Global English-Oriented Research Journal (GEORJ) /dec. 2015

Global English-Oriented Research Journal (G E O R J)
Critical & Creative Explorations/Practices in

English Language, Literature, Linguistics & Education and Creative Writing
Vol. 1 Issue 3 December 2015
www.researchenglish.com
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2454-5511
IBI FACTOR 2015: 2.9

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BOARD OF EDITORS
Editor in Chief
Dr. George Kolanchery
Associate Editor
Mr. Abdul Latheef Vennakkadan
Asst. Professor (Literature & Linguistics)

HoD- General Foundation Program
Head/ Asst. Professor of English
Head - College Research Committee
Govt. Arts &Science College,
Bayan University College, Oman
Kondotty, Malappuram Dt.,
Aff. Purdue University, Indiana, USA.
Kerala, India.
INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD
Dr. Rahma Al-Mahrooqi
Dr. Z. N. Patil
Associate Professor of English
Former Professor of English,
Director-Humanities Research Center
The English and Foreign Languages
Sultan Qaboos University.
University, Hyderabad, India
Sultanate of Oman
Founding Member English Scholars

Beyond Borders
Dr. Saiwaroon Chumpavan
Dr. Vijay Singh Thakur
Chairperson-Department of Western
Chair Dept. of Languages &
Languages Faculty of Humanities
Translation
Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok,
Dhofar University, Salalah
Thailand
Sultanate of Oman.

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Dr. Jose Reuben Q. Alagaran II
Dr. Syed Mohammed Haseebuddin
Executive Director Center for
Quadri
Strategic Research (CSR) & Associate
Professor Department of English,
Professor,
Dean School of Languages,
Department of Communication
Linguistics & Indology, Maulana Azad
Miriam College, Philippines
National Urdu University,

Hyderabad,India
Prof. Dr. Gerhard Leitner FAHA
Dr. Furqanul Aziez
Fellow, Australian Academy of
Asst. Professor (Language Teaching)
Humanities (Hon.) & Emeritus
The Faculty of Teacher Training and
Professor, Dept. of English,
Education,University of Muhammadiyah
Free University Berlin, Germany.
Purwokerto, Indonesia.
EDITORS & REVIEWERS

Dr. Reza Gholami
Sally McQuinn
Researcher and University Lecturer,
MA TESOL, Wheaton College, USA
Azad University of Mashhad,
Professor, English Language Center
Iran.
University of Sharjah,United Arab

Emirates.
Dr. Anvar Sadath
Dr. Zainu Abid Kotta
Associate Professor
Head/Asst. Professor
Post Graduate Dept. of English
Post Graduate Dept. of English
The New College, Chennai
Govt. College, Malappuram
India.
Kerala, India.
Prof. Richard E. Rupp
Dr. Julius Irudayasamy
Associate Professor
Dept. of Languages & Translation
Purdue University
Dhofar University
Calumet, USA
Sultanate of Oman.

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EDITORS NOTE
Dear Readers and Contributors,

Do research. Feed your talent. Research not only wins the war on clich, it's the key to victory
over fear and its cousin, depression. Robert McKee
Greetings and a warm welcome to December issue of Global English-Oriented Research Journal
(GEORJ).
This journal targets all those involved in the teaching of English Language globally. Its primary
aim is to build a platform for research-lovers in diverse fields of English Language, Literature
and Language Education Practices (LEP); it also welcomes a few genres of Creative Writing
such as poem, short story etc.
We take this opportunity to thank all our valuable readers and writers who supported and
accompanied us in our journey in 2015. The New Year 2016 is coming with a lot of new hopes
and aspirations. We wish you all the very best for your research activities! We look forward to
receiving your contributions to YOUR next GEORJ.
We hope you enjoy reading this issue as much as we enjoyed putting it together.
"Books are a guide in youth, and an entertainment for age. They support us under solitude and
keep us from becoming a burden to ourselves." Collier
Enjoy Reading!
Editor in Chief

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CONTENTS Issue 2 SEPTEMBER 2015
S.No.
Titles
Author
Genre
Page
Cover Page - December 2015
Journal
Journal
Board of Editors
Journal
Journal
Editors Note
Journal
Journal
Contents
Journal
Journal
Social Media: Transforming Communication

and Social Interaction
Dr. Divya Walia
Article
Microteaching as an Effective Tool In Faculty

Development Programmes
Prof. M. Deva
Santhanam Pillai
Article
Nature and Women: A Unique Story of

Struggle!
Mamta Sharma
Article
Literature Is The Source Behind The Process

Of Learning Language
Dr. A.
Madhusudhana
Rao
Article
The Idea of a Nation: A Post-Colonial study of

Amitav Ghoshs The Glass Palace
Anand Dampella
Article
10
A Terrible Day: Hudhood
G. Satyanarayana
Poem
11
Decolonizing English Studies The Kerala

Experience
Dr. Santhosh V. M.
Article
12
From Awareness to Acceptance: The

Queering Of Bollywood
Ms. Charu Agarwal
Article
14
27
34
38
44
46
55

13
Generational Differences and the Diaspora in

Amy Tans The Kitchen Gods Wife and Helie
Lees Still Life with Rice
14
MY VISION
15
A Gender Study in Kiran Desais The

Inheritance of Loss
16
Understanding Motivation in Language

Learning
17
Sociocultural And Linguistic Perspective of

John Fowles Novels
18
True Joyous Heart
19
An overview on Educational Commissions /

Policies Post-Independence in India
Chidanand Navi
Article
20
Challenges of Change Affecting the

Curriculum: Cyber Age
Dr.Harish Kumar
Singh
Article
21
Les Miserables: Justice Delayed or Denied?
Dr.M.Moovendhan
Article
22
Crushed In Blood
Abdul latheef
Vennakkadan
Poem
23
Lights, Camera, Action: Activities In

ESLClassroom In Pursuance Of Language
Learning
24
Novels Of Kavery Nambisan Voice To The

Silent
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Dr. C. Isaac
Jebastine &
Sweta Ravindran
Article
60
Manju george
Poem
66
A. Cruz Thivagaran
Article
Srinivas
Bandameedi
Article
Dr. S. R. Chaitra
Article
Jana Samuel Rajiv

Kumar
Poem
69
75
82
99
101
110
115
121
123
Milind M. Ahire
A.A Vijaya Jyothi &

Dr T Samba Siva
Rao
Article
130
Article

25
Shashi Deshpandes That Long Silence: The

Inevitable Silence of an Indian Woman
Khushbu Akash
Trehan
Article
26
TRIED AL(L)WAYS BUT IN VAIN
Joseph Kumar
Kakumanu
Poem
27
Mathew Arnold as a Critic of English

Literature With Special Reference to
Functions of Poetry
28
Article
T. S. Eliot: Contemplation through Indian

Theology
Gitartha Goswami
Article
29
Home Environment and School Adjustment

on Academic Achievement among Secondary
Level Students
Dr. N. Vasuki &

Angel Micheal Raj
Article
30
Difference between the performance of

extrovert and introvert EFL learners on taskbased information-gap, opinion-gap and
reasoning-gap activities
Reza Gholami,
Elham
Sermanshahi, Ali
Azadi, Rajan
Periannan & Reza
Vaseghi
Article
31
Author Profiles
138
144
146
Dr. George
Kolanchery
Journal
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Journal
151
159
166
183

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Social Media: Transforming Communication and Social Interaction

Dr. Divya Walia
Assistant Professor (English)
S.S Jain Subodh P G (Autonomous) College
Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
Abstract
The 21st century is radically transforming our lives by not only bringing to us to the
technological developments occurring every hour but also by influencing social outlook
as a result of such technological revolutions. The increasing dominance of social media
in our personal and social lives has gone on to redefine our existence as a social being.
Few decades back man preferred to be in a group of other folks to discuss and share
anything he wanted to. Such a closed system was a relief from the miseries of life offering
a support system in one's isolation. Replacing the face to face interaction and need for
physical meetings, social media has given a new dimension to the way we communicate
and interact. On one hand it has given more openness to person, on the other it has also
made him confined to the physical space of home or office. If the emergence of social
media has widened the scope of transfer of information and sharing of opinion, it has also
robbed social interaction of its personal touch. On one hand If evolution of social media
has broadened the social circle and network, then on the other it has also rendered social
and personal relationships more formal and ceremonious. Such changes are taking place
rapidly and the increasing acceptance of this kind of a communication channel speaks
volumes about human need of remaining connected and closely knit despite the time and
spatial constraints. However, how successful has been this way of networking and how
much impact it has laid on our society and individual, is what needs to be looked at.
The paper is an attempt to explore how important social media has become in our spheres
of social interaction and communication. There will also be an effort to highlight the
changes this new yet popular form of media has introduced in our communication
methods and patterns.
Keywords: Communication, Language, Social interaction, Social media, Technology

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Social Media: Transforming Communication and Social Interaction

The 21st century is radically transforming our lives by not only bringing to us the
technological developments occurring every hour but also by influencing our social
outlook as a result of such technological revolutions. The increasing dominance of social
media in our personal and social lives has gone on to redefine our existence as a social
being. Few decades back, man preferred to be in a group of other folks to discuss and
share anything he wanted to. Such a closed system was a relief from the miseries of life
offering a support system in one's isolation. Replacing the face to face interaction and
need for physical meetings, social media has given a new dimension to the way we
communicate and interact. On one hand it has given more openness to person, on the
other it has also made him confined to the physical space of home or office. If the
emergence of social media has widened the scope of transfer of information and sharing
of opinion, it has also robbed social interaction of its personal touch. One one hand if
evolution of social media has broadened the social circle and network, then on the other
it has also rendered social and personal relationships more formal and ceremonious.
Today, Social media is fast emerging as a vital tool of communication among groups and
communities both social as well as professional .The social media can be defined as the
new form of Internet or web communication that facilitates sharing of information. Social
media refers to the means of interactions among people in which they create, share, and
exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks (Ahlqvist et al, 13).
Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based
applications that are built on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0,
and that allow the creation and exchange of user generated content (Kaplan, & Haenlein,
61).
How popular this media has become can be well gauged from the increasing use of
expressions like Hey whatsapp, Follow me on Twitter, Are you on Facebook that we get
to hear today in any discussion be it among school or college friends, colleagues or even
elderly groups. This new form of communication has become almost like a social
expression among different classes, groups or segments. Earlier forms of communication
were defined on the basis of their utility at work place but this new form of media has

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embraced society thus redefining our existence as social beings. When referring to social
media mostly it is the social networking sites that are primarily transforming the way
communication is now taking place all over the world through dot net platform.
Why Social Media?
The question that now arises is why this form of media has become so popular when in
a collective society like India people preferred being and working in groups. As per a
report by Internet and Mobile Association of India and IMRB International, Social media
users in the country have reached 143 million by April 2015 with rapid uptake seen in
rural India where user base grew by 100 per cent in last one year to 25 million. Some of
the reasons that can be cited for its popularity can be availability of technology and
internet at affordable prices, Need for tech education among the youth as well as the old
to remain updated, desire to remain connected with more and more people despite
physical distances, and most importantly the social pressure to be seen and known.
Use of social networking allows the users to not only communicate but also socialize
virtually thus turning them away from real life interactions and physical meetings yet giving
them facility to remain connected irrespective of time and place. Moreover, the user
friendly features of such sites and apps like calling, messaging, posting info, sharing of
pics account for the increased popularity of this form of media.
Impact of Social Media
Like any other technological transformation, this new form of communication is also not
without impact. However considering the wider scope of it usage, there has been its
influence over almost all the spheres of communication, be it professional, personal or
social
Diminishing levels of Formality
One of the major changes that social networking has introduced in the world of
communication is bringing informality in the sharing of information. The phrases like
whatsapp me, text me are some of the innovations that have become a form of usage all
over the world despite being against the norms of grammar. This kind of language use
has become widely acceptable and popular and reflective of ones familiarity with the
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latest in the world of technology. No longer is this slanged usage a mark of disrespect or
lack of proficiency.
Besides the language, the content sharing has also widened by not being limited only to
that of having high priority and significance. Social media users now enjoy sharing
everything and anything from very important to the most trivial. Remaining connected 24X
7 with your friends and family gives one flexibility as well as convenience of sharing
everything that they wish to share. This thus eliminates the barriers to choosing or filtering
the content.
Increased visibility of life
With the informality and ease in sharing information Social media especially social
networking sites have also facilitated increased visibility of life, both personally and
professionally. Personally, one is connected with the not so close family and friends via
pictures, moments (of both happiness and sorrow) that one shares, wishing each other
on occasions (birthdays, anniversaries, festivals etc.) which would otherwise be missed.
Professionally, in addition to being connected with colleagues, one is also visible to other
employers through a community of professionals facilitated by networking groups like
LinkedIn and Glassdoor. This provides a great platform to showcase ones skills and be
recognized while also exhibiting ones expectations and requirements from the job. On
personal front if this kind of visibility has made communication faster cheaper and well
networked on professional front it has added a new dimension to the way one moves and
grows professionally.
Changing Communication Patterns
The greatest impact of social media has been on the use of language among the users
of networking sites. Excessive texting is robbing the language of its formal tone and
expression making it sound more like a spoken language which is informal and
telegraphic. McWhorter states that texting isn't really written language, but rather a form
of spoken language. Spoken language is looser, telegraphic, and less reflective than
written language. He calls it "fingered speech." The language of social media emotes
more than just conveying a message as is often with a written message thus doing away
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with the use of punctuation mark of period, incorporating more of exclamatory marks and
replacing written expressions with emoticons and abbreviations or acronyms like LOL,
ROFL, BRB, GTG and so on. The use of acronyms (an abbreviation formed from the
initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word) are now commonplace substitutes
to whole sentences; LOL (laugh out loud), OMG (Oh my God), TTYL (talk to you later)
are just a few that demonstrate how social media speeds things up by lessening the need
to write longer phrases and reduces space.
As a social media user, one can also not miss noticing the neologisms that have been the
product of facebook like selfie, unfriend and also the new meanings of so many of the
words the origin of which can be attributed to facebook. Therefore on one hand we have
extended meanings of words like status, wall, etc. and troll which is now no longer just a
character from Norse folklore, but someone who makes offensive or provocative
comments online. and on the other we have many newly coined words specific to social
media. (http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2014/06/social-media-changing-language/)
Social Reverberations
If we look at the social sphere from the lens of social media, it may have brought people
closer virtually but has drifted them apart physically and emotionally. RIP word, an
acronym for Rest in Peace is the cruel impact of too much of socializing through media.
Though widely accepted, this kind of condolence message smacks of insensitivity; a form
of customary sharing of the grief over the loss of the departed one. Even when people
meet, they prefer to only eat, have fun and rejoice rather than spending time talking or
sharing thoughts or emotions. It has connected the masses globally but separated them
emotionally and socially confining them to the walls of their home against the screens of
laptops or mobile phones. Thus despite having a huge network of friends and family, man
still feels lonely and alienated because the life that is lived through social media is
superficial and since he himself is a part of it well understands the artificiality of it.
Eventually he gains no consolation from this virtual society during times of distress, which
a real life society can offer significantly.
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Conclusion
Going forward we can say Social Media is here to stay and transform the way we socialize
and communicate. Despite all its negative influence on language usage and social
existence and values, one cannot deny its importance in keeping people not only
connected but also updated. The addiction of socializing through media further testifies
to its popularity and acceptance. All we need to realize and avoid is the over involvement
with social media at the cost of real life relations, emotions and values. No matter how
convenient its use may be it cannot replace the warmth, solace and emotional strength
that the physical company of friends and relatives can offer. Further it may bring you a
community of friends but that friendly world will be artificial and only superficial. Curetting
a perfected self might win followers or Facebook friends, but it will not necessarily cure
loneliness, since the cure for loneliness is not being looked at, but being seen and
accepted as a whole person ugly, unhappy and awkward, as well as radiant and selfieready. Social media thus should remain only an appendage to one's social and personal
life and not become the life itself.
References
Ahlqvist, Toni, et al. (2008). Social media road maps exploring the futures triggered by
social
media.
VTT Tiedotteita
Valtion
Teknillinen
Tutkimuskeskus
(2454).
Vuorimiehentie: JULKAISIJA UTGIVARE. 2008. Print

Kaplan Andreas M. and Haenlein Michael. Users of the world, unite! The challenges and
opportunities of social media, Business Horizons, Vol. 53, Issue 1. 59-68. 2010. Print
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Microteaching as an Effective Tool

In Faculty Development Programmes
Prof. M. Deva Santhanam Pillai
Dept. of English, K L University,
Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India
Abstract:
Microteaching is a proven training method designed to help teachers acquire the required
techniques and skills to make their classroom teaching better. Mentoring, coaching and
model teaching from veteran colleagues or outsourced mentors / teaching consultants is
critical to the successful development of new recruits and young teachers. When Faculty
Development Programmes create opportunities for in service candidates, both young and
old, to learn from best practices, Microteaching creates a platform to analyze and reflect
on their teaching.
______________________________________________________________________
Key Words/Phrases: Microteaching Cycle, Faculty Development Programme (FDP),
Teaching Strategies, Knowledge Acquisition, Skill Acquisition, Skill / Knowledge Transfer,
Introduction
It is a known fact that high quality output requires equally rigorous quality inputs. The
quality of students coming out of the portals of professional institutions is a true reflection
of the quality of teachers in these universities and colleges. Teachers are the pillars of
any educational system. Other components like infrastructure, facilities, labs etc. are
incidental or secondary. So, it is necessary to fortify this basic edifice because teachers
make or mar the lives of millions of young minds on a day-to-day basis. Unfortunately,
many things are taken for granted. The proliferation of professional colleges and
universities has resulted in many untrained teachers being inducted and entrusted with
the task of imparting knowledge and transferring skills. They go into the class without fully
understanding the importance of their roles and responsibilities. It is in this context of
empowering and conscientizing teachers at the tertiary level, Faculty Development
Programmes are conducted.
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What is Microteaching?
Microteaching is organized practice teaching in a simulated environment. It aims at giving
young teachers the much needed confidence, support, and feedback by letting them try
out a slice of what they plan to do with their students in the presence of experienced
teaching consultants, mentors, language experts, soft skills trainers, and peers.
Microteaching as a professional development tool in teacher training programs provides
student teachers with opportunities to explore and reflect on their own and others
teaching styles and to acquire new teaching techniques and strategies. Microteaching
was developed in the early and mid-1960's by Dwight Allen and his colleagues at the
Stanford Teacher Education Program ( Muhlise Cosgun Ogeyik, 2009). Microteaching is
a proven training method designed to help teachers acquire the required techniques and
skills to make their classroom teaching better. Mentoring and coaching from veteran
colleagues is critical to the successful development of new recruits and young teachers.
When Faculty Development Programmes create opportunities for in service candidates,
both young and old, to learn from best practices, Microteaching creates a platform to
analyze and reflect on their teaching.
A novices teaching under the microscope
Microteaching is taking up a micro aspect of pedagogical skill so as to whet and hone it
with the help of professional trainers. It is also akin to putting the teacher under a
microscope and hence it nothing short of biopsy. Microteaching is so called since it is
analogous to putting the teacher under a microscope so to say while he is teaching so
that all faults in teaching methodology are brought into perspective for the observers to
give a constructive feedback. It eliminates some of the complexities of learning to teach
in the classroom situation such as the pressure of length of the lecture, the scope and
content of the matter to be conveyed, the need to teach for a relatively long duration of
time (usually an hour) and the need to face large numbers of students, some of whom
are hostile temperamentally ( Ananthakrishnan,1993).
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Microteaching - How is it designed?

