2. Language Education
Language lies at the centre of human cognitive, social, and cultural experiences. Proficiency in
languages gives individuals the capacity to comprehend, analyse, and relate to their locality,
nation, and the world. It enables effective communication, which is integral to the formation and
functioning of societies and cultures. Language additionally serves as an indispensable tool for
the acquiring, accumulating, and advancing of knowledge. Thus, issues related to Language are
some of the most fundamental in education. The effects and benefits of Language learning go far
beyond proficiency in the languages themselves.
Language learning is, therefore, an important aspect of this NCF. Multiple studies show that individuals knowing many languages not only gain the ability to communicate with a wider range of people, but also develop expanded cognitive abilities. In addition, they demonstrate improved capacities of cultural awareness and expression, which is among the major competencies considered important to develop in students. This provides them with a sense of their own identity and belonging, as well as an appreciation of other cultural identities.
Learning multiple languages enriches children intellectually and culturally, enabling them to think in more than one way by being equipped with the structures of expression, vocabulary, idioms, and literature of more than one language. A multilingual India is thereby better educated and also better nationally integrated. Moreover, India’s languages are some of the richest, most scientific, and most expressive in the world, with a huge body of ancient as well as modern literature that helps form India’s cultural unity and national identity.
The science of child development and language acquisition clearly demonstrate that young children become literate in and learn best through their mother tongue. Moreover, young children who become literate in their mother tongue gain a greater ability to learn multiple languages as students in their later years with its associated benefits.
This NCF thus gives central importance to learning in the mother tongue in the initial Stages, and to Language learning across all Stages, with a commitment to multilingualism. This multilingualism promotes, both socio-emotional and cognitive capacities at the individual level as well as cultural unity at the local and national levels.
Section 2.1 - Aims
Learning Languages enables students to access the understanding, knowledge, and skills available in written or spoken forms in a society. It develops students’ abilities to express ideas and feelings, be creative, think rationally, make well-informed choices, and act on those choices. Proficiency in Languages is essential for a democratic society in which individuals participate and contribute to its political, economic, social, and cultural life. Proficiency in multiple languages, including mother tongues and regional languages, promotes a society which respects and appreciates one’s own as well as others’ cultures. Such multilingualism also has direct benefits for the individual in terms of cognitive development and flexibility.
Language Education in schools must specifically aim to achieve:
a. Oracy and literacy: Oracy and literacy are fundamental to school education. Achieving oracy means students develop fluency in expression and understanding of spoken Language. Literacy means that all students demonstrate fluent and critical reading, writing, and comprehension capacities in the Language. The capacities to use Language in spoken and textual form are critical not just for Language Education They are also a foundational capacity for all other curricular areas.
b. Effective communication skills: Students should develop their Language capacities to think critically, identify real-world problems, analyse them, make rational arguments, and work out solutions. The capacity to use language to think and communicate well in a variety of situations is critical for effective democratic, social, and cultural participation.
c. Literary and creative capacities: Language teaching in schools must aim at building capacities in students towards an appreciation of the literary aspects of Language. It should also allow for an exploration of how to be creative and imaginative in their spoken and written expressions. Language serves as a vehicle for aesthetic and creative expression across cultures. Appreciation of the creative and aesthetic aspects of Language can be accomplished through creative prose, poetry, storytelling, word games, puzzles, jokes, riddles, and more.
d. Multilingual capacities: Language Education in schools should aim to make a student an independent speaker, reader, and writer in at least three languages, as laid out in NEP 2020. These three languages are denoted R1, R2, and R3 in this document. (See §2.4, Box 2.4i for definitions of R1, R2, and R3)
It should aim to achieve this in R1 by age 8 (Grade 3), in R2 by age 11 (Grade 6), and in R3 by age 14 (Grade 9). Schools must ensure the development of the capacity for basic communication for social purposes and linguistic proficiency for academic use in the classrooms in R1 and R2, and to the extent possible in R3 as well by age 15 (Grade 10). e. Appreciation and engagement in culture: Learning a language is learning a culture. Thus, language plays an important role in the immersion and participation in culture. Given the wide range of languages and the richness of their cultures in India, students must be given the opportunity to understand and appreciate the rich linguistic cultures of India. This can be achieved through introducing samples of various kinds of literature from languages across the country, including some of the great classical literature of India.
Section 2.2 - Nature of Knowledge
In its most basic function, Language is a system of the use of words and sentences when speaking, writing, or making gestures for communication among human beings.
a. Language is a rule-governed system. The spoken and written components of language are governed by rules that are often a set of conventions or practices. Learning relevant sounds, shapes, words, sentence structures, and grammar rules as well as understanding the functional and situational aspects of language use requires understanding and engagement with these rules.
b. Language is an integral part of culture. Language does not operate in isolation but is related to social interaction, context, and culture. Thus, language development among students is an act of cultural development; it invariably requires learning about an associated culture and society.
c. Language evolves constantly. Languages evolve over time, learn from other languages, and adapt to the varying contexts in which they are spoken. They constantly add to their vocabularies as new concepts arise. Learning any language thus involves being able to appreciate and engage with such evolution.
Such specific characteristics of Language guide the framing of the curriculum for Language and its teaching. Other aspects such as the aims of Language Education (described earlier) and how children learn languages (described at the beginning of §2.6) guides the curriculum as well.
Section 2.3 - Current Challenges
Language learning in schools across the country currently faces a few challenges which need urgent addressing.
a. Low levels of literacy: India is currently in a crisis of learning, where a large proportion of students currently in elementary school have not attained foundational skills in literacy, i.e., the ability to read, comprehend, and write basic text.
b. Low-quality learning materials: The learning materials used for Language teaching across the Stages are currently of uneven quality, with a lot of them being of low quality. Good quality materials need a careful selection of relevant content (words, context, illustrations, layout) that is age appropriate and interesting for students to learn from. Relying only on the content in textbooks is very limiting for Language learning. The lack of availability of age-appropriate children’s literature in Indian languages has posed a severe constraint in Language classrooms across the nation.
c. Inadequate levels of Teacher preparation: Too often, an assumption is made that anyone can teach Language to students without adequate training in the subject and/or without adequate time for preparation. This contributes to underachievement in Language learning and classes becoming ineffective. There has been a severe scarcity of skilled Language Teachers in India, despite various measures being taken. Teachers with appropriate preparation, flair, and practice in the subject are essential for a meaningful and enjoyable student experience in Language learning.
d. Ineffective pedagogic strategies: Many often-used teaching practices are not based on a sound understanding of how Language works and how students learn Language across various age groups. Teachers need to take stock of the strategies they have been using till now for their enjoyability, effectiveness, and ability to engage students meaningfully.
e. Focus on content-completion rather than Competency-based teaching: In Language Education, gaining Competencies is far more important than mastering content. In practice, this is too often not considered by Teachers or assessment developers. Effective Language teaching must be driven by the achievement of Competencies and Learning Outcomes by students, rather than a focus on merely finishing the content given in the textbook.
f. Memory-based assessment: Language Education intends to achieve Language proficiency, communication and functional ability, and appreciation of literature. Most assessments tend to focus on assessing recall of content given in a textbook rather than assessing Language abilities. While the recall of details of the content may be one way of demonstrating learning, it is not the core aim of teaching and learning Language.
