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Journalism of Courage
Eighteen years ago,when German language teacher Papia Dutta studied German,she used a text-heavy book that was printed in the 1950s,and offered only a smattering of blurred pictures for visual relief. Her professors would joke that they too had used the same books when they were students. While everything else changed,including the currency in Europe,the books were stuck in time and so were the students.
It was just so uninteresting, says Dutta. The books were in black and white. It wasnt practical. Students couldnt speak the language even after years of learning.
Finally,this has changed. The German textbooks were upgraded this year,with the Central Board of Secondary Examinations (CBSE) going in for a communicative approach towards foreign language teaching in India.
For two years,experts brainstormed and charted out a syllabus that would fit the bill,and earlier this year,the new,colourful books hit the markets. Foreign languages in CBSE schools are taught from Class 6 to Class 12.
In a globalised economy,a foreign language course needs to adopt a holistic approach and equip students with speaking skills, says Project Coordinator at the Goeth Institut Puneet Kaur,who was on the panel that designed the new CBSE syllabus for German.
The old books that were printed in the 1950s were meant for adults. They were uninteresting. The new books have children as protagonists in stories and have things that would interest children, Kaur explains.
After French language textbooks that were revamped in 2003,German is the second foreign language to go in for an overhaul. The textbooks that come with CDs and workbooks focus more on an interactive approach,with stress on both speaking and listening.
All these years,German language teachers in schools would make handouts for students where they compiled the newest slang and grammar rules and insert it in their workbooks,reminding them that the language is a living entity and as such keeps changing. Students were not able to speak the language even after studying it for four years. It was about time we changed the approach and focused on speaking skills as well, Dutta says.
CBSEs acting chairman Vineet Joshi says a communicative approach isnt a new concept and that the agency had adopted it for Sanskrit,English and Punjabi before doing so for foreign languages. The new methodology focuses on five different skills speaking,listening,reading and writing and cultural awareness. It was around 1989 that the CBSE went in for a communicative approach for language programmes,but foreign languages werent on top of the list.
But after teachers started to feel that a strictly grammar-oriented approach wasnt working and approached the CBSE,the agency was forced to consider applying a communicative approach to the foreign languages as well.
The traditional approach was grammar-based. German is the latest language to be upgraded, he says. We have started work on Japanese too.
Professor Kiran Chaudhry of the Centre for French and Francophone Studies at JNU says that when they upgraded the French textbooks in 2003,schools had still been using 25-year-old textbooks.
People mugged up grammar rules and learned answers by heart. A language is a living body,there has to be emphasis on interaction through role-playing and dialogue, Chaudhry said. Even the currency changed from Franc to Euros; the culture changed with the European Union. All that needs to be communicated. It is never too late to do that.
In the case of German,even the syllabus has been reviewed to accommodate CBSEs new methodology. Now students of Class 6,7,8,9,and 11,will take a formal examination of 50 marks in the language. The rest 50 per cent will be divided among periodic tests and projects,officials said.
It has been seven years now that DPS Vasant Kunj student Prakhya Bhatnagar has been learning German but she still faltered when she went to Germany this year on an exchange programme.
It took me two days to grasp the accent and then the slang was different. It was like using Shakespearean English in todays world. It would be archaic, she says. We were quite ashamed of telling people that we used those old books. If you are travelling,nobody would like to look at your essays. Theyd want to talk to you.
Prakhyas younger sister Prashasti,who is in Class 8,is also learning German. When she prepares for her coursework,rehearses her dialogues and listens to the CDs,Prakhya can tell her sister is learning the language better than her. We can talk in German with each other now. At her level in my time,I couldnt speak the language as well, Prakhya says.
