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A SEMINAR PAPER
Indranil Sarkar

Title:Problems of studying English in the UG Colleges of Assam,

India with special references to the colleges of Dhubri District.

Introduction:Studying English in Indian context has been viewed by the paper presenter here,
as a comradeship between the teacher and the learner. Every forward step of the
teacher must be reciprocated by the learner in order to maximize the benefit. And,
in order to be able to do this the learner must possess:
(a) Basic linguistic aptitude;
(b) Proficiency in mother tongue;
(c) Basic idea about indigenous socio-cultural matters; &
(d) A Historical sense of European cultural heritage.
The paper presenter fixes a three-fold task in the present research activity:
(1) To provide a basic understanding regarding the study of English in the UG
level colleges of Assam highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the course
pattern.
(2) To stimulate and justify the benefits of learning English in the present Global
perspective and

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(3) To see how quantitative and qualitative changes can be brought in the
teaching/learning process of English with a slight adaptation to the present system
by a mutual effort.
By the term Linguistic aptitude the investigator wants to cover the various
ingredients of English Language i.e. Grammar, Vocabulary, communicative skill
etc. All these are inter-related as well as intra-related phenomena which contribute
to a proper understanding and conveying of any idea correctly. Historical sense
refers to a basic conception of the socio-cultural aspects of Europe. Mother
tongue refers to the everyday-use language of the learner while Indigenous
Culture refers to the parameters of English in Indian cultural heritage.
While investigating these key issues a comparatively wider aspect of English
teaching could not be left unexamined. This is because the issues emanating from
English language pedagogy are complex in nature involving a larger educational
agenda, comprising social, cultural, economic and political factors.
This brought the investigator to the wider areas of study as a viable paradigm that
can be explored for other options to conceptualize the English language pedagogy
at the Under Graduate level.
Problems:The main problems that are faced in the UG level have been identified as the
following:
1. No idea about the dual status of English i.e. English Literature and English
Language.
2. No prescribed methodologies in the teaching/ learning procedure.

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3. Overcrowded, unhygienic and unscientific class-room causing inability to

individual attention and successful interaction.
4. Heterogeneous learners having varied proficiency level, diverse socioeconomic and cultural background imposing serious hurdles for the teachinglearning system in general.
5. Lack of awareness among the students about the enormous potentiality
English.

of

6. Lack of a scientific

course pattern covering both the language and literature aspects of English;
Review of the problems & their suggested solutions:1. Studying English means studying two subjects: (1) English Language and (2)
English Literature. The case is like the two sides of a coin. Study of one
confiscating the other is quite impossible. But, surprisingly this has been going on
in India unlike most non-native English countries. In the UG level the students are
taught only Literature. Language Teaching is totally avoided. And this conceptual
error has been inviting hosts of problems making the subject leveled as
Difficult.
Language is an instrument of communication, which makes it possible for two or
more persons to establish and sustain a relationship, while literature is a means of
communication through which peoples culture is transmitted from generation to
generation. So, if the purpose of learning a language is communication and
literature is also communication, then the two are two sides of a coin, which are
not separable (Adesuyi, 1991). A language therefore, is both a component of
culture and a central network through which other components are expressed

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(Lado, 1964).The two subjects-English Language and Literature-in-English are

reciprocal. The knowledge of literature prepares the foundation for language
learning and vice versa. Apart from entertainment, literature enhances students
general use of language since communication takes place all the time in
Literature. Literature helps learners develop their understanding of other cultures,
make them aware of the differences in cultures as well as enable them tolerate and
understand other peoples cultures. This reciprocity makes Ogunnaike (2002)
opine that the two subjects English literature and English language should be
integrated since they are inter-related.
As soon as the student learns the basics of a language, he feels encouraged to
study more literary texts having higher linguistic resources. This tendency
ultimately helps the learner to acquire familiarity with different linguistic uses,
forms, and conventions of the written mode: with irony, exposition, argument,
narration, and so on. (p.4)[5] Yorke sees the matter through narrative literature
like fiction, novel etc. where the learner finds something of universal human
passions, their life-style, problems and experiences: It [narrative literature]
contains a wide variety of styles, ranging from everyday conversation to
suggestive rhetorical devices.[Yorke]
Collie and Slater affirms that students proficiency of language increase through
the study of literatures on that language.[3] The functions of the written language

