Departmental Activity-Workshop on ELT

My Classroom Activity-2- Mr. Yogesh Ramani

Ice Breaker Activity - Alliterative Introduction

Mr. Yogesh Ramani

Department of Communication Skills, MEFGI, Rajkot

About

Introduce yourself to the group with an Alliterative Phrase based upon the first letter of your name for example, “I am Yummy Yogesh.” & “I am Sweet Sweta.” and so on round the room.

Time: 30 Minutes

No. of Participants: Maximum 30

Level: This activity can be executed at beginner and at intermediate level

Alliterative Introduction is one of the best ice breakers if executed on the first day of teaching session with new learners.

For Learner:

·         You will get to know each other.

·         You will remember person’s name and unique quality.

For Teacher:

·         Teacher will be a facilitator.

·         Teacher can create comfortable learning environment.

How to execute:

·         Teacher will instruct to form a circle.

·         Learner will introduce his/her name by adding a describing and rhyming word before his name, for example;

1.       I am Beautiful Bhavisha.

2.      I am Gorgeous Gaurav.

3.      I am Handsome Haresh.

(Note: Learner can use any rhymed food name, adjective, or a word that describes him/her.)

·         Teacher can instruct intermediate learner to speak additional two sentences about himself/herself. These sentences can be from details about MYSELF.

·         Learner will introduce himself/herself in the above said manner along with introducing the person standing by his right side.  

·         The person to learner’s right repeats previous introductions, and introduces the person to their right.

·         Continue with the next person to the right, until all names have been repeated.

Research in Progress-2 - Ms. Deepali Agravat

A Comparative Study of Select Plays of Vijay Tendulkar and Mahesh Dattani

Ms. Deepali Agravat

Department of Communication Skills, MEFGI, Rajkot

(Ph.D. work is in progress with the same title)

We are living in the age of Globalization where one can talk about universal men, universal feelings and universal expression. As a term it may be new but it practice has been in vogue since the Vedic and Upanishadic times. The term ‘Globalization’ talks about universal men and their history and therefore while tracing the history of ‘Comparative Literature,’ one comes across a wide range of similarities and differences, interactions and reactions which help in understanding the artistic form and social importance of any literature. Secondly, as human nature is the same all over the world, its expression in different literatures, in different periods, is bound to have deep-seated affinities. Language and culture may be different but human sentiments remain essentially the same in all literatures of the world. Thus, it is quite natural to study the uniqueness of human consciousness in various literatures through a Comparative Study.

An attempt has been made in this research to make a comparative study of two great Indian playwrights, namely, Vijay Tendulkar and Mahesh Dattani. Since both the playwrights show marked explorations and experimentations in their plays, an effort is made to explore the areas of correspondences and variances in their plays. In addition, the study highlights the complex phenomenon of man-woman relationship in the twentieth century. It helps in understanding patriarchy and its unjust modes of behavior. Both are well acclaimed authors whose plays deal with issues like Gender prejudice, Corruption in politics, Clash between tradition and modernity, sexual identity which are of immense importance in modern urban India.

This Research Study thus examines the contribution made by these writers not only to Indian English drama but also to world English Drama.

Socratic Question-3

Does E-Texting, like WhatsApp/facebook/Messengers, incapacitate one's writing as well as reading skills?

Ms. Devarshri Pandya

Department of Communication Skills, MEFGI, Rajkot 

Art-3 - A Book Review of Nicholas Sparks’ The Wedding

Nicholas Sparks’ The Wedding: A Review

Ms. Gazal Pasnani

Department of Communication Skills, MEFGI, Rajkot

The Wedding is a simple and warm tale sure to please devoted fans of Nicholas Sparks’ sappy love stories and destined to pull some new readers into his web. I love the way he makes you fall for his simple story in a unique way.

THE NOTEBOOK CONNECT - SEQUEL

The Notebook (1996) by Nicholas sparks is one of my favorite books ever and is a bestseller too. It tells the story of how Noah and Allie fell in love one summer, lost touch for 14 years and then found each other again. Their love story is truly inspirational and touching, and, despite all the hardships they had to face, they still managed to keep the magic in their relationship alive. Things, instead, turned out differently for their daughter Jane and her husband Wilson, whose story is told in the Wedding, the long-awaited follow-up to The Notebook.