Use of Contemporary Language in the Indian Language Context Many Indian languages have literary traditions spanning thousands of years. Often, vocabulary and sentence structures used in such literature are not in contemporary use anymore. In addition, there is a significant difference between the spoken and written forms in many Indian languages. Content in Language textbooks, in terms of vocabulary and sentence structures, should aim to reflect the contemporary use of the language, particularly in the Foundational and Preparatory Stages, while also attempting to bridge it over time to the more literary form of the language so that literature can be read and appreciated. This would make Language and literature learning more interesting and relevant to students. Understanding and engaging with the literature of the Language is viewed as a separate Curricular Goal in the Middle and Secondary Stages. The language used to achieve this goal can have content drawn from such literature to make students familiar with the literary tradition of that Language (though the literature studied should also be chosen to be of a kind that is of contemporary interest to students). The language used in other chapters, or that is used to teach other Curricular Areas, can continue to adopt contemporary language usage even in the higher Stages, in accordance with what works best for learning in that context in view of the overall Curricular Goals. Vocabulary for new concepts or ideas should be introduced into Indian languages in a way that is intuitive and relevant to the Indian context, by the appropriate authorities (such as by the Language Academies proposed in NEP 2020), and such new words should be employed in a uniform manner across the country to ensure ease and effectiveness of communication.
Section 2.4 - Learning Standards
As mentioned earlier, the approach to language teaching and learning in schools, including the Learning Standards to be achieved, is guided by the flexible, three-language formula as laid out in NEP 2020.
In the Foundational Stage, the focus is on building familiarity of students with two spoken Languages (R1 and R2). At the end of this Stage, students are expected to read fluently in R1 and comprehend what they read, and begin writing sentences in R1 to express experiences, themes, and what they see in pictures. They gain some familiarity with reading and writing in R2.
In the Preparatory Stage, students develop proficiency in speaking and Competencies in reading and writing in both Languages (R1 and R2). While students achieve these faster in R1, they are expected gain familiarity with R2, gradually progressing from basic communication skills to greater fluency and proficiency in speaking and writing.
By the end of the Middle Stage, Teachers should aim to achieve similar levels of students’ capacities in both R1 and R2. Some transfer of skills from R1 to R2 enables quicker learning of R2. By the end of this Stage, students can understand and appreciate the distinctive features of
Learning Three Languages The NCF aims to enable all our students to learn at least three languages, fully leveraging our socio-cultural context and resources. Our languages are one of our greatest heritages. This provides a remarkable opportunity for our students to learn multiple languages, when complemented by the education system.
Proficiency in several languages has a range of benefits, including in practical matters of communication, expanding cultural richness, and development of multiple cognitive capacities as suggested by research in Brain Neurosciences and Developmental Psychology. The three languages that our students will learn in their school years are denoted R1, R2, and R3 in this document.
R1: This is the Language in which literacy is first learnt in school. For this, it is of critical importance to be able to use the language that the student already knows, because that enables the full use of the linguistic and cultural knowledge (and resources) from one’s home and community that the student already has, resulting in a deeper engagement and relevance, and a greater effectiveness and efficiency in the attainment of literacy. Thus, R1 should preferably be the Language most familiar to the students, which would be the mother tongue. If that is not possible because of practical considerations, then it should be the State Language, which would be a familiar Language.
Also, since it is in R1 that literacy is first attained, it must be used as the medium of instruction (MoI) for other subjects, at least until literacy in another language is attained. R2: Any Language other than R1.
R3: Any Language other than R1 and R2.
Furthermore, at least two of these three Languages — R1, R2, and R3 — must be native to India. The State or other relevant bodies would decide the choices of R1, R2, or R3 that would be given to students. An Indian language must be available for students as an option for the MoI through school education all the way up to Grade 12.
A few other related aspects on Language learning:
• ‘Practical considerations,’ referred to earlier, could be of various kinds, including the diversity of mother tongues in a class/school/community/region, dearth of written resources in the language despite rich oral traditions. the complexity and difficulty of developing written resources for languages that are spoken by relatively small populations is a part of these considerations as well.
• There may be regions or areas in a state where the linguistic diversity is such that the most familiar language for students (after their mother tongues) is another widely spoken local language. These familiar languages may also be different from the State language. In such circumstances, if (because of practical considerations) the mother tongue cannot be R1, then the most familiar local language may be used as R1.
• In this NCF, we do not make any distinctions between ‘languages’ and ‘dialects;’ all variations of a language used for communication or literature in a given region are also referred to as languages.
• The approach to literacy in R1 is taken up in detail in the chapter on the Approach to Language Education and Literacy in the Foundational Stage — Chapter 3, §3.2 in NCF-FS. This includes the wide use of the mother tongue of students in the classroom and school, even when R1 is not the mother tongue, which will enable literacy in R1.
language, engage in collaborative discussions, debates, and presentations, analyse and interpret what they read, and write independently with appropriate structure, grammar, vocabulary, and creativity.
A new third Language, R3, is introduced in this Stage. Students acquire familiarity with the spoken form of this Language, along with the basics of reading and writing. They are expected to read various simple texts with comprehension in R3 by the end of the Middle Stage.
In the Secondary Stage, up to Grade 10, the Curricular Goals in R1 and R2 are almost the same. The same level of effective communication (both oral and written) in both languages must be achieved. Students can use these languages for reasoning and argumentation and make effective presentations. They also read and analyse a variety of texts (from early writing to contemporary literature), articles, and documents. They further develop their critical reading and listening skills, their ability to evaluate arguments, and make connections between different texts. Students refine their writing skills through persuasive essays, literary analyses, researched writing, and creative writing. Students develop linguistic proficiency for academic use in R1 and R2 by the end of this Stage. In R3, students engage with different forms and types of literature and learn to apply the basics of linguistic rules in speech and writing. They also develop linguistic proficiency for academic use in the classroom to the extent possible. A higher level of familiarity, understanding, and interpretation of literature is achieved for at least one of the Languages — R1, R2, or R3 — that is native to India.
In Grades 11 and 12, at least two languages will be studied, at least one of which is native to India, and would be chosen by students from the pool of language and literature courses that are offered. In addition to the possibility of continuing study in R1, R2, and/or R3, the choices for languages would include Sanskrit and other modern/classical languages and literatures of India, including classical Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, Pali, Persian, and Prakrit. This is to ensure that these languages and literatures stay alive and vibrant, especially in States where they may be best taught and nurtured. In addition to this, foreign languages, such as French, German, Japanese, and Korean would also be offered.
As per NEP 2020, opportunities to study Languages, such as those mentioned in the previous paragraph, will also be given to students in the Middle Stage and in Grades 9 and 10 as optional additional courses, wherever it becomes feasible as school resources increase.
This section lays out Curricular Goals and Competencies, for R1, R2, and R3 for the Preparatory, Middle, and Secondary Stages; some variations and permutations may certainly occur across R1, R2, R3 and across Stages, depending on practical considerations and on the choices offered for the three languages R1, R2, and R3. Particularly for the learning of Languages, it is important to keep in mind that Curricular Goals and Competencies must be attained by students in an integrated manner and not separately — in particular, there should not be separate chapters or units in textbooks for individual Curricular Goals.
As throughout this NCF, Curricular Goals and Competencies have not been given for the Grades 11 and 12 courses and optional courses described above, due to the wide variety and levels of courses that would be on offer for students.
Indian Sign Language Sign Language is a mode of communication used predominantly by/for people with hearing impairment where there are no spoken words. The Language involves using gestures or ‘signs’ (with both hands) for articulation to communicate meaningfully. There are many sign languages in the world. The one that is extensively used in India is called Indian Sign Language (ISL).
