Education Forum

Speech-fronted program to teach English:

Materials and their adaptation

Asantha U. Attanayake

Lecturer in English Language, ELTU, University of Colombo

At the moment of these articles being published, a project under the theoretical perspectives that have been under discussion in the previous and the forthcoming articles is being implemented in the University of Colombo, under the English Language Teaching Unit (ELTU) where I render my services. The target student population is the new intake to the Faculty of Arts, 2009. It is a mix ability group of the two lowest English language proficiency levels as per the placement test. The strength of the population is around 500.

The interviews I held (in 2007) with the teachers of English in the three universities (Colombo, Jaffna and Sabaragamuwa) for my research showed that they were not satisfied with the materials. One common comment was that the materials in use were not suitable for the Sri Lankan context. Given below are some of the responses of the teachers: "Sometimes it is disastrous.

Most of the time you see a curriculum or materials that are photocopies of foreign materials that are American or from London and you see sentences like 'John went to London....' I think that is absurd and is quite a reflective thing."

"The lessons they (Students) learn should be incorporated with their real life situations."

"Poor teaching would occur because the curriculum or the lesson material is not properly planned and done. Or it is not related to student needs."

My own observation and analysis of the lesson materials in use also showed that certain concepts were divorced from student realities.

Students' responses on the same revealed that they found the material as 'student unfriendly'.

Such a situation may be prevalent in many other English courses in the country as well.

How and why is it that we keep the materials and their content away from our students? Or, to put it the other way, how and why do we not make content close and related to our students' real life situations?

English and distancing

There can be many potential answers to such questions: among them, using materials directly taken from the books and other sources published in the West or Europe; not relying on our own sources and resources; the mentality of some of us that we use 'queen's English' and that we need to teach our students the same; the perception (or deception?) that anything coming from the West and the Europe is superior to our own (the colonial mentality); the association of modern knowledge with English and English speaking countries and the dissociation of the same with our own mother tongues and mother land, etc. I can go on listing this for another page or so, yet what is essential is that to critique the issue of making the materials akin to students' day-to-day lives, thereby examining the advantages of it in teaching English to our students.

First and foremost, we need to remember that the majority of our students are from rural or semi-rural backgrounds. They do not use English at homes, nor do they get a chance to use it with their peers. Even in schools, which most of the time run with lack of facilities, sometimes students do not have a teacher to learn English from for many years. This is the stark realty. When they come to the university, it is inevitable that they are unable to use the language in any form. They have already being distanced from English due to reasons that are beyond their control.

With such a student population in our classrooms, the primary task is to make them 'feel' that English is one of their (our) languages. Whatever said and done, by now English has become our own as much as it is nobody's and therefore everybody's language. So why not make our students feel it the same way?

Future of lesson materials

Herein, I would like to bring forth the concept of future of lesson materials as perceived by Brian Tomlinson (2003).

* Greater personalization and localization of materials

* Greater flexibility and creativity of use * More respect for the learners

* More affectively engaging content

* A greater emphasis on multicultural perspectives and awareness

* More opportunities for learners with experiential (and especially kinesthetic) learning style preferences

* More attempts made to engage the learner in the language learning process as an experienced, intelligent and interesting individual

* More attempt made to use multidimensional approaches to language learning

The nomenclature stresses on personalization and localization of materials with repetitions in other words and phrases such as multicultural, multidimentional approaches, respect for learners, with rooms for affective (emotional) engagement, etc. Such a direct and indirect stance over localization of materials in terms of their future manifests the necessity to bring English language learning a task which is close to students and their day-to-day realities.

Localization of teaching materials

There are many reasons why educators and learners need to localize materials (Wikipedia). Here are a few: What have been given within parenthesis are in relation to the speech-fronted programme under implementation in the University of Colombo.

1. To address a particular teaching style or learning style of students - concrete and abstract perceivers; active and reflective processors

2. To adapt for a different grade level (low proficiency groups of level 1 and 2)

3. To adapt for a different discipline (first year students, just entered, therefore, not applicable)

4. To adjust for a different learning environment (university language classroom - more responsibility for self learning; as group activities- more interactive and autonomous)

5. To address diverse needs (immediate and deferred needs)

6. To address a cultural preference (a culture which is a blend of local, western and in some instances Indian)

7. To address either a school or a district's standardized curriculum (speech-fronted programme at the university level) Possible adaptations to suit the local situations can be listed as follows:

* Thematic adaptations

* Functional adaptations

* Cultural adaptations

* Character adaptations

* Adaptations to suit learner age and intelligence level

Gradation of activities is accomplished as per the scales presented in the previous article. (From least interactive to most interactive potential and from low cognitive potential to high cognitive potential, considering the proficiency level of the target group).

Localized, personalized and thus adapted materials would give students the feeling that English is not a far distant dream, but a close reality. When the concept of Kaduwa as perceived by professor Thiru Kandiah some decades ago is diminishing in the society, now, we as educators of this language need to make use of the opportunity to bring it close to students' hearts first and later to their brains. In order to accomplish the task, we need to start from a point which students themselves feel that they are vulnerable, that is, speaking in English. We need to create a safe-zone for them to speak within the four walls of the classroom with the friendly approach of their teachers and amongst the sameness of the peers with an overall aim of building their confidence to speak in English. Therein, as I believe, the materials which are akin to their real life experiences would do the magic.

