AN ANALYSIS OF TECHNICAL ENGLISH COMMUNICATION SKILLS COURSE FOR ENGINEERING STUDENTS IN KONERU LAKSHMAIAH UNIVERSITY

Transcription

1 Chaptr-V AN ANALYSIS OF TECHNICAL ENGLISH COMMUNICATION SKILLS COURSE FOR ENGINEERING STUDENTS IN KONERU LAKSHMAIAH UNIVERSITY 5. 1 INTRODUCTION Modrn ag is an ra of changs and challngs. Evry chang is indd a challng and vry challng triggrs anothr chang. This cycl is unnding and mind boggling as wll, particularly for a sitting duck who dos not mt th challngs had on. In fact, it has bcom almost invitabl to liv with and mt th changs and challngs. Communication is th vital componnt in ducation by which on gains capacity to progrss in lif, mt ths challngs and adjust onslf to th changs. Education is on fild which gts immdiatly affctd by any major chang in lif as it conncts th individual to th progrssing socity. Th capacity for chang is, thus, a prrquisit for ducation. It is, thrfor, ncssary for vryon to acquir th skills that th chang dmands; at prsnt acquiring English languag skills is on such challng. Cultivating Listning, Spaking, Rading and Writing and othr associatd skills to dvlop th highr ordr of communicativ skills lik comprhnsion, cohrnc and cohsion in communication, ffctiv prsntation, dvloping analytical and crativ skills, has bcom th ky to succss. Th prsnt study analyss th txtbooks prscribd for Enginring Studnts by Konru Lakshmaiah Univrsity. Various aspcts of thos books ar analysd to xamin whthr th objctivs spcifid by thm ar fulfilld and communicativ skills ar improvd through th syllabus and taching. Th statistical data and rports ar prsntd. 141

2 5.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE ENGLISH COURSE Thr is a widsprad assumption that Enginring studnts can obtain bttr knowldg and comprhnsion of thir tchnical subjcts through English. Hnc it bcoms ncssary to analys th Enginring syllabus calld Tchnical English. An attmpt has bn mad hr to analys th txtbooks prscribd by Konru Lakshmaiah Univrsity. Thy ar: Tchnical Communication: English Skills for Enginrs by Mnakshi Raman and Sangtha Sharma and Communication for Businss A Practical Approach by Shirly Taylor, in th First Smstr, and Businss Communication: Procss and Product by Mary Elln Guffy, in th scond Smstr, rspctivly. Th aim is to find out th attitud of th studnts towards th txtbooks, mthods of larning, mthods of taching and tsting. A rviw of ths matrials has bn don to assss to what xtnt ths matrials or th mthods thy assum and dmand ar in accordanc with th nds and xpctations of th larnrs. Morovr, this thsis will analys how far ths matrials minimis th conscious fforts to acquir th languag. 5.3 SAMPLE STUDY Th total numbr of informants is 180 from th disciplins of Elctronics Communication Enginring (ECE), Elctrical and Elctronics Enginring (EEE), Computr Scinc Enginring (CSE) and Civil Enginring (CE); thy hav bn slctd at random from Konru Lakshmaiah Univrsity; a proportionat sampl was also collctd from ANU and JNTU (K). Out of th total numbr of 180 studnts (rspondnts), 163 studnts had th stat syllabus and 17 rspondnts had th Cntral syllabus in thir Tnth Standard. 142

3 5.4 METHOD OF ANALYSIS Th sam qustionnair which was circulatd in Acharya Nagarjuna Univrsity and Jawaharlal Nhru Tchnological Univrsity (Kakinada) was also givn to studnts in Konru Lakshmaiah Univrsity to obtain thir viws. Th qustionnair contains som qustions rlatd to thir parntal background and th School Board through which thy had takn thir school final xaminations. A survy was conductd among th studnts of Konru Lakshmaiah Univrsity Collg of Enginring in ordr to assss thir prcptions of th contnt, form, prsntation and othr aspcts lik grammar and th four skills of English languag containd in thir syllabus. Th studnts prcption on how hlpful th books hav bn in gaining command ovr diffrnt languag skills through th prscribd txtbooks is also rcordd. 5.5 SYLLABUS Th Syllabus of th cours is availabl to th studnts for ach disciplin on paymnt of a prscribd f. Th gnral prcption of th studnts is that th txtbooks slf-sufficint in trms of its covrag of th syllabus and hnc it is of utmost importanc. Th dtaild syllabus of Tchnical English for KLU is givn in Appndix-V. 5.6 TECHNICAL ENGLISH TEXTBOOK An Enginring ducational carr dmands strong communication skills in English. Th English txtbook, instad of mrly trying to instil all th litrary nuancs of English into th minds of th studnts, should also provid slct aspcts of English which would hlp thm undrstand thir othr subjcts as wll, sinc thir mdium of larning is English. 143

