What are the obstacles of teaching English in Hindi heartland and how we can overcome it? It is an important document to help English Langauge Teachers. This Research paper has been published in a National Seminar. Rajeev Ranajn

1. Problems of Spoken English
in Hindi Heartland and
Their Solutions
By- Rajeev Ranjan
Abstract
Word illuminates everything. Thinking about the whole world does not
merely help us. We need sound and words to express our elevated
thoughts and vision: then only we can illuminate the world. But what
will be consequences if we don’t give proper shape and size of our
thoughts and vision? Lack of spoken ability in any language prevents us
to spread the light of knowledge to the whole world. Today world has
become a globalized village and English language plays a crucial role to
weave the world into a single thread.
In my present paper I would like to focus some of the basic problems
faced by English teachers and learners of the Hindi speaking area i.e.
lack of language exposure, continuation of Structural approach in
language teaching i.e. much focus on grammar and translation,
replacing of Hindi sound over English sound and lack of trained
English language teacher. I would like to suggest some of the
fundamental solutions of these above mentioned problems which can be
used in teaching and learning situation.
Indeed, in India English is taught as a second language but several
states it is taught as third language. As an English language teacher and
an inhabitant of Hindi speaking area I find that the situation is almost
same even now what was prevalent in early 90s in government schools
as well as numerous English Spoken institutes. I listed some of the deep-
seated problems faced by the majority of the people of Hindi speaking
belt while they communicate in English. These are:
 Lack of language exposure
 Structural approach of language teaching in the classroom
(i) Much emphasis on translation
(ii) Focus on grammar teaching –learning than spoken aspects
(iii) Focus on memorizing words, sentences and structures

2.  Interference of mother tongue in spoken English
 Lack of good materials
 Lack of motivation in the class
 Classes are more teacher oriented than pupil oriented
 Lack of language activity in the classrooms
 Lack of trained English language teacher
In Hindi speaking states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh,
Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh most of the students don’t get much
exposure in English language outside the classroom so they hesitate to
speak in English even in the classroom. Many of our teachers hesitate to
speak in English in the class. They are worried that the students will not
understand, if they speak in English in the class. So then situation
becomes worst and neither student nor teacher speaks English in the
class and the English language class turns into a Hindi dominating class.
Classroom is the best place to provide exposure in English language
properly and efficiently but if it fails how can we expect students to
communicate in English outside the class where most of time they
communicate either in Mother tongue or in Hindi with their peers and
parents?
Early 70s, when the world felt the essence of Communicative Language
Teaching but we are still lagging behind that essence and following the
traditional- Structural approach of language teaching where more
emphasis is given to spoon feeding, memorizing the grammatical
structures , producing 100 sentences from substitution table. At last
students may be able to write 5 sentences correctly but can’t speak a
single sentence.
Most of English spoken institutes’ classes are purely based on teaching
translation i.e. Hindi to English and English to Hindi. Students are
heavily dependent on material given by teacher. Those materials are
translated work e.g. Good morning Sir (Suprabhat sir) Students take so
much time to speak a single sentence. If we enquire about their
difficulties in speaking English; they always say, “Sir first we think in
Hindi and later on we speak translated version of a particular sentence.
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3. Mother Tongue inference is serious problem among Hindi speaking
people. They are prone to replace Hindi sound i.e. /r/ /sh/ /n/ /v// w/ in
place of English sound:
Wound – bound
Voracious—boracious
Value --- bhalue
People from Bihar especially Magadh region unable to distinguish the
difference between two sounds like in Hindi (Ghar---Ghora), (kanak-
kannak) etc. So the influences of mother tongue of the students’
interference them to speak clearly. Sometimes students pronounce
English words as it is written i.e. know—kanowu, school—ascool etc.
Textbook as well as printed material is a vehicle to foster learning in
the language classroom. But textbooks of Hindi heartland region are
based on grammatical items and communicative exercises hardly exist.
Teacher is more interested in explaining the text and the lesson hardly
consists of more than two pages. During the class students remain
passive listener.
Usually in English class we find that teacher carries the burden of whole
class. English teacher never let students to speak rather his/her talks
don’t know any full stop during 40 minute. In fact, classes are more
teachers oriented than student oriented.
Test is the best instrument to evaluate the learners; their achievement,
and their understanding level etc in the class. In fact, Indian system
allows teacher to test students without teaching a particular topic as if
students know each item themselves .Teacher often asks students to
speak in the class on selected topics like Dowry System in India,
Environmental Pollution, Unemployment Issues etc in English spoken
class. But my worries lie in these questions:
 By asking such questions do we encourage our learner to produce
their own language or do we encourage our learners to copy the
topic from a book, newspaper, memories it and to vomit in the
class?
 Do we encourage our learner to discuss with their peers in the
class?
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4.  Do we form a pair/ group before asking such tasks to do?
