Abstract
Since English is not their mother tongue, English language learning is a big challenge for first-generation learners who come from poor family backgrounds. Though English is essential for all to communicate worldwide people, there is a lack of awareness among the first generation learners of English. Teachers as well as students follow the traditional method instead of the practical method. Though there are lots of differences between traditional methods and practical methods, there has been a misunderstanding between them always. If the gap between these two methods is reduced, then the teachers and the learners can achieve their goals. I hear and I forgot; I see and I believe; I do and I understand said, Confucius. Hence the learners must practice English in their day-to-day conversations. As professional English language teachers today have good knowledge of various techniques and innovative approaches, they know and understand the origin and evolution of teaching methodologies. Modern teachers use a variety of methodologies and approaches according to the learning context and objectives. There is no doubt if there is involvement and continuous practice in learning, even the first generation learners can speak English better than native speakers. This paper reveals some challenges faced by first-generation second-language learners in acquiring competence.
Keywords: first Generation, challenges, misunderstanding, modern, practical, conversations, tradition, uncomfortable, understanding.
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Introduction
The term ‘first-generation learners’ (FGL) here refers to the students who are the first ones in their entire generation to go to college and receive education or whose parents have attended the formal education system up to the primary level of schooling. These learners face problems academically, psychologically, socio-economically, and culturally. They have to face some academic challenges in terms of classroom challenges related to course content, method of teaching, etc. For this study, first-generation learners are considered as those children whose parents have either no education or dropped out. Most of these learners are children of agricultural laborers, bonded laborers with no educational background. These learners do not have any parental support as their parents are illiterate or have received only basic education. English is being spoken almost all over the world and plays a vital role in the minds and hearts of people especially even the first generation of English learners whose medium of instruction up to 12th standard is Tamil. Even though it is a second language, it has to be learned to get job opportunities and communication with the people of other states and countries. The English language is a vehicle on which we can travel all over the world. Well, the beginning is a half success. The field of English language teaching is dynamic and changing in the modern era. Knowing the level of English language proficiency of students and utilizing successful ways to teach the English language effectively is a problem-solving mission. Situational learning is one of the best methods for learning English. The biggest challenge for teachers is capturing the attention of students and putting the ideas of learning language in a way that stays in their minds long after they have left the classroom. To make this happen, the classroom experience should be redefined with innovative techniques which make the learners learn enthusiastically. To make the students proficient, the way of teaching should be more practical with the interaction between teacher and students. There should not be any compromise in speaking English when the mother tongue interferes.
Problems Faced in second language teaching to First-Generation Learners
Though English is an inevitable language today, students concentrate only on scoring marks in the examinations instead of language acquisition. They are taught English for about six hours per week for the duration of the respective degree courses but they do not know how to speak English at least with some mistakes even if they don’t try to speak English. It is not only the part of students but also the teachers. At present, there are 72 students in a UG class. Due to these overcrowded classrooms, teachers could not concentrate on each individual. To solve this problem students and teacher ratio may be modified to at least 35:1.When the teachers teach lessons in English, students listen and follow them. Hence the role of the teachers in the classroom is very important. By listening to the speech of the teachers, students become familiar with some unknown words and they will also be able to use the learned vocabulary in their conversations. It is our hope if the teachers involve wholeheartedly, absolutely English language teaching process will get successful.
Problems in Speaking
- Production of sounds (expressing the sounds of the words accurately and perfectly)
- Fluency
- Choice of words and phrases
- Constructing sentences in a proper structure
Communication problems may affect the learners’ speaking and understanding abilities. To avoid the problem proper training should be given in the classroom.
