International Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature (IJSELL)

Volume 1, Issue 1, March 2013, PP: 1-5

www.arcjournals.org, © ARC Journal

ELT in India: An Analysis

Dr. Arun K. Behera

Dept. of English, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning,
Brindavan Campus, Kadugodi Post, Bangalore - 560067

Abstract: Due to its association with the British colonizer, English started life in India as not just a
foreign language, but as a much hated language. From the despised instrument of oppression to the
reluctantly adopted lingua franca to the status symbol of the upper classes to its position today as a
second language, English has come a long way. English Language, the language of news, business,
information, opportunity, employment, power and prestige in India, has become the synonym of all
progress in the recent years. The liberalization of the Indian economy ushered in all kinds of reasons to
learn this language. English language teaching (ELT) has acquired new dimensions in as much as it has
crept itself into diverse methods of ELT at school as well as college levels.

Keywords: English Language Teaching, Teaching Methodologies, Communicative Language Teaching,

Situational Language.

1. INTRODUCTION
While earlier in the century students who had specialized in English joined either teaching or the civil
services, now a whole new spectrum of job opportunities has opened up. There are now call centers that
need trainers to equip their employees with communication skills, there are multinationals who have been
recruiting marketing staff that need to be taught spoken English, there are medical transcription centers
which need efficient translators and reporters. Those desirous of immigration to the West need
professional help for qualifying tests like the IELTS, TOEFL etc. Hence, the avenues where English
Language Teaching (ELT) has come to be required in India are unlimited today.

2. ELT-NEED FOR TRANSFORMATION

Notwithstanding the fact that today English enjoys the status of a big business in the wake of
globalization; teaching and learning of it in educational institutions in our country especially in the small
towns and rural areas is rather inadequate and unproductive. Of late, we the Indian teachers of English at
the undergraduate level have become painfully aware that most students in the college easily manage to
pass the examination without making much effort to either pick up the language or learn to appreciate the
utility of language. Most of the students attend classes because they have to complete the minimum
requirement of lectures so that they can appear in the examination. The situation is worse in rural areas
where most of the students are commuters and find it hazardous to carry books for they need both the
hands for fighting their way into the crowded buses as well as for getting out of them through the jostling
crowds.
So, they attend classes without books which are supposed to be their unavoidable companions. Also, most
of them have already developed the habit of cramming everything because the effort, the attitude and the
methods adopted in schools which are repository of only availability to rural students, do little to help a
child who finds solution only in the rote method of learning. Therefore the 'creativity' is lost somewhere.
Even the capable students who can express themselves in writing do so in their native language, not in
English. This is their understanding of only the vernacular language well that the teacher is always
expected to translate each and every phrase so that at least the literary texts are somehow driven home.

But there remains the important task of importing the basic function of language i.e. to communicate
properly. Though there are some students who can write fairly well in English, but when it comes to
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ELT in India: An Analysis
speaking, they find themselves in tight corners. Just consider the frustration of such a first generation
learner who has all the expectations of his elders behind him and knows that no job is waiting for him till
he has a good command over the English language. Hence the students are not eager but unwilling, angry
and frustrated to improve their speaking skills.

Now, when we, the teachers of English, address ourselves to the ever passing problem of how to meet the
requirement of Indian students because of their deficiency in the said language, we confront this crude
fact that more than the student, it is the teacher of English who is guilty of leaving the student in a
quandary. This is so because we refuse to do anything for the student. Most of us have matter of fact
attitude towards teaching which allows us to perform our duty only and do nothing else. In a way, we
become the carriers of degeneration in teaching as well as life in general, for expediency rather than
morals, is what informs all our activities of life including teaching.

3. TEACHING METHODOLOGIES
Several reasons can be accounted for this sad and deplorable situation of ELT in India but much of the
onus lies on the ways, approaches and methods adopted to teach English. However much the examination
system may be faulty and the syllabus not suitable to the needs of the students, the methodology of
teaching is the key factor and the real power in the hands of a teacher. English is still treated as a subject
to be taught, not a skill to be mastered. Also, the traditional ELT methods like Grammar Translation
Method, Direct Method and Situational Language Teaching are in no way beneficial to the students in the
changed scenario where the majority of students are desperate to learn English only to be
communicatively competent.
3.1 CLT
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) was introduced in India in the 1980s as the traditional
approaches were failing to fulfill the current demands of English language learners. CLT is a language
teaching programme focusing on learners’ ability to communicate -to facilitate them to use the language
for communication. Communication is thus seen as the major concern in learning a language. Dell Hymes,
who developed the concept of Ethnography of Communication, emphasized that the study of language
involves knowing not only the language structure but also what to say to whom and how to say it
appropriately in any situation. He thus developed the concept of communicative competence.
Communicative Competence in simple words means that it is not enough to be able to produce
grammatically correct sentences but it is important that the speaker is able to produce appropriate
sentences, understanding the social context, the role of the participants, the information they share, and
the function of the interaction.
3.2 The Prominent Features of CLT
a) CLT is learner-centered.
b) CLT emphasizes on learning communication rather than grammar.
c) CLT’s objective is the development of communicative competence and not linguistic competence.
d) CLT encourages ‘fluency and appropriacy’ rather than ‘accuracy’.
e) CLT syllabi are specified more in terms of language functions rather than in terms of language
forms.
f) CLT concentrates more on the message than meaning.