Serial Stage
Activity
No.
1
Participants are assembled
Introduction to the agenda and tips
in the training hall
Microteaching given
on
Input sessions on various Learning Styles and Teaching Strategies,

aspects of the profession Intervention Styles, ICT Enhanced Instruction,
given
Technology Enabled Learning, Teaching Tools

etc.
Model Lectures
PPTs
and
white-board
presentations
by
veterans on specific subject areas given

4
Microteaching Phase I
Participants make their presentation before

peers and mentors
Feedback
by
peers
and Participants are ready to receive comments,
mentors
suggestions and constructive criticism
from
peers and mentors

6
Playback
The participants, peers and mentors view the

playback of the presentation
Microteaching Phase II
The second round of presentations starts and

the cycle is repeated without model lectures or
the input sessions from experts
Microteaching Phase III

Better
equipped
to
The trainees are better off in terms of knowface how, skills and understanding of the craft and
students
are ready to face the students with greater

confidence
Stage 1
In Faculty Development Programmes (FDPs) with Microteaching as a major
component, participants, drawn from various departments, are assembled in one place.
The venue is equipped with all the gadgets like LCD projector, 12 or 16 feet long white
board , hi res digital camera mounted on a tripod manned by personnel from the ET
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Facilities division, lectern at one end of the dais, amplifier and other tools like lavalier and
cordless mikes.
On the first day of training, participants are told that they would be required to make a 20
or 30 minute presentation on any topic of their choice. Introduction to the agenda and tips
on Microteaching are given. If the number of participants is more and the number of
mentors / days earmarked is less, the duration is reduced to 20 minutes though it is ideal
to have 30 minutes to each participant as we need to have at least 50 minutes dedicated
to each trainee. This includes transition time, setup time, presentation proper, feedback
and peer review. Playback can vary from selective viewing to complete playback
depending upon the individual performance and can be left to the discretion of the team
of mentors.
Participants are advised to choose topics of general nature as the peer group will have
teachers from all disciplines. They are given enough clues about the requirements and
parameters the mentors will follow in assessing their presentation. Usually, 3 days time
is given so that participants can find enough time to come up with good presentations.
Various micro aspects like introducing a topic, development of a topic, interaction, closing
punch etc. can be taken up as special attention areas. The presentation might be
designed to put special emphasis on one are more of these micro aspects. The
parameters also include language, style, diction, and non-verbal signals like gesture,
posture, eye contact, and the ability to involve the students in the process through
interaction, introducing the topic, use of teaching tools, videos, animations and
illustrations, live examples inside the training hall, resourcefulness, ready wit, and the like.
Stage 2
Input sessions on various aspects of the profession given
FDPs have two phases. Phase I has input sessions and Model Lectures and Phase II has
Microteaching exercise. During the first 3 or 4 days, the participants receive inputs on a
number of areas / topics like Mapping Programme Objectives with Programme Outcomes,
Course Objectives with Course Outcomes, Learning Styles and Teaching Strategies,
Intervention Styles, ICT Enhanced Instruction, Technology Enabled Learning, Teaching
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Tools,
Team
Communication,
Teaching,
Classroom
Structuring
Instruction,
Management,
Time
Effective
PPTs,
Management,
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Non-verbal
Stress Busters,
Professional Ethics, Work-Life Balance, Etiquette and other relevant areas.
Stage 3
Model Lectures
At this stage, model lectures by highly talented teachers, both PPTs and White Board
Presentations, are given. Many young and even older teachers find this part of the FDP
very rewarding as they find out what is good in a veterans instruction. Participants are
given the anatomy of structured presentation starting with lesson planning to closing
punch, through interesting areas like introduction, development of a topic, questioning
and interaction, definitions and explanations, time management, use of teaching aids and
so on.
Stage 4
Microteaching Phase I
As the time for the participants to start their presentations comes, usually no
specific order is followed. There will always be willing horses and more confident ones
coming forward to make their presentation. The most important part of Microteaching is
video graphing the entire presentation. Very often, participants will not be able to
complete the task in the given time. To make it rigorous, at the end of 18 minutes, a
mentor will either ring a warning bell or ask the participant to conclude. Interestingly,
many participants will be confounded by this unexpected jolt and will wind up rather than
conclude.
Stage 5
Feedback by peers and mentors
Once the presentation is over, the participant is asked to sit down. A mentor will ask the
participant how he/she feels. Most often there is a good, positive feeling. In some cases,
there is a great sense of relief as if an ordeal is over and done with. By and large,
participants will be beaming with a radiant smile or have an ungainly, awkward smirk on
their faces. They do have the I could have done better feeling though they try to hide it
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as far as they can. But the writing is on the wall. They have performed before peers and
mentors.
A mentor will ask the participant to rate his/her own presentation on a scale of 1 to 10.
In most cases, the answer is 8 or 9. However, the mentors start their feedback with all
the goods points about the person and the presentation. Positive strokes on dress,
shining shoes, socks matching with trousers, hairdo, facial expression, posture, eye
contact etc. are given. After these compliments are over, the mentors go into the minutiae.
The countenance, resourcefulness, and the creativity with which a topic is introduced get
full attention. For instance, some participants get off the dais, approach the students with
some probing questions not only to get them involved but also to test their knowledge of
the subject at hand and try to link it to the world or society but better still with everyday
life. After getting some expected answers, they move on. Some teachers even ask
questions like what is everybodys dream about. Some teachers withhold the first slide
or title slide intentionally until the topic emerges from the audience. There is thrill in this
kind of introduction. One teacher from the Civil Engineering department followed the style
of eliciting the topic of discussion from the participants as he went on the discuss Green
Buildings. In fact, this young teacher had only 2 months of teaching experience. Well
begun is half-done.
The mentors then move on to discuss how the topic was developed. Tips are given on
how to structure this part of instruction.
Begin Broad
body of instruction
End Broad
Figure 1: The shape of class room instruction

They are advised to begin broad, narrow down to the topic and end broad, from general
to the specific and finally general, touching upon the applications and usefulness of
something in everyday life. Very often young teachers simply throw up whatever they
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They are admonished gently to assimilate and integrate their
knowledge into something concrete and wider. A good teacher makes the complicated
simple. This is possible only when one gets the basics right. Very often key words like
stress or strain are not explained properly. Sheer force is not very easy to explain.
Elongation, elasticity, malleability, ductility are very often successfully confused by
teachers. Consequently, students suffer as the teachers do not have clarity or they lack
the words needed to explain or illustrate.
In one PPT on Strength of Materials, the participant gave wrong definitions and the
mentor, a senior pro, took a half an hour session to explain the basics. Young teachers
benefit by this kind of intervention and interaction. In one training class, I asked a young
teacher the meaning of the word embedded after she completed a 20 minute PPT on
Embedded Systems as a part of Microteaching. She could not answer my question. If
this word embedded is not explained and exemplified in the introduction, the students will
never really get the full grasp of the topic. I told her the simple, basic meaning of the word
by splitting the word into em + bed + ed . (em - verb prefix, bed base word , ed
participial adjective suffix ) She will probably do well to spend more time on explaining
the key word before going into technicalities after this bitter experience. It is obvious from
the above incident that many teachers take basic words for granted and often try to build
their instruction on assumptions.
The next step is to discuss the examples used and the use of White Board along with the
PPT. Some teachers use Ok 140 times in a 20 minute class. One trainee did keep count
of his friends oks. Others make noises or become guilty of speech disfluencies like
breaks, irregularities, or non-lexical vocables. These disfluencies include false starts, i.e.
words and sentences that are cut off mid-utterance, phrases that are restarted or
repeated and repeated syllables, fillers i.e., grunts or non-lexical utterances such as "uh",
"erm" and "well", and repaired utterances or mispronunciations. These disfluencies are
discouraged as these can be irritants and can be kept to a minimum with some conscious
effort and practice.
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Some teachers mistake speed of delivery for fluency. They are also asked to make
effective use of pace, voice modulation, pitch, tone, tenor etc. The importance of repetition
and recap is recapitulated and reiterated. Making the students to respond to some probing
questions is very effective as the class remains alert. Interaction can be planned and
embedded in the delivery. It can also be incidental and spontaneous. In the feedback
stage, the mentors make their postmortem analysis on the presentation dispassionately
and objectively. The participants zealously note down all the observations, tips and
suggestions.
Stage 6
Participants, peers and mentors view the playback of the presentation
After all the feedback comes the next important stage playback of the performance.
The recording is played back before the participant, peers and mentors. This is the most
beautiful part of Microteaching. We are able to notice many minute things; especially, the
participants are able to see how they look when they are in action. This helps in identifying
their strengths and weaknesses. Self-confrontation microteaching processes appear to
have a possibly highly significant role to play in self-judgmental and hence selfreinforcement processes, by helping to reveal the discrepancy between present and
required performance. Self-reinforcement through video replay self-confrontation appears
to have been a consistent feature of microteaching studies reporting significant short term
behavioural changes. (Ian R. Cornford, 1991)
Stage 7
Microteaching Phase II
In some cases, the second round of presentations starts immediately after the first round
is over. Participants are asked to choose another topic but this time around, they have
to incorporate all the suggestions and tips to make a better presentation. In most cases,
the second presentation is much better as the mentors succeed in telling them how they
want the final outcome to be. Knowledge acquisition, skill acquisition, and transfer are
the three different phases of microteaching. Knowledge acquisition phase is the
preparatory, pre-active phase, in which the teacher gets trained on the skills and
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components of teaching through lectures, discussion, illustration, and demonstration of

the skill by the experts. In the interactive, skill acquisition phase, the teacher plans a
micro-lesson for practicing the demonstrated skills. (Remesh et al, 2013)
Table 1: Regular Teaching and Microteaching A comparison
Dimension
Regular
Microteaching
Teaching
Skills
Several
Limited to one or two
Duration
50 to 60 Minutes
20 minutes or less
Class size
60 to 100
15 to 25
Purpose
Content Delivery
Practicing specific skills
Conditions
Natural
Simulated
Audience
Students
Peers and mentors
However, in some cases, we could also observe either no improvement or worse

performance as some teachers tend to get nervous before peers and mentors. This could
be because of a sense of insecurity or lack of comprehension. Performing before peers
and mentors is very different from a real classroom context where teachers might behave
more naturally and act with confidence and authority. Candidates who do not exhibit the
required level of mastery are advised to repeat the training and do this exercise several
times until they get better. It becomes a cycle when they go all over again.
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FEEDBACK
PLAN
FEEDBACK
Replan
TEACH
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Reteach
incorporate
feedback
playback
fresh
feedback
PLAYBACK
Figure 2: Microteaching Cycles
It is observed very often that after going through a 6 or 8 day Microteaching exercise,
85% of the trainees are able to understand nuances of the craft. After the exposure and
interaction, most teachers showed the following changes or improvements:
1. They learnt to state the Lesson Objectives in the second slide. The first slide is
devoted to the topic and name of the presenter etc.
2. They introduced the topics better
3. They made the peers behave like a real class of students.
4. Became increasingly aware of their OKs, noises and gap fillers.
5. Avoided redundancies like return back, could not be able to etc.
6. Used more meaningful pauses and paced their deliveries well
7. Dedicated one slide to recap questions / mini quizzes to make the class answer
them in order to make sure that the class understood the key points.
8. Used videos and animations carefully and judiciously
9. Used on 7 to 9 lines per slide and good contrasting colours.
10. Avoided pacing around the stage
11. Exhibited better control over the flow and time allotted.
12. Used better examples
13. Demonstrated that they had spent time thinking about how to present much more
than what to present
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14. Acknowledged their sources and even showed web links

15. Developed self-confidence and also learnt to treat their colleagues with respect.
16. Were careful in capping the white board marker when not in use
17. Learnt to pay compliments and to recognize merit in others also
18. Became a cohesive unit and even got to know the names of participants from
other departments and in a few days time began to gel well.
Limitations
1. Some teachers could not understand the importance of sequencing and using the
correct tense form. They were comfortable with their broken English and appeared
as though they would not make any effort to use grammatically correct English.
When the mentors drew their attention to the errors, they showed no remorse or
compunction.
2. They found it difficult to incorporate discourse markers, transition words, signpost
words and hedges. Only some teachers showed genuine interest in improving
their English.
3. Their knowledge of current affairs was appalling
4. They seemed preoccupied with real estate and stock market, movies and petty
issues.
5. Some teachers wore shabby clothes and footwear; some did not understand the
negative impression sneakers can create.
6. Some participants appeared disgruntled and looked upon their being nominated
by the department for the Faculty Development Programme as a vendetta or worse
still as an insult.
7. Some participants thoroughly enjoyed the AC rooms, e class rooms and relaxed
atmosphere. In some places, the managements provided executive lunch to all
the participants. They provided coffee and snacks during breaks.
8. In the post lunch sessions, some enlightened, uninspired participants chose cozy
corners to doze off.
9. For some, it was just a welcome break from the daily grind and monotony.
In real class rooms, however, the first few minutes are spent on marking the attendance
and settling down. A few ice breakers, sweet nothings, catching up with a few pending
things, instructing the students to keep the notebooks, textbooks ready etc. also take time.
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But the business proper starts with recapitulation of the previous class. Some teachers
do spend close to 10 minutes on recapitulation alone. They move to the next topic only
after this ritual is over. Placing the present subject in the general context of the syllabus
is a must.
Conclusion
Teachers ought to be genuinely interested in what they do on a daily basis. There is no
place for mediocrity here. Training programmes are golden opportunities to young
teachers in professional colleges. They learn the ropes and hone a few basic skills. They
also begin to appreciate their own strengths and abilities. The colleagues and peers can
act as constructive evaluators which also enable them to modify their own teachinglearning practices. The teacher can reinforce behaviors and skills that are necessary and
extinguish that are not needed. Ultimately, they can integrate and transfer this learned
skills from simulated teaching situation to real class room teaching (Remesh et al, 2013).
In fact, watching peers perform is a useful activity as participants are able to see how
other teachers are handling the given task. We can say that most teachers are not
actually aware of the effects they are producing.
When they go through Faculty Development Programmes like Microteaching, they wake
up and begin to understand their foibles and follies. They also gain all the new tools and
techniques, methods and tricks of the trade. This makes them better teachers. In many
cases, reverse mentoring was also happening. What more can we ask for? May their
tribe increase!
References:
1. Muhlise Cosgun Ogeyik, Attitudes of the Student Teachers in English Language
Teaching Programs towards Microteaching Technique, Volume 2, Number 3.
Language Teaching, September 2009. P.205
2. N. Ananthakrishnan, Microteaching as a vehicle of teacher training--its
advantages and disadvantages, Journal of Post Graduate Medicine, Jawaharlal
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Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Pondicherry. Page :

142-3, Volume :39 , Issue :3 ,1993
3. Ian R. Cornford Microteaching Skill Generalization and Transfer: Training
Preservice Teachers in Introductory Lesson Skills, Teaching & Teacher
Education. Vol. 7, No. I., Pergamon Press Pie, Great Britain, 1991. P.30
4. Ambili Remesh, et al. Microteaching as an effective teaching technique p.161,
Journal of Research in Medical Sciences , February 2013
P S : The author wishes to thank Dr. B.S.Nagendra Parashar, formerly Pro VC and Dean
Academics and Dr. K. Ramakrishna, formerly Dean Academics, K L University, Guntur,
A.P. for their roles in conducting FDPs at KLU and inspiring the author to experiment with
Microteaching in FDPs in his varied capacities as Mentor, Soft Skills trainer, Language
expert, Resource person and Professor in Charge of In-House Training at KLU.
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Nature and Women: A Unique Story of Struggle!
Mamta Sharma,
Research Scholar, (Feminism)
Department of English
Shri Ram Swaroop Memorial University,
Barabanki (UP)
.I had to make my life happen

Adrienne Rich
Abstract:
The above extract from Richs poem An Atlas of Difficult World: Poems 1988-1991, is a
bewildering expression but I feel that it suits to my topic very well since the dilemma of
nature and woman is the prominent issue, my research paper deals with. In the present
scenario, when ecological imbalance has led to various destructive occurrences such as
global warming, tornados, earthquakes, volcanic eruption and many more other such
crisis, have compelled men to ponder about the remedial strategies to prevent this world
from being smashed to nothing. Along with the ecological disasters one more significant
happening should also be mentioned here which revolves around the trauma and plight
of women which is not an unusual phenomenon worldwide. However it may sound bizarre
how women and nature are considered alike. So through my research paper, Id like to
focus on eco-feminism, a term which establishes a co-relation between nature and
women. My paper will delve in to how women and nature are under constant dominion of
man with special reference to some eco-feminists who are widely- known for their writing
on the relevant issues.
Keywords: ecological imbalance, destructive occurrences, feminists,
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O let the earth devour me quick on which I seem too fair,

Or else this shape which is my harm by changing straight appair.
This Prayer scarce said, her sinews waxed stark,
And therewithal about her breast did grow a tender bark.
Her hair was turned into leaves, her arms in boughs did grow;
Her feet that were erewhile so swift now rooted were as slow.
Her crown became the trop; and thus of that she erst had been
Remained nothing in the world but beauty fresh and green. (Ovid 2002:50)
The above poetic stanza has been extracted from The Myth of Apollo and Daphne, as
told in Ovids Metamorphoses. Daphne who is being transformed into a tree is rescued
by Apollo who follows her through woods. This stanza can be the most suitable example
of co-relation between women and nature. As my research paper delves into the
essentials of Eco-feminism I find no better example other than that for the introductory
part of my paper. My research paper aims at eco-feminism with the special reference of
the available literature written by some widely known eco-feminists such as Adrienne
Rich, a well-known prolific American eco-feminist and Grete Gard who has contributed a
lot to this theory of feminism. The term Eco-feminism was first coined in 1974 by
Francoise dEaubonne. He was an anthropologist who in 1974 mentioned that women
are considered inferior in all the cultures as women are seen as being closer to nature
than men (12) The idea behind the Feminist movement which emerged in the United
States of America in 1960s was to abolish the oppression of women who were considered
substandard to their male counterparts. Womens identity and individuality was the
discernible feature of this era however this struggle still continues in almost in the entire
world. Over the passage of time, feminism has bifurcated into several new forms and Ecofeminism is one of them. How can ecological or environmental crisis be the integral
component of feminism that deals with the issues related to women? eco-feminisms
basic premise is that the ideology which authorizes oppressions such as those based on
race, class, gender, sexuality, physical abilities, and species is the same ideology which
sanctions the oppression of nature. (Grete) In the present scenario, our society has been
grappling with the issues like environmental crisis, racial battle and atrocities done to
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women etc. Eco-feminism believes that women cant be liberated and emancipated
without removing exploitation of nature. Different theories of feminism point out how
detrimental patriarchal norms are for the rapid progress of our society but eco-feminism
vehemently believes that such norms are inimical to everyone present in our society be it
women, children, animals, trees or nature.
Eco-feminism is about the similarity of societys relationship with nature and women. In
country, almost all the nature is regarded as Goddess that has female characteristics.
She creates new life, like a mother helps her children and hence she is closer to women
than men. Ortner said Because of womens greater bodily involvement the natural
functions surrounding reproduction, she is seen as more a part of nature than men (1)
There is no inherent need for a division of activities between women and men to yield
subordinate roles for women, and psychological differences between sexes may be the
product of family structure rather than reflecting innate differences. (2)
Adrienne Rich, a well-known and prolific American writer made the above statement in
which she very clearly mentioned how women have different view of perception about
environment and establishment of new city and their view point is at variance with mens.
This is Richs satire on modern world which comprises huge buildings and skyscrapers,
an entirely practical world without giving least attention to the issues pertaining to
environment.
I really do believe that women, when theyre free to do so, care more about the
environment that they live in, for whatever reasons, than men do. Houses or landscapes
or cities-I like to think that if women were in charge of cities they would be much more
habitable places. Wed build a city thinking about how people are going to connect with
each other rather than about how power is going to be represented in huge buildings and
skyscrapers and how money is going to pass from hand to hand. (ARP 118)
The similarities between women and Nature are innumerable and the intrinsic quality
which is alike in both of them is patience and bearing capacity which leads to crisis. Since
this perseverance and endurance is misinterpreted by this patriarchal society. Like nature,
woman is also familiar with the power she has but she is stupefied and is in dilemma
because her counterpart whom she has created and shaped has captivated and
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subjugated. In the poetic stanza, Adrienne Rich voices the immense plight and trauma of
being a woman because of patriarchy. As a woman knows shes endowed with certain
powers but she is deprived of using those powers for her own sake. Authorities here in
the stanza refers to man. Since she says this society is ruled and regulated by men and
so is the woman.
I am a woman in the prime of life, with certain powers,
And those powers severely limited
By authorities whose faces I rarely see. (FD 119-20)
Adrienne Rich mourns for the world is full of monsters and murderers who dont think a
bit while murdering the humanity. She desires for a transformation (Polly N. Chenoy)
shrouded in a snowy blur he is referred as a man who is an intruder who doesnt hesitate
to outrage the modesty of woman. When I study the other aspect of this stanza by Rich,
environment is being threatened by the same enemy who in disguise puts it at risk.
Madness, suicide, Murder.
Is there no way out but these?
The enemy, always just out of sight
Snowshoeing the next forest, shrouded
In a snowy blur, abominable snowman (FD166)
Grete Gard finds a unique connection between women, animal liberation and environment
since she says, Another connection between feminism, animal liberation, and
environmentalism has been made by documenting the effects of environmental pollution
and degradation on the lives of women and animals. (Grete Grad) This statement made
by Grete proves how depletion in our surrounding affects lives of women and animals
badly. They are complement to one another.
Out here I feel more helpless
With you than without you
You mention the danger
And the list the equipment
We talk of the people caring for
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In emergencies-laceration, thirstBut you look at me like an emergency (FD 149-50)

The abovementioned stanza describes the feeling of a woman who feels more helpless
in the company of man. She expresses her repulsive opinion against mans dominion:
this is the same plight woman and nature are undergoing. She plainly averts that she
feels more comfortable when she is not in mans company.
Grete Gard depicts the reasons why mans treatment with nature and women is
derogatory, Because it is identified with the "feminine," nature is regarded as existing to
serve Man's physical needs (and the reverse). This association of nature and women in
Patriarchal societies underwrites instrumentalism, whereby things are valued only to the
extent that they are useful to Man. This statement by Grete suggests clearly things that
man finds useful to him are valued and rest of the things are considered waste and of no
use. Like Grete, Rich also opines alike on this issue when she describes what a girl feels
after being rejected by her male counterparts.
What a girl I was then with a body ready for breaking open like a lobster (MS 41). This
jarring crustacean image of the body as an object of consumption, a lobster frighteningly
conveys a sense of the girls self as something precious and rare offered to be consumed
or elegantly sacrificed. Here the female is the object of consumption, a delicacy to be
eaten and savored, then to be tossed out.
Conclusion:
According to Warren, oppression of nature and the oppression of women have important
links, it is very necessary to understand this for the full understanding of the oppressions
against nature and women suffered."
THE SALAD BOWL OF THE WORLD, gurr of small palnes
Dusting the strawberries, each berry picked by a hand
In close communion, strawberry blood on the wrist,
Malathion in the throat, communion,
The hospital at the edge of the fields,
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Premature slipping from unsafe wombs,

The labour and delivery nurse on her break watching
Planes dusting rows of pickers. (AWD 3)
In the above stanza which is an extract from her poem An Atlas of Difficult World; 19881991, Rich presents the grim reality of the modern word which is grappling with the
problems like pollution, violence and suffering and abuse of subjugated and marginalized
people of our society. She discusses the squalid condition of poor people in the above
lines. On the one hand man is rejoicing the development which has led him to the world
of technology and modernization but on the other hand nature like woman is wailing at
her loss since she is to live under mans dominion. The existence of the entire world is
menaced by war, nuclear power, violence and many more threatening factors and the
role of eco-feminism has lots of significance in this regard. Grete says, Living
Interconnections with Animals and Nature the way in which women and nature have been
conceptualized historically in the Western intellectual tradition has resulted in devaluing
whatever is associated with women, emotion, animals, nature, and the body, while
simultaneously elevating in value those things associated with men, reason, humans,
culture, and the mind. Women can define themselves only after they wont have to follow
the predefined norms of the male chauvinist society and once they break away from the
discrimination, no bar can stop them to unleash and unravel them to the world of
opportunities and equality. The same treatment Nature is also expecting from human
since exploitation has made Her exhaust and she also is looking up for a renaissance
which is mandatory for her reunion with human. So this is the high time when woman
along with the nature should be provided with their lost identity which is not only a vital
issue for their survival but for the existence of the entire human race and our planet the
Earth. In nut shell, I can say that study of eco-feminism endeavors to weed out gender
oppression along with the wiping out oppression of nature to re construct a new feminist
theory and practice that may help to establish harmony and unity between person to
person and between human and nature.
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Work Cited:
1. Janis Birkal Gaard Greta: Eco-feminism: Linking Theory and Practice
2. Adrienne Rich: Quotes.com
3. Jiahong: A Lost Lady Interpretation A Lost Lady.
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LITERATURE IS THE SOURCE