[email protected]

Reference: Tomlinson, B. (2003). Developing materials for language teaching.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Gambling with students' future?

A couple of weeks ago, the Supreme Court had seriously warned the Commissioner of Examinations, Anura Edirisinghe against gambling with students` future. It is with deep regret that I recall prior to this embarrassing court-scene, on several occasions, serious accusations had been levelled against him and his department over the incompetent and inefficient handling of exam-related matters which had given rise to serious problems.

Just last year at the G.C.E. O/L Examination, the candidates had to resit the Mathematics paper, because the original paper had reportedly been a little too advanced.

When the issue was raised by the media, a few justifications were made by people who had been more or less involved in setting the paper.

Still, the whole thing had to be done all over again. Because of an advanced gaffe made by a couple of incompetent officials from the Department of Examinations and/or some academics who had been entrusted with the task of setting the said paper, the whole thing had to be rearranged at a massive cost. Because he was the exam chief, it was he who earned the public wrath and received much of the flak.

Maybe the blame should have been more fairly apportioned. But, at the end of the day, it was tax-payers` money that was squandered. The cost factor apart, this controversy largely eroded people`s faith in the Department of Examinations.

This is but one instance where the incompetency of the Department of Examinations has been too conspicuous to ignore.

It is true, beyond doubt, that the Department of Examinations has to arrange quite a few exams per year and handle a vast number of answerscripts. Also, while what services it discharges go all unsung, its occasional errors are brought to spotlight and roundly criticized.

But the crux of the matter is that the Department of Examinations has to deal with much more sensitive issues than the other State institutions. For instance, a miscalculation of the 'Z' score of a particular A/L candidate may possibly ruin his chances of university entrance because the fourth point digit itself constitutes a critical decider.

What is worse is that it seldom ends there and continues to affect the 'Z' scores of all the other candidates above and below him. Viewed in this light, no mistake is so small that it can be ignored and such mistakes possibly result in costly errors both financially and socially.

Against this backdrop, it is both natural and reasonable for one to wonder whether the Department of Examinations from time to time neglect its duty and/or whether the exam chief is a little too mild to have those under him strictly follow or adhere to the relevant procedure and work up to the required standard. Obviously, a veteran administrator of Mr. Edirisinghe`s calibre should be more in control of things that seriously affect all the stakeholders involved.

Jayashanha Jayawardhana - Wayamba University

Teaching English in Government schools

I remember, it was when I had entered the Third Grade that I began to study English at school. Of all that I was taught then, I can remember Muru, the Nigerian lad, and Taro, the Japanese lad and Mr.Wolf, the time-keeper. At the very beginning, it was a monumental failure. Our English teacher could hardly inspire us to learn English, the foreign language with enthusiasm. I am not certain whether it was her fault or mine that I started to hate studying English as soon as I had begun to learn it. At the time, I think, none of the peers was genuinely interested in studying the subject, either.

What I want to emphasize here is that it is easy to begin with the beginning only if a particular English teacher is equipped with sound teaching skills and the ability to inspire the beginners in addition to adequate academic qualifications. Bungle it all at the starting point and the 40 odd students in the classroom would squander years before they are able to grasp the basics of English language they are supposed to understand at the outset. If the worst comes to the worst, some of them would never really be able to make it to the required level.

School teachers

The challenge is then up to those who train Government school teachers at various training colleges and academies. Given the English language skills of the majority of children from the outstation schools, and the ever rising failure rate of students at the G.C.E. O/L English paper, I really doubt the effectiveness of those training program designed to equip the teachers with sound pedagogical skills.

Also, a great many of English teachers from Government schools I know are only really interested in sticking to the textbook and cover the syllabi within the pre-determined time frame. The last thing they seem to want to accomplish is to inspire students to learn this beautiful language. New teachers, are only too willing to follow the ways of their senior counterparts. Or it is also possible that they reserve their teaching skills for the tuition classes conducted by them in the after-school hours.

In Kuliyapitiya, my home town, I know there are a couple of persons who continue to practise this, apparently under the aegis of the principals of the schools. I suppose so because whereas it is public knowledge that they continue to be engaged in this in manner no action has been taken against them.

Unethical

Getting back to the beginning, I must admit that I picked up something from all those who taught me English up to my O/Levels. And it would be both incorrect and unethical for me to say I learned nothing from them.

Also, what I had gained from them was certainly helpful to me when I started to study English in depth and more systematically.

But, I remember, while at school, my peers who had some English background ie. children of teachers and of other white-collar professionals were at a definite advantage over me when it came to learning English probably owing to the fact that none of my parents knew the 'superior tongue'.

Had my English teachers been able to convince me that I had to study English as a language and not as a subject and there was a great deal more to it than just to score higher marks at the term tests, I would have learned English much sooner than I did.

A great job

It is not that I bear the pessimistic view that all the English teachers of all the Government schools are perfectly incapable of teaching English, but that I see the majority of them only really aim at completing the syllabi in time.

They do not seem to mind whether students learn English or not. However, my letter will hardly be impartial unless I admit that there are teachers who are really doing a great job. But it is sad that they are very rare and constantly run the risk of relegating themselves to the position of their more practical counterparts. Therefore it is necessary to teach all these teachers to teach students and also to learn from the latter to teach them better.

- J.J.