ISL has its own specialised hand gestures, grammar, and style. While there are regional variations in the way the Language is used for communication and the signs themselves may vary in their signifying (a particular object, idea, or meaning), ISL is useful, well-known, and standardised in its lexicon and glossary.
In India, students with partial or full hearing impairment often find it difficult to get admission into regular schools as these are not yet equipped to be inclusive. These students often drop out of schooling either due to inadequate Teacher training in inclusive education or ISL to run classes in the higher grades. They also drop out as they do not receive adequate support for their learning needs.
Schools could consider offering ISL as part of their Language curriculum. The Learning Standards for ISL could follow those of R1 or R2 illustrated in this document. All students, even those without hearing impairment, would be given some basic familiarity with ISL and a few of its basic signs.
2.4.1 Language 1 (R1)
2.4.1.1 Preparatory Stage
| CG-1: Develops oral language skills using complex sentence structures to understand and communicate ideas coherently |
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| CG-2: Develops the ability to read with comprehension by gaining a basic understanding of different forms of familiar and unfamiliar texts (such as prose and poetry) |
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| CG-3: Develops the ability to write simple and compound sentence structures to express their understanding and experiences |
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| CG-4: Acquires a more comprehensive range of words in various contexts (of home and school experience) through different sources |
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| CG-5: Develops interest and preferences in reading |
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2.4.1.2 Middle Stage
| CG-1: Develops the capacity for effective communication using language skills for description, analysis, and response |
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| CG-2: Appreciates the language and literary and cultural heritage in and related to language by exploring the various forms of literary devices |
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| CG-3: Develops the ability to recognise basic linguistic aspects (word and sentence structure) and use them in oral and written expression |
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| CG-4: Develops the ability to write reviews and uses the library to find references |
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| CG-5: Develops an appreciation of the distinctive features of the particular language, including its alphabet and script, sounds, rhymes, puns, and other wordplays and games unique to the language |
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2.4.1.3 Secondary Stage
| CG-1: Uses language for effective communication through writing various forms (essays, letters, articles, discussions, interviews, public speeches) and for new media (email, audio, and visual material) |
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| CG-2: Develops an appreciation of the aesthetics in different genres (humour, suspense, tragedy) through analysis of style (narrative, descriptive, expository, persuasive) and employs these elements in their writing |
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| CG-3: Uses language to develop reasoning and argumentation skills by engaging with a variety of audio and written material |
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| CG-4: Appreciates literary and cultural heritage in and related to the language and the richness of Indian languages |
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2.4.2 Language 2 (R2)
2.4.2.1 Preparatory Stage
| CG-1: Sustains effective communication skills for day-to-day interactions, enhancing their oral ability to express ideas |
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| CG-2: Develops fluency in reading and the ability to read with comprehension |
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| CG-3: Develops the ability to express understanding, experiences, feelings, and ideas in writing |
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| CG-4: Develops a wide range of vocabulary in various contexts and through different sources |
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2.4.2.2 Middle Stage
| CG-1: Develops independent reading comprehension and summarising skills by engaging with a variety of texts (stories, poems, extracts of plays, essays, articles, news reports) and shows interest in reading books |
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| CG-2: Attains the ability to write about thoughts, feelings, and experiences of social events (e.g., village fairs, festivals, occasions) |
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| CG-3: Develops the capacity for effective communication using language skills for questioning, describing, analysing, and responding |
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| CG-4: Explores different literary devices and forms of literature |
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| CG-5: Develops the ability to recognise basic linguistic aspects (word and sentence structure) and uses them in oral and written expression |
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| CG-6: Develops an appreciation of the distinctive features of the language, including its alphabet and script, sounds, rhymes, puns, and other wordplays and games unique to the language |
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*2.4.2.3 Secondary Stage *
| CG-1: Uses language for effective communication through various oral activities (discussions, interviews, public speeches) and writing activities (essays, letters, articles), including new media (email, audio, and visual material) |
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| CG-2: Uses language to develop reasoning and argumentation skills by engaging with a variety of audio and written material |
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| CG-3: Develops an appreciation of the aesthetics in different genres (humour, suspense, tragedy) through an analysis of style (narrative, descriptive, expository, persuasive) and employs these elements in their writing |
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* 2.4.3 Language 3 (R3)*
2.4.3.1 Middle Stage
| CG-1: Develops effective communication skills for day-to-day interactions, enhancing their oral ability to express ideas by describing and narrating events and situations |
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| CG-2: Develops fluency and the ability to comprehend what they read |
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| CG-3: Develops the ability to express their understanding, experiences, feelings, and ideas in writing instructions, invitations, and letters |
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2.4.3.2 Secondary Stage
| CG-1: Develops reading comprehension and summarising skills by engaging with a variety of texts (stories, poems, extracts of plays, essays, articles, and news reports) and uses various strategies to write for different audiences |
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| CG-2: Develops the capacity for effective oral and written communication in different situations (formal and informal) |
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| CG-3: Explores different forms of literature (samples from early to contemporary period) |
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| CG-4: Develops the ability to recognise basic linguistic aspects (word and sentence structure) and use them in oral and written expression |
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| CG-5: Develops an appreciation of the distinctive features of the particular language, including its alphabet and script, sounds, rhymes, puns, and other wordplays and games unique to the language |
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Section 2.5 - Content
The approach, principles, and methods of selecting content have commonalities across subjects — those have been discussed in Part A, Chapter 3, §3.2 of this document. This section focusses only on what is most critical to Language Education in schools. Hence, it will be useful to read this section along with the above-mentioned section.
2.5.1 Principles of Content Selection
It is important to choose content that is appropriate and relevant to the developmental stages of language learning in students. Inadequate, age inappropriate, and low-quality materials are taking away the value of and joy in Language classrooms. Teachers must ensure the use of good quality TLMs, carefully chosen and curated for students across all age groups. This will ensure enthusiasm for learning and foster a connection with the languages being learnt.
2.5.1.1 R1 and R2 in the Preparatory Stage
a. For developing oracy: Learning materials that lend themselves to students practicing conversation with each other should be chosen. Playful language activities remove the fear of Language and induce the fun element into learning. Content should have a variety of activities such as read-aloud rhymes, sing-aloud songs, role plays, dramas, and interviews that allow students to practise these in the classroom.
b. For developing reading skills: Reading material should have variety, including stories, poems, plays, essays, diaries, comics, cartoons, letters, and travelogues. It should have a balance of familiar and unfamiliar text and context. Large font sizes, coloured pictures, and catchy titles of the chapters would arouse interest in the students. The text should be thought-provoking and generate imagination and interest among students. Content should lend itself to helping students progress from guided reading to independent reading.
c. For developing writing skills: Chosen content must enable students to learn writing skills systematically and joyfully. The material must be designed to make students practise simple sentences on their own. Activities such as the completion of stories, finding suitable titles for pictures, catchy headlines for incidents, poster making, and banners should be part of textbooks.
d. For developing values and dispositions: The content chosen should align with the larger purposes of education and the values and dispositions that are embedded in NEP 2020 and Constitutional values. This means choosing content that promotes these values, emphasises the unity in diversity of our country, and includes authors from all walks of life, kinds of literature that represent local, regional, and linguistic diversity in languages, with the explicit teaching of appreciation for the rich cultural heritage of the country.
