Course-503 Learning Languages at Elementary Level

Block -1 Understanding Language

 There are two ways of looking at language. Ordinary people recognise language only as a means of
communication. Linguists generally look at language as a pairing of a grammar and a dictionary.
 By the time she is four year old, the child develops a language of her own that matches the
correctness principles of the appropriate words and grammar of a given language. We don’t find it
difficult to tell new stories to a four year old everyday and hear the same from her.
 every language depends on a certain set of principles at the levels of sounds, words, grammar and
usage.
 Each language, whether you call it a language or dialect, has a grammar of its own. That language has
its own sound system, grammar rules and all levels of language formation straight.
 . There are very few languages in the language that can have less than three vowels; rather there are
some languages that have 20 vowel sounds. Consonants vary from 8-10 to 40-50. The difference
between Hindi and English is the following: Vowels Consonants Total English 20 24 44 nd Hindi 10 33
43
 These sounds are not listed in the alphabetical system of the language. These are corresponding
sounds of English and Hindi. That means, these have specific significance in the language and these
are the minimum meaningless sounds of a language that can change the meaning of the words in a
language.
 rules in Hindi. Rule – 1: If a word starts with a consonant cluster and the first consonant is /p/ then
the consonants that can cluster with /p/ are /y/, /r/, /l/, and /v/ only and none else.
 no Indian language including English allows to have four consonantal sounds at the beginning of a
word. See that in English in a word such as ‘Psychology’ (where you see 5 consonant letters at the
beginning), there is actually ONLY one consonantal sound i.e. ‘s’. The word ‘psychology’ is actually
pronounced as /saikoloji/. However, the English word ‘stress’ has three consonantal sounds such
as, /s/, /t/ and /r/ at the beginning of a word. It is the same in the word ‘street’
 Rule 2: (a) Not more than 4 consonantal sounds can precede a vowel in the word initial position (b) If
3 consonant sounds occur in a cluster then we have to arrange them in a row. Let’s refer to
consonantal sounds as C1, C2 and C3. C1 can only be /s/ sound C2 can only be /p/, /t/ and /k/ nd C3
can only be /y/, /r/, /l/ and / v/ sounds
 Sanskrit not only has singular, dual and plural, but it also has 15/16 different forms. In Hindi, there
are 2 or 3 and even multiple plural markers for each noun, and all are rule bound
 In Hindi, every noun can have six forms in principle if we consider form and function together. Many
forms may look the same but have different functions in different contexts.
 Hindi has a group of nominal words that change their grammatical category and become adjective by
addition of ‘i’ vowel sound. For example, ‘sarkar’, ‘baazaar’, ‘baigan’, ‘apraadh’ etc become ‘sarkarii’,
‘baazaarii’, ‘baiganii’, ‘apraadhii’ etc.
 t, as compared to the level of words, language is more tightly organised at the level of sentences
 the relationship between subject and verb is very significant in Hindi. It’s important to note that the
verb agrees with the subject as per the gender, person and number of the subject noun.
 . In the Brahmanic society, Sanskrit used to be the standard language. When the Arabs ruled, Arabic
became the standard language and if the Iranians will rule, Persian will be the standard language.
When British rule came, English became the standard language ignoring all the hundreds of
languages that existed in India at that time. Now Hindi and English both are official language or
standard language.
 When we speak about Hindi, Khadi boli would be talked about and Braj variety or Avadhi variety will
only be considered dialects of Hindi.
 Language standardization follows certain steps. As a first step, the language that is called standard
language is the language that had been chosen to be called the standard language from the many
other existing languages of that linguistic area or society . In the third step, the chosen variety will
have a grammar written on its rules and various kinds of dictionaries will be made. There would be
many discussions and structural and analytical books written on that variety of language too which is
called Standard language. The fourth or last stage of standardization is that the language gets the
opportunity to be developed in every other way such as cinema, literature, music and so on and so
forth.
 That standard language becomes the language of media, administration, judiciary and formal
education. Standardization process is very highly related to the process of social exploitation. The
language that gets chosen as the standard language of the many other languages spoken in that area
is the language that has political power, corporate power and other necessary powers.
 children are born with a universal grammar, they have a psychological readiness about language
acquisition and this readiness gets completed with the environmental exposure, which are all natural
and untutored. And the journey of language acquisition continues with a tutored set up as he goes to
school.
 . Language changes in every 15 to 20 kilometres.
 Effective analysis of language at the level of sound, word formation, sentence structure as it is used
stylistically in literature in its various forms can help us to know how is the language of ordinary
usage different from the language of literature.
 it is important to understand the nature of the context in which a given language is being learnt.
Broadly speaking, there can be two contexts: informal or formal.
 Language is not just a pairing of a grammar and a dictionary or simply a means of communication. It
is much more.
 A normal child in any society in any part of the world becomes a linguistic adult by the age of 4. She
acquires the basic vocabulary and structure of her languages and uses them accurately.
 it is believed that of about 5000 languages spoken in the world, about one-third are spoken in India.
Thus, about 1600 languages are spoken in India.
 More than 1600 languages are spoken in India and these languages belong to four different language
families
 composite picture of India’s multilinguality from the 1961 Language Census of India. 1652 mother
tongues were identified during this census and they were in turn classified into 193 languages.
Multilinguality in India also has many dimensions. One dimension of this multilinguality is that the
8th schedule of our constitution names 22 languages; these are indeed some of the major languages
 of India. At the time of our independence this schedule contained 14 languages only; going from 14
to 22 is an evidence of our multilinguality and of the importance people attach to their languages.
 “Multilinguality has very close relationship with language proficiency, scholastic achievement,
cognitive flexibility and social tolerance.” (Agnihotri, 2007, p. 4)
 Subbarao says, “Even though Indian languages seem to prima face differ from each other, they share
various similarities
 The Constitution of America states that only a person who knows English is eligible to become an
American citizen.
 a. After the Indian partition, the Sindhi speaking population settled in India and as per the 2001
census there are 2,535,485 Sindhi speakers in India even today. Similarly, 77,305 Indian citizens
speak the Tibetan language; 10504 Indians speak Farsi, 1106 speak Pashto and 51,728 speak Arabic.
Two thousand five hundred and ninety three Indians living in Pondicherry speak French and there are
also people who speak Burmese, Hebrew, Laotian etc. I
 25/67
 there are 21 sub-castes in the Naga community and about the same numbers of languages are
spoken in the community.
 residents of Goa keep fighting over the existence of Marathi and Konkani. Similarly, residents of
Belgaon in Karnataka are arguing over the existence of Kannada and Marath
 a. There are four language families in India: 1. Indo Aryan. 2. Dravidian 3. Tibeto-Burman. 4. Austro-
Asian/ Munda Some prominent languages in each of these language families are given below: Indo
Aryan: Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Assamese, Sanskrit, Punjabi, Gujrati, Marathi, Konkani, Nepali, Oriya,
Kashmiri etc. Dravidian: Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Kurukh etc. Tibeto-Burman: Manipuri,
Angami, Bodo, Garo, Tripuri, Tangsa, Mizo Munda: Munda, Mundari, Ho, Santhali, Savara etc.
