Language and Language Teaching, Issue 2 - Azim Premji Foundation

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There was a lot of resistance, but it was notagainst English alone. Several quarters launchedmassive attacks against issue-based curriculum,and the critical approach it envisaged. TheGovernment of Kerala democratically tackledthe debate and the polemics that were generatedin the state. However, since there was a highlymotivated and convinced group of peopleworking with me, I could face the criticism withease. Besides, those who criticised were notready for any intellectual debate; nor did theypropose any alternatives.PKJ: How far have your ideas beenincorporated in the current English textbooks ofthe state level schools in Kerala? Are you happywith them?KNA: I am happy with the textbooks, thoughthere are certain areas that need to be revisited.In any case, no textbook should run for morethan five years. Besides, I do not fully endorsetop-driven models; models must be evolved atthe bottom level with the ownership of theteachers, the people, and the community ingeneral.PKJ: In spite of an increasing acceptance ofsome of your ideas in the Kerala academia,there is a lot criticism of the books that havebeen produced under your guidance. You havebeen accused of idealism, and not understandingthe reality of Kerala. How do you respond tothese criticisms?KNA: I have been criticized for being adreamer and an idealist. In a democracy, anyonewho initiates a change will be criticized. As Iam a student of critical pedagogy, I think thateven my models should be critically examined.At the same time, no one can ignore the changesthat have been taking place in the field.PKJ: Your popularity has led the AndhraPradesh State Council of Educational Researchand Training (SCERT) to seek your guidance inpreparing their English textbooks. Could you tellus the extent to which the curriculumdevelopment and textbook preparation teamshave accepted your theoretical understanding?Have you experienced any contextualconstraints, or diluted your position?KNA: I have worked for the curriculum andtextbook revision of SCERT Andhra Pradesh,with experts such as Rama Kant Agnihotri andA. L. Khanna. I personally believe that therevised textbooks of Andhra Pradesh havemoved away from skill-based pedagogy todiscourse-based pedagogy.PKJ: How do you wish to carry out your agendaat the national level?KNA: There are a lot of challenges ahead ofus. I understand that similar initiatives are takingplace across the world. There are market-drivenforces that work for corporate demands ineducation. There are also forces that promotelinguistic imperialism. I join hands with all thosewho work against these forces.P. K. Jayaraj is an ELT expert at the RegionalInstitute of English, South India, Bengaluru. He hascontributed to the development of the statecurriculum, and the production of text books inEnglish for the States of Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.He has published three books in English forMathrubhoomi publications. They are: Say What YouMean, Grammar and Grammar Wars, and WhenWords Bloom.pkjayarajs@gmail.comLanguage and Language Teaching Volume 1 Number 2 July 2012 42
LandmarksTheory and Practice ofLanguage Teaching in IndiaKapil KapoorIndia has a long pedagogical tradition in languageteaching. Of the six Vedangas (sciencesauxiliary to the study of Vedas), four are devotedto language – phonetics, grammar, etymologyand prosody/metre.Education, particularly early education was builtaround two disciplines, language andmathematics, as the primary goal of Indianeducation was to produce virtuous(discriminating) minds and for that the firstrequirement is to develop and sharpen cognitiveprocesses. So education was centered aroundlanguage and mathematics and languageteaching was centered around grammar becausegrammar develops cognitive and analyticalabilities. Indian thinkers thought of education asa whole and located it in the moral and virtuousgrowth of individuals and society.The issue of how language was institutionallytaught in India - one of the world’s longest lastingoral cultures and societies - cannot be discussedexcept in the two wider contexts of (i) the goalof education, and (ii) the place of language inIndian society.We recall that India has the world’s most ancientsystem of knowledge 1 and education.Takshashila University was destroyed in 7 th -8 thcentury. We do not know when it had come intobeing but going by the galaxy of thinkers(Ashvaghosha, Caraka, Kautilya, Panini,Sushruta to mention only a few) and sciencesthat originated there (phonetics, grammar,medicine, surgery, branches of Buddhism, tocount a few) one may say that Takshashila musthave existed for quite a few millennia before itperished. The general Indian educationalpractices were founded on the followingassumptions:(1) central role of memory(2) centrality of the teacher as the agent(3) the text (oral or written) as the instrument(4) the training of the mind as the instrument ofknowledge that was designed to shapethinking (virtuous) minds.In this way, language learning and teaching isthe keystone of the arch. Language 2 is centralto India’s intellectual history 3 . As knowledge isthe supreme purifier (Bhagavadgita, 4.38) andis inseparable from language 4 , languageunderstandably, has been the central object ofinquiry and of sustained and intense investigationin all Indian schools of thought. It has beenstudied in its two aspects — its svarupa, form,and its samarthya, potential to denote/connote.In a remarkable analogy, language, shabda iscompared to dipaka, lamp (Vakyapadiya I, 44,II.298-299) – when it is lighted, it reveals itselfand also reveals other associated meanings – itis the object to be grasped (grahya) and themeans of grasping objects (grahaka).The Indian conception of language differs inthree ways from the Western:(i) language is speech, not writing (script);(ii) language is a cognitive system (not, primarily,of communication) and,(iii) language is a constructivist system (not arepresentational system).Language and Language Teaching Volume 1 Number 2 July 2012 43
Page 3 and 4: Language and Language TeachingVolum
Page 5 and 6: marking. The judgment is not a ‘l
Page 7 and 8: All classroom experiences are insta
Page 9 and 10: for us. In this article I focus on
Page 11 and 12: However, we were not successful in
Page 13 and 14: observations are very similar to th
Page 15 and 16: ensure that they get a solid founda
Page 17 and 18: of Marathi. The remarkable thing wa
Page 19 and 20: Popularizing any language is a two-
Page 21 and 22: Cartoon Shows: A Tool to Facilitate
Page 23 and 24: Comprehension is a two-fold process
Page 25 and 26: 4) What did they do to solve the pr
Page 27 and 28: Then we sat down, and I told them t
Page 29 and 30: Democratizing the Classroom: August
Page 31 and 32: I) Ask for different ways of handli
Page 33 and 34: change. They are ready to flout eth
Page 35 and 36: observer. In the context of the pre
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Page 39 and 40: ConclusionAgain, sometimes papers h
Page 41: (SLAP), which materialized a shift
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Page 49 and 50: Mesthrie does not sound convinced w
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Page 53 and 54: use of lesson plans, etc.), and pra
Page 55 and 56: Practice in a Second Language: Pers
Page 57 and 58: students that these words occur in
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Page 61 and 62: ReportWorkshop on Continuous and Co
Page 63 and 64: The workshop, in general, created a
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