LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 11 : 7 July 2011
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.

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Imparting Second Language Communication Skills to
Technical Students at the Tertiary Level

Nageswari. R., Ph.D. Scholar & Sundarsingh, J., Ph.D.

Abstract

Having found that Engineering students struggle in striking a balance between knowledge (tacit) and use (Hymes, 1971)as far as conveying technical information in second language (L2) is concerned, this paper will suggest situational speaking tasks to develop specific language and strategic competence in classroom environment. There is a gap between knowing and executing in language for expression. Language ability is judged based on sound language knowledge and strategic competence of the learner. Despite having enough knowledge, most of the learners fail to communicate effectively in second language. The paper reports a study in which 34 Engineering students, in two groups, were made to undergo language activities based on concrete needs analysis. Results revealed that there was a significant difference between the two groups with students in the experimental group outperforming those in the control group on both specific speaking and writing tasks.

Introduction

Conscious Grammar at Tertiary level is often considered a barrier for successful communication. Learning language (L1) differs from acquiring the language (L2). Ellis (1985) says “The term acquisition is used to refer to picking up a second language through exposure, whereas the term ‘learning’ is used to refer to the conscious study of second language” (p.6). Learners acquire the first language grammar through natural learning, which helps them to present their ideas without any grammatical hindrance. But they learn the second language along with its grammar consciously so they tend to speak applying the rules of language with grammatical restrictions. However, Krashen (1981) says, “Conscious learning may be used to alter the output of the acquired system sometimes before or after the utterance is produced” (p.2). Students at the tertiary level are only in the advantageous position as they have already learnt grammar for more than twelve years of study in their school though they lack fluency of expressing themselves. In this context, the present study focuses on recommending ‘language acquisition’ method for mastering L2 for GenY tertiary level learners based on a research done in this area.

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

Nageswari, R., M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D. Scholar
Department of English
Karunya University
Karunya Nagar
Coimbatore 641 114
Tamilnadu
India
rnageswari.r@gmail.com

Sundarsingh, J., Ph.D.
Professor & Head
Department of English
Karunya University
Karunya Nagar
Coimbatore 641114
Tamilnadu
India
sundarsingh@karunya.edu
j_sundarsingh@yahoo.com





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