2.5.1.2 R1 and R2 in the Middle and Secondary Stages
a. For developing functional Language skills: Any learning material that is chosen must allow learners to grow in the functional use of Language. Suggested content in this regard includes:
i. Choosing themes and topics that are familiar to students and impact their daily life, allowing them to participate in group activities including discussions, debates, and role plays on topics such as traffic jams in cities, effective town planning, floods, drought, and pollution.
ii. Letter writing, whether on paper or by email, is an important skill. Content must have samples of various kinds of letters, especially formal letters, including samples of letters for real-life situations such as applying for a new course in a college, a scholarship, a loan in the bank, or completing/submitting any application in a government office.
iii. A variety of content including notes, presentations, statements of purpose, and presentations, articles, features, news items, and reports, and advertisements, posters, banners, headlines, videos, and scripts for social media should be used in Language classrooms.
b. For developing literary skills: Students must be introduced to and given adequate exposure to different genres of literature. In the Middle Stage, introducing nonfiction and fiction would help students broaden their critical reading and writing abilities. In the Secondary Stage, students must be taught to enjoy the beauty of literature in greater depth and breadth. The selection of literature should be from regional, national, and global writers and varied genres. These can be relevant extracts so that students can engage with close and critical reading. The content should also have a diversity of experiences from writers from all walks of life. For example, contemporary Janapada Geete and Janapada Kathe in Kannada literature, and stories such as Konni Juj in Assamese literature.
c. For developing linguistic skills: The content should help with improving fluency and accuracy in the Language. Linguistic aspects such as punctuation marks, use of gender, sentence structures, and tenses must be prominently identifiable in the material to enhance Language proficiency in reading, speaking, and writing. Similarly, the selected content should allow students to practise advanced creative writing with greater sophistication using various literary devices and contexts.
d. For developing an appreciation of linguistic heritage and diversity: Content should consider the multilingual aspect of the country, making a place for local and regional language variations in the materials selected. There should be a provision for neighbouring States’ literature to be read by students of each State in the Middle and Secondary Stages.
e. For art and sports integration in the learning of Languages: Compositions in Art and Language can share some common aspects in aesthetics of form, style, and content. Using art to access ideas, to represent feelings and events along with descriptive writing would only enhance the connection to the learning and the expression of the students. Making posters, signs, and symbols, and illustrating for narrative and descriptive writing can lead to an interesting interdisciplinarity of approach in the understanding of Language and expression (e.g., Utsara in Assamese textbooks talks about various festivals in the state of Assam and various dance and art forms linked to the festivals). Similarly, using games and activities in Language classes as springboards to a conversation (and as energisers) can improve the experience of Language learning significantly.
f. For developing values and dispositions: The content chosen should be aligned with the larger purposes of education and the values and dispositions that are embedded in NEP 2020 and Constitutional values. This means choosing content that promotes these values, emphasises the unity in diversity of our country, and includes authors from all walks of life, kinds of literature that represent local, regional, and linguistic diversity in Languages, and explicit teaching of appreciation for the rich cultural heritage of the country. It also means choosing content that lends itself to the development of social, emotional, ethical, and aesthetic sensibilities in students through effective Language Education.
2.5.1.3 R3 in the Middle Stage
For learning R3, the chosen content should have materials such as letter charts and sentence cards that introduce the basic script.
a. For reading and writing development in R3, the book should contain small stories and poems in that Language.
b. Reading and writing materials of R3 should be organised from simple to complex levels of learning; they should have some basic introduction to simple literature in to start with.
c. The chosen content must lend itself to oral presentations and conversations, such as continuing a story or completing a conversation.
d. Content should enable the learning of functional skills in the Language of R3 such as basic letter writing, day-to-day conversations, poster making, and invitations.
2.5.1.4 R3 in the Secondary Stage
The choice of content for the teaching and learning of R3 can follow the same principles given in § 2.5.1.2 for content selection in R1 and R2. However, the level of sophistication of content chosen can include both simple and complex learning material in R3 and move rapidly from one to the other (given the amount of time available and the quicker transferability of skills from R1 and R2), thus allowing for the development of linguistic proficiency for academic use in R3.
Teaching Print and Digital Reading Skills: Future ‘biliteracy’ One important thing to consider, given the nature of the current social milieu and what is to likely come, is the daily presence of digital media and screen-based devices in the lives of students. Reading and writing on smartphones and computers are rising norms among people. Given this, it is the need of the hour to teach students to be ‘biliterate’ in their reading skills. This will not only save them from the ‘shallow reading’ that digital media seems to foster, but also maximise the benefits of digital media in their learning. Contemporary research suggests the value of ‘deep reading’ in the lives of human beings, and while well-meaning adults still struggle to switch between printed text and screens, students could be taught to read each medium and switch easily between the two (much like switching between two languages) without compromising on focussed attention, the pace of reading, and good meaning-making. This would mean a planned and deliberate teaching for students on how to read digital media, instead of treating the two mediums as the same.
Students need to develop a deep reading circuit in the first place, before being flooded with the distractions that are common to digital media. So, students spending their early years immersed in print material and then being introduced to digital reading with Teacher guidance may be a way forward in this realm.
Section 2.6 - Pedagogy and Assessment
The approach, principles, and methods of pedagogy and assessment have commonalities across subjects – those have been discussed in Part A, Chapter 3, §3.3 and §3.4 of this document. This section focusses only on what is most critical to Language Education in schools. Hence, it will be useful to read this section along with the above-mentioned section.
2.6.1 Pedagogy for Languages
While all children have an innate and natural capacity to learn languages, it is necessary to know how Language is learned best by students in the educational context of a school. The following ideas on how students learn a language will inform effective pedagogic strategies in each Stage.
a. Students learn a Language well through deliberative processes in schools: Language must be formally and purposively taught through direct instructions and essential rules. This kind of Language learning is a conscious process unlike ‘language acquisition’ in early life when a language is absorbed subconsciously. Reading and writing hence involve an active teaching-learning process as they are not natural or intuitive skills.
b. Students learn better from a balanced approach to literacy: Students become independent readers gradually when exposed to a balance of instructions for meaning making and for reading through decoding and spelling. Proficiency in literacy can be achieved by focussing on both word recognition and accuracy along with language comprehension and expression.
c. Students need sustained regular practice once early oracy and literacy is achieved: Early oracy and literacy set the base for students to learn speaking, reading, and writing well. But this is not enough. Expanding vocabulary through sustained engagement and systematic repetition of listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills through the school years are necessary for mastery of any Language.
d. Students grow in their overall Language abilities from sustained exposure to a variety of literature: Exposure to a variety of literature and forms appropriate to a student’s grade level would create an interest in reading. This enables students to graduate from ‘learning to read’ to the ‘reading to learn’ stage. By the Middle Stage, students are developmentally ready with the capacity to analyse, synthesise, describe, narrate, and apply their Language skills. In the Secondary Stage, students can recognise, think about, and express independent responses to social events and interactions.