 While taking about Indian languages K. V. Subbarao has said, “When speakers of different language
families have been living together for thousands of years, they affect each others languages and
languages borrow from each other. This exchange gives rise to new linguistic characteristics.”
 Echo words: Such words can be found in all Indian languages. The second word is an ‘extra’ word and
has no meaning if used on its own and sound similar to the first one. For example, the Hindi word
caay-vaay ¼dk;&ok;½ The second word vaay ¼ok;½ has no meaning on its own in Hindi but in this
context refers to any other things like eatables that may accompany tea.
 Reduplicated words: Nouns, adjectives, adverbs etc. can be repeated to create new words in all
Indian languages. When nouns are repeated then ‘every’ is added to the meaning of the word. For
example, the word ghar-ghar in Hindi means ‘every house’.
 All Indian languages have post positions i.e. the prepositional words are placed after the noun. Thus
instead of saying ‘on the table’ where ‘on’ comes before the ‘table’, in Hindi one says ‘mez par
 At the level of sounds: Most Indian languages have retroflex sounds such as those of the T-varg i.e. T,
Th, D, Dh etc. Again a word would never begin with a velar nasal like the one we notice at the end of
‘king’.
 different scripts; Hindi in the Devanagari and Urdu in the Perso-Arabic script. However, they have the
same structure and both were subsumed under the name of Hindustani before the partition of India.
 According to Article 343 of the constitution, Hindi written in Devnagari script is the official language
of India and English is the associate official language. Initially, English was given this status for 15
years but in 1963 it was permanently made the associate official language under the Official
Language Act. Article 345 asked each state to legally adopt one or more languages spoken in their
state along with Hindi as their official languages. Hindi was declared to be the official language of
Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi. Punjabi was
declared the official language in Punjab, Marathi in Maharashtra and Gujarati and Hindi in Gujarat.
Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Oriya, Assamese and Bengali were declared official languages in
Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Orissa, Assam and West Bengal respectively. Sikkim
declared Nepali, Lepcha, and Bhutia as their official languages. Nagaland declared English as their
official language. Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Meghalaya did not adopt any official language
and for purposes of government work, English is used here. The official languages of the centre are
used in the union territories - Chandigarh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Daman and Diu and in
Pondicherry the official language is Tamil.
 Article 351 does state that the union must promote the spread of Hindi and develop Hindi as the
medium of expression.
 SCHEDULED LANGUAGES Languages mentioned in the 8th schedule of the Indian Constitution are
called Scheduled Languages. 14 languages were named in this schedule in 1950. These languages
were - Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi,
Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. Sindhi was included in this list through the 21st amendment to the
constitution (1967). Similarly, Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali were included through the 71st
constitutional amendment (1992) and Boro, Santhali, Maithili and Dogri were included through the
92nd amendment (2003). Thus, at present a total of 22 languages are listed in the constitution as
scheduled languages
 Indian languages can also be categorized as regional languages and mother tongues. A total of 100
regional languages were listed by the 2001 Census and most of these languages contain within
themselves many mother tongues and dialects. Thus, a regional language contains within itself many
mother tongues. The 1961 Language Census identified 1652 mother tongues. The word ‘mother
tongue’ commonly refers to the language spoken at home. The census department defined ‘mother
tongue’ in the following manner for the 2001 Census- “Mother tongue refers to the language in
which a person’s mother speaks to him or her in their childhood. If the mother is not present then
the language spoken at home will be the mother tongue. If there is still doubt then the language
mostly spoken at home is the mother tongue.”(Malikarujun, p. 8)
 The Indian government has laid down the following criteria for declaring a language to be a classical
language: 1. The language has a history/ written literature which is1500 to 2000 years old. 2. Some
ancient literature/ epic has been written in the language and the speakers of the language consider
this literature/ epic a valuable resource. 3. The language has an original literacy tradition and not one
which is borrowed from other language communities. Tamil was declared a classical language in
June, 2004, Sanskrit in 2005 and Kannada and Telugu were given the status in 2008.
 From a linguistic point of view, there is no difference between a language and a dialect. Both
languages and dialects have a grammar i.e. they are rule governed. Awadhi, Braj, Bhojpuri have their
own grammar just like Hindi, English, Sanskrit and other language
 As Rama Kant Agnihotri notes, “What is spoken by powerful and rich people often comes to be
known as ‘language’. Grammars and dictionaries are written for this ‘language’. Literature also comes
to be written in this language. The ‘language’ also becomes the medium in which school teaching
 takes place and thus gets identified as standard language. Languages which are similar to this
standard language come to be known as its dialects. The status of a language also changes with
change in the centre of power. When the political centre for power was Kanoj, then the language of
literature was ‘Aprabhramsh’; Khadi Boli, Braj and Awadhi became its dialects. Similarly, when the
centre for political power was Braj, then, the language of literature was Braj and the Khadi Boli
spoken in Delhi and Meerut become its dialects. And when the centre for power was Delhi and
Meerut, Braj, Awadhi etc became dialects of Hindi.”
 The Hindi: This form of Hindi is not influenced by other dialects of Hindi. It also does not contain any
words of Sanskrit, Arabic and Farsi. Khari Boli: This form of Hindi is considered to be standard Hindi,
today. Different from Braj and Rekhta, this was the language of the common people, the language of
day-to-day use and it was also possible to write literature in this language. Nagri Hindi: The form of
Hindi which was used to write literature. Hindustani : Both, Hindi and Urdu are a part of this form of
Hindi. It uses both Hindi and Urdu words and is a mixture of these two ‘languages
 Standard language: When, out of the many spoken dialects, one comes to be spoken by the educated
and elite sections of society, it acquires the status of a standard language. “The standard language is
not purer than the other languages. At the level of language, all languages are equally organized. But
yes, they are not equal at a societal level.” (Agnihotri, 2007, p. 3)
 Pahari, Nimari, Haroti, Dhudhari, Ahirati are also dialects of Hindi. Here we seem to be talking about
the Hindi language and its dialects: Awadhii, Braj, Maithili, Raajasthani, Bhojpuri etc
 Dr. Ravindranath Srivastav writes, “During processes of social re-organisation a particular dialect gets
more importance than other dialects due to economic, political or cultural reasons. As a result, this
‘dialect’ starts being used as the medium of communication between speakers of the other dialects,
also.
