Short Formal Report
Loyola College
English Department
Chennai.
Report On The Possibility Of Opening A Short Course
In English
Introduction
In
a meeting of the department of English held on 20 NOV 2016, the view was expressed
that our students have a very poor command in English, both spoken and written.
So it was proposed that a short course in English should be opened under the
management of the English teachers.
Discussion
We
realized the need for such a course for good reasons. From the answer scripts
of the students of different departments, we found that the standard of English
of about 80% of them is far below the average. We interviewed many students of
our university, of some other universities, and even some outsiders, and found
that they deplorably lacked correctness in writing and fluency in speaking
English. We also talked with them about opening a short course in English in
order to help them with the basics of written and spoken English. They all
highly appreciated the idea and opined that such a course would be of much help
for them.
The
students need to use correct English in their answers of the exam questions in
different courses and subjects. If they are given some knowledge about the
basics of spoken and written English, they can go a long way towards their
improvement.
Conclusion
So
we think that Short Courses in English will be a quite popular programme. It
will help students, non-students, and professionals.
Recommendations
We
would recommend that such a course should be opened in the Department of
English, and the university should look into the financial aspects of the
programme as early as possible.
ALBIN
JOHN PRADEEP
Department
of English
15
February, 2016
Long Formal Report
Letter of Transmittal
English
Department
LOYOLA
COLLEGE
CHENNAI
34
01
May 2016
The
Vice Chancellor
MADRAS
University
CHENNAI.
Dear
Sir
The
enclosed report Bad Pronunciation and Fluency in English of the college
Students in Loyola is the product of the research we did about the problem.
In a meeting of the university and college officials held on 05 April 2016, a
commission headed by me was set up to carry on an investigation into the
matter.
As
it was thought that possibly the problem originated at the school level, so we
have visited about 50 schools (primary and secondary) in different parts of the
country, carried out an elaborate research into the matter, and produced this
report.
I
shall be happy to answer any questions you or your staff might have about or
work.
Yours
faithfully,
ALBIN
JOHN
Head
of English Department
Title Page
|
BAD
PRONUNCIATION AND FLUENCY
IN
ENGLISH OF LOYOLA COLLEGE STUDENTS IN CHENNAI.
Prepared
By
The Commission for Probing into the
Problem of Bad Pronunciation and Fluency in English in English of the Loyola
college Students in Chennai.
01
May 2016
|
Contents
Title
Page ………………………. 1
Contents…………………………. 2
Executive
Summery……………. 3
Introduction…………………………. 4
Body
of the
Report…………...... 5
Conclusions……………….. 6
Recommendations…………………………. 7
Appendices…………………………………. 8
Bibliography……………………………. 9
BAD
PRONUNCIATION AND FLUENCY IN ENGLISH
OF
LOYOLA COLLEGE STUDENTS IN CHENNAI.
Executive Summery
The
report was occasioned by the realization of the problem of the deplorable state
of the pronunciation and fluency in English of the students of this college. A
commission for probing into the problem was set up in a meeting of the high
officials of this college held on 05 April 2016. The commission set out on the
7th of May to investigate the matter and carried out research with about fifty
primary and secondary schools in both villages and towns. The research revealed
the low level of knowledge, efficiency, and teaching methods of English
teachers in those institutions. The commission realized that these were the
basic reasons for the unreasonably low standard of pronunciation and fluency in
English of the college students. It has made some recommendations to improve
the situations.
Introduction
Pronunciation
of English is in a state of disorder, misunderstanding, and neglect in
Tamilnadu, India. Most of the teachers involved in all stages of our education
system from the primary up to tertiary levels are neither aware of the
importance of English pronunciation, nor do they have any knowledge about it or
inclined to practise it in their teaching. The state of pronunciation is
especially deplorable at the primary and secondary levels. And it is still far worse
in the villages than in the towns.
At
a high level meeting of the Loyola College held on 05 April 2016, the problem
of the low level of the standard of pronunciation of Loyola College in Chennai
was focused. After a thorough discussion the members came to realize that we
should do something about it, and conjectured that the problem originated from
the primary and secondary levels. The meeting chaired by the dean of students
and HODS immediately set up a commission of five members headed by me to probe
into the problem, and suggested solutions.
Accordingly,
we, the members of the commission, set out on 07 May 2016 for the purpose. We
visited about 50 schools (primary and secondary) in different parts of the
country in remote villages and towns and found out the following facts.
Body of the Report
(1)
Most of the teachers who teach English at the primary and secondary levels do
not have any idea about the correct pronunciation of the Standard English
language.
(2)
They do not have the least idea about the phonetic symbols given in the Oxford
Advanced Learner's Dictionary, or any other English dictionary. They are only
acquainted with Student's Favourite Dictionary, or Tamil Academy
Dictionary, or Regional Dictionary. The most pitiful condition
is that some of them do not even any dictionary, and still some others do not
even know the names of dictionaries.
(3)
What they do is teach their students in the translation method. It requires that
students first know the Tamil word for a thing, and then the teacher tells them
the English word for it.
(4)
While uttering an English word, the teacher pronounces the word as he knows it,
whether right or wrong. For example, they pronounce the word school as /isku:l,
not as /sku:l, the correct one. They do not differentiate between the sounds of
vowels and diphthongs. For example, they pronounce the word 'say' as /se/, not
its correct form /seì/. In consonantal sound they substitute
'p' for the English 'f'. That means they substitute the bilabial for the
labiodentals. They treat the different sounds /z/ and /dz/ as identical, so
they would pronounce 'breeze' and 'bridge' in the same way, using /z/ in both
words.
They
do not have any idea about the differences in lengths of vowels. They pronounce
/i: / and /ı/ in 'seat' and 'sit' in the same way.
As regards stress and intonation they do not have the least idea. They speak
English with a level stress as in Tamilnadu, India. They utter the word in
syllables. In intonation, they have similar problems. They do not at all use
rise and fall in their utterances of any sentences.
Conclusions
From
the above findings we can reach the following conclusions:
(1)
Most of the teachers of primary and secondary levels do not have any idea about
correct English pronunciation.
(2)
Their students are also being taught with no idea of correct pronunciation.
Even they do not know that there is something like correct and incorrect
pronunciations.
(3)
Once taught with the incorrect pronunciations, the students cannot change their
pronunciation even when they grow up and enter the tertiary level of education.
(4)
The teachers at primary and secondary levels are primarily responsible for the
state of English pronunciation of the students at the College level. The matter
of pronunciation is such that once fixed in the speech organs it is very
difficult to change them later.
Recommendations
If
we want to bring about an improvement in the English pronunciation of the
students at the university level, we should train the teachers of English of
primary and secondary levels. Training should be reasonably long, and repeated
at some intervals. Secondly, in the curriculum and syllabus of those levels,
some marks should be assigned to pronunciation of students. Thirdly, inspection
teams should be appointed to check occasionally whether the teachers are
following the rules and practices of correct pronunciation. Fourthly, a
National Bureau for correct pronunciation should be set up to provide
instruction and guidance to all concerned when necessary. Lastly, both students
and teachers at all levels should be made conscious about the importance of
good pronunciation.
Appendices
[This
section should be given in a separate page. The documents of the following
methods to conduct research have to be given here. For example, audio cassette
of the recorded pronunciation of the students and teachers, some specimens of
text books, names and designations of the persons who has helped in carrying
the research out, etc.]
Bibliography
[This
section should also be given in a separate page. There are different style
manuals like MLA or APA. Any of the styles should be followed.]