2.6.1.1 Strategies for Teaching R1 and R2
2.6.1.1.1 Preparatory Stage
*a. Teaching for oracy *
Listening to a variety of texts and literature enhances students’ vocabulary, contributing to proficiency in speaking a language. Students will grow in their oral Language skills and capacities when they regularly speak about their experiences, describe the texts that they listen to or read, listen to Teachers talking about books, and read texts from diverse genres themselves. Similarly, students listening to/watching the news (radio/TV), movies, serials, educational channels with subtitles, and audio-video materials gives them an active sense of how to speak and listen. They must be taught to respond, describe, narrate, summarise, discuss, and role play from what they listen to. Both free and guided conversations enable development of oral Language skills.
b. Developing reading comprehension
There are several steps in this process, starting from making meaning of individual words all the way to grasping the whole meaning of a text through connecting imagination and experiences. All these steps must be systematically taught for reading comprehension. Teachers must facilitate reading activities for developing the ability to understand different texts. Through this, students will acquire the pleasure of reading and continue to explore different genres of reading encouraged by the Teacher. Dedicated Library hours will ensure that students continue to engage with a variety of books on a wide range of topics. Some classroom strategies to develop reading comprehension are students reading aloud, reading, and discussing what was read, repeated reading for fluency, doing shared readings, guided readings, independent readings, relating readings to prior knowledge, and summarising. (See Box 2.6iv)
c. Developing writing skills
Writing activities require persistent, deliberate, and methodical practice in the classroom for any significant growth or improvement. Writing activities that are limited to copying a given text, copying answers to questions, and reproducing what is memorised do not help with the actual development of writing skills.
Writing can be taught effectively through purposive speaking first. Teachers should then expose students to different samples of writing forms and styles. They should teach students planning, drafting, and finally writing a piece based on audience and purpose. Teachers should also model good writing for them. Teachers’ feedback on draft plans is formative in developing a good piece of writing. They should help students progress from writing with their guidance to writing independently.
d. Developing vocabulary
Learning new words and their uses must be integrated with other language skills and should be part of daily instruction. Some useful strategies for developing vocabulary are helping students predict the contextual meaning of words, engaging them in word games and word-building activities, teaching them to use a dictionary extensively, and encouraging them to use new words they acquire in speech and writing. Students can also develop their range of vocabulary by engaging with books from the Library. (See Box 2.6iv)
Developing Interest and Preference in Reading As a Teacher of Grade 4, I believe that it is necessary to give my students regular access to books, and also give them a chance to connect and engage with them. I do this often. One such class, I decided to read the book ‘Kali Aur Dhamin Saap’ by Zai Whitaker to my students. The story is about Kali, who is isolated in school and has no friends because he comes from a marginalised section of society. He is very good and clever at catching rat snakes, which other children can’t do.
Before reading from the book, I showed my students the cover of the book and asked them to read the title aloud. Some of them did so. Then, I briefly introduced the author to them.
Next, I asked my class, ‘Who is Kali?’
The students said, ‘Kali is the name of the boy who is in the picture…’ and ‘Dhamin is the name of the snake…’ Students further added, ‘It looks as if the snake and boy are friends.’ Then, I told the class that the Dhamin snake is long, lives in the agriculture fields, and eats rats.
I continued, ‘Look at this picture, what do you think the story is about?’ Sahiba spoke, ‘There will be a snake near the river. The boy will go there, and they become friends.’
Muskan surmised, ‘The boy will go and ask the snake to be his friend.’ Lucky guessed, ‘Kali looks very poor. He will earn money by showing the snake to people.’ A few other children also shared their guesses.
I started reading the story, periodically showing pictures, and asking my students to share about what they saw, what Kali was doing, and what would happen next. My students answered my questions enthusiastically. I would periodically also ask what they thought about developments.
Soon, the children could identify the emotions depicted in the pictures. When asked ‘why’ questions, many of my students gave answers that connected to their own life, like that Kali was sad because his mother/grandmother forced him to go to school. They were able to make predictions about what would happen next rather accurately also. From this, I was also getting to know that they were able to understand important concepts/themes in the book with the help of experiences from their own social interactions.
My students also liked the pictures in the book very much. The class was happy to see the last picture where many children agreed to be friends with Kali.
I planned four to five activities designed to help my students engage more with the story. The first activity was a simple one, where my students sat in groups to draw a picture of Kali and his new friends playing, and then shared and spoke about their drawings with each other. Some of these pictures are still put up in my classroom.
Subsequent activities included extending the story, enacting Kali’s story, picture sequencing (and writing a line to describe the picture), and story retelling (by my students) activities. On finishing all the activities, I showed the class a few other story books (from the school library) with diverse contexts and talked about how interesting those stories are. I allowed them to choose books and told them to take them home to read. A few wanted to explore other books in the Library too.
I have been seeing many small positive changes in my students. They were more inclined to picking up books to take home. They were also sharing more intuitive points about the books and pictures in post-reading activities. I felt that this whole process was very helpful in motivating my students to choose books they were interested in.
*2.6.1.1.2 Middle Stage *
*a. Teaching critical listening and oral presentation skills: *
As the functional and literary aspects of Language take on a central focus, students in the Middle Stage learn to use Language more formally than in the Preparatory Stage. They progress to learning critical listening skills, listening to a variety of texts, contexts, and varied kinds of literature that would enhance their vocabulary, leading to proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing. Listening and speaking activities must occur together in the classroom. Some specific classroom activities can include panel discussions, debates, interviews, anchoring, public speaking, and reviews of movies, plays, or short films.
Individual Differences in Classroom Participation It is common to find some students in the Middle Stage communicating more freely in the classroom than others. In many cultures, boys are encouraged to interact more freely and assertively than girls, and some students from economically privileged backgrounds express themselves more confidently than others who come from less privileged backgrounds. Students who tend to speak with hesitation for various reasons (such as personal and socio-cultural beliefs) must be encouraged to participate freely in Language class activities. Language classes can be a space for empowering students and giving them encouragement and equal opportunities to express themselves through reading, speaking, and writing. These classes can be a place for understanding and addressing the root causes of such hesitation, thus instilling the spirit of free speech and democratic participation.
b. Developing reading skills:
This is the stage where ‘reading-to-learn’ would happen to a greater extent.
i. Functional reading skills can be taught through samples of applications, letters, reports, invitations, emails, essays, posters, and circulars. They learn to recognise and understand the purpose of each of these with the teacher’s help through questions on format and target audience.
ii. For developing literary reading skills in this Stage, Teachers can conduct a variety of literature-related activities (e.g., choosing a genre for the week, or a theme for the week). In these activities, students must be taught to describe the effect elicited on reading the words used, identify basic literary devices, and share their overall experience of reading the text.
iii. For developing critical reading skills, the Teacher encourages independent student reading of a fiction or non-fiction text and gives space to discuss the intent of the author, understand the context, identify core content, and interpret possible meanings thus enabling critical reading.
iv. It is necessary to build interest in reading among students through exciting activities at school. These activities must be a part of the regular Language classroom. For example, activities such as ‘book of the day’ (where extracts from a chosen book are read in the class, and students discuss the plotline, characters, and themes in the book), ‘author of the day’ (where students read many works of the same author and discuss their style and broader concerns of the author), making a trip to the local Library (to learn about book cataloguing, book search, and Library maintenance), organising for a literature festival (filled with book talks, exhibitions, creative writing competitions, have exhibits about authors from all walks of life), and a book exhibition (students display their current readings) would enhance student interest in books and reading. (See Box 2.6iv)
c. Activities for developing writing skills:
i. Functional Language writing skills: Teachers should provide students with opportunities to write a variety of forms including essays, reports, emails, blogs, and social media comments and posts. Pedagogy should include Teachers providing samples, explaining attributes and strategies for each form, encouraging students to ideate and write independently, as well as to proofread and revise their own writing.
ii. Literary Language writing skills: This should include experiential writing – i.e., where students are encouraged to write based on their own experiences and writing appreciation or critique of literary works. The pedagogy here also should include Teachers providing samples, explaining attributes and strategies, encouraging students to write independently, as well as to proofread and revise their work. Critique of literature also needs students to read the texts carefully and often repeatedly, sometimes with the Teacher’s help.