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becomes properly realized by the students while learning the literary texts. Carter
and Walker also argue that as literature itself is the use of language so naturally
analytic study of literature helps learning the language.
Thus, in order to have a successful study of English both language and
literature should go simultaneously.
2. Like other parts of India, in the Colleges of Dhubri District in Assam affiliated
to Gauhati University also, teaching of English is performed in the traditional
Lecture-method. And everybody knows that the success of Lecture-method
depends on the personal efficiency of the teacher which is rarely expected to be a
general rule. But, all the defects of Lecture-method are reflected in the
teaching/learning sphere in general. Students have nothing but to play the role of
dumb listeners. The basic objectives of the learners i.e. to learn the language,
gather knowledge and derive pleasure of literature mostly remain unfulfilled.
These issues were understood while examining the answers in the student
Questionnaire distributed among the UG students. Most of the students felt that
there was practically no scope on their part to participate in the teaching /learning
system in the existing system. The course content and teaching methods only
demand them to be mute listeners. Inquisitiveness is sometimes looked upon as an
impertinent interruption to the process.

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Thus, a review of the teaching methodology appears most essential in

consideration to the changing perspective of the study of English in the
colleges under GU, Assam. The paper presenter feels that multiple methods
instead of a traditional method may be helpful .Modern technologies should
be used.
3. The number of students in the class room on the one hand and their varying
proficiency level because of diverse socio-cultural and economic background on
the other are acute impediments for the proper teachinglearning process.
This is certainly a very acute problem having no real solution in a country like
India where Multiculturalism had been prevailing long before the European
intelligentsia thought it worth studying in the Universities.
The paper presenter holds that the only remedy to this monstrous problem is
to limit the number of students in a class where the teachers will get more
opportunity to convey radical ideas through their personal contacts.
In the village based colleges the students suffer from a certain type of fear
psychosis so far as English is concerned. The main reason is defective or
incomplete background. Although several reformative steps have been taken to
reform the teaching of English in the schools in recent years, yet there exist many
feeder schools where English is taught by untrained and unskilled(sometimes
Under Graduate) teachers. Besides being weak in Grammar and vocabulary, the
students learn defective pronunciation in such schools. And these two factors
ultimately develop formidable fear psychosis about the subject.
Even in this Post-modern and Globalized world very few students of the
concerned locality are aware of the immense potentiality of English both in
Higher education and job market. As such very few students take the matter

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seriously and invest extra efforts to learn the subject properly. The overall
tendency is just to overcome the monstrous hurdle somehow. And this negative
approach is enough to demoralize the teachers and make him reluctant to adopt
any individual effort. Thus, both the teachers and the students perform the
teachinglearning activity as a matter of routine compulsion.
The paper presenter feels that the only solution to overcome this problem
rests on a strong and flawless school education like the Public School system
of England.
In the (+2) stages, students have been given a compact course of linguistics
(Grammar, compositions etc.) and literature which is so vast that it is quite
impossible to teach/learn properly. Infrastructural problem plays the most vital
role in this case. The course-contents, class-room conditions and time-schedule--all are mis-matched or matched unscientifically. Moreover, there are no teachers
to teach English in the (+2) stages in the colleges. In addition to their normal
duties, the teachers of the Degree section have to teach in the (+2) stage also. As a
result there develops some real problems both on the part of the teachers and to
the students. The lofty ideas of the scholarly syllabus makers mostly go in vain for
their practical non-execution or improper and partial execution.
It appears to the paper presenter that the Individual infrastructure in this
regard will make the situation beneficial.
4. Another problem is the absence of interaction. Instead of encouraging the
students to take part actively, sometimes some inquisitive students are looked
upon as a disturb creator in the teaching-learning process. And this is sufficient to
make the whole class a mute audience for ever.

