RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION A TREND REPORT : D.P. PATTANAYAK
The Indian Constitution provides for mother-tongue education at the primary stage. This provision is honoured more in the breach than in observance. The Constitution is not a neutral document; it has a social purpose, one that is neglected in regard to mother-tongue primary education, illiteracy, ignorance, poverty, dropout and stagnation in education.
The three-language formula at the secondary- stage has emerged as the national consensus. But this formula is not being seriously implemented in the Hindi and Tamil regions. The Central Schools and the Navodaya Vidyalayas offer both Hindi and English as media of in- struction, but there are no plans to follow this up at college level with provision for bilingual media which could ensure the emergence cadre of educated persons proficient both in Hindi and English.
Language teaching standards are divergent in different regions of the country. One thing common to all is the consistently low standard of achievement in languages as well as subjects. Instead of learning subjects through languages, subjects are used to learn languages. Therefore, students are poor both in subjects as well as language. Minimum competence in languages must be a precondition to the study of subjects which in turn enlarge the scale of language learning.
Many commissions have examined language in education; none has included a linguist in its panels. Thus language has never received the treatment it deserves.
Indian languages generally have neither been discussed in the Constituent Assembly nor in the Indian Parliament. What was 'discussed is whether English or Hindi should be the national official language.
India is a country of minorities, Hindi being only the first among the minority languages. All states and union territories are within themselves as diverse as the union. A policy towards minorities is therefore a necessary condition of planning for language use. It is not the recognition of Many languages that leads to fissiparous tendencies, but the non-recognition of languages rather which stirs identity assertion and leads to national disintegration.
English is one of the Indian languages, but the role it plays on the national educational scene is disastrous. There is a craze for English-medium education in the country. The demand is to open pre- primary English classes. Early English education destroys the balance with environment, neutralizes the three-dimensionality of Indian kinship terms, curbs creativity and innovativeness and distorts identity. It must be remembered that English, as a supplement to mother-tongue education is a strength; as substitute it is debilitation.
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There is controversy about learning Sanskrit within the framework of the three-language formula. Each Indian language has a component of Sanskrit within it. If the similarities are exploited, then Sanskrit could form part of mother-tongue teaching at the school stage. If Sanskrit is made a compulsory component of Ancient Indian History and Culture, Indian Philosophy, Indian Archaeology, Indian Epigraphy and Numismatics and Indian Polity, then there would be greater motivation for studying Sanskrit at the school stage either as part of mother-tongue study or as an optional subject.
STUDIES OF LANGUAGE IN INTERACTION AND COMMUNICATION The study of language in social contexts such as schools, work situations or other institutional contexts provides the basis for understanding the nature and scope of social interaction and communication in human life. It shows how the participants enact their roles and manipulate language to express control, authority or other forms of role-relationships. It shows how language is co- ordinated with action and how it is used for different communicative purposes. Keeping in view the significance of language in interaction and communication, the Central Institute of Indian Languages has focused attention on some crucial contexts of language use.
Language in the Classroom: The study of language in the classroom is important for understanding how learning takes place through language interaction and how language interaction may be a significant factor in educational achievement. The institute has initiated work on the use of language in classrooms in some schools in Assam. Data have been collected and are being analysed.
Language in Industry: Communication plays a crucial role in the growth, maintenance and change of industrial organizations. The multilingual settings of industries in India provide a rich ground for multilingual interactions and use of different languages for different communicative purposes. Language-use data can be used for effective management as- it throws light on problems of communication, conflict between different categories of persons and work styles. This has been revealed by the two studies conducted by the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) in private and public industrial settings. The findings of the second study of language-use in public enterprises have been published by the institute.
Language in Market Transactions: The use of language in the market, for buying and selling purposes, is important for understanding the processes of bargaining and negotiation. It also shows how shopkeepers control different codes and how they code-switch in order to achieve the desired transaction. It is also important for understanding how buyers and sellers converge in the enactment of their roles for accomplishing transactions. The work on the market transactions initiated by the CIIL, is in its final stages. Data have been collected and are being analysed.
Language in Health Communication: The study of language in medical encounters and of medical discourse is a promising area of research which has a strong tradition in Europe and the USA but which has not been Seriously taken up in the Indian situation. To fill this gap, the CIIL has initiated work in this direction. The data have been collected and are being analysed. The findings of the work on this issue will be available shortly.
Language in the Court-room: The significance of the use of language in the court-room is quite obvious for understanding the legal process and the nature and scope of legal language. Considering its significance, exploratory work has been done in this direction.
Language Debates in Parliament and Legislative Assemblies: The study of language used in language debates in Parliament and legislative assemblies serves a dual purpose. It shows how language can be used in argumentation in arriving at a mutually agreeable statement, and, secondly, it shows how language issues are debated, leading to policy formulation or statements. A further distinction can be made on these aspects with reference to language-use in Parliament on the one hand, and legislative assemblies on the other. This would show how far Parliament and legislative assemblies converge on language issues.
Considering the multiple significance of language use in Parliament and legislative assemblies the CIIL has initiated work on this crucial area, primarily to study the process of language policy formulation. Data pertaining to language debates in Parliament and the Goa Legislative Assembly have been collected. They are based on both interviews and written records. These are being transcribed and analysed. It is proposed to collect
RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION-A TREND REPORT 619
data from five legislative assemblies and study the policy formulation process and language issues debated within a comparative framework.
Language in Education: While the study of language in the classroom provides a micro-perspective, the study of language in the educational process as a whole offers a macro-perspective. This poses several issues pertaining to the number of languages used in education, the use of languages as media of instruction or their teaching as subjects. In this respect, the CIIL has initiated projects in three directions. First, the question whether learning of more languages is a load has been thoroughly examined from the perspectives of parents, students and teachers. The findings have been published, and they show that language learning is not a load. They, however, point out the importance of teaching of language in schools. Second, the issue of media of instruction and their impact on educational achievement has been extensively examined. The findings are in the final stages of publication. Finally, the CIIL has developed a transfer model of bilingual education to meet the diverse demands of language use and cope with the use of minority languages and switching the medium from one language to another. The bilingual transfer model of education is currently being experimented on in Rajasthan, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Karnataka. It is expected to be initiated in some other situations also.
RESEARCH ON LANGUAGES AS MEDIUM English continues to be a favourite subject of research among language teachers. English as medium and subject at different levels of education, development of curriculum, textbooks, teaching methods, contrastive studies, teacher competence and measurement of student achievement are some of the areas researched by scholars. Study of skills such as reading, comprehension, speaking and writing and an investigation into the role of English in higher education and professional education are some of the further areas of research.
A. K. Srivastava et al. (1986) have worked on the comparative aspect of mother-tongue and English as medium on subjects of study and attainment of students' longitudinally. Their conclusions state the different factors responsible for better achievement, one of them being the English medium. In various studies they have found mother- tongue students reaching the level of English-medium students. But the methods, materials and media used for the English-medium students give them an edge over mother-tongue students. The ethos of English and the instrumental motivation provided by it leads to the selection of cognitively better students for English medium and better achievement by them. By studying three groups of Malayalam children studying through Tamil and Tamil children studying through Tamil and Malayalam and Tamil children studying through English, they have conclusively shown that Malayalam children studying through Tamil are the weakest. Tamil and Malayalam children, those who are first generation learners, are no better even in English medium. Therefore, change of medium by itself is no guarantee of improvement. English which provides better job opportunities and creates a psychological setting for 'development' for 'modernization' is responsible for better achievement. The effect of medium on different academic subjects is not uniform. English as a subject is improved by the English medium. The mother-tongue also improves as a result of better methods and materials in English. In science subjects and in creativity the mother-tongue medium has an edge over the English medium. In social sciences there is no difference between English and the mother-tongue medium.
Reading Research Reading in relation to English has received a good deal of attention from researchers. There is no uniformity of procedures and therefore little comparability of results. What is general to all research is the fact that students are branded as better and poorer, efficient and deficient, rather than teachers, teaching materials or teaching methods being held responsible for students' ability or inability to read. The second common feature of all these research projects is the construction of tests for testing reading comprehension.
Nature and incidence, of reading disability among schoolchildren, development of strategies for improvement of reading skills at middle school level, a study of reading comprehension in English of students of English medium secondary schools, developing critical reading abilities in higher secondary students in English, and diagnostic study of reading comprehension of undergraduate students: are some samples of studies made. Reading is neither a curricular subject nor a classroom activity at any stage of education. Therefore, there is no wonder in the finding that the upper SES group or urban children who have better family input in education perform better in reading.
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General studies on the use of English by professional groups and specific regions show that speaking and writing skills are less in demand than reading and comprehension. Some studies show that speaking is better than writing. The institutional needs and industrial priorities being different, the attitudes towards English. of different professional groups are different. However, reading is uniformly in demand and therefore deserves greater attention than is given to it.
Teacher Competence Most researchers speak of a lowering of standards, but have provided no specific parameters to measure it. In many studies it is assumed that rural children are socially disadvantaged and therefore unreachable. Studies show that the majority of teachers are not professionally equipped to teach English, and although in some cases textbooks are written following the latest fashion, lack of teacher training leaves a gap between teacher competence and curricular demands. Teachers are not even trained to teach the mother-tongue, nor are they trained to link the home language with the school language. Modern testing techniques are conspicuous by their absence. Contemporary debates regarding testing do not find place in the teacher training curriculum. Whether it is the Khasi Hills or Bihar or Tamil Nadu, teacher preparation is poor and there is a lot of confusion about methods and objectives.
Textbooks Critical evaluation of textbooks does not take linguistic factors into account. Therefore, less pictures and less illustrations, less humorous material and difficult language are some of the conclusions emphasized by researchers. Similarly, vocabulary studies speak of frequency, weight and relative difficulty value rather than of linguistic parameters.
Analysis of textbooks brings out the fact that most school grammars are written using Sanskrit or English models and do not reflect the grammars of the languages concerned. Some other studies make subjective assessments of books. Some studies justify the Urdu curriculum in Maharashtra, others point out levels of difficulties in studying Arabic, and some others establish hierarchies in language acquisition. A study enumerates the objects in acquisition of language in the first three years. Another enumerates the growth of vocabulary.
Methods Studies which compare the traditional method with structural method or which design specific multimedia strategies tend to justify the assumption that the structural method or multimedia strategy are better. Most studies point out that college curriculum is literature oriented. Some deny the existence of an ELT (English Language Teaching) curriculum and prescribe a utilitarian curricular paradigm of their own. Some have prepared special language programmes and shown how various instruments prepared and adapted by them Justify the programme.
Research in Indian languages is poor in methodology. As linguists are seldom associated with research work done in education faculties the content as well as method are weak. More work is done in Hindi than in other Indian languages. Most of the work deals with critical study of textbooks in different standards, standardization of reading achievement tests, teaching of poetry, orthography, and spelling, vocabulary study. In the study of text-books, length of lessons, paucity of illustrations and exercises, lack of vocational literature, and weightage given to prose pieces are the kinds of aspects on which conclusions are reached. In the studies about poetry, conclusions peripheral to the understanding of style, diction, and poetic qualities are reached. Even in the study of orthography and spelling rules as regards phonemic graphemic fit, rules of pronunciation and reading are not discussed. Reading achievement differences between boys and girls, rural and urban, are highlighted and the validation of tests becomes a major concern.
Shanteshwar (1982) in 'An Investigation into the Roles of English in Higher and Professional Education in Karnataka', concludes that English is used more by professionals than by teachers and clerks. Those doctors, lawyers, engineers and bank employees who use it most are satisfied with the English course offered and its important role. However, the majority of students are not satisfied with the English courses offered as they did not impart the language skills essential to the performance of the various tasks confronting them. The growing disaffection towards English among the younger generation is bound to set a new trend.
Studies of the Three-Language Formula bring out trivial information. Preference of parents for English medium, code mixing between Marathi, Hindi and English, Hindi states not implementing the Three-
RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION-A TREND REPORT 621
Language Formula, southern states neglecting Hindi, north eastern states preferring English, are some of the often repeated conclusions reached by researchers. That the Three-Language Formula developed as a consensus is integrational rather than instrumental, that it repre- sents the minimum rather than maximum number of languages to be learnt are some of the things which should have been brought out by the researchers.
Indian Languages Other Than English In other Indian languages, research follows the same track as in Hindi. Vocabulary study, reading readiness, reading rate, readability levels of different styles of writing, study of textbooks, lexical, morphemic and con-tent analysis, critical study of curriculum, teaching of one language to speakers of another; study of differences among students of two different kinds of schools, are some of the areas researched. The researches are qualitatively uneven.
Reading has been studied from pre-primary to the collegiate levels in different language areas. At the pre-primary stage children from urban, upper SES groups and children with parental education show better reading readiness. Reading improvement programmes for classes V and VI are validated as they show positive improvement, in speed and performance in reading. ReadIng improvement programmes are said to have improved comprehension and IQ is said to have something to do with reading. Some studies show no difference between urban and rural children. It is not clear whether at the higher classes this difference is neutralized. It is interesting to note that one study shows that sex and IQ affected reading Mathematics, and SES and IQ affected reading science and sex, SES, and IQ affect reading history. The interaction effect of SES, sex and IQ have no relevance for the rate of reading in Gujarati and English. There has been no effort at explaining this difference. It is also not explained why, in some cases, urban, rural, high and low SES, high and low IQ differences are significant while in some cases they are not. It is not explained why a narrative style is better comprehended than an expository style.
The interesting point that emerges from a study is that writing is not for creative expression and is meant only for correction of errors. As far as spoken language is concerned, a study points out that 'caste is a potent factor influencing the spoken language. Brahmin children were in the top and scheduled caste children at the bottom'. While this study finds it difficult to rank other castes, another study shows that 'the speech of children belonging to Namboodiri community was considerably differentiated from other caste groups'.
RESEARCH TRENDS ON BILINGUAL EDUCATION IN INDIA At the outset it needs to be mentioned that there is a paucity of research on bilingual education in India. The few studies that have been conducted were concerned with the effect of medium of instruction (MI) on a host of variables like academic achievement, intelligence, cognitive abilities, creativity and personality. Most of the studies were conducted in the 1970s (Kamakshi, 1965: Dave and Anand, 1971; Dave and Dave, 1971; Jayaram and Misra, 1980; Srivastava and Khatoon, 1980). The results of these studies are of three types, namely,
a) Students in English-medium achieve significantly more than students in MT (Mother Tongue) medium (Kamakshi, 1965; Srivastava and Khatoon, 1980).
(b) Students in MT-medium schools score significantly more than students in English-medium schools (Dave and Anand, 1971).
(c) There is no significant difference in achievement between MT and other tongue medium students (Dave and Dave, 1971; Jayaram and Misra, 1980).
All these studies tended to deal with the problem of MI in a confrontational attitude, in the sense that they are all concerned, not with the effect of MI per se, but to find whether MT or English is a better MI. Interestingly, Indian bilingual education during this period was defined as the use of two languages, one as medium and the other 'as subject.
These researches; however, guided further research projects on bilingual education by isolating variables which are crucial determiners of the effect of bilingual education. To illustrate, Srivastava and Khatoon's (1980) study pointed but the importance of controlling school-related variables in studying the effect of MI. Similarly, Jayaram and Misra's (1980) study identifies the age of the learner as a variable affecting the effect of MI on school achievement.
In the light of these findings, a large-scale study on the effect of MI was undertaken in eleven trilingual
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media schools of Kanya Kumari District (Srivastava and Ramaswamy, forthcoming). They studied the effect of MI in three conditions, namely, MT-MI same (Tamil-Tamil), MT-MI Different Cognate (Tamil/ Malayalam), and MT-MI Different Non-cognate (Tamil/Malayalam-English). They report two significant findings:
(a) The effect of MI is not uniform for all curricular subjects. While non-cognate media do significantly better than the other two groups on second language (English) and mathematics, the same-group (Tamil) do significantly well on science and tests of creativity. The cognate group have scored the lowest on all the subjects. There is no significant difference between the three groups on achievement in social science.
(b) When MI is different from MT, than MI is beneficial only when it is English and not a cognate language.
Similarly, in a study on comparison of thinking styles among Hindi- medium students in Bhopal and English-medium students in Australia, it is reported that, although there are no overall differences between the two groups, they nevertheless develop different thinking styles, termed as 'preferential thinking styles' (cf. Lynch, P.P.; Chipman, H.H. and Pachaury, A.C. 1985). In other words, according to the results, Hindi-medium students are predisposed to divergent thinking, and English-medium students use convergent thinking.
Therefore, there is a shift in the focus of research from the effect of MI to conditions and nature of dependent variables which predisposes MI to have a particular kind of effect on it. The relationship, instead of being linear, is circular, exerting mutual influence. Corresponding to this shift in focus, the definition of Indian bilingual education has also undergone a change. Bilingual education is currently being defined as the continued use of MT and the use of L2 as medium of instruction. Such a definition clearly spells out the pivotal status of MT in education. In fact, this definition goes a step forward and stresses on early introduction of L2 and L3.
Interestingly, research on 'bilingual education throughout the world is converging on the point of using MT as MI at least in imparting initial instruction. The immersion programme conducted in Canada clearly states that 'immersion' should not to be viewed as a methodology of supporting L2 instruction to vernacular-language groups. Rather they claim that immersion is a methodology of language teaching where emphasis is placed on comprehension rather than pro- duction and on content instead of form; and attribute the success of second language instruction to the fact that MT is supported both in and out of the home.
Thus, to conclude, bilingual education, be it in India or elsewhere, is not a method, but a process of language teaching (Sene, 1977)
RESEARCH ON 'LANGUAGE DISORDERS IN INDIA'
Thrust Areas (a) Acquisition of language: In comparison with the Western literature, studies on acquisition of language in young children in the Indian context have been very few. In this connection works of Laxmibai, Hyderabad, and Bashini Sharma, Agra, may be mentioned. As informations on these aspects are important both from the theoretical point of view and with reference to clinical application for determination and assessment of delays in language acquisition, the area has attracted a lot of attention in the recent past and several studies in these areas have been initiated both with reference to normals and the handicapped groups such as the hard of hearing, the mentally retarded and the cerebral palsied. A surrey of Indian languages acquisition studies may be seen in M.S. Thirumalai and Shymala's book, Simultaneous Acquisition of two Languages, published by the CIIL (1986).
(b) Acquisition of articulation: Articulation as a specific sub-area of language acquisition has held the interest of speech pathologists over the last fifty years. For clinical diagnostic purposes several articulation tests in Indian languages such as Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Bengali have been devised and normative data collected.
(c) Acquisition of reading in children: The recent past has seen a spurt of interest in the acquisition of reading in young children in the Indian context consequent to the realization that script-specific factors are an important variable in the acquisition of reading and the disorders of reading and for theoretical models of reading.
RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION-A TREND REPORT 623
(d) The disorders of language consequent to cerebral involvement in adults-the aphasias: Aphasiology, the science of disorders of language subsequent to cerebral involvement in adults has emerged as an interdisciplinary field of research in the West over the last hundred years. However, very little has been done in these areas within this country. With the emergence of multilingualism and illiteracy as important relevant factors, studies of the aphasias in countries such as ours have gained added potential and are now being initiated at several centres. The results are promising. In this connection, 'A Comparative Study of the Schizophrenic and Aphasic Language' by Pratibha Karanth (1980) maybe referred to.
(e) Disorders of reading subsequent to cerebral involvement in adults-the alexias: The lower incidence and absence of certain sub- types of alexia in Indian languages as compared to the West and the contributions of script-specific factors to the same have led to research on the role of script-specific factors in reading.
(f) The issue of bi and multi-lingualism vis-a-vis language disorders: The higher incidence, of crossed aphasia-aphasia due to non-dominant right hemisphere lesions in bi- and multi-linguals has led to a hypothesis of differential language representation in the brain of bi- and multi-linguals as compared to monolinguals. The verification of this hypothesis has emerged as an important research issue over the last decade.
(g) Illiteracy-the processing of language in illiterates and the disorders of language in illiterates: The lower incidence of aphasia subsequent to dominant lefthemisphere lesion in illiterates has led to theorization about the possible differential representation of lan- guage in the brain of illiterates and several recent research studies in India have addressed this issue and the processing of language in illiterates.
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ABSTRACTS: 693-770 693. AGRAWAL, V.R., A Study of Reading Ability in Relation to Certain Cognitive and Noncognitive Factors, Ph.D. Psy., Mag. U., 1981
The main aim of the study was to examine the role of some of the personal, cognitive and non-cognitive factors in reading ability.
A sample of 400 grade IX students (200 males and 200 females) was selected. Personal data blank, Krishna's Battery of Reading Ability Tests, Jamuar's Study Habits Inventory, Mohsin's Bihar Test of General Intelligence, Nafde's Non-Verbal Test of Intelligence, Sinha and Krishna's Revised Version of Comprehensive Test of Anxiety, Eysenck's Personality Inventory (Hindi Version by Sinha), Bengalee's Youth Adjustment Analyser and Worchel's Self-Activity Inventory (Hindi Version by Prasad and Sinha) were used. Twoway analysis of variance was employed for data analysis.
Some of the major findings were: 1. Males and females differed significantly in reading ability, study habits, academic achievements, neuroticism, extraversion, parental attitude and ideal self (females scored higher than males only on reading ability and academic achievement). They did not differ statistically in verbal and nonverbal intelligence, anxiety, and actual self dimensions. 2. Arts and science students among males and females differed significantly in terms of their frequencies on high and low reading ability scores. 3. High and low reading ability groups among males differed significantly in ordinal position, economic status and father's or guardian's educational level; and among females they differed significantly in father's or guardian's educational level. 4. High and low reading ability groups did not differ statistically in caste and father's or guardian's occupation. 5. ANOVA results indicated that the main effect of sex was significant in study habits, academic achievement, verbal and non-verbal intelligence, anxiety, neuroticism, parental attitude, actual self and ideal self. The main effect on reading ability was significant in study habits, academic achievement, verbal and nonverbal intelligence, anxiety, neuroticism, parental attitude and ideal self. The interaction effect was significant in study habits, academic achievement, anxiety, neuroticism, extraversion, and parental attitude. 6. The relationship between reading ability on the one hand and study habits, verbal and nonverbal intelligence on the other was significant and positive. Significant and negative association was observed between reading ability and ideal self scores. 7. Personal and cognitive factors were more meaningful in the context of reading ability scores than the noncognitive factors considered in the study.
694. ANAND, V.S., A Study of the Factors that Affect the Orthography in Hindi and Diagnosis of Spelling Mistakes in the Writing of Class V Students of Hindi Medium Schools of Delhi, along with a Remedial Programme, Ph.D. Edu., SNDTU, 1985
The major objectives of the study were (i) to diagnose spelling errors in Hindi made by class V students of Hindi medium schools of Delhi, (ii) to study the factors responsible for those errors, and (iii) to develop a programme of remedial instruction and to demonstrate its effectiveness.
The investigator analysed written work done by 70 class V students and identified major areas of students' difficulties. A sample of 143 words from the analysed errors was selected and a battery of eight tests was developed. A sample of 203 students from five Hindi medium schools was selected for the administration of a battery of diagnostic tests. The data thus collected were treated statistically and reliability of tests was found out. Factors affecting spelling errors were studied analytically. Five groups of erring students were provided a remedial programme with the help of different teaching strategies, The same diagnostic test was administered ten weeks after the remedial programme.
Major findings of the study were: 1. The largest number of mistakes were made in respect of the use of matras, closely followed by the use of incorrect words. 2. Most of the spelling errors were due to inadequate mastery of the most basic tasks in the process of spell- ing. 3. A large number of students were not able to learn till class V the sound-letter associations required for correct spelling. 4. Ability to spell correctly did not automatically improve with age. The difference between the performance of older and younger students of the same class was not-significant which indicated that it was the quality of instruction rather than age which accounted for the spelling error. 5. Use of the teaching-learning strategies which involved oral-aural-visual and motor experience of the word was most suitable for improving the spelling ability of students.
The educational implications of this study are: (1)
RESEARCH TN LANGUAGE EDUCATION-ABSTRACTS 625
Specific instructional programmes should be undertaken so that students develop the insight into the rules and ways in which Hindi words are spelt prior to their third year in school. (2) Since pronunciation drill and reading practice alone do not help in remedying deficient spelling ability, these should always be accompanied by word-study and writing practice.
695. BHANUSHALI, N.G., An Investigation into the Basic Hindi Vocabulary of Hindi Speaking Children of Class V in Greater Bombay, Ph.D. Edu., Born. U., 1985
The objectives of the study were (i) to find out and recommend the basic vocabulary of recognition of pupils reading in class V in Hindi medium schools of Greater Bombay, (ii) to find out and recommend the basic vocabulary of reproduction of pupils reading in class V in Hindi medium schools of Greater Bombay, (iii) to submit a classification of the recognition vocabulary according to the frequency of the words, (iv) to provide the etymology of each word, (v) to compare written re- production vocabulary with recognition vocabulary, and (vi) to compare recognition and reproduction vocabulary to find out the common words.
The sample consisted of 625 pupils of class V and 20 experienced teachers of Hindi medium schools in Greater Bombay, selected by using the technique of random sampling. The final data were collected from 25 coeducational Hindi medium schools. The tools employed were a Questionnaire, Word List from textbooks, Interview Schedule Oral Word Test, Test for Recognition Vocabulary and Test for Reproduction Vocabulary. All the tools used in this study were developed by the author. The words in recognition and reproduction were sublisted in the groups on the basis of frequency indicating (i) the actual frequency against each word, (ii) the credit, (iii) the grammatical group or category, and (iv) the etymological category. The data were analysed using various statistical techniques.