 Do we brainstorm the learners on particular topic before
assigning any task? If we don’t teach a particular items how can
be test that items or how will our students be able to produce
language in the class in terms of spoken as well as written work.
 Do we give clear instructions to our learners?
In India particularly in Hindi Speaking region a science, math or a
history teacher teaches English in schools and English spoken institutes
but do they justify with English or with students? Lack of trained
English language teacher is one of the crucial points which create most
of the problem. Government of these states is unable to update the
knowledge of English teacher. Teacher himself doesn’t know how to
teach English and how to deal student in a language class? If the root is
so weak how can be grow an English spoken tree in the Hindi
heartland?
A number of problems haunt in spoken English in Hindi heartland but
I see these problems as the best opportunities to improve the present
situation. Language is not mathematics where we can draw the lowest
value as well as highest value; it is flow of thoughts, emotions, and
surroundings and culture though English grammar is based on the
essence of mathematical formula. Teacher plays pivotal role in shaping
the students’ thought. In fact in Hindi speaking states students are
heavily dependent on teacher so it’s whole sole responsibility of a
teacher to look after the students. If we take our learners into
confidence and initiate them to use English in the classroom then they
become less hesitant and they will be able to use English. So providing
homely environment to the students is basic remedy of this problem.
Confidence building among the learners about English makes the task
easy. If we instill confidence and develop a positive attitude among the
learners, they learn very fast. Recently during one month teaching in
Navodaya Vidayalaya I took those poor students into confidence and let
them to speak in English in the class. Result was so encouraging that
even those poor learners who avoid making eye contact with teacher,
hardly speak single word in the class now they are able to communicate
their thoughts in English. At first they struggled a lot but slowly they
are coming out from their hard shell of hesitation and shyness. If a
teacher of English develops some of the attitude in himself /herself, s/he
can help learners to produce language.
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5. These are:
• Ice breaking
• Don’t speak all the time, let students to use own language at their
own pace
• Be patience welcome errors
(i) Don’t correct the errors immediately
(ii) Don’t correct all the errors
• Decide your priorities in the class
• Avoid translation as much as possible
• Focus on meaning and encourage effort to comprehend
• Distribute your burden among the students
• Be an expert in questioning
• Sensitize your learners before asking to do tasks
• Introduce Pronunciation slowly and gradually
• Relate your class to the culture
• Use of authentic materials in the class
• Be an attentive listener and alert learner
• Clear instructions to the students
Above I mentioned some of the central points which can be exploited
by efficient teachers and spoken English can be foster in the class
without burden.
Break the gap between teacher and student by introducing Small
Talk in the class. Slowly the ice will melt and flow of language will
spread all over surrounding. The ability to make a small talk is
highly valued. In fact, many students are interested in making
effective small talk then knowing correct grammar structures and
rightly so small talk gets friendships started and break the ice.
Topics can be varied from socially mixing small talk i.e. The last film
you saw, pets, magazine, Teachers’-what you like, what you don’t,
your last holiday and topic of common interest i.e. talking about
friend , the difference between your culture and new culture.
As a student and an English teacher I found in day to day teaching –
learning situation an English teacher can be an efficient English
speaker, a good orator and never let his/her students to speak
English and most of the time he/she himself speaks English in the
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6. classroom. What did s/he give in one period in an English spoken
class? It always puzzled me whether teacher learnt how to speak
English or students learnt. If we want our learner to be a good
English speaker, let the learner to lead the class; play the role of a
teacher and be a guide or facilitator in the class and students will
take care themselves. So don’t speak English all the time, let students
to use their own language at their own pace. We must realize that
our students will never learn to speak English if we don’t allow them
to speak in the class.
If students commit mistake it means they are learning. So errors
should not be corrected at the moments and all the errors should not
be corrected immediately i.e. if at the early stage a student said “I am
speak English” then no need to correct that error. Because error
correction creates a threatening environment for the students. Child
needs emotionally supportive environment to overcome hesitation
and communicate in English in the classroom. Indeed, English
teacher should try to develop error tolerance mind-set. We can
correct their mistakes as mass activity.
An English spoken class is a performance class. Teacher has to create
a positive environment, one that makes student wants to come and
practice their English in his class. Activities based classes’ foster
learning and make light of the burden of teachers. It includes role
play, group work and pair work. Use of teaching aids maximizes
learning in the classroom. Visual aids are attention grabbing and
enhance the probablity of interaction in the class i.e. realia,
flashcard, charts, newspaper cutting, pictures etc. As for example, to
develop a description of the process of making tea: First you open the
packet, then you put some tea in the pot……….. (The teacher could
bring a pot or a spoon etc.)A teacher can ask student to create an
imaginative dialogue between shopkeeper and the buyer. But teacher
should have clear frame about the activity i.e. group work or pair
work, role play, time limit and most important clear cut instructions
to avoid confusion and chaos in the classroom.
Communicative exercises like using Guessing game (Guess a picture,
Guess the sentence, Famous people, e.g. one student pretends to be a
famous person (alive/dead) who is known to others. They try to guess
who the person is, by asking questions, e.g.: Are you alive or dead?