BEHIND THE PROCESS OF LEARNING LANGUAGE
Dr. A. Madhusudhana Rao, M. A., Ph. D.
Assistant Professor of English. AITS, TPT.
Abstract
This paper elucidates the inter-link between Literature and the process of learning English
language in Schools and Colleges of India. Literature is part and parcel of learning any
language. To enhance language skills such as listening, speaking, reading and writing as
well as sub-skills: pronunciation, intonation, comprehension, vocabulary development,
perception, composition, etc. one needs to depend on Literature. Surprisingly there is an
inter-link between life and literature, literature and language and language and life. For
making a literary work, the writer should have a command over the language and readers
of such work automatically get mastery over language by analyzing and applying. An
understanding of the nature and structure of language would enable us to appreciate a
literary work much better because language and thoughts are the raw materials of
literature.
Key Words: English Literature, Process of Learning language in Indian schools and
colleges.
Literature is an effective technique for learning language. Kramsch comments, Rather
than a straightforward grammatical or functional syllabus, we should think of a contextual
syllabus, one through which learners gradually acquire not only the ability to produce and
understand the forms of the language but the capacity to reflect on how the choice of
these forms in spoken and written discourse both defines and is determined by personal
relationships, social situations, and cultural presuppositions. (Proficiency plus: The next
step. p. 4).
Literary writers use language in their works. Literature can be used to teach language, for
instance, drama and poetry can be used for the teaching of speech while prose can be
used to teach summary and comprehension. New words and expressions are acquired
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through literature. Through this means, vocabulary development is enhanced. In literature

classes, when students are made to tell stories their speech fluency is sharpened.
Literature is generally defined as a collection of writings on any given subject or field of
endeavors. However, there also exists some technical definitions of literature. Literature
plays an important role in teaching four skills like Listening, Speaking, Reading and
Writing.
Collie and Slater (1987: 3-6) state the inclusion of literature in the language classroom as
it provides valuable authentic material, develops personal involvement and help
contribute to readers cultural as well as language enrichment. These advantages, they
move on to assert, can be achieved provided teachers use relevant and appealing
material to learners through the use of activities that promote involvement, reader
response and a solid integration between language and literature.
The ability to create, imagine, and express an idea or composition through a definite
method and the study of the method itself defines Alorams about literature (1981). In
other words, literature is seen as a subject which is unique in contents and methodology.
The Oxford Concise English Dictionary also defines literature as written works, especially
those whose value lies in beauty of language or in emotional effect. The definition only
portrays literature as an expression of ideas, thoughts and feelings with emphasis on the
aesthetic values of language. In another perspective, literature is essentially seen as an
expression of the cultural experience of a people and language is part of this cultural
experience. To know peoples language, their literature is highly indispensable. Literature
is an art of language and words are the essential ingredients of language. Literature is a
tool through which language propagates itself. The relationship between language and
literature is an interdependent. Literature does not and cannot exist independent of
language because language is the conveyor of literature.
McGraw and Tomlinson (1997) examined whether the collection of childrens and
adolescent literature with the theme of children and war could successfully be used as
learning material in the adult EFL classes in France. They also investigated how willingly
these mature, college-level adults would accept and actively respond to literature written
about and for young readers. Their study presents a compelling result. The students were
enthusiastically engaged with the books and were highly motivated to respond to the
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literature through writing and group oral debates. Moreover Literature based instruction
plays a major role. LBI originally often encompasses the following elements: the use of
natural text, discussion and collaboration with others on books, reading aloud, sustained
silent reading, teacher modeling as a reader, emphasis on changing attitudes, selfselection of reading materials, meaning orientation, process writing and other output
activities around literature. (Turnell & Jacobs, 1989).
In the article Enhancing students performance in the English language through
Literature-in-English in the secondary schools Amuseghan Sunday Adejimola and
Momoh Adenike Ojuolape comment, New words and expressions are acquired through
literature. Through this means, vocabulary development is enhanced. In literature
classes, when students are made to tell stories their speech fluency is sharpened. (p.
2242). To a certain extent, the activities such has Role Play, Jam, and Group discussions
can enhance the ability to acquire the language English. Above all it is the literature that
plays a vital role for learning language. If students can gain access to this material by
developing literary competence, then they can effectively internalize the language at a
high level. (Elliot 1990:198).
Works Cited:
1. Alorams MA (1981). A Glossary of Literary Terms. Fourth Edition, New York.
2. Collie, J. and S. Slater. 1990. Literature in the Language Classroom: A Resource
Book of Ideas and Activities. Cambridge: CUP.
3. Elliott, R. (1990). Encouraging reader-response to literature in ESL situations. ELT
Journal, 44(3), 191-198.
4. Kramsch, C. (1996). Proficiency plus: The next step. (ERIC Digest No. 4) Eugene,
OR: ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management (ERIC Document
Reproduction Service No. ED402789).
5. Momoh Adenike Ojuolape and Amuseghan Sunday Adejimola, Enhancing
students performance in the English language through Literature-in-English in the
secondary schools Academic Journals: Educational Research and Review. Vol.
8. (24).
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6. McGraw, R., & Tomlinson, C. (1997). Childrens literature with adult EFL classes:
Learning through response. Journal of the Imagination in Language Learning, 4,
50-57.
7. Turnell, M. O., & Jacobs, J. S. (1989). Using real books: Research findings on
literature based reading instruction. The Reading Teacher, 42(7), 470- 477.
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The Idea of a Nation: A Post-Colonial study

of Amitav Ghoshs The Glass Palace
Anand Dampella,
English Language Instructor
Technical and Administrative Training Institute,
Barka, Sultanate of Oman
Abstract
Colonialism had condemned millions to a life of subservience and dispossession. At this
dismal situation, the anti-colonial nationalism promised a new dawn of independence and
political self-determination for colonized peoples. In the twentieth century, the myth of
nation has proved highly potent and productive during several struggles against colonial
rule. Through the development of created and structured myths, the nation became highly
mobilized as a powerful symbol which anti-colonial movements used to organize against
colonial rule. Amitav Ghosh uses his novel, The Glass Palace, to unveil how the colonial
intrusion had imbued the spirit of nationalism in unifying the people irrespective of caste,
creed, class or regional disparities.
Keywords
Colonialism, Myth of Nation, Anti-Colonial movements, Nationalism.
The idea of nation is basically a western construct. This influential statement on the idea
of the nation was first delivered in 1882. It emerged with the growth of western capitalism
and industrialization and was a fundamental component of imperialist expansion. On the
world map, each nation is separated from the other by a border. They are planned by the
people and built upon particular foundations. So, a nation is primarily an idea.
The centrality to the idea of the nation lies in the notions of collectiveness and belonging,
a mutual sense of community that a group of individuals imagines it shares. This sense
of mutual, national belonging-ness is nurtured often by the performance of various
national narratives, rituals and symbols that stimulate an individuals sense of being a
member of a select group. Symbols like the national flag and national anthem are part of
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the invention of the tradition in which all nations participate. The repeated performance of
various national rituals takes on an emotive and semi-sacred character for the people. If
the invention of the tradition became central to the concept of nation, so do the narration
of happenings in history. Every nation has its own narrative of history which explains its
origins, its individual character and the victories won in its name; which helps to
strengthen the peoples relationship with their past as also highlights their togetherness
in the present by gathering them around one emotive symbol.
Benedict Anderson says in his work, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origins
and Spread of Nationalism (1983), that Nations are often described through the forms of
representations, which promote the unity of time and space. The simultaneities of time
and space are exemplified in the form of novel and the newspaper are at the heart of the
ways by which individuals consider themselves as a part of national community.
Many Indian English novelists have turned to the past as much to trace the deepening
mood of nationalism as to cherish the memories of the bygone days. A close study of the
contemporary novels reveals the writers preoccupation with historic past and the
unabated interest of the readers. In the novel that depicts the past are that treat some
event of national importance that has had wide repercussion.
Amitav Ghoshs novel, The Glass Palace, presents history as a collective memory, which
gathers, in symbiotic fashion, all that which existed in the past into all that happens in the
present. Through this novel, he returns to his own distinctive brand of historical fiction on
a canvas more epical and the stories are personal, yet somehow grander than his
previous novels. Ghosh uses his novel to unveil how the colonial intrusion had imbued
the spirit of nationalism in unifying the people irrespective of caste, creed, class or
regional disparities.
Colonialism had condemned millions to a life of subservience and dispossession. At this

dismal situation, the anti-colonial nationalism promised a new dawn of independence and
political self-determination for colonized peoples. In the twentieth century, the myth of
nation has proved highly potent and productive during several struggles against colonial
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rule. Through the development of created and structured myths, the nation became highly
mobilized as a powerful symbol which anti-colonial movements used to organize against
colonial rule.
The colonial rule had dismantled the political structures of many nations and the worst
hits were the countries of the South Asian region. Many countries had become British
colonies. In the South Asian region it was India, Burma and Malaysia, which suffered the
colonial oppression. These countries are known for their rich cultural heritage, rich natural
resources and for their abundant wealth.
The British intruded into these lands in the name of business: that was their tactic. But
the intrusion into these lands had no way changed the condition of the commoner. In fact
the commoner thought that the colonial rule came as a liberating agency from the tyranny
of monarchical rule which they were facing. Especially in Burma, the commoner had
developed an aversion towards their rulers, King Thebaw and Queen Supayalat. The
opening chapters of The Glass Palace reveal the aversion of the Burmese crowd towards
their superior authority. Through all the years of the Queens reign the townsfolk had
hated her for her cruelty, feared her for her ruthlessness and courage (34). The looting
of the Kings Palace by the Burmese public testifies their aversion. When the British
confiscate Thebaw from power, his countrymen, the ordinary folk should have given him
support through his difficult phase of time. Instead of that, they turned against him by
indulging in looting their own Kings Palace. Because in their eyes the King failed as a
good ruler thats the reason why they considered the British as a liberating agency. It is
here that the question of the State comes into focus. In the countries which are governed
by the State, the State itself looks after the well-being of each and every individual of the
country. It provides the source of revenue for its people and sets the standards of living.
By doing so, the State gain control over its people and the social hierarchy runs with
perfectness. But if the State fails in providing livelihood and other necessities to its people,
it loses control over them and the hierarchy will be dismantled.
The Burmese King Thebaw failed to gain control over his people. He was a King for name
sake but his wife, Queen Supayalat exercised all the powers. But she too failed in gaining
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control over the people. Neither she nor the King knew what was going through the minds
of their people. The Royal couples life had been completely shut off from the public life.
The conversation between Rajkumar and Ma Cho reveals how the King and the Queen
led their lives away from the people. Does the King ever leave the fort? No not in the
last seven years. But the Queen and her maidens sometimes walk along the walls... (7).
Queen Supayalat thought that the entire country was along the walls of their mighty
Palace. She did not care to realize that the country lie much beyond the palace walls. But
she, like a modern day politician, boasts, ...theyd defeated the Emperor of China,
conquered Thailand, Assam, Manipur. And she herself, Supayalat, she had risked
everything to secure the throne for Thebaw, her husband and step-brother. (22)
The British intrusion into Burma had changed everything. Thebaw lost his power and so
did the Queen. Their own people had looted their Palace. It was an unbearable humiliation
for the Royal couple. They never noticed the growing turbulence in the public. The
Burmese crowd seized the opportunity to get into the Palace with the invasion of the
British. Until then no Burmese commoner ever thought of entering into the palace. They
knew that it would result in death penalty. But now everything has changed. The King and
the Queen were thrown out of power. The Queens reaction when she saw the mob inside
their Palace shows her helplessness:
The Queen was screaming, shaking her fists. Get out of here. Get out.
Her face was red, mottled with rage, her fury caused as much by her own
impotence as by the presence of the mob in the Palace. A day before,
she could have had a commoner imprisoned for so much as looking her
directly in the face. Today all the city scum had come surging into the
Palace and she was powerless to act against them (33).
The King and the Queen along with some trusted servants were thrown out of their own
country to a remote coastal village in India. No one in the country felt sorry for their
expulsion from the country. It was the colonial rulers ploy in exiling the Kings family from
their own land. Earlier, the Indian Mughal King, Bahadur Shah Zafar had been exiled in
the same manner. The colonial rulers exiled him to Rangoon from India.
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The sudden change in the political structure had no effect on the commoner but it had a
huge influence on the upper class people in the country. Because of the British intrusion
into the land, Thebaw, the head of the country lost his power and many timber
businessmen lost their grip on the teak plantations. Although Kinwun Mingyi and Taingda
Mingyi, the two senior ministers in Thebaw government had some gains assisting the
British in detaining Thebaw and many others had lost their prominence and were thrown
out of power.
The colonial rule had a great impact on the members of the elite group in Burma as well
as in India. Prior to the British intrusion they had a strong foothold in the country but now
they have lost their grip on the soil. Their number is limited and they needed support of
all the people to raise their voice against colonial rulers. Until then, they never considered
other people, worth anything and even the social hierarchy had created a great abyss
between them and the subaltern people. Many once-colonized nations have struggled
with the internal differences that threaten the production of national unity (Mc leod: 2000).
(The term subaltern is used to signify the many different people who did not comprise
the colonial elite. The colonial elite includes, the lesser rural gentry, impoverished
landlords, rich peasants and the upper middle class peasants).
The projection of a unified imaginary community became greatest strength for the national
movement. The nationalist elite claim that their modern attitudes are coterminous with
popular consciousness and enjoy the support of the people, deemed to be a unified
singular entity sharing the same political aims. The myth of a nation functions as a
valuable resource in uniting people to raise their voice against the colonial rulers. It
worked against the differences created out of gender, racial, religious and cultural
differences.
It is obvious that the British intrusion into Burma and India had resulted in creating a sense
of nationalism. The British invasion has resulted in changing the internal differences
among the people. The internal differences were set aside and the idea of nation had
been created. In Paul Gilroys words, nations are created
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...through elaborate cultural, ideological and political processes which

culminate in feeling of connectedness to the other national subjects and in
the idea of a national interest that transcends the supposedly petty divisions
of class, region, dialect or caste (1993: 49)
References:
1. Ghosh, Amitav. The Glass Palace. New Delhi: Ravi Dayal. 2000.
2. Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origins of Spread
of Nationalism. London: Verso. 1983.
3. Gilroy, Paul. Small Acts: Thoughts on the Politics of Black Cultures. Serpents Tail.
1983
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A Terrible Day: Hudhood

G. Satyanarayana
Asst. Professor of English
S.G.A. Govt. Degree College, Visakhapatnam
Sirens blown the ears,

As if there is a war.
Radios continuously warned,
About the threat that strikes.
No people on the busy roads,
Even it is Sunday.
Exactly at dawn the catastrophe,
Strikes the town.
Like a volcanic eruption,
The air blown with the wreath
Poor huts vanished
Into blue,
Roof tops flew and
Dashed as mini bombs.
People run away to shelters
Holding hearts in hand.
Trees trembled and tossed
And fallen on the ground
Electrical poles twisted,
Transport disrupted,
The green city turned
Into red mud city!
Nature avenged the polluted
City with no pity!
Everywhere fallen trees and
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Unearthed Poles, roof less houses,

Resembles the abandoned city!
But when will the humans learn that
The terrible thing happened is their sin
Against the harm they have done
To the mother earth?
Humanity still exists for the timely help
Thanks to the neighboring states!
Why not be the same extended to our
Co-beings the flora and fauna?
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Decolonizing English Studies The Kerala Experience

Dr. Santhosh V. M.
Associate Prof. of English
Payyannur College
Kannur Dt., Kerala, India.
Abstract
This article is an attempt to trace the paradigm shifts that are slowly emerging in the field of
English language and literature education in our country. Anchoring on the theoretical notions
of post colonialism, the article explores into the syllabi and textbooks of undergraduate
Common Courses of non-technical programmes of five universities in Kerala, India to
understand how far these universities have marched forward in decolonizing their English
studies. The immediate context of analysis is the curriculum restructuring spearheaded by
the Kerala State Higher Education Council. The article argues that there have been
considerable and appreciable efforts on the part of the syllabus framers to problematize the
politics of English education in the postcolonial times and to offer alternatives that make
forceful efforts to destabilize the canonical framework of colonial education and the pervasive
pressures of neo-imperial hegemony.
Key Words: Decolonization, English Studies, Kerala, Syllabus.
Introduction
Do not confine your children to your own learning, for they were born in another time.
Chinese Proverb
The course curriculum and the syllabus followed by a university are indicative of how the
university updates and positions itself in the present world where knowledge itself has
emerged as the greatest power. The world is growing at a phenomenal rate and every
moment changes are taking place also in the production, acquisition and dissemination of
knowledge. If the universities fail to cope with the dynamics of these changes, they will be
losing their raison dtre in the present and the future times. Unfortunately, it is observed that
Indian universities, as evidenced by various rating agencies, often fail to keep pace with the
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current pace of knowledge expansion, especially in the context of the world emerging as a
global village and production and dissemination of knowledge cutting across all conventional
barriers. However, of late, there are certain rays of hope at least in our approach to the politics
of knowledge production and dissemination with respect to English language and literature
syllabi of various universities in the country. This paper is an attempt to trace such a change
that is perceptible in the syllabi of Undergraduate-level English Common Courses
(courses/papers that all students have to take for completing their UG programme,
irrespective of their core/major/optional subject) in the non-technical universities in the
southern state of Kerala in India. Inferences in this paper are drawn from the common
elements visible in the syllabi of the said courses in five universities, viz. Kerala University,
Thiruvananthapuram; Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam; University of Calicut,
Malappuram; Kannur University, Kannur; and Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit,
Kalady. The immediate context of this study is the curriculum restructuring/revamping of the
UG courses in the state in 2008 spearheaded by The Kerala State Higher Education Council
(KSHEC). Theoretically basing its policies on the four pillars of learning put forth by the
UNESCO, the KSHEC identified the skills to be developed in the UG students and drew
broad outline and suggested guidelines as to how the UG studies in the state should proceed
to meet the challenges of the time. Following these guideline, the universities offering nontechnical/professional UG programmes got into the process of restructuring their curricula
and syllabi.
This paper based on the view that education on the whole as well as its constituent aspects
like the curriculum and the syllabus are not apolitical entities. The educational set up of a
state with all its constitutive aspects truly reflects the power structure in operation and often
resort to measures for consolidating the power hierarchy. Suresh Canagarajah makes this
point unambiguously clear when he writes:
Knowledge is intrinsically social, and constructed through interaction
between community members. The question as to which communitys
knowledge paradigm becomes the operating explanation of things is settled by
an exercise of power. The knowledge of the dominant groups is imposed
through the institutions at their disposal, including the school. This knowledge
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in turn serves to justify the status quo. It is from this perspective that the postEnlightenment and post-modern orientation understands educational activity
as political. (18)
Therefore, every step being taken in educational reform of any sort can be taken only with
maximum care regarding the power politics that gets entrenched in educational transactions.
English Education in Postcolonial Nations
When it comes to the question of English education in a postcolonial society/nation like India,
the issue gets more entwined. We have got that language as an offshoot of colonialism in
the former centuries and of neocolonialism in the present. The curriculum of English studies
in India assumes greater dimensions by virtue of the history of our colonial association with
English language, on the one hand, and the global acceptance that this language enjoys
even in the present postcolonial world, irrespective of the fact that it was a major tool of
colonialism, on the other. In the colonial as well as in the postcolonial world, English language
remains as an icon of power and prestige.
The issues of the dominance of English language along with the methodologies of
learning/teaching English in a country like India has to be carried out with much critical
consciousness. As Jasbir Jain writes:
No colonization is ever terminated by a stroke of the pen. There is no finality in
its termination, primarily because it has infiltrated the lives and the mind of
people in multiple ways. The past with its history and experience, persists and
continues to be a constant reminder. (20)
Canagarajah has a strong point to make regarding how the English Language Teaching (ELT)
industry infiltrates into classrooms of the postcolonial/periphery English speaking nations:
The special potency of the cultural agencies in influencing periphery ELT
enterprise lies in their ability to side-step the other macro-level periphery
organizations (such as the state agencies and educational bureaucracy) and
reach directly into the language classrooms. For example, by supplying
textbooks, the agencies can shape the curriculum and by conducting teacher
training courses they can influence instructors values and orientations. This
means that whatever policy the periphery institutions and administrators may
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develop, classroom practice may be considerably shaped by a center agenda.

