A teacher’s mission to build students’ English vocabulary

Jose D. Sujeev’s career as a English teacher has been a long and fulfilling one, but nothing gives him more satisfaction than ‘Let’s Build Vocabulary,’ an exercise started by him during COVID-19 to help build the English vocabulary of students who were isolated from one another and away from the classroom environment during the pandemic.

Mr. Sujeev on Tuesday received the National Teachers’ Award from President Droupadi Murmu in the most significant milestone of a journey spanning more than three decades.

Also a recipient of the State Teachers’ Award in 2019, Mr. Sujeev at present works at Government Model Girls Higher Secondary School, Pattom, in the State capital.

He was academic coordinator of the textbook development team that prepared the English textbooks currently in use for all classes except for VII and IX. He is also part of the team that is preparing the textbooks that will be taught in schools from the next academic year as part of school curriculum revision in the State.

Mr. Sujeev who has worked as research officer at the State Council of Educational Research and Training has also prepared English textbooks for the Kerala State Literacy Mission Authority and polytechnic students and resource material for general schools and special schools.

As a State resource group core member, he has prepared modules for teacher training programmes and conducted trainings too.

Mr. Sujeev who retires this academic year says it is important for teachers to update themselves. “Every class they take should be different from the one the previous day. They should plan and strive for it, making time even outside the teaching hours.”

Asked about complaints of poor English communication skills of students in the State, he says they should first be given the opportunity to listen to English. “I tell English teachers to teach in the language, not mix it up with Malayalam.”

Teachers need to lose their inhibition about speaking English in front of students, he says. “They may go wrong with their grammar or vocabulary initially, but it should not make them hesitate. They should also practise conversing in English till they gain confidence.”

Besides listening to English, students, especially those in the primary classes, should also be given an opportunity to read and speak in English, says Mr. Sujeev. “Once their vocabulary increases, language acquisition will become easy.”

The goal of vocabulary enhancement is what led him to begin ‘Let’s Build Vocabulary’ on Teachers’ Day three years ago. Kick-started during his stint as coordinator of the ‘Gifted Children Programme’ in Thiruvananthapuram district, it now has two broadcast groups with 900 members and 49 WhatsApp groups besides being available on Telegram. “As far as I know, it reaches States such as Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Kargil in Jammu and Kashmir, apart from the Gulf countries.”

Up next for Mr. Sujeev is the release of an activity package comprising 78 activities that he has designed for students who are not doing so well academically.