The main findings of the study were: 1. Out of 8,053 recognition words, 1,807 (22.45 per cent) words appeared both in the textbooks as well as in the periodicals (magazines). 2. About 58.48 per cent of recognition words appeared in the textbooks of class V. 3. About 19.07 per cent of words were known to pupils from periodicals and textbooks. 4. In the recognition vocabulary, 70.98 per cent of the words were nouns, 0.11 per cent were pronouns, 18.6 per cent were adjectives, 7.32 per cent were verbs, 0.7 percent were adverbs, 2.02 percent were prepositions, 0.21 per cent conjunctions and 0.06 per cent were interjections. 5. In the two lists, it was found that in the 8,053 recognition words, there were 5,706 reproduction words. 6. Out of 5,706 reproduction words, 63.03 per cent of the words were nouns, 0.14 per cent were pronouns, 22.66 per cent were adjectives, 9.94 per cent were verbs, 0. 85 per cent adverbs, 3.03 per cent were prepositions, 0.25 per cent were conjunctions and 0.1 per cent were interjections. 7. Some recognition words (more than 29 per cent) were not found in the reproduction vocabulary list 8. It was observed that the words coming from Sanskrit occupied the second highest percentage and words from Persian language occupied the third place.
696. BHATT, D.C., An Investigation into the Various Components of Textbooks in English in Std. XI and XII of Gujarat State, Ph.D. Edu., SPU, 1986
The objectives of the study were (i) to compare the readability indices of the textbooks in English gradewise and streamwise, (ii) to see the effect of interaction of grade and stream on readability, (iii) to compare the human interest scores of the different reading materials of the textbooks, (iv) to see the effect of interaction of grade, stream and person on the interest, (v) to prepare the reading material for the pupils of standards XI and XII incorporating the variables of readability, interest, values and format, (vi) to study the effect of the four independent variables, viz. readability, interest, values and format on reading comprehension, and (vii) to know the trend of comprehension scores obtained from different reading materials.
The readability was determined by using Aukerman's formula, the interest of the reading material was assessed by the responses of the teachers and pupils; the values were found out by judgement analysis. The cloze test was constructed to measure comprehension by using the reading material prepared by the investigator. The treatment of reading material was given to 245 pupils of 12 schools selected at random from urban and rural areas of Mehsana district. In the first phase 2x2 and 2x2x2 factorial designs were used. In the second phase 2x2x2x5 repeated measures design and latin square design were invoked. The analysis of variance and chi-square test were used to test the various hypotheses.
The major findings were: 1. The readability of the
626 RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION-ABSTRACTS
textbook for class XII was more than that of the textbook for class XI. 2. The reading ability exerted a strong influence upon the size of the cloze score. 3. Reading material came out as a strong predictor of reading comprehension. 4. Grade of the pupils was one of the important independent variables, though it predicted poorly the reading comprehension of the pupils. Grade XII pupils were found better in reading comprehension than grade XI pupils. 5. The pupils of the science stream were found better than those of the general stream but the differences between the mean scores were not significant. 6. Out of 11 interactive effects, none turned out to be significant. This showed that the significant effects of the reading ability and reading materials were independent.
The implications are: (1) The reading ability, the grade and stream of the pupils should be taken into account while editing the reading materials for textbooks. (2) The different components of the reading material should be selected in such a manner as would elicit greater comprehension on the part of the pupils.
697. BHATTACHARJEE, R., An Investigation into the Teaching of English in the High Schools of East Khasi Hills District of Meghalaya, Ph.D. Edu., NEHU, 1984
The objectives of the study were (i) to study background characteristics of the teachers of English of East Khasi Hills High Schools, their views and opinions as well as practices followed by them in respect of various aspects of teaching English, (ii) to identify the present status of teaching English, through observation of teachers' performance in the classroom situation, (iii) to study strengths and weaknesses in the teaching of English, (iv) to try out the effectiveness of training in selected skills under microteaching strategy for improving teaching competence of the teachers of English, and (v) to suggest measures for improving teaching of English in the high schools of the district. The hypotheses of the experiment were: (i) There is a significant difference in the mean score on the rating scale, of the group trained in the five selected teaching skills through microteaching strategy and the group without training in the five selected teaching skills. (2) There is a significant difference in the mean score on the General Teaching Competence Scale, of the group trained in the five selected teaching skills through microteaching strategy and the group without training in the five selected teaching skills.
Survey method was adopted in Phase I. Two samples (N = 490 and N = 120) of teachers of English were selected by stratified random sampling procedure. A schedule, a questionnaire and a rating scale were constructed and used. Data in respect of classroom teaching of English were collected by using the rating scale on 120 teachers. Phase II covered an experiment under microteaching strategy in one training college of Shillong. Five skills (fluency in questioning, reinforcement, stimulus variation, student participation, and achieving closure) were selected. Parallel groups, pretest post-test design was followed. Twenty teachers of English were selected randomly from the sample of 120 teachers. Two groups of ten teachers each formed and equated. The rating scale, Baroda General Teaching Competence Scale, Passi's Observation Proformas for teaching skills and Ahluwalia's Teacher Attitude Inventory were used. Percentage, mean, median, mode, S.D., etc. were calculated; t-test was applied to examine the hypotheses.
The major conclusions were: 1. The majority of the teachers of English were not professionally equipped to teach English. 2. Teaching at the foundation stage was neglected. 3. There was no uniformity regarding workload of teachers of English in different categories of schools. 4. English readers were written according to the latest approach to the teaching of English. The readers were not accompanied by teachers' handbooks. 5. The mean overall score in English in classroom teaching was between 'poor' and 'satisfactory'. 6. Sex and marital status differences, and participation or non-participation in cocurricular activities had no impact on teaching of English. 7. Experience and professional training played significant roles in the teaching of English, Teachers from Government and grant-receiving English medium and urban schools taught significantly better than those from ad hoc and private, non-English medium and semi-urban schools. 8. The majority of the teachers were not aware of appropriate methods and not clear about the four-fold objectives of teaching English. They did not use teaching aids and other materials. They did not give assignments, evaluate students' progress and take remedial measures in the English class. 9. Inservice training facilities for the teachers were inadequate. 10. Training in selected skills through microteaching was effective in improving teaching competence of the teachers of English. Microteaching supplemented training in English teaching methodology.
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698. BRAHMBHATT, J.C.. A Study of Preparation of Language Programme in English for Pupils of Class VIII and its Effect on Achievement in Relation to Some Psycho-socio Factors, Ph.D. Edu., SPU, 1983
The objectives of the study were (i) to examine the efficacy of the language programme in comparison with the language material of the textbook of Lower Level (L.L.) English for Std. VIII, (ii) to readjust the structures of the syllabus taking into consideration some of the salient features of T.G. Grammer to find its effectiveness in language acquisition, (iii) to develop an effective language programme based on simple inversion, substitution, deletion, addition and replacement of words and phrases and to measure thereby its learnability for pupils of Std. VIII, (iv) to supply more language practice items having transformative and lucid sequence to strengthen the skills of English language, (v) to introduce a greater number of exercise items demanding an understanding of linguistic behaviour of words, phrases and sentences, (vi) to determine the economy of time and labour while teaching the language programme based on the syllabus prescribed for L.L. English for Std. VIII of Gujarat State, (vii) to study the relationship of various psycho-socio factors affecting the achievement in English language, (viii) to study the relationship of sex and area with the achievement in English language, and (ix) to suggest a more viable language programme for the beginners of L.L. English.
The new language programme was prepared having four parts, viz., teaching items, read and learn, language practice and test items. The programme was prepared to cover the total load of vocabulary found in the textbook. Simple transformational rules were also kept in mind while preparing the programme. The test was based on comprehension, expression in controlled writing, vocabulary and sentence construction (syntax). Besides this, the tools used to measure some psycho-socio factors were Intelligence Test of K.G. Desai, SES Scale by A.S. Patel, Anxiety Scale by H.K. Nijhavan, Emotional Stability Scale by A.S. Patel and n-Ach Test by Prayag Mehta. The equivalent group method was used for subjecting the programme to experimentation. One hundred and thirty students were in the experimental group and an equal number in the control group. Analysis of covariance was used to draw conclusions.
Some of the findings were: 1. The language programme prepared by the investigator produced better results so far as English language learning was concerned. The difference between the adjusted means of scores of the experimental group, and the control group was 23.30 which was in favour of the experimental group showing that the new programme was more effective than the usual material. 2. The main effect of treatment was significant. 3. The main effect of sex was not significant. 4. It was found that the programme proved to be more effective than the usual material without being affected by sex, pre- achievement in language, I.Q., SES, n-Ach, emotional stability, anxiety and area. 5. The control variables, socioeconomic status, intelligence, n-Ach, emotional stability and anxiety were paired with the pre-achievement in language and this showed high correlation with achievement in English.
*699. CHATTERJI, B., An Investigation into Interdependence of Cognitive Development and Language Development in the Middle School Children, Ph.D, Edu., Raj. U., 1987
The objectives of the study were (i) to ascertain the level of cognitive development of the teachers teaching English in middle schools, (ii) to ascertain the level of cognitive development and language development of students of middle schools, (iii) to study the effect of the cognitive development treatment on language development as well as on enhancement of level of logical thin king of students, (iv) to study the effect of language development treatment on cognitive development as well as improvement of language, (v) to assess the effect of the total learning environment on the level of cognitive development and language development of students, (vi) to assess the effect of richness of educated home environment on the level of cognitive development and language development of students, and (vii) to assess the effect of frequency of the use of English language outside the school situation on the level of cognitive devel- opment and language development of the students.
The study followed pretest post-test experimental control group design. A sample of 22 teachers teaching English as a second language in class VII in 22 middle schools was selected. All the students being taught by these teachers in their respective schools formed the sample of students. After sample death, etc., 600 students formed the final sample of the study. Eleven teachers from the sample were categorized as belonging to the high cognitive development group and II as belong-
628 RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION-ABSTRACTS
ing to the low cognitive development group on the basis of score on the Cognitive Maturity Test. Similarly, students belonging to 22 schools were categorized on the basis of the teachers teaching them. In each of these two categories eight groups formed experimental groups and three formed control groups. Two groups from each of the categories were assigned to each of the different treatments-cognitive development followed by language development, and language development followed by cognitive development. On the basis of the treatment given to the groups, the names were assigned to the groups. The control groups were not given any treatment. They went through the usual teaching. All the 22 groups of students were pretested and post-tested on the Cognitive Maturity Test and the Language Achievement Test. Apart from this, the students of 22 groups were administered the Learning Environment Rating Scale. The data so collected were analysed by analysis of covariance
The findings of the study were: 1. Language treatment enhanced cognitive maturity scores of students being taught by teachers with high cognitive development and low cognitive development. 2. Cognitive treatment enhanced language achievement test scores of students being taught by teachers with high and low cognitive development. 3. Language treatment resulted in higher gains for students being taught by high cognitive maturity teachers than for students being taught by low cognitive maturity teachers in respect of cognitive maturity test as well as language achievement test. 4. Cognitive treatment resulted in higher gains for students being taught by high cognitive maturity teachers than for students being taught by low cognitive maturity teachers in respect of the language achievement test. 5. The high cognitive development group obtained significantly higher scores on various components of the language achievement test (vocabulary, form words and function words) than the low cognitive development treatment group. 6. The high language development treatment group obtained significant higher scores than the low language development group on vocabulary, form words and function words. 7. The high cognitive development followed by the language development group obtained higher scores than the low cognitive development followed by the language development group on logical multiplication tasks, combinational thinking tasks, proportional thinking tasks and propositional statements. 8. The high cognitive development followed by the language development (HCFL) group obtained significantly higher scores than the low cognitive development followed by the language development group (LCFL) on vocabulary, form words and function words. 9. The high language development followed by the cognitive development (HLFC) group obtained significantly higher scores than the low language development followed by the cognitive development (LLFC) group on logical multiplication tasks. 10. The HLFC group obtained significantly higher scores than the LLFC group on vocabulary and function words. 11. The effect of the total learning environment on cognitive maturity test scores was not found to be significant when comparing students subjected to cognitive treatment. 12. The effect of the total learning environment on the language achievement test scores was found to be significant when comparing the students subjected to language treatment and those being taught by teachers with low cognitive maturity. 13. The effect of a rich educated home environment was significant while comparing the language achievement test scores of the high and low cognitive treatment groups.
700. CHERVELA, N., First Language (Telugu) Development in Children: A Short Descriptive Study, Ph.D. Ling., Osm. U., 1982
The study attempted to describe the first language acquisition and development in Telugu children. It aimed at discovering, (i) what was acquired by the child at different stages through different processes, (ii) the hierachies in the acquisitional process of different categories, and (iii) the development made during a six months' period.
The design of the study was a blend of longitudinal and cross sectional methods to study language acquisition. Four children (three girls and one boy) between ages one year and six months to three years were chosen for the study to represent different stages in the acquisitional process. All the four children were exposed to the same variety of dialect, viz. central Andhra dialect. Based on the findings of a preliminary survey conducted six months before the final one, data collection for the study was scheduled to be carried out in six sessions of 60 to 90 minutes duration. In each of the six sessions, half an hour was allotted to elicit data on a particular topic and the rest to free conversation. Everything said to the child and everything that the child said was recorded on a tape recorder. Several picture books and toys were used as stimuli to hold the child's attention and to keep the conversation on for 60 to 90 minutes.
RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION-ABSTRACTS 629
The results of the study would help (i) psycholinguists working on problems of language and language development in general, (ii) linguists interested in understanding the nature of human language, and (iii) speech therapists and those connected with speech training programmes for handicapped children.
701. DASGUPTA, N., A Critical Study of the Vocabulary in English of the Students of Class VI (usually 12 +) Reading in the Non-English Medium Schools of Meghalaya, and the Influence of Socio-economic Background on the Actual Vocabulary, Ph.D. Edu., Gau. U., 1975
The major objectives of the study were (i) to measure the gap between the expected and the actual vocabulary in English of the students of class VI (usually 12 +) reading in the non-English medium schools in Meghalaya, (ii) to prepare a glossary I of English words containing the weight of each word in respect of the students of class VI, (iii) to prepare a glossary 11 of English words containing the difficulty value of each word, in respect of the students of class VI, reading in the non-English medium schools in Meghalaya, and (iv) to prepare two more glossaries of words (glossary III and glossary IV) containing the difficulty value of each word relating to the students of class VI hailing from the upper socioeconomic group and the lower socioeconomic group respectively, in order to bring into clear focus, the influence of socioeconomic background on the actual vocabulary of the students.
Words were collected from various sources like textbooks, supplementary books, examination scripts, class teaching, wall paper magazines, word games. The final list containing 2043 words bearing frequency and range was prepared and arranged alphabetically. Checklists (vocabulary tests) were constructed and tried out. First and second checklists were administered. The final checklists were divided into two parts. About 4110 class VI boys and girls of upper and lower socio-economic groups drawn from selected urban and rural non-English medium schools of Khasi, Jaintia and Garo Hills districts of Meghalaya constituted the sample. It was districtwise stratified random sampling with proportionate strata and control of other categories. Weight and difficulty value of each word were determined. Difficulty value of words in respect of students hailing from upper and lower socioeconomic backgrounds was also estimated. The gap between the expected and actual vocabulary was measured for different groups. The actual vocabulary of students belonging to the upper and lower socioeconomic groups was compared. Four glossaries of words were prepared.
Some of the major findings were : 1. Of 2043 words, 469 had the greatest weight, 1295 had minimum weight and 279 words had medium weight; 27.34 per cent words from the two checklists were known by 19 per cent students; 28.49 per cent words were known to more than 90 per cent students. The remaining 44.17 per cent words had medium difficulty value. Upper socio-economic group students had a richer vocabulary than those from the lower socio-economic group. The gap between the estimated (1430) and actual vocabulary (943) was 487. The same gaps for the upper and lower socioeconomic groups were 246 and 702 respectively.
The major educational implication of the study is that the glossaries of words can be used for the improvement of educational and communicational practices in schools.
702. DASS, P.A., A Study of Reading Comprehension in English of Students of English Medium Secondary Schools of Standard X of Central Gujarat in the Context of Some Socio-psycho Factors, Ph.D. Edu., SPU, 1984
The objectives of the study were (i) to construct a test for measuring the reading comprehension of pupils of standard X, (ii) to establish norms for reading comprehension for students of English medium schools for Central Gujarat, (iii) to study whether there were any sex differences with regard to reading comprehension, and (iv) to study reading comprehension in the context of SES, and certain socio-psycho- factors, viz. test-anxiety, emotional stability, leadership and radicalism.
The test was constructed and standardized for measuring the various components of reading comprehension, viz. noting the significant details. finding out the main idea of the paragraph, giving the meaning of the words in context and nearest to the key word, giving the sequence of events, finding the relationship between ideas, drawing inferences, giving captions, drawing generalizations, and reading and interpreting tables and maps. These components were measured through seven sub-tests. The usual method of test construction was followed for the purpose of item analysis, determining reliability, validity and establishing test norms. The total
630 RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION-ABSTRACTS
time required to administer the test was 60 minutes. The test was standardized on a sample of 873 students. The sample included 384 girls and 489 boys selected at random from English medium schools of Central Gujarat. The percentile rank norms and standard score norms were fixed for boys And girls separately. For studying the reading comprehension in the context of SES and other socio-psycho factors, 2 X 2 X 2 factorial design was used.
Some of the characteristics of the test and findings were: 1. The mean score of girls was higher than that of boys. There were sex differences with regard to reading comprehension in English. 2. The reliability of the test was determined by the test-retest method, split-half method, Rulon formula, Flanagan formula, K.R. formula and analysis of variance approach ranged between 0.76 and 0.90. 3. The concept validity, concurrent validity and factorial validity of the test were established. The concurrent validity of the test was established by correlating the scores of students on the test with the teachers' opinion about reading comprehension and it was found to be 0.49. 4. The mean difference of reading comprehension scores was in favour of students with high SES. 5. The mean difference in reading comprehension scores was in favour of students having high leadership traits. 6. Emotional stability was not found to influence reading comprehension. 7. Students having a high degree of radicalism were found superior in reading comprehension to those with a low degree of radicalism. Students having a low anxiety level had better reading comprehension than those with a high anxiety level.
703. DATTA, C., Effects of Maximizing Contextual Clues: A Pragmatic Study, Ph..D. ELT, CIEFL, 1985
The dual purpose of the investigation was to derive insights into the pragmatics of classroom interaction, and to contribute towards developing a pedagogical theory of second language (L2) learning in a multilingual situation. The relationships between context, including the social conventions for target language (TL) use, the physical setting, the behavioural, psychological and Ianguage contexts and learner behaviour were explored. The insight gained from the investigation was expected to provide the foundations for a theory of L2 learning in a multilingual instructional setting. The different facets of the problem investigated were, (i) exploring probable relationships between various dimensions of context and learner behaviour, (ii) identifying interpretive strategies initial level learners adopt under pressure to use the TL, and (iii) exploring means of manipulating contextual constraints by maximizing contextual clues to activate meaningful interaction in the classroom.
The investigation was conducted within an ethnographical framework. The method included participant observation and interpretive analysis of samples of speech in different multilingual situations. The main data sources were two teaching projects under- taken respectively to identify learner-strategies and to investigate the effects of maximizing contextual clues in instructional stimuli. The pilot study involved teaching about 25 Hindi/Urdu medium students of class IV in a Government High School in Hyderabad for a period of three months. It included activities other than language learning tasks, related to students' practical and academic interests. Most of the classes were tape recorded. Three class periods chosen at random from the tape recorded data were analysed interpretively. The final study consisted of a team-teaching project undertaken by the researcher and the class teachers at Darjeeling for a period of three months. The purpose of this study was to try out materials developed in the course of the investigation based on the proposed pragmatic approach to English Language Teaching (ELT). Forty-one class V Nepali medium students constituted the sample of the study. Most of the classes were tape recorded. One class period from the data was analysed in detail interpretively and compared with a regular class taught by the same teacher.
The major findings were: 1. The strategies that initial level learners adopted to interpret meanings of TL utterances were derived partly from the social conventions for TL use and partly from underlying competences and these strategies facilitated the process of L2 learning. 2. Contextual constraints that restricted the scope of classroom interaction could be manipulated by maximizing contextual clues in instructional stimuli to activate meaningful interaction conducive to L2 learning. 3. Maximizing contextual clues helped participants to jointly develop a multisource model of the TL that provided opportunities for teaching/learning the language as a system as well as a form human behaviour.
704. DESAI, K.G. Diagnosis of Defects in Language Ability of Children Studying in Std. IV and a Tryout of a Remedial Programme for Their Correction, 1986 (Gujarat State School Textbook Board financed)
This project was undertaken to diagnose the defects in language learning of pupils of grade IV based on their
RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION-ABSTRACTS 631
learning during the first three years and to try out a remedial programme to correct the defects.
The investigator first analysed the contents of the language textbook of grade III and prepared a vocabulary list of difficult words and phrases as also the points of functional grammar as evidenced in the exercises given at the end of each lesson in the textbook. A pilot achievement test based on the difficult vocabulary and functional grammar that the pupils were supposed to have learnt till grade III was prepared. It included exercises on reading, speaking and writing. After scrutinizing the pupils' answers, the final version of the test was prepared which revealed the difficult points of language which the pupils could not master at the end of grade III. The sample selected for the experimentation comprised 162 pupils of grade IV of two municipal and two private schools of Ahmedabad City. One of these schools was a good and reputed school, two were average and one was below average. The same test (final form) was again administered to these pupils at the end of the remedial work and the results were analysed. A control group of 40 pupils was also kept parallel to the experimental group. No remedial programme was given to this control group.
The findings were: 1. Most of the defects in language learnt during the first three years of the primary school comprised effors of spelling, missing letters while writing, bad handwriting, faulty pronunciation, wrong forms of tenses in verbs, and of participles, and lack of knowledge of how to transform sentences. 2. It was observed that weak teaching or total neglect of teaching in some schools by teachers was the main cause of wrong learning. Added to this was the apathy of parents towards their wards' education, particularly in municipal schools.
705. DESHPANDE, S.S., A Critical Study of Deprivation on Language Ability of Children Studying in a Municipal Corporation School in Standard 1: A Comparison with Children in a Private School and a Village School, Ph.D. Edu., Poona U., 1985
The objectives of the study were (i) to study the effect of economic, socio-cultural and experiential deprivation on the three components of language ability, namely vocabulary, comprehension, and narration and expression, (ii) to study the relation of different factors of dep- rivation with the three components of language ability, (iii) to find the effective factor among the factors of deprivation which affected the language ability of the child, (iv) to find out the effect of school environment on the language ability for each school separately and to find out whether this effect was significant, and (v) to find out whether the school environment had narrowed the difference between the language ability scores of deprived and non-deprived children. The following hypotheses were framed in the study: (1) Development of language ability is related to the level of deprivation of the child. Those who are highly deprived would tend to be poorer in development of language ability. (2) Among the three types of deprivation, namely, economic, socio-cultural and experiential, the experiential dep- rivation is likely to be the most prominent factor having a detrimental effect on the development of language ability. (3) Parental interaction and ways of bringing up the child are important factors facilitating language development of the child. (4) Children from private schools are likely to do better than children from corpo- ration schools in language development, because the latter are more deprived economically, culturally, and experientially. (5) Children from corporation schools are likely to do better in language development as compared to children from village schools because the latter are experientially more deprived. (6) The school environment is likely to be more of a facilitating factor in development of language ability for deprived children than for non-deprived children.
In order to study the effect of deprivation, three types of schools were selected. The children of these schools fell into three categories, namely, non-deprived, deprived and most-deprived. The non-deprived group was represented by a private school which was on a main thoroughfare in the town surrounded by middle class society. The deprived group was represented by the Pune Municipal Corporation School, not very far from the private school described above, but a majority of students of which were from slums. The most deprived group was selected from a village school, away from the taluka place and cut off from the city atmosphere. All children from Std. I of these schools were selected for the study. A deprivation scale and language tests were developed for this study. The deprivation scale was prepared to find out the economic, socio-cultural and experiential deprivation level of the child. The language tests were prepared to measure language ability. The tests aimed to measure three aspects of language ability of the child, namely, vocabulary, comprehension, and narration and expression. All these tests were administered orally as
632 RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION- ABSTRACTS
the children were from standard 1. A second set of parallel language tests was prepared to find out the effect of school environment on their language performance. These were administered to the same children to whom the earlier tests were administered. These tests were administered in Std. 11, i.e. after one year of schooling.
The major findings were: 1. Children who were seriously deprived (economically, socio-culturally and experientially) were found to be affected more in all aspects of language ability. 2. Linguistic ability of a child was more seriously affected by experiential deprivation than by socio-cultural and economic deprivation. 3. Economic deprivation affected comprehension ability more than the other two components of language ability, namely, vocabulary and narration and expression. 4. Socio-cultural deprivation of the child hampered comprehension more as compared to the other two aspects of language development. 5. Experiential deprivation affected narration and expression ability of the child much more than the other two aspects of language ability. 6. Factors of deprivation which were found to be prominent for language development were (a) parental interaction and ways of bringing up the child, (b) educational back- ground of the family, and (c) standard of living of the family. 7. The differences in the mean scores on all the ten tests of language ability between the private school and the corporation school as also between the private school and the village school were significant. 8. Three schools significantly differed in vocabulary. 9. The private schools and the corporation school as also the private school and the village school differed significantly in scores on comprehension. However, the difference between the village school and the corporation school on comprehension was not significant. 10. In narration and expression, significant differences were found in all pairs of schools. 11. School environment did affect the improvement in language ability of children, improvement being more in the corporation school as compared to the private school and in the village school than in the corporation school. 12. The corporation school and the village school children knew the vocabulary from their own environment. However, children from the private school knew much more than that. Children from the private school were the best in comprehension. The deprived children could not narrate their experiences.
*706. DEVAKI, Learning of Morphological Rules in Children, Ph.D. Language Development, Mys. U., 1986
The study examined the development of morphological rules in children across sex, socioeconomic status and age groups of the children chosen coming from two language groups-Kannada and Tamil. The development of morphological rules in children was inferred from extension of rules to new words. Based on this inference, the adequacy of theoretical models of language acquisition was critically assessed, and inferential validation for the tentative postulates of a morphological rule development model was drawn.
