Nios
Deled Course - 503 Assignment II Answers
Learning
Languages at Elementary Level
Q1
(a) Enumerate the various methods which can be used to facilitate the learning
of language.
Ans.
Some important methods of language-teaching methods are
as follows:
(1)
Grammar Translation method: The
grammar–translation method is a method of
teaching
foreign languages derived from the classical (sometimes called traditional)
method of
teaching
Greek and Latin. In grammar–translation classes, students learn grammatical
rules and then
apply
those rules by translating sentences between the target language and the native
language.
Advanced
students may be required to translate whole texts word-for-word. The method has
two
main
goals: to enable students to read and translate literature written in the
source language, and to
further
students' general intellectual development. The biggest limitation of this
method is that the
children
do not acquire proficiency in listening and speaking the language.
(2)
Communicative method: Communicative language
teaching (CLT), or the
communicative
method, is an approach to language teaching that emphasizes interaction as both
the
means
and the ultimate goal of study. Language learners in environments utilizing CLT
techniques
learn
and practice the target language through interaction with one another and the
instructor, study
of
"authentic texts" (those written in the target language for purposes
other than language learning),
and
use of the language in class combined with use of the language outside of
class. Learners
converse
about personal experiences with partners, and instructors teach topics outside
of the realm
of
traditional grammar in order to promote language skills in all types of
situations. This method also
claims
to encourage learners to incorporate their personal experiences into their
language learning
environment
and focus on the learning experience in addition to the learning of the target
language.
According
to CLT, the goal of language education is the ability to communicate in the
target language.
(3)
Natural Approach: The Natural Approach
is a language learning theory developed
by
Drs. Stephen Krashen of USC and Tracy Terrell of the University of California,
San Diego. This
method
gives maximum attention to the fact that in language teaching the focus should
not be on the
teacher
or the teaching-learning material but on the learner (student). This fact was
also affected by
researches
done in linguistics. From these researches it also became clear that making
mistakes is an
essential
step in the process of acquiring language. On analyzing these errors it was
also found that
these
errors are in fact indicators of a childs knowledge and learning process.
The
theory is based on the radical notion that we all learn language in the same
way. According to
this
method, children have innate ability to acquire language from birth. A 4-year
old internalizes the
rules
of her language and does not make mistakes in speaking even before entering
school. That is
why
the Natural Approach focuses on giving the child a tension free environment for
learning
language
as well as providing interesting and challenging teaching–learning material of
their level.
(4)
Audio Lingual Method: With the outbreak of
World War II armies needed to become
orally
proficient in the languages of their allies and enemies as quickly as possible.
This teaching
technique
was initially called the Army Method, and was the first to be based on
linguistic theory and behavioral
psychology.
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Q1
(b) "Creation
of suitable environment is an important pre-requisite for language learning".
Discuss.
Ans.
Even though we have the sensory organs and the tendency
to speak, no child can learn
language
until she hears it being spoken and practises speech. Each child learns the
language of her
group-the
way she speaks, the words she uses and the accent of her speech. The child who
grows up
without
contact with people, she cannot speak normally and it will be difficult to
teach her later. Also
the
children who are hard of hearing or deaf, begin to babble at the same time as
other children but
after
some time the amount of babbling decreases, since they do not get a feedback.
If not provided a
hearing
aid, the child will grow up they do not get a feedback. If not provided a
hearing aid, the child
will
grow up without learning to speak. This brings out the importance of
environmental factors in
language
acquisition.
Research
studies have shown that when parents are sensitive to the child's speech and
respond to her
utterances,
the child's language develops. A rich language environment leads to better
speech
development.
We know that children living in institutions generally show lower levels of
language
development
compared to children in families. A positive emotional relationship with the
parents
helps
the child to feel secure and lays the foundation for language acquisition.
It
is clear that the child must be maturationally ready to learn to speak and must
get opportunities for
hearing
and practising speech. Adults and older children help the infant in acquiring
language,
especially
during the first year of the child's life, in the following ways:
(i)
Caregivers, whether adults or children, keep their language simple when they
are
talking
to infants, especially those only a few months old. They use short and simple
sentences, speak
in
an exaggerated manner and do not use pronouns like 'I' or 'you' since these are
difficult for the
infant
to understand. Adults call out the child's name rather than saying 'you' and
call themselves
'mummy',
'daddy' or 'aunty' rather than 'I'. They also produce nonsense sounds, i.e.
those which have
no
meaning, but which the child delights to hear. They respond to the child's
cooing and babbling by
talking
to her, imitating her and encouraging her. Most of this modification in the way
of talking is
instinctive.
Caregivers also see what type of speech the infant responds to most and then
use that in
their
interactions.
(ii)
When the infant is around 4-5 months of age, the caregivers begin to show them
toys
and
household objects. While showing these they refer to them by their names and
describe them a
little.
