03_chapter 1
03_chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
“Those who know nothing of foreign languages know nothing of their own.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“If I have to summarize the meaning of the English language in one word then it
has to be freedom. Freedom to relate to others, explore new cultures, freedom of
information, to do what I want to do for a living and live in a place I love …
English has opened my horizons in every sense of the words and I owe who I am
today to the ability to speak the language.”
Francisco Rodriguez-Weil, set and costume designer, Venezuela
Many describes language as a system of exchange of verbal and symbolic patterns whose
utility lies in its ability as a tool to facilitate a social interaction. This way, it serves as skill
set for human beings to express and manipulate objects in the environment. Functional
theories of grammar explain grammatical structures by their communicative functions, and
understand the grammatical structures of language to be the result of an adaptive process by
which grammar was tailored to serve the communicative needs of its users. This view of
language is associated with the study of language in pragmatic, cognitive, and interactive
frameworks, as well as in sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology. Functionalist theories
tend to study grammar as dynamic phenomena, as structures that are always in the process of
changing as they are employed by their speakers. This view places importance on the study
of linguistic typology, or the classification of languages according to structural features, as it
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can be shown that processes of grammaticalization tend to follow trajectories that are partly
dependent on typology.
One of the renowned living philosophers of the time Noam Chomsky (1966) propounded a
theory in the decade of 1960 which is popularly known as the generative theory of language.
It says that there are underlying principles of syntax that are universal in nature i.e., for all
languages of the world. Noam Chomsky called it the „universal grammar‟, and identified that
this is where the work of linguists resides. Hence, according to him, the focus of linguistic
study should be to study these individual languages and the implicit commonalities of
grammar and then subsequently working out the variable factors.
Other than the generative school of Chomsky, there is group of scholars popularly
known in the academics as the functional theorist of language. They opine that the
fundamental utility of language lies in its use as a tool to facilitate human interaction, thereby
it should rather focus on its role in relation to the function it performs. Their main thrust is to
outline the different functions of language. The work of linguistics lies in finding the
relationship with these functions. On the other hand, there is another school of thought called,
cognitive linguistics. They opine that that language has certain underlying forms which can
only be grasped through concepts. By concept they mean both that belongs universally to
language and the variables that belongs to only a particular language. Their main thrust is to
find out how the mind generates meaning with use of language.
Writing, literacy and technology: The long history of human beings has witnessed
innumerable ways of representing spoke language into visible forms. These visible forms are
called different systems of writing. One of the biggest advantages that written form availed to
human beings is that now the information can be stored for posterity instead of being
dependent upon human beings as was the case earlier with spoken forms of language.
Coming of written forms of language was also of great help wherever the spoken forms of
language communication could not be trusted. It is also believed that writing affects one‟s
cognition which is the reason why formal education is a necessary prerequisite to acquire it.
Acquisition: A healthy normal toddler starts to learn to use language that is spoken around
them by naturally absorbing it. It is this tendency that great biologist Charles Darwin
described as, "an instinctive tendency to acquire an art", in his magnum opus, The Descent of
Man. While for children, understanding to make use of language by listening is one aspect of
it, the acquisition of oral or sign language is believed to be no different a process. This
learning process is referred to as first-language acquisition, since unlike many other kinds of
learning, it requires no direct teaching or specialized study. There was a study conducted in
2013, published in the journal called Scientific American, that has found that the process of
language acquisition begins even before the child is born i.e., when the child is in fetus stage.
In the wee stages after birth, children‟s response is more aligned with human speech
sounds than any other sounds, for example the sounds of other mammals. By the age of one
month, they develop the ability to distinguish between different speech sounds. Only after the
age of s9th months that a baby starts to make some rudimentary sounds and hand gestures
conditioned to his surrounding environment. Only when the child is about one and one and
half years old that he starts to speak proper words. His vocabulary increases by the time to
about fifty words o an average. But still, he is a long way from speaking in proper syntactic
structure. He is still limited to using only a word or two for a sentence i.e., that it is still not
grammatically as complex as an adult speaks. It is only when the child is above the age of
three that develops the ability to speak proper sentences as the adult does with a coherent
syntactic structure.
While studying SLA (as a subfield of applied linguistics), two concepts become of
paramount importance namely, the concept of „inter-language‟, and secondly, the concept of
„language transfer.‟ The first concept (inter-language) is based on the idea that one can learn
second language only through the language he already knows. Now the language that he uses
in order to learn the second language is not the due to the difference per se with the language
that they are learning rather it is a complete language in its own right. That is to say that
while learning the second language through the language that they already know, leads to not
only carrying forward the ideas of the first language into the second language but also leads
to the oversimplification of the content of the second language that he is trying to learn. The
second concept (language transfer) is inextricably linked to the concept of inter-language.
The SLA is unavoidably gets influenced by the language one already knows. It is this leftover
from the first language that percolates itself into the second language has been termed by
scholars as language transfer.
By 1750 A.D., Britain started to gain control upon Indian soil. This had far-reaching
consequences as far as the reach and spread of English language is concerned. By the time
the Britishers left the Indian subcontinent, there were substantial number of people, speaking
as their second language. Interestingly, this number only grew after India‟s independence.