 Khadi Boli is a synonym for standard Hindi and enjoys the status of a language while Braj, Awadhi,
Bhojpuri etc. are mere dialects.
 Braj, Maithili and Awadhi are the prominent languages that have very rich literature and it is in many
ways considered a part of the Hindi heritage. Poets like Soordas, Mirabai, Keshavda, Rahim, Raskhan,
Bihari, Dev, Dhanand, Senapati, Bhushan, Padmakar, Ratnakar among others have enriched the
literature in the language in the medieval period.
 Jaysi and Tulsidas are the prolific poets of Awadhi. Jayasi’s ‘Padmawat’ is a literary epic in Awadhi.
Tulsidas has written a total of 12 prominent pieces - Ramcharitramanas, Kavitavali, Gitawali,
Vinaypatrika etc. Gitavali, Vinaypatrika and Kavitavali are in Braj. Tulsidas wrote with equal control in
both Braj and Awadhi.
 . Poets like Soordas, Mirabai, Keshavda, Rahim, Raskhan, Bihari, Dev, Dhanand, Senapati, Bhushan,
Padmakar, Ratnakar among others have enriched the literature in the braj language in the medieval
period.
 Various sufi poets like Kabir, Dadu, Redas and Guru Nanak enriched Sufi literature. In modern times,
Bharatendu, Mahaveer Prasad Dwivedi, Bal Krishna Bhatt, Prasad, Pant, Nirala, Mahadevi, Agyay,
Raghuveer Sahay and many other writers have given new shape to Hindi literature, have provided it
with energy. Poems, stories, plays, historical accounts, critiques, biographies, travelogues, essays,
diary accounts, reports written by these authors have contributed significantly to the growth of
Hindi.
 e contribution of the first Hindi newspaper ‘Udant Maatrand’ released from Calcutta in 1826 as well
as that of the second newspaper ‘Bangdoot’. Calcutta and non-hindi speaking Bengali’s have had a
significant role in the growth of Hindi newspapers and magazines.
 The Constituent Assembly adopted Hindi as the official language of the Indian union on 14
September 1949. The administrative work in various princely states (riyasat) like Gwalior, Jaipur etc
was carried out completely in Hindi. Furthermore, even though English was the official language of
the Indian government, it was necessary for the British to learn Hindi and this had started as early as
the 1800s with the establishment of Fort William College. In 1878-79 it was necessary for every
official coming from England to India to know Hindi and Hindustani. In 1925 the Congress decided
that it would carry on its day-to-day work in Hindustani, due to Gandhi’s efforts.
 Present status: Hindi is not only the official language of the central government but also the official
language of various state governments. The High courts of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and
Rajasthan give their decision in Hindi and documents can also be submitted in the language.
 STATUS OF ENGLISH IN INDIA Christian missionaries from Britain came to India in 1813 and
established various primary schools which used the local language as the medium of education. Later
on, they established various English medium high schools. British administrators established their
universities after 1857 and English became the first language for Indian education. At a government
level it got the status of an associate official language.
 One-third of the Indian schools were English medium between 1970 and 1980
 The place of English in the school curriculum The Secondary Education commission (1952-53)
emphasized the importance of English. The Education commission (1964-66) also agreed to it. It
proposed the Three-language Formula till class 10. The Three-language Formula states that the first,
second and third languages in school will be: First language The first language which should be
taught in school should be the mother tongue or regional language Second language Any modern
language or English, in Hindi speaking states. Hindi or English in non-Hindi speaking states. Third
language English or any modern Indian language that is not being taught as the second language, in
Hindi speaking states. English or any modern Indian language that is not being taught as the second
language, in non Hindi speaking states.
 The National Policy of Education 1968 accepted that the development of Indian languages and
literature is a necessary condition for educational and cultural progress and until this is done,
people’s creative energies will not be utilized, there will be no improvement in the status of
education and the gap between the academic and common people will not be bridged.
 the National Policy of Education, 1986 has accepted that the National Policy of Education, 1968
should be implemented meaningfully and with speed. In this context, the Ramamurthy committee,
1990 reviewed the National Policy of Education 1986 and significantly commented that an important
reason for why rural children are not able to access higher education is the continued dominance of
the English language. Thus, it is the need of the times that regional languages may be encouraged as
the medium of education at all levels.
 The Three-language Formula is the strategy which lays down the path for learning many languages.
 Mandyali (a language spoken in Himachal Pradesh)
 by the time a child is 3-4 years old, she is able to comprehend the grammar of not only one but 2-3
languages
 , the human brain is divided into a lower section- the brain stem, and a higher section- the cerebrum.
The brainstem which is connected to the spinal cord and keeps the body alive by controlling
breathing, heart beats etc. The cerebrum, though not essential for life, helps in integrating the
organism with her environment. The cerebrum is in turn divided into two halves or two cerebral
hemispheres, namely the left hemisphere and the right hemisphere. The hemispheres are linked to
one another through a series of bridges.
 ability to comprehend and produce speech for many of us (about 90% righthanded and about 70%
left-handed) is present in the left hemisphere of the brain
 The simplest and most recently developed test which helps in discovering which hemisphere
controls speech is the Dichotic Listening Test. In this test, the subject wears a head phone. Two
different words, one into each ear, are played simultaneously for example ‘eight’ in one ear and
‘four’ in the other. Most people are found to repeat the word played in the right ear, as this side of
our body is controlled by the left hemisphere of the brain, which is the language centre. The sound
heard by the left ear takes longer to process as it is first sent to the right hemisphere and then to the
left hemisphere(language centre). This non-direct route takes longer to comprehend and produce
the word.
 t two areas of the left hemisphere of the brain are concerned with language: the Broca’s area (in
front of and just above the left ear) and Wernicke’s area (region around and under the left ear).
Damage to the Broca’s area causes problems in speech production and Wernicke’s area damage
causes problems in speech comprehension
 there is a critical period for the acquisition of language- a time set aside by nature for acquisition of
language; this essentially varies between 2 to 14 years and during this time acquiring languages
almost seems like an effortless task for children
 Further evidence to show that children do not really learn language by imitating adults can also be
gathered from the more or less fixed stages children pass through as they acquire language and also
in the pattern of errors they make in this process.
 STAGES OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION : 1) COOING ………..2) BABBLNG ………….3)ONE – WORD STAGE
….4) TWO WORD STAGE ….5) LONG UTTERANCES
 Cooing/Gooing At around 6 weeks, a child starts cooing and gooing. Initially these sounds seem
mostly like a string of vowels – ‘uuuu, iiiii’. At around four months, these include consonantal
beginnings; the most commonly heard ones are- ‘cuuu, guuu’.
