Discuss the problems faced by underprivileged in learning English and ways in which they can be helped to overcome this difficulty.

Problems Faced by Underprivileged Learners in Learning English

i)                    Fear of English as a subject of study

English by its very nature is very different from the Indian languages. For instance, English does not have one letter-one sound correspondence and spelling and sounds do not always follow a uniform pattern. Moreover, the syntax of English is different from the Indian languages. In English the verb occupies the medial position—Rita plays football; in most Indian languages the verb comes at the end—Rita football khelti hai. These two characteristics of the English language make learning complicated and difficult for the underprivileged learners. In addition, English is associated with the elite culture and this creates a sense of awe and fear amongst the underprivileged learners. Textbooks in English contains material which does not belong to the Indian milieu and is alien to the underprivileged learner who has to grapple not only with the language but with concepts as well. As we have said earlier, the textbook has no representation of their lives and culture which further alienates them.

ii)                  Language load and poor reading skills

Often the underprivileged learners speak a non-standard variety of language or dialect. They already feel the load of learning to read in the standard language which is often the regional language. In addition, they have to grapple with English which is very different from the languages they know. This pressure of languages on the underprivileged learners creates fear, gaps in learning and alienation due to which they lose all interest and motivation. In addition, because of their inadequate exposure to languages and texts in their childhood these learners develop poor literacy skills. As a result, they are unable to use the knowledge resources which are part of emergent literacy. In brief, they are unable to read a lot of material which is available in English and much of this material may be essential for day-to-day survival.

iii)                A feeling of alienation created by the learning materials

It has been earlier said that the textbooks and other learning materials are often written and chosen with an average learner in mind – who normally belongs to the middle class and who has the required experiences and background knowledge to handle the curriculum. Underprivileged learners feel inadequate and isolated when topics of which they have no knowledge are taken up for reading or writing tasks.

In addition, they are unsure of their language proficiency when they compare it with that of the other learners. They assume that the materials are very difficult to understand as they do not have the required language proficiency.

iv)                Low expectations from the teacher

Many a teacher has exclaimed, “This is a nice book but my learners cannot handle it at all.” Teachers have a general view that the underprivileged learners would find the material difficult and it would require a lot of effort and time on the teachers’ part to enable them to understand and learn. Teachers who have a low expectation from their learners do not expose them to stimulating material or sometimes simplify and provide the answers themselves in their attempt to ‘scaffold’. This leads to a flagging of interest and low motivation.

How to Help the Underprivileged Learners

While it is true that the underprivileged learners come to school with limited experiences and limited language skills, it is not appropriate to assume that they are not capable of improving or taking up a challenge. A teacher would need to develop an action plan and devote time on these learners without giving them the message ‘You may not be able to handle this’. They should encourage them to set goals for themselves and provide as much support as possible. Some of the measures a teacher can take to accelerate language learning of underprivileged learners are given below

i)                    Mentoring the learners

Allow them to feel a spirit of challenge while being aware of their strengths and weaknesses. Encouragement and setting the goal high while providing both academic, social and emotional support through one to one mentoring, cooperative work and display of trust in their capabilities is a good strategy to adopt. The teachers can have mini conferences with the learners and suggest ways to improve their language skills to bridge the gaps. The unreached children should be allowed to make their decisions on topics for study, for projects or writing tasks.

ii)                  Introduction to critical thinking skills

It is essential that teachers introduce the underprivileged learners to critical thinking skills from an early stage. This will help them to become analytical and be able to make decisions. Earlier we had discussed how these learners are more mature than those from comfortable homes. Asking them open-ended questions or allowing them to choose the topics or books for projects and reading workshops would assure them that the teacher does not believe them to be cognitively deficient. If complemented with support whenever the learners require, it would lead to a positive self-image.

They can also be encouraged to explore their own backgrounds which will help them to set pragmatic goals.

iii)                Selection of relevant topics

Topics for classroom discussion and writing tasks would have to be sensitively selected to ensure that these fall within the experiences of the underprivileged learner’s that one is teaching. If care is taken not to select topics of which the learners have no knowledge, the learners will never feel a sense of inadequacy. When the learners will be able to identify with the topic, they would take interest and the task will be completed. If the focus is on their lives and their dreams, learners will move from a state of resignation to motivation and goal setting. Similarly, some of the topics used in the books need to be related to the lives of these learners, keeping in view the cultural diversity. If for the reading project the learners are allowed to exercise their choice on the kind of books they would like to read, the problem of involvement gap that was discussed in the earlier part of the Unit will be bridged. Younger children may choose to read very simple books which may be meant for children younger than them. They should be allowed to exercise this choice and slowly graduate to books meant for their level. It is very important to promote the culture of reading.

iv)                Adequate Scaffolding and support

The role of scaffolding like giving task that these learners find relevant, explaining the task, breaking it up into doable smaller tasks, encouraging them to do the task and last but not the least providing the support of peers by way of collaborative work, cannot be undermined. In addition to the process writing approach, the teacher can also use the process approach to grammar as well. Instead of doing a grammar item formally and in isolation, learners can do speaking or writing tasks in which they practise the grammar item in a meaningful and contextual manner. Collaborative and cooperative learning modes will also provide for peer evaluation and peer editing of written work or project reports. This will lead to removal of errors in a more supportive environment.

v)                  Use Mother-tongue based Multilingualism

In the initial stages underprivileged learners can be exposed to bilingual methods wherein they can contribute their ideas in their own language or the teacher repeats her instructions in their language. This may be done in a natural manner without making the underprivileged learners feel that this is a special concession in view of their inadequate language skills.

At the primary level, questions should be formed in a way that the expected response can be only a word or a group of words. If the teacher continues to insist on answering in a complete sentence, they feel de-motivated as they find the syntax of the English language very different from theirs. They should be encouraged to do language tasks that focus not on the language but on completion of the task.

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