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ELT in India: An Analysis
g) CLT tolerates grammatical errors at an early stage of the learner, but expects them to master the
language at a later stage and produces correct sentences.
h) CLT is task-based.
i) CLT focuses on problem-solving.
j) CLT encourages individualized learning.
3.3 ELT in India
ELT pedagogy was developed primarily in the West where political and social realities were different and
the status of English was fixed whereas, in India, ELT pedagogy depends upon the subtle and not-so-
subtle ways in which the status of English keeps changing. The developments that have taken place in
ELT methodology in the West took some time to reach Indian classrooms. Three factors are responsible
for this gap:

a) Only around the year 1980 did English achieve adequate attention from policy makers, administrators
and teachers.
b) No formal teacher training is given to new recruits or practising teachers (barring the one-year
program).
c) The examination system is more achievement oriented rather than performance oriented.
3.4 CLT in India
Communicative Language Teaching reached both regions (India and the West) between the years 1970 -
1980, with the difference that the Indian context was not ready for CLT. The context of the whole
teaching situation actually started changing around the year 2000. Socio-economic factors played a major
role in this change that is dynamic even today. The liberalization of the Indian economy led to the entry of
many international brands into the learners' mindset. Call centers, shopping malls and trade fairs, all need
young personnel, fluent in English. There is a mushroom growth of private institutes and academies
offering the whole range of proficiency in English from clearing the IELTS to speaking fluently. The
Internet has played a major role in creating a resource-rich environment by giving a wide range of
exposure to English. Becoming web-savvy has emerged as the need of the day and this is possible only
through English.
These are just a few of the factors that have created a panacea for the deadlock that CLT had found itself
in. All these contextual changes in the Indian scenario have affected English language teaching in India
positively showing some hopeful signs of modifications aided by modernization. These signs include
introduction of CLT curriculum by Central Board of School Education in all its affiliated schools,
introduction of ‘English for Specific Purposes’ (ESP) in some Indian schools, infusion of technology with
the teaching of English in the form of Language Labs, availability of the native English Language to the
Indian people with the widespread availability of cable television and satellite television in India,
realization of English as the most preferred language of the global information highway by the new
generation with the rise of computer expertise and internet and reframing of the curriculum by some
universities on CLT pattern.
In spite of all these developments in English Language Teaching and popularity of CLT in many parts of
the country as a comprehensive approach, there are many regions in India where English language is still
facing a very precarious situation. These include mainly the north Indian states. The overall scenario of
teaching English in these states is dismal as the graduates passing out from the colleges and universities
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ELT in India: An Analysis
here are unemployable. Needless to say, that the sole reason for such a huge number of unemployed youth
is lack of communicative competency in the students. So, it is the need of the hour to change the existing
syllabi and reframe the new ones by following CLT approach on a pan-India level.
3.5 ELT Methodologies in India
Where the issue of methodology is concerned, ELT seems to be in three transient stages according to the
different levels of the paradigm and its demands:
a) The first level is that of the institutions run by the Government, mainly Primary, Secondary
and High Schools.
b) At the second level are those institutions that are Semi-Government are run by private
managing bodies, assisted through government funds.
c) The third level comprises purely private sector academies that undertake to make learners
proficient English users within a stipulated period.
This creates a ripple which can be felt in three ways:
a) Young teachers who work in undergraduate colleges work part-time at these academies where they use
the latest teaching aids and materials to achieve fluency at the earliest.
b) The administrative bodies of undergraduate colleges realize that a whole untapped market needs to be
explored which is why they introduce revenue-earning courses in the field of English proficiency, open to
the public.
c) Parents of learners form an important component of the teaching paradigm in India.
3.6 CLT: A Paradigm Shift in ELT in India
Though CLT faces a lot of impediments in its successful implementation in India, it still holds the road to
success. The whole process of curriculum change is riddled with cumbersome and time-consuming
procedures in India and CLT has been able to attain only a limited success, yet it has not been removed
from courses. This, in the long run, has been for the better because while on the one hand, the teachers
have been able to familiarize themselves with its approach and methodology; on the other hand, the
changed and changing context has encouraged its growing success today.

4. CONCLUSION
It is true that mostly this Communicative approach is practiced in the institutes that belong to the third
category above but the ripple created is gradually reaching the ELT classroom. The most significant
impact of this approach is its sensitivity to learner needs and responses. This sensitivity is what has been
lacking in the academic aspect of ELT in India. The whole academic process is so unwieldy that it fails to
respond to learner needs; learner response is too often ignored. The irony of the situation is that while
academicians label these learning centres ‘shops’ or ‘commercial institutes’ it is these establishments that
are a major influence behind the changing face of the ELT paradigm in India.

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ELT in India: An Analysis
REFERENCES
Daisy. (2012) "Communicative Language Teaching- A Comprehensive Approach to English Language
Teaching." Language in India. 12(2). pp. 249-265.
Gupta, Deepti. (2005). “ELT in India: A Brief Historical and Current Over view.” Asian EFL Journal.
7(1). pp. 197-207.
Kachru, Braj B. (1983). The Indianization of English: The English Language in India. New Delhi: Oxford
University Press.
(1986). “The Power and Politics of English.” World Englishes. 5(2/3).121-40.
Pennycook, Alastair. (1994). The Cultural Politics of English as an International Language. Harlow:
Longman Group Ltd.

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