Assessing the Practicality of English Course of Undergraduate Learners
Abstract
The last few decades have seen a growth in the role of the English language around the world as the lingua franca for economic, scientific, and political exchange. The term lingua franca means “any language used for communication between groups who have no other language in common”(Matthews,2000,p.209).According to Crystal(2003), 85%of the world's international organizations use English as their official language in transnational communication. About 85% of the world’s important film productions and markets use English as well , and 90% of the published academic articles in several academic fields, such as linguistics, are written in English. In many cases, the increased growth in the use of the English language can be attributed to educational, economic, or cultural globalization.An understanding and command over the English language is a most important determinant of access to higher education, employment possibilities and social opportunities. School-leavers who are not adequately trained in English as a language are always at a handicap in the world of higher education. …This disadvantage is accentuated further in the world of work, not only in professional occupations but also in white-collar occupations overall. ...There are a very large number of people who simply do not have the resources for such investment. The outcome is exclusion. We believe that inclusion is possible through public provision.
This research paper focuses on how Functional English course affects tertiary level students those who studied English as a second language. In this research paper, the survey was carried out with total sample of 60 students pursuing their own disciplinary degree. The gathered information was coded and given percentages. Survey questionnaire method was used for data collection. The result of the study indicates that how they are comfortable with world language English as compare to their English course.
Introduction:
The topic of the present research work reads: “Measuring effectiveness of functional English course offered at tertiary level to ESL learners learning English for specific purpose”, the statement is based on the premise that English (Practical) has proved to be efficacious in all three different faculties: Management Studies, Science, and Engineering and Technology of Sardar Patel University.
Aim: My aim in this study was to make a critical study of the efficacy of English (Practical) course offered at tertiary level to ESL learners learning English for specific purpose in Sardar Patel University.
Literature Review:
I’ve worked with topic called measurement the effectiveness of functional English course offered at tertiary level to ESL learners learning English for specific purpose. I’ve gone through all syllabi in detailed of BE (IT), BSc, BCA and BBA in Sardar Patel University. I’ve also studied all references that have been prescribed in their disciplines.
Objectives:
We wished to identify the objectives of English (Practical) so as to find out whether these objectives are met. Our purpose was
1.To examine the syllabus in English (Practical) at FYBE (IT), FYBSc and FYBBA and to measure its efficiency.
2.To make a survey of a group of randomly selected students from each of these four classes so as to ascertain their opinion on the usefulness of English (practical) as a part of their syllabus in English.
3.To measure the efficacy of the syllabus in English(Practical) at FYBE(IT), FYBSc and FYBBA
4.To find out whether the opinion is the same across both male and female students.
5.To find out whether the opinion of the students is the same across given the medium of instruction they had in the past: vernacular or English.
Operationalization of the terms:
Functional English:
An approach to linguistics which is concerned with language as an instrument of social interaction rather than as a system of formal rules that is viewed in isolation from their uses in communication. It considers the individual as a social being and investigates the way in which he or she acquires language and uses it in order to communicate with others in his or her social environment.(Richards,C., Platt, J., Platt, H., & Candlin, N. (1992). Longman dictionary of language teaching and applied linguistics (Vol. 78). London: Longman.)
Tertiary education:
Education beyond the level of secondary school, such as at college, poly-technic or university. ( Richards,C., Platt, J., Platt, H., & Candlin, N. (1992). Longman dictionary of language teaching and applied linguistics (Vol. 78). London: Longman.)
Rationale of the study:
This is one of those topics that could decide on the shape of things to come because every syllabus, except the one in the Faculty of Engineering and Technology which is governed by AICTE norms, is revised periodically every three or five years depending on the developments in the field concerned. A work of this kind would provide useful input to policy-makers and boards of Studies in the specializations concerned to decide on the changes that are necessary. This researcher had offered Functional English as a subsidiary subject at the undergraduate level and thus she had studied language and communication skills for three years of her studies before graduation. The Functional English papers also had a practical component. Being a beneficiary of those courses, it was natural that she felt the need to evaluate the efficacy of other such courses.