4 Th First yar English Syllabus givn by Konru Lakshmaiah Univrsity is common to all th branchs of Enginring studnts and is offrd in two Smstrs. Th syllabus is gradd thmatically. Th txtbooks prscribd for I B.Tch. ar Tchnical Communication: English Skills for Enginrs by Mnakshi Raman and Sangtha Sharma and Communication for Businss A Practical Approach by Shirly Taylor in first Smstr, and Businss Communication: Procss and Product by Mary Elln Guffy in th scond Smstr. Th book is an outcom of an English Languag taching projct undrtakn by Konru Lakshmaiah Univrsity involving a tam of English instructors. Th objctiv of th projct is to dvlop suitabl cours matrials for th studnts of Enginring and Tchnology, unlik th arlir convntional cours, which is primarily litratur basd and irrlvant to thir nds. Th matrials ar organisd undr fiv units namly, Phontics, Lxis, Advancd Communicativ Grammar, Modifirs, Prsuasiv Writing, Analysing Txts in Smstr I and four units in Smstr II namly, Intraprsonal and Intrprsonal Rlationship Skills, Communicating in Tams, Businss Corrspondnc, Businss Rport Writing. Th units hav bn chosn taking into account th nds and intrsts of studnts. Each unit consists of various topics on profssional writing and industry. Th cours dsignrs hav includd pronunciation skills, communicativ and businss skills to provid rquird practic for dvloping th skills of th studnts. Thy intnd to snsitis th studnts to th intr-rlationship btwn languag larning and a knowldg of thir cor subjcts. 144

5 5.7 A DEPARTURE FROM THE CONVENTIONAL SYLLABUS Bfor going into th findings of th survy, th first-hand information about th matrials was obtaind sought through th discussions with th popl at th hlm of th affairs. It is to b notd that th txtbooks prscribd mark a dpartur from th convntional txtbooks; and th syllabus was first dsignd in 2010, undr th guidanc of th Cours Coordinator Mr. M.V. Ramana Moorthy, who has bn rndring all his srvic, in th sam Univrsity, for th past many yars. 5.8 ANALYSIS OF THE TEXTBOOK A contnt-analysis was mad to assss its capacity to motivat th larnrs, and its usfulnss in th form of providing information to thm. Th corporal aspcts ar studid to s its usfulnss to th studnts to gain and rtain th mploymnt. Th last but not th last is th communicativ aspct. Any Enginring cours for scond languag larnr should mak thm proficint in thir communication skills. An analysis of th following thr componnts in th txtbook was mad: 1. Th Contnt Aspct 2. Th Corporal Aspct 3. Th Communicativ Aspct Contnt Aspcts A txtbook should motivat th studnts to gt intrstd in th topics includd in its study. Th qustionnair has two dirct qustions on this count: Improvmnt in Crating Motivation Q. Do th Txtbooks crat an intrst in you? 145

6 Rspons: 54.44% of th studnts said ys to th qustion whthr th txt provids ncssary motivation to th larnrs % of th rspondnts said okay. Th rmaining 17.22% flt that thr is no motivation providd in th txtbooks. This might b du to th nw trnd in th syllabus dsign. Th majority of th tachrs opin that thy provid motivation; and for som tachrs th concpts mntiond ar unfamiliar or thy ar not xposd to th rcnt taching mthods. Analysis: Stimulation alon maks th larnr to go forward to achiv th intndd objctivs. Rgarding th fulfilmnt of th objctivs of th syllabus, narly all th instructors flt that th txtbooks do provid sufficint motivation to th studnts. It is with that intntion that a unit undr th titl, Analysing Slctd Txts, has bn includd in th syllabus Suitability of th Txt to th Enginring Cours Q. Ar th topics rlvant to th Enginring Cours? Rspons: From th data collctd, it is known that 37.78% of studnts rspondd positivly % of thm optiond that th topics ar rlvant to som xtnt % of thm rspondd ngativly. Analysis: Aptnss of th prscribd txtbooks dpnds on th carr chosn by th larnr. Whn th qustion is askd whthr th concrnd txtbooks ar rlvant to th Enginring cours, on-third of th larnrs flt that thy ar rlvant Corporal Aspcts Th corporal aspcts consist of organisation of thms, th y-catching covr dsign, tc., in th syllabus covrd in Tchnical English Communication Skills-I and 146

