Faculty of Humanities and Social Science > English

The importance of communicative English

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Shamim Ansary:
Undoubtedly, English is a very important language as chronologically, English ranks third  among the major languages in the world.

The state of English in our country has yet not been reached at a satisfactory level. GT method is mostly used in Bangladesh. Communicative English should be emphasized form the primary education. English medium schools carry standard curriculum to boost up the level of the students. But only a few number of privileged students get to be adimtted in those.

Some new ways must be found out to enhance the level of English of the General students. Some good books realting to this and teachers with expertize at the beginning level are prerequisite factors.

shibli:
What qualities would you consider necessary in an international language ?

The need for an international language cannot be gainsaid and its need has been felt more now than before. But such a language must have certain qualities so that it could be accepted as an international language. The purpose of this essay is to discuss some of those qualities.

Any language must have its own alphabets. The Roman Script in which most of the European languages are written is very convenient as it has the smallest number of letters. It is only twenty six and compared to the thousands of letters of Chinese, it is very easy to master Roman Script. But even here there are certain difficulties because all sounds could not be expressed in the Roman Script. That is why experts like Bernard Shaw suggested a forty script language. So an international language must have a small number of simple scripts and must be useful to express any sound.

Secondly it must have a rich vocabulary. There are dozens and dozens of highly developed languages in the world with their beautiful vocabulary. Some of those words, if they are already popular and could be easily understood, must find a place in the international language. These words must have the respectability capable of being used in the newspaper, in conferences and international meets. Those words must be acceptable to the people of the world, at least the educated who would be using them very often.

Thirdly it must have good idioms and expressions. Only these make any language virile and the international language must absorb those idioms into it so that it will be better understood in suitable form. Since in an international meet, all kinds of people from different countries would be present the idioms must be acceptable to all and intended only for international usage. All that is peculiar to a particular tongue need not be there. The language must be capable of being spoken and written by many, neither too hard to understand nor to simple too be forgotten.
It must not have a cumbrous and difficult grammar. Each language has its own rules of grammar, some of them not very logical on the face of it. For example, in English we say `I read, you read and he reads'. This has proved a headache to many a beginner of English. In fact in almost all languages these peculiarities are also found. So the international language must have a simple grammar.

The language must be capable of being used in the august assemblies of the world. But that is not enough; it must be capable of being used by the man in the street as well; otherwise it will become dead soon. It has been the fate of some great languages of the world, for instance, Sanskrit, which continued to be the court language and the language of the elite and so it became dead. To attain an international status, it must be the language at that level. It must be used in world bodies so that translation could be avoided.

Since the international language will have to be evolved it must avoid the pitfalls in other languages. Newspapers of repute can have their edition made in the international language. Great books of the world must be translated into the international language. The whole trouble is a language has to evolve and is never made. So the birth of an international language may have its birth pangs but it may be worthwhile to make an attempt.
          

shibli:
Discuss the difficulties that arise from the existence of more than one language in a country

The essay implies there are real difficulties existing in a country where there are more than one language. The way out is not sought, so let us confine to the difficulties alone.

The first difficulty will arise regarding the court language or state language besides, of course, the language to be chosen of international communication. Each language may compete for the coveted post of becoming a court language. When may languages are spoken by different people in one country, to pick out one of them and say that is the state language will lead to conflict and more often then not as witnessed in some countries. The safest course would then be to have all the contending languages as court or state languages.

Though this arrangement is possibly the best, it is wrought with practical difficulties, In the offices more forms will hove to be printed, more officials will have to be appointed, very often proficiency in more than one language will be insisted upon. In that case people who learn languages easily may get into the offices to the chagrin of others. Since all records will have to be in all languages, more paper work will be involved. Many useful hours will be spent in translation, though simultaneous translation has become practical with the advancement of technology.

In official business each language may claim superiority to the resentment of others. In legislatures such controversies may surface very often and this is detrimental to the unity of the country. Though simultaneous translation has obviated the difficulty today, still translation may not be correct because the idioms and nuances peculiar to o language will be lost in translation.

Perhaps the greatest difficulty that may arise refers to what is called the linguistic minorities. In any area the people speaking different languages may not he of the order of percentage. The number of those speaking one language may out number those speaking another language and thus they claim numerical majority. Those who speak the minority language are looked down upon. Very often feelings get strained and there may flare up language riots. To keep the people speaking different languages under restraint and make them live amicably is difficult. What is called the linguistic chauvinism has not become a thing of the past.

The real difficulty will be with education. Any government or state cannot brush aside the claim of a section of her people to educate their children in their own mother tongue. That means more schools, more teachers and above all more text books in different languages. The question of language comes up in conducting public examinations, As many papers will have to be set up in different languages, this adds to the administrative burden.

In such a country the study of literature becomes hard, because each language may be having a good literature and unless due recognition is given to literature it may not grow. A practical difficulty will be felt in travel and communication. A person from one area of a predominant language will find it difficult to go and do business in another area having a different predominant language.

