THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH IN INDIA

 -Amarnatha Jha

Amarnatha Jha served as a Vice-Chancellor of Allahabad University. Through his speech and writing, he has done a great service to teachers and students. In this essay, he discusses the difficulties and problems of teaching English in India today.

English has been taught in India for more than hundred years. Even then, there are many difficulties. So the teachers who teach English and others interested in English should ask certain questions: if all is well with the subject, if the teachers are competent, if it is necessary to keep it the medium of instruction and if a distinction is not needed between the teaching of the language and the literature.

PRIMARY STAGE:

Teaching: In the primary schools, English is generally badly taught. So the primary school boy becomes a victim of incomplete and half-hearted experiments.

Teachers: The junior-most and least qualified teachers are placed in primary classes or an old teacher on the verge of superannuation is in charge of the lower classes. This makes the teaching unsatisfactory—callous, experimental, unbaked and desultory.

Need: A declared policy of the educational mandarins regarding the system of training is needed. Properly trained teachers should be appointed to teach primary classes. The teachers must go through a course of training in phonetics. They should know something about education.

Primers and readers: Efforts should be taken to make the subjects relevant to the life of the students. The subject matter should be more in relation with the traditions and environments of Indian students. The students must be allowed to study and express their knowledge through their mother tongue.

Difficulties: An Indian student faces difficulties like inadequate physical nourishment, unsuitable school hours and economic pressure. The most important problem is the linguistic bondage. The teachers also must familiarize themselves with the technical terms of the language.

HIGH SCHOOL STAGE: At the school stage, the student is able to think for himself. Textbooks should be selected properly. Well written and pleasant books should be selected. Teachers should teach them as literature, living, warm and vivid. They should not alarm and frighten and students. Instead they must let them see the best models and live in their company.

UNIVERSITY STAGE: At this stage, the tutor should 'educate' to develop the young man's tastes and correct them. They must teach the higher qualities of style, the intellectual and emotional analysis, and vague thoughts. The student should familiarize himself with the best books. The teacher should teach the interesting and good passages to create interest in the students. Specialization can be done effectively after setting a comprehensive background.