DSC School Assistants – English – Page 2

Certain milestones in school education and teacher education with special reference to English education:
1) NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training), a premier institute in the field of school education was established in 1961 by the Government of India.

2) NCERT’s principal function is to assist the central and state Government’s in the implementation of policies on education and to ensure quality in education and teacher preparation.

3) The NCERT has developed Curriculum Frameworks for School Education (NCFSE) in 1988, 2000 and 2005.

4) The National Curriculum Frame work- 2000 advocated to introduce English from class III. Many states including Andhra pradesh introduced English as one of the subjects from class III.

5) The National Curriculum Frame work- 2005 envisaged child centred education with an attempt to link it with life outside school.

6) Chapter-3 of NCFSE deals with language education in general and English in particular.

7) NCTE (National Council for Teacher Education) was established in 1995 under the National Council for Teacher Education
Act, 1993. The main objective of the NCTE is to achieve planned and coordinated development of the teacher education system.

8) The Government of Andhra Pradesh introduced English medium in Government run schools from class-VI onwards. As per GO MS No.76 (10 – 06 – 2008) English was introduced as the medium of instruction with CBSE syllabus from class-VI in the academic year 2008 – 09 in about 6500 schools. This move is a part of the world Bank Aided Project. These schools are known as SUCCESS schools. SUCCESS- stands for Strengthening and Universalisation of Quality and Access to Secondary Schools.

9) The CBSE syllabus was replaced with State Government syllabus after a resentment from the public and teachers in the year
2010 – 11.

10) English has been introduced as one of the subjects from class-I in the academic year 2011 – 12.

Practice Questions:

1. The specific aims of teaching English may also be called-
1) principles 2) goals 3) objectives 4) aims

2. Objectives of teaching English as a Second Language will be achieved through-
1) Work book 2) Story book 3) Text book 4) Supplementary material

3. The premier institute in the field of school education- NCERT was established in ….
1) 1961 2) 1962 3) 1966 4) 1995

4. The focus of English language Teaching is ..
1) To pass the examinations 2) To develop functional use of language
3) To get an employment abroad 4) None of these

5. NCFSE-2000 advocated to introduce English from ….
1) I Class 2) III Class 3) V Class 4) VI Class

6. CBSE syllabus was replaced with State Government syllabus in Government run ‘SUCCESS’ schools in A.P in the Academic
year ….
1) 2008 – 09 2) 2010 – 11 3) 2009 – 10 4) 2007 – 08

7. ‘SUCCESS’ stands for …..
1) Successful Universalising of Secondary Schools 2) Successful Utilisation of Quality and Access in Secondary Schools
3) Strengthening and Universalisation of Quality and Access to Secondary Schools.
4) Strengthening and Uplifting of Quality and Access in Secondary Schools

8. Chapter-3 of NCFSE deals with ….
1) Pre service teacher education 2) In service teacher education
3) Language education with special reference to English 4) Quality education

9. A pre- requisite for language learning is ….
1) Curriculum 2) Updated teaching methods
3) learner’s interest 4) input rich communicational environment

Answers: 1) 3 2) 3 3) 1 4) 2 5) 3 6) 2 7) 3 8) 3 9)4

Objectives of Teaching English: According to the dictionary of Education Objective is “The end towards which a school sponsored activity is directed”. Effecting tangible changes in pupils behaviour at the end of schooling is known as objective.

Dr. B.S. Bloom has defined educational objective as “the desired goal or outcome at which instruction is aimed”. With regard to the teaching of English is concerned Thompson and Wytt rightly remarked that it is necessary that the Indian pupil should not only understand English when it is spoken or written, but also he should himself be able to speak and write it.

Objectives of teaching English are framed keeping in mind questions like what we teach, whom we teach, why we teach and how we teach. If the objective of teaching English is to help students pass examinations it becomes a short term and immediate objective. This does not help the learners achieve proficiency in English. If the students are to be trained to acquire proficiency in English and mastery in language skills then the objective is to teach language as a medium not as a subject. This is a long-term objective and in the long run helps the students to become autonomous learners. So the focus of English language teaching has
shifted from vocabulary and grammar to skill development and functional use of language.

Some of the objectives of teaching English at the primary and upper primary level are :
– To familiarise pupils with the spoken and written forms of English.
– To make learning an enjoyable activity.
– To help the learners understand the language spoken by the teacher and the classmates.
– To help the learners to speak English words and short sentences with the help of the teacher.
– To help learners read and understand simple words, sentences and passages.
– To help the learners to write words, phrases, sentences and paragraphs.
– To help the learners recite, rhymes, poems.

Once the aims and objectives are determined then it would be easy to frame the curriculum write text books, design methods and techniques of teaching and prepare an evaluation system. The objectives can be materialised if the text books, materials and methods of teaching are learner friendly and chosen with care to suit the age and ability of the learners. Input rich communicational environment becomes a pre-requisite for language learning. Inputs include text books, class libraries, news papers, magazines, language games, media, story books, cassettes etc. If all these are included in the regular class room activity it can promote the child’s engagement with English language and its performance. Listening and speaking skills should be strengthened first before the child gets ample practice in regarding and writing skills.

DSC School Assistants – English Practice Material and Questions

Andhra DSC – SA English Methodology Study Material