A 2 X 2 X 9 factorial design was followed in the case of both the languages, with two manipulations of sex (boys and girls), two manipulations of socioeconomic status (middle and low) and nine cross- longitudinal variations of the age factor from 3.0 to 7.6 years. The tools used were Kuppuswamy's SES Scale revised by the Department of Psychology of the Mysore University in 1982 and a test developed for morphological rules. These tests were administered individually to the sample in two settings, with separate instruction for each item. The data so obtained were subjected to quantitative and qualitative analyses. The statistical techniques used were analysis of variance for sex and age difference, and socioeconomic status and age difference, one-way ANOVA for age difference, Chi-square test and t- test. The qualitative analyses consisted of the following: (i) The features of response from age groups 4.6 to 7.6 years were extracted and percentages were calculated. (ii) The percentages of children in the younger (3.0 to 5.6 years) and older (5.6 to 7.6 years) group giving a particular type of response were calculated for all the mark- ers. (iii) The responses of five randomly selected children in nine age groups were presented to show the developmental features of response.
The major findings were: 1. Sex had no significant effect on rule extension. 2. Socio-economic status had no significant effect on rule extension. 3. Age had no significant effect on rule extension. 4. However, age exerted a qualitative influence on rule extension as seen from the nature of responses. 5. Children in extending rules proceeded usually from simple to complex morphological rule structures.
707. DHANGER, S.S., A Comparative Study of the Reading Ability of the C. and Non-B. C. Pupil3 of Grade X in the Context of Their Intelligence, Anxiety, n-Ach, and Certain Demographic Variables, Ph.D. Edu., SPU, 1985
The objectives of the study were (i) to compare the reading ability of the backward class (B.C.) pupils with that of the non-B.C. pupils', (ii) to compare the reading abili-
RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION-ABSTRACTS 633
ty of the B.C. and non-B.C. pupils from rural areas with that of the B.C. and non-B.C. pupils from urban areas, (iii) to compare the reading ability of the B.C. and non-B.C. pupils having high intelligence with that of the B.C. and non-B.C. pupils having low intelligence, (iv) to compare the reading ability of the B.C. and non- B.C. pupils having high anxiety with that of the B.C. and non-B.C. pupils having low anxiety, (v) to compare the reading ability of the B.C. and non-B.C. pupils having high n-Ach with that of the B.C. and non-B.C. pupils having low n-Ach, (vi) to compare the reading ability of the B.C. and non-B.C. pupils from large families with that of the B.C. and non-B.C. pupils from small families, (vii) to compare the reading ability of the B.C. and non-B.C. pupils with that of the B.C. and non-B.C. pupils in relation to their 1st, 2nd and 3rd birth order, and (viii) to study the effect of interaction among the various independent variables and the dependent variable incorporated in the study.
The Motibhai Patel's General Ability Test, Boxall's Test of School Anxiety (adapted), the adapted Smith's n-Ach Measure and Trivedi and Patel's Test of Reading Ability were used for collecting the data. The reliability of the General Ability Test was 0.83 to 0.97. The adapted Boxall's Test of School Anxiety had a reliability of 0.84. The reliability of the adapted Smith's n-Ach Measure was 0.76. Initially 1811 pupils of grade X of 79 secondary schools were selected as the sample. The two phased factorial design namely 2 X 2 X 2 X 2 X 2, first phase factorial design and 2 X 2 X 2 X 3 second phase factorial design were adopted. The analysis of variance was used to arrive at conclusions.
The major findings were: 1. There was a significant difference between the mean scores on the reading ability test given to B.C. and non-B.C. pupils and it was in favour of non-B.C. pupils. 2. The pupils from urban areas were significantly better in their reading ability than those from rural areas. 3. The pupils having high intelligence were significantly better in their reading ability than those having low intelligence. 4. The pupils having low anxiety were significantly better in their reading ability than those having high anxiety. 5. The pupils having high n-Ach were significantly better in their reading ability than those having low n-Ach. 6. The pupils from small families were significantly better in reading ability than those from large families. 7. The pupils who were first in birth order were significantly better in reading ability than those second in birth order, and the pupils who were second in birth order were significantly better in reading ability than those third in birth order. Pupils of 1st birth order got the highest scores in reading ability. 8. Out of 47 predictors of reading ability, eight turned out to be of an interactive nature. These were reading ability x anxiety, intelligence x n-Ach, intelligence x anxiety x n-Ach in the first phase of the study, while in the 2nd phase of the study these were caste x area, caste x family size, caste x birth order, caste x area x birth order and area x family size x birth order. 9. There was a definite linear trend in reading ability across birth order.
The implications are: (1) The caste and area of residence of the pupils should be taken into account while dealing with pupils and attacking their problems in reading ability. (2) Teachers should create a tension-free environment in schools so that pupil's growth in reading ability is not endangered by the negative influence of school anxiety.
708. DHOLAKIA, B.J., A Study of the Effectiveness of Various Strategies for Improving Reading Comprehension in English of Pupils of Class IX in the Context of Certain Variables, Ph.D. Edu., SPU, 1986
The objectives of the study were (i) to implement various strategies like (a) ReQuest procedure (b) Guided Reading Procedure (GRP) (c) REAP-technique (Read, Encode, Annote and Ponder technique) in teaching English to pupils of class IX in order to compare their effectiveness on reading comprehension, (ii) to compare the effectiveness of ReQuest strategy in developing reading comprehension of pupils with those pupils who did not study with any such strategy, (iii) to compare the effectiveness of GRP in developing reading comprehension with those pupils who did not study with any such strategy, (iv) to compare the effectiveness of REAP technique in developing reading comprehension with those pupils who did not study with any such technique, (v) to study the effectiveness of ReQuest procedure in developing reading comprehension in the context of study habits, I.Q., SES and entering behaviour, (vi) to study the effectiveness of GRP in developing reading comprehension in the context of study habits, I.Q., SES and entering behaviour, (vii) to study the effectiveness of REAP in developing reading comprehension in the context of study habits, I.Q., SES and entering behaviour, and (viii) to compare the effectiveness of ReQuest procedure, GRP and REAP technique in developing reading comprehension in English of pupils of class IX.
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The experiment was carried out in four schools of Cambay. One class of each school was selected for the purpose of the experiment. In each class there were 40 students. The reading material was prepared keeping in view the language material of English for class IX. The entering behaviour and terminal behaviour tests were prepared. They served as pretest and post-test. The other tests that were used for collecting data were Study Habits Inventory by B.V. Patel, General Ability Test by M.T. Patel and SES scale by C.C. Pathak. Four equivalent groups were prepared on the basis of the score on pretest. The analysis of variance technique was used for testing the significance of difference between two means.
Some of the findings were: 1. The ReQuest Strategy did not prove effective in improving reading comprehension. 2. The GRP proved to be effective in improving reading comprehension. 3. The REAP also proved to be effective in improving reading comprehension. 4. Pupils having good study habits and poor study habits did not differ significantly in reading comprehension when taught through ReQuest procedure. 5. Pupils having high I.Q. and low I.Q. did not differ significantly in reading comprehension when taught through ReQuest strategy. The ReQuest strategy group did not have a definite advantage over the traditional control group. 7. Pupils having good study habits proved better in reading comprehension when taught through GRP than pupils having good study habits and tought through the traditional way. 8. Pupils having low intelligence did not achieve significantly more through GRP than pupils with low intelligence and taught through the conventional method. Similarly, pupils having high intelligence did not achieve significantly more through GRP than pupils having high intelligence and taught through the conventional method. 9. Pupils belonging to the low SES group getting GRP did not achieve significantly more than pupils of the low SES group getting no such treatment. The same was the case with high SES pupils. 10. Pupils who scored high on entering behaviour and whO took GRP did better in the reading comprehension test than pupils scoring high on entering behaviour and who received no such treatment. 11. The REAP technique did not prove superior to the conventional method in the case of students having poor study habits as well as in those having good study habits. 12. The REAP technique did not prove superior to the conventional method in the case of pupils having low intelligence, but proved superior in the case of pupils having high intelligence. 13. The REAP technique did not prove superior to the conventional method in the case of pupils having low SES, but it proved superior to the conventional method in the case of pupils having high SES. 14. The REAP technique proved superior to the conventional method in the case of pupils scoring high on entering behaviour but did not prove superior to the conventional method in the case of pupils scoring low on entering behaviour. 15. The guided reading programme and the REAP techniques proved superior to the ReQuest strategy for improving reading comprehension.
709. DULAI, N.K., Teaching of Punjabi to Hindi Speakers, Ph.D. Ling., Kur. U., 1985
The objectives of the study were (i) to describe the linguistic characteristics of the Punjabi language from the pedagogical point of view, (ii) to underline some crucial problems which a second language teacher will face in teaching Punjabi to Hindi speakers, and (ill) to find out the main similarities and dissimilarities in the two lan- guages so as to help the learners to thrash out the distinctive characteristics of the target language.
This was a descriptive analytical investigation. It was descriptive in the sense that an adequate description of the Punjabi language at its various linguistic levels from the pedagogical point of view was made. It was analytical because similarities and dissimilarities between the various linguistic characteristics of Hindi and Punjabi were identified. Along with this, various areas of difficulties in the learning of Punjabi due to interference of Hindi were identified. The study was carried out on the basis of experiences of teaching Hindi speakers registered for learning Punjabi in different sessions at the North Regional Language Centre, Patiala. The study was made with respect to the teaching of pronunciation, grammar, structure, vocabulary and script.
The findings of the study were: 1. The Punjabi language had peculiar phonological characteristics with respect to phonemes, tones, clusters, gemination and free variation of different phonemes. Special lessons presenting phonetic drills and exercises needed to be prepared in the teaching of acceptable pronunciation. 2. There were some similarities between speech sounds of Punjabi and Hindi. But these were deceptive and misleading when studied in detail. For this purpose, the language learner needed to be made aware about such de- ceptions. For pedagogical purposes, actual functional and oppositional inter-relationships of the sounds had to be kept in mind. 3. The tones in Punjabi were respon-
RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION-ABSTRACTS 635
sible for certain important phonological structures of the speech sounds, which made it different from Hindi and other Indian languages. The vowels which served as onsets of the tones were always longer than those which bore the tails. Also under mid-tones, the vowels were longer than those under high tones and were still longer under low tones. 4. As compared to Hindi, Punjabi did not have voiced aspirates. The cognate words in Hindi and other Indian languages with voiced aspirates lost aspiration in Punjabi and also became unvoiced in ini- tial position. 5. In acquiring the phonetic and phonological structure of Punjabi, the non-native learners faced different types of problems. The learners had to make conscious efforts in acquiring the acceptable pronunciation of these speech sounds and the sequence thereof. 6. A number of cognate lexical items found in Punjabi and Hindi with certain different phonemes did create a problem for Hindi speakers in acquiring accurate pronunciation of such items in Punjabi. 7. A second language learner of Punjabi was confronted with a major problem of mastering the grammatical structure of different word classes or parts of speech. In such cases, rules governing the nouns and their inflection for number and gender had to be taught and learnt with the help of appropriate exercises and drills. Pronouns, adjectives, numerals and post-positions shared certain main characteristic features of inflection with nouns. There were no hard and fast rules to determine genders of inanimate objects. A Hindi speaker did not face much problem in learning the gender system as both Hindi and Punjabi shared a large common vocabulary of the same gender system. 8. The use of prepositions in Punjabi did impose a problem for the Hindi speakers. A learner committed various kinds of errors. In such cases a special effort had to be made by the language teacher as well as learner for teaching and learning the correct usage of prepositions. 9. The classification of verbs into auxiliary and main verbs, their inflection for tense and person, stem formation, intransitive- transitive-causative forms, infinitives, participles, formation of imperfect-perfect-conjuntive participles, tenses and modes, verb conjugation, etc. were the main items of verb morphology to be taught and learnt under the Punjabi language teaching-learning situation. Instructional materials in Punjabi had to be graded keeping in view different grammatical structures of word classes in Punjabi as opposed to Hindi. 10. On comparing the structures of different sentence types of Punjabi with those of Hindi, a remarkable similarity was found in the basic syntactic structure of these two close cognate languages.
The description of different types of structures of the Punjabi language helped the learner to understand the basic syntactic similarities and dissimilarities of Punjabi and Hindi. A second language learner of Punjabi who was well acquainted with structures in Hindi had to make special efforts in learning the morphology of dif- ferent word classes and their use in the formation of different phrases and sentences. The gradation and presentation of structural lessons on the basis of simple to complex structures helped the learner to learn the composition of phrases and sentence types in a systematic manner. 11. Phonological variation appeared to be the only relevant teaching item while introducing the cognate vocabulary. The word formation, lexical borrowings, registers, and classified vocabulary were taught with the help of supplementary material prepared for the course. 12. While teaching Punjabi to Hindi learners vowel signs were introduced and compared with the Devanagari vowel signs. There was a partial similarity in the use of vowel signs in the two scripts. 13. The reading and writing of Gurumukhi script were taught simultaneously. Each group of letters was introduced by ex- plaining the formation of letters, hand movements and the number of strokes involved in the formation of letters. 14. The script lessons were divided into three parts-formation of letters, reading practice, and exercises for writing. The formation of letters was shown by marking the hand movements and arrows on particular curves of the letter; the reading practice included reading of letters along with all the secondary symbols and the reading of meaningful words; for writing of various letters and words, various exercises were given using visuals. The use of Devanagari script giving clues and hints to the learners was also made.
710. EDKE, S.R., Graded Basic Vocabulary of Standards I to IV, Ph.D. Edu., (SNDT), 1985
The objectives of the study were (i) to analyse the reproduction and recognition lists of words, (ii) to determine the new words from each of the standards, (iii) to determine the list of reproduction words, (iv) to determine the graded basic vocabulary for grades I to IV, and (v) to compare the different lists of graded vocabulary prepared by different researchers with the present list.
The sample consisting of 350 students from each of the four grades was elected on the basis of socioeconomic status, their marks at the examination, etc. A list of graded vocabulary was prepared by using the cat-
636 RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION-ABSTRACTS
alogue method, sampling method, and word count method. Words were determined by using the card method, written word lists, oral and written tests. The collected data were analysed by counting frequency and comparing with earlier lists of words.
The major findings of the study were: 1. The total number of basic words was 4090, 3880, 4295, and 3659 for classes I, II, III and IV respectively. 2. The number of words decreased from class I to II. 3. Rural students knew a larger number of words than urban students in case of grade I students, whereas in the case of grades II to IV, urban students knew more words than their counterparts from rural schools. 4. The number of words determined by the oral test was more than that of the written test.
Educational implications of the study are: (1) These lists can be used for evaluating the texts. (2) A dictionary for the students of grades I to IV can be developed on the basis of this graded vocabulary. (3) Diagnosis of the difficult words for the students can be done. (4) Reading material can be developed on the basis of these words.
711. GAUR, P.K., A Psychological Study of Reading Ability in Relation to Achievement, Ph.D. Psy., Agra U., 1982
The hypotheses were: (1) Achievement in Hindi language and aggregate achievement are not related to reading ability. (2) Economic status, educational background of the parents and standard of schools have no relationship to reading speed, comprehension and vocabulary. (3) Age, sex and order of birth have no relationship to reading speed, comprehension and vocabulary. (4) Intelligence is not related to reading ability.
A sample of 500 (280 boys and 220 girls) students was drawn by simple random sampling technique. The age ranged from 14 to 18 years and the sample was from the recognized schools of Agra city. The comprehension and vocabulary tests were developed. The test-retest reliability coefficients were 0.88 and 0.94 respectively. The intelligence test was also developed and split-half, test-retest and KR-21 reliability coefficients were 0.88, 10.86, 0.85 respectively. Its correlation with teachers' rating was 0.87. The data were analysed by competing mean, SD, correlations and chi-square.
The findings were: 1. The speed of reading, comprehension and vocabulary affected the students' marks in Hindi language as well as the aggregate achievements. 2. Economic status was not significantly related to comprehension and vocabulary but was significantly related with speed of reading. Parents' education was not significantly related with speed of reading, comprehension, and vocabulary. The standard of the school did not affect significantly the comprehension and vocabulary of students but affected significantly the speed of reading. 3. Age was not significantly related with speed of reading, comprehension and vocabulary of the students. Comprehension and vocabulary were not influenced by the sex of the students but speed of reading was influenced by sex of the students. The birth order did not affect the child's speed of reading, comprehension and vocabulary. 4. Intelligence was significantly related to speed of reading, comprehension and vocabulary of students.
712. GILL, P.S., An Investigation into the Impact of 'Teach- English-Learn English' Radio Programme on Listener Teachers 'and Pupils' English in Gujarat, Ph.D. Edu., SPU, 1984
The objectives of the study were (i) to construct the tools to measure the impact of Teach-English-Learn English (TELE) programme, (ii) to measure the impact of the TELE series on teachers of English in relation to the skills of the English language, (iii) to measure the impact of the TELE series on the learners of English in specific areas and on skills of the English language, and (IV) to make the organizers of the TELE programme familiar with reactions of the audience towards the programme.
The tools used to collect the data were short tests covering four language areas devised to measure the proficiency of listeners in English, questionnaires seeking information from listeners and programmers about TELE, opinionnaires for studying the reactions, and interview schedules. The tests for measuring proficiency in English both for teachers and pupils were constructed and subjected to the process of item analysis only. The items on selected aspects of English were prepared, viz., pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and listening comprehension. The pilot test was administered to 300 teachers and 2000 students of class IX selected at random from Kheda, Baroda and Panchmahal districts. The three tools were administered to 500 teachers and 5000 students. The simple percentage and t-test were used for analysis and testing the significance of difference between the means. Two groups of teachers and
RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION-ABSTRACTS 637
pupils were formed as listeners and non-listeners.
Some of the findings were: 1. The impact of the TELE series on the teachers' own English was positive and it was in favour of listener teachers. The listener teachers clearly gained from the broadcast. 2. The teachers did gain in the specific areas, viz. listening comprehension, pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. 3. The impact of the TELE series was even greater in the case of the learners of English. The findings revealed that the listener pupils gained from the series. 4. The TELE series helped the teachers and learners of English in the schools of rural area. This supported the contention that the radio could fruitfully be used to strengthen the teaching of English in rural areas where facilities were comparatively inadequate. 5. TELE proved to be a useful source for teachers and learners regarding the natural and appropriate use of English. 6. TELE also served as a source for teachers to become familiar with practicable and effective ideas. 7. The TELE series contributed to the development of general awareness in teachers and learners of English. The series also put teachers in touch with recent trends in English language teaching. The series had a positive impact on the standard of English teaching in the State.
713. GUPTA, SHEETAL, Factors Underlying Achievements in First Lauguage (Hindi), Related Classical Language (Sanskrit) and a Foreign Language (English) with Their Implications for Instructional Methods, Ph.D. Edu., Jammu U., 1983
The alms of the study were (i) to prepare and standardize tests on three abilities, viz. comprehension of Hindi, English, and Sanskrit passages through reading and listening, ability to speak and spell words in these languages correctly and ability to know the rules of grammar of these languages, (ii) to study the distribution of scores of the tests of three languages separately, (iii) to study the degree of relationship between the different tests in each language, and (iv) to find which of the three abilities was responsible for the relationship between the tests.
Four linguistic skills were selected for all the three languages, viz. (i) reading and understanding, (ii) hearing and understanding, (iii) speaking correctly, and (iv) writing correctly. A set of 15 tests, four each for English, Hindi and Sanskrit, was prepared which comprised (i) a test on reading and understanding, (ii) a test on hearing and understanding, (iii) a test on speaking correctly, and (iv) a test on writing correctly. The last test had two parts-a spelling test, and a test on grammar and composition. The reliability and validity of these tests were estimated. The decile norms of all the tests were also calculated. Four hundred class X girls were randomly picked up. They were studying all the three languages from the educational institutions of Jammu province.
The major findings were: 1. The distribution of scores in all the tests of English, Hindi and Sanskrit showed deviation from normality. 2. The relationships between the tests of each language were found to be statistically significant. 3. In case of English language, the extracted two factors were identified as ability of comprehension through reading and skill of correct pronunciation. In case of Hindi language, the two factors were spelling and comprehension through reading. In case of Sanskrit language, the two dominant factors were grammar, and comprehension through reading. 4. The language abilities and skills influencing the achievement in the three languages taken together showed that hearing and understanding, and pronunciation played a dominant role. The first and second factors were identified as 'comprehension through reading', and 'spelling' respectively.
*714. GUPTA, VINAY, An Investigation into the Basic Hindi Vocabulary of Children of Class II in the State of Jammu & Kashmir, Ph.D. Edu., Jammu U., 1983
The objectives of the study were(i) to assess the vocabulary of pupils reading in grade II, (ii) to prepare a test glossary of words with their difficulty values for the use of second grade pupils in J & K State, and (iii) to make recommendations for the use of vocabulary in textbooks of class II in the light of the results obtained.
The study was undertaken in two phases, namely, (i) the pilot study, and (ii) the main study. In the first phase 318 words were selected and these divided into five checklists containing 64-65 words (except 116 words in the first check-list). The multiple choice test method was used with five alternative meanings given. Out of 318 words 124 words were included in the final list of words. In the second phase 1722 words from different sources were collected. Finally, 744 words were selected, arranged alphabetically, distributed into eight check-lists, and tested on a representative sample of 1295 pupils belonging to 12 districts of J & K State.
638 RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION-ABSTRACTS
A glossary of words in two parts was prepared. In the first part the words collected from the primer and textbooks of class I were included, whereas in the second part the glossary contained the words tested on the representative sample consisting of 744 words.
715. JACOB, P.G., Planning an Integrative English Curriculum for Undergraduate Science Students: A Community Based Approach, Ph.D. ELT, CIEFL, 1985
The study sought to describe and relate learner needs to worthwhile curricular aims and to recommend concrete steps for curriculum development and implementation. The central questions of the study were (i) What is the scope of the existing instructional activity in relation to the communicative experience of the student? (ii) What perceptions do students have of worthwhile learning opportunities and applications of English education? (iii) How could the self- perceptions of students and the limitations of their curricular experiences be related to a fresh ideology and a set of curricular aims for the teaching-learning of English? (iv) What would be a con- structive plan of action towards realizing the curricular aims in the context of existing teacher competence?
Adopting an ethnographic approach to the inquiry, the study sought to systematically reproduce the insights gathered from participatory experience in a college community, i.e. an affiliated college of Poona University. Data were collected through classroom observations of six science lectures and one English class, informal semi-structured interviews with teachers and students, a questionnaire administered to 50 undergraduate science students, and a team teaching exercise involving seven teachers.
The findings from the analysis of instructional activity and student self-perceptions led to the development to a learner profile in which communicative experience was found to be structured within specific co-occurring communicative functions applicable to both the science and English curricula. Within these functions, a highly con- trolled role relationship was maintained and the learner's opportunities for articulatory and exploratory language experience were restricted. As for the students' self-perceptions of worthwhile learning opportunities, it was found that they had a general awareness of the drawbacks of their curricular experience and were able to per- ceive better learning opportunities in the form of independent study projects and other extra-curricular activities of academic significance. It was also found that their attitudes towards English education were significantly positive and that they valued general communicative ability in English in view of pursuing their vocational interest.
The main implications of the study were: (1) The profile provided a theoretical orientation for an Integrative curriculum. From a psychological point of view, the learner's communicative experience was observed to be largely cognitive at the level of acquiring and reproducing given knowledge in the form of factual information. An integrative English curriculum would therefore seek to enrich the learner's existing experience by providing for active, subjective involvement within an effective domain of knowledge and experience in relation to the human being and his/her environment. From the socio- linguistic point of view, the curriculum, by providing for an extensive exposure to language through encounters with interdisciplinary and cultural knowledge, would aim at developing a communicative competence and target repertoire that is in general academic rather than subject specific. From a philosophical point of view the curriculum would rest on the principles for a liberal education and would aim to provide the opportunity for critical reflection and acquisition of personal knowledge of a comprehensive nature through wide thematic investigation in dialogical learning contexts. (2) Towards implementing an integrative English curriculum, the analysis of teacher competence revealed that teachers had a minimal competence with regard to participatory teaching and negotiation of cultural knowledge. A constructive plan of action would, therefore, support teachers in acquiring a new competence for fulfilling the aims of the proposed curriculum. (3) The study concluded that an integrative English curriculum was justified considering the limitation of the learner's existing communicative experience and need for an extensive language experience. It could be developed through systematic planning and collaborative undertaking in specific academic communities. Communities that had the infrastructure for accommodating innovation could undertake a plan of action towards developing a new competence in English teachers and fresh expectancies in science students.
*716. JAIN, N., Determination of Communicability in the New Hindi Poetry from the Point of View of its Teaching in the Upper Secondary Schools of Rajasthan, Delhi U., 1981 (NCERT financed)
The objectives of the study were (i) to find out the posi-
RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION-ABSTRACTS 639
tion of new Hindi poetry in the curriculum, (ii) to study the difficulties which teachers faced in teaching new poetry, (iii) to study the difficulties which students faced in reading and understanding the theme of the poetry, (iv) to find out the practical difficulties in teaching-learning of the new poetry, and (v) to find out the difficulties related to the form of the new poetry.
A survey was conducted in the schools of Delhi, Allahabad, and Chandigarh. While selecting the sample, care was taken to have a representation to different communities and of schools having different facilities. The sample included Hindi medium schools, English medium schools, schools having both Hindi and English media, schools where Hindi was considered a prestigious subject, and the schools where Hindi was considered a lower category subject. The data were obtained with the help of questionnaires and interviews.