(84)
The studies on the past, the present, and the future of English education in India has been
quite promising in terms of quality, but meager in terms of quantity. Invariably in almost all
these studies it has been argued that there is a ruling Anglo-centric assumption in university
teaching of English in India. My study that resulted in this paper has actually taken off from
that board. However, a scrutiny of the English Common Course syllabi of the universities in
Kerala gives the impression that the picture is not entirely dismal. There have been very
sincere and concerted efforts on the part of the Board of Studies of these universities in
decolonizing at least the syllabus surviving over pressures of the multinational, neoliberal
textbook as well as the ELT industries.
The Politics of Colonial Educational Canon and its Postcolonial Interrogations
Before entering into an analysis of the features and achievements of the syllabi of the courses
mentioned, I would like to deliberate briefly on certain theoretical insights that would set the
stage for a postcolonial scrutiny. I quote seven forceful comments made by seven different,
scholars/academicians/theorists:
1. It is true that language-related planning and policies need to be closely
associated with the linguistic character of a particular region or country (Lele
83).
2. Conflicts over textbooks, for example, are often proxies for wider questions of
power relations. Through both their content and form, textbooks legitimize
particular constructions of reality and particular ways of selecting and
organising the vast universe of possible knowledge (Advani 3).
3. Post colonialism, in direct contrast to colonialisms policy of subordination and
erasure, looks for equality and the articulation of the difference. It seeks to
retrieve self-respect and lost history. The relationship between the colonizer
and the colonized is one characterized by power and the production of
knowledge. Post colonialism seeks to validate alternative epistemologies, to
reverse the one-sided trend (Jain 22).
4. Dominant groups may use education, more specifically the curriculum, to see
to it that voices other than their own are represented so inadequately, feebly,
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or distortedly, that they develop a negative appeal and gradually lend

themselves to be phased out in curriculum deliberation. None of this needs to
be a conscious process, it actually may be a quiet, civilized dynamic of
dominance (Kumar 13).
5. The standard English is being freed from the cultural baggage that it used to
carry and varieties of Indian english have emerged. The linguistic hybridity of
English in India is most vividly felt, besides fiction and films, in and around
college campuses and more so in the magazines and journals that cater to the
teen and just out of teen age groups. This deliberate abrogation of the English
language rejects a normative concept of correct or standard English and
offers a counter to the theory that use of the colonialists language inescapably
imprisons the colonized within the established conceptual paradigms (Ashcroft,
Griffiths, and Tiffin 5).
6. How stupid, how utterly stupid for a nation of one billion independent people
to go studying year after year writers and authors who have no relevance to
our lives, our culture, our history, our vision, our anything! Just because when
we were servants, our mastersour colonial mastersforced us to do so
(Narang 201).
7. The unitary idea of literature that gained currency during the phases of
colonialism and nationalism was implicated in high textual traditions. This
resulted in the marginalisation of oral traditions and alternative definitions of the
literary that were in circulation in the fields of culture during the same period. In
the last three decades, issues of marginalisation and identity formation have
become central to the study of literature. The canonical texts can no more be
considered as representative of a culture or a society. The idea of canon
reinforces elitist notions of literature. The idea of a single, dominant aesthetic
that legitimises reading and writing of literature has lost its relevance
(Ramakrishnan 14).
The notions and assumptions that we look for in a decolonized syllabus are embodied in
these observations and I feel that they would provide me with a platform to approach the
syllabi under discussion from a postcolonial vantage point.
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When we go to the crux of the observations cited, we see that Chitra Lele says about the
need to contextualize the language according to national and regional peculiarities which is
very much essential in the case of English, as it is a global language. While Shalini Advani
and Jain throw light of the politics of knowledge production and validation of epistemologies,
Krishna Kumar unravels the hidden agenda of curriculum planning. Bill Ashcroft, Gareth
Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin speak of the postcolonial turn that English language has witnessed
in postcolonial countries, whereas Harish Narang expresses his fury over our inability to bring
the changes that Ashcroft and others mentioned into our syllabi and curriculum. E. V.
Ramakrishnans focus is on the politics of canon formation as well as on the need to explore
the multicultural reality of Indian life.
It is with a distinct understanding of these highly potent concepts (politics of language

varieties, hegemony of knowledge, possibilities of curriculum planning, decanonisation of
English language, multiculturalism, and representation of the silenced and marginalized
voices) that I attempt a postcolonial analysis of the syllabi.
Decolonizing English Education: The Kerala Model
Let us now see whether the theoretical notions and possible changes envisaged by all the
above scholars/academicians/theorists have really made their way into the UG Common
Course English curricula of the universities in Kerala. As per the guidelines provided by the
KSHEC to the universities in the state, which the universities have invariably followed to a
great extent, there are six Common Courses in English, viz. Communication Skills in
English, Academic Writing and Presentation, Critical Reasoning and Writing, Literature
and Contemporary Issues, Indian Constitution, Secular State and Sustainable
Environment, and History and Philosophy of Science. The Boards of Studies of the
respective universities have tailored the title as well as the course content so as to suit their
requirements.
Even a casual survey of the syllabi and textbooks of these courses would reveal the
postcolonial temper pervasive almost throughout the curricula. Instead of catering to the
monolithic reality of the Eurocentric world, as envisaged in the canonical European literary
texts which were always the dominant presence in our university English syllabi, the
restructured syllabi of these universities celebrate multiculturalism and polyphony. They take
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a position that English literature need not be essentially written by the first language
speakers; rather the experiences and writing strategies of the non-native speakers are
equally legitimate and relevant. They raise powerful voices against all kinds of exclusions
and accommodate with due respect the experiences and creative outputs of the muffled and
marginalized sections of our multicultural society, such as dalits, women, rural farmers,
victims of violence and so on. The subalterns really speak; speak loquaciously, through the
pieces of these textbooks.
Until post colonialism gathered momentum as a discourse in our academic community, there
has been some sort of a stigma attached to non-literary texts being incorporated into literature
syllabi. Only recently, there has been at least the partial dismantling of the rigid boundary
between literature and what has traditionally been regarded as non-literature (Mukherjee
19). The syllabi under reference take this dismantling further forward by placing non-literary
and newspaper articles at par with the literary text, establishing the truth that both literary
and non-literary texts address the same social reality from different vantage points, thereby
problematizing the very issue of point of view. The sections on critical thinking also provide
a sound and creative platform for a meaningful deliberation on the multiple points of view.
The postcolonial discourse, as we know, makes us conscious of the dangers of globalization
which, at least in some respect, is another form of continuing hegemony. The pieces on
globalization in these syllabi make the students aware of these dangers and offer alternative
views of development. They equally strike at the roots of overexploitation of nature and
natural resources in the globalized world and propose the alternative of sustainable
development as an icon of progress. Against the monocultural assault on local culture by the
globalized, neoliberal economy, the articles included in the syllabus present the varied
experiences and myths of the local culture which are capable of standing against all assaults.
Yet another marked feature of the curricula under reference is the recognition of the
increasing importance of cultural studies. We are living in an academic atmosphere where
cultural texts are considered as a sub-genre of the literary discourse (or literary discourse
being treated as a sub-genre of cultural studies). Whatever be the case, the mutuality and
complementariness of the literary and cultural discourses are admitted by all now. The
curricula of most of the universities here have well imbibed this changed scenario; and
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consequently there are a few texts and suggested activities that take the learners out of the
classroom, into the world where different social activities become not merely lived
experiences of a particular community but also academic texts for the cultural theorists in the
making.
With respect to the language learning element (in courses anchored in communication skills)
significant attempts have been made to do away with conventional approaches. The
approach adopted here de-stabilizes the age-old reverential attitude towards British English
(RP) and sees English as an international language. More emphasis is given to the
acquisition of the required skills in the language to enhance the learners soft skills and
employability skills. Rigidities of language that pull the learners back have been sidelined
and a more learner-centred approach with practical orientation has been adopted. The
universities have conceived English chiefly as a service subject and a library language, to
use the terminology of Qaiser Alam (8). These are of course, significant departures from the
norms and the academia can be proud that we have done something significantly to retrieve
ourselves from the colonial educational paradigm, though after roughly seven decades of
independence.
The curricula, the syllabi, and the textbooks under discussion really problematize, within the
available space, almost all issues that are integral to postcolonial societies. They celebrate
plurality and multiculturalism, make vocal the silenced voices of the peripheries, chutnify
English language and make it a global lingua franca by removing the colonial traces, and
accommodate genres that have been kept out of literary studies. The bold initiatives taken
by these universities remind us that there is enough scope for us to try to evolve a paradigm
of our own rather than blindly following the heels of the masters.
Conclusion
Overall, it can be seen that through the restructured curricula these universities have been
able to bring to the fore the revised role of English in Indian classrooms and to evolve
pedagogical practices to support and legitimize this new role. English is re-designed to be
taught without western prejudices and the learners are sensitized about how these prejudices
work in literary and language texts. The syllabi prepared by these universities very well
balance both native and non-native contents. Also, there are considerable inclusions of
regional language writers through translation. Even when literature from native English
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writers are included, our students are advised to approach them with the feeling that they are
not written by divinely-gifted and unquestionable lords of language but human beings whose
views can be contested. There are, thus, attempts to make English a true global language
with no primacy attached to any particular variety.
As postcolonial thinkers argue, a postcolonial set up should be self-reflexive and critical of

the systems imposed upon it by the erstwhile masters. In the syllabi of the universities in
Kerala some sincere efforts are seen in this line. The much-awaited change has at least
begun, though centuries after Lord Macaulay left for the better world.
References
Advani, Shalini. Schooling the National Imagination: Education, English, and the Indian
Modern. New Delhi: OUP, 2009. Print.
Alam, Qaiser Zoha. English Language Teaching in India: Problems and Issues. New Delhi:
Atlantic, 1999. Print.
Ashcroft, Bill, Gareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin. Key Concepts in Post-Colonial Studies.
London: Routledge, 1998. Print.
Canagarajah, A. Suresh. Resisting Linguistic Imperialism in English Teaching. Oxford: OUP,
1999. Print.
Jain, Jasbir. Beyond Postcolonialism: Dreams and Realities of a Nation. Jaipur: Rawat,
2006. Print.
Kumar, Krishna. What is Worth Teaching? Hyderabad: Orient, 2009. Print.
Lele, Chitra G. English Language: The Gateway to Global Growth. New Delhi: Atlantic, 2012.
Print.
Mukherjee, Meenakshi. Mapping a Territory: Notes on Framing a Course. Rajan 10-20.
Narang, Harish. Globalizing English Studies in India. Ray 191-205.
Rajan, Rajeswari Sunder, ed. The Lie of the Land: English Literary Studies in India. Delhi:
OUP, 1992. Print.
Ramakrishnan, E.V. Locating Indian Literature: Texts, Traditions, Translations. New Delhi:
Orient, 2011. Print.
Ray, Mohit K., ed. English Language Teaching: Recent Approaches. New Delhi: Atlantic,
2010. Print.
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From Awareness to Acceptance:

The Queering Of Bollywood
Ms. Charu Agarwal
Research Scholar English Literature
Banasthali University
Rajasthan, India - 304022
Abstract
This paper focuses upon the Queer- LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) and
the role of Bollywood. In the contemporary Indian society where homosexuals are looked
upon with an inferior eye and are not considered normal, Bollywood movies are trying to
present the struggle and the feeling of existential crisis homosexuals face in their everyday
life. The reflection is made through the observatory study of two movies- Fire by Deepa Mehta
and Mango Souffle by Mahesh Dattaniand attempt to bring awareness and a hope for
acceptance among people.
Key words: Bollywood , Queer-LGBT.
Sexual identityas an equal rights issue, an academic study, and as a subject for creative
explorationhas been present in the western world since the 1960s. In the U.S. today, the
federally funded healthcare Medicaid covers gender reassignment surgery, and LGBTQ
(Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer) characters are featured in Hollywood
movies and on TV.
In India, however, the LGBTQ population remains generally
misunderstood and mistreatedwhich is ironic, given that queerness finds its roots in our
ancient history: we find evidence of the so-called unnatural in the statues of Khajuraho, in
in Indian scriptures/fables like Ardhanaarishwara, in Vatsayanas scripture Kamasutra, in
the avatar of Vishnu as Mohini, and in a popular myth wherein Lord Ramas devotees
sacrifice their respective masculinity or femininity in order to be with their God. Here, we find
the birth of transetivite.
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But attitudes in India about LGBTQ people are changing, thanks to the work of activists,
artists and filmmakers.
Remarkably, within the past two decades, Indias historically
suppressed LGBTQ population has reached a Bollywood audience. In this paper, Ill discuss
how Bollywood has impacted or promoted Indias LGBTQ population through two films: Fire,
starring Nandita Das and Shabana Azmi, written and directed by Deepa Mehta, and Mango
Souffl, written and directed by the Sahitya Akademi winner and a contemporary playwright
Mahesh Dattani. In these films, both Deepa Mehta and Mahesh Dattani portray the so-called
dark and hidden realties of our society.
Fire, a very intense movie, portrays a lesbian
relationship between bisexual women from typically
middle class families living in Delhi. The family is
trapped in all the ways and customs of the world. Sita
(Nandita Das) and Radha (Shabana Azmi) are the
daughter-in-laws of this family, and appear completely
dissatisfied with their husbands. They are unfulfilled
physically and emotionally, and aside from their
husbands and extended families, are largely isolated.
In their mutual loneliness and longing for connection,
Sita and Radha are drawn toward each other. We
watch the progression of their relationship from friends,
to close confidants, to lovers.
Deepa Mehtas keen skills as a filmmaker are especially evident in the gradual and credible
awakening of two heteronormative women as they move toward a lesbian love affair. At
various intervals, the characters discuss the stereotypical customs and hypocritical biases of
their society, the customs and biases that can destroy women, in spirit and body. Mehtas
reference to Indian mythology is obvious in his choice of character names, and also the films
title, which not only describes intense sexual passion, but also refers to the mythological
anecdote in the Indian scripture--Ramayana. In the myth, Sita had to walk through flames to
prove her purity. Similarly, in the movie Radha also had to face the fire in order to prove the
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purity of her love for the other woman and to establish her own identity. But perhaps more
interestingly, Fire challenges our tired notions of sexual preference: the preference for love
and understanding over assumptions and dominance is a
sexual preference.
In contrast to the urban middle class context of Fire, the adapted
screenplay Mango Souffl - A not so Straight Movie is set in
a Bangalore farm-house. It is adapted from the play also named
Mango Souffl written by Mahesh Dattani himself. This movie
is a sincere reflection on the conflicts homosexuals face in their
families, their society, and within themselves. A few rich gay
friends (Sharad, Bunny, Ranjit and Deepali) get together at
Kamleshs farm-house to help the protagonist get over an exlover, Prakesh, aka Ed. Ed is engaged to Kamleshs sister Kiran.
(Dialogues in the movie are adapted from the play.)
In the following scene, Kamlesh and Ed sit on a bench, facing the road. Ed is fearful of coming
out as gay:
ED (looking out). Look at all those people on the road.
KAMLESH. They cant see us.
ED. No. They cant.
KAMLESH. They cant see us at all, although we can see them. They
must be blind If only they could see how beautiful we are
together.
ED. I dont know. (Points to the on the road people.) They wouldnt
think so.
KAMLESH. They dont really see us.
ED. There are real men and women out there! (CP II, 198)
After Ed leaves Kamlesh for a normal life, Kamleshs friend Sharad comments:
You see, being a heterosexual man a real man, as Ed put itI get everything.
I get to be acceptedaccepted by whom?well, that marriage lot down there
for instance. I can have a wife, I can have children who will all adore me simply
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because I am a hetero I beg your pardona real man. Now why would I want
to give it all up? So what if I have to change a little? If I can be a real man, I can
be King. Look at all the kings around you, look at all the male power they enjoy,
thrusting themselves on to the world, all that penis power! Power with sex,
power with muscle, power with size. Firing rockets, exploding nuclear bombs,
if you can do it five times, I can do it six times and all that stuff. (Thrusts his
pelvis in an obscene macho fashion.) Power, man! Power! (CP II, 217)
While Sharad describes real manhood in terms of word domination, Kiran, Eds new young
fianc, considers the traditional gender roles she and Ed have taken on as a lack of
imagination:
If there are any stereotypes around here, they are you and me. Because we
dont know any better, do we? We just dont know what else to be! (CP II, 222)
Kimberley Jones in her report on the Fifteenth Annual Austin Gay & Lesbian
International Film Festival where Dattanis film was screened to rave reviews, points
out that queer cinema is no longer limited to coming out or AIDS stories, the two
definitive subjects of the 1990s. (Jones, 2002)
Now, mainstream viewership everywhere accepts these queer identities without
batting an eyelid, with the evolution of new prototype of the gay individual. Would that
then indicate a swallowing up of the gay audience, reducing it to something of a
sidekick? Herein lies the relevance of a film like Mango Souffl, the first Indian
feature film to explicitly address homosexuality, addressing gay issues within the
territorially distinct identity of its subject. (Chaudhuri, 95)
Since the release of Fire and Mango Souffl, other films (My Brother Nikhil, Girlfriend, and
Kamasutra) have furthered awareness in mainstream Indian audiences of the trials and
conflicts faced by the LGBTQ population in India. And as popular culture embraces queer
cinema and celebrity, lets hope that our mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers will come to
acceptand embracediversity from within.
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References:
Chaudhuri, Asha Kuthari. Mahesh Dattani: An Introduction, New Delhi: Cambridge University
Press, 2008. Print.
Dattani, Mahesh. Collected Plays: Volume Two, New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2005. Print.
Fire. Dir. Deepa Mehta. Perf. Nandita Das, and Shabana Azmi. Kaleidoscope Entertainment,
1996. Film. https://www.youtube.com/.
Jones, Kimberley. The Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival turns 15: Coming of
Age. The Austin Chronicle. 21.51, 2002. http://www.austinchronicle.com.
Mango Souffl: A Not So Straight Movie. Dir. Mahesh Dattani. Perf. Ankur Vikal, Atul
Kulkarni, Denzil Smith, Faredoon Bhujwala, Heeba Shah, Rinkie Khanna, and Sanjit Bedi.
Lotus Piktures, 2002. Film. https://www.youtube.com/
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Generational Differences and the Diaspora in Amy Tans The Kitchen

Gods Wife and Helie Lees Still Life with Rice
Dr. C. Isaac Jebastine
Professor and Head
Bharathidasan University
Tiruchirappalli 620 024
Sweta Ravindran
Ph.D. Research Scholar
Bharathidasan University
Tiruchirappalli 620 024
Abstract
This article examines the generational differences in the light of the diasporic experiences of
the characters in Amy Tans novel, The Kitchen Gods Wife, and Helie Lees work, Still Life
with Rice. It deals with the inter-generational conflicts that arise owing to the first-generation
immigrants obsession with their native traditions and the second-generation immigrants
attraction towards the Western culture, especially the strained and uneasy relationships
between the mothers and the daughters, that is, Winnie and Pearl in The Kitchen Gods Wife
and Dukwah and Helie Lee in Still Life with Rice. Against the backdrop of diasporic
experiences, the storytelling and memory narration techniques employed by the novelists to
reinforce the theme taken for study is also analysed.
Keywords:
Homeland, Host land, Culture, tradition, Inter-generational conflict, Linguistic estrangement
When an individual or a group of people emigrates from his/her or their homeland

respectively to another country, they are subject to various new experiences. The immigrants
experience the problem of cultural differences that result in cultural conflict. The immigrants
find it difficult to assimilate into the host culture and they consider the cultures and traditions
of their homeland superior to that of the host country. While the first-generation immigrants
try to stick to the culture of their past, the second and the third-generation immigrants are
fascinated by the host culture, and as a result, the strong influence of their homeland prevents
them from assimilating the culture of the host country completely.
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In diasporic writings, the cultural encounters play a significant role as a diasporic writer is
caught between the two contrasting cultures. Diasporic writers try to create a new platform
for themselves through their works, that is, they try to bring together the two contrasting
cultures, and the peoples involved. Their writings are influenced by both the cultures of the
host country and the native country. Conflict between tradition and modernity, the East and
the West, belief and rationality, and displacement, dislocation, and alienation are a few of
many a theme dealt with by the diasporic writers. These writers mostly write about their own
experiences and as a result the problems that the characters face are the problems faced by
the writers themselves.
The Chinese-American diaspora and the Korean-American diaspora fall under AsianAmerican Diaspora. The Chinese and the Koreans emigrated to other countries in order to
escape from the harsh realities that prevailed in their native lands. The period between 1910
and 1945 witnessed many a Chinese and Korean migration. During this period many were
forced to leave their homeland owing to the implausibility of peaceful life in their land. The
Koreans migrated to the United States, China, and Japan and the Chinese migrated mostly
to the United States during this period.
Hongyong and Dukpil migrate to China in order to escape from the clutches of the tyrannical
Japanese rule. The desire for freedom from the Japanese rulers has been expressed by
Hongyong in Helie Lees novel Still Life with Rice: A breeze of freedom blew here in China,
unlike in our country. Everyday life was not severely affected by the empire of Japan (111).
The Japanese rule restricted the Koreans from following their traditions and culture, and it
forced them to follow the Japanese way of life. In order to follow their traditions and culture,
they migrate to China where they are free from the Japanese tyranny. In the novel, Still Life
with Rice, the following words of Hongyong and Dukwah emphasise the viewpoint stated
above:
You Korean, you always be Korean. Our people so good. Grandmother rubs
her moist eyes. Then why did you bring us to America if you didnt want us to
be American?... Your father and me give up everything, our home, our life, to
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bring you kids to America, not to be American people, but so you can be
Korean. Here, there is no Cold War, no hunger, no losses. (13)
Amy Tan, a Chinese-American writer, and Helie Lee, a Korean-American writer, in their
works delineate the diasporic experiences in the alien lands. Helie Lees work, Still Life with
Rice (1996), is in the first-person narration and it is about Helie Lees grandmother
Hongyongs life and, therefore, it can be considered a semi-autobiographical novel. Conner
observes: While focusing on the remarkable life of her grandmother, Hongyong Baek, Helie
Lees Still Life with Rice provides memorable images of Japanese and Soviet occupation and
civil war. Written with sensitivity and detail, the book is not only a tribute to her grandmothers
will to survive, but to the courage of the Korean people (71).
The novels of Amy Tan have autobiographical elements. The mother figures and the
daughter figures that figure in all the novels might represent Amy Tan and her mother. The
Kitchen Gods Wife (1991) is the second novel of Amy Tan. According to Huntly,
The novel is fictional autobiography, a womans narrative of her life and
experiences. Significantly, Amy Tan has said on a number of occasions that
The Kitchen Gods Wife is her mothers story, and indeed, the outlines of the
novels and many of the specific details in the text are congruent with the story
of Daisy Tans life. (83)
Both the novels portray the journey undertaken by each of the two brave women from their
war-ravaged homeland to a politically safe country.
The novel, The Kitchen Gods Wife, opens with the narration of Pearl Louie Brandt, Winnies
daughter. The very first paragraph of the novel reveals the tension that prevails between
Winnie and Pearl. Pearl says Whenever my mother talks to me, she begins the conversation
as if we were already in the middle of an argument (11). The reason for the friction between
them is Pearls abandonment of the Chinese culture and her embracement of the American
identity.
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The novel, Still Life with Rice, also begins with an argument between Helie Lee on the one
side and her mother Dukwah and grandmother Hongyong on the other side. Helie Lee
argues:
I dont need a husband to have babies, Mother.
Yah, you killing me. Mother clutches her heart.
Soon you be too old, fall off tree. No man want rotten fruit for wife.
Grandmother clucks her tongue in disappointment. (11)
The mother and the grandmother are not able to accept their daughters/ grand-daughters
American way of life. And the daughters consider their culture old and outdated. Helie Lee
says, To me, my parents and grandmother were from Marsout of sight and out of touch
too Korean for my good (12). Helie Lee, in one of the interviews, speaks about her days of
youth as a Korean-American: From tanning my skin to bleaching my hair, to scotch-taping
my eyelids, to forgetting Korean. It was deliberate in every way. [It was] because I just wanted
to fit in. And for me, fitting in meant letting go of the past (Chimes 12). The relationship
between the mother and the daughter is strained, and uneasy, and it widens with the passage
of time. This breach further widens greatly through the cultural and linguistic estrangement.
The second-generation immigrants want to fit into the culture of the host country. As to the
first-generation immigrants, they are keen on safeguarding their culture of their homeland.
Language plays an important role when it describes the relationship between the firstgeneration Korean/ Chinese migrants and the second-generation migrants. The mothers
speak broken English and fluent Chinese/ Korean while the daughters speak fluent English
and little Chinese/ Korean. Amy Tan in her non-fiction titled The Opposite of Fate speaks
about the ill effects of the limitation of language:
I know this for a fact, because when I was growing up, my mothers limited
English limited my perception of her. I was ashamed of her English. I believed
that her English reflected the quality of what she had to say. That is, because
she expressed them imperfectly, her thoughts were imperfect. (Tan 274)
Throughout the two novels taken for study the characters are torn between their native
identity and acquired identity. Preserving the culture and tradition of their home country is
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one of the most important duties of the Korean and the Chinese migrants. In the novel, Still
Life with Rice, a Korean migrant living in China says, we Koreans can do anything and will
do anything to preserve our culture and language. Not even the revolution destroyed our
community (25). The Chinese-Americans in the novel of Amy Tan try and follow the Chinese
tradition even while living in America. In the novel, The Kitchen Gods Wife, at the funeral of
Grand Auntie which takes place in the United States, the Chinese rituals are performed.
The conflict between the Eastern and the Western ideals, especially the cultures is a
predominant theme in the novels The Kitchen Gods Wife and Still Life with Rice. Both the
novels have many an instance of storytelling and memory narrative. The dispute that prevails
between the mothers and the daughters continues till the mothers narrate their past to the
daughters. These narratives change the perspectives and perceptions of the daughters
towards their mothers and their native land. Lotfi observes: in the course of recalling
memory, a collective identity is constructed, as well as the individual identity (1913).
In the novels the traumatic experiences of the past are the main source of the conflict. It is
only with the narration of the traumatic past comes an understanding that resolves the conflict
between the mothers and the daughters. The narration reveals the brutality of war and the
sufferings of the women characters at the hands of their patriarchal figures. The migration
helps them to escape from these atrocities though they experience a sense of loss. The
speaking out of the repressed past of the mothers helps them to some extent fill the
generational gap between the mothers and the daughters.
Winnie and Helie Lee believe that they suffer from the loss of roots and it can only be cured
by going back to their native land. In the novel, The Kitchen Gods Wife, Winnie is convinced
that Pearls disease is due to her identity as half-Chinese and half-American and in order to
find a solution she plans for her a trip to China. Likewise, in the novel Still Life with Rice, the
narrator returns to her birthplace, Seoul, in search of her identity to resolve the conflict. Helie
Lee says:
The more I attempt to figure out these two women, the more confused I become
as to who I am and where I belong. So I do something risky: I return to my
birthplace. With no preset itinerary or companion for moral support. (14)
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The Chinatowns and the Korea towns lay emphasis on the importance of communal identity
in the lives of the Chinese and the Koreans. Though Dukwah and Hongyong in Still Life with
Rice and Winnie and Helen in The Kitchen Gods Wife, live in the United States, Dukwah and
Hongyong live like Koreans and the way of life of Winnie and Helen are that of the Chinese.
They live in a place surrounded by their country people, so that they can live a life they lived
in their homeland, thus resisting assimilation. Till the end they live shunning the Western
culture and traditions.
Hongyongs migration to China is similar to that of Winnies migration to the United States.
Both Winnie Louie and Hongyong desire to return to their homeland, throughout their stay in
the host country. Although the return seems impossible, the strong desire lures them to go
for at least a visit to their homeland.
These two novelists, apart from dealing with the major themes such as cultural dislocation
and identity crisis, also deal with themes like the consequences of war, marital relationships,
friendship, and loyalty. The main focus of these novelists is on the women characters
predicaments in their war-ravaged countries, and their longing to move to a politically safe
country. The story narrative technique employed by the novelists help cement the gap
between the mothers and the daughters, Winnie and Pearl in The Kitchen Gods Wife, and
Dukwah and Helie Lee in Still Life with Rice. And the story narration results in strengthening
the emotional bond between the mothers and the daughters and also in the acceptance of
the Chinese/ Korean identities by the daughters, thereby reducing the generational
differences of the diaspora.
Works Cited
---. The Opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings. New York: Putnam, 2003. Print.
Helie Lee discusses her story of reunion with her family Interview: Chimes 3, May
2002. Web. 09 Aug. 2015.
Conner, Mary. Still Life with Rice: A Young American Woman Discovers the Life and
Legacy of Her Korean Grandmother. Book Review. Web. 09 Aug. 2015.
Lee, Helie. Still Life with Rice: A Young American Woman Discovers the Life and
Legacy of Her Korean Grandmother. New York: Scribner, 1996. Print.
Lotfi, Naeimeh Tabatabaei. A Unique Approach of Memory Narrative Therapy in
Diasporic Contexts: An Analysis of The Bonesetter's Daughter and The Kitchen
God's Wife by Amy Tan. Theory and Practice in Language Studies 4.9 (2014):
1912+. Academic OneFile. Web. 6 Nov. 2014.
Tan, Amy. The Kitchen God's Wife. New York: Putnam, 1991. Print.
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MY VISION
Manju George
Senior Lecturer, Dept. of English Studies
Bayan College, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman
My ear rumbles
With the distant trumpetsProclaiming the horrors of the war
That hovers over the alleys deep and dark.
It is a sad spectacle,
To witness the rumbling of the legion
Marching to their destiny dark and deep!
Their deliberate steps seemed tied
As to a purpose not of their own;
For their will is meted out
To the material God for his glory!
And in the darker darkness of the night,

