25

Chapter-1
Modern Approaches to English Language Teaching and
Learning:

Increasing global economies, a heightened need for matching the

international standards and changing demographics in the world have
increased attention to our country‟s lack of language capability in terms
of transacting in foreign languages, especially the English language.
Every call to action to prepare our students for the 21st Century includes
offering them the opportunity to learn English so as to increase their
knowledge of other cultures. The hall mark of success in the 21 st century
world certainly amounts to two key factors: one is digital literacy and the
other knowledge of English language. It is a crucial call on our part to
offer our students ample of opportunities to develop these two
fundamental skills. English education not only guarantees success
academic and professional fronts, it also provides international exposure
to the students. Knowledge of English language facilitates students with
an invigorating perspective of the whole world. Despite having
conflicting perspectives built on use of various languages, there are
similarities, too, to be found across language platforms of the 21 st
century. Knowledge of English, in this way, guarantees understanding of
many a nations, their cultures and people. It is in this sense that students
of English language stand better chances of becoming skilled learners of
the 21st century.
English language learning provides opportunities to connect and
understand developed, developing and underdeveloped communities
across the globe and is thus vital to success in global environment of
academics and professions, science and research in the 21 st century. With
 26

regard to teaching and learning of English language and literature, it is

necessary to observe that communicative competence and language
proficiency are interdependent and mutually contributing to the grasp of
language. Teaching and learning of English language in the context of
India is based upon achieving the following objectives keeping in mind
the educational and professional needs of Indian students:
1. Communicative competence:
In a traditionally teacher centric country like India, students usually
remain at the receiving end as far as direct classroom teaching is
concerned. However English language learning through newer
methodologies ensures greater communicative competence on the
part of students as they are more engaged within proactive learning
ambience that incites greater participation from their side.
Communicative competence through English language is crucial to
their academic and professional success.

2. Cultural Exchanges:
Teaching and learning of English language and literature exposes
students to intra and inter cultural exchanges. On one hand, it
allows Indian students of diverse linguistic backgrounds to interact
through the link language under one roof; on the other hand
knowledge of English language ensures their exposure to cross
cultural interaction with learning communities outside India.

3. Interdisciplinary connections:
Knowledge of English enables Indian students to access a wide
range of learning resources of other disciplines across the world. It
is the lack of proper grounding in English language results into
 27

limited access to the rest of the world; whereas proficiency in

English ensures interdisciplinary academic connectivity widening
promising horizons for Indian students to avail of distinct branches
of knowledge all over the world.

4. Comparative study:
For Indian students, knowledge of English language means
exposure and access to a promising domain comparative study of
the best of the East and the best of the West and even the best of
the Rest. Since knowledge resources pertaining to distinct branches
of studies are available mostly in English language, Indian students
who have proficiency in English stand brighter chances of getting
benefitted by way of comparative study of what best they can offer
to the rest of the world and what best can come to them through
their knowledge of English.

5. Cyber Communities:
Knowledge of English also ensures participatory benefit to Indian
students to the digital world of cyber communities. Extensive
continuous learning, sharing of resources and human bonding with
people across the world is possible through entry into cyber
communities. This is the linguistic dividend which could be
capitalized by Indian students through their knowledge of English
language.
In the 21st century world which demands productivity and
performance, communicative competence through proficiency in
English language is crucial to the successful academic and
professional lives of Indian students. For this purpose, right from early
 28

schooling, adequate grounding in English language is utmost

necessary. Teaching and learning of English language needs to be
reinforced on the basis of communicative competence and proficiency
during schooling is almost mandatory. Any efforts towards teaching
and learning of English language at under graduate level will yield
desired results only if due care is taken at the school level education.
Advanced level proficiency in English at the under graduate level
depends, by and large on how students are taught English at schools.
In order to facilitate students with adequate levels of proficiency in
English language as well as communicative competence, the pedagogy
and methodology for the same has witnessed and undergone
tremendous changes that began early in the last quarter of the 20 th
century along with technological advancement in education. Ever
since the advent of technology in the tenets of education, like other
branches of knowledge, teaching and learning of English language and
literature has witnessed a series of innovative experimentations in
pedagogy as well as methodology.

There have been various attempts to define the process of teaching

andlearning. However theoreticians mostly agree on one point- that
the process of teaching English as a foreign language is a complex
phenomenon. Teaching and learning of English as a foreign language
consists of the following aspects:
(a) Teaching through presentations and explanations
(b) Inviting participation of students through practice plans
(c) Testing, assessment and evaluation leading to language profiling of
learners
 29

In the modern age, successful teaching and learning of English

happens only when teachers and students actively participate sharing
responsibilities mutually working out on the ratio of needs and
responsibilities. An English teacher in India is also supposed to keep
in mind learning needs of students that vary not only in numbers but
also in heterogeneous individual profiles. At this point of discussion, it
is imperative to take note of Abraham Maslow‟s extensive analysis of
human needs. In a scholarly paper „A Theory of Human Motivation‟
published in 1954, he chartered hierarchy of human needs depicted in
a pyramid structure that consists of five levels of human needs (See
figure1).

Figure 1 :Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs)

The basic physiological needs of breathing, food, water, or sleep hold the
base of the pyramid and lie at level one in the bottom. The higher needs
 30

remain at the top levels and comprise safety, love and esteem. This level
involves human body, family, health, property and employment. At the
third level, human needs of friendship, love and marriage are categorized.
However for the purpose of education in general and language learning in
particular, the fourth and the fifth levels are more significant than the first
three. The fourth level has two levels: the lower one is associated with
fame, respect and glory; whereas the higher one relates to confidence,
competence and achievement. The line of demarcation rests on the fact
that all other needs are based on dependence on other sources of people,
whereas confidence, competence and achievement are independent of any
dependency since the same can be achieved through efforts on one‟s own.
The topmost level of Maslow‟s Hierarchy focuses self actualization that
covers acceptance of facts, lack of prejudice, problem solving, creativity
and morality. It is the qualities inherent in the zenith of Maslow‟s
Pyramid that attract our attention as far as teaching and learning of
English language and literature with special reference to use of Multiple
Intelligences is concerned.
The study of Maslow‟s Pyramid reveals that it is important to consider
needs of students in the process of teaching and learning; since the higher
needs can be employed only when the lower needs are adequately met
with. It is the extent to which needs of students are satisfied that
determines their motivation to study a foreign language.
Motivation, as a key factor in the process of learning and
teaching, is defined as some kind of internal drive which pushes
someone to do things in order to achieve something.(Harmer, 51).
Penny Ur (A Course in English Language Teaching, 2012) presents the
following kinds of motivation: „extrinsic, intrinsic, integrative,
instrumental, global, situational and task motivation‟ (276). Extrinsic
 31

motivation involves factors like passing an examination or travel plans.

