No, do not worry. I am not going to refer to any mythology or every maze therein. Rather, i am talking of certain myths that are literally like a maze as far as language learning/ teaching, especially of poor dear English, goes.
Yes, i love my mother tongue. I am reasonably good at it, too. Yet my love for my L1 does not blind me with a vicious visceral hatred of English. YES, i am not afraid of being politically incorrect, and i can affirm most strongly and openly that I ADORE English. In fact, every language is unique, and enriches beyond words the individual user. The more languages a person knows, his/her mind is that much opener, that much more sensible and sensitive.
Okay, let us forget such individual benefits and preferences. How about the society/the country? Whether anyone likes it or not, and despite and due to the historical realities, English is the lingua franca across the world, and, unfortunately, in our own country, given the rejection of Hindi in the southern states.
Actually, like any other chauvinism, linguistic chauvinism, too, is reactionary, reductive, and harmful. Ignoring English is like being an ostrich, especially given the current cusp of historical realities.
Given such inalienable truths, the myth that in language learning/teaching, communication alone matters, and grammar is an unnecessary headache is a myth that can gulp generations in to a maze of incompetence and diffidence. Sure, grammar should be taught communicatively, yet to deny it completely is dangerous because grammar is the skeleton of a language.
In other words, creative ways of teaching grammar, using realia, puzzles, language games, and other such methods can be created, but completely ignoring it, while praising communication, is injurious! Actually any sane person would grant that good, effective, efficient use of a language requires a very good hold over grammar basically.
Now let us look at another myth about English language teaching. Yes, most all people think that they 'know' English. Actually so horrid is their awareness of grammar, usage, vocabulary that such English could have been used as a terror weapon of mass destruction against the British! In other words, it is necessary to teach correct English and proper usage as only then people from the various corners of the world can relate to us. De-learning and re-learning English is the need of the hour.
Yet another horrible myth is vivisect-ing language in to ridiculous fragments such as 'Spoken English'. At every street corner, there are 'Spoken English' classes. Downright infamous, and hilarious is this myth 'coz language cannot be so neatly cut in to pieces. Each of the four language skills is inter-woven with the other(s), and can never be taught independently.
Yet another methodical madness is the insistence on the ESP, English for Specific Purposes. Sure, language transfers information. Undoubtedly, creating career conscious and relevant material must be used. Yet the real soul of a language resides in its true entirety, which includes its culture. Not only does ESP make language learning boring and repetitive (because the content subject lectures would be using the basic English, the same terminology anyways!), it reduces, moreover, the complex creativity of an individual user and in the final analysis of the community!
This does not mean that every student must read Chaucer, Shakespeare, Wordsworth and Tennyson, and other such canonical authors. One can use lots of realia, even soul soup stories. In literature, lovely alternative pieces, that make students culturally sensitive synthetically, all sorts of games and stories as teaching techniques and tools are available. In brief, a mix of culture, a dash of geography, a dollop of history make the learning of a language real and fun.
Well, teaching/learning should make every student an ardent user who uses the language effectively and efficiently, as thus would generate a community that stays together. That can happen if learning is fun, beyond any mazes of convenience!
Pratima@Animals communicate, even bots can, emojis create word pictures; but human beings alone make language a lovely tool of expression. Let all the myths mentioned above be busted, and asap!
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