7 Tchnical English Communication Skills-II componnts in thir I /IV B.Tch Cours. Through ths sctions th Rading Skill xrciss, oral xrciss, languag focus, listning and Writing Skills, som othr tasks ar givn. This arrangmnt itslf is uniqu, though it is unfamiliar to th studnts as wll as to th tachrs. This should motivat th tachrs and th studnts to a gratr xtnt Propr Dsign of Tchnical Trms Q. Ar th tchnical trms includd in English Syllabus proprly dsignd? Rspons: On major qustion whthr th tchnical matrials ar proprly dsignd got vry intrsting rsponss. Only 17.22% of th group flt that th tchnical trms ar dlibratly dsignd and a vry surprising rspons of 55.56% of studnts opind flt othrwis. Analysis: As th syllabus is said to tach Tchnical English Communication, it aims at introducing th tchnical trms rlatd to imparting th Writing skills. Th larnrs wr askd to say whthr thy could comprhnd th tchnical trms and whthr th dfinitions ar clar Promotion of Tchnical Knowldg or Languag Larning Q. Do th tchnical matrials in th syllabus hlp th Larnrs to incras th tchnical knowldg or hlp thm to incras th rat of Languag Larning? Rspons: A qustion such as whthr th tchnical matrials hlp to incras th tchnical knowldg or to incras th rat of larning th languag drw vry intrsting rsponss. Only 20% approvd that it promotd th studnts tchnical knowldg and a vry amazing fact to b obsrvd is that 81.67% of th studnts said that 147

8 thy incrasd thir languag larning spcially in writing mor than th tchnical knowldg. Analysis: Th chif objct of any studnt studying an Enginring Cours is to gt a job immdiatly, soon aftr finishing his studis. Hnc, thy flt that thir syllabus should mak thm also tchnically comptnt Dvlopmnt of Crativity Q. Do th tasks prscribd in th txt ncourag you to improv your crativity? Rspons: 35% of thm flt that it provids crativity through various xrciss; but about 24.44% found thm monotonous. Th studnts who hail from rural aras ar not xposd to any such activitis; thy fl that th tasks ar difficult to do in th classroom without th prsonal attntion and hlp from th tachr. Analysis: Varity is th spic of lif. A varity of tasks hav bn dsignd in th txtbook to sharpn thir crativ abilitis. Most of th studnts found such tasks intrsting. Howvr 50% of ICSE studnts (9 studnts) flt that th tasks ar uninspiring Importanc of Ey-Catching Covr Dsign Q. Is th covr dsign attractiv? Rspons: Th rspons for this qustion is comparativly mor positiv than that rcivd from th studnts of Acharya Nagarjuna Univrsity and Jawaharlal Nhru Tchnological Univrsity % of th studnts rspondd that th covr dsign was not attractiv % of thm opind that it was attractiv to som xtnt. Th rmaining 13.89% said no. 148

9 Analysis: Th covr of a book is of utmost important to th studnts. It is th initial point of contact with th radrs and should draw thir attntion. Though th covr dsign smd to b slightly bttr, compard to th othr two Univrsitis. Th covr pag of th txtbook prscribd in KLU did not sm to attract th attntion of th majority of th studnts Languag Usag in Othr Situations Q. Do you find it asy to us nw words (vocabulary) in your intractions, othr than th classroom situations? Rspons: Th findings rval an intrsting fact that a vry low prcnt of studnts ar abl to us th languag in a propr way. Th studnts from th Stat Board find it vry difficult to us th languag larnt in othr situations. So, thr ar a low prcntag of 14 from th CBSE studnts who mak us of it as thy had an arlir xposur to th languag. On th whol, only 24.44% of studnts ar abl to us th English languag ffctivly. Som of th studnts ar abl to comprhnd th txt % of studnts ar abl to us it to som xtnt succssfully; whil 16.67% ar totally unabl to us it in othr situations. Analysis: On cannot dny th fact that if a prson achivs comptnc in a languag h must b abl to us it or apply it in lif-situations. Gaining th capacity to us th larnt chunk of languag for othr situations complts th procss of languag larning. Hnc a qustion was askd whthr th larnrs languag is dvlopd through th txtbook to th xtnt of using it proprly in othr situations. 149