 Babbling At about 6 months, when a child is generally sitting up, they progress to babbling. Here they
start producing a wider variety of vowels and consonants which are mostly in the form of single
consonant - vowel clusters like ‘gi-gi-gi’, ‘ka-kaka’, ‘ma-ma-ma’, ‘pa-pa-pa’, ‘mi-mi-mi’ etc. At around
nine to ten months there is a variation in the combinations such as ‘ba-ba-ga-ga’ which become more
complex like ‘mim-mim-mai-yaaaaa’ over the next few months; these express emotions and
emphasis and include attempted imitations. To parents it seems like children are talking to them and
they often react to it. This provides children with some experience of the interactive role of language.
 One-word stage At around the age of one, children produce their first recognizable words. . This
stage is often referred to as the holophrastic (meaning a single word functioning as a phrase or
sentence) stage. This is also the stage where children’s ‘mistakes’ are caused by both an
overgeneralization and under-generalization of the meaning of words in comparison to adult
meaning
 Two-word stage By about one and a half years, a child generally has an active vocabulary of some 50
words and starts putting together words in two-word utterances. The first two-word utterances also
express the same kind of meaning as those of the one word stage At this stage children’s utterances
begin to resemble the structures of sentences in the languages used around them. This speech is also
referred to as telegraphic speech as it very closely resembles telegraph messages which only have
content words i.e. words like doodh, mummii, khaanaa, paapaa, maaraa, fone etc that carry meaning
and does not use little words like ne, ko, hai, par, se etc as well as word endings like yaan, on, iiyan
for plural or rahe for continuous tense. In this stage children also start imitating, taking sentences
said by adults and uttering them.
 Longer utterances With time, the word length of children’s sentences increase and between the ages
of 2 and 4 they acquire various grammatical forms. What is interesting is that most children acquire
these forms in roughly the same order. In research studies undertaken by Brown (1973) and de
Villiers and de Villiers(1973) with children whose home language is English it was found that children
acquire some grammatical forms early and others later
 5. While acquiring plurals a child whose home language is English goes through the following stages –
• First, acquires irregular plurals like foot-feet, man-men etc…………• Then acquires regular plural
forms like cats and bags. • She over generalizes the above rule to make plurals of foot and man as
feets and mens. • Eventually the over generalized plurals are corrected and the child goes back to
pluralizing foot and man as feet and men respectively.
 Language Acquisition refers to developing competence in a language by using it in natural,
communicative situations as available while learning languages we hear in our homes and the
neighbourhood. Language Learning on the other hand refers to developing competence in a
language by learning its rules and vocabulary through explicit teaching in a classroom setting.
 Krashen talks about these two as ways of developing competence in second languages and states
that, ‘…language acquisition, (is) a process similar, if not identical, to the way children develop ability
in their first language. Language acquisition is a subconscious process; language acquirers are not
usually aware of the fact that they are acquiring language, but are only aware of the fact that they
are using the language for communication….(in this process) we are generally not consciously aware
of the rules of the languages we have acquired. Instead, we have a “feel” for correctness.
Grammatical sentences “sound” right, or “feel” right, and errors feel wrong, even if we do not
consciously know what rule was violated. Other ways of describing acquisition include implicit
learning, informal learning, and natural learning. In non-technical language, acquisition is “picking-
up” a language
 The second way to develop competence in a second language is by language learning. We will use
the term “learning” henceforth to refer to conscious knowledge of a second language, knowing the
rules, being aware of them, and being able to talk about them. In non-technical terms, learning is
“knowing about” a language, known to most people as “grammar”, or “rules”. Some synonyms
include formal knowledge of a language, or explicit learning.’ (Krashen,
 In Krashen’s words children require ‘comprehensible input’ in the second language. ‘Comprehensible
input’ refers to using language which children are capable of understanding, and at the same time
holds challenge for them.
 second language acquisition requires ‘going from meaning’ to ‘structure’
 Krashen clearly states that ‘speaking fluency cannot be taught directly. Rather it, ‘emerges’ over
time, on it own. The best way, and perhaps the only way, to teach speaking, according to this view, is
 simply to provide comprehensible input. Early speech will come when the acquirer feels “ready”; this
state of readiness arrives at somewhat different times for different people, however. Early speech,
moreover, is typically not grammatically accurate. Accuracy develops over time as the acquirer hears
and understands more input
 According to Krashen, ‘The effective language teacher is someone who can provide input and help
make it comprehensible in a low anxiety situation.
 According to Krashen, ‘Normally, acquisition “initiates” our utterances in a second language and is
responsible for our fluency. Learning has only one function, and that is as a Monitor, or editor.
Learning comes into play only to make changes in the form of our utterance, after it has been
“produced” by the acquired system. This can happen before we speak or write, or after (self-
correction)
 the sounds kh, gh, ch, jh, th, ph and bh are not available in English. T, Th, D, Dh as these sounds are
also not available in English
 phonology is an area where we can actually see an interference of the first language. One thing that
affects the learner’s ability to grapple with the sounds of a language is her age. With time our jaws
get fixed and it becomes difficult for us to produce certain sounds. Also the capacities of our brain to
comprehend new sounds diminish after a certain age. Children pick up sounds of the second
language up to the age of puberty i.e., by the time language gets specialized in the left hemisphere of
the brain.
 GRAMMAR TRANSLATION METHOD It is the oldest method that has been used for teaching
language and is still commonly used. The main objective of teaching language through this method is
developing proficiency to read literature in the target language and write in it. Students are expected
to memorise rules of grammar and vocabulary lists and translate from the base language to the
target language and vice versa with the support of teachers. The biggest limitation of this method is
that the children do not acquire proficiency in listening and speaking the language
 Direct Method and Audio Lingual Method. These methods developed not only to give more
attention to listening and speaking skills and as a response to the grammar translation method but
also as an echo of the understanding that had developed in linguistics that the basic form of language
is speech and only few languages are found to have written forms
 In the Audio-lingual method, dialogue became a primary unit of teaching
 the modern methods of teaching language- the Communicative Method and the Natural Approach
 NATURAL APPROACH This method gives maximum attention to the fact that in language teaching
the focus should not be on the teacher or the teaching-learning material but on the learner (student)
 Block -2 Skills Associated with Language Learning
 While the process of understanding meaning based on words takes us from word to meaning the
process of understanding meaning based on previous knowledge, takes us from meaning to words.
 Jean Aitchison in her book ‘The Articulate Mammal’ has talked elaborately about the linguistic
understanding of human beings
 listening to poems and songs, children comprehend the basic structures of language. For instance-
children are able to comprehend the meaning of new words, do rhyming by playing with the rhythm
of the poem
 Picture is one such medium through which we can find ample possibilities for dialogue and discussion
with children from standard 1 till standard 8
 The conversation over pictures has the potential to promote creativity and analysis capability in
children.
