An outline of a model textbook for the economically-backward young learners of English [Archives:2007/1074/Education]

Dr. Manmath Kundu
Associate Professor,
Department of English
Faculty of Education
Hudeidah University
The teaching/learning of English in poor, underdeveloped/developing non-English speaking countries has an elite bias. It is biased in favor of the rich, the urban upperclass/caste people. There is more English in the towns and cities of these countries. The urban-rural and rich-poor divide with regard to English is aggravated by the English medium schools in these countries. The English medium schools are in towns and cities and normally the children of rich parents visit these schools. The poor parents cannot afford to send their children to such schools as the expenses are beyond their reach. The English textbooks of the English medium schools are, in general, better prepared, more expensive and are often accompanied by WorkBooks and Teachers' Handbooks. The children of these schools have access to good dictionaries, Supplementary Readers, Handwriting Books and help from tutors and parents. The English textbooks of the regional medium schools in these countries, on the other hand, are, in general, ill-prepared and are not accompanied by Workbooks or Teachers' Handbooks. The students studying in these schools have no access to good dictionaries, Supplementary Readers and other outside help. No wonder, therefore, that the students studying in English medium schools in these countries learn English better than those who study in regional medium schools. Unfortunately the students studying in regional medium schools constitute about 80% of the student population of these countries. It is, therefore, suggested that the English textbooks of these regional medium schools (mostly visited by economically and socially backward learners) should be made comprehensive and self-sufficient by incorporating into them some of the outside help not normally available to these students such as Work Books, Handwriting Books, supplementary reading materials, dictionaries, etc. The present paper is concerned with preparing such a textbook for the young learners.

Why Textbooks?

The study gives importance to textbooks in English because textbooks play a very important role in teaching/learning of English in those poor, developing non-English speaking countries. The reasons are not far to seek. Some of the very important ones are:

1. English textbooks are the most important and, at times, the only exposure to English for the learners.

2. Textbooks help develop reading skills in English which is most important and easy to develop in the learners and which in turn, helps develop other language skills.

3. The cultures of these countries attach a lot of importance to printed books. Text is often considered sacred.

4. The teachers of English in these countries religiously follow the textbooks partly because of the importance given to printed books in their curriculum and partly because the examinations are text-oriented and the teachers' English is poor. The teachers cannot, because of their poor English, manage a class without textbooks.

5. The same textbook unlike in developed countries is prescribed for all the learners of the same class in the State/Country irrespective of the cultural and geographical diversity and the great number of learners involved.

6. Finally, as expensive classroom aids are beyond their reach, textbook is the only area where with minimum expenses maximum results can be achieved.

Why Six-in-One?

There is a great need to make the English textbooks comprehensive and self-sufficient by incorporating into it the six elements which are normally available in six book forms in developed countries for the following reasons:

1. The poor countries cannot afford to produce six separate books for all these six elements. Or even if they at times produce some of them, they fail to distribute them timely to the learners. Thus, more often than not, when the textbook is available the Workbook is not available and vice-versa.

2. The poor learners cannot buy more than one book.

3. Finally, most of the socio-economically backward learners are first generation learners. They have, therefore, fear for books. Thus having only one comprehensive book instead of many has a psychological advantage to begin with.

Six-in-one: An outline of a model Textbook

The English textbook for the socio-economically backward learners who normally study in regional medium schools can be made self-sufficient and comprehensive by incorporating into it the following six elements described in some detail in this section. But only making it comprehensive and self-sufficient is not enough. It should be cost effective as well. The incorporation of these six elements should not increase the size of the book or else the price will be inhibitive for the poor learners. The problem and challenge, therefore, is how to incorporate these six elements without increasing the normal size of the book (about 100 to 120 pages). The size of the book can drastically be reduced by telescoping some elements and by dovetailing one element into another. For example the Work Book and the Handwriting book will be clubbed together. Similarly the glossings and the dictionary at the end of the book can complement each other. The dictionary can look after some of the glossings. Similarly some of the exercises can be included in the Teachers' Handbook. All these will avoid a lot of repetition which are normally found when these six elements are presented in six separate book forms.