When all these difficulties are viewed dispassionately one must agree there must be one national language. It is worthwhile to think of a national language. Purists may quarrel but the national language may absorb good words and idioms from other languages. This is a way out of language difficulties.
          

shibli:
A language is a systematic means of communication by the use of sounds or conventional symbols. It is the code we all use to express ourselves and communicate to others. It is a communication by word of mouth. It is the mental faculty or power of vocal communication. It is a system for communicating ideas and feelings using sounds, gestures, signs or marks. Any means of communicating ideas, specifically, human speech, the expression of ideas by the voice and sounds articulated by the organs of the throat and mouth is a language. This is a system for communication. A language is the written and spoken methods of combining words to create meaning used by a particular group of people.

Language, so far as we know, is something specific to humans, that is to say it is the basic capacity that distinguishes humans from all other living beings. Language therefore remains potentially a communicative medium capable of expressing ideas and concepts as well as moods, feelings and attitudes.

A set of linguists who based their assumptions of language on psychology made claims that language is nothing but ‘habit formation’. According to them, language is learnt through use, through practice. In their view, ‘the more one is exposed to the use of language, the better one learns’.

Written languages use symbols (characters) to build words. The entire set of words is the language’s vocabulary. The ways in which the words can be meaningfully combined is defined by the language’s syntax and grammar. The actual meaning of words and combinations of words is defined by the language’s semantics.

The latest and the most advanced discoveries and inventions in science and technology are being made in the universities located in the United States of America where English language is the means of scientific discourse.

The historical circumstances of India (having been ruled by the British for over two centuries) have given the Indians an easy access to mastering English language, and innumerable opportunities for advancement in the field of science and technology. Many Indians have become so skilled in English language and have won many international awards for creative and comparative literatures during the last few years. Sometime ago, an Indian author, Arundhati Roy, won the prestigious booker prize for her book “The God of Small Things”. Her book sold lakhs of copies all over the globe.

Over the years, English language has become one of our principal assets in getting a global leadership for books written by Indian authors and for films made by Indians in English language. A famous Indian movie maker Shekhar Kapoor’s film “Elizabeth” has got several nominations for Oscar Awards. It does not require any further argument to establish the advantage English language has brought to us at the international level.

English language comes to our aid in our commercial transactions throughout the globe. English is the language of the latest business management in the world and Indian proficiency in English has brought laurels to many Indian business managers. English is a means not only for international commerce; it has become increasingly essential for inter-state commerce and communication.

In India, people going from North to South for education or business mostly communicate in English, which has become a link language. Keeping this in mind, the Parliament has also recognized English as an official language in addition to Hindi. All the facts of history and developments in present day India underline the continued importance of learning English in addition to vernaculars.

Some of the states of India are witnessing popular increase in public demand for teaching of English language from the primary classes. Realizing the importance, recently, the Minister of Indian Railways, Laloo Prasad Yadav, demands teaching of English language in schools. The great demand for admission in English medium schools throughout the country is a testimony to the attraction of English to the people of India. Many of the leaders, who denounce English, send their own children to English medium schools. Many of the schools in the country have English as the sole or additional medium of instruction.

A language attracts people because of the wealth of literature and knowledge enshrined in it. English poses no danger to Indian languages. The Indian languages are vibrant and are developing by the contributions of great minds using them as their vehicle of expression. English is available to us as a historical heritage in addition to our own language. We must make the best use of English to develop ourselves culturally and materially so that we can compete with the best in the world of mind and matter. English language is our window to the world.

English language is one tool to establish our viewpoint. We can learn from others experience. We can check the theories of foreigners against our experience. We can reject the untenable and accept the tenable. We can also propagate our theories among the international audience and readers.

We can make use of English to promote our worldview and spiritual heritage throughout the globe. Swami Vivekananda established the greatness of Indian view of religion at the world conference of religions in Chicago in 1893. He addressed the gathering in impressive English. Many spiritual gurus have since converted thousands of English people to our spirituality by expressing their thought and ideas in masterful English. English has thus become an effective means of promoting Indian view of life, and strengthening our cultural identity in the world.

When William Caxton set up his printing press in London (1477) the new hybrid language (vernacular English mixed with courtly French and scholarly Latin) became increasingly standardized, and by 1611, when the Authorized (King James) Version of the Bible was published, the educated English of London had become the core of what is now called Standard English. By the time of Johnson’s dictionary (1755) and the American Declaration of Independence (1776), English was international and recognizable as the language we use today. The Orthography of English was more or less established by 1650 and, in England in particular, a form of standard educated speech, known as Received Pronunciation (RP) spread from the major public schools in the 19th century. This accent was adopted in the early 20th century by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for its announcers and readers, and is variously known as RP, BBC English, Oxford English, and the King’s or Queen’s English.

Generally, Standard English today does not depend on accent but rather on shared educational experience, mainly of the printed language. Present-day English is an immensely varied language, having absorbed material from many other tongues. It is spoken by more than 300 million native speakers, and between 400 and 800 million foreign users. It is the official language of air transport and shipping; the leading language of science, technology, computers, and commerce; and a major medium of education, publishing, and international negotiation. For this reason, scholars frequently refer to its latest phase as World English.

