other monolingual countries with or without modifications. However, they do not
satisfy the needs of multilingual learners. We need to develop indigenous
strategies that tap the enormous resources of the multilingual learners and
teachers. It
should be possible to effectively use more than one language in our classes.
Using the mother tongue in the Second language (SL) classes has been looked down
upon for a long time mainly due to the misuse of what is termed as the Grammar
Translation method. Many teachers
resort to translation in all their lessons resulting in an indiscriminate use of
L1 for a rather mechanical practice and reducing the chances of
genuine communication in either the Target language or the mother tongue. No
wonder many of the learners, poor victims of the system, come out like zombies
incapable of using (any) language to think clearly.
To avoid such situations, SL experts have subscribed to the view that
mother tongue should be banished from the English classroom. Though it has some
advantages, the loss is more, as we are not able to use the rich resources of
bilingual and multilingual learners and teachers. This might appear as putting the clock back or going back in time when we should be going forward. But as Alan Maley(2001) rightly points out in his article ‘A matter of time’ included in the January issue of English Teaching Professional
As a profession, we like to think of ourselves as ‘cutting edge’, ‘state
of the art’, with all the connotations of excitement in a future driven
enterprise which that entails. We live in a capsule of the present moment, with
no time for a backward glance. …When we do look at our past, it becomes clear
that many of the current ideas which we think of as being so innovative have, in
fact, been around for a long time. We have very often re-invented or
re-discovered them rather than created them out of nothing in the present
instant.
To
support his point of view he has produced a number of quotations from Billows
(1961) which voice some of our concern today about teachers spoon-feeding the
learners. In his book, ‘The Techniques of Language Teaching’, Billows says, One
of the satisfactions of language learning lies in the slow clearing of the
fog…the gradual emergence of pattern where formerly there seemed to be none.
If the teacher tries to by-pass this process and serve up to his pupil a systematization
not worked for and not developed out of the learner’s
experience and its organization, he deprives him of this satisfaction… 2.
Using Multilingual Resources It
should be possible for innovative and conscientious teachers to find ways of
overcoming the limitations of the class time being divided between two languages
and exploiting the resources of multilingual teachers and learners for the
learners’ benefit. They can
carefully plan such activities where the learners are provided opportunities to
use more than one language meaningfully and creatively.
This would enrich the learning experience and learners would be able to
become real users of two or more languages. There is also the possibility of
positive transfer of linguistic and communicative skills from one language to
another. The
first thumb rule both the teachers and the learners should keep in mind for such
activities is to avoid literal word by word translation.
The focus should be on the general theme, the overall meaning, and that
should be expressed in such a way that each learner has to put in a personal
contribution. The activities should
provide a scope for integrated use of the four skills as well as the different
languages. A
few sample activities are suggested here only to set the ball rolling.
Resourceful teachers
can plan innumerable activities based on the unique quality of the learners’
mother tongue and its similarities and differences with English.
Ø Learners read
a story in their mother tongue and present
a report to class in English. Reading
skill can probably be transferred from one language to another more easily than
any other skill. Teachers generally
complain that learners read very little outside the examination requirements.
Many conscientious teachers have gone to the extent of making learners
sit in class and read for ‘pleasure’ under supervision.
This only makes it worse as learners see it as a sort of additional
burden that they have to suffer to please the teacher.
It is neither a pleasure for them nor does it result in learners
developing a good reading habit. In
many parts of India, and especially in Gujarat, learning of the mother tongue is
also limited to reading lessons
included in the prescribed textbooks and answering questions based on them.
Right from the first year of language learning mechanical copying
activity and memorised reproduction is encouraged, evaluated and valued in terms
of higher scores in examinations. Learners
who do not develop the reading habit in their own mother tongue cannot be
expected to develop the habit in a new language. Hence
this activity requires the learners to read a story in their mother tongue and
present a report in English. This makes them read in their mother tongue (which
involves minimum effort) and then prepare a report for class presentation in
English. This may help them in a
number of ways. They would be able
to pick up a book at their level of competence and according to their interest
and read comfortably without the tension of decoding the meaning of words,
idiomatic expressions and complex constructions in a new language.
There is more likelihood of their developing an interest in reading for
pleasure in a language that reflects their culture and one which they have used
extensively. They could plan a
presentation in English which might be as simple as a summary of the story in a
few sentences and what they liked in it or found unacceptable to them.