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The paper presenter feels that there should be a compulsory time schedule
for interaction in every class lecture. As there is no suggested methodology to
substitute the Lecture method, so every class lecture should have a
supplementary interaction session. Only through an interactive-session the
weakness of the Lecture method can be overcome.
In the newly implemented Semester system of the T.D.C course of Gauhati
University, English is a compulsory subject. The importance, whatsoever, is
diminished to a great extent. Unlike earlier B.A Course where a student had to
study Two papers of a total marks of (100+100=200),a Pass course student in all
the streams[Arts, Science, Commerce] under the present syllabus has to study
English in Two papers of a total of 100 marks,(50+50=100). A student has to
appear for 50 marks in the 1st semester and another 50 marks in the 2nd Semester.
The texts are chosen keeping careful attention to the current Global literary and
Cultural aspects of English. Passing is compulsory. Every student has to secure at
least 30% marks in order to qualify for the B.A degree. The University has shown
lineal attitude by providing a provision of 20 % marks from the internal
assessment. The Question Pattern has also been changed radically to provide
greater scope of passing. The system has been completely modified with a view to
smooth the situation and to provide opportunities for better results.
But unfortunately it has done a serious blunder which had been noticed in some of
the Indian states earlier. For the sake of Quantity, quality has been sacrificed. And
even then, the change practically failed miserably to bring any real reformation in
the Teaching-learning of English in the state. Neither the attitudes nor the
performances of the students have indicated any sign to feel elated. To the
contrary, the narrowing of scope of English in the course-pattern appears
lamentable speculating its long term consequences.

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And here again, once more, the cause is understood to be a general negative
or lukewarm attitude towards English and lack of awareness about the
importance of English in the present Global perspectives.
The case of Major students in English is rather more miserable. At par the new
syllabus, a Major student in English has to secure at least 40% marks in each of
the 20 Papers of 100 Marks .Almost everything in English has been included in
the syllabus including a paper of Optional Choice. The selection of the texts has
been made very carefully and rationally. The present T.D.C syllabus in English
(M) is nothing but the introductory or beginning part of the P. G. Course in
English of the GU. The question pattern has also been changed radically keeping
an eye towards the NET/SLET exams. Conducted by the UGC for qualifying into
Professorship. The University has tried its best to give the B.A (Major) courses
in the colleges the impetus of other professional Graduation courses like
Engineering [BE], Medical [MBBS] etc. But, here also it has been assumed that
the students who come to study Major course in English are well conversant in the
Linguistic aspects (i.e. Grammar, vocabulary, communication etc.) of English.
This is certainly too much an expectation from a student coming from rural
background. True it is that a massive reformation in school education has been
done in recent years; still most of the students (even those having 80% marks or
above) are quite poorly trained with the linguistic features. As a result, the
students of English [Major] feel overburdened from the very beginning and fail to
achieve a good result ultimately. In many cases it has been noticed that a student
of less proficiency/merit secures a better result that opts for some other subjects.
Even the best possible effort and comparatively more labour and expenditure fail
to generate a satisfactory result in English.

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The paper presenter finds that the root of this menace is overlooking or
neglecting of the Linguistic aspects of English in almost all the stages of the
teaching/learning process in the concerned locality. The students are taught either
English literature or English language. They are never taught a balanced course
containing both the aspects of English.
Thus, the paper presenter specially feels the necessity of the inclusion of a
compulsory paper of 100 marks in Communicative English to the Major
course just like the newly implemented Methodology and Computer Basics
papers in PhD courses of various Universities. In this regard, opinions of
modern researchers on the subject like Joanne Collie, R.Ledo, J. Ogunnaike,
T. Slater T. & J.Li, may be consulted.
Conclusion:Problems of studying English in a rural setup are truly speaking a global problem
with local addenda. Of late English has become the global language on the one
hand and English literature has reached the status of world literature on the other.
So, studying English implies undertaking a Herculean effort. The success opens
the door of prosperity while failure proves catastrophic and disastrous. In present
day India, English has reached the status of the Mythological Kalpabriksha.
(Gopalacharia).
The increase in the use of English in India at present is "overwhelming".
Presently, the estimated English language users in India are about 350 million.
Although till today only 4 percent of Indians use English, yet India is the largest
English-using population in the world. Over 350 million of users which are
greater than the combined population of the two English speaking countries the