The traditional view was that somewhere between 3 and 5 per cent of the people made
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regular use of English, which would have yielded a total of some 30–50 million around the
year 1999, when the population of India passed a billion. Since then, the estimates have crept
up – nearly 20 per cent, for example, in one encyclopedia summary. But some surveys have
suggested much larger totals, if a flexible notion of fluency is permitted, with one influential
review estimating that perhaps a third of the people of India are now capable of holding a
conversation in English. In real terms these estimates represent a range of 30 million to over
330 million. And we must not forget that there are also considerable numbers of English
speakers elsewhere in the region, which comprises five other countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan,
Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka). Having about twenty percent of the total population of the
world and chiefly being the colony of Britain, the South Asian countries have developed a
distinct character of its own in relation to the English-speaking fraternity in the world.
Although, of recent origin, but due to the vast numbers of people making use of it in daily
basis, the English language has developed several variants or separate languages so to say,
varying from region to region.
Contemporary Scenario: The indicated above, the contemporary niche position that English
as language has gained as a means communication, owes its existence due to two major
factors. First major factor was the colonization by the British in previous centuries leading to
the onset of English-speaking natives of the colony. Second major role-playing factor is the
emergence of United States of America as the dominant global power. The second factor is
the reason behind continuous increasing significance of the English language (much to the
discomfiture of some in Britain who find the loss of historical linguistic pre-eminence
unpalatable). The USA has nearly 70 per cent of all English mother-tongue speakers in the
world (excluding creole varieties). Such dominance, with its political/economic
underpinnings, currently gives America a controlling interest in the way the language is likely
to develop.
The total of 329 million represents a conservative estimate of those who have learned
English as a first language (L1). The total would be increased if we knew the L1 figures for
every country – especially in such areas as West Africa, where it is not known how many use
a variety of English as a first language. Some reference books (such as World Almanac and
Ethnologue) seem to take a more inclusive stance, in this respect, citing as many as 450
million as a grand total at present. The main variable, however, is whether the various
English-derived pidgins and creoles should be included under the L1 heading. If they are, a
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further 80 million must be added to the 329 million total – and it is this total of
(approximately) 400 million which is the most commonly cited L1 total in the early 2000s.
The total of 430 million represents an estimate of those who have learned English as a
second language (L2); but it does not give the whole picture. For many countries, no
estimates are available. And in others (notably India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ghana, Malaysia,
Philippines and Tanzania, which had a combined total of over 1,462 million people in 2002),
even a small percentage increase in the number of speakers thought to have a reasonable
(rather than a fluent) command of English would considerably expand the L2 grand total. It
is, in any case, now well ahead of the L1 total, whether or not pidgins and creoles are
included.
Similar attitudes will be encountered in all parts of the world where English is
developing a strong non-native presence, and at all levels. Teachers of English as a Second or
Foreign Language have to deal with the situation routinely, with students increasingly
arriving in the classroom speaking a dialect which is markedly different from Standard
English. The question of just how much local phonology, grammar, vocabulary and
pragmatics should be allowed in is difficult and contentious. But there seems no doubt that,
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gradually, there is a definite ameliorative trend around the English-speaking world, with
expressions which were once heavily penalized as local and low-class now achieving a
degree of status. How fast this trend develops depends on economic and social factors more
than on anything else. If the people who use m9thed varieties as markers of their identity
become more influential, attitudes will change, and usages will become more acceptable. In
fifty years‟ time, we could find ourselves with an English language which contains within
itself large areas of contact-influenced vocabulary, borrowed from such languages as Malay
or Chinese, being actively used in Singapore, Malaysia and emigrant communities elsewhere.
First-language speakers from those areas would instinctively select this vocabulary as their
first choice in conversation.
Everyone else would recognize their words as legitimate options – passively, at least,
with occasional forays into active use. It is a familiar story, in the history of the English
language, though operating now on a global scale. Indeed, such a scenario would not be so
different from that already found in English. There are over 350 living languages given as
vocabulary sources in the files of the Oxford English dictionary. And, for example, there are
already over 250 words with Malay as part of their etymology in the OED. So, the foundation
is already laid. The contact-language words of the future will of course include more
alternative rather than supplementary expressions – localized words for everyday notions,
such as tables and chairs, rather than for regionally restricted notions, such as fauna and flora
– but the notion of a lexical mosaic as such is not new. It has always been part of the
language.
The global market for digital English language learning products and services reached
$1.31 billion in 2011. The worldwide five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is
14.5 per cent and revenues will reach $2.58 billion by 2016. But high-quality English
teaching – whether face-to-face, „blended‟ or virtual – will still need real teachers, and the
international employment opportunities for talented British graduates remain substantial. It is
also clear that reducing unemployment as a means of securing political stability is an
imperative for many of these countries.
English as a Lingua Franca: As English is widely spoken around the world, it is referred to
as the “lingua franca” of the modern era. In recent years, English is a “lingua franca” across
the globe. According to some statistics, nearly 89% of people who speak English are non-
native speakers. Crystal (2003) says, “Since roughly only one out of every four users of
English in the world is a native speaker of the language, most English as lingua franca (ELF)
interactions take place among non-native speakers of English.”
English as an International Language: Almost 2 billion people out of the world population
of 7.5 billion speak English. It means nearly 25% of the population on the earth speaks
English. Among them, 400 million people speak English as their first language whereas the
others speak it as a second or foreign language. Referring to English as an international
language, Antimoon (2012) states, that majority of world‟s contests are performed in English
– e.g. The Olympic Games, Miss World competition. Almost all conferences and
international organizations (e.g., the United Nations, the European Free Trade Association,
NATO, etc.) use English as a main language to communicate with other politicians,
diplomats and other state officers (Antimoon, 2012).