 Questions asked during the dialogue on pictures, give children an opportunity to sharpen their skills.
The questions should be such that they help children in finding objects, in developing logic,
imagination, prediction and in association of objects and incidents with their experience.
 n. Another way in which stories are beneficial is that it enhances the ability of children to estimate.
For example, whenever children are listening to a story, they are curious to know about what
happens next?
 In order to use drama as a linguistic activity, two characteristics need to be included- freedom and
enjoyment.
 Extempore activities wherein children have to immediately present their views on a given topic often
prove challenging and productive
 Accuracy and fluency are the two elements involved in language proficiency. The capability through
which the learner correctly pronounces a sentence, while using the correct grammar and
terminology is called accuracy
 In reference to the learning proficiency, fluency means the ability through which a child is
spontaneously able to express herself by speaking, reading and writing. In this, emphasis is laid on
meaning and context rather than on grammatical errors.
 Reading is to absorb meaning of the written texts. - Reading is to be able to form or build concepts,
link ideas and keep them in mind. - Be able to understand the text, follow its logic and its premises. -
Reading does not mean recognition of alphabets or being able to speak aloud words and sentences
but is much more. For example, it means understanding what is written and using that to build one’s
own perspective and understanding. - Reading does not mean pronouncing pieces of the word but is
to be able to have a dialogue with the texts, assimilate that into experiences and conceptual
structure. - Reading is a holistic process. It includes shapes of letters, the sounds linked with them,
sentence structures, word and sentence meaning and the ability to anticipate and predict. - The
important thing in reading is to absorb meaning from the written information or symbol
 In the ability to read the point that attracts the maximum emphasis is the definition of meaning. The
meaning of reading is to read with understanding
 According to Nehru, reading involves understanding different aspects and changing colours of life;
our personal experiences are limited and they are extended by reading books.
 Children in initial 5-6 years of their life, learn almost one thousand words everyday
 Goodman has correctly defined reading as “a game of psycho-linguistic speculation”. It is necessary
to anticipate meaning for being able to read. This is not hunting in the dark but predicting based on
available data
 . In a text, the best way to understand an unknown word is to infer meaning from the remaining text.
The best way to find the meaning of a difficult text is to keep on reading it.
 The most important aspects of learning to read is to recognise that the minimum possible visible
information should be utilised for grasping what is written
 WHAT CAN WE DO TO TEACH READING ……….1) START WITH BOOKS …2) READING ALOUD A BOOK
TO CHILDREN …3) RECITING AND SINGING POEMS ……….
 The ability to anticipate is an important component of reading. Poems can play a significant role in its
development. If children regularly hear poems read out to them, they have a greater chance of
appreciating the structure of the language
 The present methods of teaching reading that include reading letter by letter, memorising rules,
reading word by word, emphasising accuracy and correctness, repeatedly pointing out mistakes and
errors, do not promote the ability to read but rather present barriers to it.
 The ability to write is the last one to develop in children and is also dependent on these three skills.
While learning to write, the two functions of language- ‘communication’ and ‘expression’ are very
important.
 Teaching will be effective only if the experience is meaningful for children. This principle has
implications for teaching of letters and grammar in lower classes, as well as for teaching different
types of writing in higher classes.
 . For writing, one firstly needs to develop a good set of fine motor skills which allow one to hold a
pencil or a pen to make deliberate marks. After this, one needs to learn to use symbols to represent
speech and then needs to acquire the skill of using language to communicate with others through
writing.
 DICTIONARY definition makes no reference to the important link between language and writing . The
dictionary definition also ignores the important link between speech and writing
 it is estimated that spoken language arose around 1 million (10 lakh) years ago, while written
language came into being around five thousand years ago. In all communities on earth, spoken
language originated substantially before written language
 The content of our message consists of words as well as the gestures we use while speaking,
including the tonal quality of our voices (technically called paralinguistic features).
 Premchand, “The tongue does not get chopped on speaking, but the hands do get chopped on
writing.
 while individual letters and varnmalas are useful in introducing children to writing, they might not be
meaningful to children unless their relationship with whole words or sentences is made clear
 In teaching children to write, two things are of great importance – respecting children’s abilities and
creating meaningful contexts in which they can learn
 Children should be given the opportunity to make full use of their abilities. Their learning process
does not involve joining pieces of knowledge together to get the complete picture, but in fact it
involves the opposite. The whole picture is formed first, and then the specifics become clear in
different ways. Unless a meaningful whole is supplied, the small specifics, such as individual letters of
the varnmala or alphabet, will not make sense and will be boring
 BEGINNING TO WRITE : 1) FINE MOTOR SKILLS….2) PRACTICING LETTERS,WORDS, SENTENCES
 Children can be helped to develop good handwriting by developing some of the basics essential for
writing, such as fine motor skills, visual perception, trunk control, pencil grasp and stability of
shoulder through various exercises.
 Dyslexia refers to reading disorders. CHILDREN WHO ARE DYSLEXIC may see the picture as a whole,
and may not see their constituent parts. They have trouble processing two dimensional stimuli. This
introduces problems in writing. The handwriting of a person with dyslexia is generally illegible as the
letters are of irregular shapes and size and .there are inconsistencies in writing the same letters or
words. He/ she may also experience difficulties in copying down written material. An additional
factor is the physical position adopted by the child in writing.
 Dyslexia shares several of its characteristics with other conditions associated with poor writing skills,
such as dyspraxia (poor motor skills and planning), deficits in visual-perceptual skills etC
 Writing is the most difficult of the four language skills. It requires a command over vocabulary,
grammar and sentence structure. When children graduate to writing short paragraphs, it also
involves establishing links among different sentences. All these help in creating meaning. Meaning is
an integral part of language but in writing one has to pay extra attention to meaning because there is
no space for clarification if anything not communicated clearly. The act of writing may even be
described as the act of making meaning and giving coherence to disorganised ideas
 To teach correct spelling and grammar to children, they should be given increasingly interesting and
challenging writing material to read and should be encouraged to write in various contexts. Good
spelling and grammar are not meaningful ends in themselves. Rather, the meaningful end involves
effective, interesting as well as satisfactory communication.
 Lucidity and brevity are desired characteristics of writing, since they communicate the meaning the
writer wants to convey with minimum confusion and effort on the part of the reader.
 DEVELOPING WRITING SKILLS IN LOWER CLASSES – PICTURE COMPOSITION , DEVELOPING STORIES
FROM GIVEN OUTLINES , INDEPENDEENT WRITING , CONTINUING THE STORY, DICTATION , LAST
LETTER FIRST , RHYMING WORDS.
