language teaching in multicultural classroom

EFFECTIVE USE OF LITERATURE FOR TEACHING ENGLISH IN A MULTI-CULTURAL CLASS ROOM: A study of ‘Girls from overseas.’ Shakila Bhanu.Sk Assistant Professor Vignan University Vadlamudi Guntur Dist [email protected] Abstract Teaching Communicative English in today’s multicultural class room has been a challenging task and yet provides an opportunity for both teachers and students with different cultures to bring their enormous range of experiences, knowledge, perspectives and insights into the learning platform. As literature reflects the cultural values and conflicts of a society in flux, literature may become the best tool to explore and learn culture through the study of literary text. The present paper exemplifies the same using Dalal’s ‘Girls from overseas’ as the materials in a multi-cultured class room. *** Introduction Communicative Language Teaching has been a dominant model for language teaching and learning for more than three decades. CLT teachers have the general idea of what Communicative language Teaching is and have many misconceptions how to apply it in classrooms. In this context teaching method would become the only method what a teacher experiences. CLT does not have any structured method for teaching and any prescribed material for learning. Hence, it becomes a big challenge for CLT teachers especially when the classroom becomes multicultural. Literature is the integrated part of any teaching and even more in language teaching. Effective use of literature for language teaching depends on appropriate methods used for teaching. However, selection of appropriate literature for multicultural classroom language teaching is again an immense test for CLT teachers. CLT needs innovative activities and tasks demanding the CLT teacher to frame activities that can sustain the students’ interest in learning. As Cook (2001:89) cautions: “… however enjoyable the class may be, however much language is provoked from the students, the teacher always has to question whether time is being well spent; are the students, learning as much from the activity as they would from something else?” Besides building the students interest, the teachers’ role involves in time to time enquiring about the students progress in subject. Necessity of literature for language teaching in class rooms Collie and Slater (1987) raise four essential questions: Why? What? How? When? giving following reasons why should a language teacher use literary texts in class rooms: Literature is a valuable authentic material because readers have to deal with language intended for native speakers (different linguistic uses, forms and conventions) Cultural enrichment. The imagined world of literature reveals thoughts, feelings, customs, and other features of life of the country where English is spoken. Language enrichment. Literary texts offer many features of written language that can broaden learners' skills. Personal involvement. Engaging imagination with literature helps learners to change their attention from language system to the story itself. Sometimes the readers are drawn into the development of the plot." The language becomes 'transparent' – the fiction summons the whole person into its own world.'“ (Collie, Slater, 1987: 8) Using literature as authentic and genuine samples for language teaching, selected literature has to be used for teaching language in multicultural class rooms to create interest in students (Collie and Slater). Selected books must be relevant to the life experiences, emotions, or dreams of learners balancing students’ academic needs, teachers must be knowledgeable in content areas, teaching methodologies, strategies and effective practices. Knowing the Students’ Background Knowledge According to Kristina Robertson “Students need to connect with literature on three basic levels: text to text, text to self, and self to the world.” (Accessing Students' Background Knowledge in the ELL Classroom, Reading Rockets) Connecting to text and to self is only possible when they connect text to their own culture. Eliminating culture based communicative barriers If the teacher does not know the culture of learner it may lead to communication barrier leading to confusion and misunderstanding. “For instance, an Indian asked his Arab colleague why he was a bachelor at the age of forty. The Arab replied innocently, “because dowry…………” The Indian responded, ‘You should not have been so greedy’. The Arab was upset and confused because he could not understand why his Indian friend considered him greedy. There was a communication breakdown. Dowry for an Indian is the money that the groom takes from the family of the bride while ‘dowry’ for an Arab the amount of ‘mehar’ that the groom has to pay to the father of the bride.” (Rizvi Ashraf, Effective Technical Communication, Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited, 2005: 19) To avoid this communication barrier the teacher should aware of the cultural issues of his/her students. To know cultures and customs they can make use of different means like internet, social net working sites and books. In this circumstance literature can soundly fill the gap. If the student is provided with some text of literature he/she can go through it and understand and can use in designed tasks. I would like to experiment in classroom where a selected excerpt from Nergis Dalal’s Girls from Overseas, set in 1970s’ and based on cultural problems faced by foreign women in India, has been used for teaching communicative language. The novel could be undoubtedly a rich material and tool to be experimented on students having 5 foreign women – (American Sandy, French Michelle, Canadian Louise, English Gertrude and Jane) who are all married to Indians, having met their husbands in native countries, as recommended by Robertson Kristina. “You can start by researching your students' native countries, cultures, and educational systems. You may even want to study the historical figures, musical and artistic traditions, geography, and biodiversity of these countries so that you can connect your lessons to something that the students already know.” (Robertson Kristina, Accessing Students' Background Knowledge in the ELL Classroom, Reading Rockets). After briefing the storyline, the selected parts of the novel were given to First year B. Tech students consisting of different states as well as a few foreign students. Team activities using Selected Samples “Sandy had been in India for months before she became aware the there is as much difference between the temperate and the tropical zones as there is between night and a day-and there is equal difference in the impact of day-to- day life on the mind. A climate, after all, is not only a physical thing; topography is not merely so much land space; vegetation is not just something grows out of the ground and that one eats or does not eat. What happened in the mind was inextricably bound up with one’s physical surroundings and the mental climate of a place could be as foreign as physical terrain.”