LANGUAGE IN INDIA

COMMUNICATION IN ENGLISH
Problems Faced by Hindi Medium Students in Technical Institutions
Harish Shukla

1. WHY COMMUNICATION SKILLS ARE NEEDED?

Skill in oral and nonverbal communication is very essential for all, especially if you train to be a doctor, an engineer, a teacher, a lawyer, a nurse, a vendor of goods, or salesman, etc. In these professions the desired purpose cannot be achieved without proper communication of ideas and thoughts which persuade the target person or persons to your point of view.

I noticed in my teaching that many students in technical institutes or colleges do lack efficient communication skills, and this deficiency comes to hamper even their understanding of the subjects they study in their various courses.

Unfortunately there is a false assumption that, since Hindi is the mother tongue of these students, they are already equipped to communicate well. This false assumption is also fortified by another false assumption that since these students have learned Hindi for many years at the secondary and higher secondary stages, their proficiency in using Hindi for various forms of communication is good enough to meet their professional needs.

2. MY GOAL IN THIS PAPER

In this paper I would like to look at the problems of communication abilities the students studying in different technical institutions, particularly engineering colleges, face today in their studies. These students would one day graduate from these engineering colleges and will assume the role and title of technocrats. They will wield power, and they will design prototypes and plans that they need to present to others in an effective way. They should be able to present themselves anywhere in the most effective way. They have to face and attend interviews, group-discussions, and oral examinations, and make technical presentations etc. In all these they are required to prove themselves worthy of the career and positions they seek.

I teach communication skill courses in my college, and so I decided to investigate the level of communication skills these students have while they undergo their study in technical institutions. My focus was to identify problems the students face and to find out what causes led to such problems. I studied the performance of the students from Hindi medium schools who joined these technical institutions. My study was conducted in Indore.

3. COMMUNICATION PROCESS

Communication is a complex interactive process, involving shared assumptions and unspoken agreements between individuals. Understandably, there are frequent errors and misunderstandings in communication. Several types of barriers prevent us from transmitting our ideas meaningfully. Effective communication is very much needed at all the stages for the students of technical institutions for their success.

Communication is the life-blood of any business. So, when these students join business concerns or corporations as employees, or when they themselves become the entrepreneurs, they need effective communication. Modern business activities are complex. With rapid globalization, these have become more complex, indeed. For executing these activities good technocrats are needed as the development of a nation largely depends on them. Technological development leads to other developments.

Communication skill is an important job requirement now-a-days. Some areas like personnel, public relations, marketing, sales, labor relations, call for exceptional communication skills. In the same way, technocrats and researchers also need it equally well. They need a highly developed ability to communicate as they have to present reports, seminars, etc. Even though they belong to technical fields, for presentation and persuasion they do require the abilities of effective communication.

Since English is the preferred language of communication in most offices, I chose to study the communicative skills of these students in English.

4. METHODOLOGY

A number of technical institutions of Indore city were taken into consideration for the purpose of this study. Using the interview method, 30 students (sample size) of the above institutions were interviewed to collect primary data. Questions that were asked from the students related to their educational, financial, social, economic, family, lingual, regional, environmental backgrounds.

5. FINDINGS

The findings of the study are as follows:

1. One of the causes for poor communication skills among Hindi medium students is the lack of proper guidance. It is at the school level they should have got the quality of guidance they needed.
2. Lack of exposure to formal environments is another cause of the above problem. In some schools, guidance is available but the students do not get proper opportunities for exposing themselves to public speech in English or even in Hindi. It is applicable to a great extent in some colleges.
3. Another cause is the family background of the students, specially the educational background of the members of the family. The parents of most of the students themselves have their educational background in Hindi medium. While this is not a drawback, what is significant is the fact that most family members did not have adequate interaction with their children in various capacities. Modeling from within the family was not available to the majority of the students.
4. Another cause is the poor family educational background of most students. Members of the family of most of these students do not have powerful educational background; neither do these families provide resources such as books, and stimulating modeling settings to develop adequate communication skills. Often, efficiency in communication was considered to be an endowment, not something that can be cultivated by practice and adequate exposure. I noticed an undercurrent of helplessness and inferiority complex when it came to acquiring "smart skills."
5. There is a lack of educational facilities such as library, or easy availability of reading materials in the book shops, etc. in the areas in which these students live.
6. Most of these students have opted to study through the Hindi medium, mainly because they could not afford to go to English medium private schools. While there is great appreciation for education and the benefits good education brings in terms of jobs, economic and social status, parents of these students often feel helpless.
7. These students have been speaking in their respective dialects or mother tongue Hindi since childhood, with no exposure to speaking in English. Suddenly they are asked to use English for their academic communication, and so they feel absolutely handicapped. Interviews are held in English.
8. Lack of confidence is another reason. I have come across an interesting fact that some of the students who can speak English well are unable to speak it due to lack of confidence. Lack of confidence engenders hesitation and people avoidance.
9. Another cause is the ongoing struggle of these students to translate their thoughts from Hindi into English. Most do not succeed in this attempt.

6. RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Students should be encouraged to take the help of good teachers who can provide them with proper guidance. However, volunteer teachers are hard to come by.
2. Students should be encouraged to avail every opportunity to speak in the public both in Hindi and English.
3. The parents of students should be encouraged to motivate their children.
4. As the students lack educational facilities in their native places, creating internet kiosks will help the students to access information they need.
5. In the last analysis if students themselves are not dynamic, hard working, and diligent, nothing could be achieved. They must have a desire to succeed, and they should be able to put in hard work to achieve their desires.
6. Students should be encouraged and helped to overcome their excessive dependence on translation and start expressing freely even if they commit errors.

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