The future of English language seems bright as it is increasingly becoming the official
language of not only the academic world but also of trade and commerce. The recent
advancements in the means of transportation and communication have only exacerbated the
process in favour of English. Dieu states that, “Before the Treaty of Versailles (1919), which
ended the First World War between Germany and the Allies, diplomacy was conducted in
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French. However, President Wilson succeeded in having the treaty in English as well. Since
then, English started being used in diplomacy and gradually in economic relations and the
media. During the II World War, America intervened both militarily and economically to
save Europe from chaos. From then onwards, the United States have consolidated their
cultural, economic and technological power: inventions, rock and roll, the first man on the
moon, the revolution of the Internet, the country‟s growing prosperity and commercial
aggressiveness have contributed to the further expansion and importance of English in the
world today.”
Science and Technology: 81% of the scientific research articles are published in English,
whereas, 11% of them are published in French, 4% in Latin and 4% in the other languages.
Berthelot and Russell together conducted a study in 2001 on language of publication in
journals. They found that English was the leading language major journals as well as most
widely used in terms of publishing. They stated that while researches in humanities and social
sciences took place in either native language or the language of the culture being studied, the
case is completely opposite in the natural sciences. Most of the work in natural sciences in
conducted in English. French language stands right below English in terms of use in
academia, followed by German and Japanese.
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The trend is increasingly in favor of English as the lingua franca of academic and
scientific community especially after the decades of nineteen eighties and nineties. By the
eighties of the 20th century, about 70 per cent of publications of the French scholars was in
English. It has since then, comprehensively replaced German as the language of the science
related journals. Some of the famous German journals have almost completely switched the
language to English.
Other than the journals, English has gained ascendancy even in the publication of books.
According to Bowker Publishers (North America‟s leading provider of bibliographic
information, the official agency for assigning ISBNs in the United States), “United Kingdom,
Canada, Australia, and New Zealand released 375,000 new titles and editions in 2004. Anglo-
American publishers published 80% of all new English-language books in 2004, while the
US alone accounted for 52% of the total. Including imported editions available in multiple
markets, the total number of new English language books available for sale in the English-
speaking world in 2004 was a staggering 450,000.”
Commerce and Trade: Graddol says that, “about 80% people use English while they are in
Europe. Not only in Europe, but also used in global business that has happened under the
control of World Trade Organization.” The success of the tourism management depends on
the ability to interact successfully and productively with the international tourists,
government officials, concerned private managements and suppliers. In a 2012 survey by the
Economist Intelligence Unit, 70 per cent of executives said their workforce will need to
master English to realize corporate expansion plans, and a quarter said more than 50 per cent
of their total workforce would need English ability. According to Vistawide.com (2012),
nowadays, a lot of the companies are willing to expand abroad nowadays, so they need their
employees can speak a foreign language.
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English, in both international trade with English-speaking countries and in the domestic UK
economy, is £405 billion. The Intellectual Property asset value is £101 billion.
The Internet: English is the major language in the global internet usage. It means more than
fifty percent (56%) of the language of the internet is English and no other single language is
used not more than 6%. The extraordinary growth and speed of cross-cultural online
communication, combined with the emergence of global English varieties, is creating a new
dialect of English for the web: let us call it English 2.0, the unofficial language of the
internet. Here, the rules of the language are relaxed, grammatical and structural purity have
become far less important than flexibility and openness to change, and new loan words are
put to immediate and global use. Those who use it can be immediately heard, seen, read and
understood by far greater numbers than ever before.
Software programmers develop software programs that form the basis of the Internet.
They make up the majority of professional and related occupations, and account for about 34
percent of the industry as a whole. Computer programmers write, test, and customize the
detailed instructions, called programs or software that computers follow to perform various
functions such as connecting to the Internet or displaying a Web page in English. Language
teaching in general and English language teaching in particular has tremendously changed
over the centuries. Educational technologies, especially computers and computer-related
peripherals, have grown tremendously and have permeated all areas of our lives. It is
incomprehensible that anyone today would argue that banks, hospitals, or any industry apply
technical knowledge. The Internet in particular gradually has become a vital tool in our
information society. We can witness people going for online education, business transactions,
personal correspondence, research and information-gathering.
Media and Press: English, being an international language, is widely used all over the world
in publishing newspapers, magazines, journals, books, and comics and it is the primary
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language used in the field of press and media. Most of the newspapers and books published
internationally are in English than in any other language. It is a known fact that 70% media
and entertainment channels use English for broadcasting purpose. Electronic media made the
world transform into a global village, it brought the people of whole world very close through
expanding use and this has become possible only through English language.
Education: The learners of their countries are taught or encouraged to learn English as a
foreign language or a second language to promote them for higher studies in the field of
science, engineering and technology, software, medicine, information technology, business,
etc. Moreover, almost all the books related to higher education are available only in English.
