Language is the most unique gift of human kind. Beyond the sensorial world it is through this medium that we understand and interpret the world. Knowledge acquisition which is a huge part of our life, more so for the kids, is made possible because of language ability. Yet often this is the only reason children lag behind in their pursuit of acquiring knowledge.
India is a land of diversity with multitudes of languages and dialects. We have children of varied linguistic backgrounds in any given classroom. This is even more so in case of a metropolitan city. When children step into schools these days, as early as three years of age, they have hardly learnt the language of instruction that is most often ‘English’. Excepting the few who come from the conscious English speaking homes, most of the parents believe that being in school will make them acquire the language. Learning nursery rhymes and simple compositions or answers by way of ‘rote learning’ is often assumed as language acquisition. Primary years are simple to wade through, but it is during the secondary years that the downfall becomes painfully evident. Poor communication and articulation skills steal away any possibility of performing well. Unfortunately it remains a mystery to the child as well as to the parents as to why he/she is unable to cope. Often the answer is simple. Poor language skills become a 'barrier' to learning! So how do we learn a language? To understand that let’s go back a few years. Look at the new born baby’s environment. The baby is surrounded with its ‘mother tongue’ language. Every person in the house speaks to the child in that language. Co-relating words with actions the child begins to create meanings and over time the child begins to speak the language, although in a very fragmented manner. At this stage too, the child receives a lot of love and support for the effort it makes. Family members are patient and correct the child with great joy and enthusiasm. With more opportunities to practice without being judged, and with unlimited encouragement, the child starts acquiring mastery of the language. Back to the present! The child enters the school without sufficient tools of communication. At this time he is made to start talking in a language that is vaguely understood by him/her. Words, in the form of meaningless sounds, are created during the time spent in school. Even before the child has had the time to figure it out, the child has to also start writing alphabets in that language. And immediately then, they are pushed into two, three, and so on words most of which doesn’t make sense to them. Lack of command over the language is met with impatience from the teacher who is herself struggling to meet unrealistic annual academic goals. Now add to this the fact that when the child returns home he goes back to an environment that is without the language. Yet the ordeal continues at home in the form of home work. Learning, which was meant to be a process of joy, begins to become an unending source of anguish. Over time parents become a baggage of expectations, and unknowingly add to the stress of the child. Being judged and often labelled finally breaks the child’s spirit and often they succumb to the idea that they lack something. The dent is made. Language barriers can indeed have long-term negative effects on a student's academic performance resulting in low self-esteem. While this situation may not be true of the more educated families, it still is true of a majority who come from traditional homes in India where speaking in English is not a way of life. So what is the cure to this problem? Well, to get different results one has to take different actions. Schools need to choose alternative methods to teach language. Language is learnt primarily through listening. Being immersed in a language is the only way to acquire it. Writing is a function of language. How many of us know to write in our native languages? Yet that is the primary language of our thoughts. We hardly ever find it difficult to express ourselves in our native language. It is critical then that we model that process of language acquisition to the extent possible to support our tender little ones in acquiring the non-mothertongue language. This little gesture of patience on behalf of schools, parents and society will go a long way in changing the outcomes of the schooling years. Allow children to dwell in the world of listening for longer years before we trudge them into writing. Engage and entertain them with stories and songs and poems where they begin making meanings and developing vocabulary. Make the learning process less clinical. That is when children will engage in the process with joy. Introducing writing in an unhurried manner towards the end of these years will then show better results. The pre-primary years in a child’s life is the time of weaning it away from the comforts of the unstructured ways of their homes to the structured ways of the outside world. Moving in to the realisation that the world does not really revolve around them alone is quite a task. The love, patience and faith that schools exhibit during this stage are actually then the qualities that they instill in them through practice. Unless for reasons that are therapeutic, avoid assessing or evaluating them at that stage. Be an extension of the homes that they come from. The diversity and dexterity of the current day schooling process is pretty demanding on the tender minds. Being kind and patient, and also confident will go a long way in ridding this barrier. Robert E. Slavin, director of the Centre for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University, proposes that schools can have a powerful impact on the academic achievement and success of all children by viewing them as ‘at-promise’ rather than ‘at-risk’ and prepare them to reach their full potential. Because the former engages the student by faith, while the latter approaches the student out of fear. Keep the faith!!
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Bandana BasuWisdom lies all around us. It is for us to look for it in our day to day lives. Archives
April 2016
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