10 5.8.3 Communicativ Aspcts Satisfactory command on a languag rquirs rcptiv ability as wll as productiv ability. Listning, Spaking, Rading and Writing ar rlatd to and supplmnt on anothr. Th psychology of languag-larning also tlls us that th four Basic Languag Skills, namly, Listning, Spaking, Rading and Writing, rinforc ach othr; and vn for th dvlopmnt of a singl skill, som amount of mphasis on th othr skills will b found bnficial. Th corrct ordr of taching th skills is givn in th xprssion - LSRW. It is a fact that rading and writing ar th skills that allow tim to rspond; and, xrcising thm constituts partial languag xprinc; whras, spaking and listning ar spontanous and dmand total concntration. Th syllabus of K.L. Univrsity contains contnt matrials basd on Enginring, Tchnical and Businss English and th tasks ar givn along with thm. Th syllabus of Smstr-I of I/IV B.Tch. cours showcass th distinct advantags of having tchnical communication skills vis-à-vis th basic languag skills in Lxis, Communicativ Grammar, and non-convntional composition skills lik procss dscriptions and print mdia rlass. And Smstr II provids a wid scop to larn businss corrspondnc and businss communication skills. An intrsting imprssion gathrd from th tachrs of English in K.L. Univrsity, is th attitud towards th thms in th txtbooks prscribd. Though a majority of th tachrs support th larnr-orintd mthod and task-basd matrials, thy find it difficult to adapt thmslvs to th nw thms. Thy do not fl comfortabl with th matrials, and many of thm fl that thy ar monotonous and th tim allottd 150

11 is not sufficint. Thy accpt th nd for a chang to th latst mthodology; but, still thy find it unintrsting Comprhnsion of th Txt Q. Ar th topics asy to undrstand through th support matrial providd in your txt? Rspons: Th following ar th findings for th qustion whthr th contnt matrials ar asy to comprhnd, though thy ar th first yar studnts of th Enginring cours. Th paraphrnalia of Tchnical English Communication Skills syllabus starts from Phontics, Lxis, Advancd Communicativ Grammar, Writing Circulars/Ads/ Brochurs and Analysing txts in th I Smstr of th I yar, and progrsss slowly to diffrnt thms in thir II Smstr, such as Intraprsonal and Intrprsonal Rlationship Skills, and Businss Communication tc. About 40.55% of th studnts ar abl to idntify th intllctual contnt of th txt % of th studnts found th txt to b straightforward in approach to th topics includd, to som xtnt. Analysis: Evn though th topics in ach and vry unit ar diffrnt, thy ar affiliatd to th disciplins of Enginring and Tchnology. Th units introducd in th syllabi wr drawn various rfrnc books, lik English Pronunciation in Us, Th McGraw-Hill Handbook of English Grammar and Usag and Effctiv Writing tc Pictorial Prsntations Q. Ar thr adquat picturs, charts, graphs to undrstand th concpts in th txtbooks? 151

12 Rspons: Narly % of th studnts said that thy ar adquat charts, picturs and graphs to undrstand th concpts to som xtnt. Th rmaining 16.67% said ys, th othrs said no. Analysis: This aspct of th txtbooks appars to b satisfactory as a majority of th studnts xprssd satisfaction ovr th adquacy of pictorial aids Dvlopmnt of Languag with rspct to Grammar Q. Do you think that your languag has improvd with rspct to Grammar through th matrial providd in your txt? Rspons: As much as 63.33% of studnts ar abl to undrstand th grammar itms givn along with th tasks and th studnts fl that thy had improvmnt in grammar. Obviously, th studnts drawn from th Stat Board find it difficult to rcognis what thy hav larnt; and so 8.34% of thm do not rspond at all. Unlik th Stat Board, CBSE studnts hav a clar prcption about grammar and thir larning abilitis. Analysis: Th major objctiv in valuation of a larnr is with rgard to th dvlopmnt of languag aspct with rspct to grammar. Narly 63.33% of thm hav rspondd that thy hav improvmnt in grammar. In th rfrnc txtbook Th McGraw-Hill Handbook of English Grammar and Usag th xrciss ar vnly distributd. Th studnts ar drilld to achiv th application of grammar, lik tim, tnss, Dangling Modifir, Misplacd Modifir, squintd Modifir, paralll structurs, shifts in mood, voic, tns and concord tc. Evn though th studnts ar satisfid with thir larning of som grammar, thy ar not abl to mak us of it in thir ral lif situations. Cntral Board studnts hav rspondd positivly and thy ar in a position to 152

