LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Can Hurdles be Overcome by Learners of
ESL in Learning to Speak English?

D. Sankary, M.A., M.Phil., B.Ed., Ph.D.

Abstract

Even though proficiency in ESL includes all the four major skills, invariably, the skill of writing predominates the Indian ESL curriculum. The reason may be, perhaps, traced to the ESL education scenario which existed in the pre independence era, when the British government needed the Indian employees mostly in the domain of clerical jobs. (Chaudhary, S.C., 2002). But in the present context, Indians need considerable proficiency in all the four major skills in general, and the speaking skill in particular, to communicate with the rest of the world effectively. Against this backdrop, this article attempts to explore some of the factors behind the problems faced by the ESL learners at the tertiary level in India.

Recognizing the Consequences of Poor Skills in English

'Poor language skills flatten out career curve'. 'Lack of oral skills proves dearer in the job market', 'Poor Communicators lose out in placement drives by software giants', 'Varsities will focus on Spoken English.' These are examples of some of the screaming headlines in Indian press these days.

These claims have been supported by some recent studies carried out by researchers in the field of English Language Teaching. A doctoral research carried out recently among the students in 26 engineering colleges spread across the Indian state of Tamil Nadu points out that more than 50% of the respondents had felt that their cognitive process had been affected by the language factor. Further, it adds that their lack of confidence to communicate in English, in spite of their good score in the semester examinations really hinders their aspirations.

New Directions in Anna University and Other Universities in Tamilnadu

Such concerns expressed in the media and the revelations highlighted by the second language research findings have made the higher authorities of a premier technical university sit up and take stock of the situation. As a result, of late, the students of all the III year engineering courses affiliated to Anna University, Tamil Nadu across the state have been prescribed a newly introduced course in English aimed at developing their communicative skills.

Following Anna University a few other universities have already started re-designing their curriculum. Spoken English is now a compulsory component of the Part II General English syllabus for the bachelor's degree in Manonmaniam Sundaranar University located in South Tamilnadu.

Evaluating Student Preparedness

One of the important steps in all these is to assess the students' preparedness to deal with the newly introduced task in their ESL curriculum. For, they may not have had any real experience with oral communication skills in English hitherto, even though they did go through a phase of the so-called "Spoken English" in their +2 (intermediate) course, which required them to mark the stress and the pause in a given passage. This was done by most of them by placing an (') or a (/) anywhere in the given text according to their own perceptions.

Assessing the Level of Performance in Eleventh and Twelfth Grades

Hence, an investigation into the students' ability to speak English was felt necessary and was carried out among a selected group of students who had completed their +2 course under the stream of Tamil Nadu State Board of Higher Secondary Education and who have joined various degree courses at A.P.C. Mahalaxmi College, Tuticorin, affiliated to Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tamilnadu.

For this study, a random sample of 181 students admitted into the different undergraduate disciplines such as History, Tamil Literature, English Literature, Chemistry and Zoology was chosen. This study group was administered a preliminary test to assess their speaking skill.

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