In did come the strangest figures
Under a cold and coarse canvas
Just for a nap-but soon to rise at a shot!
Their dim shadows concealed their deeds of crime
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But surely not, as their minds did seem,

To admit their deeds
With all its utter brutality!
For the mind is a solemn sufferer

Of all the ills of the world!
Neither can one escape the stings of a sickened mind
Nor the cravings of a forlorn heart
Split in twain at times, with no remedy
Where the entire pharmacopeia
May look silly!
I, an innocent being, far from the madding crowd

Longed for a change, a change utterly
For hopes spring within me
Like a fresh blossom of the morn!
Fluttering its petals by the breeze
For hopes grew around me, like a twining vine
Proclaiming sweet sounds of glory!
For peace is what I long for.
I long for entirely in my life
_________________________
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ADIEU
Sub title: Ringtones of my heart

A sincere wish for our departing colleagues
Basked in the glory of your goodwill

I maculating peace and harmony
Dwelling in the minds of your colleagues
Dear departing ones..
I can only wish U
Nothing but the best that life may offer U
Going out for a sole purpose of your own
Amidst all turbulences
Day in and Day out
I express my sincere wish that u may find your hearts desire
Enriching yourself and others
Uniting all minds in a joyful spree!
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A Gender Study in Kiran Desais

The Inheritance of Loss
Mr. A. Cruz Thivagaran. M.A., M.Phil., PGDCA.,

Assistant Professor in English,
JP College of Engineering,
Aiykudy, Tenkasi, Tamilnadu.
Abstract
The Inheritance of Loss comprises themes like migration, multiculturalism, religion, cultural
aspects, economic inequality, fundamentalism and terrorist violence. These issues are not
new, and they are more relevant than ever in the dynamic picture of the world today.
Migration has been a major theme throughout history. The common aim of Migration has
been to improve once future prospects through education and work. The issues of race, class
and gender, are important factors in this connection. The theme of race is one of the major
issues in The Inheritance of Loss. In order to analyze how the concept of race is approached
in this novel, it will therefore be necessary to have a closer look at how the term is defined.
The term race has proven complex to define, as both accept of time as well as specific ways
of grouping race are continually being discussed. Still, it is of vital importance for the
discussion that a general definition is presented. These concept can be applied in The
Inheritance of Loss to the characters discrimination is due to race ethnicity is usually quite
visible in society. However, there are types of race intolerance which are not that obvious are
exposed.
Key words: Colonialism, discrimination, hierarchical system, Multicultural reality
Introduction
The title of the novel is informative and realistic and it there by fits the content of the texts.
The title of The Inheritance of loss is more complex but still informative and realistic. This
definition includes the most central themes in The Inheritance of Loss, novel focus on exactly
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the uneven development of the East and the West, presented through the authorial
techniques. Furthermore, the definition includes the important concepts of power, the contest
for political and social authority, which often is linked to the concepts of race, gender and
class.
In the last two and half centuries a large number of women novelists in Indian fiction in
English have attracted a great deal of attention and favourable comment. Famous among
them are: Kamala Markandaya, R.P.Jhabwala, Nayantara Sahal, Anita Desai and Kiran
Desai.
Kiran Desai is an Indian author. She is a citizen of India and a permanent residence of the
United States. Her novel The Inheritance of loss won the 2006 Man Booker prize and the
National Book Critics Circle Fiction Award. Desai is the daughter of Anita Desai, herself short
listed for the Booker prize on three occasions. Her first novel, Hullaballo in the guava orchard.
Was published in 1998 and received accolades from such notable figures as Salman
Rushdie. It won the Betty Trask Award.
A prize is given by the society of authors for the best new novel by citizen of the common
wealth of nations under the age of 35. Her second book, The Inheritance of loss (2006) was
widely praised by critics throughout Asia, Europe and the United States. In September 2007
Desai was a Guest on private passions, the biographical Music Discussion Programmed
hosted by Michel Berkley on BBC Radio 3. In May 2007 she was the featured author at the
inaugural Asia house festival of cold literature private life. In January 2010 orphan Pamuk,
recipient of the 2006 noble prize in literature publicity acknowledged that he was in a
relationship with Desai.
Noni and Lola live nearby at Mon Ami, and Noni is employed by the judge to be Sais private
tutor(34). The nearest neighbour of Cho Oyu is uncle potty who is from England, and his
friend father Booty from Switzerland. Hence, Sais little world consist of people with a
multicultural background, influenced by features from the west. The exception is the cook at
Cho Oyu who is Indian like herself. The cook and Sai grow very flows, and he teaches her
about India and Indian ways of life. However, despite their closeness at the surface, they are
both able to sense the difference between them deeper down:
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Sai felt embarrassed. She was rarely in the cooks hut, and when she did come searching for
him and centre, he was ill at ease and so was she, something about their closeness being
exposed in the end as fake, their friendship composed of shallow things connected in a
broken language, for she was an English speaker and he was a Hindi speaker. (19)
This line confirms the identity problems in postcolonial India. It also confirms the difference
in class between the privileged Indians who are influenced by the West and the others.
All nations and ethnic groups of people represented in The Inheritance of Loss are important
as to give a full picture of the issues of race and ethnicity and the challenges of a postcolonial
and multicultural society. The issues of race are vividly described in the case of the son of
Cook, Biju. During his stay in New York, the reader meets people from the whole world.
Through this shift between India and America, Desai is able to draw attention to important
differences between the East and the West.
The theme of gender is presented in The Inheritance of Loss. In contrast to where the male
characters of the novel were in focus this chapter will to a large extent concentrates on the
female figures. The main reason for this choice is that the female characters in this novel
appear as strong individuals, who make the most of their possibilities. In spite of their various
difficulties they manage to improve their lives. Main aim in this chapter will be to analyze and
discuss if any of the females are discriminated against due to their sex, and to explore how
they manage to develop in to independent women.
The concept of race and ethnicity, the understanding of the theme of gender is complex. It is
therefore necessary to have a look at some definitions and central terms. In particular it is
important to be aware of the difference between sex and gender. The main focus in Nimi who
represents discriminated young women from the Third World. In order to emphasize their
difficult situation, the theories of Spivak will be drawing in to the discussion. In accordance
with Spivaks thoughts, it is interesting to note that Nimi is only presented as minor figures in
the novel just like she is minor or subalterns in her life situations. Nimi is mostly seen in
relation to Jemubhai her fate is described in a few pages. Desai is interested in discussing
gender-related themes in her novels. Desai, on the other hand, seems more interested in
depicting themes of colonialism, race and ethnicity.
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In accordance with traditional postcolonial views, the thought of a strong, developed, west
associated with masculinity, and submissive, obedient, and poor East linked to felinity seems
to be relevant for the theme of gender. However, Desai points out that the dynamic and
multicultural situation of the world today demands a new way of thinking. Especially, these
issues are illustrated through the immigrant experiences in New York in the novel. Naturally,
this development also influences the traditional stereotypical views of gender roles. Desai
illustrates the mental strength of their female characters. Except for the case of Nimi in The
Inheritance of Loss.
In the analysis of The Inheritance of Loss the theme of class is complex, as it varies from
community and in time. This is particularly important as the class concept needs to be
approached from two different points of view, from the West and the East. In general terms,
and in the western tradition, the word class means a social division. The Latin word
classis, a division according to property of the people of Rome, came into English in its
Latin form.
India has its own system of dividing society into various stratifications: the concept of caste.
Today, the English word caste is commonly used to denote anyone of the numerous and
endogamous social groupings of India, despite the fact that it does not correlate with a single
term found in the languages of South Asia. Indeed, the origin of the word caste can be
traced to the Portuguese traders and voyagers who visited the Indian subcontinent in the
sixteenth century.
There also seems to be strong relationship between the three concepts of race, gender and
class and several class issues have therefore already been discussed. This is particularly
relevant in the case of Biju, whose social rank in society has been analysed in the chapter
on race. In the same way class issues regarding the immigrants from the west in Kalimpong,
uncle potty and Father Booty, and the social position of Western-influenced privileged
Indians, Noni and Lola have been commented on earlier. Hence, in order not to repeat
myself, the concept of class will be explored through literary connections which are suitable
for promoting the theme. Regarding method, the relevant method will be compared
consecutively, with the relationship between the judge and the cook in Kalimpong as a
starting point.
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Sai also fits in to the discussion of class in The Inheritance of Loss. In the same way as Sai
lives between two different cultures, the East and the West, her class identity is ambiguous.
The author main points regarding the theme of class are anchored in historical facts about
the British Empire, and the change of power which took place in the Third World, in the case
represented by India. However, also after the with drawl of the English, in the postcolonial
period, countries of the Third World have suffered. This period is often associated with
financial and political difficulties, injustice in the law of system, corruption and violence-all
themes which are debated in The Inheritance of Loss.
The theme of class is often related to issues of race in the novel. These connections are
visible between those figures who are influenced and privileged by the West and those who
are not. Desai confirms how difficult it is to obtain a higher level in the hierarchical system.
Even though class belonging in the western tradition is not considered as a part of the body,
like in the caste hierarchy of India, the changing of class proves to be difficult for the
characters in The Inheritance of Loss.
Conclusion
The Inheritance of Loss explores this theme in depth. It has grown to meet such people. The
West after all may seem like the land of milk and honey and for some this holds true, but for
most, this is a mirage. The sadder part of this is when people try to keep up with the mirage
despite waking up to the truth and if think at some point Kiran Desai touches on this reality.
WORKS CITED
Bhabha, Homi K. The Location of Culture. London: Routledge, 1994.
Desai, Kiran. The Inheritance of Loss. London: The Penguin Group, 2006 print.
Guruprasad, Thakur. The Lost Lonely Questers of Arun Joshis Fiction, The Novels of Arun
Joshi. Ed. R.K. Dhawan: New Delhi: Prestige Books, 1992. pp.94-105.
Iyengarr, K.R.Srinivasa. Indian Writing in English. New Delhi: Sterling Pub. Pvt. Ltd., 1985.
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Lahiri, Jhumpa . The Namesake. New Delhi: Orient Paper Backs, 2010.
Said, Edward W.Orientalism. London: Penguin Books, 1995 print.

Spivak, Gayatri Chakrovorty.Three Womens Texts and a Critique of imperialism. Critical
Inquiry 12. University of Chicago Press, 1985.243-261.
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Understanding Motivation in Language Learning
Srinivas Bandameedi
PhD Scholar
English and Foreign Languages University
Hyderabad
Abstract
In the sphere of education, technical courses are tailor-made mostly on practical grounds.
Students of these courses are exposed to real time experience in the labs. Since learning of
this sort is completely needs based seeking active involvement of the learners cognitive
abilities, it is imperative to focus on how cognition of the learners be operated. In this regard
curricular practices need to be attuned as per the demands. Especially in development of
materials, where students autonomy is extensively expressed in 1) needs, 2) motivation and
3) lacks, need to be addressed effectively. The present study intends to focus on the second
phenomenon, motivation, in ESP. And its inseparable relation with materials which is helpful
for the learners to learn things from known to unknown. By viewing the students as the
important stakeholders, it is felt essential to conduct study of this sort to upgrade the course
books in regular intervals as per the demands.
Keywords: Motivation, English for Specific Purpose, Second Language Acquisition
Introduction
Learning second language has become an inevitable need for the students, particularly in
engineering education. In order to comply with the demands posed by learners teachers face
multiple challenges from every possible nook and cranny. But teaching second language
could be an art if the teacher has adequate exposure. There are a number of social and
psychological factors working in between this need of learning a second language and the
art of teaching. It is a general assumption that an outstanding analysis of linguistic
components, and meticulously developed materials with appropriate teaching methods
would pave smooth way in second language learning class. But when it comes into practice
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it may be difficult to assume that the learning of students would be effective on par with the
expectations. Beyond all the curriculum inputs, impact of an invisible factor is found
enormous in the learning process. It is apparent to many practicing teachers that some poor
performing students ascend drastically in learning process, and sometimes high performing
students slide down unexpectedly. Observation and experience suggest that optimum
achievement in second language learning is related to motivational intensity of the students.
Theories of Motivation
As Stevick (1976) opines that Learning particularly learning of a language is an emotional
experience, and the feelings that the learning process evoke will have a crucial bearing on
the success or failure of the learning. The above comment stresses on the importance of
motivation which is a psychological factor in learning.
Woodworth (1958) in Dynamics of Behavior says, stimuli are respondent to or disregarded
according as they are relevant or irrelevant to Os (organisms) ongoing activity. Based on
this view of Woodworth, motivation can be defined as the relevance of second language
learning. It is the learners motive for attempting to acquire the second language. Pimsleur
(1961) considers motivation as one of the two biggest factors in learning a second language.
Motivation in second language learning can be broadly of two types: a) individual motivation
and b) social motivation. The study of individual motivation in language learning again is
different in relation to different age groups or different stages in the language learning. Rivers
(1964) says, different problems of motivation arise at the foreign language study.
Gardener Motivation Theory
The assumption that human beings always behave in rational and sensible manner has been
challenged with a new dimension. This earlier paradigm demanded the learners to be the
programmed computers or designed software to behave in an expected manner. But new
theories challenged this tradition treating the human being as the emotional being. Emotional
barriers like fears, dislikes and prejudices of the learners were started taken into account in
the process of learning. To overcome this phenomenon motivation factor has been
recognized as a primary factor.
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This theory deals with the relationship between cognitive and effective aspects or emotional
aspects of the learner. Cognitive aspect of the learner always drags conscious efforts on
learning. But, the cognitive aspect is deeply rooted in the emotional reaction to initiate the
process of learning.
Gardeners and Lambert (1972) have contributed a lot with motivational theory to the
educational practices. Initially they worked on the French speaking bilinguals in Canada.
They identified there are two types of motivations i.e., instrumental motivation and integrative
motivation which influence learning process. Instrumental motivation is driven by external
factors like professional or personal needs of the learner. In a way it creates a compulsion
on the learner to learn something. English for Specific Purposes based on this theory.
Integrated motivation leads the learner to learn something as per his/her internal desire. It is
advocated by many educationists that integrated motivation is an ideal one in the learning,
since it an inbuilt characteristic which enables learner to move forward without depending on
any external factors.
In the instrumental motivation benefits of the learning need to be articulated to capture the
attention of the learner. Here, curriculum aspects need to condition the paradigm of the
learner towards learning process. The role of materials and teacher play a crucial role in this
environment.
Integrated motivation need not have any external force to push the students towards learning.
It creates ample autonomy in their learning process. There would be sufficient scope to
develop higher order thinking skills among the learners which are more beneficial than the
results of instrumental motivation.
Method of Investigation
The present study tries to examine the motivation factors related to the material aspect. This
study based on Gardeners Motivation theory.
Random sampling is made from the
engineering graduate second year students in Hyderabad. There are forty samples from
different colleges. It has recorded the students first year English language learning
experience. The research tool used in this study is a questionnaire which has ten items. First
four questions aim at instrumental motivation factor and rest of the six on integrated
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motivation. Among the later six questions, three questions focus on the role of the teachers
and rest of the three on role of materials inducing motivation in the learners. It examines the
reaction of the learner towards the syllabus prescribed for them with regards to their
motivational factors. As per the hypotheses whether the course books are appealing to them
which could evoke integrated motivation or were the students depending on external factors
to learn? In the case of instrumental motivation which factor had more impact? What was the
teachers role when there was a gap between cognitive and emotional aspects of the
learners? What sort of material the students are interested in.
1.0.
Analysis
1.1.
Self-Motivation of the Students
Ninety five Percent of the students expressed motive behind their language learning is to get
a job. With this, it can be opined the overall language learning process is driven by
instrumental motivation; however there are few exemptions to this view. Like thirty percent
of the students depend on their own sources in finding of the meanings, and almost all the
students watch English movies, listen to English songs, read other English fiction for
pleasure, while doing these activities their motivation is absolutely integrative.
1.2 Teachers Role
In instrumental motivation it was found that teachers role was not optimum as per the
demands of the ESP classroom. Ninety percent of the students expressed that their teachers
have the habit of correcting their mistakes immediately, which indicates teachers intolerance
towards errors, which may have adverse effect on learners performance. Thirty percent of
the students expressed they are ignored or tend to be ignored by the teachers in the
classroom interactions. Eighty percent of the students state that their teachers do not use
any sort of teaching aids in the class room.
1.3 Materials role
Seventy percent of the students want articles pertaining to their technical domain to be the
part of the syllabus. This finding substantiates the opinion that junior level academic
textbooks are excellent examples of texts which are based on authentic materials. Ninety
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percent of the students feel that the content in the syllabus is familiar to them. Eighty percent
of the students consider the existing material is not sufficient to serve their purpose. Sixty
percent of the students read the textbooks for the pleasure. As engineering syllabus is needs
based, the material included in the syllabus is tailor made according to the needs of the
learners, so these adult learners view to be taken into the account while developing the
materials.
2.0.
Discussion
When a learner is reading some text, motivation type will be varied according to the needs.
For example when reading a particular piece of writing prescribed in the textbook for
examination purpose differs from reading the same text during the vacation. In the first
instance the learner is compelled to read, whereas in the second instance he/she reads or
wants to read the same text for pleasure. Furthermore, in the first instance type of motivation
of the learner is instrumental whereas in second instance it is integrated.
As many educationists argue that integrated motivation is the positive one which increases
the higher order thinking skills of the learner. But the present study affirms that despite the
student community has ample potential to learn through their integrated motivation, their
employability or professional needs are altering their integrated motivation into instrumental
motivation to face cutthroat competitive environment which is created by present day
professional milieu.
3.0.
Conclusion
It is dire need for the learners to acquire all-round development by enhancing higher order
skills. Curriculum even within lot of social and cultural limitations there is an amount of scope
to harness integrated motivation among the learners.
Appendix I
Questionnaire
Name: ..
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Branch & Year:

Name of the Institute:
Note: Please read the questions given below, and underline your choice in the given
options.
1. What makes you to attend an English class?
a) To improve my grades in the exam.
b) To improve my communication skills for a better job.
c) I am interested in learning new things.
2. What do you do, when you come across a new word in the course book?
a) I Ignore
b) I ask my teacher
c) I find meaning in the dictionary
3. Do you ever feel to read any lesson in your English textbook just for pleasure?
a) Yes
b) No
c) Cant say
4. Listening to English music, watching English movies, and reading English books: how
frequently you do these activities for pleasure (time pass or fun)?
a) Never
b) Occasionally
c) Frequently
5. How do your language teachers react, when you commit a mistake?

a) They correct spontaneously, whenever I commit mistakes.
b) They ignore
c) They criticize
6. How frequently you are asked to interact in the class?
a) Never
b) Some times
c) Very frequently
7. Do your English teachers use teaching aids (audio, videos, and LCD projectors) in the
class (not in the lab)?
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a) Yes
b) No
c) Cant Say
8. What sort of material would appeal to you in the language course?

a) Contemporary fiction to have a relief from regular classes.
b) Articles on science and technology to upgrade my knowledge.
c) Some classics like poetry, prose, drama etc.
9. Are the concepts in the English textbook familiar to you?
a) No
b) Some what
c) Completely familiar
10. Do you feel, the present material in the textbook would fulfill your expected needs?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Cant Say
References
Gardener, R.C., Smythe, P.C. and Clement, R. "Intensive Second Language Study in a
Bicultural Mileu." Language Learning (1979): 305-320.
Gardener, R.C.,& Lambert, W. Attitudes and Motivation in Second Language Learning.
Massachusetts: Newbury House Publishers , 1972.
Lambert, W. A study of the Roles of Attitudes and Motivation in Second Language Learning.
Montreal, 1961.
Pimsleur, Stock Well and Comrey. "Foreign Language Learnig Ability." Under Achievement
in Foreign Language Learning NDEA Contract OE-2-14-004 Report No. 1 (1961).
River, Wilga. "Psychology." Linguistics and Language Teaching (1979/1983).
Rivers, Wilga M. the psychologist and the foreign langauge teacher. Chicago, 1964.
Stevick, E. Memory, Meaning, and Method. Newbury House, 1976.
Woodworth, R.S. Dynamics of Behaviour. Newyork, 1958.
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Sociocultural And Linguistic Perspective

Of John Fowles Novels
Dr. S. R. Chaitra
Assistant Professor in English
Maharajas College
University of Mysore
Karnataka, India
Abstract
It is needless to say that style or expression occupies significant and broad interest to
interpret any literary form. The paper seeks to venture such depiction of stylistic features
through linguistic perspectives in the selected fiction of John Fowles [JF], a twentieth century
British author. The linguistic analysis of a literary text comprises of the intellectual
representation of emotional elements which are influenced by the socio-cultural background.
Society influences the norms of the characters and acts as a stimulating factor to the social
behaviour. The novels of John Fowles revolve around a theme which is significant to the
human society and human behaviour. Subsequently the author has used various sociolinguistic and socio-cultural elements which have language and context specific attestations.
The paper presents the socio-cultural and linguistic perspective in the selected fiction of
John Fowles which are The Magus [TM], The French Lieutenants Woman [TFLW], The
Ebony Tower [TET], and Daniel Martin [DM]. The present paper aims at identifying the
various stylistic features used by this British author during his portrayal of characters in the
web of socio-linguistic and socio-cultural settings prevailing during the period that he has
opted.
Key words: Linguistic, John Fowles, stylistics, socio-cultural.

John Robert Fowles (1926-2005) [JF] is undoubtedly one of the greatest writers of the
twentieth century who has contributed immensely to English literature through his literary
works in the area of social fiction. All his novels revolve around a theme, which is significant
to the human society and human behaviour. Subsequently, the author has used various
socio-linguistic and socio-cultural elements, which have contextual and language and context
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specific attestations. For the present paper the following novels namely, The Magus, The
French Lieutenants Woman, The Ebony Tower and Daniel Martin are selected. The present
paper aims at identifying the various stylistic features used by this British author during his
portrayal of characters in the web of socio-linguistic and socio-cultural settings prevailing
during the period that he has opted. Stylistics as a branch of study intermingles and
interpenetrates linguistics and literary studies and makes deep inroads into both the fields by
bringing to light the linguistic characteristics of the literary analysis through minute
observations of the language features. The linguistic components include phonetic,
phonemic, morphemic, syntactic, lexical and graphological contexts. The literary or the
textual components include the period in which the text is written, type of speech of the
characters with regard to their culture, age, gender, social strata, qualification, experience
etc. Hence stylistics interprets any literary form with regard to the function of the language,
with reference to various social contexts, with regard to the mental status and experience of
the author and it also includes other norms such as the choice of the word. It is not only with
reference to the suitability in the sentence but also the suitability according to the social
context. This means the character of the novel speaks the type of language/dialect and acts
according to a particular socio-cultural context. The socio-cultural construction contributes to
the linguistic turn in discourse. This paper depicts the linguistic behaviour of the characters
with regard to their social class and social background. This paper presents the explanatory
technique used by the author with reference to the behaviour of the interlocutors which brings
pathos, sarcasm, humour and derogatory use. The change in the tone with regard to the
context, intonation, use of realistic events, reference to history, art and science of the period
in which the novel is presented, the positive and the negative feelings, hierarchical behaviour,
intonation based on the context etc. are also discussed. All the above said characteristics
are elaborated with suitable evidences.
Explanatory Technique Used By The Author With Reference To The Behaviour Of The
Interlocutors:
JF in his works presents the life of the society in which he himself is the member and hence
through his characters depicts the role of the influencing society and its current social norms.
The extrinsic factors that are the settings and its environment form the stimulus to the
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attitudes and the speech of the characters. Therefore the socio-cultural structure of the
society is reflected in the works of JF. Hence several contextual factors intervene to transform
the nature, function and quality of the language and this chapter portrays the social and
cultural aspects of the society that have their role in the linguistic study of the language. The
correlation between the context and the characters is clearly brought out through the
language use of the characters. In this regard R.N.Srivastava and R.S.Gupta say, Language
is not merely instrumental; it is a powerful symbol of identity, a tool of cultural transformation
and an important factor in social relationship in short, an all-embracing phenomenon of a
mans social and personal existence. JF contemplates the varieties of human nature in his
characters with the blend of pathos, sarcasm, humour, derogatory use etcetera. These are
backed by their culture and the society hence figuring out the socio-psychological elements.
JF by the use of his inimitable explanatory technique provides his readers an accurate
perception of his characters.
Pathos is one of the characteristic features where the agony and the sufferings of the
characters due to the personal relationships that are contributed by the society are
discussed. The characters come to a tragic down fall of the state of nothingness. For instance
in TFLW the agony of Ernestina as Charles abandons her is due to her behaviour that was
purely Victorian and he, a Victorian gentleman becomes a daredevil in his approach to Sarah.
Ernestina is enfeebled by the news of broken engagement. In TM, Nicholas is enthralled
towards Bourani that results in his betrayal to Alison which leads to her trauma and laments
because of her true love for him. The narrator Nicholas says,
I slapped the side of her face. She began to sob violently, twisted sideways
against the bed-end, fragments of words howled at me between gasps for air
and tears.
Leave me alone leave me alone you shit you fucking selfish
Explosion of sobs, her shoulders racked. I stood and went to the window.
She began to bang the bedrail with her fists, as if she was beyond words.
[TM 276]
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Sarcasm is the ironical part of the literary text. It is the activity of giving contradictory
statement of what one means. It is also the way of revealing out the intensity of feelings in
the form of statements, remarks or incidents due to the personal relationship or the
happenings of the societal influence. In TM, Nicholas wishes to burst out his annoyance when
he meets Julie/Lilys mother
He is a very intelligent and charming man. They have been sleeping together
for some time.
And you approve?
My approval is unasked for and unnecessary. Lily is of age.
I grinned sourly at her, then looked out at the garden. Now I understand why
you grow so many flowers. She shifted her head, not understanding. I said,
To cover the stink of sulphur. [TM 602]
JF employs sarcasm in discourse subsequently drawing the attention of the readers
towards the controversial issues yet that cannot be stated directly by the characters because
of their sociocultural affiliation. For instance in TFLW, Charles says to Ernestina when she
wishes to know about his visit with her father
Your aunt has already extracted every detail of that pleasant evening from me.
[TFLW 12]
As they move in the Lyme Bay due the cold wind
Tina: We are not in London now
Charles: At the North Pole, if Im not mistaken. [TFLW 12]
JF, in his fictions not only discloses sarcasm through the discourse of the characters but also
through his narrator makes a mocking remark in the attitude to the characters such as Mrs.
Poulteney and Charles in TFLW
Yet among her own class, a very limited circle, she was renowned for her
charity. And if you had disputed that reputation, your opponents would have
produced an incontrovertible piece of evidence: had not dear, kind Mrs
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Poulteney taken in the French Lieutenants Woman? I need hardly add that at
the time the dear, kind lady knew only the other, more Grecian, nickname.
[TFLW 26]
Regarding Charles the author sarcastically criticizes as
Charles called himself a Darwinist, and yet he had not really understood
Darwin. But then, nor had Darwin himself. [TFLW 53]
Humour is the mental activity that apprehends and delights in the ludicrous and mirthful.
Humour in the fiction of JF is incisively expressed through the characters in their
conversation. JF brings out the humour in his fiction to bring out ease in the tragic situation.
In TFLW the conversation of Charles to Ernestina when they are seriously discussing about
their future and also the contradictory notion of Ernestinas father,
Charles: I was most respectful.
Ernestina: Which means you were most hateful. [TFLW 13]
Besides the conversation that eases the tensed situation, even the attitudes of the serious
characters at the tensed situations depict humour. In DM, Jane after the death of her husband
Anthony, has conversation with Nell, her twin sister
We worry about you. All the time. She nudged Andrews leg.
Dont we, Andrew?
His eyes opened, but he spoke to the ceiling.
Constant topic of conversation. [DM 359]
In as much as it is already expressed, humour is also presented in the form of jokes in the
narration especially in DM when Dan and Jane are on a trip to Egypt
Another of Sabrys jokes concerned Nassers funeral cottage. A woman wails
and wails until she is allowed to stand over the coffin and see the dead leader
one last time. She stares down a long moment, then looks up with a beaming
smile.
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So he really is! [DM 525]

JF in his fiction makes use of a variety of derogatory words. These expressions reveal out
the agitation and the confliction in the minds of the interlocutors based on different contexts.
In TM, Nicholas is frustrated by the actions of Lily/Julie and when she reveals that her name
is not Holmes,
I m usually called Rosie. But yes.
Balls. [TM 471]
In the above conversation Nicholas feels angry over her connivance and thus is
embarrassed. In other terms, the character uses derogatory words as he is acquainted by its
use such as the Henry Breasley in The Ebony Tower whose language use is mainly
derogatory. Some of the instances are
Balls. Spunk. Any spunk. Even Hitlers spunk. Or nothing. [TET 45]
Dozen-a-day man, dont you know. Bone lazy. Thats what saved him. Fastidious
my arse. [TET 32]
BRINGING THE PRE-RAPHAELITE MOVEMENT: The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood which
was the painters movement revolting against the eighteenth-century academicism was
founded by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-82). His sister Christina Rossetti (1830-94) was
also an active member of this movement, which was very well prevailing in the Victorian
period. JF in bringing and fictionalising Victorian period in his TFLW brings this movement in
his text thus producing a postmodernist view of Victorian convention and the politics of the
Victorian woman's representation. This lingering concept in authors mind is reflected in the
other novels when he represents his characters
She had, yes, I suppose a Botticelli beauty, long fair hair, greyviolet eyes. But
that makes her sound too pale, too PreRaphaelite. [TM 115]
HISTORICAL ANGUISH: JF, a learned and judicious writer deftly brings history in his fiction
revealing as if interpreted by his characters that in turn reflect his subtle perspective and
anguish. JF, with a largeness of vision and flexibility of techniques gathers history and forms
a source of debate to his interlocutors over their conventional past and relate it to the present.
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History in DM is closely packed and concentrated throughout. The complicated problems in

relation with the politics are fictionalised and apparently disclosed.
Im afraid Ive come to regard TV and Fleet Street liberalism as the nastiest
right-wing conspiracy yet. [DM 216]
Another instance is
They soon got on to politics; Nasser, Sadat, the economic problems of Egypt,
the grand folly of the Aswan Dam, the dilemmas of Arabic socialism. [DM 522]
The characters with contemporary manners and fashions look back to the past and bring out
their profundity and contemplate them in their discourse. In his fiction, JF brings out the real
history though through the fictionalised characters and the subsequent influence is relatively
discussed. Once such instance is the Oxford Movement.
Charles saw what stood behind the seductive appeal of the Oxford Movement
Roman Catholicism propriaterra.
He declined to fritter his negative but
comfortable English soul one part irony to one part convention on incense
and papal fallibility. When he returned to London he fingered and skimmed his
way through a dozen religious theories of the time, but emerged in the clear
(voyant trop pour nier, et trop peu pour sassurer) a healthy agnostic. [TFLW
20]
Similarly in DM,
I can illustrate it in a very different way, once more with my fathers help. He
had another minor theological interest (as with Dissent, based on disapproval,
not sympathy) in the Oxford Movement of the 1830s; and I remember Keble
and Newman and the other flirters with Rome received particularly black marks
for that very singular, and very English, part of their heterodoxy, the theory of
reserve: the necessity of hiding inner religious mysteries and feelings from the
vulgar. To my father this showed the inherent jesuitry of Rome; but coming from
a man with such a hatred of demonstration and enthusiasm, who indeed in
most daily matters was a perfect embodiment of the theory he so disliked, it
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was not convincing. Misled by externals, he had simply failed to see how
quintessentially English the Oxford Movement was. [DM 305]
Born during the period of combat of wars, JF brings the notion of Hitler through the
conversation of Nicholas where conscious reveals his war experience.
I suppose one could say that Hitler didnt betray his self. [TM 132]
The pamphlets in Chonchiss Villa in view of what happened since 1920 also reveal the
influence of Hitler.
Words had lost their power, either for good or for evil; still hung, like a mist,
over the reality of action, distorting, misleading, castrating; but at least since
Hitler and Hiroshima they were seen to be a mist, a flimsy superstructure. [TM
190]
With the revelation of history, the strong link of how the language interacts with society is
depicted. With response to the different social functions the structure of the language
changes.
REFERENCE TO SCIENCE: JF in bringing out the Victorian period in his TFLW also brings
out the science and the discoveries of the day. Reference to Darwinism and its conception
among the people is also brought out which is manifested in the discourse of Charles to
Ernestina
Your father ventured the opinion that Mr. Darwin should be exhibited in a cage
in the zoological gardens. In the monkey-house. I tried to explain some of the
scientific arguments behind Darwinian position. I was unsuccessful. [TFLW 13]
JF presents the progress of science and its insights that emerged during the day. Charles
tutored by his own passions, considers himself as a growing scientist and never ceased to
be fascinated by science. The narrator intervenes many times discoursing with the reader
and gives his perception towards the inexhaustible dominant growth of science in the
Victorian age.
It might perhaps have been better had he shut his eyes to all but the fossil seaurchins or devoted his life to the distribution of algae, if scientific progress is
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what we are talking about; but think of Darwin, of The Voyage of the Beagle.
The Origin of Species is a triumph of generalization, not specialization; and
even if you could prove to me that the latter would have been better for Charles
the ungifted scientist, I should still maintain the former was better for Charles
the human being. [TFLW 53]
Charless attraction and his following of Darwins ideas becomes a symbolic aspect in the
development of his character. Initially, Charles follows Darwins ideas and uses them in his
to reinforce his class prejudice as a gentleman about to marry into the commercial classes.
In the course of the story he is also mocked as the amateur paleontologist by the narrator
as he marches with hammer and rucksack into the woods of the Undercliff. He looks for fossil
tests there, but ironically he will find the psychological and sexual test of Sarah Woodruff.
His experience with Sarah is the disturbing side of Darwins ideas. In the same place he
meets her for the second time and the narrators warns the readers in learning their attitudes
and her extremely enigmatic behaviour. Yet Charles moves towards her and takes a
dangerous step of extrapolations of Darwins thought
philosophies that reduce morality to hypocrisy and duty to a straw hut in a
hurricane (99).
When Charles meets Ernestinas father to inform him about the new prospect of his noninheritance, he fells assaulted by Mr. Freemans offer of a place in his business, which is
followed by the ending that JF rejects as falsely placid ending because
it does not allow Charles time to develop. Charles is not to sink back into an
undistinguished married life, like that of a dying species. In the Darwinian
framework and the tragic he must struggle toward something new.
But in the second ending that closes the text also Darwinism acts as the symbolism of
Charless life that the man is alone in the Darwinian universe.
USE OF REALISTIC EVENTS: The brief study of Stylistics manages to illustrate how deftly
JF has blended the socio-cultural elements in his fiction. The brilliant rendering of the realistic
events contribute to the profound and significant maturity among the characters.
The
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deliberate exhibition of realistic events in an effective manner acts reality in his fiction. The
scenario of Lyme Bay in TFLW gives us a glimpse of history
It is quite simply the most beautiful sea-rampart on the couth coast of
England. And not only because it is, as the guidebooks say, redolent of seven
hundred years of English history, because ships sailed to meet the Armada
form it, because Monmouth landed beside it but finally because it is a superb
fragment of folk-art. [TFLW 07]
Besides this, JF gives the vividness of realistic events with a fine attention to the world wars.
WORLD WARS: The phenomenon of handling history with a rational mind and emphasizing
politically is well concerned with JFs persuasive portraits of the world wars. This persuasion
is mainly based on the authors biographical influence. Therefore, the presentation of the
world wars is a recurrent theme. JF criticizing the war brings out the pitying contempt of the
war through his characters.
WORLD WAR I: JFs works reveal the influence of the war. The grotesque picture and its
terror of facing it are explored by the words of the characters. In TM, this is brought out when
Conchis relates Nicholas his story regarding his youth in England, companied by his Greek
mother, English father and English fiance, Lily Montgomery. Conchis goes to the First World
War and reveals the evil picture and his experiences of the trenches of France and the
senseless killing of the humans and how he loathed it and tried to escape from it.
I was not alone in that shellhole. Half in, half out of the water opposite me
was a greyish mass. A German corpse, long dead, half eaten by rats. Its
stomach gaped, and it lay like a woman with a still-born child beside it. And it
smelt it smelt as you can imagine. [TM 129]
This in turn forms an experience for Nicholas when he lies in his bed that night and suddenly
perceives the stench of the rotting human flesh which temporarily fills the vacuum that
Conchis had endured in his youth which is further companied by the swelling sounds of the
songs that fill the air for some time. The story is followed every weekend when Nicholas
meets Conchis in his villa and it is further revealed that German had occupied the Phraxos
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during the war and Nicholas dramatically experiences the same on his return to the school
at late night.
We all had the midday meal together in the kitchen, with Old Mr Reed, Grandpa,
at the head of the table. I think he liked me there, to have someone to reminisce
to. Hed been a Refimental Sergeant-Major in the Devoshires in the First World
War, all his medals were under a glass frame, on green velvet, in the livingroom. [DM 395]
Influence of the First World War is also depicted in the dress of the character.
At last I stood up, dripping, panting, and looked at her. She was about ten
yards away, in an exquisitely pretty First World War summer dress. [TM 193]
WORLD WAR II: As revealed earlier in the introduction, JF began the compulsory military
training, but did not participate in the combat due to the end of the Second World War. Yet
the strong influence of the war and history is always visualized in his fictions. In DM, as the
novel opens in 1940s when Dan in his teens and enjoying his presence in the middle of
nature suddenly a warplane appears in the sky
The long combe is flooded with the frantic approach, violent machinery at full
stretch, screaming in an agony of vicious fear.
Then for a few world-cleaving seconds it is over them, over the upper half of the field, only
two hundred feet or so high, camouflaged dark green and black, blue-bellied, Balkancrossed, slim, enormous, a two-engined Heinkel, real, the war real, terror and fascination
Later
The boy turns to Lewis: I saw the pilot!
And he shouts German! It was German! [DM 11]
When Dan and Jane are on a tour they meet a young couple Marcia and her husband Mitch
who had left the United States and by their conversation they come to know that Jane was
an active member of the Anti-Veitnam Campaign at Oxford. They continue their conversation
as
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He just wont admit hes certain. Thats all. He looked across at Dan. Europe,
right? I appreciate, its all one hell of a way away. But the way I see it its like
World War Two. How it was with you then, and the Nazis. I mean, if you dont
fight them all the way, where the hell are they going to stop?
Jane said, I think Hitler did announce his intention of invading Britain. I dont
believe the North Vietnamese intend to cross the Pacific.
Marcia said fiercely, Exactly. [DM 565]
The plot of JF with the description of the war shows his much paid attention to the very
similitude and realistic detail.
Use Of Idioms: Idiom is a form or characteristic mode of artistic expression or a variety of
language used typically by a particular person, group, period or place whose meaning is not
determinable from the meaning of the individual words. They are the fixed expressions which
add more meaning and precision to the content explained. JF, a prolific writer adds idioms
making the feelings much more recognisable. For instance
A few minutes later Maurice took the bull by the horns and was on the telephone
to his son in London. [TET 176]
It came totally out of the blue. A two-way thing. [DM 290]
I did eventually take the bull by the horns and explain to Phoebe that there were
other masculine sins besides Bens. [DM 385]
Recognition of French: JFs works show his influence of French. Having received a degree
in French and the stay in France, JF has duly been acquainted to the recognition of French
features effortlessly. Therefore, the conspicuous contrasts of French characteristics are
revealed out by the English by their notion as depicted by JF by their characters. In The
Cloud of TET, this is brought out as
Paul means we confuse quite ludicrously a notion, a myth of a centralized
France, ever since Versailles, and the actual contempt of the Frenchman for
anything that stands in the way of his individual pleasure. [TET 263]
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The contempt of French is also revealed out by the character of Breasley who stayed in Paris
and still in the French settings far from the English world as
The bitch Paris, dear boy. Know that bit of rhyme? Earl of Rochester, isnt it?
Where man may live in direst need, but neer lack land to set his seed. Neat.
Says it all. [TET 55]
In TFLW, the conversation between Mrs. Poulteney and vicar depicts JFs style of bringing
out the strong reservation about the country and language when they are discussing over the
topic of Miss Woodruff and the Frenchman who was her past.
I am afraid his conduct shows he was without any Christian faith. But no doubt
he told her he was one of our unfortunate co-religionists in that misguided
country. [TFLW 39]
Recognition of English Features: The impact of being an Englishman is contemplated in all
the fictions of JF. The obsession of English behaviour, dress, and looks etcetera is clearly
seen.
Somewhere close in the trees behind him a bird gave a curious trisyllabic call,
like a badly played tin flute. He glanced round, but couldnt see it. It wasnt
English... [TET 10]
a slim girl of slightly less than medium height and in her early twenties; brown
and gold hair and the regular features; level-eyed, rather wide eyes, and
barefooted. She was unmistakably English. [TET 13]
This is culminated in DM where the English protagonist who had settled in United States, on
his return to UK suffers the drastic reversal of attitude. He contrasts the English life with his
earlier contemplative life as
What Ive decided I like about America you were like dark glasses, Ive seen so
much more since you left is that they simply dont understand this awful English
attachment to defeat and loss and self-negation. [DM 264]
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In addition to this, in DM, the English and their mannerisms are also mocked and humoured
by the use of a jest
As English in French Africa goes swimming towards a place where there are
crocodiles. A native on the bank who speaks English cries to him. Turn back!
Danger! Turn back at once! The Englishman hears, he looks round, the black
man cries again. But the Englishman takes no notice at all. He goes on
swimming. And he is killed. The French authorities hold an inquiry no one
can understand why the victim ignored the warning. But another Englishman
stands up to explain. The warning had been given in incorrect language, it
would not have been understood. Ah. Then would monsieur please tell the
court the correct call, in case such an unhappy event occurred again? The
Englishman thinks, considers very deeply, then he says, Would you mind
awfully turning back, sir, please? [DM 585]
In this regard Susan Strehle Klemtner in his article, The Counterpoles of John Fowless
Daniel Martin says: Fowles has said that the novel emerged from his attempt to define
Englishness what it is like to be English in the late 20th century, and his characteristic
mode of definition, like Dans, is by antithesis.
INTONATION: JF who brilliantly understands the human psychology and passions brings out
the depth of their feelings through the tones of speech of his characters. In this regard Sapir
asserts, Essence of language exists in the assigning of conventional voluntarily articulated
sounds or of their equivalence to the diverse elements of experience [Sapir 1921:11]. There
is a sound and meaning correspondence in the speech of the characters and this is of
paramount importance in the study of stylistics. For instance in TM,
Chonchis: You are meant to do as you choose.
Nicholas: Except ask questions.
Chonchis: Except ask questions. [TM 166]
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Hence intonation is presented through statements in the form of questions and vice versa as
given below:
Statements in the form of questions: The sound or the tone in the speech of the characters
is backed by their situational contexts and are changed in their manner of speech and the
statements are expressed in the form of questions such as
Then Ill show you where you are? [TET13]
You were expecting me? [TET 13]
David Williams? [TET 13]
Your wife? [TET 13]
Questions in the form of statements: Similar to the above case due to the context, the
speech sound of the character undergoes a variation the interrogated statement appears in
the form of an assertive statement such as
In spite of what they do to thieves there? [TET 162]
Im a highly principled lady Marxist? [DM 546]
This sort of variation in the tone is also based on the speculation and the curiosity of the
speaker. This can be substantiated by the conversation of Ernestina and Charles in TFLW
where they visualize a dark figure and later discover that she was the French lieutenants
woman,
But Im intrigued. Who is this French lieutenant?
A man she is said to have
Fallen in love with?
Worse than that.
And he abandoned her? There is a child?
No. I think no child. It is all gossip. [TFLW 15]
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Hierarchical Behaviour: A remarkable difference is noticed in the heterogeneous collection