Intrinsic motivation comes from individual‟s preference for the process of
learning as a matter of personal choice leading to enjoyment. Integrative
Motivation focuses one‟s desire to mingle up with and even internalize
some cultural traits of the language being studied. Instrumental
Motivation involves a desire to learn language for academic or
professional goals. Global Motivationindicates holistic orientation of the
learner in acquiring a foreign language. Situational motivation occurs on
account of learning ambience and environment building. Task motivation
pertains to the lesson plans and methods that the students undertake under
the supervision of the teachers.
Apart from the above motivational factors described by Harmer and Ur,
family background of students, their friends and teachers and the
methodology used by the institutions are also governing factors. Scholars
agree that the teacher is also a major factor allowing motivational
learning on the part of students. Besides the teacher, methodologies
adopted also make a decisive difference. This brings up the point of
discussion surrounding the importance of teacher in theprocess of
learning. The students, on the other hand, need to face challenges, take up
language tasks, overcome their limitations and excel in learning. This can
be achieved by way of correct identification of strengths and weaknesses
pitted against their ambitions and opportunities. Learning a foreign
language also involves a higher degree of commitment, sense of
positivism and concrete output in terms of efforts. The teacher s of
English, therefore need to motivate their students by way of arousing
their basic interest in learning a foreign language. If the teacher sets the
 32

goals on one hand, the students on the other hand must not lose their
focus on objectives. It is equally important to devise a methodology
involving interplay of active learning lesson plans incorporating language
tasks based on multiple intelligencesso as to enable students for self
learning beyond the direct teaching. In order to generate motivation
among students, the teacher has to evolve methods conducive to the
learning styles of students. The learning styles / types refer to students‟
orientation in one or more of the multiple intelligences. Indian English
teachers need to devise methodology based on multiple intelligences
incorporating psychological, cognitive and socio cultural aspects of
heterogeneous groups of students. Based on the learning styles of
students, the teacher can devise his lesson plans in such a manner that
students work in groups of peers sharing similar learning types for
example verbal smart learners are preoccupied with use of books and
reading material, whereas visual smart learners fancy learning through
drawing , sketches and images. Bodily smart learners like to involve
physical actions in the process of learning. The music smart learners love
to study while engaged in rhythmic patterns of sounds. People smart
learners prefer learning in groups through interaction, whereas self smart
learners like to be left alone in solitude for reading or writing exercises.
The nature smart students love to work outdoors in the midst of scenic
beauties whereas the philosophy smart learners enjoy learning through
contemplation and meditation.
In order to devise lesson plans based on multiple intelligences that the
students belong to, the teacher is supposed to orient and engage the
learners on the following intelligences envisaged, propounded and
 33

distinguished by Prof. Howard Gardner in his book Multiple Intelligences

: New Horizons ( 2006, 8-20)
No. Intelligence Indication
1 Linguistic/verbal Word
2 Logical/mathematical Number Smart
3 Spatial/Visual Picture Smart
4 Musical Sound Smart
5 Kinesthetic Body Smart
6 Interpersonal People Smart
7 Intrapersonal Self Smart
8 Naturalist Nature Smart
9 Existential Philosophy
Smart

Keeping in mind the above domains of intelligences , English teachers

are supposed to plan out their direct teaching sessions in such a
manner students enjoy learning on the basis of their prevailing type of
intelligence/s. for word smart learners, the teacher can offer reading
and writing exercises choosing appropriate poems or stories and offer
them vocabulary exercises as well. For Number Smart learners,
exercises on grammar, word puzzles and strategic language games are
offered. The picture smart students love to learn through visuals and
can be engaged in exercises based on drawings, caricatures and
collages. For music smart learners, poetry recitation, reading of a play
or exercises based on instrumental music can be offered. Lesson plans
involving role play and stage performances should be offered to body
smart learners. People smart learners are at their best when assigned
group activities like event management, group discussions and
 34

debates. Self smart learners like to write diaries, travelogues and

memoirs. For nature smart learners, the teacher can offer extra mural
projects wherein they learn from field visits in the midst of nature. The
philosophy smart students love to learn through meditation and
contemplation and exercises on reflective thinking.
It is necessary for a good language teacher to have adequate
competencies for tackling two important tasks: to achieve goals
through teaching and to be able to address learning needs of students.
Melissa Kelly (2004) mentions that there are four main kinds of
competences that each language teacher should display: general
competences, existential competences, ability to learn and strategic
competence. General Competence involves existential, psychological,
social, socio cultural and intercultural considerations. This
competence enables the teacher to tackle issues pertaining to
personality traits, attitudes, systems of values and beliefs and
cognitive style of the students. For Indian English teachers, it is the
communicative competence and linguistic competence that matters the
most as the teacher should be able to find out linguistic background of
students in order to tackle issues of pronunciation, vocabulary and
grammar among students belonging to diverse socio linguistic
backgrounds. Along with this knowledge of socio cultural background
of students helps teacher understand their interpersonal relations,
value systems, body language and cultural practices. Communicative
competence also involves honing of four skills – listening, speaking,
reading and writing to determine use of language for personal, public,
academic and occupational purposes. Ability ot learn would mean
students understanding and evaluation of their professional
development integrated with the knowledge they receive. At the same
 35

time, exercising strategic competence, the teacher can devise planning

of delivery of content, ability to execute lesson plans as well as
judging measures for assessment of students. Besides these
competences, the teacher is also required to possess an ability to learn,
to evaluate his academic and professional development and to
integrate his learning with his actual classroom methodology.
Teachers with such competences as mentioned above turn their
classroom into a happening place wherein students enjoy learning
freely according to their learning styles.
The process of teaching involves above mentioned competences that
the teachers must possess in order to implement effective ways of
learning among students. Considering the above competences, Harmer
(2012) distinguishes eight distinct roles of the modern teacher:
(a) Controller
(b) Organizer
(c) Assessor
(d) Prompter
(e) Participant
(f) Resource person
(g) Tutor
(h) Observer
It is for a good teacher to decide which role to assume and perform
considering the actual classroom situation at a given point of time
including students learning needs on the basis of Multiple
Intelligences that they belong to. On the basis of the above
observations, teaching and learning of English language and literature
in India can be discussed and deliberated upon. It is in this sense that
 36

an overview and brief analysis of modern approaches towards English

language teaching and learning are discussed herein after:
(f) Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)
(g) Task-Based Learning (TBL)
(h) Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)
(i) Presentation, Practice and Production (PPP)
(j) Computer Aided Language Learning (CALL)
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT):
Identification of the communicative aspects in general and increasing
need for better communicative skills in English has created widespread
demand of learning and teaching of English across the world. The 21 st
century also has witnessed significant surge and spurt in number of
people who want to achieve command over English for various purposes
ranging from education to professional goals. People of the modern world
receive English voluntarily through human activities like studying
abroad, travelling, cross country exchange programmes, formal, informal
and instructional literatures, multimedia and the cyber world of the ICT.
The worldwide demand for proficiency in English had necessitated
qualitative output from teachers and students of English. It also demands
quality in terms of methodology, resources and assessment and
evaluation. The students aspire to master English to a required level of
accuracy and fluency. There is also a distinct professional demand for
good communicative skills in English to ensure success. Accuracy and
fluency are prerequisites for success and advancement within the
academic world. Such a situation calls for a methodology that caters to
the communicative goals of students of English.
It is observed that the teachers of English, especially dealing with the
ESL/EFL students are found to have fancy for the term „communicative
 37

approach‟ and proudly claim that they teach English through

communicative methodology. However, when probed to give their
explanation on communicative methodology, after initial enthusiasm,
they fumble for concrete answers. Such a slack approach of the English
teachers raises following doubts in our minds regarding the CLT:
(a) Does CLT amount only to the teaching of conversations?
(b) Does the CLT omit grammar as an integral part of the curricula?
(c) Does CLT only mean teaching of English through classroom
activities based on discussion or conversation?
In order to dispel misconceptions surrounding the practices of CLT,
following points are worth observing:
(i) Language learning is a matter of practice; mere theoretical
information does not lead to proficiency
(ii) Learning grammar in isolation ceases to be the most important
practice towards teaching and learning of English
(iii) It is through communication that one learns English in a more
natural environment
(iv) Notion of correctness is replaced by an error –tolerant approach
(v) CLT emphasizes the skill of speaking over other three basic
skills of listening, reading and writing.
(vi) The classroom witnesses lot of activities and participation from
students who are engaged in meaningful communication.
(vii) The CLT targets accuracy as well as fluency, not at the cost of
reasonable comprehension on the part of students.
On the basis of the above characteristics of the CLT, it is understood
that this methodology considers learning needs of students to be of
significant value. Not only that, it also covers pro-active classroom
activities that facilitate learning among ESL/EFL students.
 38

