Abstract

In India, most of the English medium schools dissuade the use of students’ native language in English classrooms. State-led interventions such as Mother Tongue Based Multi Lingual Education system (MTB MLE) aim to provide primary education in the native language of the students. This study attempts to understand the attitude of the teachers of English language in various schools of Odisha. Taking the case of Cuttack district, the data from English medium schools is juxtaposed with the data from Odia medium schools to establish a parallel between the classroom dynamics of the two types of schools.

Introduction

The usage of First Language (L1) in an English classroom is a sensitive and prejudiced topic which needs discussion and dialogue in the Indian context. In India, two schools of thought based on the issue of the medium of instruction in education exist. In private English medium schools, the students are discouraged to speak in L1 or native language be it in the English classrooms or anywhere in the school premises. The other brigade believes in using L1 to foster the attainment of education. The testimony of this nativist school of thought exists in the form of many state-led interventions in the educational system. One such example is the Mother Tongue based Multi Lingual Education system (MTB MLE) which is practised in states like Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. It is a system in which the primary education is imparted in Mother Tongue (MT) of the students. This format was introduced to address the high drop-out rates in the state-run schools. The idea was to impart education in a language that is comfortable for the student.

In case of language pedagogy methods, different methods either advocate or inhibit the use of mother tongue in the class. Language teaching methods like Direct method, Situational Language Teaching and Audio-Lingual method promote the use of Target Language (TL) and prohibit the use of L1 in the classroom. Whereas, methods like Humanistic and Communicative Language Teaching use the learner’s L1 in the classrooms to aid the learning of the target language.

Yavuz (2012) conducted a study on the attitudes of the teachers of English language regarding the use of L1 in L2 classroom. It was observed that the teachers advocate the use of L1 depending on the methods of language teaching prescribed by the curriculum after taking the expectations of the society into consideration. The present study attempts to understand the attitudes of teachers of English language in English medium schools and Odia medium schools regarding the use of student’s native language (MT/L1) in the English classroom. At the outset, the paper provides an account of the position of different language teaching methods of L1 usage followed by the methodology and discussion of the results.

A predominant method in the pre-structural phase, the Grammar Translation method aimed to familiarise the learner with grammatical rules of the language. It emphasised the primacy of rules in language and provided instructions with direct translations. The students were given instructions in L1 and were encouraged to translate into the target language. With the advent of behaviourism, the usage of L1 was strictly prohibited. The methods such as Situation Language Teaching, Direct Method and Audio-Lingual Method rejected the use of L1 and focused on using the target language as a medium of instruction in the language classroom. Cognitivism emerged as a severe criticism of the principles of behaviourism. The paradigm shift to Cognitivism from behaviourism led to a learner-centric pedagogy. Hence, there was a relaxation in the use of L1 in L2 classrooms. This concept is inclined towards the humanistic principles of learning as it accords due importance to the native tongue and culture of the learner.

Methodology

To achieve the research objectives, a guided discussion and interview was used to elicit data from research participants. An interview was specially designed for this study which included open-ended questions. The data was collected from fifty (50) teachers of English language across English and Odia medium schools in Cuttack, Odisha. The research participants were the teachers who teach English to students of class I to class VII. The final sample consisted of twenty-five (25) teachers each from Odia and English medium schools. The participants were asked about their attitude towards L1 usage using an interview. The data was statistically analysed to obtain quantitative and qualitative inferences. The findings were drawn using statistical methods like Chi-square and percentage-frequency graphs. The research adhered to the norms of ethics by maintaining the anonymity of the research participants. Thus, an Informed Consent was obtained from the participants before their participation in the study.

Findings

The study aimed to find significant differences in the responses of the teachers from English medium schools and Odia medium schools. The results of the study were analysed using frequency graphs and Chi-square tests. The frequency graphs enabled a pictorial, graphic representation of the responses whereas the Chi-square test was used to find significant differences in the responses of the two groups of teachers. The analysis of the reactions of the teachers is discussed further.

Figure 1. Percentage frequency graph of the responses

From Table 1, it can be observed that the value of Chi-square statistic was 31.493 and the corresponding p-value was 0.000<0.05. Since the p-value is less than 0.05, we can conclude that there was a substantial difference in opinion of the teachers teaching English in English and Odia medium schools.

Also, from Figure 1 it can be observed that none of the teachers of English language in Odia medium schools agreed to the opinion that students should be discouraged from using their native tongue in the classrooms. However, the majority of teachers teaching English in English medium concurred with the statement. Thus, the Odia medium school teachers reflected a positive attitude towards the use of L1 in the classrooms. On the other hand, the teachers of English language in English medium schools showed a bias against the use of student’s mother-tongue. Hence, as observed from the responses of the participants, the bias against the native language stems from personal prejudice and experiences of the teachers.

Furthermore, the results show an apparent predisposition that exists in the minds of teachers of English in English medium schools with regards to the use of the student’s L2 in the English language classroom. These teachers seem to follow the school of thought that discourages of use of L2 in the class. On the contrary, it was seen in Odia medium schools that the teachers use L1 conditionally to teach English for they believe that it accentuates the learning process in students.

Conclusion

The support or bias against the use of the L1 in an L2 classroom stems from the politics of language dominance and prestige. Language, in its functional capacity, can empower; connect or lead to conflict. Despite India being a multi-lingual country, it is seen that the medium of higher education is restricted to only a few languages. This inequality in stature and the position of languages is reflected in the language pedagogy as well. It was seen from the study that there exists a definite difference in the attitudes of the teacher with regards to L1 use in the classroom. In an English language classroom in Cuttack, a majority of the teachers of English language from English medium schools expressed their reluctance in using the first language or native language of the student while the Odia medium teachers did not carry any biases.

References

Marckwardt, A. H. (1965). English as a Second Language and English as Foreign Language. In H. B. Allen, & R. N. Campbell, Teaching English as Second Language: A Book of Readings (p. 4). New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill.

Mohanty, S. (2017, February 18). Education in Mother Tongue Impact of Multilingual Education in Odisha. Economic and Political Weekly, p. 31-38.

Skinner, B. F. (1969). Contingencies of reinforcement: a theoretical analysis. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.

Wright, S. (2016). Language Policy and Language Planning From Nationalism to Globalisation. University of Portsmouth, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

Yavuz, F. (2012). The attitudes of English teachers about the use of L1 in the teaching of L2. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences , 4339 – 4344.