The major findings of the study were: 1. Survey revealed that the position of new Hindi poetry in the school curriculum was very poor. In most of the schools the new Hindi poetry was included to a very little extent. 2. From the editors' viewpoint the poet was more important than the poetry. 3. In teaching new Hindi poetry teachers faced several difficulties, some of which were attitudinal in nature. 4. Although from the language point of view the new poetry appeared to be easy, students still faced some difficulties in understanding the theme of the-new poetry. 5. Ninety per cent students liked prose rather than poetry. 6. In teaching and learning of new poetry, the main difficulty was its form. Thirty per cent teachers did not consider new poetry as poetry. In their view if these lines were written in a continuous and sequential manner, they would turn into prose.
717. JAIN, P.C., The Diagnosis of Language Errors and a Programme of Teaching in Sanskrit, Dept. of Sanskrit, Banasthali Vidyapeeth, 1984 (Financed by NCERT)
The study was intended to identify the errors in Sanskrit, their types, the causes of the errors, and to suggest a programme of remedial teaching. The objectives of the study were (i) to find out the nature of errors committed by students in Sanskrit in class X, (ii) to prepare tools for diagnosing the errors, (iii) to find out the fundamental causes of the errors, and (iv) to suggest a remedial programme on the basis of the nature and causes of diagnosed errors.
Examination papers in Sanskrit of the Rajasthan Secondary Examination Board, Ajmer, for the years 1974 and 1975 were critically analysed to find out the number of main objectives covered. After examining for defects, suggestions were given for improving question papers, for assessing students' knowledge in Sanskrit. Answer scripts of students who appeared in the 1974 and 1975 examinations were examined and classified on the basis of marks and also on the basis of sex, location of school (rural/urban), type of school (government/private) and category (coeducational/ single sex). Ten diagnostic tests were tried out and opinions of headmasters, teachers and students taken for causes of errors after which ten remedial work exercises were constructed and administered for improving knowledge of Sanskrit. All tools were developed by the investigator. They were ten diagnostic tests, students' questionnaire to find out the causes of errors in Sanskrit, teachers' questionnaire to find out the causes of errors committed by students in Sanskrit and a questionnaire for headmasters for finding out the causes of students' errors in Sanskrit.
The major findings were: 1. Since teaching of Sanskrit as a third language was not according to the syllabus, the objectives were not achieved. 2. The question papers did not cover MI units and the emphasis was not proportionate; though there was great emphasis on translation of Sanskrit prose into Hindi, written expression was not adequately tested, with undue emphasis on recall in grammar. 3. Students' knowledge of grammar was at an elementary level and, therefore, their mistakes were mainly in grammar; they were able to analyse but not synthesize. 4. Since most Sanskrit teachers were un- trained, they were not able to create students' interest in the subject either through their teaching or other activities in the school. 5. Lack of practice in pronunciation in the class, absence of homework and inadequate home support also resulted in poor performance. 6. Adoption of the translation method and poor techniques adopted by teachers of the subject, and inadequate study by students resulted in low achievement. 7. The duration and total time allotted for the teaching of Sanskrit was inadequate. 8. Since marks obtained were not included for awarding grades, students did not take much interest in the subject. 9. The headmasters and teachers felt that co- curricular activities were not organized because of the students' lack of interest in the subject and consequently a suitable environment for learning the language could not develop.
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718. JOSEPH, K.S., Evolving a Strategy for Teaching English Grammar at High School Level, Ph.D. Edu., MSU, 1983
The major objectives of the study were (i) to evolve a validated multimedia strategy for teaching English grammar at high school level, (ii) to find out the comparative effectiveness of the three forms of PLM namely linear, deviated linear and branching, (iii) to find out the relationship between the pupils' attitude towards the multimedia strategy and their achievement in the comprehensive test, and (iv) to find out the relationship between pupils' intelligence and their performance in the comprehensive test.
For realizing the above objectives a single group design was used. The study was conducted in a group of 28 students studying in classes IX and X of an English medium school of Baroda City. The components of the instructional strategy were introduction by the teacher, PLMs of linear, deviated linear and branching forms, tables and charts, exercises and assignments, key to exercises, summary and criterion tests. The instruments used for the study were nine criterion tests and a comprehensive test, a reaction questionnaire, and an attitude scale prepared by the investigator and Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices. The study was conducted for two suc- cessive years in one group of students studying in class IX and X. The strategy was validated on the basis of the students' performance on the criterion test and comprehensive test, students' reaction towards the material and experts' reaction towards the material. Descriptive statistical techniques and t-tests were used for analysis of data.
The main findings of the study were: 1. About 90 per cent of the students scored 60 per cent or more marks in five out of nine units. In the rest of the units 30 to 80 per cent students scored 60 per cent or more marks. 2. Both the students and the experts had expressed a highly positive reaction towards the multimedia instructional strat- egy. 3. Branching PLM was found to be most effective in terms of achievement and ranking by the students. 4. Deviated linear PLM was found to have a comparatively inferior stand in terms of ranking by the students. 5. Linear PLM was found to be least effective in terms of achievement and rating by the students. 6. The students expressed a stable favourable attitude towards the strategy. 7. There was no significant relationship between students' attitude and achievement. 8. There was a significantly positive relationship between intelligence of the students and their achievement through strategy.
The educational implication of the study is that a duly validated and reproducible instructional strategy with PLM as its major component can be used in high schools for efficient English grammar teaching.
*719. JOSHI, A.N., Factors Influencing English Language Abilities, Ph.D. Edu., Mee. U., 1984
The objectives of the study were (i) to ascertain the growth level of comprehension, vocabulary, translation, grammar, language usage and spelling abilities of English language among eighth graders belonging to the scheduled castes and non-scheduled castes varying in intelligence level, socioeconomic status, sex, locality, and schools administered by private agencies, missionaries and the state government, (ii) to find out the common errors committed in translation, grammar, language usage and spelling by eighth graders belonging to different sex, locality, intelligence, socioeconomic sta- tus, and types of institutional administration, and (iii) to find out the factors which influenced the growth of English language abilities.
The normative survey study was conducted in Moradabad and was confined to urban and rural schools managed by private agencies, missionaries and the state government. A sample of 720 students from both the sexes representing scheduled castes and non-scheduled castes was selected using the stratified random sampling method. The sample was then grouped for different strata with 30 students in each stratum. The data were collected administering Progressive Matrices (Raven), SES (urban) Scale (Kapoor), SES (rural) Scale (Udai Pareek), Sixteen Personality Factor Inventory (Cattell) and English Language Ability Test (Sharma). The statistical techniques used for analysing the data were mean, percentage, t-test and correlation.
The major findings of the study were: 1. The scheduled caste students were found to attain average growth level in each one of the six English language abilities whereas students of the non-scheduled castes were found to be slightly higher than average in these abili- ties. 2. The growth status of language ability was a function of structural factors operating within (intelligence, sex, etc.) and outside (socioeconomic status, locality and type of school) the individual. 3. There existed a significant relationship between intelligence and growth of various English language abilities. 4. The growth of English language abilities was found to be maximum among eighth graders of missionary schools followed by
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the students of state government schools and private schools. The male eighth graders were found to be higher in such language errors as failure to identify the relationship of the verb with the number of the subject, failure to place the pronoun in the sequence, failure to identify the relationship of the anomalous verb 'will' with the succeeding verb, etc., whereas the female eighth graders were found to be higher in failure to use 'who', failure to use a word in relation to its pronoun and failure to use 'neither'. 5. The growth of English language ability was found to be influenced by such factors as caste, intelligence, socioeconomic status, locality, administrative control of an institution and personality factors.
*720. JOSHI, V.G., Scrutiny of Errors in Written English and Remedial Programme, Ph.D. Edu., Poona U.,1985
The major objectives of the study were (i) to make a historical review of the position of English in India since the establishment of the East India Company in 1600 A.D., (ii) to make a review of the position of English in India after the attainment of Independence, (iii) to make a historical review of the teaching of English in Maharashtra since 1815 A.D., (iv) to make a historical review of the teaching of English in Maharashtra after Independence, (v) to decide the general importance of the English language at the international as well as the national level, (vi) to observe the present position of the teaching of English in Maharashtra, (vii) to study the influence of socioeconomic and educational status of the families of pupils under investigation on the achievement of pupils, (viii) to locate from their answer-books common errors in English committed by pupils of standards V to X, (ix) to classify errors with their sub-types standardwise, (x) to find out the frequency of each subtype of each error from answer-books standardwise, (xi) to find out the number of pupils committing each subtype of each error in each standard, (xii) to prepare and execute the remedial programme for the pupils of stan- dards V to X as the sample selected for the action research programme, (xiii) to verify the effect of the remedial programme and to decide whether the errors in writing were reduced, (xiv) to compare the achievements of boys and girls in respect of minimizing the errors, and (xv) to decide whether there was any difference in the benefit accruing from the remedial programme in the case of different pupils belonging to various socioeconomic cultural groups.
Pupils learning English as a third language in the Marathi medium schools and coming from various strata of the society were selected for the action-research programme. The classes were boys' classes, girls' classes and mixed ones. All the pupils of grades V to X were selected from different schools. This was an action-research programme. The nature of data collected by the researcher included historical review, survey of pupils, study of syllabi of English and study of question papers and answer-books in English. The sources of data collection included surveys of educational research and reports of various committees and commissions. In the case of each grade, the answer-books of a particular examination were first collected, errors analysed and recorded, and a remedial programme prepared and executed. The effect of the remedial programme was studied. The influence of socioeconomic and cultural conditions of the family background of the students was studied.
The general conclusions were: 1. Pupils belonged to the middle class group of the society. Some pupils had to help their parents in their occupations. Some of the pupils were first generation learners. 2. The number and quality of errors were reduced after the introduction of the remedial programme which included correction of spelling, syntax, written expression and drilling.
721. KACHHIA, M.J., An Investigation into the Effect of Reading Improvement Programme in Gujarati for Pupils of Class V of Sabarkantha District in the Context of Different Variables, Ph.D. Edu., SPU, 1986
The objectives of the study were (i) to construct a reliable and valid reading comprehension test for the students of class V, (ii) to prepare a reading improvement programme for students of class V, (iii) to study the impact of the reading improvement programme on the reading comprehension of students, (iv) to study the effect of the reading improvement programme in the context of socio-economic status, and (v) to study the effect of the reading improvement programme in the context of n-Ach.
The reading comprehension test was constructed to measure (i) ability to give meaning of words, (ii) ability to give meaning of a phrase, (iii) ability to understand the written instruction, (iv) ability to answer questions based on significant details', and (v) ability to give the
642 RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION-ABSTRACTS
sequence of events or ideas. The items were selected by using T.L. Kelley's method. Seventy-four items out of 97 were included in the final form. The reliability of the test as determined by split-half method and K.R. formula-21 was 0.87 and 0.86 respectively. The concept and concurrent validity were established. The reading improvement programme was prepared to develop (a) word perception, (b) word recognition, (c) vocabulary, (d) word and phrase meaning, (e) sentence comprehension and (f) story and paragraph comprehension. Six equivalent groups were formed. In the experimental group there were 252 students and in the control group there were 246 students. Analysis of covariance was used to analyse the results.
The major findings were: 1. The members of the experimental group taking the reading improvement programme (RIP) treatment proved better in reading comprehension on the post-test than students in the control group. 2. Similarly the experimental group showed more improvement in speed of reading after taking the reading improvement programme than the control group. 3. The main effect of n-Ach on reading compre- hension was significant and that too was in favour of high n-Arch. It was concluded that the RIP could be used to improve reading comprehension in Gujarati of pupils having high as well as low n-Ach. 4. RIP could be used to improve reading comprehension of pupils having good and poor reading comprehension. 5. RIP could be used to improve the reading comprehension of pupils irrespective of their age. 6. The programme was also effective in improving reading comprehension of pupils having high as well as low SES.
722. KAZI, S.A., The Critical Study of Development of Urdu Curriculum at Secondary Education in Maharashtra, Ph.D. Edu., Nag. U., 1986
The major objectives of the investigation were (i) to critically study the Urdu curriculum of the secondary education in Maharashtra, (ii) to examine the textbooks, and (iii) to study the contents of the Urdu syllabus in terms of national integration, flexibility and societal needs.
The course for the whole of Maharashtra State was the same, but for convenience and approach, the area for the study was limited to the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. The sample comprised 300 teachers, 106 heads of schools and 140 experts (research guides, re- search officers, research scholars, heads of department of education, S.S.C. paper setters and moderators, members of editorial board of textbooks, and members of board of studies). Data were collected through opinionnaire, interview and observation, schedules.
The investigation resulted in the following conclusions: 1. The Urdu curriculum in Maharashtra remained unimpaired and stereo-typed until the year 1972, but afterwards the curriculum developed syste- matically. 2. Rationality of the Urdu curriculum was found to be highly significant. 3. Adequate and consistent evidence was available to say that the Urdu curriculum was of practical utility for the students in particular and society in general. 4. The Urdu curriculum was flexible as it could be changed for modified whenever needed as observed by teachers, heads of secondary schools and experts. 5. It was found that the Urdu curriculum was rich and adequate to meet the new demands. 6. It was found that the Urdu curriculum had enough variety for individual differences in terms of abilities, interests and needs. 7. There was a positive and significant relationship between the Urdu curriculum and national integration. 8. There was sufficient evidence to show that the Urdu curriculum was dominated by a system of examination to assess the achievements of pupils. 9. The Urdu curriculum was able to fulfil the aims of secondary education. 10. There was sufficient evidence to conclude that the Urdu curriculum was integrated at all levels-primary, secondary and university. 11. Adequate and consistent evidence was available that the place of Urdu in the secondary school curriculum was appropriate. 12. There was sufficient evidence to conclude that the Urdu curriculum had suitable textbooks for secondary, school classes. 13. There was a positive and significant relationship between the Urdu curriculum and general education provided by co-curricular activities at secondary level. 14. The Urdu curriculum was found to be significantly related to the variables of the personality of the students.
723. KHADILKAR, M.P., A Study of the Hindi Vocabulary of the Marathi Speaking Children Learning in Standards V and VI, Ph.D. Edu., Shi. U., 1986
The major objectives of the study were (i) to find out the basic recognition and reproduction vocabulary in Hindi of pupils reading in standards V and VI from Marathi medium schools, (ii) to prepare word lists of recognition and reproduction vocabulary for these standards on the basis of frequencies of their use, and (iii) to prepare clas-
RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION-ABSTRACTS 643
sified word lists based on etymology, parts of speech and kinds of words. The study was a normative survey of Hindi vocabulary of pupils of standards V and VI in the city of Sangli. In order to study the recognition vocabulary, multistage random samples of 601 pupils and 565 pupils of standards V and VI respectively, were taken. Out of 20 schools, 12 schools were selected on the basis of type (i.e. girls, boys, co-education), location and gradation of schools. One division of each standard from these schools was further selected and all the pupils in these divisions constituted the sample. For the study of reproduction vocabulary, four systematic samples of different sizes (Std. V:N1=275, N 2 = 60; Std. VI:N1=262, N2=60) were drawn from the 12 divisions. The tools used were a questionnaire dealing with personal information and impact of mass media on pupils' Hindi vo- cabulary, two word lists, one for each standard, prepared by the investigator after analysing Hindi textbooks of standards V and VI, Marathi textbooks of standards III and IV and the Hindi-Marathi common words dictionary, and a battery of 14 tests measuring written and oral reproduction vocabulary. The battery was developed by the investigator and consisted of tests like dictation test, test of controlled vocabulary, paragraph writing, listening to the radio, conversation, reading, etc. The data collected after administration of the tests were analysed using percentages and classified on the basis of etymology, kinds of words and parts of speech.
The major findings of the study were: 1. The vocabulary burden of standard V book was five, whereas of standard VI book it was eight. 2. The recognition vocabulary of basic words was 33 and 82 per cent of the expected vocabulary for standards V and VI respectively. 3. The recognition vocabulary of word forms was 39 and 78 per cent of the expected vocabulary, for standards V and VI respectively. 4. The fixation of words was found to be unrelated to their frequency of occurrence in the textbooks. 5. The number of nouns was the highest in the basic recognition and reproduction vocabulary, then came adjectives in the case of recognition vocabulary, and verbs in the case of reproduction vocabulary. 6. The percentage of the content words in recognition vocabulary was about 88 and 94 per cent for standards V and VI respectively. However, for the function words it was only 12 and 15 per cent. 7. The percentage of the content words in reproduction vocabulary was about 82 and 87 per cent for standards V and VI respectively. However, for the function words it was only 15 and 13 percent. 8. As the total vocabulary of the pupils increased, the percentage of the function words was found to decrease. 9. In the case of standard VI pupils the retention of standard V vocabulary was 74 per cent.
Some of the important educational implications of the study were: (i) Textbooks of Hindi as a second language should be based on a graded core vocabulary. (2) Textbooks should be supplemented by non- detailed Hindi texts. (3) Hindi textbooks of Standard V in Maharashtra should be prepared considering Hindi-Marathi common vocabulary. (4) Difficult words along with their word forms should be given at the end of each lesson in the textbook. (5) Function words should be in- troduced before the introduction of the content words while teaching the second language.
724. KHAN, I., Suitability of Teaching English through Correspondence Courses as Offered by Some Indian Universities at the First Degree Level, Ph.D. Eng., Utkal U., 1982
The objectives of the study were (i) to study the status of the teaching of English through correspondence in Indian universities with reference to lesson scripts, Students' response sheets, personal contact programmes, radio talks and the use of audio-visual aids, (ii) to study the perception of English teachers and students of corre- spondence institutes towards the teaching of English through correspondence, and (iii) to analyse the lesson scripts and students' response sheets in the subject of English at the undergraduate level.
The sample respondents of the study were 43 English teachers working in the-correspondence institutes of nine Indian universities and 100 undergraduate students of eight correspondence institutes. Besides, 46 printed lessons and 11 valued response sheets in English were selected for content analysis. The questionnaires, interview schedules, and content analysis guides were used for gathering evidence for the study. Data were collected through the mailing process as well as through personal visits to the sample institutions. They were analysed in descriptive form.
The findings of the study were: 1. The majority of the teachers of Correspondence Courses in English were young. 2. The English teaching programme through correspondence was found inadequate because of lack of teacher training, lack of provision of self-learning mate- rials for students, lack of facilities for spoken and listen-
644 RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION-ABSTRACTS
ing skills in the English language, lack of supplementation of audio- visual aids to printed materials, outdated syllabi, textbooks and examination system, lack of proper motivation of students, lack of appreciation of correspondence courses by the academicians including teachers of correspondence institutes. 3. All the teachers indicated a desire to be trained in the methods of distance teaching, 4. Their workload was too high for appropriate evaluation of response sheets. 5. The questions included in assignments did not have potential to test the originality of students. 6. The teachers encouraged students for self-learning through personal contact programmes. 7. The teachers were almost equally divided while expressing their views on the question whether the correspondence teaching system was better than face-to-face teaching. 8. Most of them agreed on the positive dimensions of correspondence courses in comparison to those of home study practices. 9. The majority of distant learners were teenagers, men and unemployed. 10. Most of the students (58 per cent) joined the correspondence courses because- of their desire for improvement of qualifications. 11. Around one fourth of them joined the correspondence courses because of the non-availability of admission in regular courses, and because of occupational involvement. 12. Almost all of them (98 per cent) were interested in learning the English language. 13. A large number of students complained about the lack of library study facilities, lack of adequate contacts between the tutors and students, and not getting proper instruction through lesson scripts. 14. However, 64 per cent of students appreciated the lessons on prose, poetry and non-detailed courses. 15. The majority of them (56 to 85 per cent) did not submit the assignments, and did not consider personal contact programmes as necessary elements of their studies. 16. As a whole, a large number of students were in favour of correspondence courses, while 34 per cent of them disliked the system. 17. The study came out with the suggestions for provision of training of distance education teachers, introduction of utilitarian courses, introduction of a new evaluation system, creation of autonomous institutions of correspondence courses, improvement of two-way communications between the institution and students, improvement of student support services, and reduction of fees from students.
725. KHARE, M., A Comparative Study of Traditional and Structural Approaches to Teaching of English with reference to Their Learning Outcomes, Ph.D. Edu., Gor. U., 1986
The study was conducted to compare the traditional and structural approaches to the teaching of English in terms of their learning outcomes. The specific objectives were (i) to test the general level of performance of junior high school students in various aspects of English, namely, spelling, comprehension, applied grammar and vocabu- lary, (ii) to make a comprehensive study of the average performance of students taught through the structural approach and the traditional approach, and (iii) to study the effect of cultural and economic background and intelligence on the performance of students in the above aspects of English.
The hypotheses were: (1) There is no difference between the average achievement of the students taught through the structural approach and those taught through the traditional approach. (2) Cultural and economic background of the students has no significant effect on their achievement measured by the tests on various aspects of English. (3) lntelligence does not influence performance of the students in the tests on various aspects of English.
Seven achievement tests (for seven different dimensions of English) and a cultural and economic background questionnaire were constructed by the investigator. R.K. Tandon's Samoohik Mansik Yogyata Parikshan (1970) was used to measure intelligence. The stratified random sampling method was used for the selection of students. In all 253 boys and 300 girls were included from four districts in U.P. The obtained data were analysed through the calcula- tion of mean, standard deviation, critical ratio and F-ratio.
The following conclusions were drawn: 1. Students' achievement under the structural approach was better than those under the traditional approach in-the areas of spelling, comprehension, composition, pronunciation, applied grammar, and vocabulary. In pronunciation, students' achievement under the traditional approach was found to be better than that under the structural approach. 2. Cultural and economic background was found to play a significant role in achievement in the areas of comprehension, composition and pronunciation. 3. Intelligence was found to be an important factor in achievement in all the seven areas of English. 4. The joint effect of intelligence and approach to teaching was significant in the area of pronunciation. The joint effect of cultural and economic background and approach to teaching was found to be significant in the areas of applied grammar and vocabulary.
726. KOUL, B.N., A Critical Study of the Fundamental Curricular Issues Relevant to the Teaching of English in India Leading to an Alternative Integrated ELT Curriculum, Ph.D. ELT, CIEFL, 1981
The aim of the investigation was to critically study the
RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION-ABSTRACTS 645
curricular considerations pertaining to English Language Teaching/Learning (ELT/L) relevant specifically to the Indian situation, and to suggest an alternative integrated English Language Teaching (ELT) curriculum. The author hypothesized that the crisis in ELT/L remained unresolved because the solutions presented so far had not taken cognizance of the curricular considerations (pertaining to ELT/L) relevant specifically to the Indian situation. This was divided into three constituent hypotheses that were further translated into three questions, viz., (i) Why is English, and should English be, taught and learnt effectively on a mass scale in India? (ii) What are the socio-cultural constraints that hinder ELT/L and reforms in ELT from being effective? (iii) What are the instructional constraints that hinder effective ELT/L in India?
Question (i) was tackled in great detail within the framework of the historical-political compulsions coupled with the socio-cultural tendencies that have played significant roles in introducing or ejecting, sustaining or assimilating, and fostering or diluting foreign languages in India. In answering question (ii) an attempt at understanding the constituents of ELT/L-the men and the institutions involved in it-was made. The sample for this empirical work comprised 122 parents, 72 pupils, and 18 teachers (of these pupils) from the States of Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Kashmir. The major tools used for gathering data were questionnaires and experiments. To answer question (iii) the components of ELT curriculum, namely the aims, the content, the learning-teaching activities and the evaluation, were minutely examined and the nature of the relationship that obtained currently among these components was assessed. The major findings pertaining to this question were that in actual fact there was nothing like a curriculum for ELT in India, for the curriculum components (at a particular level of instruction and also across the various levels) stood in a disjoint relationship with one another. This suggested that an ELT/L programme could not be successful if it was put into the framework of the general model of the syllabi currently in operation.
According to the author the 'educational-pedagogic' paradigm, for ELT which was in existence in India for over a century had given rise to isolated reforms in teaching materials, teaching methodology or techniques, or syllabi. This, he asserts, would not, in the present situation, prove to be anything more than a hotch-potch patchwork of purposeless repairs and would not be able to mitigate the crisis in ELT. He suggested a new paradigm which might be called a 'utilitarian-curricular' paradigm from which would emerge an overall unified curriculum for ELT-a curriculum in which the curriculum components stood conjoint relationship at each and every level and also across the various levels of instruction. A few methodological and implementational problems were visualized in order to make the suggested overall unified curriculum a success at the pragmatic level.
727. KUDESIA. U.C., An Experimental Comparison of Discussion Method and Lecture Method in Teaching Technical English to First Year Students of Polytechnics, TTTI Bhopal, 1987
The objectives of the study were (i) to find out if instruction through the discussion method was feasible in teaching Technical English to the first year students of the Polytechnics, and (ii) to compare the effectiveness of two methods of instruction, i.e. the lecture method and discussion method, in learning Technical English.
The study followed the experimental method of research. Following the experimental control group design, 15 students of the first year of S.V. Polytechnic, Bhopal were randomly assigned to the experimental group, whereas their 15 counterparts of the same class formed the control group. The experimental group was taught the se- lected units from the book 'A Course in Technical English (Book One)' by the discussion method, while the same units were taught to the control group through the lecture method. The treatment lasted for three weeks, utilizing one period daily. An achievement test consisting of 30 questions prepared on the basis of Bloom's Taxonomy was administered to the subjects of both the groups after the treatment. Descriptive statistics, t-test and product moment correlation were used to analyse the data.
The findings of the study showed significantly better results on the achievement test for the group which was taught through the discussion method over the group which was taught through the lecture method, which showed that the discussion method of teaching was significantly more effective in learning Technical English than the lecture method of teaching.