Communicative competence is the prime goal of the CLT approach.

Unlike the concept of grammatical competence that insists only on
technical knowledge of English language, the CLT emphasizes
communicative aspects of English. Insistence on rules, structures and
mere reproduction of correct phrases and sentences are implied
limitations impended by the structural/grammatical approach; whereas
the CLT enables students to produce and present their ideas, thoughts
and views through meaningful communication as it goes beyond the
rules of grammar and turns ordinary language learners into acceptable
performers of English. However the CLT does not totally obliterate or
underestimate the place for grammar or technicalities of language
involved therein as it covers following aspects of language taking into
consideration that beyond learning, English is also to be used by the
students beyond their classrooms:
 Focus on language learning for distinct purposes like
educational and /or professional.
 Insistence on use of language according to the situation/s.
 Knowledge of language being operated at different levels to suit
ad hoc purposes.
 Encouragement on communication and performance
irrespective of level of proficiency in language
Our understanding of and attitude towards the Second Language
Learning(SLL) has undergone significant changes on account of
challenges encountered by teachers and students of English in the
globalised world of the 21st century. The cult that grew under the aegis of
the CLT was a reasonable response to such challenges in teaching and
learning of English. The mastery of grammatical competence once
regarded as the final outcome of English language learning was pushed to
 39

the margins with the advent of the CLT that discouraged the process of
mechanical habit formation and encouraged students of English to use
language while allowing them to make mistakes without feeling guilty
over it. The absolute control of the teacher ceased to see the daylight as
the CLT invited students with a package that promised participation along
with errors. Thus learning became a process easier for students of English
who were allowed to learn beyond fixed sets of grammatical rules. The
advent of CLT and the practices that followed changed the course of
action as far as teaching and learning of English is concerned. In recent
years, teaching and learning of English language has been viewed with
fresh perspectives that include the following features:
 Scope for fruitful interaction between the students of English and
comparatively competent users of English.
 Collaborative approach towards teaching and learning.
 Insistence on meaningful and purposeful interaction in English.
 Building blocks of understanding through negotiations between the
learners and the teachers.
 Learning through feedback mechanism evolved by teachers and
students to ensure that students improvise upon each of their
interactions.
 Communicative competence through the input of English used by
competent speakers and learners responses to the same.
 Experimentation by students on how to use English differently for
distinct purposes.
It is in this sense that the CLT heralded an ambitious movement drifting
apart from the traditional approaches towards teaching and learning of
English. Unlike the structural approach on grammar and controlled
activities, the CLT opened doors for refreshing activities for students of
 40

English like role plays, group activities and project work. The discussion
on CLT brings us also to the point of syllabus design. It necessitated
rethinking of approaches to curriculum design and subsequent/
consequent execution/implementation of the same. The traditional
approaches towards teaching and learning of English language began to
be replaced somewhere in the latter half of the previous century. However
the CLT gathered significant momentum during the last quarter of the
20th century. The monopoly of the traditional approaches was grounded
as it was mistakenly believed that grammatical competence lead to
proficiency in English. Direct instructional method for learning grammar
was boringly repetitive and never went beyond rigorous drilling practices.
The traditional approach also imposed a restricted understanding on the
part of teachers and student of English that language learning was all
about knowing and reproducing a fixed set of sentences and grammatical
patterns wherein what mattered the most was accuracy and notion of
correctness however controlled exercises and drilling practices fail to
allow students to perform on their own under unknown situations. Even
training on four basic skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing
was given in an extremely restricted manner focusing on memorization of
sentence structures, practice of question and answer pattern, drilling
exercises on verb conjugations and guided practices on speaking and
writing. Stern insistence on the British Received Pronunciations (BRP)
and accuracy in terms of correct grammatical structures further marred
the interest of students in learning English on the basis of their abilities
and preferences almost zero tolerance was practiced on students who
made mistakes while using English. However the traditional approaches
had to face the music as strong reactions began to be hurled at the
structuralists who fell out of fashion at the advent of the spirit of
 41

democracy and individuality in the field of education. The last two

decades of the previous century witnessed questions on the over emphasis
on grammatical competence and believed that language learning was
certainly more than a mere knowledge of grammar. The attention was
shifted to communicative goals, the priorities changed from being
absolutely correct to being appropriately suitable to the occasions
wherein English is to be practiced. Unlike the traditional approaches, the
CLT took into account students‟ perspectives on language learning that
include learners‟ needs, goals, objectives and desires to learn English.

It is in this sense that the Communicative Language Teaching touched

upon the cross sections of linguistics and socio linguistics in order to
appeal to the teachers and students of English who were badly in need of
a sensible way out of unimaginative and unproductive implications of the
traditional approaches. As for the operational part, the notion of
communicative competence implies changes in terms of content,
methodology and criteria for assessment. During the last two decades of
the previous century, the CLT garnered a great deal of enthusiasm and
excitement among teachers and students of English who loved to rethink
their methods of teaching and learning ,curricula, resources and their own
responses to the process of teaching and learning. The advocates of CLT
acknowledge and recognize heterogeneity of purposes for learning
English among students of diverse backgrounds. The CLT considers
varieties in terms of specific educational and /or occupational conditions
of students as opportunities to operate its methodology exercising greater
amount of flexibility. It facilitates teaching and learning of English based
on communicative skills that are conducive to the specific purposes for
which English is taught and learned. Consequently concentration on and
 42

concretization of „General English‟ was done away with by newer trends

often labeled as ESP- English for Special Purpose or EOP- English for
Occupational Purpose. Thus the CLT comprises analysis of observations,
surveys, situations, language samples collected from various pockets of
human activities and interactions in order to arrive at nearly exact
estimate of learners‟ needsobjectives and goals for learning English. On
the basis of such considerations, the CLT offers customized
programmes/courses on ELL to suit the requirements of learners with
diverse backgrounds and priorities. At the same time, this approach also
examines the following points of diversions among various groups of
learners:
 Vocabulary levels and choice of terminology.
 Ratio of grammatical and communicative content.
 Selection of texts and ancillary materials.
 Moderation of functionality and practices.
 Focus on skill orientation.
On the basis of the above considerations, ESP and EOP courses were
designed and offered to suit the requirements of students enrolled under
programmes like Engineering, Management Studies, Hospitality, Airline
Services, Medical and Paramedical Services, Liberal Studies and so on.
Consequently methodology for classroom teaching also underwent
remarkable changes since it was communication that came to be regarded
the main factor leading to the learning of a language. It is the
communicative aspect that was thought to be providing better learning
opportunities to the students who had not been aptly rewarded by the
traditional approaches.Following are some of the core principles that
constitute the nature and functions of the CLT methodology:
 Real communication is the focus of language learning.
 43