“Love is sustained by action, a pattern of devotion in the things we do for each other every day.”

THE WEDDING STORY

After thirty years, Wilson Lewis is forced to face a painful truth: the romance has gone out of his marriage. His wife, Jane, has fallen out of love with him, and it is entirely his fault. Despite the shining example of his in-laws, Noah and Allie Calhoun, and their fifty-year love affair (originally recounted in The Notebook), Wilson himself is a man unable to express his true feelings. He has spent too little time at home and too much at the office, leaving the responsibility of raising their children to Jane. Wilson is sure of anything, it is this: His love for Jane has only grown over the years, and he will do everything he can to save their marriage. With the memories of Noah and Allie's inspiring life together as his guide, he vows to find a way to make his wife fall in love with him...all over again. Wilson struggles to find his way back into the heart of the woman he adores.

“I guess what I'm trying to say is that you are there, in everything I am, in everything I've ever done, and looking back, I know that I should have told you know much you've always meant to me.”

REALITY CHECK:

Well this novel narrates a story of an ordinary person like you and me who gets busy in race of life - competing with work, colleagues, society, friends.. Daily needs and in mid of this mundane we lose the most important part of our life.. We forget to recognize, to show, to appreciate and love our family.

“But love, I’ve come to understand, is more than three words mumbled before bedtime. Love is sustained by action, a pattern of devotion in the things we do for each other every day.”

Socratic Question-2

Why is there an adjective 'Research' before the noun 'Scholar'? Does it mean that all the researchers are scholars? 

Mr. Jaydeep Nimavat
Department of Communication Skills, MEFGI, Rajkot

Road Less Traveled By!-1-"Scholars are Bankrupt"

Scholars are Bankrupt

Mr. Rushiraj Waghela

Department of Communication Skills, MEFGI, Rajkot  

If you check the word ‘Bankrupt’ in a dictionary, it means ‘completely lacking’ or ‘a person who doesn't have anything of his own’. I call the scholars ‘complete bankrupt’ as they don’t have anything of their own. Everything they have is borrowed from here and there. They rearrange the borrowed ideas and play with words. The information they have collected and the ideas they have borrowed make them rationally sound. They know a lot but they live a little. Once I happened to meet a forest officer (my friend’s friend). I took a walk with him in Jungle. His knowledge about birds and animals was sound. I heard a melodious voice of a bird. I said, “Listen to the voice. It’s so melodic.” Not showing any excitement, he said, “it’s Grey Nightjar.” He was not interested in the melodic voice of the bird. I realized that he had lost his sense of beauty as he has knowledge (information) of everything around in a jungle. He couldn’t enjoy the beautiful sound as his information-loaded head has closed his heart. This is what happens to scholars. They know almost everything that is knowable. But they cannot live them, cannot cherish them. Their critical approach stops them from cherishing a novel, drama, poem, music, painting, dance etc. They look at everything objectively. In other words, they stay apart from the things and analyze them. When you see things objectively, you can’t live or enjoy them. Say for instance, dance cannot be enjoyed by being objective. You have to be involved in it. You have to be one with the tune. Otherwise, dance becomes a painful exercise. You will not be joyful in such an exercise. Therefore, you will find all the scholars grumpy. None of them are cheerful. They have closed their hearts. The load of information attacks the heart and it dies. I call it Heart Attack or Emotional Suicide. Their borrowing makes them grumpy. They are beggars. Have you ever seen a cheerful beggar? They cannot be. They cannot smile. Even if they smile, it is constipated one. 

Why to take the pain of reading and knowing so much only to get grumpy? What’s so wrong in getting a bit childlike?     

Final Blow

 “Scholars lead a contemplative and retired life” - William Hazlitt.

Art-2: Film Review- KARATE KID: Your Focus Needs More Focus

KARATE KID: Your Focus Needs More Focus

Ms. Gazal Pasnani

Department of Communication Skills, MEF, Rajkot

The Karate Kid is a 2010 Chinese-American martial arts film directed by Harald Zwart. It stars Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith, and it was produced by Will and Jada Pinkett Smith. It is a remake of the 1984 film of the same name and the fifth installment of the Karate Kid series, serving as a reboot.

When Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) moves to China with his mother (Taraji P. Henson), he finds himself being picked on by bullies, so he convinces the building handyman Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) to train him in kung fu so that he can defend his honor at an upcoming Kung Fu Tournament.

Karate Kid had a very simple and predictable plot. The dialogues are also simple, yet in their simplicity one can catch profound virtues that teach about life.

Here are few dialogues:

“Chi. Internal energy. The essence of life. It moves inside of us. It flows through our bodies. Give us power from within.” ~ Mr. Han

We all have an amazing power within us.

You can give it whatever name feels right to you – Chi, Spirit, God, The Force. We can harness our own power, and use it to strengthen ourselves, to lift our energy, and to create our lives.

“Being still and doing nothing are two very different things.”~ Mr. Han

How many times do we choose to ‘do nothing’ over ‘being still’? We choose to turn on the TV, open the laptop, or head to the refrigerator; instead of taking one minute to just sit, and be still.

So, be still, now. Take the time to notice your breathing. Focus on your senses. What do you see, hear, feel and smell? Sit with that for a moment. Just be still.

“You have taught me very important lesson, Xiao Dre. Life will knock us down, but we can choose whether or not to stand back up.”~ Mr. Han

Watching the main character, Dre, be overwhelmed by Chinese culture, bullied by his peers, and then find his own inner strength and ‘Chi’ that leads him to overcome his fears and become a successful individual.

Knocking us down is life’s way of testing us, challenging us, and forcing us to grow.

The movie also reflects teacher-student relation. The teacher is a role model for his student. A movie is worth a watch and adding to your favorites.

Departmental Activities-Samvad

Samvad- A Faculty Forum

Discussion on 'Reading Skills for Employability and Knowledge'

Preamble: 

Vaad, Vivad and Samvad are the terms in Indian knowledge system where we challenge, discuss and reform the ongoing practices in different domains of knowledge.  In the domain of education, samvad holds even more significance because education is fundamentally the site for knowledge exchange. A Faculty Foram provides a platform to the academicians for expression of their ideas on various issues of education

Theme of the Session :  Reading Skills for Employability and Knowledge.

It is said that one who reads is the one who leads. Though reading is one of the major communicative skills, students take their reading competence for granted. It is one of the most neglected skills to be taught. However, a professional needs to be an eclectic reader who can read faster with more comprehension. Reading habit helps one in many ways. It helps to grow knowledge, to acquaint with the language, to enrich the language competence and to develop communication skills. However reading competence among the students of engineering is a matter of concern which needs an immediate attention from the experts. The questions that arise are

·     How can we develop reading habit among the students and create a culture of reading on campus?

·       How can we enable students to effectively carry out reading comprehension?   

·       How can tech tools be used to address the issues of reading?

·       How can we train teachers to enable students for their reading needs?

The issues stated above need to be addressed by the responsible voices from the field.

Panellists

Mr. Mihir Dave

Department of Communication Skills, Marwadi Education Foundation`s Group Of Institutions.

Mr. Jaydeep Nimavat

Department of Communication Skills, Marwadi Education Foundation`s Group Of Institutions.

Mr. Jigar Abhani

Department of Communication Skills, Marwadi Education Foundation`s Group Of Institutions.

Schedule

·       Opening remarks

Each panellist will get 5 minutes for opening remarks.

     

·        Panel Discussion

After opening remarks there will be 15 minutes for the Panel Discussion.

·       Closing remarks

Post Panel Discussion 3 minutes will be given for the closing remarks.

·      Open house

     The Panel discussion will be followed by 20 minutes of Q&A session with the Audience.

Date: 14^th November, 2014

Time: 9.30 to 10.30 am

Venue: MB 403

We shall look forward to having you amid us.

My Classroom Activity-1

Engaging Students more through Classroom Activity

Ms. Nikita Gadani

Department of Communication Skills, MEF, Rajkot  

While engaging students in language activities, one is reminded of the Bonwell & Elison's basic proposition on second language learning;

The process of second language learning has to be successful in order to make an engagement the students and the language, actually is quite difficult to find how active students are in the learning process and how thoroughly they take responsibility for knowledge construction have been linked to learning to favorable learning experiences and to students attitudes. (Bonwell & Elison 1991).