Dr. G. Manivannan

shibli:
Communicative English, one of the major objectives of which is to emphasise on speaking skill, was introduced in the national curriculum more than a decade ago in order to enhance our students' overall skills, specially speaking skill, that were neglected in our curriculum since independence. But have we achieved any level of success and are we on the right track to achieve our objectives? The answer is a big "no."

In this article I am going to point out some of the reasons for which our students in general are not able to achieve even a rudimentary level of speaking skill even after they have studied English as a compulsory subject from the primary level to the higher secondary level.

First of all I would say that communicative method of language learning is a global phenomenon, and proper implementation can produce positive result. Regrettably, in Bangladesh we have not been able to use this method properly till now and probably success will not come until we take necessary steps.

Although the introduction of communicative English in Bangladesh has not enhanced the quality of our students' English language skill, it has contributed a lot towards the increase in pass rate in SSC and HSC examinations. In fact, one of the major reasons for the very poor output from communicative English is the exam system.

In Bangladesh, researchers have found that students are highly exam oriented and have no interest in things that are not included/important in the exam (this is not the fault of the students because we traditionally judge a student's merit by the marks s/he gets in the exam).

The text books (English for today) up to higher secondary level provide materials to engage students in oral communication by group work, pair work, dialogues, role-play etc. But since these things are not included in the public exams, students do not feel interested in such oral practice and language teachers face a lot of trouble in the communicative language classes.

Experts, while designing communicative English language materials for the students and guidelines/instructions for the teachers, provided sample questions that later turned into so-called model questions and students got real interest here. Now, in most schools and colleges, communicative English has dwindled to the practice of model questions that exclude the oral practice of language. These models, which are almost the same items from class six through twelve, have made the bar of exams much easier to cross.

In the present system of examination, it is very difficult for a student to fail in English because if s/he answers even randomly without being sure of any correct answer, s/he is likely to get at least pass marks, and in case s/he gets below the pass marks, examiners these days are liberal enough to enhance the score to the pass mark. One of the reasons, perhaps, is the pressure from the education boards that always want to raise the pass rates higher.

We all know that pass rates in English matter much to the average pass rates because most of the students who fail to pass in the SSC and HSC exams fail in English. In the present situation the education board authorities may feel complacent because the pass rate in English is no less than 70%, and that the number of students getting A+ in English far outnumbers those getting A+ in Bangla.

Also, those who are not familiar with the exam system may have this delusion that our students are doing better in English than in Bangla, meaning that they are gaining better in English than in Bangla. But the reality is different, and this can be guessed from the general impression that a huge number of our educated youths who have gained certificates but not good jobs in the country or elsewhere due to their lack of English language skill.

That English language skill is one of the most vital tools of success in the job market is not a present day phenomenon. During the colonial period some Indians/Bangalees reached the peak of success by learning English. This, however, had a negative impact in some cases when these English educated people suffered from "Anglomania." One such glaring example, we know, was poet Madhu Sudan Dutta, who developed a hatred for Bangla and started to write in English, but realised his mistake later.

It is time we realised the importance of English language skill, more importantly the importance of speaking skill. Bangladesh is gradually turning from its agro-based economy to a service oriented economy and agricultural land is shrinking more rapidly than ever.

In a service oriented economy our country is bound to be more impoverished and vulnerable if we cannot educate our youths with speaking skill in English. Moreover, our agenda for building a digital Bangladesh through vision 2021 will be jeopardised because in the present global context English language will be a driving force for digital Bangladesh.

In the present context of necessity of English as a tool for development I would say that the prevailing communicative method of English language teaching needs to be reshaped along with the exam system. In the public exam at least 20% marks needs to be allotted for speaking skill (that will cover listening skill as well). Then, students will be encouraged to develop their speaking skill. Practice of speaking English should be enhanced at least in the educational institutions and English classes must be conducted in English.

I would suggest that a lot of materials for discussion in English could be chosen from Bangla literature, including the literary materials of Bangla syllabuses of the respective classes. This will not only hold students' interest but also increase their passion for Bangla language and literature, simultaneously developing speaking skill in English.

From personal experience I have found a very good output engaging my students to talk about some Bangla poets or writers or on Bangla short stories and poems. Teachers should be aware that not all Bangla words have English synonyms because "no two languages are similar." Besides we can use our culture bound relationship words such as abba, amma, bhabi, assalamu alaikum, namasker etc. while speaking in English.

It is true that a language contains its speakers' cultures but as English today has become a language of the world we have to make it a language of our own, conforming it to our own culture.

As English language is an important tool for development, can't we prepare ourselves well for gaining this advantage? Can't our English language teachers say "ask not what salary you get for your job, ask what you have done for the students," For a teacher there is nothing better than making a permanent space in your students' minds.

Dr. Md. Abu Zafor, Associate Professor, Department of English, Jagannath University.

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