 Encourage students to experiment on the basis of what they already

know.
 Maximize students‟ participation in the classroom activities.
 Greater tolerance is to be observed towards errors made by
students.
 Inculcate sense of accuracy and fluency among learners to make
them competent communicators in the target language.
 Exercise linkage among four skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading
and Writing in order to encourage students for collaborative
learning.
 Allow students to find out rules of grammar through their practice
of and exposure to the actual use of language.
The application of principles of CLT mentioned herein above called
for newer classroom techniques and activities which, in turn,
demanded new perspectives on the roles of students and teachers. The
focus was shifted from rigorous and acute repetitions as well as
forceful memorization of grammatical structures to activities
encouraging sense of initiatives, negotiations and interactions among
students. The CLT methodology owes its acceptance and popularity to
its notion that language is a matter of practice and that communicative
competence is achievable with or without absolute knowledge of and
control over the grammar of a language. On the basis of this merit
itself, the CLT methodology won accolades especially in the field of
ESL and EFL. Along with the growing awareness on importance of
second language learning, the CLT methodology has also evolved to
the level of one of the most standard and proven methodologies for
teaching and learning of English. At the same time, it has also
influenced educational paradigms and traditions by way of not
 44

adhering to a single practice, tradition or ideology for language

teaching. On the contrary, it operates on the basis of principles agreed
upon generally while taking into consideration the context and
purpose of teaching and learning along with the technicalities involved
therein.

In the light of this observation, it is interesting to reflect upon Jacob

and Farrell‟s article “Paradigm Shift: Understanding and
Implementing Change in Social Language Education”(2001) wherein
they have articulated the importance of a communicative view of
language leading to a paradigm shift making us rethink of
stakeholders involved in the process of teaching and learning. They
further suggest that the paradigm shift triggered by CLT has affected
the following changes in approaches towards teaching and learning of
English:
(a) Learner Autonomy:
It suggests shift from teacher-centric approach to learner
friendly environment wherein students can exercise choices in
terms of selection of content, method/mode of learning and
sometimes even modalities pertaining to time and space.

(b) Pro -Social Learning:

Under the CLT methodology, it is implied that learning is an
activity that is neither individual nor private, but a social pursuit
which is dependent on human interactions. It would also mean
learning through co operation and collaboration. It espouses the
idea of inter-personality and connectivity among learners of
different backgrounds and different goals.
 45

(c) Curricular Integration:

It calls for design of curriculum on English in connection with
other curricula so that the subject of language is not isolated
from the main stream teaching and learning happening at
educational institutes. It includes selection of texts carefully
prescribed for the predefined purpose of learning English.

(d) Focus on Meaning:

What lies at the basis of learning is satisfactory comprehension
of the content being taught. It is the meaningful understanding
of the content that is responsible for wholistic learning. The
exploration of meaning is achieved through content-based
teaching, which is one of the most important aspects of the CLT
methodology.

(e) Diversity:
Any group of students is marked with heterogeneity of some
kind in terms of the learning needs of students and their
approaches towards language learning. Any teaching strategy
has to take into account such differences prevailing among
learners and never attempt to restrict learners within one fixed
methodology. It is, therefore, necessary to invite responses from
students in building learning strategies for them.

(f) Thinking Skills:

Further to the discussion on Abraham Maslow‟s Pyramid of
Learning Needs(Figure 1), it is to be noted that it is Language
which has to serve as a means for developing HigherOrder
 46

Thinking Skills (HOTS), especially critical and creative

thinking. As for teaching and learning of language, it means
that students need to move on from the basic outcome of
language learning to their development and application of
thinking skills in real life situations, academic or professional.

(g) Alternative Assessment:

The traditional patterns of assessment aim at testing only the
lower order skills. Hence, multiple forms of assessment are
required to test the higher order thinking skills of learners. This
includes task-based learning offering students a variety of
learning resources, beyond books and fixed set of problems, like
multimedia, interdisciplinary writings and excerpts from
journalism. Assessment based on such varied sources facilitates
students for comprehensive acquisition of the Second
Language.

(h) Teacher as co-learner:

The CLT methodology triggered paradigm shift that includes
the changing role of teachers who are now viewed as facilitators
in the process of learning. The archaic role of teachers has been
replaced with more pro-active responsibilities as far as the
process of teaching is concerned.Besides being a facilitator, the
21st century teacher also has to engage him/herself in research at
the levels of content development, teaching methodologies, use
of ICT and creating assessment patterns for appropriate
evaluation of students.
 47

The Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), therefore, accentuates

the functionalities of language rather than a restricted focus on grammar
and structural practices. The key contribution of the CLT in the field of
language teaching is to be found in its emphasis on applicability and
usage of forms of language learned by students who are able to use,
present and produce language competence under real life situations. The
principles and practices of the CLT methodology reveal the following
features as far as teaching and learning of English is concerned:
(a) Communicative Interaction in the Classrooms
(b) Focus on Meaning throughout the Process of Learning
(c) Active Participation from Learners
(d) Positive Reinforcement of Strengths, Abilities and Inclinations
(e) Freedom of Choice in Selection of Study Materials
(f) Flexibility in Modesand Means of Learning
(g) Learning with a Sense of Enjoyment and Reward
(h) Learning through Target Language
(i) Error-tolerant Approach
The above mentioned features manifest the fact that the CLT
methodology comprises communication based on real and/ or realistic
situations wherein teachers and students of English engage themselves on
the process of teaching and learning of English. However, there is less
emphasis on the issues of accuracy and correctness as far as language
learning is concerned. It is the communicative purpose attained
satisfactorily that holds greater importance. That‟s why activity is on role
playing and simulations have been found quite useful under the practices
of this methodology. One of the most important practices of the CLT is
its aim at devising activities in such a manner that students are prompted
to communicate within the boundaries of such activities. Thus, purpose
 48

for communication and urge for the same on their part of the students
makes their language learning and interactive process wherein their
participation is not only crucial but also mandatory. Similarly, focus of
the content is also targeted towards inciting communicative responses
from the learners who fail involve in all level in the process of teaching.
The students are found to be learning with ease and confidence especially
when they are engaged into meaningful communication of the content
through their knowledge of grammatical structures and they learn during
the course of their exposure to the course contents. Since their learning
needs, sense of initiatives towards self-learning and reward mechanism
based on actual participation are taken care of, the students improvised
their communicative skills in a better manner than what could be
achieved by using traditional methodologies. In order to sustain students‟
interest in the process of learning, the teachers can exercise need based
changes in terms of interactive modes, classroom activities, pace of
teaching, intensity of delivery of content, learning environment and
overall academic ambience wherein teachers and students make
collaborative efforts towards teaching and learning of English. Besides
this, the teachers have to ensure familiarity of the approach, moderation
of instructions, minimization of corrective measures and maximization of
positive reinforcement to achieve desired levels of communicative
competence among learners.
The Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) methodology owes his
success to selection of appropriate content of teaching, ensuring learners‟
participation in classroom activities, calibration of differing levels of
proficiency, assessment of socio cultural background of learners,
estimations of learners‟ objectives and students profiling based on their
abilities rather than weaknesses. It is in this sense that the CLT
 49