A Euromonitor report for the British Council says „Up to 18 million Nigerians are expected
to move to urban areas over 2009–2015. Urban dwellers have far higher levels of exposure to
English, and are also better placed for access to schools than their rural counterparts.‟
The 1994 genocide left Rwanda with a severe skills shortage after many professionals
either fled the country or lost their lives, and English is crucial in Rwanda‟s development and
participation in the global economy. In 2009 the government announced an ambitious plan to
switch the country‟s entire education system to English: a huge undertaking in a country
where more than 95 per cent of schools teach in French to pupils from about the age of nine,
alongside the indigenous
As there are some students who cannot afford to study in foreign countries, English is
the right solution for them to continue their courses through online system. Loren Griffith,
Director of the International Strategy team at Oxford University, sums it up in these terms:
„Today most of the world‟s best universities are in English speaking countries, and that is no
coincidence. English has become the lingua franca of academia. Moreover, Curtain (1988)
believes that: “Research has shown that through foreign language study, elementary school
children receive the opportunity to expand their thinking, to acquire global awareness, to
extend their understanding of language as a phenomenon, and to reach an advanced
proficiency level in that foreign language.” David Graddol identifies three main drivers of
this growth: education (increasing demand for English-medium schools, widening access to
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higher education, incorporation of English training in vocational education); employment
(many jobs in the organized sector now require good English skills); and social mobility
(English is seen as an access route to the middle classes and geographical mobility within
India and beyond). Many of the world‟s top films, books and music are published and
produced in English. Therefore, by learning English you will have access to a great wealth of
entertainment and will be able to have a greater cultural understanding.
It is clear that what we currently think of as the „English-speaking world‟ will eventually lose
effective control of its „own‟ language. „If there is one predictable consequence of a language
becoming a global language,‟ writes the eminent academic David Crystal, „it is that nobody
owns it any more. There is therefore a job to be done. There is a need for high-quality
teaching of English even more than ever, if not to protect the purity or integrity of the
language, then to ensure that the diverse dialects that are being allowed to flourish are clear
about the source code from which they are diverging and share enough common elements to
„interoperate‟ as a global operating system.
As has been hinted in the preceding paragraphs, the seeds of English language in a
concrete manner, first planted in the deeper soil with their gaining extensive control in the
subcontinent after the battle of Plassey and Buxar, which made it evident that new power
(Britain) is here to stay for a long time. Earlier, it was the missionary zeal of the Britishers
that paved the way for the proliferation of English language in the Indian soil. Missionaries
like Charles Grant were among the earliest to openly plead for the cause of English language
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for the upliftment of the native people from drudgery and downtrodden life conditions. Since
then, the case for English language in the subcontinent grew more and more strong. No
sooner than later, even Indian social reformers such Raja Ram Mohan Roy also pleaded for
the cause English language for the native people as way forward to progress.
During the period of British sovereignty (the Raj), from 1765 until independence in
1947, English gradually became the medium of administration and education throughout the
subcontinent. The language question attracted special attention during the early nineteenth
century, when colonial administrators debated the kind of educational policy which should be
introduced. A recognized turning-point was Lord William Bentinck‟s acceptance of a Minute
written by Thomas Macaulay in 1835, which proposed the introduction of an English
educational system in India. When the universities of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras were
established in 1857, English became the primary medium of instruction, thereby guaranteeing
its status and steady growth during the next century.
In India, English was first used as a tool of power to cultivate a group of people who
identified with the cultural and other norms of the political elite. It provided a medium for
understanding technology and scientific development, and by the 1920s had become the
language of political discourse, intra-national administration, and law. Focusing on its
cultural importance once Gandhi said, “English is a language of international commerce; it is
the language of diplomacy and it contains many a rich treasure; it gives us an introduction to
western thoughts and culture.” If you can‟t speak it then you are nothing and you feel
humiliated if you can‟t speak English. People think you are dumb. Seeing its importance C.
Rajagopalachari once said, “English language is the gift of Saraswati.”
English has been introduced in syllabi right from the early stage. More and more
institutions have been opened in for English teaching and learning. Right after the
independence, Indian government appointed a commission called „University Education
Commission‟ for the future course of education I India and thereby also for the fate English
language. The commission was headed by Dr. S. Radhakrishnan. The commission mandated
in favour of continuing English as the for study. It quoted that, “English, however, must be
continued to be studied. It is a language which is rich in literature - humanistic and technical.
If under sentimental urges, we should give up English, we would cut ourselves off from the
living stream of ever-growing knowledge.”
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In 1952, the Government of India appointed another commission known secondary
Education commission for re-organizing the structure of secondary Education, it supported
the study of English and expressed that, the study of English should be given due position in
secondary schools and facilities should be made available at the middle school stage for its
study on optional basis. In this formula, the place of English comes after the mother or the
regional language.
Keeping in mind the larger interests of the country, the Central Advisory Board of
Education re-evaluated the issue of the teaching of languages in the year 1956. The remarks
of the official language commission (1956) in this regard worth quoting, “since we need
knowledge of English for different purposes, the content and character of that knowledge as
well as imparting the method it has to undergo a change. English has to be taught hereafter,
principally as a language of comprehension rather than as literary language.” In this, English
was given a second or third place; and it was to be studied as a second language. In order to
maintain uniformity of standards in both Hindi and Non-Hindi areas, English was mandated
to be studied as the second language. After independence, Indian parliament passed a bill in
1963 that gave a major spurt and sealed the future of English language in India by declaring
that English will serve as the associate official language of India in the near future. This is the
position till today. English plays an important role in India today. Judging from certain trends
it appears that the influence of English is on the increase rather than on the decrease in India.
