This document discusses adopting a practical attitude towards teaching English. It argues that English should be taught based on students' needs and in a flexible way. The aims are to ensure students achieve a basic command of the language, encourage a teaching program responsive to their specific needs, and help students experience success. Teachers should understand students' abilities and provide material at the right level. They should also give students opportunities to use English meaningfully and challenge them intellectually. The goal is to develop students' communication skills for real-life use of the language and motivate them through rewarding learning experiences.

1. M.K. Bhavnagar University
Department of English
Paper no- 11 English language
teaching-1
Presented by Vyas Nupur
Roll no: 34
Year: 2015-2017
M.A sem -3
Email id: nupurvyas1995@gmail.com
Topic:- Teaching of English: A plea for practical attitude by
R.K.singh, Indian institute of mines, Dhanbad

2. Introduction
• English in India is a potential national resource.
• It is important to develop tolerance and positive
attitudes towards English.
• Practical approaches can be adopted in the areas of its
teaching by making it more need based, flexible and
innovative.
• English is also already functioning as a link language in
the present-day global language.
• Both England and USA have been dominating powers
for the past three centuries speak English which has
become a dominating language, the language of power,
utility and international communication today.(Kachru
1986: 19 -32)

3. • There is a need to change attitude towards English.
• English as a neutral language of communication and
teach it in addition to the mother tongue as a
means of widening the cultural and intellectual
horizons of our students.
• “ Learning another language makes one bigger gives
one a wider vision, make one aware of the
subtleties that we don’t get in one language. One
justification for the teaching and learning of other
languages is in the words of Savignon(1987:19).

4. Three aims of Practical Attitude
• Our aim is to teach well, and we want to
ensure that our pupils should achieve a basic
command of the language.
• Encourage a teaching program that is
responsive to their specific needs,
• Pursue such teaching activities from which
pupils know they are learning something
useful,
• Adopt a flexible teaching approach that
results in success of the pupils.

5. First aim
• A need based teaching program, the teacher must
first know each pupil’s level and abilities in order to
provide material that is relevant and challenging
with a definite goal in mind.
• Example: the grammatical structure and lexical
items that one teaches should be at the service of
the student’s need to use language in natural
situations and for real reasons.
• They don’t need a theoretical knowledge of the
target language but rather an ability to understand
or be understood in that language within the
context and constraints of the peculiar language-
using circumstances.(caroll 1982)

6. Second aim
• If we teach English as a means of communication,
we should also understand the essence of
communication is meaningful interaction between
participants, be it in the context of speaking,
listening, writing or reading.
• Teaching this involves not teaching about the
language but presenting and practicing with such
language items that learners may need in real life; it
means activating their oral and written skills or
encouraging their input.

7. Continue..
• We have to give them opportunities to use
language in intelligent and relevant interaction:
they deserve an opportunity to think, to provide
information from their world of knowledge to
express their personal opinions and to disagree with
other people’s, to choose among equally valid
alternatives etc.
• The activities must relate to students’ intellectual
awareness, by challenging their cognitive and
creative ability.
• Students should also realize that they are also
equally responsible for their learning that it is
enjoyable and useful.

8. Third aim
• The third objective relates to motivating the
students to experience success, to make them
believe it is possible.
• The negative feelings of futility of learning or
teaching English have to be changed.
• Failure can be avoided- by providing rewarding and
successful experience ,by using communication-
provoking techniques that would produce
meaningful interaction.
• It is worthwhile for the teacher to keep in mind
various approaches rather than a specific method ,
because approach is flexible and method is rigid.

9. Conclusion
• Teaching English should be seen as an
opportunity to explore and understand, to
question and argue, to learn and to retain
something new, something different via language.
• Students want to learn, they enjoy expressing
themselves in a new and different language.
• The question is not just what to teach but, more
important, what to teach to whom and
why:(flink-levy 1989:39)

10. Thank you