13 utilis thir grammar awarnss in spokn English. Most of th studnts ar of th opinion that it is rquird in campus placmnts Languag Dvlopmnt through Tasks Q. How do you rat ths tasks? Rspons: Th finding shows that th tasks promotd larning in a squntial mannr. Excpt for a fw studnts, to all th othr studnts, th tasks smd to b modrat and asy. Th slow larnrs or th studnts from rural aras, about 5% of thm, found it difficult to do th tasks; 83.33% found th tasks modrat and 11.67% found thm asy. Analysis: Th txtbook numrats a numbr of tasks lik vocabulary, synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, idioms, corrction of sntncs, circulars, nws rlas, laflts, giving instructions tc. Whn th Enginring studnts ar monitord to do th tasks, thy must b abl to prform thm. Th succss of this lis in th activ participation and involvmnt of th studnts and th intractiv mthodology of th tachrs. 5.9 ANALYSIS OF THE SYLLABUS WITH REFERENCE TO LANGUAGE SKILLS Good communication skills ar indispnsabl to th succss of any profssional. Mastry of any languag rquirs both th rcptiv and productiv abilitis. Though thy ar rlatd to ach othr, fficincy in on aspct dos not ncssarily lad to fficincy in anothr. Each of th four skills - Listning, Spaking, Rading and Writing, rquirs du attntion. But in rality, in th English classroom, spaking in English is totally absnt and intllctual writing is vry poor. Studnts rad only to mmoriz words and sntncs for answring qustions. Rading on thir own, with undrstanding is unhard 153

14 of in a ordinary English classrooms. Such an illogical and impropr taching and larning of English may b du to lack of undrstanding of th rlativ importanc of th languag skills. Th following critria may b on th continuum of a scal to masur th worth of th four languag skills Listning Skill Listning Skill in English training is imprativ as it incrass attntion and capacity of comprhnsion and intrprtation. Apart from this, it is a ncssary prrquisit to dvlop th Spaking Skill. Th studnt listns to oral spch in English, thn sparats th spokn information into sgmnts, groups thm into words, phrass, and sntncs, and, finally, h/sh undrstands th mssag. Listning prpars th studnts to undrstand diffrnt spakrs of English from diffrnt nations and follow thir spchs. Listning improvs th intlligibility of on s spch. Thr ar thr approachs to listning: intractiv (listning to a mssag and doing somthing as a consqunc) and on-way communication or non-intractiv (just listning and rtaining th mssag, in activitis such as convrsations ovrhard, public addrss announcmnts, rcordd mssags, tc.) and slf-talk. Rsponding to th commands givn rflcts intractiv listning, which, in fact, is qually widsprad in communicativ situations. Listning to radio and watching TV and films, public prformancs, lcturs, rligious srvics, tc., gnrally rflct non-intractiv listning. Slf-talk is also an important procss by which on s own thinking and rasoning gt rflctd. All ths thr mods or approachs to listning may b includd in th training on listning comprhnsion. 154

15 Th studnts of Konru Lakshmaiah Univrsity ar practising Listning Skill in th Computr Assistd Languag Lab (CALL), in ordr to undrstand through rptitions. In listning to th rptitions, th studnts imitat and mmoris linguistic itms such as words, idioms, and sntnc pattrns. This is an important bginning in th task and focus of listning xrciss. It is to b notd that this kind of xrcis falls undr th scond catgory which is non intractiv or is on way communication. Listning to undrstand is a part of using English for communication purposs. In listning to undrstand, th studnts ar involvd in th qustion-orintd rspons modl of larning or in th task-orintd modl of larning. In th qustion-orintd rspons modl, th studnts ar askd to listn to a sntnc, a dialogu, a convrsation, a passag, or a lctur and askd to answr qustions which may b prsntd in th form of tru/fals statmnts, multipl choic qustions, and fill in blank or short answrs. In th task-orintd rspons modl, th studnts ar askd to listn to a passag and accomplish th task dscribd in th passag through intraction with othrs or by thmslvs. As th languag courss offrd in India do not includ listning as a skill, most of th studnts hav difficulty with Listning Skills, vn whn listning to thir nativ languag. Among othr factors, bcaus of th phnomnon of strss (som syllabls of a word may b strssd whil othrs may not b), most larnrs of English hav difficulty in mastring th corrct placmnt of th primary and othr strsss in English. This could lad to misundrstanding of th maning of a word, phras or sntnc. As a consqunc, listning proficincy in English gts affctd, hnc th nd to pay attntion to Listning Skills with grat car. 155

16 Tabl 5.1 Ovrall Improvmnt in Listning Skills through th Txt Book Stat Board Cntral Board Ovrall Catgory No. of % No. of % No. of studnts studnts studnts % Excllnt Vry Good Good Avrag Total Sourc: Survy From th abov Tabl 5.1, it is vidnt that narly pr cnt of th studnts wr found to b xcllnt in improving thir Listning Skill. It is clarly vidnt that th tasks suggstd in th rfrnc books and th Computr Assistd Languag Lab (CAL Lab) hav hlpd th studnts to improv thir Listning Skills to a crtain xtnt. 156