Questions:
1. What are the course components (Soft skills) of Communication Skills (English-Practical and Theory)?
2. What are the different strategies (teaching techniques) being used by teachers while conducting English Practical classes?
3. Whether the teachers favours current syllabus?
4. Whether the students favours current syllabus?
5. What changes do the teachers want in the current syllabus?
6. What changes do the students want in the current syllabus?
Null Hypotheses:
A credible research work seeks to test a hypothesis or a set of hypotheses. A hypothesis is an assumption which a research begins his\her work. However, when a researcher is not sure about the relation between two variables he or she uses null hypotheses.
We wish to test the following null hypotheses in this research:
1.Students lacking language skills, they are poor in communication skills.
2.The syllabi in English(Practical) at FYBE(IT), FYBSc, FYBCA and FYBBA are efficacious.
3.Gender hardly plays a role in shaping student opinion on the utility of the courses taught to them.
4.Students’ background with regard to the medium of instruction seldom has a role to play in shaping their learning.
Research Methodology:
Participant
I’ve simple used sampling techniques for this survey. The survey was carried out with a total sampling of 60 students including male & female who are pursuing their own disciplinary degrees FYBE (IT), FYBSc and FYBBA of Sardar Patel Education Campus (SPEC), near Vallabh Vidyanagar.
Research design
There is the replication of the process of scientific research in survey that allow a researcher to follow a certain structural process systematically, using the following the procedures:
Formulation of the topic
Objectives
Rationale
Formulation of the hypothesis/es
Formulation of conceptual definitions
Formulation of operational definitions
Gathering data
Analysis and interpretation of the data
Conclusion
Population of the study
I’ve preferred tertiary level students who are studying English for specific purpose like FYBE(IT), FYBSc and FYBBA in S.P.University .
Students are basically belong to village area and their native language is gujarati.
Instruments for Data Collection
For the research purpose, Survey method was used for data collection. For this study, questionnaire was a major tool and will be used as main data of tertiary level students of FYBE(IT), FYBSc and FYBBA.
Data Analysis & Result
On the basis of data collection the researcher analyzed the data.The data was collected from the students are analyzed in detail. Each question is answered according to the result and discussed thoroughly. We had collected data from 40 students from each college in the survey, taking the total to 160 students from all 4 colleges put together. Of these, 102 (63.75%) were male and 58 (36.25%) female students. On Reading English Newspaper/s The survey throws up some interesting statistics. One feels satisfied to learn that 100.00%, 85.00%, 67.05%, and 70.00% in FYBBA, FYBCA, FYBE (IT), and FYBSc classes read English newspapers.
Of all the students who participated in the survey, while 51.88% male students have confirmed that they read English newspaper/s, the corresponding percentage of girl students reading an English newspaper is 28.75%.Thus the overall percentage of those who read at least one English newspaper works out to 80.63% and this, to our minds, is a happy sign indicative of interest in learning English or even improving upon their knowledge of English.
The English Newspaper Preferred
Preferences are a matter of personal choices people make and, therefore, there were bound to be differences on this subject. 95.00%, 90.00%, 72.05%, and 77.05% students in FYBBA, FYBCA, FYBE (IT), and FY BSc respectively have shown a clear preference for The Times of India as compared to The Indian Express and The Hindu.
53.13% male students preferred reading The Times of India, a small section of them constituting 01.25% had a preference for The Indian Express and The Hindu. The corresponding figures for girl students here are 30.63% for The Times of India and exactly the same number of 1.25% for The Indian Express and The Hindu respectively.
The Column of the English newspaper they read
The sports section is widely read according to the results of the survey with 45.00% students in FYBBA, 55.00% at FYBCA, 35.00% at FYBE (IT), and 55.00% at FY BSc showing a clear preference for it. The other section of the Newspaper to get preference is the news from the world of entertainment with 30.00% at FYBBA, 22.00% at FYBCA, 45.00% at FYBE (IT), and 35.50% at FY BSc.