1. The text (30 pages)

The text constitutes the main part of the book. In fact it is the pivot round which all the rest five elements move. Each text forms a lesson, a unit. In no case the number of texts should exceed ten. Normally the number of texts in the textbooks for beginners in these countries vary from 20 to 30. Setting the limit at 10 will, in itself, drastically reduce the size of the book. A text will base on a story, an interesting conversation or anecdote or on anything which will be interesting and enjoyable for the young learners. The lessons will be roughly graded. The approach will be both structural and communicative. Each of the text will roughly be based on some important structures and other language points. This is because structural Readers were introduced to most of the non-English speaking, poor and underdeveloped countries in the 50s and are still very much in use, particularly in lower classes. Total switch over to communicative approach, though ideal, is not practical as this involves simultaneous changes in teaching methods, evaluation and teacher training which the poor economy of these countries cannot afford. Further long negative conditioning of the use of structural Readers in ELT has made the people resistant, even at times, allergic to innovation and change. The communicative elements will, therefore be introduced through the backdoor – through the exercises and activities that follow the text.

2. The work book and 3. The handwriting book (40 pages)

Both the Work Book and Handwriting Book will be clubbed together. The Work Book, as said earlier, will be based on communicative approach. It will include communicative and communicative-like tasks/activities and be enjoyable for the learners. These tasks/activities will be based on the text concerned and on the text again and again without being conscious of the fact; the learners will also be encouraged to do these tasks on their own with little help from the teacher. And whatever they are required to write, they will write in good hand on rolled lines provided for the purpose. This clubbing together of Work book and Handwriting Book has an additional advantage. It will not only reduce the length of the book but also help transfer the good handwriting skills of the learners to their general writing making the task of handwriting (in itself a boring activity) interesting and useful for them.

4. Teachers' handbook (15 pages)

Instructions to the teachers will be given in the introduction and in each of the lessons. Instruction common to all the lessons will find place in the introduction to the book and specific instructions relating to individual lessons – how to begin, what steps to follow, how to help learners to carry out the tasks on their own – will be included under each lesson. This is the only section of the book which seems to be of little use to the learners and, therefore, needs a separate book form. But by using right kind of language and style this part of the book can equally be made useful for the parents, tutors and, even, for advanced learners who try to learn on their own. Some of the activities for learners need to be included in the handbook.

5. Supplementary reading materials (15 pages)

This will include 5-6 stories based on the themes and structure of the texts. Some of them will be slight variations from the themes and structures the learners have been exposed through the texts. The known themes, structures and ambience will act as a kind of 'scaffolding' to help the learners comprehend new vocabulary, situations, and themes. For example, if the learners have studied a story based on the folk-motif' laziness punished' in one of the text, a different story on the same Folk-motif (Laziness punished) will help them comprehend new vocabulary and structures. This will help the learners read these material at home on their own. The teacher will only tell them which one to read after which lesson/text. The learners will be instructed to consult their mini dictionary at the end of the book if they come across a difficult word in these materials.

6. Dictionary (15 pages)

A mini dictionary will be provided at the end of the book. The dictionary will contain only the words used in the text and the supplementary reading material which are likely to be difficult for the learners. The words will be alphabetically arranged and their meanings with examples of uses will be provided. Pictures, illustrations and the mother tongue equivalents will be used where necessary. The teachers will tell the learners how to use the dictionary and encourage them to consult their mini dictionary whenever they come across a difficult word in the text or Supplementary reading materials.

Conclusion

The book will drastically reduce the cost of material production (by about five times) without sacrificing much of the quality. The book being self-sufficient will also reduce the cost of teacher training. Anxious to begin teaching of English early, many of the poor, underdeveloped /developing non-English speaking countries introduce teaching of English in early classes but they fail to train their teachers because of the inhibitive number involved at the primary level. Only one or two hours of training through a demonstration lesson, for about 100 teachers at a time will equip the teachers with the minimum basic skills to handle the textbook. The book by incorporating six elements into one book, will also help integrate the teaching of different skills in English such as reading, writing, speaking, listening, study skills and handwriting skills. Often by assigning these skills to individual books like detailed Reader (developing close reading skills), supplementary Readers (for fast reading skills), Handwriting Books (for good writing skills), dictionary (for reference skills) etc. We tend to disintegrate the training of these skills. But language is a highly complex network and language learning becomes natural and effective only when the teaching of these skills are integrated.

The book (six-in-one), by telescoping and dove-tailing one element with another, will help integrate teaching/learning of these skills in the best possible way.
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