17 Figur 5.1 Ovrall Improvmnt in Listning Skills through th Txt Book Listning Skill 60 P r c n t a g Excllnt Vry Good Good Avrag 0 Stat Cntral Ovrall Sourc: Survy Spaking Skill Spaking skills ar mor sought aftr in th prsnt day contxt and not only studnts at th profssional collgs ar kn on improving thir Spaking Skills, but th studnts of othr ducational institutions at all lvls ar also trying to nhanc thir Spaking Skills. Th syllabus prscribd for profssional studnts suggsts som xrciss which ar to b practisd according to th guidlins of th English tachr. This kind of approach is always th on that is favourd by th faculty. 157

18 Th rol of Spaking Skills in gtting a job and its contribution to prsonality dvlopmnt is xplaind to th studnts. Th targt of th tachrs whn it coms to imparting Spaking Skills is to nhanc th skills of th studnts who lack th rquird proficincy in th Spaking Skills. Th tachrs try to ncourag thm mor to shd off th shynss which is natural and yt rquirs attntion. Tabl 5.2 Ovrall Improvmnt in Spaking Skills through th Txt Book Stat Board Cntral Board Ovrall Catgory No. of % No. of % No. of % studnts studnts studnts Excllnt Vry Good Good Avrag Total Sourc: Survy. Th txtbooks, Tchnical Communication: English Skills for Enginrs and Businss Communication: Procss and Product, consist of vry fw Spaking Skill tasks in th form of oral practic and rol-playing tc. Th tasks dsignd for CALL ar rlativly simpl and involv crativity on th part of a larnr. As pr th data, th ovrall improvmnt Spaking Skills in th studnts (50.55%) was found to b avrag. This is bcaus of th strss on pronunciation, which is a vry important componnt of Spaking Skills. 158

19 Figur 5.2 Ovrall Improvmnt in Spaking Skills through th Txt Book Spaking Skill 60 P r c n t a g Excllnt Vry Good Good Avrag 0 Stat Cntral Ovrall Sourc: Survy Th first problm of th studnts is that thy ar afraid of making mistaks in oral communication and th consqunt shynss hindrs thm to spak in English. Compard to a child, an adult larnr lik th first yar Enginring studnt has alrady a pattrn of larning bfor him and has also a fw prjudics rgarding th scond languag spaking. Thrfor, it is rally tough on th part of a tachr to convinc and to motivat him to spak bfor othrs. 159

20 Th othr rason is th qustion of tachr comptnc. As most of th English tachrs ar not traind in this particular fild it is doubtful if thy can train him in spaking tiqutt and pronunciation. Som committd tachrs try hard; but thir infficincy as trainrs bcoms a hurdl, howvr thy ar intrstd. Th tachrs do admit that th Spaking Skill has scurd th third plac among th four skills. Thus this task-mthod at last maks both th larnrs and th tachrs ralis whr thy stand in acquiring th oral skill Rading Skill Rading is apprciating th sns of what is writtn: w rad for maning, says David Crystal (1987: 209). In othr words, th ultimat goal of rading is not th procss of rading itslf, but th unravlling of th maning rprsntd by th words, phrass, and sntncs. Somtims, rading btwn th lins is dmandd. In th lattr cas, th association btwn th lttr and th sound dos not oftn provid any clu. Th rcnt dition of Nw Ways in Taching Rading givs a varity of nw ways of taching rading, th ditor of th book Richard R. Day classifis rading into thr kinds: xtnsiv rading, intnsiv rading, and oral rading. Extnsiv rading is usd, to rfr to th taching of rading through rading. In this approach, thr is no ovrt focus on taching rading. Rathr, it is assumd that th bst way for studnts to larn to rad is by rading a grat dal of comprhnsibl matrial (1993). Intnsiv rading is usd to rfr to th actual taching of Rading Skills in an instructional stting. Studnts ar xposd to a varity of matrials and askd to prform activitis such as answring comprhnsion qustions on th passag rad. Thy may b traind to look for critical information in th passag thy rad, and mak infrncs, tc. 160