Another commission was set in motion in 1964 called the Kothari Commission titled
on the name of the chairperson of the commission Dr. D.S. Kothari. Similar to the previous
commissions, Kothari also advocated for the continuation of English as the library language
for not only higher education but for the school level as well. As the Library Language, The
Kothari Commission is of view that English plays a vital role in Higher education and is a
library language. The commission maintained that in higher studies, teachers must maintain
that requisite level of fluency in English should be present in a student passing through
master degree programs. According to the Commission, “The implications of this (English as
a library language) are twofold: all teachers in higher education should be essentially
bilingual in the sense that they should be able to teach in the regional Language and in
English and all students (Particularly post graduates) should be able to follow lectures and
use study materials in the regional language as well as in English.”
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He opines that second language acquisition (SLA) can only be effective once the
voluntary reading habit is developed within the students. He maintains that before enrolling
into higher education, the cultivation of the habit of reading for fun, joy and to extract
necessary information out of the books, should be an integral part of the students. Further, he
says that this aspect of education should be a necessary component during the school
education as only than its effectiveness can be promised for higher positive outcomes.
Since, in India, several languages are spoken and also one set of people are reluctant
to learn one common Indian language, we have to borrow a new non-Indian language.
Considering the above facts, learning English, the universal language, as a Second Language,
becomes inseparable branch as also unavoidable in Indian education system. In India, the
bitter conflict between the supporters of English, Hindi, and regional languages led in the
1960s to a „three language formula‟, in which English was introduced as the chief alternative
to the local state language (typically Hindi in the north and a regional language in the south).
It now has the status of an „associate‟ official language, with Hindi the official language. It is
also recognized as the official language of four states (Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland,
Tripura) and eight Union territories.
In a period of globalization and modernization English language learning enables in
transferring the individuality of a child into a personality. During 1980s private sector was
encouraged in educational sector and the most of these institutions adopted English as the
medium of instruction. Vast majority of the population are inclined to send their children in
English medium schools. It is due to the fact that English is an official as well as international
language. Some parents were interviewed and they pointed out that their children feel
uncomfortable in understanding the subject matter, which is not in their own language. But
no one can deny the importance of English as medium of instruction plays the key role in
achievement level of students.
Ramamurthi committee (1990) observed that “the standard of English teaching has
been going down”. As it is taught a second language in most of the schools, it does not
receive the proper attention the failure in English has an impact on the overall results. In
many good schools a large majority of students fail in schools.
Harasawa once argued that one of the reasons why Japan is able to compete shoulder
to shoulder with Western European nations is because of the fact that English became a
language of instruction and use in country long ago in the year 1868. This equipped the
Japanese people with up-to-date information and new research and advancements in several
fields research thereby enabling them to better cope with the ensuing problems and issues at
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hand as well as spearhead innovation in new fields to steer the way for the future. Similar has
been the case with China and in recent times, it has gained an even greater push, considering
increasing value of English language in all walks of life in the contemporary world order.
And it was this potentiality of English to dictate the future course of action in the world arena
that Jawaharlal Nehru had sensed and was wholeheartedly in support of its proliferation and
for having an optimistic outlook towards which can well be estimated by his remarks saying,
“English is our major window on the modern world.”
For a variety of reasons, India has nevertheless chosen to adopt and maintain English
as the secondary official language of the country, after standard Hindi. Successive
governments have seen the advantages of this position, at the individual, community and
international level and English is now spoken by approximately 100 million Indians.
(According to the 2001 census, 258 million speak Hindi and a further 30 indigenous
languages are spoken by more than a million native speakers).
English has, as a consequence, retained its standing within Indian society, continuing
to be used within the legal system, government administration, secondary and higher
education, the armed forces, the media, business, and tourism. It is a strong unifying force. In
the Dravidian-speaking areas of the south, it is widely preferred to Hindi as a lingua franca.
In the north, its fortunes vary from state to state, in relation to Hindi, depending on the
policies of those in power. Pakistan has also provided English as the status of associate
language of the official works. Though only India and Pakistan has honored English with the
status of associate official language, it has gained a currency as a language for international
communication in the region of South Asia. And more importantly, its adoption is
increasingly being seen as a status symbol and a means to projecting oneself modern.
Generally, English is used in official communication in the country. It is the language of
research and advancement. It is the language of computer and Internet. It is therefore, that
English has been retained as Associate National Language.
Prakash (2008) has rightly observed that “It was in the English class-room that the
Indian literary renaissance was born.” It is, henceforth desirable for our people to have
sufficient command over English. It has also been observed that so long as it is necessary not
only to understand and speak, but also to read and write correct English to get a job, nothing
can be done in schools and colleges. English will remain supreme. And the pity of it is that
the job is just selling postage stamps or drafting an ordinary letter, which can be better done
in our own language.
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1.4 Reading as a process
Reading is a critical method for people to learn and execute their jobs. It is a source of
fun and an important way to interact with family, friends, and the world around us. In the
contemporary "information era," the ability to read critically and analytically is essential for
every for meaningful participation in any democratic system. It is pertinent to have the ability
to read and comprehend information to be successful in life. Reading provides youngsters a
lot of joy from the beginning of their schooling phase. It is a necessary skill for them to carry
out their studies. If a child's reading skills is inadequate, it will show up in his/her academic
achievement. The ability to read properly is the cornerstone of a child's education in today's
world. Literacy is a need for a successful existence in today's market. NAEP (2010) reported
that reading is an active and complex process that involves:
• Understanding written text.
