English language is an inherent barrier for the academic progress of 400-odd students, mostly from marginalised sections, in the Government Junior College (GJC), Tungaturthi in Nalgonda district.
But they are overcoming it thanks to the commitment of a teacher, with a passion for teaching English. He has chosen a novel way to generate interest among these first generation learners - using the news stories of The Hindu .
P. Nageshwar Rao, principal of the GJC, holds a reading session of The Hindu, where students pick up the nuances of the language reading the news items published.
Focus is on picking up new words, expressions and the context in which they are used.
“The day-to-day situations help them to understand the sentences easily. Language is made simple and the fear is driven away,” says Mr. Rao.
It’s a regular exercise at the college and he has adopted this approach to teaching in his earlier postings with success. The three-hour session saw the teacher explaining the easy methods to read the news and identify words and relate them to grammar. This helps them learn the language not only as a mode of communication, but also understand the nuances of grammar.
Students in this village who rarely see an English newspaper seem to be enjoying the concept of learning an alien language through the newspaper.
“It’s a great learning tool and we like the way our principal has made us feel about learning the language to our advantage,” said a beaming Sampath, a first year student.
The youngest guest among the gathering was Ramu, an 8th class student from nearby school, who came to attend the session out of passion for learning English.
He has read an English newspaper for the first time in the session and was quite excited about it.
This session, however, was emotional for students as their favourite teacher is retiring this month end. “You may miss me but my teaching should stay with you and make you a continuous learner,” was his remark.
Distributing a set of motivational books, including the one on former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Mr. Rao is also ensuring that they stay focussed and dedicated to learning.
The Hindu Telangana Bureau Chief, Ravi Reddy, honoured Mr. Rao on the occasion.