of people of different social status in the fiction of JF. Based on the social set-up, JF
individualises their characters by a deliberate contrived disorder in their normal habits and
attitudes and these characters behave according to their professional bias. The genteel
behaviour of the upper class is affected by the lower class. In TFLW, the behaviour of Sarah
is exemplified because of her actions and she changes the life of Charles utilizing his good
and sympathetic nature. She deserts him [in the second ending] with the help of his
exaggerated kindness and courtesy. In The Cloud of TET, the rascality of a human is
portrayed in the form of a thief who abruptly disturbs the narrator at night and ingeniously ties
him up and ruins the narrators work, leaving him in a state of despair. Hence JF with supreme
efficiency depicts in his fiction, the gallery of individuals representing different professional
and social strata and constructs the incidents with vigour and brightness based on the sociocultural elements prevailing during the opted period of the fiction.
A close examination of JFs fictions depicts how the aspects of socio-linguistic and sociocultural features are bounded to give the correlation between the concepts and the contexts
explained through the sentences. Society influences the norms of the characters and acts as
a stimulating factor to the social behaviour. Hence the society is reflected in the literary piece.
Therefore the socio-cultural structure of the period that the author depicts is captured in his
literary work. With his brilliant narrative technique, JF has portrayed the realistic movements
blending the realistic places and realistic events in his fiction. A short and sharp picture of
the social contextual influence is revealed in the presentation of socio-cultural and linguistic
perspective in the fiction of JF.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
John Fowles: Primary Sources
The French Lieutenants Woman, Boston, Little, 1969.
The Ebony Tower, London, Cape, 1974.
The Magus, A Revised Version, Boston, Little, 1977.
Daniel Martin, Boston, Little, 1977.
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Secondary Sources
Klemtner, Susan Strehle. The Counterpoles of John Fowless Daniel Martin. Critique:
Studies in Modern Fiction 21.2 (1979): 59-71.
Sapir, E. 1921. Language: An introduction to the study of speech. New York: Harcourt,
Brace.
Srivastava, R.N. Language, Style and Discourse, Bahri Publications: New Delhi. 1986.
------------------- A lingua-aesthetic approach to art symbol. In: Papers in Linguistic Analysis.
Delhi University Linguistic Association, 1980.
-------------------- Language, style and discourse. Language Forum 10.1-4: 1-10 Reprinted in
O. N. Koul (ed.) Language, Style and discourse (1986). Delhi: Bahri Publications, 1984-85.
Srivastava, R.N. and R.S. Gupta, A Linguistic view of literacy. Journal of pragmatics. 7
(1983): 533.49. 1983.
Srivastava, R.N. and R.S. Gupta, Text-reader dynamics. Language Forum 10.1-4:63-76.
reprinted in O.N. Koul (ed.) Language, style and discourse (1986), Delhi: Bahri Publications,
1984-85.
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TRUE JOYOUS HEART

Jana Samuel Rajiv Kumar
Assistant Professor
Vignans Lara Institute of Technology & Science
Guntur, Andhra Pradesh
Strange dawn begin with Strange taut within;

Strangling life veiling joy,
Unscrupulous of own House,
Engaged, Engaged, Engaged time.
Toiling to earn seeking the transient,

Agnise! Mr. Sojourn, embrace the joy;
Chunk of money cannot bring euphory,
Clasp the bliss before you are dust.
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Family? With old with crippled;

Ensured homes to this onus?
Beware! Young, by and by you are one,
Stop your run and mull over mnage.
He gave you all not to cast off,

Feel and enjoy there is no puny;
Not in nature not in family,
All is beautiful, open and you see.
Sculpt the name indelible in hearts,

Be the liked to the God."
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An overview on Educational Commissions/Policies

Post-Independence in India
Chidanand Navi (Student)
Department of Studies in English,
Rani Channamma University, Belagavi-591156
THE GREAT CHANGES HAVE TAKEN PLACE IN THE COUNTRY AND THE
EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM MUST ALSO BE IN KEEPING WITH THEM. THE ENTIRE BASIS
OF EDUCATION MUST BE REVOLUTIONISED. Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru
Introduction:
At the splendid time of independence in 1947, free India has to face many educational
problems of a great immensity. At the duration of independent India only 12.2% of the people
in the country were literate. To provide education to the large number of literate masses as
well as children of the school going age was big problem to be talked with the limited
resources of the country. Education at all the stages and in different fields suffered from
several drawbacks and needed a complete overhauling to be an effective instrument of
national reconstruction. Quantitative expansion as well as qualitative improvement of
education was badly needed. The new constitution of the country aimed at adopting
democracy as a way of life, socialistic pattern of society, and industrialization based on the
modern science and technology. These national goals could be realized only through
qualitative education. On the basis of improving the education system of India had have many
implementing programmes, policies and commissions recommended by the central as well
as state governments.
I. Recommendations of Radhakrishnan Commission 1948-1949
After independence of India the Union Government has appointed University Commission
under the chairmanship of eminent scholar and philosopher Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan.
The commission was to study the various aspects of university education in India and suggest
means for its re-organization and improvement. According to the commissions field was
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limited to university education but university education was so closely related to secondary
education that the commission had to study certain aspects of secondary education.
Criticizing secondary education, the commission remarked:
Our secondary education remains the weakest link in our educational machinery and needs
urgent reforms.
The commission have made important recommendations regarding various aspects of
education such as service conditions of the teachers, vocational education, examination
system, curriculum, standard of teaching, post graduate teaching and research etc. some of
the major recommendations are described as bellow:
Pay grade of the teachers should be increased and their service conditions should be
improved. They should be given the benefit of provident fund, residential
accommodation etc.
Refresher courses should be organized to raise the standard of teaching. To improve

efficiency in teaching the teachers should be provided with improved library facilities
and good laboratories.
The commission laid emphasis on including knowledge of physical environment of

children, basic ideas of science, appreciation of higher values and effective use of
language in curriculum.
More and better facilities should be given for professional courses like agriculture,
engineering, technology and law etc.
Adequate facilities should be accorded for post-graduate studies and research.
The commission wanted radical changes in examination system. Criticizing the

present system of examination the commission remarked: If we are asked to give a
simple reform in university education, we shall say it should be that of examination.
The commission strongly recommended that the method of appointing of examiner,
the technique of paper setting, system of scoring and evaluation, conduct of
examination all should be improved.
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II. Recommendations of Mudaliar Commission 1952-1953

On September 23, 1952, the Government of India appointed Secondary Education
Commission under the chairmanship of Dr. A. Lakshmana Swami Mudaliar. He was the ViceChancellor of Madras University. This commission is also known as Mudaliar Commission. It
was to study the existing position of secondary education and recommend suitable measures
for its improvement and re-organization. This commission has been submitted its report in
June 1953 and some of its major recommendations are dictated bellow:
The structure of the school-education should be changed. Primary education should

be up to four or five years; Middle or Senior Basic education should be of three years
and education at higher stage should be four years.
There should be diversification of courses at different stages and for this purpose
multi-purpose schools should be set up.
There should be considerable improvement in the standard of text-books, teaching

methods, co-curricular activities, teachers training, examination system, school
building and useful equipments etc.
There should be proper provision for educational and vocational guidance.
The commission also laid emphasis on character building and inculcating true spirit of
disciple in the students.
Mudaliar Commission studied analytically various aspects of Secondary Education and made
very important recommendations which can provide adequate to the educationists and
administrative authorities.
III.
Recommendations of Kothari Education Commission 1964-1966
In 1964, the Government of India has appointed Indian Education Commission under the
chairmanship of Dr. D. S. Kothari. Then he was chairman of University Grants Commission.
The commissions main purpose was to advise government on the national pattern of
education and on the general principles and policies for the development of education at all
stages and in all aspects. This commission is also popularly known as Kothari Commission.
The commission studied the problems pertaining to different aspects of Indian education and
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submitted its valuable report on June 29, 1966. The important recommendations are pointed
down:
National Objectives of Education
Emphasis on Science Education
Social and National Service
Work-experience
Vocationalisation of Education
Common School System
Education for Backward Classes
Adult Education
Expansion of Education
Improvement in Teachers Conditions
Guidance and Counseling
Curriculum Teaching Methods and Evaluation
Kothari Education Commission has made very important and valuable recommendations on
various aspects of Indian education. The Government of India have been accepted some of
its recommendations and are trying to implement them. Some of the states have revised paygrades of the teachers in accordance with the recommendations of the Commission. National
policies of education have been evolved and Five year plans have been drafted on that basis.
IV.
The Study Group on the Development of the Pre-School Child 1972
The development and education of the Pre-school child has ever remained a neglected area
in Indian education. The Ministry of Education appointed a study group on the Development
of the Pre-school child in the year 1972. The Study Group had Shri J. P. Naik as its MemberSecretary and Smt. Mina Swaminathan as its convener. In its reports, the study group made
important recommendations in respect of enrolment, integrated services, training and
orientation of various categories of workers, methods of teaching, administration and
organization of pre-school education and financing etc.
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V. Ishwarbhai Patel Committee 1977

In June 1977, the Government of India has appointed a committee of educationists headed
by Shri. Ishwarbhai Patel. He was the Vice-Chancellor of Gujarat University. The committee
was asked to review the existing syllabi, course and text-books for the secondary stages of
school education. The major recommendations of may be summed bellow:
o The state government must have freedom in curriculum and syllabus planning.
o The scheme of curriculum must have three main components like (A) Humanities (B)
Science (C) Socially Useful Productive Work (SUPW).
o In determining the pattern of languages to be taught, due consideration should be
given to the recommendations of Kothari Education Commission.
o The State governments should have freedom to adapt instructional material produced
by NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training).
o Multiple entry system should be adopted to enable the dropouts re-enter the stream
of education without any difficulty at any stage.
o Experimentation and creative work should be encouraged.
VI.
Adiseshiah Review Committee 1977-1978
Following the Report of Ishwarbhai Patel Committee, then Union Education Minister, in his
capacity as president of NCERT, appointed a Review Committee on October 1977 under the
chairmanship of Dr. Malcom S. Adiseshiah. He was the Vice-Chancellor of Madras
University, to review the curriculum of +2 stage with special reference to vocationalization
of education. The Committee recommended points are below:
Work-based learning
Vocationalized courses including courses in agriculture, managerial, commercial,
health and Para-medical vocations.
Flexible streaming of courses
Two board learning components- (A) General education spectrum (B) Vocationalized
spectrum.
Preparation of suitable of txt-books to suit local needs and conditions.
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Pre-service and in service training of teachers to bring about proposed changes.

Proper identification and exploitation of locally available resources. Where necessary,
provision for additional financial resources must be made.
VII.
Draft National Policy on Education 1979
In order to realize its educational objectives, the Janata Government, which came into power
after 1977 elections, framed a draft national policy on education in 1979. Although this
National Policy on Education could not be implemented, it will not be out of place to mention
highlights of the said Draft Policy:
12 Year School Education
Mother-tongue as Medium of Instruction
Teaching of English
Three-Language Formula
Discoursing Memorization
Vocationalization of Secondary Education
Narrowing down the Gulf between the Educated Classes and the Masses.
The present system must be recognized in the light of contemporary Indian realities and
requirements, subject to the nationally agreed basic concepts of freedom, equality and
justice. The system should be flexible and responsible to varying circumstances. The new
Government headed by Mrs. Indira Gandhi has expressed the desire to get the Draft National
Education reviewed in the light of exiting situation available in the country.
VIII.
Acharya Ramamurti Committee 1986
This committee viewed the goal of universalization of education in two phases: the first phase
Universalization of Primary Education (UPE) and the second phase Universalization of
Elementary Education (UEE). While the school shall be expected to undertake microplanning for UPE in the first place, UEE may be allowed to grow organically out of the
development of primary education. In the second phase, after achieving the goal of UPE,
micro-planning for UEE would also become necessary and successful.
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National Policy Education 1986 with Programme of Action 1992
The formation of National Policy on Education was in 1986 is a landmark in the history of
Indian education system. It was in the first time the implementation of direction about
education was contained and the program of action was prepared some important aspects
about education. There are three parts in this program of action plan:
Part 1: National System of Education
Part 2: Education for Equality
Part 3: Re-orienting the content and process of Education
In part 1: National System of Education

It implies that up to given level all the students irrespective of caste, religion, sex have
the education at all the stages.
Common system of education-(10+2+3) has been accepted in all the state of the
country.
It will be based on National Curriculum Framework (NCF-2005) which includes
common core points related to Indian history.
The education has to be strengthened our younger generation for international cooperation and peaceful co-existence.
To promote equality it will be necessary to provide equal opportunity to all.
Nation as a whole will assume the responsibilities of providing resources to support
implementing the programmes.
Life-long education is a role of educational field and educational process should

provide opportunities to the youth, house wives, agriculturalists and industrial workers.
In part 2: Education for Equality

To removal of disparities and to bring equalization and special needs of those who
have denied equality so far.
Education should be use as one agent of basic change in the status of woman.
In part 3: Re-orienting the content and process of Education
Curriculum and process of education should be enriched by cultural content.
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In our culture rural society the education should be foster universal and eternal values
oriented towards unity.
Education should focus an adjustment in curriculum in order to make education
forceful tool for the cultivation of social and moral values.
X.
The National Curriculum Framework 2005
According to guidance of NCF textbooks are must be prepared in 12 languages; seven of

them serve as the medium of instruction. From standard 1 to 4 the Environmental Studies,
mathematics and 5th to 10th there are three core subjects namely mathematics, science and
social science.
This NCF has made some special features and they are:
connecting knowledge to life activities
learning to shift from rote method
enriching the curriculum beyond textbooks
learning experience for the construction of knowledge
making examinations flexible and integrating them with classroom experiences
caring concerns within the democratic policy of the country
making education relevant to the present and future needs
softening the subject boundaries, integrated knowledge and the joy of learning
the child is the constructor of knowledge
This NCF recommends that- the learner is encouraged to think, engage in activities, master
skills and competencies. The materials presented in these books are integrated with values.
The new books are not examination oriented in their nature. On the other hand they help the
learner in all round development of his/her personality, thus help him/her become a healthy
member of a healthy society and a productive citizen of this great country, India.
Conclusion:
Throughout this research we may find many important educational commissions, policies and
committees have tremendous role in implementing and moldings the education system after
independence in India. The dominant commissions like the University Education Commission
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in 1948, the Secondary Education Commission in 1952, the comprehensive Kothari

Commission in 1964, the Study Group on the Development of the Pre-School Child in 1972,
the Ishwarbhai Patel Committee in 1977,
the Adiseshiah Review Committee in 1978, the
Draft National Policy on Education in 1979, the Acharya Ramamurti Committee in1986, the
National Policy on Education in 1986 with its Programme of Action in 1992 and the National
Curriculum Framework in 2005.
References:
Brothers Prakash (1986) Modern Indian Education and its Problems: A Treatise on the
Current Problems in Indian Education, Ludiana.
Padma Ramchandran, Vasantha Ramkumar (2005) Education in India, National Book Trust,
India. ISBN 81-237-4443-9
Textbook in History for Class VIII (2013) Social Science Our Pasts-III National Council of
Educational Research and Training-ISBN 978-81-7450-829-4.
Krishnamacharyulu V. (2007) Elementary Education Neelkamal Publications Pvt. Ltd.
Hydrabad- ISBN 81-8316-125-1.
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Challenges of Change Affecting the Curriculum: Cyber Age

Dr.Harish Kumar Singh
Assistant Professor
S.S.Khanna Girls Degree College
University of Allahabad
Abstract
We have just stepped into the threshold of new century and the new millennium. Teachers
in the twenty first century have to face the great challenge of adapting education to the
changing needs of the ever changing modern society. With the scientific and technological
advancements taking place in leaps and bounds change is inevitable in all walks of life. With
the advent of modern techniques of communication such as computer network, internet,
television and cell phone, acquisition and processing of information have acquired new
stunning and varied dimensions. The Gurus of yester years very solely responsible for
passing on information from generation to generating along with their own contribution to
enrich knowledge. However today competitive world, varied sources of information are vying
with the teacher to educate the pupils and the Public on a wide spectrum of knowledge areas.
The Teacher needs to compete with the mass communication media, and establish his/her
right at the most important and effective educator.
Key Words: Cyber age, Challenges of knowledge, transmission of information, Curriculum
Introduction :- Curriculum is that series of things which children and youth must do and
experience by way of developing abilities to do things well that make up the affairs of adult
life; and to be in all aspects what adults should do.
Curriculum can refer to total structure of ideas and activities developed by an educational
institution to meet the needs of students and to achieve desired educational aims.
Curriculum has been conceived as under
1. Curriculum as Content is subject matter.
2. Curriculum as a Programme of Planned Activities.
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3. Curriculum as Intended Learning Outcomes.