728. LAL, N., Effect of Print Size and Print Colour on the, Reading Efficiency of the Disadvantaged and Advantaged Junior High School Students, Ph.D. Edu., Kan. U., 1987
The objectives of the study were (i) to find out the effect of print size on reading efficiency (Hindi book print) of disadvantaged and advantaged students belonging to junior
646 RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION-ABSTRACTS
high school classes, (ii) to find out the effect of print colours on reading efficiency (Hindi book print) of disadvantaged and advantaged students belonging to junior high school classes, (iii) to find out the effect of interaction of print size and print colours on reading efficiency (Hindi book print) of disadvantaged and advantaged students belonging to junior high school classes, and (iv) to see the difference in reading efficiency between disadvantaged and advantaged students belonging to junior high school classes.
The sample consisted of 360 students belonging to classes VI, VII and VIII. Of these, there were 180 disadvantaged and 180 advantaged students. The sample was selected with the help of cluster sampling technique. A 3 X 2 X 2 factorial design was taken as a model for experimentation. The levels of print sizes were: 12 point, 14 point anti 16 point. The two print colours were black and white. The two types of students, disadvantaged and advantaged, were taken. Intelligence and SES were controlled by randomization. Intelligence was measured with the help of the Intelligence Test developed by M.C. Joshi. The Socio-economic Index developed by R.P. Verma and P.C. Saxena was used for measuring SES. The data were analysed with the help of analysis of variance and correlation.
The findings were: 1. The reading efficiency in terms of errors committed was not influenced by print size, print colours and students belonging to disadvantaged/ advantaged categories, when classes VI, VII and VIII were treated as a composite single unit. 2. The interac- tion effects of print size, print colour and disadvantaged/ advantaged category of subjects in their permutation combinations except for print colour and disadvantaged/advantaged category did not prove ef- fective in reducing the error scores. 3. White print colour was found effective with the advantaged class of students and black with the disadvantaged class of students. 4. Print colours and interactions of print size and print colours, print colours and disadvantaged/ advantaged category of students, print size in combination with print colours and students belonging to disadvantaged/advantaged category did not affect the time scores of the subjects. 5. Print size was found an effective variable in reading efficiency. The 14 point size was comparatively more effective as the material composed in this print size took less time than others. The advantaged students as compared to the disadvantaged took less time. 6. Print size and disadvantaged/ advantaged category affected the time score on reading efficiency measure significantly- The disadvantaged did well with 12 point print size whereas the advantaged students distinctly favoured the 14 point print size. 7. The interaction of print size, print colours and class, and of print size, types of students and class did not influence the error scores as well as time scores of the subjects. On the other hand, interaction of print colours, types of students and class, and of print size, print colours, types of students and class did influence significantly the error scores of students but not the time scores of students.
729. MADHAVA, V. KURUP, A Lexical, Morphemic and Content Analysis of Malayalam Readers for Standards I-V in Kerala, Ph.D. Edu., Ker. U., 1984
The objectives of the study were (i) to study the textbooks critically with particular reference to lessons, exercises, illustrations, ancillary materials, quality of teacher preparation and physical aspects, (ii) to analyse the content and the weightage allotted to different components of the content, viz. ideational and linguistic contents with particular sub-categories, (ill) to find out the relative weightage given to different instructional objectives reflected in lessons and exercises of textbooks, (iv) to compare the variety and weightage allotted to different components of the. textbooks of standards I-IV, (v) to obtain opinions, creative criticisms and suggestions from experienced teachers and experts, and (vi) to suggest criteria for the preparation of textbooks in Malayalam for future use.
The tools and techniques used were analysis of textbooks, survey of opinions of teachers, interview and questionnaire.
The main conclusions were: 1. The nouns had been introduced in the textbooks gradually with grading for difficulty. Over- Sanskritization was seen in all textbooks. Most of the nouns familiar to pupils had been introduced. The vocabulary of the pupils widened through the use of nouns as the nouns introduced covered different aspects of life in Kerala. Some of the technical words used could cause difficulty for rural pupils. 2. Different types of verbs had been introduced in the textbooks and they were graded for difficulty. Lack of repetition of verbs was a difficulty. The number of compound verbs was very large. The cooperative verbs used were familiar. The auxiliary verbs used increased the communicative ability of children. 3. The use of pronouns was not satisfactory as the number and variety of
RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION-ABSTRACTS 647
pronouns was very large. 4. The use of demonstrations was satisfactory. 5. In the use of numerals, ordinals and cardinals above ten could also be introduced. 6. Words denoting limitations, magnitude, extent, etc. had been introduced well. The use of conditionals, connectives, interrogatives, exclamatories was adequate. The use of honorifics and symbolic words was satisfactory. The use of morphemes was also satisfactory. 7. Examples of different moods occurred in textbook of Standard I itself. The different types of sentences were introduced gradually. 8. Proverbs and quotable quotes were introduced from Standard I. 9. The use of grammar was adequate. 10. A variety of themes were dealt with. Psychological needs of children were taken into consideration. Important values had been incorporated. National goals of secularism, productivity and modernity had been reflected in the textbooks. The different forms of presentation had been incorporated in the four Readers with Standard IV Reader having one-act plays and biographies. 11. The exercises were adequate. Lists of vocabulary had been included. Illustrations were relevant and appropriate. The physical aspects of the books were not satisfactory.
730. MISRA, SHUBHRA, An Analysis of Errors Made by a Group of Undergraduate Students of Madhya Pradesh and its Pedagogical Implications-An Applied Linguistic Study, Ph.D. Ling., DHSGVV, 1985 The major objective of the study was to make an error analysis of major errors committed by first year students in written English and to suggest remedial measures.
The sample of the study consisted of 225 randomly selected undergraduate students studying in different disciplines, i.e. arts, science and commerce, of three universities of Madhya Pradesh, namely, Sagar University, Indore University and Bhopal University. Following the 'Walk in test on' method, these students were asked to write an essay in English on any one of the six topics, namely, Science and humanity, An Indian Festival, Joys of Boyhood, Democracy in India, Students and Discipline, and My Favourite Book. The first 200 words of these essay compositions were taken for the purpose of analysis. Percentages were computed to analyse the data. Errors in this study were first assigned to the levels of language description, i.e. errors of orthographics, errors of morphology, syntax, lexis, etc. They were further classified within each level in terms of systems, i.e. vowel or consonant system, tense, number, verb, etc. To ensure that the analysis covered all areas of language learning (excluding phonology) categories and sub-categories were established with reference to the rules of grammar or usage violated. Percentages and frequencies were computed to analyse the data.
The findings of the study were: 1. The major errors committed by the subjects were spellings (16.50 per cent), lexis (10.56 per cent), verb form and pattern (7.27 per cent), auxiliary (6.72 per cent), tense (5.66 per cent), preposition (9.78 per cent), adjective and adverb (2.97 per cent), number (6.8 per cent), pronoun (4.47 per cent), generative suffix (2.41 per cent), articles (7.37 per cent), omission of major constituents (3.19 per cent), syntax (4.40 per cent), subject-verb agreement (4.62 per cent), connectives (2.95 per cent), and miscellaneous (3.34 per cent). 2. Hierarchy of errors based on frequency of recurrence was: (i) Verb phrase, (ii) spelling, (iii) lexis, (iv) preposition, (v) articles, (vi) number, (vii) subject-verb agreement, (viii) pronoun, (ix) syntax, (x) miscellaneous errors, (xi) omission of major constituents, (xii) adjectives and verbs, (xiii) connectives and (xiv) generative suffix. 3. Remedial measures suggested to improve written English were: (i) The language exercises should be designed in a framework which encourages the use of standard forms, (ii) repetition drillings and monotonous manipulation of linguistic forms should be avoided, (iii) the grammatical features should occur naturally and appropriately in the text and they should not be decontextualized and commented upon in isolation, (iv) the exercises should have the flavour of novelty and innovation, (v) all language activity should be above the sentence level relating the complete pieces of discourse, and (vi) the emphasis in the materials should be on the creative use L2 for the purpose of live communication.
*731. MOHAMMED, T.K., A Diagnostic Study of Errors in the Written English of Pre-Degree Students, Ph.D. Edu., Calicut U., 1986
The objectives of the study were (i) to identify the major errors in the written English of pre-degree students, (ii) to classify the errors into major functional and grammatical areas, (iii) to study the relative proportion of errors with a view to classifying and arranging them into the major areas in the order of their importance, (iv) to determine the source or cause of the errors identified,
648 RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION-ABSTRACTS
and (v) to suggest corrective measures and remedial programmes.
Data required for the study were collected using the Diagnostic Test of Basic Language Skills which was developed by the investigator, Intelligence Test and General Data Sheet. Besides these tools, teachers and experts in the field of teaching English were interviewed and consulted. A sample of 700 subjects was selected from the- population of the second year pre-degree students (+2 stage) of the colleges affiliated to the University of Calicut. Proportionate stratified random cluster sampling technique was used to ensure greater representation of various categories of the total population. The whole sample was divided into 29 subgroups on the basis of 12 variables which were hypothesized to influence the proportion of errors. Hence, the subjects were divided into three categories, high, low and average, on the basis of the scores of achievement, socio- economic status, and domestic facilities for learning English by using statistical techniques. The three categories of discrepant achievers (over, normal and under) were also identified using the regression equation method.
The major findings were: 1. The total sample committed errors in 17 grammatical areas. They were (i) tenses (82.28 per cent), (ii) prepositions (81 per cent), (ill) noun and relative clauses (79.14 per cent), (iv) passive voice (69.28 per cent), (v) auxiliary verbs (62.85 per cent), (vi) concord (57.42 per cent), (vii) auxiliaries in interrogatives (51.14 per cent), (viii) adverbials (48.57 per cent), (ix) adverbial clauses (48.28 per cent), (x) spelling (46.42 per cent) (xi) quantifiers (46.28 per cent), (xii) punctuation (46.14 percent), (xiii) adjectives (43.28 per cent), (xiv) verb patterns (42.28 per cent), (xv) articles (41.42 per cent), (xvi) conditional clauses (39.28 per cent), and (xvii) pronouns (25.71 per cent). 2. Significant differences between the following subgroups taken in pairs were found to exist in the mean scores of errors in all the grammatical areas taken together: (i) High SES and average SES, (ii) good and average colleges, (iii) high achievers and average achievers, (iv) high achievers and low achievers, (v) English medium and Malayalam medium, (vi) first grade and second grade colleges, (vii) good and poor colleges, (viii) non-science and science, (ix) high SES and low SES, (x) government and private colleges, (xi) over-achievers and normal achievers, (xii) high facility and low facility, (xiii) co- educational and women's colleges, (xiv) over-achievers and under- achievers, (xv) rural and urban colleges, (xvi) high facility and average facility, (xvii) average facility and low facility, (xviii) average achievers and low achievers, (xix) boys and girls, and (xx) average and poor colleges. 3. Twenty-two out of 29 subgroups taken in pairs were found to have significant differences in the percentages of the incidence of errors in different grammatical areas. 4. Significant differences in the mean scores of errors existed between each of the 21 pairs of the subgroups in some grammatical areas. 5. It was found that there existed negative correlation between errors and achievement in English (r= -0.49), errors and intelligence(r= -0.45), errors and socio-economic status (r= -0.33), and errors and domestic facilities for learning English (r = -0.15).
732. NAIR, SUKUMARAN, B., Acquisition of Mother Tongue in Different Social Groups (Malayalam), Ph.D. Ling., Ker. U., 1980
The major objectives of the study were (i) to understand the socio- linguistic aspects of language acquisition, (ii) to isolate phonological variables to understand their apparent correlation with social factors, (iii) to attempt to generalize the speech behaviour of children sharing common social backgrounds, (iv) to find out the rela- tionship between linguistic variables and extralinguistic factors such as age, caste, class and degree of socialization, and (v) to determine the extent of acquisition and development of vocabulary items, the deviant use of phonological elements, present tense suffixes and the sentence construction categories.
The sample for the study consisted of 84 children belonging to seven caste groups and residing permanently at Vanchiyoor, one of the suburban areas of Trivandrum. A linguistic questionnaire was prepared and administered to the sample to collect data pertaining to the chief areas of phonological elements including consonant clusters, sentence patterns, present tense suffixes and vocabulary. A list of 2000 lexicon was administered to the children to collect the range of their comprehension of vocabulary items.
The major findings were: 1. The speech of children belonging to the Nambudiri community was considerably differentiated from other caste groups. For most of the phonological variables, consonant cluster simplification and present tense suffixes, the score of children of the Nambudiri community showed the lowest percentage of stigmatized forms. The highest score of vocabulary of understanding and use were also obtained by those children. 2. Since the castes lacked a definite pattern for all the linguistic features analysed, it was not
RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION-ABSTRACTS 649
possible to establish a well defined hierarchy of castes among children. 3. Consistent differences in the linguistic behaviour of children of different social classes were observed. The children of the upper middle class manifested stronger tendencies of correct acquisition of linguistic features than their lower class counterparts. 4. The children with high degree socialization were very much likely to use more standard forms. The socializing environment accelerated the pace of linguistic development. 5. The difference in age reflected significant variations in the acquisition of language in the present study. The 2-4 age group had the highest frequency rate of variable phonological segments. The 8-10 age group had the lowest frequency rates and the 5-7 age group had intermediate frequencies. Nature articulation of speech sounds increased with the advancement of age.
733. NIRMALA, C., First Language (Telugu) Development in Children, A Short Descriptive Study, Ph.D. Ling., Osm. U., 1981
The objective of the study was to describe the first language acquisition and development in Telugu children. Apart from this, the study was conducted to find answers to the questions: (i) What is acquired by the child at different stages through different processes? (ii) What are the hierarchies in the language acquisitional process of different categories? (iii) What are the language developments during a six-month period?
In the present study, longitudinal and cross-sectional methods of studying language acquisition were employed. Four children in the age range 1.6 years to three years were chosen at different ages to represent different stages in the language acquisitional process. The sample included three girls and one boy. These children had similar social and family environment. The speech and interaction talk of these children was tape-recorded and analysed for six months consecutively. The analysis was done with respect to phonology and free conversation, negatives and free conversation, locatives and free conversation and only free conversation.
The findings of the study were: 1. Data of the study did not support consonantal acquisition hierarchy among children. 2. In mastering the consonants and consonant clusters, children actively used three major phonological processes-deletion, substitution and as- similation. 3. In noun inflection, number distinction was acquired before the distinction of case. 4. None of the children of the study had mastered the use of casemarker. 5. Children acquired the past tense first followed by the non past. These were followed by durative and hortative aspects. 6. Agreement suffixes of verbs emerged relatively later than the other inflectional categories like plural, case and tense. 7. In terms of over extension, lexical development of both nouns and verbs also was used by the children. 8. Acquisition of extended verb meanings by children created laughter as the verbs were used in the literal sense without knowing the metaphorical meaning. 9. The data of the study supported the contrastive hypotheses as plausible explanation of separating lexical items belonging to the same semantic field.
734. PATEL, B.N., An Investigation into the Readability Levels of Different Writing Styles of the Passages and the Reading Ability of Pupils Studying in Different Grades as Predictors of Cloze Scores, Ph.D. Edu., SPU, 1983
The objectives of the study were (i) to select the appropriate reading passages to be used in grades VII and IX, (ii) to determine the writing style of the passages selected on a judgemental basis, (iii) to assess the readability of the selected passages by using Aukerman's formula, (iv) to select reading passages from different writing styles having uniform readability levels, (v) to rewrite the selected passages into 'easy' and 'difficult' versions, (vi) to prepare Cloze Tests of the passages having different writing styles at three readability levels, (vii) to administer the Cloze Tests to good and poor readers of grades VII and IX, (viii) to test the effect of four independent factors-writing style, readability levels, grades, reading ability-and their interactions separately in relation to Cloze Scores, (ix) to assess the functional relationship between the writing styles of the passages and the Cloze Scores of the pupils, and (x) to assess the functional relationship between the readability levels of the reading passages and the scores of the pupils on the Cloze Tests.
The reading ability. test standardized by Satish B. Jain for pupils of Class VII and the reading ability test by Trivedi and Patel for pupils of classes VIII, IX and X were used. Besides these, Cloze Tests were prepared on the paragraphs selected by keeping in view the writing styles, namely, narrative, descriptive and expository. The reliability of the tests used for collecting data were 0.94 and 0.91 and 0.89 and 0.71. respectively. Initially
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the data were collected from 1580 pupils of classes VII and IX In all, 790 students from each grade were selected as the sample. The passages of different levels of readability--easy, average and difficult, were written and 2 X 2 X 3 X 3 factorial design was used. Analysis of variance was used for testing the significance of the difference between means.
The major findings were: 1. Writing style was one of the important predictors of the pupil's Cloze scores. Narrative style was comprehended more freely than the expository style. In fact, expository style was the toughest of all the three styles. Good readers did better across the writing styles. 2. Among the different levels of readability, 'easy' level was most suited to both the categories of the readers. Between easy and average difficulty there was no significant mean difference. 3. The grade of the pupils was one of the important predictors of pupils' Cloze scores. Grade IX pupils were found to be better in comprehending the reading material than grade VII pupils. 4. Reading ability turned out to be the most powerful and dominant predictor of the Cloze score. Reading ability even surpassed the other two important predictors of grade and writing style. 5. Out of seven predictors of Cloze score, three turned out to be of an interactive nature. These were readability levels X grade X reading ability accounting for 9.36 per cent of variance, readability levels X reading ability accounting for 5.26 per cent of variance, and writing style X reading ability accounting for 3.51 per cent of variance in the structure of Cloze scores.
The educational implications are: (i) The reading ability and the grade of the pupils should be taken into account while editing the reading materials for the textbooks, (ii) The writing style of the reading materials should be selected in such a manner as would result in greater comprehension on the part of the pupils. In the lower grade, narrative style is most preferred while in the upper grade, expository style is recommended. (iii) The reading materials of the textbook should be commensurate with the reading ability of the pupils. A single textbook in a subject in any grade would prevent its comprehension by poor readers. More than one textbook in the subject should be prepared at different levels of readability.
735. PATEL, L.P., Impact of Reading Improvement Programme in Gujarati on Reading Comprehension of Pupils of Class VII in the Context of Some Psycho-socio Variables, Ph.D. Edu., SPU, 1985
The objectives of the study were (i) to prepare a reading improvement programme in Gujarati for pupils of class VII, (ii) to study the impact of the reading improvement programme (RIP) on reading comprehension of pupils coming from different SES groups and with dif- ferent mental ability and (iii) to study the impact of the reading. improvement programme on reading speed of pupils coming from different SES and different mental ability groups.
The equivalent group technique was adopted for studying the impact of the reading improvement programme on reading comprehension and speed of reading. The groups were equated on the basis of scores made by pupils on the reading comprehension test in Gujarati having reliability 0.85 by the test-retest method and 0.87 by the split-half method. The test had a good concurrent and concept validity. The experiment was carried out on 247 students of Six experimental schools and 264 students of six control schools. Analysis of covariance was used for comparing the means. Analysis of variance was used for studying the impact of the reading improvement programme on reading comprehension in the context of SES and I.Q. The reading improvement programme had exercises on letter perception, word perception, vocabulary, sentence comprehension and paragraph comprehension.
The major findings were: 1. The mean difference of the reading comprehension scores of students of the experimental and control groups was highly significant and it was in favour of the experimental group. There was an increase of 32.19 percent in reading comprehen- sion scores of pupils of the experimental group as a result of RIP. Similarly, the mean difference of reading speed of students of both the groups was significant and it was in favour of the experimental group. The gain in reading speed was 23.90 per cent in students of the experimental group. 2. The reading improvement programme was found to be effective in the case of students with high I.Q. as well as low I.Q. 3. The reading improvement programme was also found to be effective in the case of students coming from high SES as well as low SES. 4. The improvement in reading comprehension depended upon the reading ability and reading improvement programme because the interaction between two levels of reading ability and the reading improvement programme was significant. 5. The reading improvement programme was also effective for increasing the speed of reading of students with high I.Q. as well as low I.Q. Similarly, it also proved to be effective for increasing the speed of reading of students coming from high SES as well as low SES. 6. The reading improve-
RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION-ABSTRACTS 651 ment programme was also effective for increasing the reading speed of students with high as well as low reading speed.
736. PATEL, M.M., Developing and Trying out the Scheme of Improving the Expression of Thought in Mother Tongue for Std. VIII, Ph.D. Edu., SPU, 1981
The objectives of the study were (i) to study the position of teaching techniques of written expression, references and the technique of evaluating them, (ii) to make clear the two concepts, namely, correction of written expression and improvement of written expression, (iii) to prepare a scheme for improving expression of thought in written expression and train teachers in the same, (iv) to develop a scheme for improving thought in written expression and (v) to study the attitudes of the students towards the improvement scheme.
In order to study the present position of teaching techniques of written expression in the mother tongue, the survey method was adopted using a questionnaire which sought information on qualifications of teachers, their experience, number of written exercises, their type, planning, techniques of teaching, evaluating and follow-up work. The questionnaire was sent to III secondary schools of Gujarat out of which only 50 schools responded. Interview was also planned with a view to removing the discrepancies in incomplete questionnaires. The responses were analysed and expressed in terms of percentage. In the second phase, a scheme for improving expression of thought in written expression was evolved. Teachers of eight experimental schools were acquainted with this scheme and the scheme was tried out on pupils of class VIII. In the final stage, the experiment was carried out in one school on 95 students of class VIII divided into two groups equated on the basis of I.Q. and the examination results of class VII. For comparing the means, t-test was used and chisquare test was used to examine the hypothesis.
The major findings were: 1. The existing position of planning and teaching techniques of written expression was not commendable. The teachers were eager to have some new techniques of improving written expression. 2. The existing scheme of improvement of written ex- pression was meant only for the correction of errors and not for improvement. 3. The workload of Gujarati language teachers was proportionately more than that of other subject teachers. 4. In very few schools did the written expression aim at developing creative writing. 5. The teachers had no scheme for developing original thought in written expression. 6. The new scheme of improving thought in written expression was found to be effective. 7. The attitude of students was found to be positive towards the new scheme of improvement of thought in written expression.
The educational implications are: (1) The teacher should create an atmosphere for, developing creative writing in the mother-tongue instead of asking the students to copy from books. For this he should employ group discussion, group activities, etc., to develop free expression of thought among students. (2) The written work should be correlated with some practical work and therefore students should be given practical experience. (3) The written work involving imagination may be given to pupils gradually as they go from one standard to the next higher standard. (4) Instead of mechanically looking at the errors in written expression, the teacher should also look at the expression of thought and its improvement.
737. PATIL, D.K., The English Language Achievement of Shivaji University Arts Graduates, Ph.D. Eng., Shi. U., 1985
The main objectives of the study were (i) to evolve a comprehensive language testing design based on different theories of language, (ii) to construct a battery of test measuring overall ability of the Shivaji University students, (iii) to critically study the syllabus and textbooks in compulsory English prescribed for arts students and the scheme of examination, and (iv) to evaluate as precisely as possible the English language achievement of Shivaji University arts graduates.
The investigator first thoroughly reviewed the four existing models of language, viz. traditional model, structural model, transformative generative model and communicative competency model. He also critically analysed the compulsory English textbooks prescribed for the B.A. Course. On the basis of this he evolved a comprehensive language testing design and also an achievement test to measure overall language ability of the arts graduates. The test included (a) items of vocabulary that occurred in the compulsory English textbooks, (b) items of associative recognition vocabulary, (c) items on translation of contextualized words, (d) multiple choice test items and (e) cloze test procedure items. The test had four parallel forms called A, B, C
652 RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION-ABSTRACTS
and D and all the four forms were highly intercorrelated. Although 1098 students passed the B.A. Examination in 1981, the test was administered only to those students who continued their postgraduate studies at six post-graduate study centres. The sample included 300 students i.e. 15 per cent of the total population. One of the four forms was used at each centre. The variables such as sex, urban/rural background, location of college, mother-tongue and subject of specialization, were taken into consideration at the time of testing the significance of differences between their mean achievement scores.
Some of the major findings of the study were: 1. Only the first year arts course of Shivaji University was found to be well laid providing for teaching of vocabulary, comprehension, practice and dictionary words. The syllabi of the other years were found to be literatureoriented. 2. The Shivaji University graduates could hardly achieve 50 per cent of the expected English language proficiency. 3. The average vocabulary of the arts graduates was about 2800 words which was about 50 per cent of the expected vocabulary. 4. There was no significant difference between the performance of male and female students; nor between the students whose mother-tongue was Marathi and languages other than Marathi. 5. The urban group was superior to the rural group on English language achievement.
The pedagogical implications of the study were (1) The syllabus of the three-year degree course needs to be specified in greater detail and in linguistic terms. (2) A proportionate emphasis should be given in the examination in textual as well as non-textual questions.
738. PILLAI, S.S., A Study of English Needs of Polytechnic Students, Ph.D. Edu., SGU, 1984
The objectives of the study were (i) to identify the various uses of the English language by technicians on-the-job in industry, (ii) to analyse the engineering textbooks representing the several subjects taught in each of the three conventional branches of civil, electrical and mechanical engineering in terms of 13 communication categories, (iii) to identify the language skills required for learning in polytechnics, (iv) to correlate the ranks of the language categories identified by job analysis, text analysis and questionnaire method, and (v) to list the needs of polytechnic students in their use of English for studies and for their future career.
All the students in the final semester of civil, mechanical and electrical engineering, all the teachers of the rank of associate lecturers and lecturers who taught the three branches, and all the teachers of English in all the five polytechnics in Madras city constituted the population for the administration of the questionnaire. Three textbooks which had all the subjects taught in each branch and written by Indian authors were selected for analysis. As many as 169 technicians in the three branches were interviewed for job analysis. The basic tool used was Smith and Meux Categories of Communication. This was adapted to the text analysis and also used in the construction of the other two tools for job analysis and the questionnaire. Percentage scores were used for comparing the data.