Siblings delight in such activities with the baby and are untiring in their
efforts to attract her
attention
to an object. By 6-7 months the infant also begins to point at objects, picks
them up and
shows
them to people. This increases the interaction between caregivers and the
child. By the time the
infant
is 7-8 months old, the family members also begin to talk about what is going on
around the
child.
They refer to their own actions and the actions of the child. While walking
with the infant on
the
road the father, on seeing a fruit seller, is likely to say: "Banto, look!
Bananas! See, there! Banto,
eats
banana everyday, don't you? It tastes good, mm......?"
Thus,
in a normal environment, the child is continuously surrounded by people who
talk to each
other
and her. The infant picks up new words from the context in which they are
spoken and in this
manner
her language develops.
(iii)
Lullabies and songs are a delightful part of the caregiver-child relationship.
There is
hardly
anyone of us who grew up without hearing them. Some of the songs refer to
everyday events
like
eating, bathing and sleeping. Some of them are about myths and stories. Infants
enjoy the rhythm
of
the lullabies greatly. In addition, they also learn new words. In this way, by
6-7 months the infant
begins
to recognize the sound and meaning of commonly used words. The infant is able
to
understand
language not because she understands all the words that we use. She may
understand
one
or two words but she relies on the gestures used; the tone of the voice and the
context in which
they
are spoken. When the father says: "No, don't touch that!", the child
is able to understand because
he
points to the forbidden object, shakes his head and raises his voice to convey
anger or anxiety. This
brings
us to another aspect of language development that we must keep in mind. At any
age, the
child
is able to comprehend more than she is able to speak.
(iv)
When children are around 9-10 months of age, parents and relatives begin to
play
language
games with them. They say a word like "bye-bye" and encourage the
child to reproduce it.
They
also teach her to wave by showing her the gesture. Increasing competency in
language helps the
baby
to interact with more people and form relationships with them and this helps in
her social and
emotional
development. Language helps her to learn about people and objects. Thus, we see
that
language
influences development of cognition and social relationships. This shows how
development
in
one area influences development in other areas as well.
Q2
(a) Critically analyse any two methods which can be used to develop writing skills for their
strengths
and limitations.
Ans.
Writing is an important form of communication and a key
part of education. It takes time to
develop
strong writing skills, and it can be a tough task to accomplish. Following are
some of the
activities
to develop writing skills among lower classes:
(1)
Picture composition: The teacher can give a
picture to students and ask them to write
about
it. This writing can include a wide variety of compositions. They may be asked
to write a story,
to
describe the picture, to write a dialogue between the characters, to fill in a
missing gap in the
picture
and write about it, etc. When a series of pictures depicting a story is
provided, they can be
asked
to write the story.
(2)
Continuing the story: The teacher can tell
the beginning of a story, and can ask to
write
what they think happened next.
(3)
Independent writing: The teacher can as to
children to write about something that
they
evidently show great interest in or something that they talk about a lot. This
will not only help to
develop
writing skills, but may point the teacher towards more techniques for
facilitating learning.
(4)
Dictation: The teacher can speak
aloud some words and ask the children to write
them
to see if they are able to link the spoken sounds to their written forms.
(5)
Developing stories from given outlines: The
teacher can give a rough outline of a
story
in the form of a series of words and phrases, and then ask to build a story
using these words
and
phrases.
(6)
Last-letter-first: The teacher can make
some groups of students and ask to write
down
words one by one, such that the first letter of the word they write is the last
letter of the word
that
came before. Through this activity, the teacher can identify the problem areas
without pointing
them
out directly to the child.
(7)
Topic of interest: The teacher can let
children talk about a topic of their interest and
write
down what they have said. This will clarify the communicative purpose of
writing and will
clarify
the link between speech and writing.
(8)
Rhyming words: The teacher can ask to
students to come up with words which
rhyme
with the given word, or are similar in sound of the given word.
Higher
forms of writing are taught in schools for the development of expression,
creativity and
communicative
ability. Those higher forms are as follows:
(1)
Paragraph writing: Paragraph writing
remains one of the most important parts of
writing.
The paragraph serves as a container for each of the ideas of an essay or other
piece of writing.
It
helps children learn how to think and write focusing on one theme. It is a good
exercise for
encouraging
young children to express themselves coherently and also forms the basis for
essay
writing.
It is advisable to ask children to write about things that they find relevant
to their lives.
(2)
Essay writing: An essay is a short
piece of writing that discusses, describes and
analyses
one topic. It can discuss a subject directly or indirectly, seriously or
humorously. Essay
writing
is the most important branch of composition. In the process of essay writing,
the student has
to
gather up ideas associated with the topic, analyze them, reject the irrelevant
ideas and choose the
relevant
ones. This process acts as health tonic to the powers of the mind of the
student. His
intelligence
grows keener, reason sharper and imagination livelier.