Moving to the gender divide, researcher found that 64.7 1 % male students showed a preference for sports, 06.86% for editorial/s, and 23.53% focused attention on the entertainment section. The corresponding figures for girl students are 17.24% for sports, 08.62% in editorials and letters to the editor, but 50.00% of them showed a preference for entertainment section.
Language of the English Newspaper
Although 58.75% male students find the language in the English newspaper that they read quite rich, they reported no problems in reading it, but there was a group of 39.38% who found it difficult to understand such rich language. Insofar as the girl students are concerned, 72.41% had no problems in reading the English newspaper even if the language in it was rich, with 13.79% reporting that they found it difficult to understand the language. One can easily find girl students faring better than male students.
English Magazines
The quality of reading one does is believed to be of help in shaping one's Language learning and use. Much is made out of the kind of magazines we read. 56.86% of the male students reported that they read India Today, 14.71% Business Today, and only 5.86% read Competition Success Review.
There is a marked difference here too across the gender divide. 55.17% girl students reported reading India Today, 5.17% Business Today, and 17.24% Competition Success Review. If fewer male students (5.86%) read Competition Success Review, fewer girl students (5.17%) read Business Today .
Influence of English Newspapers and Magazines
We wanted to know from them whether they thought English newspapers and magazines play a role in helping them master English. 61.76% male students were of the opinion that English newspaper and magazines help them gain command over English. As compared to this, 74.14% girl students believed that a marked change comes about after one begins to read English newspapers and magazines.
Use of Teachers' Help in Overcoming Language Problem
Teachers in the world we live in today are taken to be performing the roles of instructors and facilitators. Whether students take the initiative of seeking their teachers' help in overcoming language problem depends on the degree of self-confidence they have as well as the degree of confidence they have in their teachers.
Researcher were happy to find that 58.82% male students had sought their teachers' help in learning what they found difficult to learn, though there were35.29% who reported that they never did so. The corresponding figure for girl students stands at 63.79% for those who sought help and 31.03% who did not do so. One can only wonder if the hesitation is due either to shyness or to ego. Alternatively, we may take these figures to be of a section of students who are high achievers.
The Use of Computers have become a necessity of modem life because they enable us to process information and data with a speed hitherto unknown. A person who is not trained to use a computer is taken to be illiterate in modem societies. 78.43% male and 94.83% girl students are familiar with computers and use them quite often, but 17.65% male and 05.17% girl students have responded that although they may be familiar with the computers, they do not use them often.
The Use of Internet for Studies
The Internet provides a good source of information and data. However, one needs to be careful in making use of whatever may be available on the internet because much of this may not really be useful especially when it comes to studies. The data from the survey reveals that 78.43% male and 68.79% girl students make use of Internet for the purpose of their studies. There is an urgent need for institutions and decision-makers in them to give the student’s access to the Internet and make arrangements to get them trained to use it for the purpose of research in their respective specializations.
Different Websites used by the Students 36.27% of the male students access WWW.allyMligaL1C.00111 and 26.27% of them use www.education.world.com. A smaller number of these students use www.studved.com, www.ncert, and www.learn.com respectively. When we look at the corresponding figures for girl students, these figures are smaller, with 6.25% of them using www.vahooliaan.com 6.88% use www.education.com, and an even smaller group using www.studyed.
Computer Aided Language Learning (CALL) The use of CALL is often taken to be a decisive factor in determining the progressive nature of students. We wished to see for ourselves how they fared on this point and the results were surprising. A large number of male students’ Constituting 59.80% confessed that they did not know what CALL was, though 32.36% seemed to be familiar with it. Nearly the same sort of thing happened when it came to the girl students when 55.17% reported that They did not know what it was though 36.21% seemed to be familiar with CALL.
The Use of Audio-visual Material in the Institution Pre-recorded audio/video CDs are used on courses in English (Practical) at the FYBBA, FYBCA, and FYBSc in Sardar Patel University. These are mandatory, for these are prescribed on the syllabus. However, though there seemed to be positive feedback from the male students, with 71.57% of them reporting that audio-visual material was indeed used in their institution, a smaller section of those among girl students, 26.88% reported the same.