The major findings were: 1. The ranking of priority of the four needs was Language skills, Communication skills, Communication categories, Language elements. 2. The language skills depended on the situations in which the user put the language to actual use in achiev- ing his objectives. Vocabulary acquisition and writing mechanism provided the base for the receptive and the productive skills respectively. The use of English for speaking and reading was very limited compared to that for writing and listening. 3. Under communication skills, polytechnic. students' interest in professional development and perception of on-the-job requirements were reflected. 4. The communication categories had to be understood as well as expressed by polytechnic Students and technicians. Here again, the institutional priorities and industrial needs were different. There was an expressed desire to practise these categories by making use of language skills. 5. Discrete elements of language were listed under the lowest priority. 6. Job analysis and questionnaire laid its first preference on designating and text analysis on stating. However, the consolidated ranking was on designating.
The study implied that the teaching methods should be reorganized with reference to the identified needs. The students' assignments, extra-learning materials and self-study packages should be geared to cater for the expressed needs.
*739. PRATAP, D.G., The Contrastive Study of Grammatical Structures of English and Marathi, Ph.D. Edu., Poona U., 1985
The objectives of the study were (i) to analyse the grammatical structures of English and group them under suitable heads, (ii) to locate similarities between gram-
RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION-ABSTRACTS 653
matical structures of English and the corresponding structures in Marathi, (iii) to find out dissimilarities between the grammatical structures of English and the equivalent structures of Marathi, (iv) to discover grammatical structures which were peculiar to the English language only, (v) to suggest curricular programmes in English grammar for Marathi medium secondary schools and to suggest guidelines for the preparation of grammar books for students, (vi) to suggest the method- ology of teaching English grammar at the school level, (vii) to determine the difficulty level of grammatical structures in English, (viii) to ascertain the views and feelings of secondary school teachers and eminent workers regarding the teaching of English grammar in secondary schools, and (ix) to suggest a curricular programme in English grammar for pre-service and inservice training of teachers.
The study was a library study. Grammatical structures of English as listed in the prescribed syllabi for standards V to X were picked up for study. There were 275 of such structures. A random sample of secondary school teachers teaching English to standards V to X in Marathi medium secondary schools in Ahmednagar district was selected. In all 200 teachers were selected. In addition, 15 eminent persons working in the field of education were selected for interviews. The researcher collected the structures, classified them and analysed them in the light of the opinions of teachers and eminent persons. To elicit their opinion a questionnaire was circulated to teachers and eminent persons.
Some of the important findings were: 1. One word sentences were possible both in English an Marathi. However, they were intelligible only in connection with a particular situation. 2. Word-order was a most important syntactic feature of English. 3. Word-order was identical in English and Marathi for certain patterns. 4. In the declarative sentence the verb followed a subject in English and other items such as object, complement, extension, etc. followed the verb. 5. Subject-complement concord of number was observed in both the languages when the complement was a noun. 6. The indirect object was always in the dative case in Marathi. 7. English sentences with two objects, direct and indirect, could have two alternative forms. In Marathi, alternative forms could be translated in a single way. 8. The object-complement followed the object in both the languages. 9. The process of transforming affirmative sentences into negative ones differed in the two languages. 10. Questioning in Marathi was a simple matter as compared to English. 11. The indicative, imperative sentence began with 'do not' in English; in Marathi the corresponding indicative word could be used. 12. Some exclamatory sentences had verbs while others could be without verbs in both the languages. 13. In English, the adjective clause followed the antecedent; in Marathi it could be away from the antecedent. 14. The object and complement clauses in English could be used without the conjunction; in Marathi the conjunction had to be used. 15. If two coordinating clauses had a common subject, it was usually expressed in the former clause and dropped from the latter in both the languages. 16. Indirect speech- was a novel feature of English; Marathi did not make any distinction between direct and indirect speech.
740. RABBANI, SYED GULAM, Psycho-Linguistic Problems of the Oriya Speakers in Learning English, Ph.D. Ling., RSU, 1984
The objectives of the study were (i) to make a contrastive analysis of English and Oriya with a view to finding similarities and differences between these two languages, and to locate potential areas of difficulty of the Oriya learners in learning English, (ii) to make an error analysis of English of the Oriya speaking pupils studying in Oriya medium schools as well as those in English medium schools, (iii) to evaluate the attitude towards English of the Oriya pupils in Orissa, and (iv) to study the level of parental involvement and home environment of Oriya pupils in the learning of English.
The sample of the study consisted of 300 pupils of grade X studying in six higher secondary schools of Sambalpur town (for studying attitude towards English), 150 parents of the Oriya speaking pupils of grade X of Sambalpur town (for studying parental involve- ment), 50 Oriya speaking pupils of grade X of Oriya medium schools and 50 non-Oriya pupils (for error analysis), 40 teachers of English in six higher secondary schools of Sambalpur town (to collect data on teaching-learning process of English), and six headmasters of the sample schools. The relevant data were collected by employing the Attitude Towards English Scale originally developed by Brown and Holtzman and adapted in Oriya by Bhupinder Singh, two separate questionnaires containing items for students and parents to know their involvement in English, and a general questionnaire pertaining to various problems of the teaching-learning process in the classroom. Along with these, a running passage containing 50 simple deceptive words was used
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for orthographical error analysis. Documentary evidence and participatory observation techniques were also employed for collecting various types of data on the teaching and learning of English. Data were analysed by computing the frequency, percentages, mean, t-values and chi-square test.
The findings of the study were: 1. There existed a significantly unfavourable attitude towards English among Oriya pupils. 2. Girls were found to have a relatively more favourable attitude towards English than boys. 3. Pupils were found to have great involvement in the learning of English as second language under all normal conditions, whereas, under fear-generating conditions, they showed lack of involvement in the learning of English. 4. Parental involvement in the learning of English was found significant in most of the situations; however, the students did not get a stimulating English-speaking environment either at home or at school. 5. Oriya speaking pupils were found to have difficulty with long vowels and central vowels. They were found not to put correct stress on the words as English speakers did and their intonation pattern was found to be more like French than like English. 6. Oriya speakers were found to have difficulty with the use of inflexional affixes like the use of plural number, genitive case and the third person singular verb in the present tense. They were found to make inconsistent use of deprivational suffixes like 'tion' and 'ssion', 'un' and 'dis', or 'hood' and 'ness'. Further, in cases where Oriya had one word but English had more than one word, Oriya speakers found it difficult to choose the right lexical item, i.e. say/speak/tell. Similarly, they had syntactical problems and problems in using right prepositions. 7. Many orthographical errors like the use of 'bus' and 'boss', syn- tactical errors and importation errors were also found to be common in case of OrIya speaking pupils studying English as a second language.
741. RAINA, S.N., Teaching of Kashmiri to Hindi Speakers, Ph.D. Ling., Kur. U., 1986
The objectives of the inquiry were (i) to study the errors committed by the learners of the Kashmiri language whose first language was Hindi, and (ii) to analyse the errors by learners of Kashmiri that arose because of interference of the first language and ignorance about the, second language.
The study was based on ten years' experience of the investigator, who collected errors of learners of Kashmiri. The learners were students having Hindi as their mother-tongue and who were studying Kashmiri as their second language at the North Regional Language Centre, Patiala. These students were from ten different sessions of the language centre. The data consisted of both the written as well as the spoken language. While analysing the errors committed by the learners in Kashmiri, the learners were individually asked what they intended by the particular utterance. Later these analyses were carried out at the phonological level, morphological level, syntactic level, vocabulary level and script level.
The findings of the study were : (1) There was one group of consonants in Hindi, namely, aspirated stops, which was absent in Kashmiri. This shift from aspirated stops to unaspirated stops was true with Hindi loaned vocables when a Hindi speaker spoke Kashmiri with Hindi loaned vocables and brought in his mothertongue pronunciation. (2) There was a group of dissimilar sounds, that is, dental affricates and the alveolar fricative in Kashmiri, which were difficult for the Hindi speakers to pick up. The Hindi learners tended to replace these sounds by their palatal counterparts. (3) The Hindi speakers did not feel much difficulty in pelletization in the initial and medical positions. The reason was that Hindi clusters formed of a consonant and the semivowel were pronounced in the same way as the pelletized consonants of Kashmiri. (4) Learning the two term number system of Kashmiri was not problematic for the Hindi speakers as the number systems were identical in both the languages. (5) While learning the gender system of the Kashmiri language, the Hindi speaker came across a number of similarities. But problems arose when the noun in Kashmiri was masculine and in Hindi feminine, the noun in Kashmiri was feminine and in Hindi masculine, in Kashmiri there was two-way gender distinction and in Hindi it was only one way, the noun with the same meaning in Kashmiri and Hindi had different genders in the respective languages. (6) While learning the use of case makers in Kashmiri, the Hindi speakers came across such problems as quantum of modification, suffix which operated as dative as well as genitive, and complex system of genitive makers. While making use of genitive makers in Kashmiri, a Hindi speaker had to keep in mind whether the subject was animate or inanimate, masculine or feminine, singular or plural. (7) While learning the usage of personal pronouns in Kashmiri the Hindi speaker was confined to personal pronouns of the third person masculine singular and feminine singular only. (8) When the Hindi
RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION-ABSTRACTS 655
speaker learnt Kashmiri interrogative pronouns, he got interfered by his mother-tongue during the use of different forms of interrogative pronouns. (9) The main problem before the Hindi speaker while learning the use of relative pronouns in Kashmiri, was the proper selection of the relative pronouns keeping in mind the number and gender of the noun which followed it. (10) At the time of learning the use of possessive pronouns in Kashmiri, the Hindi speaker did not face many problems except in the situation where he had to use the feminine form. (11) In Kashmiri reflexive possessive pronouns, the learner faced the problem of proper selection between the two separate forms for feminine singular and feminine plural. (12) While learning the use of adjectives in Kashmiri the Hindi speaker faced the problems that arose from the inflection of adjectives, and those which arose from the adjectives that were inflected in one language and not in the other. (13) The Hindi speaker committed errors like substitution of the forms of the second person singular and second person plural by the form of the first and third person in simple past. (14) The structures which had similar word order did not pose any problem for the learners, whereas the structures which had partially similar and dissimilar word order created a number of problems for the learners and they committed errors. (15) Learners did not feel any problem in the situation where the progressive tense of Kashmiri operated just like the indefinite and continuous tenses in Hindi. But the learner got confused where simple future was used in Kashmiri for continuous tense in Hindi, perfect tense was used in Kashmiri for continuous tense in Hindi, simple past was used in Kashmiri for continuous tense in Hindi. (16) While learning the usage of modal verbs, the learners generally confused them at the semantic level and thus committed semantic errors. (17) While learning the pronominallzed structure in the Kashmiri language the Hindi speaker committed types of errors like using the pronominal suffix as well as the pronoun in the structure, replacing one pronominal suffix by another confusing the number and gender of the object and replacing one pronominal suffix by another confusing the person of the subject. (18) The learners transferred the meaning, forms and distribution of the vocabulary from one language to the other. But during this process when they came across two sets of lexical items which were not parallel, they faced problems of different types. These were-vocables that were similar in form but different in meaning and distribution or both, vocables which were different in form but similar in meaning and distribution, vocables that were similar in meaning but different in form and distribution, vocables which represented new meanings in the other language and cul- ture. (19) The usual hand movement in writing the letters of the mother tongue with Hindi speakers was from left to right. But the hand movement in writing the letters of Kashmiri was from right to left. This posed a lot of problems for the learners who tried hand movements from left tonight while writing Kashmiri. (20) When the Kashmiri letters are conjoined to each other, these are connected in their different positions in different words. But the learners sometimes conjoined them in a particular way, which gave the words a totally different meaning. (21) After the introduction of the Kashmiri alphabet which included original letters as well as reflexive letters, the learners got confused in selecting the proper letter from the homophone sets of letters. (22) While teaching the use of dental bilabial and velar words in writing, it took a lot of time for the teacher to make the learner habituated to write such words.
The study has its implications for the language teachers who should make use of proper teaching material, language laboratory and tests so as to minimize the errors at different levels, viz. phonological, morphological, syntactic, vocabulary and script.
742. RAO, SRINIVASA, R., Nature and Incidence of Reading Disability among School Children, SVU 1986, (NCERT financed)
The objectives of the study were (i) to examine and analyse the reading disability cases, (ii) to identify the reading disability cases in a typical school population, (iii) to examine whether rural/urban differences existed in reading disability of school children, (iv) to examine sex differences in reading disability of children, (v) to examine relationship between language deficiency and reading disability in school children, and (vi) to identify the factors operating in specific cases of reading disorders.
The study had been organized to be carried out in three phases (i) general diagnosis; (ii) analytical diagnosis; and (iii) case study analysis. In the first phase of the study, a general diagnosis was made to identify disabled readers and borderline cases by administering a standardized reading achievement test, Raven's Progressive Matrices Test, and a test of achievement in mathematics suitable to the standards of the students. The formula suggested by Monroe and others was used to identify
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the disabled readers and borderline cases. The sample size for the first phase of the study was 600 students. In the second phase of the study, the children identified as disabled readers and also borderline cases constituted the sample for detailed investigation. The size of the sample for this second phase of the study was 100. A reading diagnostic test was administered to the sample of students to examine the language deficiency of the child. The diagnostic test-battery consisted of nine subtests, namely, word meaning in isolation, word meaning in context, identification of phonemes, identification of correct vowel-consonant sound, identification of correct beginning and ending forms, word synthesis, identification of certain correct grammatical forms and paragraph comprehension. The test was standardized with the population of Andhra Pradesh. The validity and reliability of the test were established statistically. Five cases were selected from the 100 disabled readers for the third phase of the investigation in which a detailed case study method was followed to identify the contributing factors of the reading disability.
The major findings were: 1. Reading disability was found in about 20 per cent of students in the primary schools. 2. Sex differences were not significant with regard to reading disability. 3. Students in rural areas were significantly backward when compared to the students in urban areas in reading skills. 4. The reading disability was closely related to language deficiency in school children. 5. The disabled readers were found to be very poor in the sub-skills of language development, namely, word meanings in isolation and context, and word synthesis; in some grammatical aspects of the language; and in paragraph comprehension. 6. Besides the language deficiency poor socio-cultural background of the family, poor study habits and lack of motivation for reading were found to be the causal factors of reading disability. 7. Low reading achievement was found not to be the evidence of low reading potential, and the reading deficiency of children in several cases could be improved by remedial teaching and constant practice.
743. ROY CHHANDA, The Preparation of College and University Teachers of English in India: A Socio-philosophical Treatise, Ph.D. ELT, CIEFL, 1985
The purposes of this study were (i) to enquire into the practice of preparation of teachers of English in two typical institutions, and (ii) to identify factors that influenced its effective operation.
The study focused on preparing teachers of English at the college and university levels. Two institutions from where the data were collected, were Patna University and the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages. In Patna University, there was no formal teacher training programme for college/university level English teachers, but the potential teachers of English would naturally come from those who had offered English (Honours) at the B.A. level and also from those who had offered English at the M.A. level. In the CIEFL, college/university teachers who had joined the diploma course in English Language Teaching as an inservice training programme were studied. The research methods used were the case study and participant observation. In addition, interview technique was also used. The research was executed in two phases-exploratory and explanatory. The exploratory phase comprised a pilot investigation through which an idea of the major issues and realities pertaining to the system of teacher preparation in a few select universities of India was obtained. The second phase, the explanatory phase, consisted of two case studies-the English teacher preparation in Patna University and the teacher preparation programme of CIEFL.
Some of the major findings were: 1. ELT (English Language Teaching) curriculum reform was found to depend on teachers and their teaching to a large extent. The curriculum reform called for new skills and competences on the part of teachers of English. 2. Research in teacher preparation and theory building for the same attracted relatively few scholars. Only micro problems in ELT had been studied. 3. There were structural flaws in the English teacher preparation programmes of Patna University and CIEFL. In the context of Patna University, these flaws hindered setting up of the goals of learning and their achievement while in the context of CIEFL, they led to the system of dysfunctionality. 4. There was a communication gap between experts on the one hand and students on the other in both the institu- tions. 5. The syllabi for the English courses in Patna University were merely itemized lists containing names of prescribed anthologies, authors and texts. No objectives were stated. Teaching and learning was guided by examinations. 6. Lecturing was the favoured mode of teaching. There were, however, variations in. the lecturing styles. At the cognitive level, teachers favoured a teaching style which would secure students' involvement in the learning process. The students, however, preferred 'notes' dictated by teachers. 7. There was no obligatory requirement for college teachers of English to
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have a training qualification in ELT. This acted as a barrier to the programme of professionalization of teachers of English. 8. The students of Patna University gave precedence to executive jobs and not to the job of a teacher. Lecturership ranked third on the scale of preference. Only 7.5 per cent of the 200 students studied aspired to be lecturers of English. English lecturership was not a coveted occupation of students studying at the B.A. (English Honours) and M.A. (English) classes of Patna University. 9. At the M.A. level the students who preferred the English lecturership had a mean achievement of 47.33 per cent in the examination which was much below the U.G.C. requirement of 55 per cent marks as the criterion for eligibility. 1 0. The factors that attracted students of Patna University to teaching were job security, prestige of the profession, freedom from harassment, better marital prospects and interest in English and/or teaching. 11. A large majority of English teachers had decided on the teaching profession after completing their university studies. 12. A majority of English teachers displayed a high degree of commitment to the occupation of teaching. About 20 per cent admitted to have drifted into the profession. 13. About half the number of English teachers were satisfied with their job. 14. The teachers of English of Patna University were evenly divided on the issue of formal profes- sional training for English teachers. 15. About 12 per cent of the teachers believed rigidly that no professional preparation beyond the M.A. was necessary, whereas another group of 12 per cent considered such training as necessary. 16. In CIEFL, the diploma programmes at- tracted highly motivated scholar-teachers. Most of them were interested in furthering their own studies and/or research interests. Relatively few among the trainees looked on CIEFL training as a means of career mobility. 17. A large majority of students in Patna Uni- versity admitted to have taken up English as the subject of study just because members of their family had studied the subject before them. 18. The CIEFL teacher training programme was found to have a largely conventional base. Its programmes lacked innovativeness. The programmes were considered dysfunctional by CIEFL teachers.
744. SALI, P.H., A Diagnostic Study of the Difficulties of Pupils in the Learning of Arabic in the Secondary Schools of Kerala, Ph.D. Edu., Ker, U., 1984
The objectives of the study were (i) to identify the difficulties experienced by pupils in learning different aspects of the Arabic language, and (ii) to obtain opinions of teachers on causes of the difficulties.
The sample for the study comprised 515 pupils for administration of a diagnostic test, 600 pupils for administration of questionnaires and 100 teachers. The techniques applied were linguistic analysis, textbook analysis, observation and interviews. A questionnaire and a diagnostic test were also prepared and administered.
The conclusions were: 1. The areas of difficulty for pupils were different types of conjugation, word order, paraphrasing, prepositions, adjectives, objects, pronouns, verbs, auxiliaries, numerals, application of numerals, reconstruction of sentences, translation, and expression. 2. The areas of moderate difficulty were participles and comprehension. 3. The areas which were easy for pupils were identification of subjects, correction of sentences, interrogatives, plurals, nouns, adverbs, genders, and tense. 4. The areas where the majority of pupils made mistakes were substitution, addition, omission, disjunction, conjunctives and product errors. 5. Pupils had a positive attitude towards Arabic. 6. The teachers were of the opinion that the periods allotted for the teaching of Arabic were not sufficient, the textbooks prescribed and the evaluation procedure adopted were satisfactory, the aids which could be used were not made use of, and only a few teachers adopted modern teaching techniques. 7. Special emphasis was laid on the attainment of different skills by teachers.
The implications for education were: (1) In-service education for teachers was essential. (2) Modem methods of teaching had to be applied in the teaching of Arabic. (3) Emphasis had to be laid on spoken Arabic.
745. SARASAMMA, S., Studies on the Basic Vocabulary in Hindi for Eighth Standard Non-Hindi Speaking Students of Karnataka, D.Ed., Mys. U., 1984
The objectives of this study were (i) to find out the basic Hindi vocabulary (compulsory language) of children of standard VIII, (ii) to find out how the words introduced in the textbooks of standards VI and VII were understood by VIII standard children, (iii) to find out the suitability (in terms of the difficulty value) of the content words which were used for textbook writing, and (IV) to collect different words, from various sources, used by teachers and children in the classroom, The following
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hypotheses were formulated by the investigator: (1) There is no significant difference between the performance of boys and girls; students in government and private schools; students belonging to urban, semi-urban and rural areas; students of different districts. (2) There is no significant difference between the performance of English and Kannada medium students.
Stratified sampling technique was used in this study. The sample consisted of 1250 boys and 1250 girls studying in standard VIII which was chosen from 500 selected schools. Data were collected by administering five different checklists to the students and care was taken to avoid copying. An hour's time was given to students to answer each checklist. These lists were administered only during leisure hours and children were asked to proceed word by word, think and answer. The data thus collected were analysed with the help of t- test and one-way ANOVA. Difficulty values of 2500 words were also calculated.
The major findings were: 1. Boys and girls exhibited the same standard in performance, but the performance of girls seemed to be slightly better than that of boys though it was not significant. 2. Though there was no significant difference between the performance of English and Kannada medium students, English medium students appeared to be slightly better and more consistent in performance than Kannada medium students. 3. There was no significant difference between the students of government and private schools. 4. There was no significant difference in the performance of students coming from rural, urban and semi-urban areas; the performance of semi-urban students seemed to be slightly better than that of urban and rural students. 5. A significant difference existed in the performance of children of different districts.
746. SARASWATHI, V., Towards a Communicative Course Design in EOP: A Study in Applied Linguistics, Ph.D. Linguistics & Phonetics, CIEFL, 1982
The study explored the nature of communicative competence in relation to learning a language for specific purposes; and on that basis, suggested guidelines for designing a course in English for Official Purposes (EOP) for undergraduates in Tamil Nadu, India.
In the first part of the thesis, theoretical perspectives in applied linguistics-both linguistic and pedagogical-are examined. In the second part, learner needs are established through a practical investigation. The specific questions answered in this part are: (1) What are the shared conventions of EOP in Tamil Nadu? (2) What are the expectations of the official community in Tamil Nadu regarding EOP? (3) What is the level of our potential learners' communicative compe- tence in EOP? In order to answer question (i), 30 business letters, 15 each, chosen randomly from a set of letters written by business people in their day-to-day lives and from those written by third year degree students as part of a test designed for the study, were revised into better versions-- and the changes introduced were analysed and evaluated. In order to answer question (2), a questionnaire was administered to 125 business people at different levels of the official hierarchy. The areas covered by the questionnaire were a personal profile of the informants, the place of English at the work place, the need for a course in EOP and the nature of the English used for official purposes. Question (3) was answered through the administration of a diagnostic test in written communication in EOP to 60 final year B.A./ B.Sc students and 40 final year B.Com students of Madras University.
The third part of the study presents the final outcomes of the theoretical discussions in the first part and the practical investigations in the second. A definition of EOP is attempted. The designing of a new course in EOP is justified on the basis of a critical examination of the currently available materials on EOP. The design of the proposed course is outlined.
*747. SHARMA, A.K., Aspects of English Language Teaching in India, D. Lit. Eng., Bhagalpur U., 1985
The main object of the study was to unravel the multidimensional problems, sociolinguistic implications, technical requirements and situational needs of English language teaching (ELT) in India.
The study was kept within the confines of theoretical and practical aspects of the process of ELT. Various aspects, viz. language learning and language teaching, the case for English in India, the objectives of teaching English as a foreign language and second/third language, teaching language learning skills, methods and techniques, curriculum planning and course design, ideas and resources for English language teaching, linguistics and English language teaching in India, teaching English phonology, morphology and structures, evalua-
RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION-ABSTRACTS 658
tion, and remedial teaching in English were critically studied and discussed.
Some of the major conclusions were: 1. The prospective principles and methodology of second language teaching have undergone a drastic change over the last few decades. 2. The existing system of teaching of English in India right from the grassroots level to the university stage was defective. 3. Traditional methods and conservative cases of English language teaching in India were incommensurate to the language needs of learners. 4. Instead of becoming realistic, need-based and oriented, the system of English language teaching in India had always tended towards idealism, elitism and status quo and had became more of a hindrance than a help in bringing about an equalitarian transformation in the country. 5. With regard to each separate teaching situation-rural, semi-urban, urban, and cosmopolitan, the need to provide for a syllabus and materials suited exclusively to each situation had been ignored. 6. There were a number of anomalies. It was necessary that teachers of English in India rose to the occasion and had a share in evolving a systematic, empirical and pragmatic approach to English language teaching, which was possible if they familiarized themselves with cognitive processes in learners, linguistic requirements of the nation and the international mainstream, of teaching of English as a second language. 7. Teachers of English in India had to develop an elective theory. In teaching English as a second language the emphasis needed to be on the linguistic aspect rather than on the cultural one.
748. SHARMA, C., A Study of Language Development in Children, Ph.D. Psy., Osm. U., 1982
The objectives of the inquiry were (i) to study language development with reference to specific features of language in children in the age range 2_ to 4 years, (ii) to examine the mother's language as addressed to the child, and (iii) to find out the possible relationship between the mother's language and the child's language.
The sample of the study consisted of 40 Telugu speaking mother- child dyads. The children were in the age group 2_ years to 4 years and were attending nursery schools. The mothers were between the age of 25 years and 32 years with educational qualifications varying between pre-university and graduation. The data collection involved observing each mother-child dyad in their home. The speech samples of children were analysed in terms of (i) total number of words which was indicative of volume of language, (ii) total number of different words indicative of child's vocabulary, (iii) number of one-word, two-word, three-word sentences indicative of sentence structure, (iv) elicited and spontaneous responses, (v) mean length of sentence indicative of measure of maturity, (vi) maximum length of sentence as a measure of maximal capacity in sentence formation, (vii) types of sentences divided into interrogative and non-interrogative. In case of the mother's speech, the following features were examined: total number of words, number of different words, mean length of sentences, maximum length of sentences, sentences as interrogative and non-interrogative.