Learning to Interview *I am a Teacher working with Grade 6 students. Developing interviewing skills is one of the prescribed Learning Outcomes. I designed a series of activities to help my students develop this skill — one of them is described here.
To provide students with a preliminary experience of conducting interviews, I gave them the task of talking with the clerk, Head Teacher, or other staff working in the school, and asked them to learn more about their work and areas of interest/hobbies. I made four teams. I told students to go and interview whomever they wished to during the break.
While observing the interviews, I identified some key points to discuss in the next stage. I asked my students to share their experience. Then, I asked ‘What do you think are the things that you should keep in mind while interviewing someone?’ I allowed students to share their thoughts, I wrote their points on the blackboard while appreciating their efforts.
Drawing the attention of the students to the specific points on the blackboard, including mutual introduction, statement of purpose, preparation of interview questions, and documentation, I planned to provide opportunities to strengthen their skills on these areas.
To start with, I asked my class ‘Imagine that you are interviewing a farmer. How would you introduce yourself? Let us act out this situation.’ I allowed six students to act out this scenario. While the children were engaging in the role play, I made sure that they clearly mentioned the purpose of the interview and that the other students took notice.
To further provide students with the experience of framing interview questions, I asked the students to create interview questions for a different situation. I reminded them that the questions should be clear, simple, and relevant to the topic. I also informed them that the questions should be respectful to the person and their profession. Following this, I paired my students, and asked them to interview each other with the questions they prepared. (The interviewee would assume the role mentioned in the situation given.)
In my next class, I asked students again about their experience conducting interviews and being interviewed. I slowly led my students to realise that while some of their questions were appropriate, others we not. I gave them some time to review their interview questions once more and asked them to conduct their interviews again.
In my next class, I told the students about the way to record interviews: I introduced the two models to record interviews [Recording the Conversation (verbatim) and Summarising with Key Points], depending on the purpose of the interview. I engaged my students in a small discussion about how to prepare these reports as well. I then played a video of an interview, and helped my students prepare a report of the same.
I decided that it was now time to provide my students practical exposure in conducting interviews. I told the class, ‘Now, we have understood the method of conducting an interview. Can you conduct an interview with any one person of your choice outside the school?’
I regularly followed up in my subsequent classes about the progress of the class in selecting a person to interview, prepare and review their questions, conducting the interview and preparing the report. After a period of two weeks, my whole class had completed their interviews and were preparing their reports.
The final activity involved narrating and editing the interview they had done, and their experience throughout the process.
2.6.1.1.3 Secondary Stage
a. Oral presentations
Students must be given opportunities for sharing their ideas freely and listening to others’ points of view. They must also ask questions, argue for their own views, and accept others’ views with proper justification. Students must be taught focussed dialogue and conversation which require organising their thoughts for better clarity, the art of raising relevant questions, brainstorming, and thinking aloud, active participation, and skills of literary appreciation.
Teachers must use methods such as role play, group discussion, debate, open house dialogue, and interviews to allow students to ask questions and learn to respond impromptu. Clubbased activities, assembly gatherings, and celebrations in the school should be used as platforms to practise these methods and should not be seen as a separate exercise. Teachers must also find ways to teach students how to work on their listening skills (paying attention to details, summarising) and use the same in day-to-day life.
b. Developing reading skills
i. Literary Language skills: At the Secondary Stage, students should be encouraged to participate in group activities in critically analysing a literary text in the class (by engaging with questions related to form and vocabulary used, and ideas and feelings provoked) and participate in the activities of the school literature club, poetry house, and fiction-reading groups.
ii. Critical reading skills: The Teacher should focus on enabling students to make meaning of a variety of texts, move from initial impressions to a closer reading of the text by asking questions related to the effect of words and ideas expressed, and how the effect of the language used in a text is working for specific purposes. iii. Exposure to reading multicultural texts: Teachers must bring a variety of texts from different regions and languages and should encourage students to read and then share views on them. Activities such as the comparison of literary works of two different writers can be done effectively by inquiring into the author’s voice, cultural background, and context of the work, and talking about other similar works in the genre. Projects, plays, folk music performances, and posters are important ways in which students in this Stage can be introduced to texts from a different era. Multicultural texts should be available in the Library for students to read in their free time. (See Box 2.6iv)
*c. Developing writing skills *
*i. Functional Language writing skills: *Students should be given enough opportunity to practise writing reports, essays, notes, applications, letters to editors, advertisements, and notices. Students should also be encouraged to write in magazines, newsletters, newspapers, and blogs.
Teachers must encourage students to make well-planned and scripted videos, plan for educational YouTube channels and podcasts, and should guide students to pick the right kind of content for these means. Here, the focus should be on writing the script for the content (core idea, related ideas, order of ideas to be communicated, and elements of evocative communication).
*ii. Literary Language writing skills: *Students must be guided towards independent and creative writing in this Stage. They must be taught capacities for analysing literature and connecting it to its historical and socio-economical aspects rather than reading it in isolation, enabling the writing of a critical review. Teachers must ensure students practise writing poems, stories, or plays with literary devices (e.g., similes, metaphors, hyperbole, irony, puns, and oxymorons). Teaching them to identify voice and style of a writer taking cues from the material they read will help them find their own voice. The Teacher should give constant feedback to help students improve their writing which comprises inputs on students’ level of literary skills, proficiency in grammar, and appropriateness of style in writing.
Teaching an Unfamiliar Language *The teaching of an unfamiliar or less familiar language would require a base of connections with an already-known language.
The rules of grammar in speech and writing in one language are often the basis for learning other languages in the life of a student at school. A certain degree of knowledge, skills, and dispositions required for literacy is transferable to other new languages to be learned.
After initial exposure to listening to the language being used in simple transactions, developing a basic understanding of what combination of sounds/phonemes are typical (and permissible) in a language, the patterns of stress and intonation in speaking it, the shapes of the letters and words (and sounds associated with them) are all important milestones in learning the unfamiliar language. Once this is achieved, Teachers may introduce new vocabulary, idioms, and samples of different forms of writing and literature.
The essential principles of how the meaning-making of written texts work, including literary appreciation (stylistic analysis, the effect of the language used and so on) are often common across many languages. The time taken for learning these the first time around in a particular language is often greater than the time taken to learn the same aspects in a newer language.
This means R2 and R3 in Language Education would require adequate practice time, but not necessarily an equal amount of initial learning time as R1. A speech-rich and text-rich class environment will allow for immersive learning of these newer languages.