• Developing and interpreting meaning.
• Using meaning as appropriate to type of text, purpose, and situation.
However, this perspective had took the back seat with the advent of the
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cognitive perspective which focused on the interactive and constructive nature of
reading comprehension based on the previous knowledge of the learner and the
strategies used to attain and sustain understanding.
The cognitive perspective gave path to more recent perspective i.e. constructivist
perspective where readers are builder of meaning where all readers, at every stage of
the reading process, create the most lucid meaning of the text they are reading.
The constructive orientation has been further extended to the social perspective
making it as social constructive perspective also named as socio-cultural, social-
historical, and even socio-psycholinguistics. It includes social, cultural, and even political
contexts in which teaching, learning, and comprehension take place to give meaning to the
reading texts. The emphasized the social nature of learning and the role played by
teachers and peers in facilitation of individual learning. The Vygotsky‟s concepts of
MKOs, zone of proximal development, scaffolding, mediated learning etc. got its place
in reading comprehension.
Only reading is not enough. The ability to write well is imperative for the
success of an individual especially with the advent of information and communication
technology. Writing has become an essential human activity after speaking and reading
to the extent that it starts controlling our lives as Bazerman (2008) observed that the
economy, law, government, bureaucracy, knowledge, journalism, literature, and all
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prime professions are structured around the reading and writing of texts. Today
teachers and students interact extensively through writing on social network pages,
emails and instant messages. The success of every academic, non-academic and
entertaining idea counts largely on effective writing. Democratization of education
especially higher education has made writing skill more pertinent for success at
educational, professional, organizational and social fronts. The inability to write
correctly and effectively adversely affects the academic performance and success.
However, writing is something which is not given due place of importance in our
school education and the time devoted to writing is quite less than is required. Most of
the time, it is assumed that if one can speak and read correctly, he/she can write as well.
Our teachers are not equipped with the essential skills to teach students in effective
writing.
Writing is much more than mastering of grammar and punctuation. The ability
of writing sentences does not make one a good writer. Those who are well versed with
parts of speech but can‟t produce a good piece of prose.
Expressive writing is the ability to express one‟s thoughts, ideas and feelings,
effectively and meaningfully in a systematic and organized manner into words. It is a
complex, multifaceted and purposeful act of communication. Three prime
communicative purposes are involved in expressive writing i.e., ability to persuade, to
explain and to deliver experience. Putting thoughts and feelings into words helps relieve
stress and anxiety. The studies have shown expressive writing can help in improving mental
and physical health. It helps in better understanding of one‟s life.
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Slow in processing information-slow reaction time, reading writing, talking, thinking
Difficulty in making decisions
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the literature divides comprehension into certain classes namely literal, critical and
interpretative. All of these classes treat text in a different way from understanding the literal
denotative meaning of the text to understanding what is meant by the text and then reach to a
judgement utility or vitality of the text depending upon the contents of the text.
With the adding on of the method of factor analysis in the arsenal of the research scholars and
scientists in the nineteen thirties, breaking comprehension into several small sections so as to
make a focused study of every single factor on its own right, helped to considerable length
our understanding of it. Davis was one such schola, working in the early nineteen forties, who
extensively made use of the factor analysis for reading comprehension. He proposed a nine-
point formula for its study. The points are:
Testing the vocabulary
Context specific meaning of the particular word within the text
Understanding the composition of the text and the available references.
Understanding main idea of the text or the given passage
Understanding the questions being asked and to know their answers.
Comprehending the answers asked from the passage but with the use of different
vocabulary in the questions.
Understanding the implicit meanings from the passage so as to properly understand its
gist.
The skill of identifying the literary devices or figures of speech being used in the passage.
To understand the mind of the writer by understanding the contents of the passage by
analyzing his point of vis-à-vis passage and inspiration behind it.
To further expand upon the issues discussed in the above passages, one ought to
understand that the comprehension of a passage involves a set of necessary attributes so as to
fully understand the width and depth of the given passage. One way to explain it is to
understand the relationship between the cluster of words and the particular words, knowing
the phrases, the punctuation marks and literary devices used in it. In the words of Tinker and
McCullough, “The comprehension of a paragraph requires comprehension of its sentences as
well as an understanding of the relationships between the sentences which are essential for
grasping the larger meaning of the paragraph.”
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Expressive writing is a necessity in everyday life. It is a lifelong requirement. In
today‟s world, students write a lot through social network pages, emails and instant messages.
There is not one movie, magazine, article, advertising jingle, or hit song that did not begin
with and rely heavily upon effective writing. Now-a-days, the access to higher education has
expanded never before and expressive writing has been viewed as a necessary skill for
participation and success in higher education and to have access to the powerful social,
professional and organizational roles in later years of one‟s life. If a child is poor in his/her
ability to write, it badly gets reflected in his/her academic performance. But expressive
writing is one of the neglected areas in our school education and the time spends on writing
activities are very less. Most of the time, we take writing for granted. Our teachers are ill
prepared to teach expressive writing.
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teaching our children, writing skill makes the language items learnt firmly f9thed in the
minds of the learners (Graham & Harris, 2009).