21 Intnsiv rading is instruction-basd, and forms th cor of taching rading in th classroom. Howvr, rading is a continuing procss, and th studnts of a profssional cours nd to b introducd to th rading of authntic matrials for spcific purposs. Tabl 5.3 Ovrall Improvmnt in Rading Skills through th Txt Book Stat Board Cntral Board Ovrall Catgory No. of % No. of % No. of studnts studnts studnts % Excllnt Vry Good Good Avrag Total Sourc: Survy As pr th abov data, it can b statd that 12.78% of th studnts wr found to b xcllnt, 20% vry good, and 38.89% good, and 28.33% avrag in improving thir Rading Skills. From this data, an infrnc can b mad that thr is an urgnt nd to introduc Rading Comprhnsion xrciss, by which larnrs will gt th ability to find out and sarch for an answr, to think critically, to analys, to giv titls to th paragraphs, to argu, to justify and acquir th othr skills of languag which ar gaind by rading. 161

22 Figur 5.3 Ovrall Improvmnt in Rading Skills through th Txt Book Rading Skill 45 P r c n t a g Excllnt Vry Good Good Avrag 0 Stat Cntral Ovrall Sourc: Survy Writing Skill It is widly acknowldgd that writtn languag diffrs from th oral languag, in structur and mod of functioning. Th acquisition of oral spch by itslf is th acquisition of sounds. Th acquisition of writing is a stp furthr and th larnr must thn transfr th sounds into symbols and larn to writ thm. In brif, th practitionr should chang his mdium of xprssion from th phonological lvl to th orthographic lvl. 162

23 Taching writing vn to nativ spakrs of English has always bn a major concrn of ducation. Mor oftn than not, most studnts, both nativ spakrs and scond languag larnrs of English, fl thmslvs inadquat in th fac of a writing task. Modrn world dmands considrabl fficincy in Writing Skills. Howvr, whn on can larn to spak th first or scond languag with littl or no conscious thought, switching from th spokn to writing poss gratr difficulty. As Jan Donald Bown t al. hav obsrvd, Whn thy dclar that, Writing is mor an individual ffort than spaking, whil at th sam tim mor rul-bound and thrfor mor rror-pron. Th spakr dos not hav to pronounc ach word xactly according to on standard of pronunciation or on modl of structur, whil th writr is xpctd to produc according to on modl of splling, and usually a rducd rang of structurs, with 100 prcnt accuracy (1985: 252). Writing is mor rul-bound than spaking. Considring th control of th orthographic systm, th carful organisation, and th linguistic consrvatism rquird, writing is th most dmanding of th languag skills (1985: 253). Th writing classs hav th potntial to hlp consolidat and improv th studnts spaking and Rading Skills. Howvr, it is important for on to rmmbr that writing is an important skill which can b taught as an nd in itslf, although non of th languag skills is far rmovd from th othr languag skills. Focusing on writing as an indpndnt skill hlps on to idntify th spcific problms facd by th larnrs, and to idntify th spcific nds of th larnrs rlatd to writing. Mchanics of writing ar distinct from th mchanics of othr skills such as spaking and rading. Whil rading involvs watching and pronouncing, writing involvs mntal organisation: association of words with mntal composition of thoughts and thir ordrly prsntation. 163

24 Tabl 5.4 Ovrall Improvmnt in Writing Skills through th Txt Book Stat Board Cntral Board Ovrall Catgory No. of % No. of % No. of % Studnts Studnts studnts Excllnt Vry Good Good Avrag Total Sourc: Survy This shows that th scond languag larnrs hav improvd mor in activ skills bcaus thy ar providd with th right atmosphr in th classrooms % of th studnts wr found to b xcllnt in thir Writing Skills, and at about 48.89% wr found to b vry good in thir Writing Skills. It can b statd that approximatly, a majority had improvmnt in th Writing Skill, thy larnd to writ with a bttr sns of organisation, using th appropriat xprssion thy larnt from th Tchnical and Businss English units thy had in thir prscribd txtbooks. 164

25 Figur 5.4 Ovrall Improvmnt in Writing Skills through th Txt Book Writing Skill 60 P r c n t a g Excllnt Vry Good Good Avrag 0 Stat Cntral Ovrall Sourc: Survy 5.10 Evaluation of Larnrs' Scond Languag Larning through th Prscribd Syllabus in English An ovrall analysis of th txtbook has bn shown in Tabl 5.5 and Tabl 5.6 blow indicating whthr th spcifid objctivs hav bn fulfilld or not. Th objctivs ar: comprhnsion of th txt, languag larning with rspct to grammar, improvmnt of scond languag larning through tasks, and using scond languag in othr situations and larning of all th communication skills. Among ths, som of th objctivs hav bn fulfilld. Majority of th informants undrstood th txt and only a fw could not comprhnd th txt. Rgarding 165