While learning a second language, students are passing through many difficult stages and if teacher follows the scenario of language teaching through theory session, it would be difficult for the students to act in the second language.

When teachers plan classroom (learning) activities they need to be clear what the learning activity will enable the students to achieve. There are a number of classroom activities which teacher can adapt to encourage students’ learning. However, there are few things which teacher should keep in mind before planning any activity like

1.       Teacher will have to plan activities according to the age level of the class,

2.      S/he needs to be sensitive to timing and frequency of use, and  

3.      The activities should be easily used to set up or lead into new learning.

Here are few activities which can be implemented in the class.

Slogans:

Most of the colleges and schools have slogans. Teacher can ask students to develop a slogan for each unit that they study.  This is a simple way to keep a record of what they have studied over the course of a semester or year.

Students preparing slogans 

Learning Diary:   

Once in a week, teacher should ask students to write down five things that they have learned in class.  It is important that students can articulate what they are learning.

Object Description:  

In this activity teacher can ask students to capture a photograph of any object and ask them to describe it in a group.

Students observing and describing objects

Role Play:

In this activity, teacher can give different situations to the students and ask them to write script on it and after given time teacher can allow them to perform on stage.

Students performing a role play

Completion of the Story:

In this activity teacher can give a half portion of any story to the students and allow them to complete the remaining half one in their own way, so that they can think out of box and can use and implement their imagination and creativity to complete the story.

Bull Ring:

In this activity teacher can select seven students in the class to form a small discussion circle.  The rest of the class forms a larger circle around the small group.  Members of the class fire questions at the small group on the designated topic and the members of the inside circle responds to the questions by having a discussion among themselves.  At the end, the class draws conclusions about the inner circle discussion.

As teacher, it has been a very fulfilling experience. Let’s try out more activities for engaging students more in the classroom teaching-learning.  

Research in Progress-1 - Ms. Pooja Shukla

Rasa: Drops of Heavenly Bliss

Ms. Pooja Shukla

Department of Communication Skills, MEF Rajkot

[PhD work in progress: T.S. Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral: A Rasa Perspective. ]

Mankind searches for eternal bliss in each phase of life; a heavenly experience or miracle/s to happen. Though we have heard of heaven and hell, no one has ever returned to share one’s experience and describe those places after death. However, literature gives us a temporary experience of heaven and hell, as we journey through the piece of literary work. Rasa theory, propounded by Bharat Muni, is a notion which explains the process of experiencing and relishing artistic/literary works to attain eternal bliss, can make us experience all the good and bad in the world. Bharat Muni, in his famous treatise, Nāṭyaśastra, which is a compendium of dramaturgy, gives the well known Rasa-Sutra,

“Vibhavanubhava sancarisamyogat rasanispatti”¹

“विभावानुभाव संचारी संयोगात् रसनिस्पत्ति”

[Through the co-mingling, co-appearance – samyogat – of vibhava, anubhava and sancaribhava, maturing/ripeness/appearance/ production of rasa takes place/happens.]

Better explanation of the various components of the rasa sutra is as under:

The graphical representation is a detailed explanation of, how the rasa is derived with the help of the various components of the Rasa-sutra.

The Rasa-Sutra of Bharat is well explained in the words of Rama Kant Sharma,

Thus dominant emotions –Sthāyibhāvas, aroused by objects – Anubhāvas, excited by excitants – Uddipanvibhāvas, manifested through physical or movements consiquents – Anubhāvas, nourished by transitory feelings – Sancaribhavas are relished by the sympathetic readers or audience as Rasa. The reader is not conscious of all these ingredients while relishing any sort of sentiment. He only enjoys the sentiment as a fountain that gives him thrill and pleasure. ²

The dynamics of Rasa can be explored further with individual engagement with the literary works from the critical perspective called Rasa.   

References:

1.       Kumar, Puspendra, ed. Natyasastra of Bharatmuni. Trans. M.M Ghosh. Vol. 1. Delhi: New Bharatiya Book Corporation, 2006.(Print)

2.      Sharma, Rama Kant. Hardy and The Rasa Theory. 1. New Delhi: Sarup & Sons, 2003. Page 28 (Print)