(60) “Mataji came down the stairs and was greeted deferentially by vikram who bent down to touch her feet. He did it naturally, without any hint of self consciousness at all—manners so deeply ingrained that no foreign education could obliterate what was bred into blood and bone” (52) 3. “She had, of course, heard about Holi-the rainbow coloured festival celebrating springs and youthful pranks and games of Krishna-a relic of aboriginal and a time for noise, laughter and fun…She wanted to see, to experience everything. The drums which had been throbbing all the night and laughter could be heard in the distance. It was well with a crowd of friends. They were drenched with colour- hair, clothes, hands and bare feet. Faces were smudged with colour, bearing the imprint of red or yellow palms on forehead and cheeks. They come up the drive in noisy wavering throng, and Jane, standing on verandah steps founds. They looked like multi-coloured fools- Holi fools-and they laughed and staggered in a way that made her think they were drunk.” (172,173) The above selected texts depict different aspects of Indian culture which can be well understood by Indian students and explained to foreign pupils. As peer tutoring is proved best method for learning culture related issues. 60 students of the I ECE – B section were formed into 8 teams and made to sit in circles. An ample time was given to them to discuss. As there was an immense scope to share one another’s experiences and culture augmenting friendly relation among them and creating a chance to know one another’s cultural elements, a solid discussion was done leading to further team - activities. After discussion the following activities were conducted which were designed on different language forms and functions of English. Vocabulary and Framing sentences A list of words from the selected text was given for example, wavering, throng, temperate, inextricably etc., asking them to frame sentences using the words. Students who were unfamiliar to words were asked to guess the meaning in accordance with the text given to them. As result of this activity, students can learn how to frame sentences and in discussion correct meanings of unfamiliar words can be gotten. Deducing Activity The aim of this activity is to enhance the students speaking and organizing skills. It can be conducted as inter team activity. One student of each team is sent out and identification is given to him by his/ her own team. The identification that has given to the student should be from the material given to them it may be name of character or thing or ritual that is discussed in it. Later the student is called into the classroom and allowed to ask YES or NO questions to their respective team members in order to infer his/her identity. A few question that student can form are: Am I a living thing? Am I a human being? Am I a male? As the upshot of this activity students can learn how to build interrogative sentences and also organizing skills can be improved. Speaking activity The aim of this activity is to make the students speak at least for 5 minutes on what they have learnt so far. Each student is supplied with a slip on which his/her topic is written and topics are obviously from selected text. Every student has to present on their own topic. This activity makes student reflect on foreign culture. List of topics: Colourful event Holi, religious and hysterical aspects involved in Holi, psychology and geographic region, manners and inheritance in India, etc., Describing activity Aim of this activity is to make them to describe the persons and things they come across in their text. Each member is supplied with a slip the member has to give the description of their thing/person without mentioning its name; the remaining team should identify it. For instance if it is the character Vikram Indian, male, his physical description. As result of this activity students learn how to describe and identify Comprehensive task: Finally a set of statements are given to every student and they need to mark them true or false. Statements are framed from the text can test their understanding and language skills. A few statements are as follows: Holi festival falls in winter T/F Manners are integrated part of inheritance. T/F Tropical zones may affect moods of inhabitants T/F Conclusion The growing diversity in today's classrooms demands that CLT teachers be knowledgeable, responsive, and well-prepared to work with a multicultural, multilingual student population. To meet the needs of students from all backgrounds, CLT teachers must use a broad array of research based strategies that support diverse modes of learning and build on what they already know and do. The strategies presented above are especially beneficial for students who are culturally and linguistically diverse but they also represent excellent educational practices for all learners whether in formal or informal education programs. References Anna Lee McKennon, Strategies for Teaching Critical Thinking/Composition Using Multicultural Contexts, Sacramento Proceedings of the CATESOL State Conference, 2005) Allison, Barbara N; Rehm, Marsha Teaching Strategies for Diverse Learners in FCS Classrooms, Journal of Family & Consumer Sciences 99, no. 2 (Apr 2007): p. 8-10 ISSN: 1082-1651 COLLIE, J., SLATER, S. Literature in the language classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987, 266 p. ISBN 0-521-31224-8  Dalglish, C. (2002) Promoting Effective Learning in a Multicultural Classroom. EDINEB June 2002 Mexico http://www.readingrockets.org/ http://www.teachingliterature.org/teachingliterature/index.htm http://www.teachingliterature.org/teachingliterature/index.htm http://www.oaktraining.com/traininggames/listeninggames.html) ***