methodology aims at developing and enhancing the learners‟ ability to

communicate in the target language under real life situations ranging
from educational to professional purposes. However there has also been a
critique leveled up against the CLT, maintaining that it attaches less
importance to the teaching of grammar and grammatical structures,
resulting into learners‟ accuracy in using the target language. Despite
such criticism, the CLT methodology has yielded heartening results on
the grounds of confidence, productivity and fluency achieved by students
in their communicative skills using English as a second language or as a
foreign language.
Task Based Learning (TBL)
The methodology of Task Based Learning (TBL) was first propounded
and popularised by N. Prabhu (2012), who initiated practices of Task
Based Learning (TBL), Task Based Language Teaching (TBLT) and
Task Based Instructions (TBI) with major focus on the learning needs of
Indian students with diverse socio-linguistic-cultural backgrounds. This
methodology insists that students learn more of a language not when they
are engaged in structural and/or grammatical forms of the target
language; which means that, according to the principles of the TBL,
students should be engaged in task based activities that enable them to
acquire ESL/EFL in a better and friendly manner. Like the CLT, the
focus of the TBL shifts from fixed grammatical structures of a language
to planned lessons and Task Based Activities wherein learners are
required to perform. The key principle of the TBL is, therefore, learning
through performance. This approach involves students‟ engagement in a
series of activities culminating in successful completion of tasks. This
method also emphasizes use of authentic, real world language actually
practiced by competent users, native or non-native. It is worth noting that
 50

this method takes into consideration students‟ exposure to the real world
and their knowledge of the same. Students‟ acquaintances with the real
world are exploited to form lesson plans and task based activities to
provide situational practice to them so that they can learn to reuse the
language they have seen being used in the world around them. In this
sense, the TBL also includes learners‟ skills deduction and individual
analysis in terms of their own exposure to and knowledge of the target
language actually practiced by competent users. Like the CLT, the TBL,
two, provides motivation for adopting communicative skills while
learning ESL/EFL. The point of similarity between the CLT and the TBL
is an overt emphasis on communicative fluency rather than
linguistic/structural/ grammatical accuracy. It is for this reason that the
TBL advocates language learning through natural contextualization of the
content used for language teaching. Such an emphasis calls for selection
and adoption of teaching and learning material from authentic sources.
Though there are similarities between the CLT and the TBL, there is a
clear distinction that separates one from the other. The CLT is more of a
method based on orientation of learners on the principles and the
philosophy that it propagates; whereas the TBL is all about
implementation of principles and execution of practices among the
learners as an integral part of the process of teaching and learning of
English. Following are fundamental notions upon which the TBL
operates:
(a) Primary concern over meaning and comprehension
(b) Grammar and structural forms are guarded, if not over emphasized
(c) Units of learning are offered in terms of tasks
(d) Linkage between pedagogy and methodology
 51

Scholars offer various interpretations and definitions of tasks selected for

the Task Based Teaching. According to Rod Ellis (2003), Deputy Head of
Department of Applied Language Studies and Linguistics at the
University of Auckland, New Zealand, a task is a lesson plan that
demands learners to study structures of language so as to arrive at an
outcome which is to be estimated in terms of the delivery of content
conveyed as per pre decided action plans. It, then, requires the learners to
focus on the meaning of the content prescribed and the linguistic sense
that they could make out of it. David Nunan (2004), an Australian
linguists and author of the largest selling ELT textbook series „Go For It‟,
defines a task as an action plan for the classroom which demands multiple
activities on the part of the students who are supposed to derive
comprehension, to manipulate as per the needs or to produce and/or
interact with the same in the target language. He believes that the students
of ESL/EFL have to translate their notional knowledge of grammatical
structures into concrete interactive and communicative practices in the
same language. For an ESL/EFL, classroom activities can be offered at
pedagogical and linguistics levels. While linguistics tasks aim at handling
structural forms, the pedagogical tasks deal with the meanings of the
contents. Jane Willis (1996), teacher of TEFL/TESOL at Aston
University, U.K., suggests three fundamental stages of the TBL
framework:
(a) The pre task
(b) Task cycle
(c) Language focus
In the first stage, the teacher introduces the topic, explores its details and
exposes students to important linguistic features of the same. In the
second stage, the learners act upon the tasks prescribed in either fares or
 52

small groups. The teacher has to monitor task based activities being
carried out by the students without interfering with their process of
learning. In the third stage, the students are required to examine the
linguistic features of the prescribed task and are encourage to practice the
same for their independent use. Despite its acceptability as a method
suitable for ESL/EFL learners at primary levels, there has been some
criticism of the TBL concerning its limitations in terms of selection of
tasks that often offer restricted pattern of language. Besides this
limitation, the TBL also lacks inclusion of advanced level samples of
language used in academic/ profession group discussion, debates or
interactions. However, the TBL is desirably applicable methodology as
the resources that it incorporates and implements do provide concretized
experiences towards acquisitions of Second/ Foreign language on the part
of the learners.
Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)
Project UNICON, University of Jyvaskyla, in joint venture with the
European Platform for Dutch Education, first defined the term Content
and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in 1994 and launched it as a
systematic project in 1996. Through this project, a team of experts was
trying to establish a possibility of teaching various subjects through a
foreign language with two objectives: one of learning the content of the
subjects taught and the other of learning the target language in which
subjects are offered. The linguistic experts consider CLIL as a
methodology that includes learning of subject contents, may or may not
be language and literature, through the medium of a foreign language as
well as learning of that foreign language by way of studying subject
contents delivered in the same language. For example, if subjects like
Physics and Economics are taught through English medium to students of
 53

a non-English speaking country, such students will be at dual advantage:

study of subject content of Physics and History and learning of English
language through which the subjects are taught. It is to be noted that,
under this methodology, subjects are not taught through the mother
tongue of the students, but through a foreign language. In this way it is
primarily the knowledge of language that proves to be the means of
learning subject contents; at the same time language learning also
happens simultaneously with the content based teaching of subjects
offered in a foreign language. Thus, CLIL bolsters learners‟ motivation
through studying a foreign language which is contextualized by study of
contents taught in the same language. Following are some of the major
advantages that this method offers:

(a) One of the important advantages of CLIL can be seen in the fact
that it enables learners to have bilingual access to the world of
knowledge
(b) It broadens their horizons for inter and cross cultural understanding
of the world.
(c) It also helps learners develop their inter cultural communicative
skills
(d) It increases language competence in the target language
(e) It makes learners more aware of niceties nuances of their mother
tongue and the target language
(f) It provides ample opportunities to learners for subject specific
study that helps them at educational and professional fronts
(g) It allows learners to borrow strategies of the target language and
used the same for learning the subject content. Thus, giving them
diverts and flexible learning experience.
 54

