Role of Native Culture and Language in an Indian L2 Classroom

Essay from the year 2010 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, University of Kassel (English Language and Literature Studies), course: Conference, language: English, abstract: The main aims/questions that will be discussed in this paper are the importance andneed of learning English in today s world right from the primary stage and thehindrances in teaching the English Language in a non-English speaking country, forexample India. Teaching English becomes more and more relevant particularly in a multilingual andmulticultural country like India. In the framework of a comparative study projectingeclectic teaching Methodology examples from the classroom will be presented anddiscussed. Taking a pan-Indian view on the country s education system, we observe that not onlyare there various types of schools catering to each section of the Indian society,correspondingly there are various boards of education following different EnglishLanguage and Literature syllabi. A significant difference is also observed between theprivate and the government schools in this regard. Today each Indian child has to learnEnglish. Keeping this in mind, teaching methodologies are designed. English languagecourse designers in India are trying to bridge the multicultural and multilingual gap asperceived in the indigenous cultures, languages and religions. We follow an eclecticmethod within the classrooms to develop the four skills in Communicative English. More workshops and exchanges between teachers experiences across the worldwould help us overcome the hurdles.