The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Some primary thoughts about second language in school teaching & learning

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Wednesday, Nov 26, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Some primary thoughts about second language in school teaching & learning

Meera Srinivasan

In some schools, mostly in the CBSE stream, students hesitate to choose Tamil
“It is a misconception that students cannot score high in Tamil”

CHENNAI: The second language studied at school could shape and widen a child’s interest in literature, but the decision on the matter is taken in primary classes in most cases.

In the CBSE stream, students take a decision on choice of language thrice — first when they are in class I, next in class IV when they would have to decide on their third language and in class VI when they decide which second language they want to be tested on later in the Class X Board examination.

In some schools, mostly in the CBSE stream, teachers observed that parents were increasingly hesitant to choose Tamil for their children, fearing they may not be able to score high.

V. Arasu, professor and head, Department of Tamil Literature, University of Madras, agrees that there is some reservation about choosing Tamil. Besides the concerns over score, he cites a few reasons for this.

Language pedagogy

“The tools employed in language teaching, particularly in Tamil, are archaic. We need good audio-visual aids to supplement what is taught in class,” he notes. English and Hindi have given space for innovative methods of teaching.

Simple essays and discussions could help students relate to the content better, he says, adding: “Some parents continue to see Tamil as part of politics. It is a language like any other.” The hesitation was more prevalent among parents of CBSE school students, particularly in the urban areas, he notes.

Middle school students say it is common to find friends switching from Hindi to Sanskrit in class VI “to score higher in Class X and boost the total”. According to V. Nagaraju, regional officer, Chennai region of the CBSE, the board offers a choice of 31 languages. It is a misconception that students cannot score high in Tamil. “We had many children scoring over 90 per cent last academic year,” he says.

“In our school, we have not really seen a fall in the number of students opting for Tamil. We have seven sections each for Tamil and Hindi students in classes I to V,” says S. Amudha Lakshmi, Principal, Chettinad Vidyashram. French and Sanskrit have fewer takers in this school. “Central Government employees prefer Hindi as they may be transferred to other cities. French is popular among NRIs.”

Matriculation schools offer a different picture. With Tamil being made compulsory till Class III, students prefer to study the subject till higher classes. All the same, “many struggle,” and find the spellings too hard, says Chitra Prasad, Correspondent and Principal, NSN Matriculation. “This is perhaps because children do not get to listen to chaste Tamil at home. The written language is too formal…and the FM stations have further modified spoken Tamil,” she adds.

Getting the fundamentals right is, perhaps, the key for any language. “I have opted for Sanskrit… earlier I used to find spellings hard, but now, I have learnt the basic shabdas well and it’s easy,” says Aravind Saranath, a class VII student of Bharathi Vidyalaya Senior Secondary School.

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