Expressive writing is the cornerstone of wellness and writing connections. Expressive
writing literally comes from our core. It is personal and emotional writing without regard to
form or other writing conventions, like spelling, punctuation, and verb agreement. Expressive
writing pays more attention to feelings than the events, objects, or people in the contents of a
narrative. Like narrative writing, expressive writing may have the arc of a story: beginning,
middle, and end. Sometimes expressive writing behaves like a story that swells to crest and
resolves itself on firm ground. But often, expressive writing is turbulent and unpredictable.
Expressive writing is not so much what happened as it is how you feel about what happened
or is happening (Pennebaker, 2004).
Improving writing ability of the students is always been an area of concern for the
majority of language teachers and researchers. Writing is more than mastering of grammar
and punctuation. The ability to diagram a few sentences does not make a good writer. There
are students who are even capable of identifying every part of speech, who are barely able to
produce a piece of prose (The National Commission on Writing, 2003).
To explain: It is one of the most commonly used tasks while writing. Here the writer presents
the topic or views in an explicit manner so that the reader will understand. The writer
presents ideas clearly, logically and effectively so as to communicate. It demands various
approaches to thinking and writing
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To convey experience: In this form of writing, the writer brings real or imagined experience
to the readers. Writer connects to the audience through various descriptive details, voice, and
style and by evocation of emotional response (NCW, 2003).
Expressive Writing as a Cognitive Process: In a cognitive process model, the major focus of
analysis is mental process, such as the process of generating ideas. These processes have a
hierarchical structure such that generation of ideas is a sub process of planning. The
processes are not organized in a linear manner as these mental acts may occur at any time in
the composing process (Flower, 1985). The model developed by Harris and Graham (2003) is
a typical example of integration of different theoretical perspectives, wherein the initial
previous knowledge activation by the students reflects the cognitive approach, emphasis on
modeling by the teacher, scaffolding, and peer collaboration are the contribution of socio-
cognitive perspective. The semantic mapping strategy designed for this study can be used at
all phases of writing, prewriting, while writing and revision. It also makes use of individual
construction of ideas and collaboration among peers at various stages of writing.
Attitudes: The word attitude refers to a bundle of psychological traits that varies from
individual to individual based several factors such as upbringing, heredity or the company in
which the person or student is involved. These psychological traits have been stated such as
individual bias, preconceived notions, particular feelings, the given emotion, the hopes and
fears etc. They act as filters for the student‟s ability to make use or hamper the growth of
reading comprehension of the given material. It is a lens that a child develops in growing
stages of his life that works as filters while comprehending the world at large and its given
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contents in particular. And it goes without saying the cliché that this is the reason why every
individual is unique and different from one another. The given mindset of the student directly
corresponds to his ability to understand reading comprehension. The cultural context
therefore also plays an extremely important part as it includes not only student‟s teachers but
parents, relatives, friends and the community in which he lives. The student‟s perception
would determine to large extent, his ability figure out the meaning from the given passage
and his ability to retain its contents or forgetting it. Simultaneous to it are the problems of
distortion of the text due to given particular attitude of the student that twists its meaning
based on individual‟s unique characteristics.
Attitude towards English: Attitude is an organized predisposition to think, feel, perceive and
behave towards a cognitive object. Attitude is the degree of positive or negative effect
associated with some psychological object. These psychological objects mean any symbol,
phrase, slogan, idea, person and institution towards which people can differ with respect to
positive or negative effect. An attitude can be defined as a positive or negative evaluation of
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people, objects, event, activities, ideas, or just about anything in your environment. Attitude
is a readiness to respond in such a way that behaviour is given a certain direction (Travers,
1973).
Young (1951) has defined as a learned and more or less generalized and effective tendency or
predisposition to respond in a rather persistent and characteristic manner, usually positive or
negatively (for or against) in reference to some situation, idea, value, material, object or class
of such objects or person or group of persons. It introduces the following two elements:
Attitude is generally positive or negative.
Attitude is a learned or acquired affective tendency.
Attitude of students towards English can be measured by using five-point Likert scale to
classify students into favourable and unfavourable attitude group. Attitude toward English
and learning in general are areas of interest to educators past and current. The term attitude
(toward English) should be used to refer to general and enduring positive or negative feeling
about learning of English.
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high but very few children are identified. As the difficulty is not conspicuous and some
characteristics overlap with other conditions such as borderline intelligence, many a time, the
educators and administrators are in a f9th to decide whom to include? Though the most
popularly used definition gives a comprehensive description of inclusion and exclusion, there
is no single test that can clearly differentiate learning difficulty from other conditions. The
children in our school, even today, struggle to attain mastery over English language. It gets
reflected in their mastery of other subjects too, since the language is the basis for learning
other subject areas and in Indian context, English is one of the languages of higher education
in India. So, it makes the situation even worse for the children.
The National Curriculum Framework‟s (NCF-2005) stated goals for a second
language curriculum are twofold: attainment of a basic proficiency and the development of
language into an instrument for abstract thought and knowledge acquisition through literacy.
The NCF (2005) further highlights the need to put special attention on reading and writing in
English, particularly in home language. Reading and writing are the two areas where the
children have a lot of difficulties. These are two vital skills that child should master, along
with the other skills to creatively participate in this literal world. They make use of reading
and writing widely in and out of schools. Apart from that reading gives a lot of pleasure and
it gives access to the world of knowledge. Writing is also equally important. Writing has been
viewed as a necessary skill for participation and success from primary level to higher
education and it provides access to the powerful social, professional, and organizational roles.