For advanced learners this could be developed into challenging activities
of detailed analysis of the plot and characters, comparison with parallel
stories in English, translation into English, rewriting with modifications
according to English culture, etc. The
main emphasis should be the use of both languages for developing reading,
writing and oral skills involving genuine interaction between the two languages
and the learners.
Ø Learners read
a story in English and present a report in their mother tongue. Learners
might find simple books (including children’s literature) to read and then
present reports of various types in their mother tongue.
They may narrate the stories, analyse the various aspects in detail,
identify differences in the culture expressed in the story and their own
culture, retell the story with appropriate modifications suitable to readers of
their background, etc. Here the presentations can be at a higher level than the
level of books selected for reading. Ø
Learners watch a film in one language and present an oral or written
report in another language. A
number of television programmes and films can be used for this purpose.
Many television programmes are available now in English as well as in
Hindi or other regional languages. One
simple way of using them may be to watch it in one language, follow up with
classroom tasks wherein the information is shared through group work and pair
work activities, games and quizzes and then watch the programme in another
language to consolidate. Learners
could also be asked to translate part of the programme and compare it with the
one telecast. For
example, in Star Plus, the serial ‘Ji Mantriji’ was telecast.
It is a translated version of the BBC serial ‘Yes Minister’ which is
available in print in ‘The
Complete Yes Minister’ edited by Jonathan Lynn & Antony Jay.
If we want to use this in our classes we can make the learners read parts
of the book related to the serial and then ask them to view those parts and read
the book again. We can give the
passages of the book in a jumbled order, ask them to watch the programme and
then rearrange the parts. We can
give two or three chapters of the book and ask them to identify which section
relates to the parts they watch. We
can ask the learners to compare parts of the dialogues or idiomatic expressions
from both the languages, prepare a report and present it to class. If both the
Hindi and English versions are available for viewing we can have a number of
activities based on them including the cultural differences expressed by the
participants dresses, expressions, dialogue delivery, choice of words, etc.
Similar activities could be planned for
a number of serials like ‘Small Wonder’ in Star Plus and
‘Flinstone’ in Cartoon Network which would enrich
our classroom work and make it enjoyable. Ø
Learners listen to a conversation in one language and participate in a
debate in another language. Learners
listen to a conversation where two or more people are caught in a controversy or
are discussing a debatable issue. For
example, it may be a conversation between a girl and her parents where the girl
wants to study further or take up a job while the parents want her to get
married. This can lead to a debate
on a number of issues ranging from whether girls should work or get married,
whether children should do what they want or obey their parents, priorities in
life and so on. Learners could be
asked to take up the roles of the people in the conversation and try to convince
each other their point of view. They
can do this in their mother tongue first and then in English.
Ø
Learners prepare a questionnaire and conduct a survey in one language and
present the results orally or in writing in another language. Learners
are assigned a task to survey their neighbourhood and collect information on
specific topics. This they could do in their mother tongue or the language
understood by the neighbourhood community and then present the report in
English. Alternatively they could
collect data from their classmates in English and present a report , for example, in a parents meeting in
their mother tongue. Ø
Learner plays a game at different levels in different languages
There
can be a number of other activities and a few are mentioned below.
Each activity can be expanded in a number of ways and can branch off into
a number of new activities.
Ø Learners
participate in a role-play or simulation first in mother tongue and then in the
target language. Ø
Learners participate in role plays where in the participants are users of
different languages. Ø
Learners write two letters to convey the same message in two different
languages and compare ways of expression in both the languages. Ø
Learners read a poem in the target language and write a similar one in
mother tongue. Ø
Learners read a play in the target language, adapt the theme to suit
their mother tongue community and rewrite it in mother tongue and in the target
language. 3.
Summary There
is no limit to the learning experiences that can be devised using the
multilingual resources of the teachers and learners. All that we need to
remember as Billows (1961) says: …
we must see that the pupil takes with him the ability to manage without us when
he leaves school and our part of the process is over. It
is possible to make the learners to use more than one language in a meaningful
and creative way. Using the first
language of the learners need not inhibit them from learning a second language
If mechanical translation from one language to another is avoided and if both
the languages are used in such a way that they complement each other and enrich
the experience of the learners. 4.
Tasks for Consolidation
5.
Reference Maley,
Allen. ‘A Matter of Time’. English Teaching Professional. January 2001: Issue Eighteen.
London. Billows,
F. L. The Techniques of Language Teaching. Longman : 1961 Websites:
www.coursesuseek.com
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