 Higher forms of writing like paragraph writing, letter writing, essay writing, story writing and poetry
writing etc., are taught in schools for the development of ‘expression’, creativity and ‘communicative
ability’
 Essays are basically of two types: reflective and emotional. An essay has different parts- an
introduction, followed by the main body, followed by the conclusion. What these divisions suggest is
that an essay must reflect an easy flow of thought. These thoughts must be relevant to the theme,
and must flow in a logical manner. The writer must develop the topic with clarity and consistency.
Unlike paragraphs, essays involve a deeper and more elaborate expression on the theme.
 Unlike essays, letters have a very specific communicative purpose. Therefore, they do not require the
elaboration of points as required in essays. On the other hand, they do require a certain skill in
writing to communicate. The style of writing will vary according to the writer’s relationship with the
recipient. The writer needs to understand how the recipient will react to the content of their
message
 . As children grow, they are expected to regard issues from different perspectives, engage in problem
solving and appreciate the aesthetic qualities of writing. These skills develop through an affinity with
different forms of literature
 While teaching children to write, it is important to ensure that they have developed some pre-writing
abilities. These include development of fine motor skills, postural and physical development, and
ability to use spoken language to express oneself clearly.
 Block 3 Language Learning in the classroom Language Learning in
the classroom
 The language of literature is different from normal spoken language because it includes various kinds
of literary and aesthetic / artistic devices such as simile, metaphor, analogy, alliteration, assonance,
consonance, rhyme, rhythm, parallelism, synonymy etc.
 Some literary devices : Simile: Simile means to compare the characteristics of two things on the
basis of some unique quality. Simile has four elements: X and Y which are compared with each other;
a quality on the basis of which the comparison is made say Z and finally an element that will establish
the relationship among X, Y and Z. For example, in “her face is as pretty as moon”, ‘her face’ is X and
‘moon’ is Y; the quality Z is ‘pretty’ and the connecting element is ‘as’. 2) Metaphor: The essential
feature of a metaphor is that unlike objects are identified with each other; in the process, some
unique similarity between them is underscored. For example, consider ‘a’ and ‘b’ below: a. Camels
are found in the deserts. b. The camel is the ship of the desert. No metaphor is seen in ‘a’ but in ‘b’
we have a metaphor. When you look at or think of a camel, normally there is nothing that would
bring a ‘ship’ to your mind. But here ‘the camel’ is called ‘the ship’; a bit odd but it does make you
think that a camel plays the same role in a desert as does a ship in the sea
 Some metaphors become ‘dead’ with the passage of time. They become a part of our day today
language and lose their metaphorical impact. For example, ‘to take steps, to take stock’, or ‘it’s
raining cats and dogs’ etc . There are also mixed metaphors having confusing images such as ‘I smell
a rat
 Alliteration: Alliteration refers to the repetition of the same consonant or vowel sound in a line of
a poem or a prose piece. An easily understood example is ‘She sells seashells by the seashore.’ If it is
the repetition of the same consonantal sound, it is called Consonance as in ‘whose woods these are I
think I know’ .. Assonance refers to the repetition of vocalic sounds. For example, the sound ‘ai’
in‘try to light the fire’. In the following sentence by Frost: ‘His house is in the village though’, the
words his, is, in and village are examples of assonance.
 Irony: Irony suggests the implication of Y when X is being said; very often it is used to indirectly hurt
another person or to make fun of him/ her. For example, you may address your driver (whom you
normally address as ‘you’) as ‘Sir or Mr.’ when he has made a grave error. Irony occurs when the
speaker means something very different from what she/ he actually says. Allusion: Sometimes while
speaking or writing you refer to someone/ something obliquely to suggest or emphasise a specific
quality. You might say for example, ‘Amit is as strong as Sardar Patel’; this is an allusion to Sardar
Patel being a strong leader. Hyberbole: Sometimes poets and writers wish to exaggerate a specific
feature or an event. Hyperbole refers to that exaggeration. Your might say, ‘ That saint is as old as
the hills.’ Rhyme: When similar or identical sounds are repeated in different lines, they are said to
rhyme with each other. Consider the following lines from Shakespeare: Shall I compare thee to a
summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of
May. And summer’s lease hath all too short a date. Notice that ‘day’ rhymes with ‘May’ and
‘temperate’ with ‘date’; so the rhyme scheme is ‘ab...ab’ i.e. the third line rhymes with the first and
the second with the fourth. ) Personification: Poets and writers often represent nature and animals
as human beings to give some special effects. A poet might say ‘The wind stood up and asked me…’
etc. The wind here is personified as a strong human being. 9) Symbols: We talk of a symbol when X
stands for Y. For example, a ‘dove’ may stand for ‘peace’; an ‘apple’ in the case of the Adam and Eve
for ‘evil’.
 The generally known meaning of literature includes the expression of meaning using words but the
combination of words and meanings is also found in the content of subjects like history, geography,
science etc. This means that every subject has its own literature which describes in detail as to what
the subject is all about.
 Literature of any language is a mirror of that time as well as society. It presents both a realistic and a
symbolic picture. It encodes in aesthetic terms the feelings and compassion of the people living in a
particular time and space. It is also often an expression of universal human values. Thus any piece of
literature, poetry, novel, drama etc., should have social, aesthetic and universal dimensions. The
social aspects are reflected in capturing the nuances of local life in terms of its rituals and festivals
etc; the aesthetic dimension rests in the emotions it evokes among the readers and in the selection
of sounds, words and structures used in the composition. The universal dimension is reflected in
capturing those values of truth and beauty that stay with human beings all the time
 the types of literature can be classified in three parts on the basis of their objectives: (i) Informative
literature: This category includes reference books like encyclopedia, dictionary, thesaurus,
pronunciation dictionaries, other reference text etc. which provide us information about things we
may not know. They are extremely useful but these do not constitute literature in the true sense of
the word since both the aesthetic and universal dimensions are missing from such texts. (ii) Critical
literature: In this category, a particular subject is clarified in a logical manner and it often uses the
cause and effect nature of things. These compositions try to encourage the reader to find out more.
For example, books of philosophy, science and mathematics. These two types of literature can also
be called non-aesthetic literature. In these the emphasis is on gathering information, remembering
facts and finding solutions for a problem. It is the third category which we may call true literature.
(iii) Creative or imaginative literature: Under this category, one would include poetry, drama,
novels, epics, short stories etc i.e. works that instill in us a desire to read them with a sense of joy
and engagement. They give their readers a chance to experience the same feelings as the characters
depicted in them. It encourages the development of humanity and creative ability in the readers.
