SOCIOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF ELT IN INDIA ARIJIT GHOSH, SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES, PONDICHERRY UNIVERSITY, arijit2net@gmail.

com The paper wants to argue that why English continues to enjoy sociological significance in India despite political freedom from British rule. New demands are emerging from the grassroots levels the Dalits and the villagers with their expectations conditioned by socio economic forces. ELT is facing challenges of providing quality education because of a vicious cycle of seemingly unavoidable problems. The paper tries to find a way out that might bring a change of the conditions.

TEACHING ENGLISH TO STUDENTS IN BIHAR VINITA SINGH, WSDC, University of Delhi,Vinita0788singh@gmail.com Teaching and Learning English Language /Literature in a state like Bihar where the state boards have not made English a compulsory subject, becomes very difficult and demanding. Students from Bihar Board pass their secondary exams ignoring English as marks in this subject are not counted .This crowd of students later on chooses their field of study- majoring in subjects of their choice. In my paper I talk about my experience of teaching Language and Literature to students from Management and professional courses. The innovative practices that I used are what I focus upon.

The integration of ICT in Initial Teacher Training: How are students being prepared to be an English teacher in the digital era? Brun, Mario & Hinostroza, J.Enrique, Institute of ICT in Education (University of La Frontera, Chile) and Centre for Research on Educational Policy and Practice, Chile, mario.brun@iie.cl This paper presents the main results from a national study about ICT use in 46 Initial Teacher Training institutions in Chile, carried out during 2009 as part of the international project ICT in Initial Teacher Training conducted by the Organization for the Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Main findings show a favorable institutional context for ICT integration, in terms of infrastructure, support, policies and teachers self -reported ICT skills. Additionally, teachers use quite frequently some ICT resources and attach great importance to students learning of ICT. However, this process is limited to a few resources, and is more oriented to traditional pedagogical activities than to innovative ones: the overall situation related to English Language Education is particularly described in this paper. The findings presented might constitute a leap forward for developing a more innovative and higher quality Teacher Education in Chile, by providing relevant information for policy-making in this field.

Newspaper A Creative Teaching Aid in English for Teacher and Learner Development Heemal Handoo Bhat, D.A.V Public School, New Delhi English is the most popular language medium in the rapidly developing country that is marching towards globalization. English teaching should therefore align itself to modern necessities. It is the teacher who should visualize, develop innovative ideas and implement creative methods to teach English to the modern classroom. Newspaper is a common base material that can be accessed by all. It has some inherent, exceptional material covering various concepts in English. Creatively using and connecting the newspaper to teach various applications in English is a new path worth practicing. The author has used this medium to develop inventive methods which are activity-based and has found them effective to teach English. The paper focuses on pedagogies of engagement, motivation, using newspaper as an authentic material with simple research support out-of-the box ideas developed to enhance teaching skills and the resultant benefits derived. It also recommends further development of this teaching module. Strategic Teaching of English and Ideas in a Digital Language Lab - A case study on : PVKs Beyond the Syllabus Programme 2008-2011 Prof. Hari Sundar.G.Ram,VIT harisundarg@vit.ac.in BS, VIT University ,sundarsmm@gmail.com,

This case study is based on the real life experiences of English teaching implemented by one of the well known teachers of English Language. The case deals with the experimentation of an after-class teaching initiative implemented at a Government Arts and Science College in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Gods own country, Kerala by one of the most prolific English teacher of the State. The case provides an overall view of the off the class programme for language teaching and describes the entire programme apart from offering insights on how an innovative, internet and computer based, student-specific teaching programme of great value can be put in place and conducted. It also contains suggestions on how such a programme can be calibrated to suit the demands of management schools in the non-English speaking world. The case describes how the particular method of English language teaching could be successfully adopted into the curriculum of various management schools in the country. This methodology was successfully implemented by Prof. P. Vijayakumar, former Head of the Department of English of the Government College for Women, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. This case has been written as a token of appreciation of the work carried out by an eminent language teacher for the selfless services rendered to the field of literature.

COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING A REMEDIAL APPROACH

S. DIRAVIDAMANI, mani.diravi@gmail.com

BHARATHIAR

UNIVERSITY,

COIMBATORE,

This paper seeks the possibilities of applying the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) a remedial Approach for slow learners. Teaching is more than just imparting knowledge to students. Teaching is also about effective communication and without the cap acity to effectively communicate the students from different background cannot perform well at various fronts of social life. Call Centres, shopping malls, trade fairs etc., all need young personnel, at least fluent in English. Learning to speak is an important goal in itself, for it equips students with a set of skills, which they can use for the rest of their lives. Speaking is the mode of communication most often used to express opinions, make arguments, offer explanations, transmit information, and make impressions upon others. Students need to speak well in their personal lives, future workplaces, social interactions, and political endeavors. They will have meetings to attend, presentations to make, discussions and arguments to participate in, and groups to work with. If basic instruction and opportunities to practice speaking are available, students position themselves to accomplish a wide range of goals and be useful members of their communities. Remedial Approach is all about identif ying slow learners and giving them necessary guidance to help them overcome problems. The paper concludes with suggestive remarks about Communicative Language Teaching a remedial Approach and also provides a solution for the teachers, which will help slow learners to have a better grasp in Communicative skills.

Student-Teacher Development Through Portfolio Assessment S.PUSHPALINGAM, PONDICHERRY UNIVERSITYTY DR.K.CHELLAMANI, PONDICHERRY UNIVERSITY, Sapush4@gmail.com Development of professional teachers starts from the student-teachers training period itself. It is the period which provides opportunities to student-teachers to get exposure in the field of teaching. This knowledge of teaching in their discipline help them when they become teachers. But in reality, most of the trained teachers donot perform as what they have learnt, as a result they fail to fulfill the expectations of students and administrators. This is probably due to the mismatch between learning and assessment of learning. So far we are using product based evaluation which provides little opportunities to students to reflect their accomplishment and discover their weakness. This can be changed only by adapting process based evaluation. There are indicators showing professionalizing quality such as sound knowledge in their subject, pursuing ethical principle of profession, integration of professional technique and personal ability and participation of research activities. These qualities can be enhanced by reflective learning. It is an important stage of learning that indicates students weakness and strength by correlating previous knowledge. It is a component of portfolio assessment.

Portfolio assessment involves the process of planning, collection, review, reflection and selection. By following the above in the process of learning, student -teachers can march towards better development of professional qualities and in turn create a better world. In addition selfassessment plays an immense role in development of a teacher. With this foregoing statement, portfolio assessment is the right choice to implement in teacher training academic period which moulds student-teachers in complete shape before finishing the course. This paper describes various perspectives such as definition of portfol io and portfolio assessment, planning and development of portfolio assessment, and scoring techniques, and effect of using in teacher training students.

Success Versus Failure of Group Activities in the Classroom Dr Divya John, SSN College of Engineering, Chennai,divyajohn@ssn.edu.in This paper is a case study of two classes wherein group activities worked in one and failed in the other. Introspection into two activities was conducted taking various factors into consideration to find out how and why it worked in Class A and failed in Class B. Students were also made to evaluate their group work on (1) the kind of grouping preferred, (2) the benefits of group work, (3) the problem faced while doing the activities and (4) the suggestions for effective group work in future. This is followed by the teachers evaluation of the study.

Innovation Its ovation in ELT R.ANNIE KARUNYA, Holy Cross College,Trichy,akarunya@yahoo.com Monotony will lead to boredom. The routine lecture method c an be a real torture for students. As change is the only constant, the need of the day in ELT classroom is innovation. Innovation is making changes in something already existing, as by introducing new methods and ideas. An ELT class should be unscripted and unpredictable for the students. Apart from regular syllabus an English teacher should incorporate creative methodology to make the classroom thrive with activity. Content based on Event Management, role plays, correction of funny letters, incorporation of literature and the main subject, interpreting cartoons and optical illusions, solving mystery, problems through lateral thinking, proposing futuristic products, telling stories from different perspectives, translation, finding adjectives from classifieds will make the ELT teacher the most awaited teacher. Thus, the fruit of teachers innovation is learners ovation.

THE TRUE ART OF READING R. Manjula, JNTUA College of Engineering, Anantapur, reddivarimanjula@yahoo.co.in The fate of books depends on the discernment of the reader - Terentius Maurus