(3)
Letter writing: Unlike essays, letters
have a very specific communicative purpose.
Therefore,
they do not require the elaboration of points as required in essays. On the
other hand, they
do
require a certain skill in writing to communicate. The style of writing will
vary according to the
writers relationship with the recipient. The writer needs to
understand how the recipient will react to
the
content of their message.
(4)
Story writing: Writing stories is
something every child is asked to do in school, and
many
children write stories in their free time, too. By writing story, children
learn to organize their
thoughts
and use written language to communicate with readers in a variety of ways.
Writing stories
also
helps children better read, and understand, stories written by other people.
Story
writing should be introduced when children are beginning to write, so that
their imagination
aids
their writing skills and also for older children. In the case of the latter,
the aims of this exercise
remain
roughly the same. However, promotion of thinking skills and imaginative
faculties is
emphasised
over learning of language. As children grow, they are expected to regard issues
from
different
perspectives, engage in problem solving and appreciate the aesthetic qualities
of writing.
These
skills develop through an affinity with different forms of literature. By the
time they get to
senior
classes, children have been exposed to different forms of literature such as
poems, stories,
plays
etc., and these further help in the development of thinking and story writing
skills. In turn,
story
writing helps generate interest in literature and language.
(5)
Poetry writing: Writing poetry is a
transferable skill that will help children write in
other
ways and styles. Children in smaller classes usually know only those poems
which include
rhyming
words. Younger children enjoy rhyme and rhyming words help in generating
interest and in
giving
children an impression of words, because of which they can read easily. Rhyming
words can
also
generate interest in writing and develop the skill of writing on the basis of
sound. Therefore,
small
poem making activities may be taken up with young children. Children can be
asked to make
up
poems either individually or in groups, with their peers. This can be an
enjoyable activity.
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Q2
(b) “Real
assessment of children’s performance should be continuous and comprehensive in
its
nature”.
Justify.
Ans.
Continuous and comprehensive assessment (CCA) emphasizes
on two fold objectives. These are
continuity
in assessment and assessment of all aspects of learning. Thus the term “continuous”
refers
to
assessment on intermittent basis rather than a onetime event. When the
assessment exercises are
conducted
in short intervals on regular basis, the assessment tends to become continuous.
In other
words,
it can be said that if the time interval between two consecutive assessment
events can be
lessened
or minimized then the assessment will become continuous. In order to make the
assessment
process
continuous, the assessment activities must be spread over the whole academic
year. It means
regularity
of assessment, frequent unit testing, diagnosis of the learning difficulty of
the learners,
using
corrective measures, providing feedback to the learners regarding their
progress, etc. will have
to
happen maximally.
The
second term “comprehensive” means assessment of both scholastic and co-scholastic
aspect of
Student’s
development. Since all the abilities of the learners’ development cannot be assessed through
written
and oral activities, there is a need to employ variety of tools and techniques
(both testing and
non-testing
techniques) for the assessment of all the aspects of learners’ development.
“Continuous”
is generally considered by teachers as a regular conduct of “tests”.
Many schools are
practicing
weekly tests in the name of continuous assessment in all subjects. “Comprehensive”
is
considered
as combining various aspects of child’s behavior in isolation. Personal-social qualities
(empathy,
cooperation, self-discipline, taking initiatives etc.) are judged in isolation
and are being
graded
on four/five point scale, which appears impractical.
By
continuously observing the learners to see what they know and can do, the
teacher can make sure
that
no learner fails. Everyone is given a chance to succeed and more attention is
given to children
who
were falling behind. Continuous assessment process fosters cooperation between
the student
and
teacher. While the student learns to consult the teacher, classmates and other
sources on aspects
of
her/his project work; the teacher is able to offer remedial help for further
improvement in learning.
Comprehensive
component means getting a sense of “holistic” development of child’s progress.
Progress
cannot be made in a segregated manner, that is, cognitive aspects,
personal-social qualities,
etc.
After completion of a chapter/theme, teacher would like to know whether
children have learnt
(assessment
of learning) as s/he expected based on lesson’s objectives/learning points. For
that, s/he
broadly
identifies the objectives of the lesson and spells out learning indicators. The
teacher designs
activities
based on expected learning indicators. These activities need to be of varied
nature. Through
these
questions/activities she would assess the learners and that data would be one
kind of
summative
data of a lesson/theme. Such assessment data must be recorded by the teacher.
Likewise
in
one quarter, she/he would cover 7-8 lessons/topics and in this manner she/he
would have
substantial
data covering varied aspects of child’s behavior. It would provide data on how the child
was
working in groups, doing paper-pencil test, drawing pictures, reading picture,
expressing orally,
composing
a poem/song, etc. These data would give “comprehensive” picture of child’s learning and
development.
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