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Communicative approach to learning English works faster and better
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Photo: Arunangsu Roy Chowdhury
Racy lifestyle Almost all teenagers nurture a secret wish to lead a ‘hip and happening’ lifestyle, speaking English fluently being a part of it
You are attending an interview. As your name is called out, you almost jump from your seat and walk briskly towards the hall. Your nerves jangle, your muscles twitch and your mouth dries. The forehead begins to show ruts, the mind jams and your gut t
urns. You scream inside, as you smell failure. Your lips whisper a silent prayer as you prod yourself: “C’mon… be a sport…speak in English and answer with confidence; seize the opportunity to make an impression… land the job and be a man (or a woman). The interviewers have no two opinions about a candidate being as good as his communication skills.
For a racy career
For skilled tech-oriented jobs in software and biotech, it’s not only the technical skills but also communication skills that determine the prospects of a candidate. G. Narayana, an Oracle software developer observes: “My project manager insists that I should communicate better if I do not want to lose clients.” Though technically competent, Narayana feels that communication in English is his Achilles heel. “I am able to pick up latest changes in technology but I am losing out heavily for want of communication skills," he laments.
To meet the ‘shortage’ of workforce, software companies do absorb candidates who are only technically competent but those who are equipped with good communication skills bag the plum posts.
The range of problems for those lagging behind vary: Guys who study in vernacular languages face loss of confidence even before anything happens and those who do manage to land good jobs based on their technical skills, remain in doldrums for they are unable to cope with the workplace jargon.
Sastry. P. S, a lecturer in English and a resource person for English Language Fellow (ELF) program, collaboration between the Commissionerate of Collegiate Education, Government of Andhra Pradesh and the U.S. State Department, says: “Communicative approach to teaching English is the way to go. Language is for communication," he says.
A passionate exponent of communicative approach to learning English, he says: "Learning English as a part of life rather than as a language works better."
Voicing his concern in nasal twang, he continues: "We have been lecturing students and making them passive rather than active participants in dialogue. In communicative approach, students ‘figure out and discover meanings as they go along.’ Your role is not to make the meaning all clear, but facilitate the meaning to emerge from the context."
Thus, students participate in activities, which bridge the gap between language and communication.
Students use English language in simulated real-life contexts such as how to shop or book tickets, enquire, and role-plays and problem-solving tasks. They create imaginary dialogues for different contexts in real life, work in teams or pairs, and interact in English at the visceral level. It may be raw but it works and in due course, one achieves sophisticated communicative competence.
Worried about being weak in English, Lokesh, a B.Sc. second year student says: “My whole problem is that I don’t know how to begin with." The boy says he spends a lot of time self-reproach.
"For such students, we must rid the classroom of all kinds of taboos, the students should feel free to commit mistakes,"says Sastry.
G.B.S.N.P. VARMA
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