Teaching
English Language to B.Sc. Students: addressing attendant’s participation
Mr Bhautik Limbani
Department of Communication Skills
MEFGI - Rajkot
It
is observed many times that learning and teaching English Language becomes
fruitful when it is learner centric. It
requires need analysis. Need analysis enables a teacher to know what the
learner knows and what the learner needs to know. We did so before the
commencement of Semester II, B.Sc. We prepared lesson planning accordingly. In
the labs, under the supervision of felicitator, they do writing and reading
practice. In the lectures, we discuss Wings of Fire by Abdul Kalam.
The
need analysis showed that they were efficient enough in the basics of English grammar
so we started our first lab on writing practice. The first session was on
Developing a Paragraph. We discussed four elements of Paragraph Development:
order, coherence, unity and completeness. We saw a paragraph from one of the
posts of Amitav Ghosh from his blog “Folly of Sundarban”. However one of the
students was confused and perplexed. She looked exhausted at the end of the
session. She was clearer about the paragraph development when we started, but
the end was enigmatic for her. She understood theory well, could find out four
essential elements of paragraph development from the given paragraph. Most of
the students enjoyed the lab. However, as a felicitator, one should not forget
to revise session planning to make delivery more satisfactory.
It
has to take account of three fundamental principles:
(1) Only theory doesn’t work in Language Learning.
(2) Language learners,
from Science field, need different learning materials.
(3) Learner matters.
The
habit of revising lesson planning after every session helps one to increase
student’s classroom participation. The next week we started afresh. We prepared
a list of sixteen topics which “B.Sc. student” can write a paragraph on. Topics
like “What is science?”, “What is microbiology according to me?”, “Difference between
Invention and Discovery?” were given. Learners were given total freedom to
select their area of interest. They discussed it with their classmates. They
had to prepare a list of words related to their topic. They did so. They
prepared a list of twenty words on their topic. They were asked to join three
to four words together and structure a sentence. The only condition was their
sentence must be meaningful. The next step was to arrange all the sentences in
a proper order because when they are read together they all become a paragraph.
They did so. The below given paragraph was the first draft of one of my second
semester B.Sc. students.
“Science is a single word, which describes our own
existence. It is a bright area briefing to about our comforts, which has been
made easier through science. It is a library allowing a person to be an
inventor. To understand it in an easier way, it has been divided in different
fields but actually, all are interlinked. As all matter has its two sides in
the world, science is also described in two manner, which includes its
advantages and disadvantages. Advantages describing our own comfort, which had
made our life. Disadvantages had totally stopped our mind by more and more comforts
gifted by science.”(Second draft)
- Anjali Ladani
The
paragraph was the result of the efforts to cluster the words, she jotted down. She
joined all words by using some helping verbs and conjunctions. She rejoiced
after presenting her understating of the field she is studying in. The
presentation was followed by a five minute discussion. She received some appreciation
and suggestions from her classmates. As a felicitator, I explained some usages.
She rewrote it as given below:
“Science is a field that studies the elements of the nature. It
does so by briefing about it and bringing comfort to human life. It is a
library that helps a curious mind to become an inventor. To understand the
science in a better way, it has been divided into several branches but they are
not isolated ones. Modern technology is a boon of science. It helps human to be
more comfortable in the life and know and grow faster.”(Third draft) - Anjali Ladani
Despite
some loose and isolated sentences, the paragraph generated meaning. I was
surprised when their classmates offered their suggestions on “coherence”,
“unity”, “order” and “completeness” of the paragraph development. They became
aware of the importance of all four essential elements of paragraph
development. The task of writing a paragraph was assigned to all the students;
they underwent the same process. Each wrote a paragraph, presented, received the
observations and suggestions and re-wrote it. (Some prepared three drafts!)
At
the end of the process, they realized that they can write a meaningful
paragraph on their own. Is not learning (self) realization? I suggested them to
create a blog for the entire classroom; they did so. All have posted their
paragraphs (third draft) on it. Your one click on www.microbiologybsc.blogspot.in may boost up the spirit of the students. Your suggestions would
make our learning happier!