Adaptation of CLIL as a method for teaching and learning of English

involves the following significance aspects:
(a) Cognition of subjects specific topics on the basis of Higher Order
Thinking Skills (HOTS) and problem solving approaches in order
to grasp the grey areas of subjects taught through a foreign
language
(b) Community specific awareness of the students which is
contextualized upon the society and the institution that they belong
to and the culture of the same that they practice and reflect
(c) Communicative skills learnt, developed and practiced by students
for their academic and professional interactions with fellow
learners
(d) Students‟ exposure to cultural traits of the target language and
resultant discourse that they engage themselves in on the basis of
their own cultural practices.
On the basis of the above observations, it is clear that all the four aspects
are interlinked which makes learning an integrated process under the
CLIL method that combines all the four basic learning skills in the
following manner:
(a) Listening:
Students get adequate practice of this skill by attending direct
teaching sessions delivered by professors who would use standard
form of the target language. The Students can avail of audio library
and listen to the e-books for adequate practice on this fundamental
skill for learning.
 55

(b) Speaking:
Like the CLT and the PBL, the CLIL also emphasizes the factor of
fluency without bothering about accuracy as it considers fluency to
be an empowering factor on the part of the ESL/EFL students
whose ability to speak English boosts up their morale which, in
turn, helps them learn the language at advance levels.

(c) Reading:
The CLIL offers dual advantage to students as far as reading of
learning resources is concerned. It allows bilingual access to
reading resources to the students who can avail benefits of printed
literatures on and about their subjects in their mother tongue as
well as the target language.

(d) Writing:
Through the CLIL methodology, students learn to write at an
advance level as far as the content of their subjects is concerned. In
so doing, they automatically happen to practice the skill of writing
in the target language. There may or may not be any conscious
separate practice on writing required to learn the foreign language
as formal education invariably covers large amount of writings on
the part of students; and in this case, students learn their subjects
through a foreign language.

LilijaVilkancienė (2011), Senior Lecturer in Business English, Academic

Writing and Effective Communication, ISM University of Management
and Economics, Vilnius, Lithuania, figures out five major tasks for
successful CLIL implementation:
 56

 Course and/or Curriculum Design

 Methodology for Teaching and Learning
 Innovative Practices: Tasks and Activities
 Enhancement of Language/Communicative Competence
 Pro-active and Pro-learning Academic Environment
Successful implementation and achievements in terms of meeting with
objectives in totality depend, by and large, on the educational policies
decided by authorities. There are non-English speaking countries where
universities offer major and minor programmes through the medium of
English and their students reap rich dividends of such positive pro-
learning educational policies. Even countries known for their staunch
adherence to their own linguistic roots and practices have now opened
their doors for English education to be able to meet the challenges
emerging out of the new order of globalized world. For successful
implementation of the CLIL methodology, the educational authorities
must adopt an attitude towards innovative and creative approaches and
practices to achieve excellence in higher education. The CLIL demands
collaborative efforts from all stakeholders of education including
governmental authorities, educational policy makers, teachers, students
and parents and further calls for their ability to develop strategies for
implementing this novel approach at institutions for learninginviting
support for initiatives and entrepreneurship in education.

Presentation, Practice and Production (PPP)

Compared to the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), Task Based
Learning (TBL) and Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL),
this methodology involves technicalities of lesser degree in the sense that
it aims at providing practical solutions towards teaching and learning of
 57

English in a three-step process: Presentations of standard language

models, Practice on the same and Production at the desecration of the
learners once they have been through a series of presentations and have
practiced them enough to produce something on their own. The three-
phase process of the PPP model begins traditionally with the teacher who
controls the initial affairs in the classroom and makes presentations in
forms of:
(a) Textual readings
(b) Audio-visual presentations
(c) Demonstrations
(d) Recitations
(e) Reading Dialogues/Scripts
(f) Enactment of Situational Conversations
(g) Visual Presentations using Charts, Graphs and Images
The students are, then, invited by the teacher to respond to such
presentationswith a view to learning the following areas of language:
(i) Vocabulary: Lexical Meanings and Contextual
Understanding
(ii) Grammar: Sentence Patterns, Parts of Speech, Structural
Comprehension of Language
(iii) Forms of Language: Usages, Idioms, Phrasal Verbs,
Proverbs, Colloquial Expressions, standard and slang
expressions

The teacher, after having made presentations, can invite students to pay
attention to the above points which he would explain in details providing
additional information, examples and illustrations so that positive
reinforcement occurs among the learners.The students have to relate the
use of language with the presentations made for them in the classroom.
 58

Their exposure to such presentations would result into their basic

comprehensions of the forms and functions of English language; which,
later on, they will be able to reproduce under standard conditions usually
governed by the teacher. Under the controlled phase, the students not
only learn grammatical structures but they can also reproduce them
correctly during the practice sessions. It is at the juncture of such practice
sessions during which students reproduce samples of language structures
learnt from the presentations made by the teacher that the teacher is able
to provide positive feedback on appropriate uses of language, correct the
inappropriate ones and again reinforce standard structures of language
among the learners. In the third phase, the production phase, the students
can use recently learnt forms of language, grammatical structures to make
presentations on their own. Unlike guided exercises on drilling, multiple
choices or transformation and analysis controlled by the teacher, in this
last phase of the PPP model, students come up with conversations,
dialogues, composition, essay writing or even simple formation of
sentences through which students prove their linguistic as well as
communicative competence. In the third phase, the teacher does not
interfere since it is assumed that students are not usually prone to errors
in this phase. Even if there are mistakes made by the students, the teacher
is supposed to address them in such a manner that the classroom
presentations made by students are not interrupted. Unlike the practice
phase that insists on accuracy, the production phase is all about fluency
and performance unmindful of occasional structural mistakes or
grammatical errors committed by the students. Activity based testing
carried out under the practice phase offers only one correct answer since
its aim is to teach formal structural part of a language often called
grammar; whereas the production phase offers multiple options and
 59

answers to the learners. The success of the PPP method rests on its user
friendliness without involving more technicalities and higher level of
difficulty. At its best, it facilitates the teachers with better planning of
their classroom activities wherein they control the first two phases of
presentation and practice. However this method guarantees easier shifting
from teacher centric approach to the student centered end goals that are
achievable for most learners. However, critics opine that this model takes
a rather minimalistic and simplistic view of language learning through
some kind of mechanical practice. They also apprehend that despite
contributing and participating too well during the practice phase, when it
comes to translating verbal competence into action, students may or may
not perform in the third phase of production as per the goals standards
and objectives set up at the outset of implementation of PPP.