Challenges faced by first-generation learners (FGL)
The challenges faced by the learners have been operationalized in terms of student confidence. Some factors that are very challenging for the first generation learners like distance of the college, not availing like-minded peers, the content of study, the method of teaching, and over-crowded classroom. Interaction with peers and teachers is normal and there is an exclusion of FGLs college is an alien entity but apart from academics FGLs don’t seem to face any problems. In fact, the teachers take remedial classes for these children to make them competent in English proficiency. The teachers point out that these students’ homework mostly remains incomplete suggesting the possible challenges one might face to do so. First-generation learners in colleges face more difficulty in mastering English. First-generation students in arts and science colleges read additional exposure to English and appropriate graded steps to improve their mastery of English. This research focuses on first-generation learners who have enrolled in arts and science colleges. We need to emphasize that there are quite a few college lecturers who are also first-generation learners but have succeeded in completing their studies and have begun their careers as lecturers etc. They also continue to aim at improving their English skills to meet the demands of classroom teaching. The term first generation learner has a deeper meaning when it is applied to the students of Tamil Nadu. Socioeconomic status is an important factor here. First-generation learners may be not only first learners at the college level, but also they might have been first generation learners in the entire formal schooling system. Hence there is no heavy competition among the learners and also there is no proper guidance and encouragement from the parent side. The students’ socio-economic situation could make the situation much worse and more pathetic. Inferiority complex, leading to lack of participation, unwillingness, hesitation to be part of a group, internal conflict, satisfaction with low-level performance, ultimate defeat, self-destruction, etc. While first-generation learners have adequate language skills in reading and writing in their mother tongue (Tamil), their performance in using English may be somewhat less impressive.
The learners may face difficulties in producing proper sentences in their conversations. Subject, Verb arrangement may be a problem. They find it difficult the use gender as well as the contrast between singular and plural, etc. They may have difficulty using tenses appropriately. Choice of adjectives and adverbs also is difficult for them. Their difficulties are noticed even in those students from families with past college-level education. But the level of performance of the first-generation learners may be significantly lower than the performance of the group. While rural students, in general, may face difficulty, first-generation learners from rural parts and from cities face greater difficulty in handling English language textbooks and most see memorization as the best way to score marks. it is important that extensive empirical studies are undertaken to specify the lack of skills and other features in detail so that we may be able to devise suitable remedial steps. At the beginning level, we need to conduct an entry-level test to know the current status of the English competence of students. They should be conducted based on the required competence of college students in English. Some of the sections of the test subsections for all four language skills, a section for identifying the mastery of words, mastery of basic grammatical processes, sentence construction, and mastery of different types of sentences. Through this research, the researcher tries to find the difficulties of first-generation students in learning the English language and finds remedies to improve their English language competence. The reason for selecting the topic about first generation learners of English is the researcher himself is a first-generation learner. As the researcher knows the difficulties of the students, he focuses on them.
Task-Based Practical Learning-A Remedy
Students may be given tasks like reading newspapers loudly, showing English movies and cartoon serials to listen with subtitles, telling short stories, describing things, involving in model interviews, and participating in dialogues to enrich their speaking skills. When they complete their tasks, they overcome crowd fear and get the confidence to speak English anywhere. Now the duty of the teachers in the classroom is to listen to the speech of the learners and simultaneously correct their mistakes with positive appreciation. If the process continues further, then the students will be able to speak fluent English within the minimum period.
Summing up
The first generation second language learners do not know the pronunciation of certain words. They have effective pronunciation which makes them feel shy to speak in English in the classroom. Their communication skill can be developed through proper guidance. The involvement of the learners in regular practice decides success. Even though they face many challenges in second language acquisition, everything can be rectified with continuous practice. Determination in the minds of the learners will make them proficient in English.
References:
- Aggarwal, Shalini. Essential Communication Skills. New Delhi: Anne Books Pvt. Ltd., 2009.
- Banerjee. A.K. Teaching English as a Foreign Language. Jaipur: Pointer publication, 2006.
- Brown, H.D. Teaching by principles. New York: Pearson Longman, 1954. Print.
- Tickoo, M.I. ELT in India, New Delhi: Orient Langman, 2004. Print.
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