2.6.1.2 Strategies for Teaching R3
2.6.1.2.1 Middle Stage
Since the students would have already become proficient in their basic skills in R1 and R2, they will acquire these Competencies much faster given the nature of the transfer of Language skills.
a. Listening and oral development
To develop oral proficiency in R3, students must get a chance to listen and converse in that language first. This can be done through listening and talking about movies, plays, and short films. As part of these listening activities, a pre-viewing and post-viewing talk about the movie/play and its significance can be discussed. Students can also do a detailed review of movies/plays/short films that can be presented orally in the classroom. Similarly, students must engage in basic conversations to develop day-to-day speaking skills in the language. The Teacher can provide relevant imaginary contexts for conversation between/among students (e.g., interactions between a shopkeeper and a customer, between a Teacher and a student, between a doctor and a patient, and so on). After acquiring basic conversation skills, students may use real-world issues to discuss and debate in the classroom using R3. This will help the students sustain the conversation in the targeted language.
b. Development of reading skills
Reading skills in R3 can be taught in a systematic manner similar to the teaching of R1 and R2 Languages at an earlier Stage. This would entail the teaching of script decoding and encoding through practice, and comprehension of new words (with support) from reading short stories and poems. Students also need to be taught to read in the language purposively for events such as ‘book for the day’ and ‘author for the day,’ expand their vocabulary with word-building exercises and the use of a dictionary, as well as read functional material such as recipe books, formal and informal letters, and invitations. A wide range of books and resources in R3 must also be available in the Library that students can use to develop their interest in reading and their reading skills.
c. Development of writing skills
Here, students learn to apply already learned writing strategies (from R1 and R2 Languages) to write in R3. The Teacher can introduce the R3 script contextually with the help of sign boards, nameplates, and invitations (this can help in guessing the letters). Immediately after, the Teacher may give students writing practice with the aksharas and maatras in the language. After learning the script, the Teacher can give students basic tasks such as writing signboards, nameplates, and invitations. Gradually, they can be given the task of writing small sentences for conversations helping the students use the Language coherently. Writing for functional use is a necessary skill in R3. This can be achieved through simple activities such as diary writing, letter writing, and short story writing.
2.6.1.2.2 Secondary Stage
The pedagogic strategies for R3 in this Stage will resemble the techniques employed in the teaching of R1 and R2 for oral, reading, and writing proficiency in the Secondary Stage . The degree of complexity of literary texts used may not equal those of the texts used in R1 and R2, but the essential linguistic and literary skills developed could be aimed at matching those of R1 and R2 as much as possible.
2.6.1.3 Some Additional Considerations
2.6.1.3.1 Specific Learning Disabilities
The box below (Box 2.6iii) is a brief note on the idea of Specific Learning Disabilities in the classroom. Students with these disabilities struggle in the Language classroom and face significant difficulty in completing the tasks assigned to the class independently. Classroom activities for students with Specific Learning Disabilities require more careful planning and more support from the Teacher.
Specific Learning Disabilities in the Language Classroom Specific Learning Disabilities are a group of conditions that obstruct a person’s ability to listen, think, speak, write, spell, or perform mathematical calculations. One or more of these abilities may affect a student at a time. Specific Learning Disability interferes with the developmentally predictable learning process of a student. The term does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual impairment, hearing impairment, motor disabilities, mental retardation, emotional disturbance, or of cultural, environmental, or economic disadvantage.
As Language classrooms are one of the biggest sites for observation of such learning disabilities, Teachers must be alert to the presence of any such learning challenges a student may be experiencing.
The Rights of Persons with Disability (RPWD) Act 2016 defines Specific Learning Disabilities as a dissimilar group of conditions wherein there is a deficit in processing language, spoken or written, that may show itself as a difficulty to comprehend, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations.
Teachers will need to find a professional diagnosis of such disabilities in Grade 3 (or at eight years of age, whichever is earlier). The School Principal, Teachers, parents, and the clinical psychologist or doctor will have to collaborate to develop learning strategies for a student with a learning disability, based on the kind and extent of their learning challenges. This means framing special considerations in the kind of content selected, the methods of pedagogy used, and the assessment tools used for the learning of such a student.
2.6.1.3.2 School Library for Language Development
Well-resourced libraries are necessary for students across all the Stages . A wide range of books must cater to the interests and needs of all the students in the school to promote interest in reading, as well as address academic demands.
There is a need for students to engage more with books and develop a habit of reading. Therefore, specific Curricular Goals refer to developing an interest in reading and the regular use of the Library. These Goals, particularly in the Secondary Stage, would also require the Library to have literary works in many Indian languages, as also translated works of well-known authors.
Library and Language development The school Library is of paramount importance in developing language abilities among students across the Stages. A well-equipped Library provides access to diverse reading materials, promotes a love for reading, nurtures storytelling skills, fosters critical thinking and creativity, enhances information literacy skills, and offers a safe and inclusive learning space. By engaging with the resources and activities provided by the Library, students can develop invaluable language abilities that serve as a foundation for their academic success and lifelong learning. 1. Access to a wide range of resources: A school Library could provide students with access to a wide range of resources, including books, magazines, newspapers, and other reading materials. If books are sorted according to Grade levels, categorised, and labelled according to themes and subjects, it would provoke students’ interest and allow easy access to them. 2. Development of Language abilities: Exposure to reading diverse texts helps improve language skills, such as vocabulary, comprehension of different forms of text and language structure, different viewpoints, and overall language proficiency. 3. Opportunities for independent reading: A Library can provide space for students to choose books that interest them and read at their own pace. Encouraging students to take books home and conducting activities in assemblies around books promotes reading among all students. 4. Support for classroom learning: The school Library needs a mapping of Library books to Learning Standards, so that the Library would not stand in isolation outside the classroom. Instead, it would be part of classroom resources and processes. 5. Encouragement of a love of reading: By providing a wide range of engaging and age-appropriate books, students can develop a lifelong love of reading, which can have a positive impact on their language and overall development. 6. Promotion of literacy skills: The school Library can help promote literacy through activities such as book clubs, writing workshops, and storytelling sessions, which can help students develop their language skills and become more confident readers and writers. 7. Supporting research and inquiry: The Library offers resources such as encyclopaedias, dictionaries, and reference materials that support students’ research and inquiry-based learning. By engaging in projects, students improve their reading, writing, and information literacy skills, enabling them to express themselves effectively and communicate their findings.
Role of the Library in Language development:
Illustrative Library activities for Language development:
1. Drawing Time: Students can be invited to the Library to select and read a book of their choice. Following this, they can be provided with stationery to draw a picture based on their understanding of the text. 2. Book Reviews: Students must be encouraged to process their reading of books through discussions and presentations. The task of presenting a book review to others helps with structuring one’s own understanding and response to reading for the sake of clear communication with others. 3. Storytime: Storytime in the Library would invite students to the space. These sessions can be interactive and engaging, by incorporating elements such as songs and finger puppets. 4. R eading buddies: Pairing younger students with older ones can be a fun and effective way to promote reading and writing skills. The older students can help in reading to the younger and together learn Language. 5. Book clubs: Setting up a book club for young students can encourage them to read more and discuss the books they are reading. They could encourage students to express their ideas in writing. It can be carried out for Middle Stage students in the Library.
6. Writing workshops: Writing workshops can focus on specific types of writing, such as poetry or creative writing, and can be tailored to the age and skill level of students. 7. Book displays: Visually appealing displays can be created, themed around specific topics or events. These can also include activities, such as writing prompts or book reviews. 8. Enrichment programmes: Events, such as author visits, Author of the day, Genre of the week, and so on, would enhance students’ listening and speaking skills as they engage in discussions, share their thoughts, and interact with others. 9. Book repairs and book canvassing: These activities teach students the value of good books and ideas.
2.6.2 Assessment in Languages
Few key principle for assessment in Language are:
Students must be assessed for their fluency and proficiency in the language(s) taught, their ability to effectively communicate in those language(s), and their skill of reading and writing in various forms, such as picture descriptions, simple stories, complex essays, literary descriptions, and research papers.
Students must be assessed for not only their fluency and proficiency in reading and comprehending a wide variety of texts, but also answering questions based on familiar/seen as well as unseen passages/unfamiliar text, producing a variety of written materials such as essays, letters, posters, and other creative writing pieces, oral communication in class discussions, debates, role plays and other forms of presentations.