26 th objctiv of languag larning with rspct to grammar, most of th studnts flt that thy hav gaind som improvmnt in grammar. But this is a contradictory data whn compard to th grammatical rrors thy hav committd. Th informants might hav gaind improvmnt in grammar but still thy ar unawar of thir own rrors. Among th four skills sn arlir thy lack in Spaking and thn Rading skills whras 70% of thm hav improvd thir Listning and Writing. But th larnrs ar unabl to us th languag in othr situations. A poor prcntag of informants wr found to b confidnt and said ys to such a qustion. Just bcaus th informants hav gaind fficincy in som aspcts of languag larning, it dos not man that thy ar abl to us th languag in othr situations. Tabl 5.5 Lvl of Satisfaction of Larnrs' Scond Languag Larning through th Prscribd Syllabus in English in Contnt and Corporal Aspcts C O N T E N T Objctivs Improvmnt in Crating Motivation Suitability of th Txt to th Enginring Cours Highly Satisfid % Satisfid % Dissatisfid % C O R P O R E A L Propr Dsign of Tchnical Trms Dvlopmnt of Crativity Importanc of Ey-Catching Covr Dsign Languag Usag in Othr Situations Sourc: Survy 166

27 Contnt Aspcts: Considring th Contnt Aspcts, th rspons is quit ncouraging with mor than 80% bing satisfid with th motivation aspct and mor than 70% finding th matrials suitabl to th Enginring cours. Corporal Aspcts: Among ths, th tchnical trms sction and covr pag rcivd lukwarm rspons and th studnts do not sm to hav bn satisfid. To a larg xtnt, th improvmnt of crativity and th us of English languag in othr situation was found to b good nough. Th non-english mdium and rural studnts, particularly, ar not abl to bnfit from thir study of English to us it in othr situations. Figur 5.5 Lvl of Satisfaction of Larnrs' Scond Languag Larning through th Prscribd Syllabus in English in Contnt and Corporal Aspcts Lvl of Satisfaction in Contnt and Corporal Aspcts P r c n t a g Highly Satisfid Satisfid Dissatisfid Sourc: Survy 167

28 Tabl 5.6 Lvl of Satisfaction of Larnrs' Scond Languag Larning through th Prscribd Syllabus in English in Communicativ Aspcts C O M M U N I C A T I V E A S P E C T S Objctivs Highly Satisfid Dissatisfid Satisfid % % % Comprhnsion of th Txt Improvmnt of languag larning through grammar Improvmnt of languag through tasks Listning skill Spaking skill Rading skill Writing skill Sourc: Survy Communicativ Aspcts: Among th four skills, th lvl of satisfaction on th part of th studnts with rgard to Spaking Skills and Rading Skills was found to dissatisfactory, hnc th nd to pay spcial attntion to th studnts in this rspct. 168

29 Figur 5.6 Lvl of Satisfaction of Larnrs' Scond Languag Larning through th Prscribd Syllabus in English in Communicativ Aspcts Lvl of Satisfaction in Communicativ Aspcts 100 P r c n t a g Highly Satisfid Satisfid Dissatisfid Sourc: Survy 169

30 5.11 Computr Assistd Languag Lab (CAL Lab) At prsnt th computr has bcom a part and parcl of our day to day lif. It plays a vital rol in th procss of taching/larning. It can b usd to larn a forign languag lik English. Computrs hav mad languag larning asy and also mad th languag larning procss intrsting and njoyabl for both tachr and studnt, throughout th world. CAL Lab has rducd th burdn of th tachr and mad larning mor individualistic. It also savs th studnts from th out-datd taching mthods that som tachrs might adopt to tach languag. It is dscribd as on of th intractiv mthods that provid spac and tim to a larnr according to his own ability to larn. CAL Lab nabls th larnr to look byond th convntional mod of larning and ncourags slf-larning. Konru Lakshmaiah Univrsity introducd Communication Skills Lab with th nam Computr Assistd Languag Lab (CAL Lab) for undrgraduat Enginring and Tchnology studnts. Evn though thr is no particular syllabus for Computr-Aidd Languag Lab, a varity of tasks in spaking and listning wr dsignd by th Cours Coordinator, Mr. M.V. Ramana Moorthy, to hlp th studnts to ovrcom communication apprhnsion and diffidnc in xprssion. An avrag of 56% of th studnts hav xprssd that thir skills improvd to a grat xtnt owing to th Lab. Th rmaining 33% studnts flt that thir skills hav improvd, to som xtnt. ***** 170