The findings of the study were: 1. There was a significant increase in the total number of words spoken from 2_ years to 4 years. 2. In terms of vocabulary of children there was a significant increase from 2_ years to 4 years. 3. In the language of children across all four age levels, there was a predominance of one-word sentences. The highest percentage of sentences were of the one-word type, followed by two-word sentences at all age levels. 4. There was a higher percentage of interrogatives in the conversation of 3_ year-olds with their mothers when compared to children of 2_ years, three years and four years. 5. No noticeable difference was observed in the percentage of non-interrogative sentences of children across the four age levels. 6. While interacting with mothers, children at an age levels responded more often when stimulated. 7. Children across all age levels were found to use very short sentences having a range of length from 1.51 to 1.76 morphemes. 8. The amount of speech addressed by the mothers increased as the age of the children increased, particularly when the increase in age was by 12 months. 9. The length of the sentences of mothers increased as the age of the children increased. 10. In terms of long sentences, mothers while talking to children used sentences ranging from 3.9 to 5.23 words per sentence. 11. The mothers' interaction with their children was mainly through interrogatives. 12. There was a positive relationship between the amount of language used by the mother and the amount of language used by the child. 13. A mother's negative feedback had a high relationship with the poor vocabulary of a child.
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*749. SHARMA, I.S., A Study in the Comprehensibility of Language Used in Science, Social Science and Language Textbooks at Primary Level, NCERT, 1985 (ERIC financed)
The major objectives of the study were (i) to compare the vocabulary of the textbooks with the vocabulary used by the children in their spoken and written language, (ii) to compare the vocabulary of urban and rural children, (iii) to compare the different types of sentences used by urban and rural children in their spoken and written language, (iv) to compare the comprehensibility of language used in the textbooks of science, social sciences and Hindi between urban and rural children, and (v) to study the inter-relationship of the comprehensibility of language used in science, social studies and Hindi textbooks.
For selecting the sample, the purposive sampling procedure was followed. Sixteen children of Class III were selected from four urban and four rural schools of Jaipur district for collecting the written and spoken vocabulary. Tests on the comprehensibility of language of different subject textbooks were administered on a sample of 500 children of grade III in 20 primary schools from urban and rural areas of Jaipur district. The textbooks studied were those of grade III developed by the Rajasthan Textbooks Corporation.
The major findings were: 1. The language used in the three types of textbooks was not in tune with the language used by children of urban and rural areas. 2. In the social studies textbooks, there was need to use more verbs to satisfy the linguistic need of children. 3. All textbooks indicated consistency in using adverbs. 4. A large number of adjectives were used in the three types of textbooks and in the spontaneous language of the rural and urban children. 5. The percentage of complex sentences in science and social studies textbooks was very low. 6. Both rural and urban children used a larger number of simple sentences in their spoken and written language which were not consistent with the use of simple sentences in the Hindi textbooks. A similar situation existed in the case of social studies and science textbooks. 7. Close consistency was observed between the use of the number of words in compound and complex sentences in textbooks and the spoken and written language of the children. 8. There was inconsistency of Hindi textbooks with the other two types of textbooks in the use of vocabulary. 9. Several nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs which were used in the textbooks and in the spoken and written language of urban and rural children were unique in character. They were either used only in the textbooks or used by urban/rural children alone. 10. A significant difference was observed in the use of sentences between the spoken and written lan- guage of the children. The difference was also significant in the use of sentences in textbooks and by children in their spoken and written language. The difference was significant in the number of sentences used by rural and urban children in their spoken and written language. 11. No significant difference was observed in the comprehensibility of language scores on science textbooks between urban and rural children. 12. A significant difference in the comprehensibility of language used in the science, social studies and Hindi textbooks was observed in rural and urban schools.
750. SHARMA, O.P., An Experimental Comparison of Effectiveness of Individual and Group Correction of Written Work in English in Classes VII and IX, Ph.D. Edu., Kur. U., 1982
The objectives of the study were (i) to study the effectiveness of the individual correction method of written work in English in classes VII and IX, (ii) to study the effectiveness of the group correction method of written work in English in classes VII and IX, and (iii) to make a comparative study of the effectiveness of these two methods of correction.
The study was conducted on a sample of 567 students of class VII and 500 students of class IX of four government high and higher secondary schools of two districts of Haryana state. The students of each class were taught 12 lessons of English. For teaching work the students of each class in a school were combined. At the end of each lesson, written work in the form of a home-task was assigned. Before teaching the next lesson the correction of written work was done. For correction work two matched groups of each class in each school were set apart on the basis of equal means and standard deviation of their previous annual examination scores in the subject of English. The written work of the students of one group was treated with the individual correction method and of the other group it was treated with the group correction method. The same process was applied to all subsequent lessons. Later on the correction treatments were rotated among the groups in such a way that both methods of correction were applied to both groups. At the end of the teaching and correction process an achievement test was administered to each class. The
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achievement tests were standardized and their reliability was 0.92 and 0.97 for classes VII and IX respectively. The students' scores, whose written work was treated through the individual correction method was compared with the scores of students whose written work was treated through the group correction method, with the help of t-test.
The findings of the study were: 1. There was no significant difference between the mean performance of students of grade VII on getting their written work in English corrected through the individual or group correction method. 2. There was no significant difference between the mean performance of students of grade IX on getting their wrtten work in English corrected by the individual correction method or group correction method.
751. SHARMA, R.K., A Study of the Problems of Teaching English in Bihar, Ph.D. Eng., Bhagalpur U., 1986
The main aim of the research was to study the position of English in India and the problems of its teaching/ learning in the schools and colleges of Bihar.
Relevant information was collected all over Bihar from various sources. Questionnaires were prepared and used for heads of institutions, teachers of English and students of schools and colleges of Bihar. A larger number of schools and colleges in Bihar were visited. Interviews and discussions were held. Problems of teaching English in schools, colleges and universities, training colleges, problems of teaching English pronunciation and socio-political problems of teaching English in Bihar were critically studied.
Some of the major conclusions were: 1. During the past three decades there had been a gradual lowering of the standards of English due to various reasons like socio-political problems of teaching English. 2. Efficient teaching of English was lacking. There was a shortage of trained and qualified teachers. Traditional methods and conservative bases of teaching were incommensurate with language needs of learners. 3. Misconceptions regarding English language teaching, faculty teaching methods, unpalatable textbooks and their mishandling, etc. were the main problems at middle and high schools. 4. In colleges, faulty teaching methods, improper selection of teaching items, etc. were the main problems. Teaching of English in colleges was mistaken as teaching of English literature only, and points of linguistic interest were generally ignored. 5. In training colleges the programme appeared to be theoretical only. Even trained teachers remained ignorant about the effectiveness and limitations of teaching aids. 6. Students faced difficulty in picking up correct pronunciation of English. Sounds of already acquired languages mainly interfered with their pronunciation of English. 7. There was confusion about the alms and objectives of teaching English at various stages.
752. SHELAT, M.H., Impact of Reading Improvement Programme in Gujarati on Reading Comprehension of Pupils of Class VI of Varying Intelligence and Coming from Different SES, Ph.D. Edu., SPU, 1984
The objectives of the study were (i) to prepare a reliable and valid tool to measure reading comprehension in Gujarati for pupils of class VI, (11) to prepare a reading improvement programme (RIP) in Gujarati for pupils of class VI, (iii) to study the impact of the reading im- provement programme on reading comprehension of pupils, (iv) to study the impact of the reading improvement programme on reading achievement in the context of SES, and (v) to study the impact of the reading improvement programme in relation to intelligence.
In order to study the impact of the reading improvement programme, the reading comprehension test in Gujarati for pupils of class VI was constructed and standardized to measure the following components of reading comprehension-ability to give the meaning of the word, ability to give the meaning of the phrase, ability to understand and follow the written instruction, ability to answer questions based on significant details, and ability to give the sequence of events or ideas. The usual method of construction and standardization of a test was followed. There were six sub-tests and the time required to administer the test was 53 minutes. The reading improvement programme included the exercises on word perception, word recognition, vocabulary, word and phrase meaning, sentence comprehension and story and paragraph comprehension. The reliability indices of the test as found out by the split-half method and K.R. Formula-21 were 0.89 and 0.91 respectively. The concurrent and concept validity of the test were es-
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tablished. The concurrent validity by correlating the score on the test with teachers' opinion was found to be +0.75.
The equivalent group technique of experimentation was used with analysis of covariance techniques to compare the mean performance. Secondly, 2X2 factorial design was contemplated to study the impact of RIP in the context of SES and intelligence.
The major findings were: 1. The experimental group showed a better performance on the reading comprehension test after taking RIP than the control group. 2. The programme was found to be effective for improving reading comprehension of pupils of class VI. 3. The pupils of the experimental group also showed better improvement in the speed of reading than pupils of the control group. 4. The main effect of I.Q. on reading comprehension was significant and that too in favour of the high I.Q. group. Thus, it was concluded that the reading improvement programme was effective and could be used to improve reading comprehension of pupils with high as well as low I.Q. 5. The programme was effective and could be used to improve the reading com- prehension in Gujarati of pupils coming from high as well as low SES.
753. SHIVAPURI, V., An Investigation into Pupil's Comprehension of English, Ph.D. Edu., BHU, 1982
The objectives of the study were (i) to find out how the background factors of intelligence, socioeconomic status, level of aspiration, and personality traits affected reading comprehension of English passages in class XI students, and (ii) to find out sex differences in reading comprehension. A sample of 200 boys and 200 girls studying in class XI of schools in Varanasi city was selected. Data regarding socio-economic status, intelligence, level of aspiration and personality were collected using appropriate standardized tools available. For English comprehension a test standardized by S. Chatterjee and M. Mukerjee consisting of two parts, one having items for putting sentences in proper sequence and the other having passages for paragraph comprehension, was used. In analysing the data, personality test scores (only four broad groups), intelligence test scores, and SES scores were made independent variables and English comprehension scores the dependent variable. After analysing the relationship between comprehension scores with each of these independent variables, r's and partial r's between each one of the independent variable scores and comprehension scores were calculated. Finally, multiple R for relationships between all the independent variables and comprehension was worked out. Regression equations were arrived at for determining the contribution made by each of the independent variables. All these analyses were done for two sex groups separately.
The findings of the study were: 1. There was no difference in comprehension scores for the two sexes. 2. Socio-economic status affected the comprehension scores only in the case of girls, the upper class girls scoring higher than the lower class groups. 3. When correlation coefficients were observed it was found that in the case of boys only the correlation of comprehension scores with intelligence was significant, whereas in the case of girls, it was significant in the case of SES, intelligence as well as level of aspiration. 4. The study of partial r's revealed close relationship between comprehension scores on the one hand and SES, intellegence, level of aspiration on the other hand.. 5. The relationship with personality factors was significant only for girls. 6. Both in the case of boys and girls, the maximum contribution to comprehension scores was that of intelligence. 7. In the case of girls, level of aspiration was the next most important factor accounting for comprehension scores. 8. The effect of personality factors varied for the two sexes.
754. SIERT, (Rajasthan), A Study of the Interest of the Students of Class VIII in Poetry, 1966
The study aimed at (i) finding out the interest of the students in poems prescribed in class VIII from the point of view of content, language and style, (ii) finding out the interest of students of Hadoti and Marwari areas in poems in their regional languages, and (iii) suggesting the selection of poems in keeping with the interest of the students for the textbooks of class VIII.
Five hundred students of 17 schools in seven districts of Rajasthan were covered by the study. Survey method was used. The questionnaire for students included points like content, language and style.
The major findings were: 1. The students were interested in inspiring poems on great personalities, motherland, patriotism, nationalism, acts of bravery, etc. Their interest in themes like hunger, famine, pain and cases of fire was much less. 2. From the point of view of Ian-
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guage they liked poems in their regional language and those which could be sung. They showed a liking for short couplets without rhyme, but not for other poems that had no rhyme. 3. Poems with musical qualities broadcast on the radio fascinated them. 4. They enjoyed reading poems published in magazines and more so those in books. 5. About 55 per cent of them participated in competitions in schools in which one had to recite lines beginning with the last letter of the last word of the lines given by a member of the rival team. 6. Girls showed a greater interest in these competitions and so also in poets' meets and in writing poetry. 7. Urban children were more interested in poems broadcast on the radio whereas those in rural areas liked listening to peotry in the classroom or in their literary meetings.
755. SINGH, M., A Critical Evaluation of Nationalized English Textbooks for Classes VI to X of Haryana, Ph.D. Edu., Kur. U., 1984
The objectives of the study were (i) to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of nationalized textbooks in English prescribed for classes VI to X in schools of Haryana, (ii) to analyse the English Readers in terms of two evaluation criteria, namely academic aspects and physical aspects, (iii) to analyse the English Supplementary Reader prescribed for classes IX and X in terms of two evaluative criteria, namely academic aspects and physical aspects, (iv) to analyse the English Poetry book prescribed for higher classes in terms of criteria of aca- demic aspects and physical aspects, and (v) to suggest some general improvements in the textbooks.
A stratified random sampling procedure was followed. Schools were selected from each district of Haryana state. From each school, six teachers teaching English textbooks to students of classes VI, VII, VIII and IX were taken up. In this way the total sample include 480 teachers. An equal number of students was also taken up from each district, and their total number was also 480. The selected teachers and students were administered a set of three questionnaires which were framed and used for three types of English textbooks prescribed in the schools, that is, English Reader, Supplementary Reader and Poetry book. The opinion of teachers was collected on a five-point rating scale from 'Strongly Agree' to 'Strongly Disagree'. The students' opinions were collected on a three-point rating scale varying from 'Yes', 'Do not know' and 'No'. The information from both teachers and students was collected on three aspects of textbooks, viz., academic aspect, physical aspect and general aspect. The academic aspect had items concerning subject matter, type of informa- tion, material related to life of the students, etc. The physical aspect was related to items like size of the book, quality of paper used for the book, binding, etc. The general aspect included items linked with difficulty of lessons, liking about the lessons, etc. The data so collected were analysed with the help of percentages and chi- square.
The findings of the study were: 1. The English Reader meant for class VI met the criteria by and large. Some drawbacks were traceable here and there, e.g. lack of humorous material, and some lessons being difficult for learners. 2. The textbook prescribed for class VII had drawbacks like that of having less pictures and less illustrations. 3. The English Reader for class VII had drawbacks like insufficient number of pictures and illustrations. Some lessons were quite difficult for the students. 4. The English Reader for class IX had drawbacks like insufficient number of pictures and illustrations, mis- printed words, difficult language. 5. A textbook of English prose-a supplementary reader prescribed for high school classes also had drawbacks. These were less humorous material, difficult language, less pictures and illustrations, and some difficult lessons for learners. 6. The poetry book prescribed for higher classes in schools of Haryana also had drawbacks like having difficult and lengthy poems. 7. The suggestions received from students and teachers about improvement in the textbooks were concerned with dropping of difficult lessons, adding of humorous material, introduction of simple and easy material, addition of some pictures, decreasing the number of lessons and having an attractive lay-out of the books.
756. SINGH, S., A Factorial Study of Appreciation of Hindi Poetry, Ph.D. Edu., Agra U., 1984
The objectives of the study were (i) to develop a Poetry-Appreciation- Differential to serve as a tool to be used for measuring the intensity of appreciation and identifying the factor structures of appreciation for Hindi poetry, (ii) to make a comparative study of the hierarchy of RASAS and poetic concepts in the appreciation of old and new Hindi poetry by graduate boys and girls, (iii) to make a comparative study of the hierarchy of RASAS and scales in the appreciation of old and new Hindi poetry by graduate boys and girls, (iv) to study factor struc-
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tures underlying the scales of Poetry-Appreciation-Differential with regard to overall appreciation of old and new Hindi poetry, and (v) to compare the factor structures emerging in the appreciation in case of boys and girls.
The semantic differential technique was used in this study. The sample was selected from cross section of the population of graduate boys and girls of Hindi literature. It comprised 100 boys and 100 girls.
The following were the findings: 1. So far as the appreciation of old poetry was concerned, the results obtained indicated that the boys did not react to old poetry in terms of the RASAS and other poetic- concepts like BIMBS, PRATEEKS, and DHARANAS; their appreciation was more holistic than atomistic. The graduate boys were enticed toward old poetry not because of RASAS overflow or because of the depiction of vivid BIMBS, PRATEEKS or DHARANAS, but because of something else. The difference obtained in the relative attractiveness of the RASAS or poetic-concepts were significant for new poetry. It signified the fact that in appreciating new poetry the graduate boys displayed a distinct hierarchy of relative attractiveness of different RASAS corresponding to the BIMBS, PRATEEKS and DHARANAS. With a meagre susceptible difference in the appreciation of BIMBS by boys the hierarchy of appreciation of PRATEEKS and DHARANAS had been found identical. 2. Graduate girls did appreciate old poetry but without regard to its RASAS or the poetic concepts specified along with the poetry. Girls were quite sensitive about all the nine RASAS and appreciated new poetry with considered regard to the flavour of the RASAS while poetic-concepts were altogether ignored. The RASAS framed themselves into clusters in the appreciation of girls; whereas some of the RASAS were appreciated alike, the others differently. The girls highlighted some RASAS more than others. Likewise, they used some adjective qualifiers exorbitantly and some others reluctantly. In the appreciation of the qualifiers, the girls were 'Evaluative' in the first instance, 'Appetizer' in the second and showed 'Potency' in the third. The two scales 'SHANT' and RAGATMAK were occasionally used by the girls in the appreciation of new poetry.
757. SINGH, V.D., A Study of the Linguistic and Communicative Abilities of High School Teachers of English in Relation to Their Classroom Functions, Ph.D. ELT, CIEFL, 1984
The study investigated the linguistic and communicative abilities of high school teachers of English in relation to their classroom functions. The research questions addressed were: (1) Is speaking ability of the subjects adequate for teaching ESL (English as Second Language) at the secondary and higher secondary levels of school education? (2) Is the subjects' writing ability adequate? (3a) Do the subjects possess grammatical and stylistic competence to identify and correct errors in student writing? (3b) What is the subjects' norm and concept of correctness? (4) Do the subjects possess syntactic control and fluency to be able to put ideas into complex sentences economically and effectively, where necessary? (5) Is there a significant difference between the subjects' speaking ability and their writing ability?
The sample consisted of 60 trained graduate teachers (TGTs) and post-graduate teachers (PGTs) teaching high school classes in 15 Central Schools located in the states of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, and the Union Territory of Delhi. To find answers to the five ques- tions, four test measures were developed. For the Test of Speaking Ability (TSA), samples of classroom teaching were audiorecorded. For the Test of Writing Ability (TWA), the subjects had to write a model composition for high school pupils. In the Test of Sensitivity to Pupil-Errors (TSE), the subjects had to identify and correct in a protocol errors relating to grammar, usage, idiom, and style, and in the Test of Sentence Complexity (TSC) they had to combine sets of short sentences to produce complex sentences. All the four tests were related to an ESL teacher's classroom functions. In addition, a questionnaire was used to elicit views and information. The research entailed both quantitative and qualitative methods.
The findings of the study were: 1. The speaking ability of three- fourths of the subjects was adequate though it was deficient in accuracy. 2. The writing ability of most of the subjects was not adequate. 3a. The subjects possessed grammatical competence to correct pupil errors, but not stylistic competence to the same extent. 3b. In error-correction, they applied the norms of sentence-level accuracy and were oblivious to discourse and contextual constraints. Errors for them meant grammatical errors not errors of idiom and style. 4. The subjects generally possessed adequate syntactic control and fluency. 5. There was a significant difference between the sub- jects' speaking ability and their writing ability. Their speaking ability was better than their writing ability. 6. The performance of the MAs in English (N=39) was consistently superior to the performance of the non-MAs in English (N =21). 7. The performance of the sub-
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jects varied from measure to measure. 8. The responses to the questionnaire revealed, among other things, that most of the subjects favoured a normal teaching of grammar, and they insisted that their pupils always spoke and wrote grammatically correct English. Most of them felt that the practice and experience of teaching had improved their own English.
758. SKANTHAKUMARI, S.K., Development of Strategies for Improvement of Reading Skills in English at Middle School Level, Ph.D. Edu., Madras U., 1987
The main objectives of the study were (i) to identify the tasks involved in reading and comprehension, (ii) to develop strategies which would help students perform the tasks involved in reading and comprehension, (iii) to develop the skill of reading and comprehension through these strategies, and (iv) to find out the effectiveness of the strategy by an experiment.
A survey-cum-experimental design was adopted for the study. A stratified random sample of 937 students of both sexes, drown from 11 schools from both urban and rural areas was used for the survey to determine the level of reading and comprehension ability. The sample for the experimental study consisted of 58 top ranking and 56 low ranking students in the reading and comprehension test. The tools used for the study were Mental Ability Test, Part I, (NCERT), Kuppuswamy's Socio Economic Status Scale, Achievement Test in English and Reading and Comprehension Tests (I to VII) constructed by the investigator, based on Barrett's taxonomy (literal comprehension, reorganization, inferential comprehension, evaluation and appreciation). One of the important strategies used for the development of reading skills was 'easification', others being scheme presentation, intermittent comprehension, use of short form and motivating through puppet show and dramatization. In addition, the investigator prepared a textbook of reading material for the 12 lessons conducted during the experiment and a teacher's handbook for the same.
The major findings of the study were: 1. There was a significantly higher reading ability score for boys, students with English as the medium of instruction, and students from urban areas. 2. The intervention strategy helped to improve the reading ability of the students of both the high and low groups, the increase in the low group being higher than that in the high group. 3. The increase in the achievement of reading ability as a result of intervention strategy was significantly high in literal comprehension and in inferential comprehension for both high and low group students. 4. The increase in the achievement of reading ability as a result of intervention strategy was significantly high in appreciation and reorganization levels in the low group students. 5. The percentage of increase in the achievement of reading ability of the students and the mental ability scores of the students of the high and low groups were significantly related.
*759. SOUMINI, P., A Course Design Based on Communicative Approach for English Language Teaching in Regional Medium High Schools, Ph.D. Edu., And. U., 1984
The objectives of the study were (i) to design a course based on communicative approach for the teaching of English for regional medium class IX and X students using science as the content, (ii) to prepare a few sample materials as per the course design, (iii) to try out the prepared sample materials to find out their workability in classroom situations, and (iv) to evaluate the materials in terms of the performance of students in rhetorical acts in biology.
The parallel group experimental design was employed. The sample consisted of students of high schools. The experimental and control groups were formed on the basis of one to one matching. The course design was drawn for classes IX and X, the content taken being the biological and physical sciences. The six units were based on the topics selected from these science subjects. The experiment was conducted in a Telugu medium school. The various types of tests and instructional materials used in this study were English Proficiency Test I and II, Science Pretest, Science Achievement Test, Science Post-test, questionnaires to find out students' reactions and teachers' opinions on the course design.
Some of the major findings were: 1. In case of science the pretest/post-test gain scores of the experimental group demonstrated a significant improvement due to communicative approach. Similar improvements from pretest to post-test for the control group were not observed. 2. The majority of the students found that the course design was useful to improve both science and
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English. Most of the pupils felt that the teacher asked sufficient and interesting questions on the basis of designed units. Students found that figures, illustrations, charts and exercises given in the instructional material were interesting and satisfactory. 3. Most of the English teachers considered that they had to be more active in the classrooms and most of the students also sought guidance from them. The teachers felt that this type of course developed vocabulary, structures, science concepts, as well as the language skills. Teachers felt that they needed special training to teach English through the communicative approach. They believed that such a course was difficult to be introduced in our schools.
The educational implications are: (1) English language teaching through the communicative approach will give the students some capacity both for receptive and productive knowledge. The students' handbook and guidelines to the teachers for implementing this in- novative method should be applied in all the schools. The exercises in these handbooks should be based on the needs of the students and local resources of the school and the environment. (2) In-service orientation of teachers has to be organized for explaining the salient features of the communicative approach. (3) Textbook writers have to be oriented for writing innovative textbooks so that initiative and genuine communication is developed in the students. (4) Team teaching between the Science teachers and the English teachers has to be accepted and made effective. (5) The pre-service teacher training syllabi should be revised so as to include the communicative approach in teacher education programmes. (6) Research institutes and special- ized organizations like CIEFL, NCERT, etc. should undertake extensive studies for assessing the feasibility of communicative teaching at different stages of school education. (7) Changes in evaluation techniques have to be evolved according to the requirements of the communicative approach. (8) Emphasis on a written discourse has to be given its due importance. (9) Activity oriented language learning has to be reshaped by designing suitable tasks so as to facilitate the development of communicative skills.
760. SRIDHARA, A., A Study of Child's Learning of Kannada Morphological Rules, Ph.D. Psy., Mys. U., 1980
This study investigated the development of morphological rules in Kannada speaking children. Based on the results, an attempt was made to explore into the nature of language learning mechanisms involved in the learning of morphological rules.
The sample of the study consisted of 30 boys and 20 girls from kindergarten and primary schools, the former in the age range of 4 to 5_ to years and the latter from 5_ 7 years. The total sample consisted of 100 children selected from Kannada medium schools in Bangalore city. All children were Kannada native speakers with no knowledge of other languages. A test on morphological rules was developed on the lines of Berko's test. It consisted of 19 picture cards with testing rules in inflectional morphology. This test required children to show their knowledge of morphological rules by extending rules to non-sense words. This test was administered individually to each child with a randomized item presentation. The responses of the children were scored using adult's responses as the standard. The frequencies of correct responses were calculated and analysed through the chisquare test for effect of sex and age on morphological rule development.
The following were the findings: 1. Boys and girls did not differ significantly in their performance. 2. Primary school children did significantly better than kindergarten children on almost all the items.