A few Teacher Voices illustrate assessment in Language below.
Using Story Sequences to facilitate Independent Writing I wanted to assess my Grade 5 students’ ability to express in writing their own thoughts and feelings. I didn’t want them to just memorise a few sentences on any matter and reproduce it in writing.
I tried something different this time. I decided to give them a picture series of The Fox and the Goat to motivate them to write about it in their own words. Since all students in my class were not very confident, I also gave them some clues to start thinking about what to write.
I distributed copies of the pictures to my class and said, ‘Now, listen, everyone. Let us try a fun task today. First, does anyone in this class write stories? Have any of you tried?’ I waited for my class to respond, and I was not disappointed. Rama, one of the quieter students, slowly raised his hand. He shared that he had written a story about a naughty boy and his dog. He had also drawn a picture to go along with his story.
I drew my students’ attention to the picture series I had given them. ‘Now, look at these pictures. Which animals can you see?’ A chorus of voices rang across the classroom, ‘Fox!’ and ‘Goat…’
‘Good! Now, Rama, what can you see in the first picture?’
‘Fox is jumping!’ he said.
I gave other students a chance to respond as well, and 2-3 more students offered responses along the same lines.
‘Very nice!’ I complimented my students. ‘Then, let us write the same story in 6-8 sentences with the help of the given clues. Remember, the clues are not in order, and you will have to expand on them for your story. When you read all the lines together, it should be a short story…’
I also wrote some clues on the blackboard to help them organise their thoughts.
Clues: not very deep, could not get out again, thirsty goat, water was good, jump in, began to drink, jumped on the goat’s back, out of the well, begged the fox, to help him out I gave my students the rest of the class to try and frame sentences independently. I walked around, offering support (in the form of words and spellings) to students who were facing difficulty. Some of them needed support in elaborating the connection between pictures.
By the end of the class, most of my students had a short story written down in their copybooks.This is the criteria I used for grading my students: 
| Criteria | Grade D | Grade C | Grade B | Grade A |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Length and Coherence in the Story | Writes 1 - 2 sentences with limited coherence | Writes 3 - 4 sentences with a partially clear and coherent narrative | Writes 5 - 6 sentences with an almost clear and coherent narrative | Writes 6 - 8 sentences with a clear and coherent narrative |
| Clues Used | Develops the story using few to none of the clues | Develops the story using 2-3 clues | Develops the story using 4-7 clues | Develops the story using 8-10 clues |
| Writing Skills | Demonstrates no variation in sentence structures, vocabulary, and sequencing | Demonstrates limited variation in sentence structures, vocabulary, and sequencing | Demonstrates some variation in sentence structures, vocabulary, and sequencing | Demonstrates a variety of sentence structures, vocabulary, and appropriate sequencing |
| Grammar and Punctuation | Makes more than 10 grammar and punctuation errors that impede understanding | Makes 7-10 grammar and punctuation errors that impede understanding | Makes 3-6 grammar and punctuation errors that impede understanding | Grammar and punctuation are accurate with less than 3 errors |
Poem: Understanding verses I teach Language to Grade 7. I wanted to assess my students’ ability to understand poems. Students tend to learn the lines of the poem by-heart without understanding it. They also memorise the answers to the questions provided at the end of the poem. So, I did something different. I selected a poem that my students would be able to read and understand from an external source. I wanted to see if my students could read the poem independently and respond to questions based on it. This was the poem that I selected: Pirate Story Three of us afloat in the meadow by the swing, Three of us abroad in the basket on the lea. Winds are in the air, they are blowing in the spring, And waves are on the meadow like the waves there are at sea Where shall we adventure, to-day that we’re afloat, Wary of the weather and steering by a star? Shall it be to Africa, a-steering of the boat, To Providence, or Babylon or off to Malabar? Hi! but here’s a squadron a-rowing on the sea-- Cattle on the meadow a-charging with a roar! Quick, and we’ll escape them, they’re as mad as they can be, The wicket is the harbour and the garden is the shore.Robert Louis Stevenson * I divided my students into groups of three. I asked them to read the poem, discuss it, and then answer a few questions. The questions I gave my class were as follows: 1. What do you think is the theme of the poem? i. nature ii. voyage iii. love iv. friendship 2. The questions in the following stanza convey a sense of: Where shall we adventure, to-day that we’re afloat, Wary of the weather and steering by a star? Shall it be to Africa, a-steering of the boat, To Providence, or Babylon or off to Malabar? i. melancholy ii. resolve iii. woe iv. uncertainty 3. List all the new words that you learnt in this poem. Now pick any 2 words and frame a new sentence with it. New words: Sentence 1: Sentence 2: 4. Describe any of the stanzas in the poem in your own words. (In 7-8 lines)
The third question was difficult for my students. So, I allowed them to use the dictionary to find out the meaning of the new words and then frame sentences using it. After the class answered all 4 questions, this is how I graded them:*
| Criteria | Grade D | Grade C | Grade B |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. of Questions Answered | Answers all 4 questions correctly | Partially answers all 4 questions | Answers only 1-2 questions |
| Identifying New Words and Framing Sentences | Identifies new words and frames grammatically correct sentences | Identifies new words and frames sentences with grammatical errors | Identifies new words, but is unable to frame meaningful sentences |
| Description of the Stanzas | Describes accurately the meaning of the stanza in their own words | Describes the meaning of the stanza, but shows gaps in accuracy | Describes the stanza primarily using words from the poem |
| Use of Vocabulary and Expressions | Uses appropriate vocabulary and other forms of expression to enhance their writing | Uses very limited vocabulary and expressions in their writing | Unable to express themselves meaningfully, makes errors in writing |
Class Debates: Supporting Each Other to Speak *I teach Grade 9. Students are often uncomfortable when they are expected to speak. They are often unable to put across their points in the class and contribute to discussions and debates. So, I wanted to create a space for my students to talk. I divided the class into groups and gave them the topic: Online teaching is the best way for students to learn. I taught them how to research topics using books from the Library and the internet. I also explained to them some ways in which they could frame their arguments and present it to the group, such as:
‘Excuse me, may I please have your attention for a few seconds?’
‘In my opinion, …’
‘I am not convinced about…’
‘I agree with the views expressed by…’
Each of my students made their own points for or against the topic. I gave them time to share their ideas with the group, discuss their points and then decide whether they agree/disagree with the topic. By the end of the class, I had taken note of the stance of each group, and the members in each group. That evening, I prepared two sets of chits — one with names of students in groups who were for the topic, and the other with names of students in groups who were against the topic.
In my next class, I walked in carrying the two sets of chits and asked my students to sit in their groups. Then, I asked all the groups who supported the topic to sit on the right, and those who were against the topic to occupy the left side of the classroom.
I picked up two chits — one from each pile and asked them to share the points (one point each, in turns) they had discussed with the rest of the class. If they got stuck at any point of the debate, I gave them two chances to ask for support from their group members. I felt that my students were more willing to speak in front of the class when they knew that they had an option to take support from their group members; this probably made them feel less ‘put on the spot’.
| Areas of Assessment | High | Moderate | Feedback to Student |
|---|---|---|---|
| Relevance of the Argument | |||
| Connection and Logic Between Ideas | |||
| Grammatically Correct Sentences | |||
| Confidence in Speaking |
These are the areas in which I assessed my students and gave them qualitative feedback:
The whole activity took approximately 2-3 classes, but all my students made a genuine
attempt to speak in the class. I was very happy with the results of this activity and
decided to try more of such activities in the future.*