Computer Aided/Assisted Language Learning (CALL)

Having witnessed and suffered the large scale genocides, massive

destruction, inhuman atrocities andonslaughts of two successive World
Wars within a short span of less than 50 years, the world, especially the
Western world made a remarkable comeback and took up formidable
challenges to change the course of history of humankind. One of the most
powerful tools to counter the adversities caused by the World Wars and to
make human life more comfortable, livable and progressive, the Western
world embarked upon the platform of technology and technological
advancement that revolutionized our life by turning many impossibilities
into promising possibilities. The second half of the 20th century witnessed
and endorsed confluence of changes owing to significant happenings in
the global economy, explosion of information, emerging trends in
cognitive sciences and growing demands from the field of education
 60

world over. Computers and internet technology almost transformed

ordinary placid human life into surge of mobile, kinetic and hectic
activities across the world interlinked with the World Wide Web (WWW)
which, in turn, became a new destination where the rest of the world
wanted to belong to. Modern technologies began to be used for
betterment of humankind in the areas of engineering, medical science,
human resource management, business and education. The first instance
of systematic use of computer technology in the field of education could
be found in 1944 when Harvard University launched a computer assisted
programme called MARK 1. This was followed by a programme called
ENIAC initiated by University of Pennsylvania in 1946. Both the
computer assisted educational programmes focused on teaching and
learning of Mathematics, Science and Engineering on the basis of logical
problems and their solutions that the computer programmes rendered to
the students who would study on the computers with special software
programmes installed on them. The application of computer assisted
programmes in the field of sciences encouraged experts to use computers
for teaching and learning of languages. As far as teaching and learning of
English is concerned, the computer assisted modules work at the
following levels:
(a) Presentation of Learning Resources
(b) Reinforcement of Lessons through Computer supported
Sessions
(c) Computer assisted testing and assessment
Professor Mike Levy (2011), Chair of WorldCALL, observes that CALL
is a method that uses computer interface, programming and applications
for teaching and learning of English. The CALL experts and practitioners
across the world are of the opinion that computers can be used as tools for
 61

language teaching and learning for synchronous as well as asynchronous

learning. The origin of CALL can be traced back to the 1960s to the early
1970s when such programmes were offered at universities where
language learning was assisted with computers used under the
supervision of experts from both categories: language teachers and
software developers. However, it was the PLATO (Programmed Logic
for Automatic Teaching Operations) project, initiated at the University of
Illinois in 1960, that heralded the beginning of CALL as an acceptable
method for language teaching and learning. The advent of Personal
Computers (PCs) in the 1970s changed the course of action in the field of
CALL as computers were now within the reach of masses and students
started getting access to personal computers; on account of which they
were able to learn language through computer programmes and
applications. The late 70s and 80s of the previous century witness a flurry
of activities associated with CALL as an approach toward teaching and
learning of English on the basis of programmed instructions to be
followed by rigorous practices with the help of computers. This
functionality of CALL resulted into a term called CALI which stands for
Computer Assisted Language Instructions that guide the learners to
undertake task-based sessions on computers. In the initial phase of
CALL, the computer programmers provided simple versions of language
programme which offered nothing beyond a set of instructions,
mechanical response interface and testing and assessment mechanism.
They lacked imagination and interactive skills to make CALL interesting
for the learners. However after 1980s, CALL was embedded with the
communicative approach and embraced a wide range of technologies that
resulted into its wider acceptance in the field of teaching and learning of
English. The growing popularity of the CALL method depended on the
 62

interactive features inbuilt in the programmes that it offered. One of

successful examples of this approach is the CLEF (Computer assisted
LEcons for French) which was used for the learners of the French
language. It was developed in early 80s by a consortium of Canadian
University. One of the highlighting features of this method is the way in
which instructions are passed on and corrections of errors are executed.
Another striking feature is that the CALL method offers incentive based
learning wherein, for every correct operational step, the learners are
encouraged to move on to the next step. CALL also includes testing,
assessment and error analysis which are executed through a series of
interactive And /or multimedia commands. The practices of CALL offer
cross references to other disciplines of computational linguistics like
Natural Language Processing (NLP), Human Language Technologies
(HLT) and even Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Intelligent CALL
(ICALL). Though there is a perceivable hiatus among these disciplines, it
is the confluence of technological tools which is the common factor on all
of them. The modern versions of CALL include programme concordance
as well as web concordance that make it an explorative approach towards
teaching and learning of language. Unlike the era of personal computers
without any additional facility except textual inputs, the Multimedia
Personal Computers (MPCs) of the modern age allow students to access
interactive programmes on language learning using sums/ speech
recording, images, video recording and a host of presentation tools with
or without the internet facility enabling them to learn language through
multimedia, imaginations and creativity. The modern age technology
used for CALL has rendered a new version known as Web Enhanced
Language Learning (WELL) which includes online learning, testing,
assessment and evaluation of language learners. The web based version
 63

of CALL encourages self-learning on the part of the language students.

At this juncture, it is imperative to note that the content development for
the CALL programme is designed by language experts who may or may
not be experts in the field of programming. However the content
developed is so designed as to fit in for being programme through
computer applications.
The CALL approach emerged as a method for language learning against
the traditional teachers‟ centric practices and systems in education.
Following are some of the key aspects which constituted grounds as to
why CALL was introduced, accepted and practiced:
(a) Experiential and Experimental Learning
(b) Motivational Approach
(c) Incentives and Rewards during the course of learning
(d) Authentic course content developed by experts
(e) Interactive modes of learning
(f) Individualisation, customisation and personalisation of modules for
learning
(g) Adherence to global standards of education
On the basis of the above aspects the related to the CALL approach,
language learners of the late 20th century were benefited to great extent
as they could learn in absence of teachers and also beyond the walls of
their institutes. However they are also a series of constraints and barriers
that inhibit practices associated with the CALL approach. Following is a
list some of the common barriers that restrict the scope and practice of the
Call approach:
(a) Financial issues as the CALL demands technological paraphernalia
that cost more than conventional tools for teaching and learning
 64

(b) Infrastructural issues pertaining to availability of computers,

ancillary hardware and software goods
(c) Lack of theoretical and technical knowledge of handling hardware
and software on computers
(d) Philosophical dilemma over accepting the influence of technology:
struggle to rationalize subjective preferences over practical needs
Despite the above odds against the CALL, it is the market driven
economy of the world and the technology driven market that support
teaching and learning of language through for. From its early days in
1960s till present, the CALL has undergone phases of transformation.
The following table provides a brief account of phases of transformation
in the CALL:
Phase Type Description
Language drilling exercises,
I Behaviourist drill and practice method,
(1960s and 1970s) CALL computer tutoring,
grammatical structures,
structural instructions
Application of forms of
II Communicative language, student generated
(1970s and 1980s) CALL structures, cognitive and
creative learning, use of
personal computers, testing
through simulations
Socio-cognitive teaching and
III learning, emphasis on
(Mostly 1990 Integrative meaningful and contextual
onwards) CALL leaning, skill based learning,
use of multimedia, internet
enabled programmes,
informational, communicative
and publishing tool
 65