761. SRIVASTAVA, A.K., and RAMASWAMY, A Study on the Effect of Medium of Instruction, Socio-economic Status and Sex on Academic Achievement, Intelligence, and Creativity, CIIL,1986
The main objective of the study was to study the influence of the bilingual education of having a language other than one's mother tongue (MT) as the medium of instruction (MI), socio-economic status (SES) and sex on personality development, academic achievement, non- verbal intelligence, and verbal creativity.
The sample consisted of 1912 students studying in classes VIII and IX belonging to the age groups of 13 and 14 respectively. The rationale behind the selection of these age groups was the expectation that at this stage, the effect of MI might have consolidated in the learners in either direction. The sample was representative in terms of SES, sex, and locale-rural/urban, and selected from 11 trilingual- Tamil, Malayalam, English-media schools of Kanyakumari district, all having a similar type of school administration. A
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3 X 2 X 2 factorial design was used with three levels of MI dimension (same, cognate and non-cognate medium), two levels of SES and two levels of sex. The dependent variables were academic achievement, non-verbal intelligence, three dimensions of verbal creativity- fluency, flexibility and originality, personality development in terms of self-concept. The sample size varied in analyses related to different dependent variables. The tools used were Kuppuswamy's SES scale (1981 revision), Raven's Progressive Matrices, Baqer Mehdi's Verbal Test of Creative Thinking (adapted to Tamil and Malayalam students) the Self-Concept Inventory (SCI) developed by U.P. Singh, and a personal data sheet with questions pertaining to background information-age, sex, sibling position, family size, language used in home, school and other social contexts of the students. Marks from the four previous examinations of students in each of the five academic subjects, namely, first language (Tamil or Malayalam), second language (English), mathematics, science, and social studies, were used as the criterion for their academic achievement. A three-way ANOVA with an unequal number of observations was used to test the significance of the main and interaction effects of MI, SES and sex on each of the dependent variables.
The major findings of the study were: 1. All the main effects except that of sex on the achievement in mathematics and social studies were significant. 2. All the interaction effects on academic achievement were not significant except for (a) sex X MI for second language, (b) SES X MT for first language and (c) SES X MT for sci- ence. 3. MT-MI different non-cognate media group on the whole had scored higher than the other two groups. Between the same and cognate media groups, the former had scored higher than the latter. 4. The middle SES group and girls had achieved higher than the low SES group and boys respectively. 5. The main effects of MI, SES and sex were significant on non-verbal intelligence, whereas their interaction effect was not significant. 6. As regards creativity, the main effects of MI, SES, and sex on fluency, flexibility and originality were significant. The interaction effect of MI X SES was also significant on each of the three components. 7. The mean scores on non-verbal intelligence were in descending order with respect to the non-cognate, the same and the cognate group respectively. 8. The middle SES group had scored higher than the low SES group except in the case of low SES girls in the cognate medium group; boys scored higher than girls except in the case of low SES girls in the cognate medium group. 9. The same medium group had scored higher on all the three dimensions of verbal creativity than the other two groups except in the case of low SES boys in the non-cognate medium on all the three dimensions and middle SES girls in the non-cognate medium on flexibility. 10. The non-cognate group had scored higher than the cognate group except in the case of low SES girls in the cognate group on fluency and originality. 11. Boys had scored higher on all the three dimensions than girls except in the case of low SES girls in the same medium group and middle SES girls in the non-cognate group on flexibility and the low SES girls in the same, medium group and middle SES girls in the cognate group on originality. 12. As regards the criterion variable, namely, self-concept, the main effects of MI And sex were not significant, whereas that of SES was significant. No interaction effect was significant. 13. The same medium group had scored higher on self-concept than the other two groups; and the cognate had scored higher than the non-cognate medium group. 14. The middle SES group had scored higher than the low SES group and boys had scored higher than girls on self-concept.
Some of the educational implications are: (1) The higher achievement scores of non-cognate (English medium) students go contrary to the general expectations that MT is the best medium of instruction. This implies that the English medium students have abundant opportunity to develop as a result of their exposure from the very beginning to second language English as a subject as well as a medium for other subjects. (2) The higher scores on non-verbal intelligence of the non-cognate medium is in line with the earlier findings but no conclusion can be drawn as intelligence as an influencing factor is not controlled. (3) The higher scores on the three dimensions of verbal creativity of the same medium group contradicts the earlier findings, but supports the hypothesis that since children taught through their MT use simple and direct strategies as opposed to the complex and indirect ones of the bilingual children, the former would perform significantly better than the latter on verbal problems involving reflective thoughts. (4) The higher performance of the same medium group (i.e., Tamil and Malayalam groups) on self-concept is in tune with logical expectations. In the light of contradictory findings it can be inferred that rather than bilingualism per se. the social conditions underlying different types of bilingualism seem to have a strong influence on the development of self-concept. The language environment and social reinforcement functioning at the regional level influence the performance of
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the cognate medium group and that at national and international levels influence the performance of the non-cognate group.
762. SUDARSANAM, R., A Diagnostic Study of Reading Comprehension of the Undergraduate Students Studying English under Part II in Colleges in Coimbatore, Ph.D. Edu., Madras U., 1980
The main objective of the study was to construct and administer a diagnostic test of reading comprehension for undergraduate students and to develop a suitable approach for remedial instruction.
A proficiency-cum-diagnostic test of reading comprehension consisting of two parts, one for macro diagnosis (factual, referential), inferential and evaluative comprehension) and the other for micro diagnosis (rhetoric, use of words, sentence structures) was constructed and questionnaires for teachers and students were used to collect the required data. Adopting the stratified random sampling technique, 716 students from the three years of the undergraduate (BA/BSc) courses were selected as the sample for the study. For the experimental study to validate the remedial programme suggested, the paired group method was followed and 28 students in the experimental group were paired with 28 students in the controlled group on the basis of the marks scored in Part I of the diagnostic test. The remedial programme was carried out over 15 classes each of one hour duration.
The main findings were: 1. The mean comprehension score of the sample was only 72.29 against a maximum of 170. 2. Second year students (M = 34.14) significantly differed from first year (M= 31.04) and third year (M= 30.84) students in their comprehension ability. 3. First and third year students did not differ in their comprehension ability. 4. A significant difference was observed between arts and science students only in the first year. 5. Students (third year) who studied English under Part III (Major) did not differ from students (third year) who studied English only under Part 11. 6. Tamil and English medium students did not differ in their comprehension ability in English. 7. Rural and urban students differed only at the second year level. 8. Students in government and private colleges differed at the first and the third year levels. 9. Men and women students differed at the first and the second year levels. 10. The teaching of English did not contribute to the improvement of students' comprehension performance. 11. Educational and occupational status of parents correlated significantly with the comprehension scores of the students. 12. Students devoted greater attention to reading the opening and closing paragraphs of long texts. 13. The remedial programme suggested was effective in significantly raising the comprehension score of the experimental group students.
Implications of the study are: (1) A rhetorical approach to teaching comprehension may be adopted. (2) The syllabi, materials and methods of teaching English in colleges should be related to using English as a source language for further and advanced learning of one's subject.
763. SURIAKANTHI, A., A Study of Language Development of Socially Disadvantaged Rural Pre-primary Children of Madurai District, Ph.D. Hu., Ker, U., 1982
The main objectives of the study were (i) to find out the language development of selected socially disadvantaged rural pre-primary children in terms of the total number, types and length of sentences, type of questions, total number of words, vocabulary of use and of recognition, cases, tenses and content of vocabulary of recognition, (ii) to compare the language development of selected socially disadvantaged pre-primary children with that of selected socially advantaged pre-primary children in terms of the aspects listed earlier and thus to determine the level of language development of socially disadvantaged children, and (iii) to establish the relationship between language development and the variables, namely, age, sex, and parental education. The null hypotheses tested in this research study were that, other things being equal, (1) any difference that was observed between the socially disadvantaged and socially advantaged children in language development, was due to chance factors or sampling error, (2) any difference that was observed between boys and girls in language development was due to chance factors or sampling error, (3) any difference that was observed between children whose parents were educated and those whose parents were not educated was due to chance factors or sampling error.
The sample of the study was made up of 250 socially disadvantaged and 138 socially advantaged rural pre-primary children attending pre- schools in Madurai District, Tamil Nadu, selected by applying the cluster sam
RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION-ABSTRACTS 669
pling method. Techniques used in the study for the collection of data relating to total number of sentences spoken, length of sentences, types of sentences, questions, vocabulary of use, vocabulary of recognition, parts of speech, case suffixes, tenses and influence of age, sex and parental education on language development, were (a) observation of spontaneous speech, (b) observation of elicited speech and (c) a picture-vocabulary test developed for the study.
The main findings were: 1. The socially disadvantaged children were deficient in their language development when compared with the socially advantaged children. 2. The deficiencies were experienced in total number of sentences, words, length of sentences, vocabulary of use In terms of parts of speech, case suffixes and tenses spoken. 3. The significant differences that were observed in the language development of socially disadvantaged and advantaged children tended to disappear at the end of the pre-school years, that is at 61-66 months age level. 4. Significant increases in many aspects of language development were found at 61-66 months age level among socially disadvantaged children. Among advantaged children, significant increase in many aspects of language development were found earlier at 43-48 months age level which showed that the language development of socially disadvantaged children was slower than that of the advantaged children. 5. The sex of the child influenced language development among socially disadvantaged children, in terms of the total number of sentences and words spoken. Boys were found to be superior to girls. Among advantaged children, the sex of the child did not influence language development. 6. Educational level of parents was found to affect language development of both disadvantaged and advantaged children.
The educational implications are: (1) A suitable compensatory language development programme must be planned and implemented for socially disadvantaged pre-primary children who did not attend a pre- school. (2) It would be educationally advantageous if preschools were started in rural areas. (3) While providing a normal pre-school programme, an enriched language programme may be offered at the same time to socially advantaged children to improve their native abilities. (4) Special attention must be paid to the language devel- opment of girls from disadvantaged families and parents should be educated on the importance of girls' education for the nation's development. (5) Since the smoothening of the differences in language development could be advanced to even an earlier age if purposeful language Programmes were implemented in pre-schools, such programmes which include both oral experiences and listening programmes should be provided.
764. THARWANI, T.C., A Critical Study of the Prescribed Textbooks in Hindi Lower Level from Standards V to X in Maharashtra State with a View to Their Improvement, Ph.D. Edu., Bom. U., 1982
The objectives of the study were (i) to evaluate the main characteristics of textbooks, viz., physical features, contents, language, illustrations and exercises, (ii) to ascertain the relevance of the books to the syllabus, (iii) to study the relevance of existing textbooks for rural students, (iv) to study the difficulties experienced by teachers and students in the use of textbooks, and (v) to find out the suitability of textbooks to the level of understanding of the pupils.
The tools used were (i) questionnaires, (ii) interviews with the teachers and authorities of institutions, and (iii) documentary analysis. The data were collected from 85 primary and secondary schools in Maharashtra State. The sample included 196 secondary and primary school teachers, 683 students and 90 experts who had expressed their views through the interview schedule.
The major findings were: 1. There were some printing mistakes specially of short and long vowels in the textbooks of the higher classes. 2. Some lessons included in the textbooks of Class V were lengthy and not according to the age and ability of the children. 3. Lessons based on different vocations did not find a place especially when education was being vocationalized. 4. More weightage was given to prose lessons only. 5. Lessons on letters of the alphabet in the textbook of Std. V did not contain adequate illustrations; children would easily learn the abstract ideas of letters with the help of pictures. 6. Exercises given in the textbooks were not adequate. As a result, children were not inspired for self-study. 7. Some teachers were of the opinion that interesting lessons had been deleted in the textbooks of the higher classes by the Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, Pune. 8. Poems of Kabir, Surdas and Tulsidas have an educative and moral value. If these poems were included they would keep both teachers and students in touch with ancient culture. These poems were missing.
670 RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION-ABSTRACTS
765. THOMAS, M., The Teaching of English in India with Special Reference to the Madras Presidency: A Historical Survey (1835-1947), Ph.D. Edu., Osm. U., 1982
The study was an attempt to trace the evolution of the teaching of English in India from its official beginning in the days of Macaulay to the last days of British rule when it had already usurped the position of a major subject in the school curriculum. The scope of the study was limited to the school stage of education in the Presidency of Madras during the period 1835-1947. The problems examined were (i) official policy on English education, (ii) position of English in schools, (iii) methods and classroom practices, (iv) courses of instruction and teaching materials, (v) examinations, and (vi) teacher training. The research methodology used was historical survey based on library study involving identification, analysis, interpretation and evaluation of pertinent primary as well as secondary sources in the form of documents, reports, syllabi, question papers, textbooks, books, articles, speeches, research reports, etc. Structured interviews and questionnaires were also used to collect the necessary data. Two eminent scholars were interviewed and one out of the three renowned Indian writers in English responded to the questionnaires.
The major contributions of the survey were: 1. The results of the survey provided a general picture of the implicit and explicit causative forces that led to the official introduction of English education in India. 2. It helped to build up a coherent picture of the development of English education in the Madras Presidency during 1835- 1947. 3. It examined the position, of English in the school curriculum at various times in the Presidency of Madras during 1835-1947. 4. It produced a faithful record of the methods and classroom practices in the teaching of English in schools in the Presidency during 1835-1947. 5. It gave a connected narrative of linguistic reviews of the teaching materials in English used in the schools of the Madras Presidency during the period. 6. It provided a historical survey of the practices in testing and examinations in English in the Presidency during 1835- 1947. 7. It drew a comprehensive picture of the teacher training programmes in the Presidency during the period, with special reference to the training of teachers of English. 8. It helped to have an increased understanding of the history of the teaching of English in the Madras Presidency in the context of developments in the teaching of modern languages in Europe.
766. VAJPAYEE, A.B., A Comparative Study of Letter Method and Sentence Method of Teaching Hindi, SIE, Rajasthan, 1968
The project aimed at making (i) a comparative study of the letter method and sentence method of teaching Hindi, and (ii) finding out the one which was easier, more interesting and effective.
Three schools each from Sawai Madhopur, Bhilwara and Udaipur districts were taken up for the study. On the basis of a pre-test, 20 students without any knowledge of letters of the alphabet were selected from each of the schools and divided into two groups. Evaluation proformas, result sheets and also test papers and unit tests were used.
The study revealed the following: 1. The marks scored by students taught through the sentence method and letter method were 45 and 56 respectively. The scores so far as knowledge of 'matras' was concerned were 70 and 68. 2. In an overall evaluation the letter method proved better. The letter method was found to be more effective in imparting knowledge of letters of the alphabet and 'matras' and in reading and writing of sentences whereas the sentence method proved to be better for fluent reading and writing.
767. VAJPAYEE.A.B., A Comparative Study of the Effect of the Use of Bamboo Pen, Pen Holder, and Pencil on Handwriting in Hindi, SIE, Rajasthan, 1968
The objective of the study was to rank the improvement in handwriting in Hindi through the use of bamboo pen, pen holder, and pencil.
Two groups of 30 students of class II studying in Choti Sadri, Banasthali and Jaswantpura schools in Rajasthan were selected for the study which continued for ten weeks. Each class was divided into four groups which used bamboo pen, pencil or pen holder for writing. Speed and formulation of letters were some of the eight criteria for evaluation.
The study revealed the following: 1. From the point of view of neatness, legibility, space between letters, curves, angles and lines, the first place in handwriting was secured by users of pen followed by those of pencil, holder and bamboo pen. 2. In speed the order of merit was pen holder, pencil and bamboo pen.
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768. VAJPAYEE, V.V., A Comparative Study of Two Methods of Correction of Written Work, SIE, Rajasthan, 1968
The study aimed at finding out (i) the amount of labour a teacher had to put in, in the two systems of correction of written work-direct correction and the use of symbols for correction, and (ii) which of the two was more effective in minimizing errors.
The study covered 42 students of class IX of a higher secondary school. They were divided into two similar ability groups. Correction of errors in sentence construction in Hindi only was taken into consideration. In the process of evaluation the focus was on the quantity of written work and errors like wrong use of verbs, prep- ositions, pauses and stops and loosely constructed sentences, wrong word order, irrelevant sentences, incorrect spelling, inappropriate use of words and correction of such errors. Evaluation proformas and observation schedules were used for the purpose and the data were analysed in the form of percentages on the basis of two self-developed formulas. The first one took into consideration the total time, the total number of words, errors, time taken and average reading speed per minute of the teacher. The second one was to find out the number of errors for 100 words.
The study revealed the following: 1. The process of direct correction was more laborious as compared to that in which symbols were used. 2. The quantity of labour to be put in was related to errors and not to the quantum of work. 3. In the direct correction group the decline in percentage errors was from 17.48 to 13.08, whereas in the symbol-correction group it was from 15.6 to 8.5. 4. Symbol-correction in which the students' involvement was greater was found to be more useful and when it was combined with teaching-based correction it had practical utility. 5. Errors which were not eliminated with the help of remedial teaching and correction required a lot of labour to be corrected. 6. Generally the process of correction seemed to affect the accepted habits of the students but gradually it took the remedial direction. 7. When neglected areas like prepositions, pauses, spellings and the use of inappropriate phrases were selected for correction, the direction was towards errors in the beginning. Only after practice for long time was there some improvement. 8. Teaching based correction proved to be more effective than the traditional method.
769. VIMALA DEVI,P.,Strategies for Developing Critical Reading Abilities in Higher Secondary Students in English, Ph.D. Edu., Madras U., 1986
The main objectives of the study were (i) to find out the critical reading ability level of students of standard XI, (ii) to identify the tasks involved in critical reading, (iii) to develop a strategy which would help students to perform the tasks involved in critical reading, and (iv) to find out the efficiency of the strategy through an experi- mental study.
Variables, namely intelligence, anxiety, socioeconomic status, divergent thinking ability, syntactic and semantic proficiency, students' self-rated reading skills and achievement scores in English, were considered for their effect on the development of critical read- ing. The tools used were Cattell's Non-verbal Intelligence Test for the age group of 16 plus, Dutt's Personality Inventory, Kuppuswamy's Socio-economic Status Scale, a rating scale to measure the perceived sub-skills in reading, a battery of intelligence tests designed for testing productive thinking in semantic and syntactic units and a cloze test in English. Besides, five critical reading tests were designed by the investigator. A survey cum experimental design was adopted and the sample for the survey was 1042 students drawn from 19 schools. For the experimental study, the sample consisted of students who had secured the lowest mean value in the final reading comprehension test. The strategies that were designed and refined were tried out on students for promoting critical reading ability. A total of 60 instructional hours, spread over a period of one month was spent in improving critical reading ability of the students of the target group.
The major findings of the study were: 1. The students of the target group were able to improve their critical reading ability through the strategy implemented, which proved the effectiveness of the strategy. 2. The total improvement of the critical reading skill was 11.41 per cent. 3. The inter-correlational matrix revealed that there was a relationship between achievement scores and critical reading achievement. 4. The four factors identified in the factor analysis revealed that critical reading skill was highly related to the four main abilities, namely, interpretative, inferential, evaluative and creative. 5. Students of class XI were below 41 per cent level in their critical reading achievement. 6. The difficulty level of the students studying in English medium schools under different managements did not differ. 7. There was a difference in the difficulty
672 RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION-ABSTRACTS
level of the students in boys' schools and in girls' school in Tamil medium. Girls experienced less difficulty than boys.
The implication of the study was that the important critical reading skills such as identifying, organizing, relating, predicting, reasoning, judging, questioning and applying could be developed through teachers' probing questions and stimulating thinking process in a regular classroom situation in teaching a lesson from a pre- scribed textbook.
770. WALIA, A., An Evaluative Study of English at the Secondary Level in Rajasthan, Ph.D. Eng., Raj. U., 1981
The objectives of the study were (i) to find out how the reading materials used in the classroom reflected the professed aims of the syllabus of English, (ii) to find out how teachers worked through these materials in the actual teaching situation, (iii) to find out the extent to which the nature and content of examinations supported the goals of teaching English, (iv) to find out if the English language teaching programme of the state made any impact on the teaching of English at the secondary level, (v) to find out if the teachers had the basic academic qualifications necessary to teach English, (vi) to find out if the teachers had been trained to effectively use the new techniques, (vii) to find out if there existed any difference in the performance of English language trained teachers and untrained teachers, (viii) to find out if the teachers were aware of the considerations important for the writing of textbooks, (ix) to find out if the teachers were able to evaluate the existing textbooks, (x) to find out if the teachers had the ability to evaluate the existing examination system and suggest reforms, (xi) to find out if there was any difference in the quality of teaching going on in the rural and urban schools of Rajasthan, (xii) to find out how the students viewed the teaching to which they were exposed, and (xiii) to Find out how the students responded to the textbooks prescribed for them.
For the purpose of the study, 25 schools were randomly selected from Jaipur district of Rajasthan. Out of these, nine were from urban areas and 16 were from rural areas. All the teachers teaching English and students studying English in class X in these schools formed the sample of the study. The final sample consisted of 114 teachers and 154 students who completed various questionnaires. One teacher from each school was observed for his teaching. The study involved (i) a linguistic and content analysis of secondary class textbooks and supplementary readers through a locally prepared evaluative schedule, (ii) an analysis of examination papers in English of four consecutive years (1975 to 1978), (iii) the teacher questionnaire, (iv) the student questionnaire locally prepared with 23 items, (v) the observation schedule to observe the lessons of the English teachers, and (vi) informal interviews with the teachers and students.
The findings of the study were: 1. The new structures that were sought to be taught had not been there in the textbooks. Spaced, controlled, meaningful repetition as a silent principle of learning new items had been totally ignored. The same held good in case of new lexical items. 2. An additional difficulty in case of both new words and structures was caused by the use of unknown words and structures as part of explanatory material. The difficulty got compounded when the items were presented in decontextualized examples. 3. There was no conscious attempt to define the range of active and passive vocabulary among the new items presented in the textbook. 4. The actual number of new words outside the prescribed list far exceeded the stated claim and vitiated the principles on which language learning was supposed to be based. Besides these, there was no even distribution of new words over the body of the lessons. 5. Except for a few lessons, thematically the textbooks were quite suitable for all categories of students for whom they were meant. There were, however, quite a few avoidable instances of incoherent text which marred the smooth reading and learning of the lessons. 6. In case of exercises given at the end of the lessons, the main defects noticed were neglect of the principle of confronting students with exercises of increasing difficulty, lack of variety in the types of exercises chosen, and the pronouncedly mechanical nature of exercises which ruled out the possibility of presenting any challenge to the students. 7. There was imprecise and grammatically incorrect language of instruction in the textbooks, workbooks and handbooks. In many instances wrong and inadequate instructions resulted in misleading students into constructing wrong and senseless sentences. 8. Teachers felt that the size of the class and the quantum of work-load affected the choice of the mode of teaching. 9. The teachers felt that they resorted to one technique or the other for motivating their students, 10. Some 98.24 per cent of teachers claimed that they gave regular home assignments and corrected each one of them but contrary to this, 82.46 per cent of students contested this claim. 11. Analysis of question papers re-
RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION-ABSTRACTS 673
vealed defects in four major areas, viz., vocabulary testing, testing reading, testing comprehension and testing structures and composition. In case of vocabulary, a student who could manage to remember the meaning of a few words could manage to get 100 per cent scores in the examination. In case of testing reading, the unseen passage to be given for comprehension was often dropped, and questions likely to test implied meaning and opinion were generally missing. Similarly, testing of structures was at the level of recognition and not at the level of production. The range of items for testing was severely limited. Finally, defective choice and formulation of topics for composition resulted in a total defeat of the very purpose of testing compositional skills. 12. The most outrageous aspect of the examina- tion system was the utterly irresponsible way of scoring of scripts. 13. The grammatical mistakes in framing of the questions and the unscientific nature of multiple choice questions affected the testing of the real language ability of the students. 14. During observation of the lessons it was noticed that teachers did not use motivational techniques. There was marked tension and passive compliance on the part of student. No student participated in the classes and teaching was only a one-way process. 15. Supplementary readers did not follow the objective of supplementation of textbooks, but were simply translations of English textbooks into Hindi. 16. Rules of grammar were mechanically repeated in the classes and no illustration of such rules was given in the class to develop compositional skills.
ALSO SEE 1180. CHOUDHARI, K., A Factorial Study of the Teaching Competencies of Teachers Teaching English at the Secondary School Level, Ph.D. Edu., SNDTU., 1985
108. DILEEP KUMAR, Caste and Class as Variables Affecting Spoken Language in Primary Class Children, Ph.D. Edu., BHU, 1983
658. EKBOTE, N.T., Linguistic Analysis of the Textbooks of Marathi Mother Tongue Prescribed for Standards I to X by the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary Education, Ph.D. Edu., Nag. U., 1985
665. KESKAR, S.U., A Survey of the Implications of the Three Language Formula Enunciated by the Government of India with special reference to its Impact on Maharashtra State, Ph.D. Edu., Born. U., 1984
1008. KHANAPURKAR, U.H., Construction and Standardization of Silent Reading Comprehension Test in Marathi for Pupils Studying in Standard VII, in the Schools of Osmanabad District of Maharashtra State, Ph.D. Edu., SNDTU, 1984
1431. PATEL, S.K., Development of Reading Readiness Programme and to Study its Effect on Reading Readiness of the Pupils of Pre-primary Schools, Ph.D. Edu., SPU, 1983
1048. PATEL, M.J., A Comparative Study of Reading and Comprehension of Students of Standard VII in Different School Subjects, Ph.D. Edu., SPU, 1986
682. ROY, S.C., Evolution of Bengali Textbook, Ph.D. Beng., Jad. U., 1975
1572. SHANTESHWAR, VEENA, An Investigation into the Roles of English in Higher and Professional Education in Karnataka, Ph.D. Eng., Kar. U., 1982
1033. TRIVEDI, J.R., Construction and Standardization of Reading Achievement Test in Hindi for Pupils of Class VIII of Secondary Schools of Gujarat State, Ph.D. Edu., SPU, 1984
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