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7. alive, Are you Indian? Yes, Are you a politician? No etc. Mime can
be best weapon to initiate communication in the classroom i.e. the
teacher calls a student to the front and secretly gives her/him a
sentence written on piece of a paper, which describes a simple
activity. The student mimes the activity. The other students try to
guess the situation e.g. you are mending a puncture, you are
changing a light bulb etc.
Exchange of information--- (information gap---To create a need to
communicate). Two students in each pair are given different
information e.g. find ten differences between two set of same
picture), Use of language in real life, i.e. a dialogue between a father
and daughter—she wants to go to see a cinema, a boy wants to book
a room in hotel—make inquiries in detail, a dialogue between a
vegetable seller and buyer, a dialogue between doctor and patience
etc enhances communication and students feel comfortable.
Exchanging personal information is one of the easiest and most
interesting forms of communicative activity in the classroom. In this
activity, students share their personal information to each other
about their own lives, interests, experiences etc. When students talk
about them, there must be a natural ‘information gap’ because
everybody has something slightly to say e.g. work in pairs and asks
questions to your partner about his or her daily routine---- Getup?
Breakfast? School? Etc.
An English spoken classroom can be very successful if the teacher
sensitizes the learners about particular topics before asking to do a
task. Teacher can do brainstorming; ask a number of relevant
questions so that students come to know the topic in detail. In class
seven I taught how to write an article/essay on “My Family”. I asked
several questions like: who provides you safety and protection (your
family or your neighbors)? Students came up with smart answer. A
lot of communication took place during questioning.
Elicitation technique is used to encourage students to guess unknown
words and structures, introduce the topic of the lesson, ‘a set of
scene’ for a text or dialogue, gives examples orally by asking students
for their ideas and suggestions, getting them to contribute what they
know already and encouraging them to guess new words.
At early stage of English teaching- learning process, use of mother
tongue can be used to explain one word/sentence but gradually good
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8. teachers stop him/her to use translation. This activity paralyses
student and make them parasite to Hindi. So slowly minimize the use
of Hindi in the classroom. I never believe teaching much grammar
directly in the class; grammar must be taught indirectly in context.
Never let students to be aware that they are learning grammar and
English. For students of this region learning grammar means
learning English. The moment they come to know, they are learning
grammar they loose interest in learning process. Efficient teachers
correlate grammar teaching with context, provide meaningful rather
mechanical practice and use real and imaginary situation for freer
practice.
Pronunciation problems vary greatly from one state to another, one
country to another. I firmly believe that an average Indian speaker
can not copy the accent of the Queen of England but we should
improve our pronunciation so that it can be audible or intelligible by
common listener/audience. Modern technology made this task easy.
We can use tape –recorder, computer as well as some of films in the
classroom to sensitize the learners and provide them ample practice
in this direction. First we should identify:
 Difficulty in pronouncing sound which do not exist in the
student’s own language
 Confusion of similar sounds,e.g. Bhola –Vola , Ghar—Ghora
 Use of simple vowels instead of dipthongs, e.g./i:/
 Difficulty in pronouncing consonant cluster—shama—sabhi-
shatru etc.
 Tendency to give all syllables equal stress, and a ‘flat’
intonation
After identifying pronunciation problem, if teacher provides proper
practice in this direction then no doubt at all the speaker of Hindi
heartlands’ English will be up to the mark within five month.
I discussed about teaching pronunciation, conducting so many
communicative activities i.e. role play, simulation, and information gap
etc but we can not achieve our goal if our English teacher will not be
well -trained and up to date in the area of ELT. In this regards, time to
time Government of these states should conduct training programme
for the potential English teachers like In -Service Training programe,
Refresher Course, and Orientation programme etc.
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9. Above, I focused on some of the problems and their remedies faced by
Hindi dominating region in spoken English. However these problems
and remedies can be more than our speculations and observations.
Last but not least, we can not measure our success in inches or meters
but the confidence level of the students communicating in English will
tell the story of success of our efforts. I would like to conclude this paper
with quoting two lines from P.B.Shelly “Ode to the West Wind”
“If the winter comes
Can spring be far behind?”
Rajeev Ranjan
PGDTE (EFLU)
Paper for: National Seminar
(19 th -20 th November.2008) by jepc,
ranchi & English Language
Teaching Institute, Jharkhand
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10. References:
 Howatt, APR,(1984) A History of English Language Teaching ,
OUP
 Ticoo, M.L,(2003) Teaching and Learning English, Orient
Longman
 W .Little wood,(1981) Communicative Language Teaching ,CUP
 Brumfit and Johnson,(1979) The Communicative Approach to
Language Teaching , OUP
 Larsen-Freeman, D(2000) Techniques and Principles in Language
Teaching , OUP
 Doff, Adrian, (2005) Teach English ( A training course for
teachers, CUP
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