Writing is actually thought in the paper. But it is one of the highly neglected areas in school
education. So, there is still a lot to do in our school education to foster the reading
comprehension and written expression of the children.
Reading comprehension and expressive writing in English is a complex domain to
learn and teach because it requires bringing together many skills. It can also be applied in
many different ways. Oral communication can rely on immediate verbal and nonverbal
feedback While, reading and written language is highly de-contextualized. Writing and
reading has been thought of as falling at the top of the English language hierarchy. In fact,
most children struggle to acquire writing skills.
The present study is an attempt to study the learning difficulties among grade
secondary school students, in lieu of the trends observed in research, in English language
reading and writing in relation to their attitude towards English. Research being sparse in
both western and Indian settings this study would add to understanding of the child‟s
difficulties in achieving academic success. There has been a standing need to the present
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situation that learning difficulties related to English language reading and writing be
investigated and suitable materials be prepared to meet their particular needs in Indian
context. Thus, current study therefore is an attempt to study assessment of difficulties in
English reading comprehension and expressive writing among secondary school students in
relation to their attitude towards English.
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Learning Difficulties in Expressive Writing in English: Difficulties faced by an individual
in expression of his/her thoughts, ideas and feelings, correctly and meaningfully in a
systematically organized manner through writing. It is a complex, multifaceted and
purposeful act of communication applicable to those children who have significantly greater
difficulty in English writing and commit errors of punctuations, spelling, reversals, additions,
omissions, substitutions, wrong capitals, etc., assessed through a writing test to be developed
by the investigator.
Attitude towards English: Attitude towards English refers to the tendency to react
favourably and unfavourably towards English. Students will be classified into (favourable &
unfavourable) attitude groups on the basis of the scores obtained on attitude scale.
1.14 Objectives
1. To study the difficulties faced by secondary school students in English reading
comprehension.
2. To study the difficulties faced by secondary school students in expressive writing in
English
3. To study the difficulties faced by secondary school students in English reading
comprehension in relation to their attitude towards English.
4. To study the difficulties faced by secondary school students in expressive writing in
English in relation to their attitude towards English.
5. To study the difficulties faced by Secondary School students in English reading
comprehension and expressive writing in English in relation to their attitude towards
English.
1.15 Hypothesis
1. There exists no significant relationship between difficulties faced by secondary school
students in English reading comprehension and attitude towards English.
2. There exists no significant relationship between difficulties faced by secondary school
students in expressive writing in English and attitude towards English.
3. There exists no significant relationship between difficulties faced by secondary school
students in English reading comprehension and expressive writing in English and
attitude towards English.
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1.16 Research Questions
1. What is the nature and prevalence of difficulties faced by secondary school students
in English reading comprehension?
2. What is the nature and prevalence of difficulties faced by secondary school students
in expressive writing in English?
3. How does attitude affect reading comprehension in English?
4. How does attitude affect expressive writing in English?
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Story reading and answering questions based on the story.
One word substitution.
Linguistic knowledge (Phonology, Morphology and Intonation)
Idioms
Written mode
Answering questions based on the passage given.
Sentence writing
Precis writing
Answering the multiple-choice questions based on passage.
Expressive writing in English
PPDT (Picture Perception Description Test)
Essay writing
Letter writing
Letter word alignment
Sentence rewriting
Word space between sentences
Comparative and superlative degree
Fill in the blanks by using correct forms of verbs
Mechanics (Handwriting, Spelling, Punctuation)
Attitude towards English
Students were classified into two groups (favourable and unfavourable group) on the basis of
attitude scale administered to them and subsequently the test in English reading
comprehension and expressive writing in English was administered to them. Both of the
groups were compared to know that which group possessed better English reading
comprehension and expressive writing in English.
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Step II: Administration of the following self-responding tools:
Reading comprehension test in English
Expressive writing test in English
Attitude scale in English
Step III: Collection of the tools
Step IV: Administration of the suitable statistical techniques to analyze the scores obtained.
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learning difficulties‟ have not been researched significantly, particularly in India. There has
been a significant rise in numbers of those who can speak and write in English in India as
also world over. A simple search on Google or any other engine regarding news and
advertisement for knowledge of English as must, would establish the rising importance of the
English. Considering the present situation of the rising worldwide significance of English and
knowing the fact that children with learning difficulties constitutes a sizable population of the
country that can make a huge difference, the study becomes all the more important. It
becomes necessary to study the patterns of these children and also to intervene in constructive
manner so as to recognize its causes and possible measures of its eradication. That is the only
way to ensure the enough human resources for the ever-growing knowledge economy and the
development of the nation.
The focus of the present study is on the assessing of difficulties in English reading
comprehension and expressive writing among secondary school students. It aims to study the
reasons, process and experiences of the students of the said standard. The study is evermore
necessitated due to the lack of adequate literature and data on the subject and also its ever-
growing need in the society. There is not enough data with regards to the immensity of the
problem and hence the present study also aims at collecting first hand primary data. The
study focuses on analysis and interpretation of the data collected and finally analyses the
findings in the light of the available literature and researches in the conclusion.
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