Reading in English is like reading in your native language. This means that it is not always necessary to read and understand each and every word in English. Unfortunately students seem to think reading means starting at the beginning, and going word by word, stopping to look up every unknown vocabulary item until they reach the end. When they do this, students are relying exclusively on their linguistic knowledge employing only intensive style of reading skills. Some teachers also only know this method and believe that by teaching the vocabulary and grammar that is all the leaner needs. However intensive reading alone will not make students good readers. In fact, too much intensive reading encourages the habit of reading English very slowly. Depending on the purpose of reading, the reader will require different reading strategies and skills in order to understand the subject content and language pattern of a message. This article recommends learning of effective reading strategies through both intensive and extensive approaches. Self Monitoring An Approach to Teacher Development Dr.P.M.Usha Rani, B.S.Abdur Rahman University Chennai-48, pmusharani4@gmail.com Teachers can evaluate their own performance by collecting information of their classroom teaching and classroom management. This is called self monitoring. It is intended for personal professional development. This is done through a systematic and objective collection of teaching behaviour and this information is used for taking decision to introduce necessary changes for better teaching in future. Self monitoring is done to gain a better understanding of ones own teaching and ones own strengths and weaknesses as a teacher. This self appraisal is necessary for teacher development. Perspectives on Second Language Teaching: Trends and Problems prevalent in Teaching English to Rural Student Geetanjali Bhagat,Regional Institute of English Sector 32, Chandigarh, anbhgt@yahoo.co.in

English, being the language of the present globalized world, plays central role in bringing peoples and nations together. No doubt, acquiring skills in English language is an integral part of the Education system in India. But teaching English as a second language has its own difficulties as language acquisition differs a lot from one individual to another. In such a case the teachers dealing with rural students, who quite often lag behind from their counterparts in cities, have to make extra efforts to cater to the diverse groups of students. Moreover lack of technology, poor infrastructure, large dropout rate, financial conditions and interference of mother tongue pose additional problems. The present study proposes to take such aspects into consideration that very often trouble the English language teachers as well as the learners. At the same time an effort will be made to seek solutions for the same so that the efficiency of the learners can be increased and this divide between the urban and rural students (on the basis of language skills) be reduced for the betterment of the society.

Improving Writing Skills of the Students at the Tertiary level Using Portfolio Assessment FREEDA RAJAKUMARI, SATHYABAMA UNIVERSITY, freeda28raja@yahoo.co.in Portfolio assessment has the potential for greater construct validity for school-based writing assessment at all levels of education where learning to write is a central curricular goal. Any assessment must help the students to understand their ability and not to discourage or demoralize the students. Instead, an assessment should serve the students interest by guiding them properly and also by providing meaningful inputs. A classroom is a place where a variety of participants with potentially perspectives meets and interact which gives rise to a tension between their student and teachers perceptions and goals of language teaching. Teaching and learning are thus a dynamic phenomena (cf. prabhu,1992). Portfolio is a form of authentic assessment in which a students progress is measured over a period of time in various language learning contexts. GENIUS PLUS GADGET MAKETH A GLOBAL GURU Ms. Archana Arul, SRM University, Kattangulathur. All I want is facts! quipped Dickens! Gone are the days when people were startled by this statement of Mr. Grangrind, because todays educational system has something worse than fact and fancy. There is a general curfew to the natural curiosity of children; instead an entire system of routine memorization that has been imposed in the classrooms. The teacher has no choice but to passively witness this pathetic condition wrestling with a constant guilt of swimming with dharma and of guru hood. Little did Lewis Carroll know that his lines, Eager eyes and willing ears, Lovingly shall nestle near. will become a dream of the future. Children in classes are neither eager nor willing and if at all they are so it is for an entirely different reason-- grades, which is directly related to job market. Education in the current scenario has become a marketable commodity. That being the environment a Guru is expected to shoulder higher responsibilities compared to the situations of yester years. The term competitive world calls for competence students, teachers and institutions. This paper is an attempt to drive home the point that genius plus gadget maketh a global guru. A synergy of passion to teach, depth and width in subject knowledge, and excellent communication skills alone does not make a good teacher. A successful teacher is a student for life. The expectations of the society being what it is, all teachers should be equipped with latest technological innovations (Gadgets) with a view to enabling students to comprehend better and enrich their minds more easily. A teacher should constantly upgrade technical skills and use appropriate gadgets to facilitate an easy environment for students.

Developing Engineering Students Communication Apprehension

English

Proficiency

by

Reducing

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Madhu Sudhan Rao.M, MVR College of Engineering & Technology, Vijayawada, AP, madhu24mummy@gmail.com Communication Skills Lab is a course for undergraduate engineering and technology students studying at the colleges affiliated to Acharya Nagarjuna University, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. The main objective of the course is to develop students communication skills. At the start of the course, it is observed that many students have speech anxiety. Communication Skills Lab modules are used among a sample of 50 students at MVR College of Engineering & Technology, Vijayawada. Speaking Tests were administered to the same students to assess their speaking skills. The tests have revealed that majority of the students have high communication apprehension. Measures are taken to help students overcome communication apprehension. This paper discusses the results of Communication Skills Lab and speaking tests. It explains the steps taken to help students overcome their communication apprehension and thus developing their communication skills.