Understanding of Audio-visual Material a majority, i.e. 82.35% of the male students and 81.03% of the girl students believe that visuals are helpful in understanding what is taught. However, there was a section constituting 14.71% of male students and 6.90% of the girl students surveyed that believes that visuals do not facilitate understanding at all.
The Number of Hours spent in the Language Laboratory Students are divided into batches of 15 for the purpose of working on the English (Practical) in the sciences and engineering and technology, but the Entire class is taken for practical sessions in the language laboratory on the First Year BBA programme. The figures here throw up surprises. 78.43% each of the male and girl students reported spending an average of four hours per week in the language laboratory. In other words, for the rest of the 21.57% of students across the gender divide, ignorance of what is happening is indeed bliss!
The Use of Language Laboratory in Leisure Hours institutions permit their learners to make use of the language laboratory in the leisure hours but only 28.43% of the male students and 16.88% of the girl students admit that they spend their leisure time in the language laboratory, honing those of their language skills in which they might be found wanting.
Adequacy of Time Slots for the Use of Language Laboratory it was natural, then, to ask if they were given adequate time-slots for the use of the language laboratory. 50.98% of the male students and 62.07% of the girl students admitted that they are allocated adequate time to use the language laboratory. Surprisingly 36.27% of the male students and 31.04% of the girl students wished they were allocated adequate time to use it. It appears as if a section of the students is desirous of making good use of the language laboratory for their own personal and professional development. This is an issue on which institutions and the managements that govern them should need to adopt a positive approach in formulating policies. How, Students work during their Language Laboratory Sessions how students work during their language laboratory sessions is an indicator of how well they would end up learning the target language. 56.86%, 9.80%, and 29.41% of the male students work in groups, pairs, and alone respectively. In case of the girl students, the corresponding figures are 48.27%, 46.55, and 5.18% work in groups, pairs, and alone respectively.
Teachers' Feedback on Students' Written Work when we focused on teachers' feedback on students' written work, 23.53% of the male students reported that they receive it in detail, but 70.59% said they received it in brief. The corresponding figures in case of the girl students were 48.28%, and 48.25% respectively.
Assessment of Students' Writing by Teachers Feedback is an important part of assessment. 69.61% and 77.59% of the male and girl students respectively feel that the errors marked out by their teachers are helpful in making them understand their own strengths and weaknesses. We believe that these high figures indicate that the teachers have been able to provide Positive motivation to the students. Research has suggested that positive motivation leads to learning whereas negative motivation to unlearning.
Students' Perception of Various Skills Taught there is a clear gender divide on some of the skills listed here with both male and girl students listing listening, reading, speaking, writing, and communication: verbal and non-verbal. However, there are gender differences in perception of other skills. The points listed by the male students include letter writing, individual speaking, group discussion, note taking, conversational skills, personality development, and dialogue writing. The girl students have listed skills including vocabulary, fluency in speech, note taking, reading comprehension, book review, and interview techniques.
Other Issues Found Left Out when asked to list the other issues that they thought were left out, the male students listed public speaking, practical knowledge, exposure to reality, interaction with people, personality development, writing business letters, debates and group discussions, how to deliver good speech, interactional skill’s and providing opportunities to speak English individually. The girl students listed issues like more of exposure to public speaking, body language interaction with people, and handling conversation in English.
Students' Perception of Future Profile of a Trained Hand we wished to find out for ourselves what their perception was of their future profile as a trained hand. The male students listed good listening skills, fluency in speech, mastery of English and communication skills, group discussion, interview skills, presentation skills, display of self-confidence in public, and a good personality. The girl students, on the other hand, listed fluency in presentation, ability to speak in public, display of self-confidence in public and decision-making skills.
Problems faced in Communicating with Others we wished to find out what they felt were the problems they encountered in communicating with others. We tried to do this with regard to each of the four language skills.
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