LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Teaching Composition to Adult Learners of ESL -
Strategically Bridging Learner Deficiency and Metacognitive
Proficiency through Emotional Intelligence
A Case Study of Indian and Libyan Situations

Pratap Kumar Dash, Ph.D.

Abstract

This paper reflects on the experience and success of the writer in teaching composition to the adult learners of ESL in the rural and tribal areas of India and remote areas of Libya.

The writer focuses on the problems of the learners associated with formal composition both in speech and writing. The paper gives an account of how after conducting a series of experiments, it is observed that learner deficiency in ESL composition can be improved substantially to arouse metacognitive proficiency by applying the delicate strategies of ESL learning associated with the broad term called Emotional Intelligence. Then, it gives information about how the writer diagnosed the problems specifically related to society, culture, environment, individual background, linguistic range and exposure, attitude and performance of the learners and adopted methods of proper motivation, design special syllabus and task, suitable teaching-learning methods and materials to help learners to learn better. The paper also discusses how we can create learners' interest and make them participate in classroom activities; improve the knowledge of the subject, style, and the range of vocabulary for the development of composition skills.

Introduction

It is very often found that many average adult learners of ESL in rural and tribal areas in India and remote areas in Libya can speak manageably in a given context, although not fully organized. They can communicate somehow with a limited range of words and expressions with a mixture of wrong and right structures.

This happens because these users of English have some knowledge of using greetings, some commonly used discourse makers and unconscious but habituated use of some social expressions in English in day-to-day life. These are mostly informal messages for communication among peer groups. Gradually, when such learners participate in formal occasions of presentation, seminars, debates, discussions, interpretations, appreciations, opinions, reviews and different types of business and academic writings, they are found reluctant to openly communicate through English. They follow some alternative means like memorizing readily prepared materials and reproduce the subject matter somehow at the time of taking an exam or competition, etc., and then forget about it. When these pupils are forced to be dynamic, free and brave enough for this job, then they commit a series of mistakes related to the norms of formal composition. It is evident that a series of negative factors works behind this kind of failure. As a result, real learning for further improvement cannot take place. A huge gap stands between the curriculum target, pupils' interest, achievement and the teaching system of the language teachers.

But, it is pertinent to say that some inadequately trained traditional teachers can manage in their own way of making their pupils memorize some readymade materials for mechanical reproduction. In this way, many pupils cover up ESL at the secondary level and join the tertiary level with specializations in their studies, viz., ESP, EGP or EAP, etc.

Although they are unaware of the skills and required materials for the purpose and task before them, they expect a positive change and development in their pupils. These learners have two modes: having and being (Fromm 1979:52). Pupil with the having mode go on following the traditional ways of writing and composition for purposes of examinations. But, pupils with being mode always try to be resourceful, remember and take keen interest in applying their own resources and might. They do not adopt the so-called copy-paste like readymade things forced upon them. A true facilitator must try inculcating this being mode to help develop learner autonomy and deposit strength of effective SL learning for actual use. Learning the skills for writing and speaking for all purposes along with the art of formal compositions is one of the important aspects of ESL learning. So, the facilitators must realize that the skills, resources and promptness of writing and speaking with all varieties of compositions should be planted in the hearts and minds of the pupils.

Discussion of the Problem

The writer met in the past and even now many adult students studying different general, technical and professional courses both in India (in the states of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh) and Libya (in the states of Gharyan and Al-shaati), who undergo a series of tests and experiments in learning the skills for academic, general and professional writing. The students are mostly from remote rural/tribal areas of India and remote villages in Libya. So, the deficiencies, shortcomings, lack of skills, mistakes and errors of the pupils of ESL writing of both the countries are detected diagnostically.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Ethnic Relations and the Media - A Study of the Malaysian Situation | Lexical Borrowing: A Study of Punjabi and Urdu Kinship Terms | Novel as Contemporary Indian History - A Glimpse of Works by Manohar Malgonkar,
His Contemporaries, and Precursors | Gender Issues in Teacher Training Materials of ELTIS (English Language Training for Islamic Schools) - A Study from Indonesia | Mind Your Vocabulary! | Semantic Variations of Punjabi Toneme | Contemporary Indian Women Writing in English and the Problematics of the Indian Middle Class | Thought Boundary Detection in English Text through the 'Law of Conservation of thought' for Word Sense Disambiguation | Theme of Isolation in the Select Works of Canadian Women Playwrights | Developing an ESP Course for Students of Applied Sciences in Pakistan | Socio-cultural Context of Communication in Indian Novel - A Pragmatic Approach to Inside the Haveli | Socio-cultural Context of Communication in Indian Novel - A Pragmatic Approach to Inside the Haveli | An Overview of Face and Politeness | Technical Language Lab and CALL - A Descriptive Report | Teaching Composition to Adult Learners of ESL - Strategically Bridging Learner Deficiency and Metacognitive Proficiency through Emotional Intelligence - A Case Study of Indian and Libyan Situations | A Comparison of Students' Achievement in the Subject of English - A Pakistani Context | Code Switching and Code Mixing in Arab Students - Some Implications | A Descriptive Analysis of Diminishing Linguistic Taboos in Pakistan | "Who's that Guy?" - A Discourse Representation of Social Actors in a Death | Contributions of Anna to Tamil Culture and Literature | Ignorance - A Maiden Spoilsport in Thomas Hardy | Classical Language Issues for Teulugu and Kannada | A PRINT VERSION OF ALL THE PAPERS OF AUGUST 2010 ISSUE IN BOOK FORMAT. This document is better viewed if you open it online and then save it in your computer. After saving it in your computer, you can easily read all the pages from the saved document. | HOME PAGE of August 2010 Issue | HOME PAGE | CONTACT EDITOR