 Some broad guidelines while choosing literature are: • There should be written text of suitable
length where language is used carefully. It may also be rich in metaphors, idioms, innovative use of
language etc. • The text may take any one of the following forms of literature: prose, poetry, drama,
novel etc. • It should provide both enjoyment and an aesthetic experience to the students.
 novels such as Kidnapped and Treasure Island by R.L. Stevenson, a young child is the centre
 ‘Chota jadugar’ by Jaishankar Prasad, ‘khel by Jainendra et
 various forms of literature such as poetry, stories, plays, autobiography, biography, novel, essays, are
used as text material to sensitise children to social, cultural and aesthetic aspects of life.
 The greatest plays of Shakespeare, such as Hamlet and King Lear, for example are largely poetic
 One Act Play: In this form, the entire action of the play takes place at one place and time. They are
short and build towards an intense climax. These are especially useful for a teacher as they can be
easily staged, are shorter than full length plays and do not require many sets. Children can be asked
to write and enact them as an exercise.
 Some of the great names in short story writing include: Somerset Maugham, Anton Chekov, Saki,
Edgar Allen Poe, R K Narayan, K B Vaid among others. The stories of Ruskin Bond are very popular
among younger children. ‘The last leaf’ and ‘The gift of the Magi’ by O. Henry are also quite well
known.
 Essay: Essay is that form of prose where thoughts are presented in a logical and coherent order
 Boswell’s biography of the first ever dictionary maker Dr Johnson is considered to be a landmark in
this form of literature
 The travel books written by the great Hindi writer Ageya are very famous and are known for their
sensitivity to people and nature.
 Poetry in many ways is considered to be the essence of all literature; it is also perhaps the earliest
form of literature. Be it the Greek Odyssey or Iliad or the ancient Indian Mahabharta or Ramayana,
they are all essentially stories in poetry. A poem is always lyrical and intangible and it uses similes,
metaphors and personifications a lot
 during the decades 1940 to 1960 the use of literature in foreign language teaching was not given due
importance because it was replaced by the lessons based on need based model.
 Traditionally, the basis of language teaching has been grammar teaching; later translation was added
to it. The text material (study material) does not always follow the rules of grammar and it is difficult
to select a text which has both the cognitive level and language ability. The grammar translation
method which was based on rote-learning noun and verb paradigms and translating texts from the
target language to L 1 and vice versa was very popular for a long time and is actually still widely used
 the decade of 1970-80 that gave birth to the method of cognitive language teaching which assumed
that children come to school with innate language and cognitive abilities and the task of the teacher
was largely to help them grow through exposure to interesting and challenging texts.
 According to Widdowson the knowledge of language-science is at two levels, level of use and level
of usage. According to this ‘use’ includes the rules of knowledge while ‘usage’ gives the
information of how to use these rule in further communication. Today’s maximum literature text
material gives us a base for the use of language. Pove’s (1972; 18) argument is “literature would
increase all the skills of language because literature increases language-science related
knowledge.”
 FORMS OF LITERATURE – PLAY , ONE ACT PLAY, NOVEL,
STORY,ESSAY,AUTOBIOGRAPHY,BIOGRAPHY,TRAVELOGUE,SKETCH/OUTLINE,MEMOIR,POEM.
 OBJECTIVES OF LITERATURE TEACHING : The objective of literature teaching and first language and
second language teaching depends on the attitude or performance in the classroom. 1) Language
format: In this kind of format, literature is primarily used for language development in which word
storage and sentence formation are the focus. The main limitation of this is that the interest in
literature is lost. In fact, most of the time, children end up learning neither grammar and/ or
vocabulary nor do they develop any interest in literature. 2) Literary format: The focus in the
literature dominant class is on the content and abstract ideas. The main objective becomes the
familiarity with specific cultures and universal human values. It is obvious that in such a class except
for automatic language enrichment which may, in fact, be considerable, there may be very little focus
on grammatical form, usage, meter and sentence structure. In the case of L 1, this may not matter so
much but in the case of L 2 it may prove to be serious handicap. 3) Personality development format:
The primary focus in this kind of format is on individual and collective sensitivity and the growth of
children’s minds through the study of literature. This is done with the hope that children studying
literature in this kind of format would turn out to be better human beings and would become role
models in all walks of life
 As in the case of natural settings, literature helps children to focus their attention on meaning rather
than form. Once meaning is internalised the formal aspects of grammar and vocabulary also tend to
get internalised on their own. Yet teaching of explicit rules of grammar and practice in using new
words is an important part of an L 2 class.
 Many second and foreign language teachers believe in grammar translation method. These teachers
make a list of words and by giving some examples explain the rules of grammar. After that a
specimen is given for example which explains the rules in which glossary of words is given and in the
end there are certain questions for practice. This is a tutored classroom setting, very unlike natural
settings where such things are never done.
 Attention must be paid to following points while using literature : 1) Not complete but partial
understanding of study material is required. 2) Reaction- the children should give their reaction on
study material. It could be in the form of comment. It may not be exact repetition but their individual
comment. 3) Opportunities may be provided for creativity. 4) In analysis, the focus should not be on
repetition or on errors but on encouraging children to react to what they have read. They must be
encouraged to seek logical relationship among events and appreciate the ideas and emotions
expressed in a piece of literature.
 According to Scott, literature is the mirror of beauty, morality and spiritual values and also manifests
the rules of social order and culture. While learning language through literature, opportunities of
personality development are provided by cultural references. Therefore student may be introduced
to cultural life and given opportunities to participate in it.
 According to Widdowson literature should not be used only for language dealing or activity or to
understand cultural subjects but for communication skills. Literary material is not only helpful in
increasing studying skills but also in developing listening reading and writing skills.
 Stories, folk stories, mythology, fables and legends, along with rhymes included in primary class
textbooks. In upper primary classes, these are used along with novels, plays, sketches, memoirs,
biography, autobiography etc.
 There are several advantages of using short stories with children. They are simple and usually the
text that needs to be read is short - its brevity motivates children to read. They are also challenging
because the entire plot is summarised in a few pages. These factors help in retaining the interest of
the reader.
 In the early grades, it is easy to arouse interest in students through simple rhymes. In the higher
grades, they can be used to develop sensitivity for words and rhythm.
 Use of drama helps heighten listening skills in students. Plays can employ difficult grammatical
structures and they help students understand the relevance of context in understanding literature.
 Literature can contribute to the development of both basic language skills (reading writing listening
and speaking) as well as language areas (vocabulary and grammar).
 The class 1 Hindi textbook starts with simple rhymes and stories are introduced at the very end when
it is assumed that the child has developed enough concentration to follow a story over a couple of
days. The class 5 book on the other hand, has examples of different types of prose (stories, essays,
interview), poetry and drama.
 contemporary plays of Arthur Miller, Saki, etc as the context and language can be more easily
understood. Others favor classics like the plays of Shakespeare or Bhartendu’s ‘Andher Nagari’,
Ram Kumar Varma’s ‘Ashoka Shastra Tyag’ which are the famous Hindi plays
 On the basis of its form, literature has mainly three categories- prose (story, novel, autobiography,
and travel account), poetry (poem, couplet, and quatrain) and play.