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USA and the UK (Crystal; 2003) [1]. Literatures in English are nowadays
recognized as part of the national literatures, and amazingly English language has
become the unofficial but only acceptable (!) national Language of the Indian
nation with a population of 1.21 crore. English language and its literature have,
thus, penetrated very deep into the socio-cultural life of India.
In India, Education is elitist from the very beginning. It was never easily
accessible to the commoners. As a result in both Pre-Colonial and Colonial period
education served as a way to accomplish worldly prosperity and an avenue of
upward mobility to those with resources ( khashru). And Education here refers to
English education that was set up by Macaulay in 1853. The trend remained
unchanged even after 65 years of Independence of the Country defying the
emergence of various socio-ethnic and regional powers. The Higher Education
system has undergone a 13-fold growth in number of Universities and a 26-fold
increase in number of Colleges. In 2002-2003, there were 196 Universities 76
Deemed Universities and 13500 Colleges including 1600 Women Colleges
besides thousands of Non-Gov. or Private Colleges. But, the number of
Universities have increased to 480 in 2010.The pressing demand, whatsoever, has
made the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India to establish
another 800 Universities with immediate effect to cater the need of the increasing
number of students. The number of Colleges and schools are also need to be
increased in the same proportion. (Govt. of India portal)
Presently India produces an enviable amount, more than 3.1 million of fresh
Graduates every year from various Institutions of Higher learning in India. India
presently has approximately three hundred forty-seven institutes of higher
learning and 16,885 colleges with a full registration of over 9.9 million. These
1 David Crystal-The sub continent raises its Head (Yale University Lecture,2003)

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institutions produce approximately 495,000 technical graduates, almost 2.3

million other graduates and over 300,000 post-graduates yearly. [ 2] (The figure
exceeds the individual total population of many countries!) In addition there are
1.5K research institutes and is the second largest pool of engineers and doctors in
the world[3].This is certainly a pointer to the potential strength of India in Human
Resources.
But, under the bright record of quantity, a very dark and dismal picture of Quality
lies hidden. The bright records of brilliance and outstanding performances of a
handful of talented personalities who shine by their own brilliance both nationally
and internationally are just a silver lining over a dark, worn-out and diseased
system. The paper presenter feels that the massive unemployment/un-utilization of
the aforesaid number of qualified Human Resource is primarily due to their
weakness in English.
Finally, the paper presenter feels that it is high time to implement the
suggested measures to stop further deterioration. The paper presenter
further feels that the social changes and their probable directions are needed
to be microscopic observation to find a proper way out to solve the problems.
[3000]

References:1. Adesuyi, V.A. Relationship between students exposure to English literature and
performance in WASC English Language among secondary students in Orido state.
An unpublished M.A. Thesis, University of Ife, lle-Ife, Nigeria

info cable.com3squamble.com

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2. Collie, Joanne, and Stephen Slater.1987; Literature in the Language Classes;

Cambridge University Press
3. Collie, Joanne, C. J.eds., 1989.Literature and the Learner: Methodological
Approaches. Macmillan.
4. David, Crystal: The sub continent raises its head (2003) Lecture in Yale
University.
5. Ledo, R.1964.Language Teaching: A scientific Approach: McGraw- Hills-Inc.New
York, USA, pp. 239
6. Ogunnaike (2002, J: Challenges of the Teaching and Learning in Nigerian
Secondary Schools (2002) ISBN.978--041-5
7. Slater T., & Li, J. (2013). Grammar in Language teaching and education 032In C.
Chapelle (Ed.), The encyclopedia of applied linguistics. Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.
8. Yorker, Malcolm: 1980: Encountering the Novel: Problems and possible solutions
English Language Teaching Journal; 34:215-237.

Web References:www.infoplace.com
www.Languageof India.com
www.squamble.com