Escalating Learner Participation in a Language Classroom

Abstract

In the context of India, the status of English became well defined with the proposal of the Three Language Formula proposed by the Indian Education Commission (1964–66), which recognized English as 'an associate official language of the Indian Union.' This is essential given the fact that though English enjoys a high status in the wake of globalization, its teaching and learning in the educational institutions (where the medium of instruction is not English) is rather inadequate and unproductive. Kolawole (1998) notes that English language teaching is beset with many challenges, such as lack of relevant resources, insufficient duration of teaching, and conventional styles of instruction.  Usually, the learners in vernacular medium schools spend about eight years studying English as a subject before they come to secondary school. Unfortunately, during all this time, the primary emphasis is placed on rote learning and accumulation of knowledge, such as word meanings and grammar rules. In my experience as an English teacher in a secondary school, even after spending years learning the language, many learners are not able to cope with the communicative English in the real world; therefore, a reform in the English teaching approaches is the need of the hour.