 In a language class there are three formats of using literature- language format, literary format and
personality development format.
 At home, the learning process is largely experiential and there is room for making mistakes and
correcting oneself without being laughed at. That kind of flexibility and time, a child does not get at
school since the single most important objective at school is ‘accuracy and perfection’
 The individual, social, cultural and linguistic variability obtaining in the classroom makes the whole
task of planning lessons more challenging.
 important teaching aids include - lesson plan, work sheets, charts, picture cards and the workbook.
The language materials are also very important
 Such a system does not give much importance to increase the core competence of the children; it
rather ensures the course is complete the way text book designers and teachers had prescribed it for
the children. It has also been noticed that such a system does not leave any scope for children to
come up with innovative ways to make the teaching learning process effective for them going by
their interests or their ways.
 What a teacher must ensure is synchronisation between the mental level of children, their curiosity,
their participation, her own intervention levels, challenging activities and conceptual clarity. A plan
devoid of these features lacks in exploratory adequacy
 A class room has two important elements – teacher and students. Both are at the receiving end of
knowledge acquisition in the sense that both acquire and enhance knowledge together and both are
always in the process of learning.
 n. Lesson plans maintain both rigorous planning and flexibility. Firmness is important to ensure that
teaching objectives are met and flexibility is important to ensure the real difficulties met while
teaching.
 It is easily seen that there can be many ways to classify education materials. One classification could
be in terms of the material for the teacher and materials for children. Another category could be
visual and oral/ aural etc
 The new education policy document 1986 was an important step to improve education in the schools
across the country. An important aspect of this was the recognition of the need to make available
essential materials in each school. This included minimum number of classrooms, seating
arrangement, some sports materials, library books etc
 the use of materials is a means to developing understanding and is not the object of the teaching
learning process.
 It is clear that one material can be used for many purposes and their use is informed by the
objectives and understanding of learning and teaching.
 THE BASIS OF CHOOSING MATERIALS : The first principle can be material should be such that they
fulfill the educational objectives . The second principle– Material should be usable for diverse
purposes. The third is that materials should be easily available and require no extra effort. The
fourth: The material that children have to use must be such that it does not require very elaborate
precautions. They should not be security hazard. The fifth principle– It is necessary that both
teachers and children be participants in the process of choosing and developing materials. It is not
 appropriate to pre-decide, choose and then send materials to the school and teachers. The teachers
and children must have a role in all this. Their participation in selecting materials is essential. 6. They
must also have opportunity to learn to and think about ways of using the materials in classrooms.
 Education material is a tool that helps the teacher in teaching and children in learning. It is because
of this that it is called teaching-learning material or TLM.
 . In the process of assessment more than measuring the level of achievement of the child, the effort
is to understand how to make teaching-learning process more effective
 The use of ‘correct’ words with ‘correct’ grammar and ‘correct’ pronunciation or ‘correctness’ in
writing is termed as ‘using pure and accurate language’. On the other hand, the ability that enables
the child to speak, read and write with felicity and express herself is called fluency. In this the
emphasis is more on meaning and context rather than on grammatical errors.
 Assessment at the primary stage needs to focus on fluency. Accuracy and correctness can come later.
After the primary stage we may balance correctness and fluency and pay attention to both.
 . The National Curriculum Framework 2005 also stresses the need to change the methods of
assessment. In the context of language the methods for assessment could be the following: oral test ,
observation and written test.
 While assessing the ability to read-aloud, the pronunciation and intonation according to the meaning
including the emphasis on certain words to clarify the meaning can also be assessed. In this test,
texts expressing different kinds of emotions, pieces of big and small conversations, portion of a play
or the portion of a textbook can be given as texts to be read loud.
 In assessing language ability, description is a very important aspect. In the beginning of the primary
classes the learner can be shown an object, a picture or some action in familiar context and asked to
describe it. In the initial stages the description can start just with one sentence.
 In written test it is very important to concentrate on the question paper. The question paper should
be such that it is able to assess reading–comprehension, imagination and creativity, free expression,
ability to argue and to write precisely, ability to compare, ability to understand differences etc. The
question paper must test abilities rather than memory. It should be able to add to the critical
reflective ability of the learner. Questions must give the learner opportunity to express her
experiences. There must be questions that help her develop ability to analyse. The emphasis should
be on the learners using their own words and not be expected to reproduce exactly the language in
the textbook
 Dictation can also be used as a tool for assessing language competence. It is an important method of
assessing the ability to speak and listen.
 Dictation can be used as a practice device from class 3 onwards
 The whole process of giving dictation should be properly organised and done in a defined time
interval. The process can be divided into following steps: Step 1: The teacher must read the selected
text in even flow, with proper intonations and expressions at normal speed. During this period,
learners must only listen to the text being read out rather than write it. This will help them
understand the content of the paragraph and they would be mentally prepared for it. Step 2: After
reading in this manner, the teacher must read the paragraph a bit slower than before so that the
learner can write it easily . Step 3: The teacher should read aloud the paragraph slowly again. This
would help children who have made mistakes or have left gaps to correct their mistakes or fill gaps
on their own. Each reading should be after a gap of 6-8 minutes.
 ACTIVITIES TO ASSESS PROSE, POEMS AND DRAMA
 Paragraph -- Cloze test…….It can be used to measure the levels of proficiency in all kinds of language
abilities. In this, children are given a text with words at repeated quick intervals deleted and blanks
inserted in that place.
 Making of a cloze test The paragraph chosen for the cloze test should have a clear context and be
complete in itself. The text chosen must be interesting and challenging. The first line of the text must
be retained as it is and from the second line every 5th/ 6th/9th word should be removed. The last
sentence of the material is kept intact. Each test should have at least 20 blanks. Another way of
choosing words to delete is deleting words of a particular category. For example, only some verbs,
nouns, prepositions or adjectives etc. could be deleted in a modified cloze procedure….This test can
be begun from class – 3.
 Activities to assess the paragraph: • Write the story in your own language (mother tongue/home
language). • Suggest a title for the story. During this activity the teacher must talk to the learners and
ask them why they chose a particular title and which title is more appropriate. • Forming questions:
 1. Assessment should be done keeping in mind abilities rather than the content. 2. At the primary
level fluency takes precedence over accuracy. 3. To assess different abilities you do not need as many
different activities. One activity can be utilised to assess many abilities. 4. Assessment helps provide
the children with an opportunity to learn according to their needs and the diversity in them. 5.
Assessment goes on throughout the session and covers all aspects of a child’s performance. That’s
what we mean by continuous and comprehensive assessment.