From the above enumerations and elucidations it is obvious that the

CALL approach in its modern versions integrates technological tools to
great extent. The technology enabled CALL has changes the phase of
teaching and learning of language in the sense that it individualizes the
process of learning on the part of students who can now make personal
choices in deciding their course timings, mode of learning and even the
pace of learning; which means brilliant students/fast learners stand fair
chances of going ahead without restrictions of fixed time limits which
was earlier imposed by the traditional methods. The CALL also facilitates
students centered collaborative learning that lips restrictions of single
source of information. Students can access informational sources across
various platforms irrespective of their own global positioning. In this
sense, the CALL leads to inter disciplinary learning. Owing to the
internet connectivity, students acquire global understanding as they use
global resources for learning through CALL. The CALL enables students
to engage themselves in global classrooms where they participate and
communicate with fellow learners across the world. Internet supported
CALL establishes linkages with online learning resources, virtual
libraries and comprehensive digital database of knowledge shared and
contributed by experts of various disciplines. The technology- mediated
language learning has reshaped use of computers and internet facility for
language learning. This has also effected significant changes in the role of
the teacher who is now considered as facilitator in the process of learning
and a manager of resources in the process of teaching. The integrative
CALL has transformed passive students into active participants who now
are able to explore and create resources in their own. Thus, the CALL
approach is a collaboration of information processing, communication
skills, authenticity of learning resources and learners autonomy in the
 66

process of teaching and learning; qualities that make it a promising option

for ESL/EFL students.
Deliberations on modern approaches towards teaching and learning of
English and discussions on salient features and functions of various
approaches as stated above reveal that the process of teaching and
learning of English is subject to change with the growing needs and
emerging challenges of the globalised world. The complexities of the 21 st
century have compelled and/ or prompted academicians, theoreticians,
and educators of the 21st century to evolve a methodology that benefits
learners irrespective of heterogeneities in terms of their social, cultural,
linguistic, ethnic, religious, economic or political backgrounds. Prof.
Howard Gardner‟s Theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI) is a potential
and promising answer to the complex challenges lying before the teachers
and students of the modern era. Prof. Gardner is of firm conviction that
educational methods should be flexible and creative for students with
different intellectual levels. He believes that pedagogy and methodology
should be devised and revised in such a manner that they incorporate
multiple intelligences effectively to benefit all the stakeholders of the
education. His theory implies that there is no single concrete measure of
intelligence hence there cannot be a singular method for teaching and
learning. Based on Prof. Gardner‟s Theory of Multiple Intelligences,
Chapman and Freeman (1996) draw the following implications:
(a) Intelligence can be taught or at least enhanced through teaching
(b) Intelligence Are changing throughout life
(c) The existence of different intelligences possessed by different
learners results in different learning style and different needs
In the light of the above implications a Theory of Multiple Intelligences,
it is imperative to understand various ways in which individuals are
 67

intelligent and that how they process, learn and remember information.
According to Prof Gardner, individuals are capable of processing
information in at least nine different ways; wherein they vary in the
degree of skills possessed in each of the nine intelligences. The Theory of
Multiple Intelligences reveals that there are nine distinct domains of
human intellect and its development and that all human beings have them
in greater or lesser degrees. As per Prof. Gardner‟s Theory, following are
the nine domains of human intellectual development:
(1) Verbal/ Linguistic Intelligence
(2) Logical/ Mathematical Intelligence
(3) Visual/ Spatial Intelligence
(4) Kinaesthetic/ Bodily Intelligence
(5) Musical/ Rhythmic Intelligence
(6) Interpersonal Intelligence
(7) Intrapersonal Intelligence
(8) Naturalist Intelligence
(9) Spiritual/ Existential Intelligence
Prof. Gardner believes that the above nine domains and ability that they
command operate together in complex ways. He further says that the nine
domains provide more comprehensive view of the constituents of human
Intelligence. The Theory of MI addresses to the learning needs of the
students with diverse backgrounds by appealing to their intelligences and
by creating customised learning environment. This theory has its primary
focus on the content and products of learning. The Theory of MI is a
promising option for then ESL/EFL students since it acts towards
utilising learners‟ individual strength by way of inculcating among them
communication skills and critical understanding of information of content
as well as grammatical and structural aspects of the content delivered
 68

through teaching. One of the highlighting aspects of this theory is that

different intelligences can be easily identified, not by complex technical
or scientific testing, but through common experiences of life. Globalised
trends in education have witnessed remarkable rise in the number of
ESL/EFL students who have extremely diverse backgrounds.
Methodologies discussed earlier in this chapter do not fully catered to the
diverse learning needs of students belonging to non- English speaking
nations. The researcher attempts to critically evaluate potential merits
involved in the use of the Theory of MI as a methodology that best serve
purpose of wholistic teaching and learning of English language and
literature, especially in the context of ESL/EFL students with special
reference to India. It is with this purpose that the Theory of MI in context
of teaching and learning of English literature is discussed hereafter. Prof.
Howard Gardner‟s, The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, first published
by the Harvard University Graduate School of Education has positively
incited and evoked keen academic and intellectual responses from the
educational pockets across the world. Its merits are based on the level of
effectiveness in attaining desired goals of learning among students from
moderate to extreme diverse backgrounds. The Theory of MI contents
that successful learning in the area of ESL/EFL occurs only when
individual cognitive Factors are taken into consideration and understood
properly. Prof. Gardner‟s Theory of Multiple Intelligences ascertains that
intelligence as an individual cognitive factor significantly influences the
process of Second Language Acquisition (SLA). It is this influence of the
MI theory that has attracted scholarly responses from academic and
linguistic researchers who, on the basis of this theory, have worked
extensively for reassessment of practices towards content and curricula
development, pedagogy and methodology for teaching and learning,
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especially for ESL/EFL programmes. Though originally perceived as

theory related to the academic practices of education in general and
psychology in particular by Prof. Gardner, the Theory of MI can be
effectively used for teaching and learning of English language and
literature, especially for students who belong to non-English speaking
Countries. However, before establishing the fact that a methodology
based on the MI Theory is the most promising option for teaching and
learning of English language and literature, a comprehensive
understanding of the theory, its contours and applications is essential to
ascribe methodological implications of the same for ESL/EFL students.
The next chapter, therefore, offers an explorative study of the origin,
nature and functions of the Theory of Multiple Intelligences as envisaged
and developed by Prof. Howard Gardner.
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Works Cited:

Chapman, C., Freeman, L. Multiple Intelligence Centres and Projects.

Arlington Heights, IL: Skylight Training and Publishing,
1996.Print.

Ellis, Rod. Task-based Language Learning and Teaching. Oxford,

U.K.: Oxford UP, 2003. Print.

Gardner, Howard. Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons. New York:

Basic Books, 2006. 8-20. Print.

Harmer, Jeremy. Essential Teacher Knowledge. Harlow: Pearson

Longman, 2012. Print.

Harmer, Jeremy. The Practice of English Language Teaching. Harlow,

England: Pearson Longman, 2007. 51. Print.

Jacobs, George M., and Thomas S.C. Farrell. "Paradigm Shift:

Understanding and Implementing Change in Social
Language Education."TESL-EJ-Teaching English as a
Second or Foreign Language 5.1 (2001): n. pag. Web.

Kelly, Melissa. The Everything New Teacher Book: Increase Your

Confidence, Connect With Your Students, and Deal with the
Unexpected. Avon, MA: Adams Media, 2004. Print.

Levy, Mike. World CALL: International Perspectives on Computer-

assisted Language Learning. New York: Routledge, 2011.
Print.
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Maslow, Abraham‟s Figure-1

hhtp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs

Nunan, David, and David Nunan.Task-based Language Teaching.

Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2004. Print.

N.Prabhu -hhtps://eltnotes.wordpress.com/2012/08/15/22-prof-prabhu-
on-task-based teaching

Ur, Penny, and Penny Ur.A Course in English Language Teaching.

Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2012.276. Print.

Vilkanciene, Lilija. “CLIL in Tertiary Education: Does it Have

Anything to Offer?”.Ktu: Studies About Language. 2011.
Web 4th April,2013.

Willis, Jane R. A Framework for Task-based Learning. Harlow, Essex:

Longman, 1996. Print.