4. Curriculum as Cultural Reproduction.
5. Curriculum as Cultural Preservation.
6. Curriculum as Experience.
7. Curriculum as Discrete Tasks and Concepts.
8. Curriculum as an Agenda for Social Reconstruction.
9. Curriculum as Currere
Currere refers to the running of the race and emphasises the individuals capacity to
reconceptualize his or her autobiography. Here curriculum becomes as social process
whereby an individual comes to have greater understanding of himself, other and the world
through mutual conceptualization.
We have just stepped into the threshold of new century and the new millennium. Teachers
in the twenty first century have to face the great challenge of adapting education to the
changing needs of the ever changing modern society. With the scientific and technological
advancements taking place in leaps and bounds change is inevitable in all walks of life. With
the advent of modern techniques of communication such as computer network, internet,
television and cell phone, acquisition and processing of information have acquired new
stunning and varied dimensions. The Gurus of yester years very solely responsible for
passing on information from generation to generating along with their own contribution to
enrich knowledge. However today competitive world, varied sources of information are are
vying with the teacher to educate the pupils and the Public on a wide spectrum of knowledge
areas. The Teacher needs to compete with the mass communication media, and establish
his/her right at the most important and effective educator.
Now we are in the cyber age when the explosion of the knowledge and transmission of
information is so fast and artificial intelligence is being applied to solve problems in every
conceivable department of life. We have to reconsider the conventional assumption
regarding knowledge curricula, methods of teaching and evaluation.
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Changes affecting the curriculum

Technological changes and curriculum change: The technological change greatly
influences the culture and society to a great extent. They have brought about change in
agriculture, commerce and industry. It is incumbent upon the educational system to respond
to technological change. Some changes in the curriculum are clearly discernible as a result
of technological changes.
-
Introduction of new courses like computer literacy
Diagnostic assessment of students an consequential changes in the contents of the

subject matter.
Programmed learning
Use of distance mode of teaching learning process.
Providing continuous courses.
Use of new technology like T.V. for instructional purposes.
Social force affecting curriculum

School curriculum is determined by a number of social forces. In view of the pulls and
pressures exerted by various social forces, curriculum developers have to strike
compromises in order to arrive at consensus regarding important curriculum concerns. In this
context R.Barrow(1984) has observed The school curriculum generally tends to be the
products of various competing individuals and groups adopting, accepting or changing what
they can of the tradition they inherit in the light of ideas the have acquired.
Following social force affects the development of curriculum
-
Teachers organist ion.
Family planners
Environmentalists
Moralists
Energy conservation lists.
Prohibitionists
Women liberators
Publishers
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Economics Factors and curriculum change

Curriculum followed in a country should be such as it makes the best use of the human
potential available with a view to promote economic growth. Moreover the bread and better
aim of education has assumed great importance. There is mad rush for more and more
facilities. The development of the curriculum therefore should take into account the following
factors.
-
Change from a subsistence economy to a cash economy.
Growth of industrialization and social mobility.
Emergence of new Professions and new jobs.
Demand for scientific Personnel.
Explosion of knowledge and curriculum change:The school is conceived not merely for the preservation and transmission of knowledge but
for the development of knowledge with the expectation that it will make for a better society.
This requires the continual and systematic reconstruction of knowledge as represented in
what has come to be called the curriculum.
Curriculum for the future
In the fast changing world, a country, a community, an institution and an individual will be
able to keep pace with the changing times only when it has enlightened vision for the future.
For onward march on the path of progress, there must be a strong will Tomorrows Problems
cannot be solved by todays knowledge, skills and attitudes. New Path will have to be charted
out to meet future needs which must be properly comprehended.
Reasons for developing curriculum designs for the future
-
Cyber age: Use of technological innovations automatism etc.
Liberal outlook
Economic libber liberalization
Privatization Globalization, Secularization
Communication explosion
Balancing materialism and spiritualism
Interdisciplinary approach to curriculum.
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Psychologisation of curriculum
Using open and distance mode of Education.
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Curriculum designs for future

-
Futuring is by no means a new activity, although the description of future fields is

relatively recent. Throughout history one can find fore casts in the work of scientists
(Galileo) and novelists (Jules Verne) and others.
Future events and changing human need will continue to have an impact on life, on
education and consequently on curriculum many jobs and carriers currently available
in change drastically while others will become obsolete. In the foreseeable future, it is
also possible that many new occupations will emerge.
In our society is to develop a positively perceived the future, individuals must

developing images of preferable alternatives in education to aid in thinking about
future, many futurists use many devices or techniques to generate and consider
alternatives, cross impact materials.
It is most probable that forming a preferable future will depend upon global thinking
which go beyond national boundaries.
With advances in technologies and changes in various areas of life and living, there
are many new possibilities for education and learning. As life long learning
opportunities expand in the technological and information age. Pupil and people will
be offered a wide variety of alternatives in the educational arena.
References
Agarwal J.C: Curriculum and instructing Doaba Book house, New Delhi, 2004
NCERT
: National Curriculum frame work for school education, 2000
Sharma R.A : Managing Curriculum R.Lall, Book Depot, Meerut, 2005.

Sharma R.A : Curriculum, Instruction and Development R.Lall Book Depot
Meerut. 2004
NCERT
: Curriculum Reconstruction (2000-2002)
Agarwal J.C: Curriculum Development 2005
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Les Miserables: Justice Delayed or Denied?

Dr. M. Moovendhan,
Assistant Professor & Head,
Department of English, Ayya Nadar Janaki Ammal College
Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu 626 124.
Abstract
A literary work gains true classical status only when it manages to record the history faithfully.
That record must be a valuable lesson for the oncoming generations to study its cultural
nuances. Les Miserables is undoubtedly one such classical work of art which has recorded
the historical, social, political and cultural nuances of the nineteenth century France. Victor
Hugo, an acclaimed nineteenth century French writer has shown a great deal of interest in
both culture and politics. He is one among the pioneers of Romantic Movement in literature.
He is noted for creating a unique technique of imaginative realism, a literary style that
combines realistic elements with exaggerated symbolism. Throughout his career he has
expressed his passion for documenting injustice which he had considered as his moral
obligation as a writer. All his protagonists stand as champion defenders who struggle to
establish order and justice for the marginalized people in the society. Les Misrables is one
such philanthropic work that reassures hope in the face of adversity and injustice. Being a
historical novel it provides a panoramic vision of nineteenth-century French politics and
society. This novel is presented as a story of redemption with a meticulous documentation of
the injustices of Frances recent past with a vision for its liberal and democratic future. In the
modern times we witness people who are ready to do any injustice for gaining wealth and
power. While craving for money and power they are no longer bothered about the means of
attaining it. This nineteenth century novel is still worth reading and highly relevant for its
universal themes of reassuring hope and justice.
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Critical Summary of Les Miserables:

As the story opens, the protagonist-convict Jean Valjean is released from a French prison
after serving nineteen years for stealing a loaf of bread and for his ensuing attempts to
escape from prison. When Valjean arrives at the town of Digne, no one offers him shelter
since he is an ex-convict. However he is helped by M. Myriel, the kindly bishop of Digne but
Valjean steals his silverware. When the police arrest Valjean, Myriel claims that the
silverware was a gift. Valjean is released and Myriel makes him promise to become an honest
man. Eager to fulfill his promise, Valjean disguises as Madeleine and enters the town of
Montreuil-sur-mer. He invents an ingenious manufacturing process and eventually becomes
the towns Mayor. Fantine, a young woman from Montreuil, lives in Paris. She is cheated by
Tholomys, a wealthy student who gets her pregnant and then abandons her. Fantine returns
to her home village with her llegitimate daughter, Cosette. In the town of Montfermeil, she
leaves her daughter to the Thnardiers, a family that runs the local inn. Fantine finds work in
Madeleines factory but her co-workers find out about Cosette, and Fantine is fired. As the
Thnardiers demand more money to support Cosette, Fantine succumbs to prostitution. One
night, Javert, Montreuils police chief, arrests Fantine. She is to be sent to prison, but
Madeleine intervenes and promises to send for her child. When Javert tells Madeleine that a
man has been accused of being Jean Valjean, Madeleine admits his true identity. Javert
arrests Valjean and Fantine dies from the shock. After a few years, Valjean escapes from
prison and he buys Cosette from the Thnardiers. The Thnardiers also had two daughters,
Eponine and Azelma. Valjean and Cosette are forced to flee to escape from Javert. They find
refuge in a convent, where Cosette attends school and Valjean works as a gardener. Marius
Pontmercy is a young man who lives with his wealthy grandfather, M. Gillenormand. Marius
has never met his father, Georges Pontmercy for his political indifferences. After his father
dies, however, Marius learns the truth about him and comes to admire him. Marius moves
out of Gillenormands house and lives as a poor young law student. Cosette and Marius like
each other but Valjean tries to avoid their meetings. The Thnardiers under an assumed
name of the Jondrettes have moved to Paris. After Valjean leaves, Thnardier announces a
plan to rob Valjean but Marius alerts the local police inspector, Javert and the Thnardiers
are arrested. Valjean escapes before Javert can identify him. Eponine, who loves Marius,
helps Marius find and the two declare their love for each other. Valjean, however, soon
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shatters their happiness. Valjean announces that he and Cosette are moving to England. In
desperation, Marius runs to his grandfather, M. Gillenormand, to ask for M. Gillenormands
permission to marry Cosette. Their meeting ends in a bitter argument. When Marius returns
to Cosette, she and Valjean have disappeared. Heartbroken, Marius decides to join his
radical student friends, who have started a political uprising. Eponine throws herself in front
of a rifle to save Mariuss life. As Eponine dies, she hands him a letter from Cosette. Marius
quickly scribbles a reply and orders a boy, Gavroche, to deliver it to Cosette. Valjean
manages to save the wounded Marius but Javert immediately arrests him. Valjean pleads
with Javert to let him take the dying Marius to Mariuss grandfather. Javert agrees. Javert
feels tormented and kills himself by drowning in the river. Marius makes a full recovery and
marries Cosettes but hates Valjean when he confesses his criminal past. Being unaware
that it was Valjean who saved his life Marius tries to prevent Cosette meeting Valjean. Lonely
and dejected, Valjean awaits his death. Marius eventually finds out the truth from Thnardier
and he rushes to Valjeans side along with Cosette. Happy to be reunited with his adopted
daughter, Valjean dies in peace.
Individual vs Society
From the beginning we are exposed to a highly immoral society and an immoral judicial
system where a man like Valjean is made to suffer in jail for nineteen long years just for
stealing a loaf of bread. Here we can understand that there was extreme poverty and hunger
throughout France in the nineteenth century. The inhuman treatment experienced by Valjean
in prison made him rob the Bihop M.Myriel but his innate goodness emerges out when the
bishop defends him from the police. His disguise as Madeleine shows his suppression of his
real identity. He has eternal hope within his heart and as he enters the town of Montreuil-surmer, he proves his real merit of hard work. He manages to become the Mayor of the town
but the anti-climax is his innate goodness itself becomes his tragic flaw. The tragic irony is
beautifully portrayed by Hugo as Valjean lands into trouble when he tries to help Fantine.
Same thing also happens in the climax when he manages to save Marius and Javert. Like
Valjean, Fantine is also a victim of the corrupt society, but in her case a male dominated
society. Her life becomes waste but again the tragic irony comes into force through her
illegitimate baby Cosette, who manages to provide her hope to survive. The so-called strict
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judicial system fails to punish the lover of Fantine Tholomys, since he is filthily rich. So it is
obvious that Justice can be bought. It assures us that only a pseudo-judicial system existed
in France. Fantine is forced into prostitution only by the society which denied her a decent
way of living. She is an embodiment of sacrifice as she decides to sell herself for the sake of
her daughter. The Threnardiers also represent the inhuman society which ill-treats Cosette
without any pity. Again the Threnardiers did not get punished by the so-called strict judicial
system. Repeatedly such evil people manage to escape from law and only innocent people
like Valjean, Fantine and Cosette are made to suffer. In Cosettes case her suffering is more
intense since it is both physical and mental and her sufferings are also unmerited ones. As
a glaring contrast, Eponine stands as a direct opposite character to the Threnardiers. She
also sacrifices herself out of true love for Marius.
Struggle for Existence
Both Valjean and Fantine struggle to live a decent life through honest means, but the society
does not allow them to live peacefully. Javert, a strict law enforcing authority acts only like a
robot or a pre-programmed machine who spends his entire lifetime chasing Valjean and
Fantine. When he faces a moral conflict, he commits suicide, proving again that he is
incapable of thinking with rationality or common sense. He does not search for the root
causes for the problems in the society but instead he wastes his life by hunting innocent
people who wanted to lead a sincere life. At this juncture, Hugo again contrasts Javerts
inefficiency with that of a revolutionary student group ABC who bravely fought against the
government and the army. It also suggests a strong social message to our present student
community who have become extremely insensitive towards political and social evils
prevailing in our society like unemployment, poverty, underemployment, corruption etc.
Quest for Identity
Quest for identity is yet another major theme in this novel. When reality becomes too much
or unbearable, the major characters hide under a new identity or they create a pseudoidentity. They are compelled to wear a mask for the sake of the society. The society does not
want a sincere hardworking labourer but it demands a man with a clean personal image
which has nothing to do with the job. Valjean cannot find a job with his true identity of being
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an ex-convict. So he has to live under disguise. He even manages to become the Mayor of
the town but again nobody is willing to forgive his past. The merits of true hard work are
washed away or swept away by personal bias. The society finds a sadistic pleasure of digging
up ones ugly personal past life and torturing him throughout his lifetime. In the case of
Fantine, she also lives under disguise for the sake of her illegitimate daughter Cosette. The
society conveniently forgets the fact that only the men had forced her into prostitution and
punishes only the lady. As in The Bible, people cast stones on a prostitute forgetting the fact
that they were actually responsible for making her a prostitute. Women characters are treated
as slaves and they are exploited physically and mentally. They are sold like commodities.
The innocent child Cosette had lost its due identity and it suffers due to lack of social
recognition. She is ill-treated by the Threnardiers and she is made to live without parental
care or affection though both her parents were very much alive. Valjean tries to protect her
and manages to provide a comfortable life with Marius. With this mental peace he dies as a
contended soul.
Summing up
Hugos artistic brilliance emerges when he manages to blend a beautiful love episode of
Cosette and Marius with a political theme. Thus the novel provides wide scope for the readers
to be studied in various dimensions such as a
historical novel, a romantic novel, a
philosophic novel, a detective novel, a political/social novel and even as a psychological

thriller. Hugos style of imaginative realism is profoundly visible in Les Misrables. It is set in
an artificially created human hell that emphasizes the three major predicaments of the
nineteenth century France. Each of the three major characters in the novel symbolizes one
of these predicaments: Jean Valjean represents the degradation of man in the proletariat,
Fantine represents the subjugation of women through hunger, and Cosette represents the
degeneration of the child by darkness and evil. Hugo successfully managed to create
characters that serve as symbols of larger problems and not as merely characters with
individual personal problems. The corrupt judicial system is also personified and provides the
essential setting for the novel. The victims are seen as puppets in the hands of a wrong social
order. Like the existential struggle of the classical hero Sisyphus in the story The Myth of
Sisyphus, Valjean continues to fight against the corrupt social system. His struggle itself
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provides meaning for his existence. He lives for the sake of his adopted daughter Cosette
and also dies a peaceful death when he realizes that she truly loves him. Valjeans life is also
a struggle or a quest for true love which he manages to get through Cosette. A comparative
study can be also taken up between the characters of Jean Valjean and George Eliots Silas
Marner where Silas also sacrifices his entire life for his adopted daughter Eppie. We can find
many similarities between these works.
Throughout the novel we can find that justice is delayed, denied, sold out and innocent people
get thwarted. Though we come across the unmerited sufferings of innocent people like Jean
Valjean, Fantine and Cosette, Hugo manages to provide a ray of eternal hope that eventually
essential human faith cannot be shaken. Hugo also proves himself to be strong humanitarian
who believes that man is innately good. The kindness shown by the Bishop towards Jean
Valjean transforms his soul and it has helped him to lead a moral life. The greatest reward
for a writer is the social commendation he/she attains for his /her efforts to record the concern
for humanity. Classical works may be ancient, at the same time they must deal with themes
which have contemporary relevance. Such literary works stand the test of time and remain
as historical archives for posterity. Thus Les Miserables proves itself to be an undoubtedly
great piece of classical literature.
Works Cited:
Brombert, Victor. "Les Misrables: Salvation from Below", in Harold Bloom, ed., Victor
Hugo: Modern Critical Views (NY: Chelsea House, 1988), 1989; Vol. 2, Book 1,
Chapter 1. Print.
Camus, Albert. The Myth of Sisyphus and other Essays. London : Penguin Modern
Classics, 2012. Print.
Eliot, George. Silas Marner. New Delhi : Trinity Press, 2014. Print.
Hugo, Victor. Les Miserables. London : Penguin Classics, 1982. Print.
Welsh, Alexander. "Opening and Closing Les Misrables," in Harold Bloom, ed., Modern
Critical Views: Victor Hugo (Chelsea House, 1988), 151-2. Print.
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Crushed In Blood
Abdul latheef Vennakkadan

Assistant Professor of English,
Government Arts and Science College,
Kondotty, Vilayil, Kerala.
The absence of red hails

bring despondent wrinkles on green faces.
An (un)timely child in womb
silently asserts its right to be safe in tomb.
The fleeting moments of thrill
take a u-turn to thwart heartbeats.
A brainchild of science
plotting with a brainless man
strangles a promising life to death.
Beast-like, man outsmarts in cruelties.
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The silent groans for mercy

from the depth of a purely heavenly soul
fall on the indifferent and callous ear drums.
God proposes but man blatantly shouts at.
Why am I heeded a wanton?
Am I conceived bastard or unprepared?
Arent children angelic pure?
Are parents devilish cruel?
Isnt killing in blood more than brutish?
What! You stir me for your pleasure!! Oh God!!!
The voices now grew dead thin.
Their vocal cords being crushed under tablets.
The tender windpipe takes its last.
The helpless cries fail to pierce
The stony hearts of brainy man.
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Lights, Camera, Action: Activities In ESL Classroom In Pursuance Of

Language Learning
Milind M. Ahire
Assistant Professor of English
M.S.G. Arts, Science & Commerce College, Malegaon Camp
(Nashik) Maharashtra, India
Abstract
The changing scenario of education makes it explicit that the classroom is not just a place
for learners to learn; it is equally a place for teachers to develop feeling for learning.
Nonetheless, educators and ELT practitioners always decry the teacher dominated
classrooms- where the teacher dominates the whole show inside out. He/she occupies the
centre; he/she is the Mr. /Ms. Know All, who fills the Empty Buckets of learners with
knowledge considered as ambrosia. In todays interactive classroom teaching, there is no
place for such a scene. Now, teaching is a facilitating learning activity; creating opportunities
for learning to take place. So the teacher is a facilitator. New experiments and methods are
being tried out to create the best learning environment in the classroom. Activities promoting
learner participation are being thought more effective and learner centred. Activities ensure
gradual participation and contribution of every individual in the classroom. This again helps
the learners to work as a contributory force in the process of learning. The present paper
explores the role and significance of activities in ELT classroom with specific reference to
English language teaching to tribal students. It also discusses relevance of activities in
making language learning process entertaining.
Key words: Activity, ESL, Language Learning, Learner centred.
Introduction
Planning learning experiences and determining effective learning teaching strategies in
teaching settings are important for the quality of teaching. In the learning teaching process,
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teaching conditions should be organized to reach pre-determined targets. In this process,

content, method-technique and tools-equipment are determined. Teaching method can be
defined as the ways to be followed to guide the students towards the objectives set.
According to Burden and Byrd (1994), Instructional strategies are the means by which the
content is presented and the learning objectives are achieved. On the other hand, the
teaching technique is a way of implementing a teaching method or a route to be followed in
presenting the teaching materials and structuring teaching activities. In colleges where
teacher student are educated, the teaching knowledge and skills obtained by student
teachers and the teaching approaches adopted by them would affect students in classrooms
where they would be teaching. Effective teachers have a repertoire of strategies that can be
used in the classroom.
ELT- Present Scenario

English language teaching at present is more of less restricted to reading the prescribed
lessons i.e. poems, short stories, prose lessons, etc. and explain the same. Comprehension
of a lesson in a story form is all that the teacher and student aim at. It is so because the
nature of questions in examination forces the teacher and student both to do so; to memorize
and produce in descriptive form in the answer sheet. Following are a few elements. These
elements characterize the teaching and learning process and the outcome.
Curriculum & Syllabus

In learning English as a foreign language, the very first stage of an educational program
comes under scanner is curriculum. Curriculum formally sets aims and objectives of learning
process. It determines what and how aspects of learning. English language teaching at
university level is severely affected by the nature of curriculum. The nature of aims and
objectives is not always clear. They even are unrealistic at certain points. Needs are often
generalized and students of diverse intellectual abilities are assumed to be similar. Often,
syllabus consists of prose lessons, poems, and short stories.
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Classroom Instruction
Classroom instruction involves completing prescribed syllabus. Teachers more often restrict
classroom teaching to reading lessons, explaining them, and solving questions/tasks given
below each lesson. Students generally listen to the teacher. They most of the time remain
passive. A few of them ask questions not necessarily always about learning language
effectively. Students concentrate on those areas of syllabus they may have questions in
examination. Effective classroom instruction and improved student outcomes begin with the
teacher who thinks beyond the prescription and attempts to maximize student participation.
Maximizing student participation in learning process more often culminates into satisfaction
in learning a language. Although, teachers are provided with many opportunities concerning
technology in learning-teaching process, teachers usually do not utilize these opportunities.
Evaluation
Evaluation system is also under the scanner while thinking of failure in learning English.
Outmoded evaluation system have been in use which tests memory rather than language
competence and makes it possible for students to pass in English with the help of cribs,
without having learnt the language. Usually, the four language skills are included in aims and
objectives, i.e. students are expected to be able to listen, speak, read, and write acceptable
English. But no deliberate provision is seen being made in syllabus to ensure this. Evaluation
is being done on the basis of what a student can remember and write in an answer paper as
a response to stereotyped questions.
ELT Instruction through Activities

In the past, English language teachers primary work assigned to them was limited to
instruction. This instruction was more specifically limited to completing the prescribed
syllabus. Further, completion of syllabus was thought as a pledge to be exercised in any
manner possible. Failing to discharge this exercise was also thought as an educational sin.
More recently, however, the teaching community is increasingly involved in the creation and
implementation of innovations within classroom teaching. Activities provide opportunities for
learners to use the language with one another and with people in the community. Prabhu
rightly points out that An activity which required learners to arrive at an outcome from given
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information through some process of thought, and which allowed teachers to control and
regulate that process, was regarded as a task (Prabhu, 1987). Utility of common situations
is unquestionable, as it generates enthusiasm, gives confidence and initiates individual
thinking. Activities aiming at language teaching do touch upon diverse needs and interests
of students.
Nonetheless, designing activities is not always a cakewalk. It has to face many difficulties.
These may start from the stage of designing to execution. An effective activity in one
classroom always does not have the same result in other classroom. Among all, syllabus
completion and managing such activities in regular classroom teaching do pose a challenge
before the teacher. The issue is being thought over by researchers and ELT experts in great
details. However, different classroom settings demand different way outs to tackle difficulties.
The teacher has to scratch his/her head to find appropriate way out in consideration with
his/her classroom setting. There is no way a person suggesting way outs to all teachers in
all situations.
Classroom Activities
Activity-based strategies encourage students to learn by doing. They provide authentic, reallife opportunities for students to participate in active, self-directed learning experiences where
they have opportunities to explore, make choices, solve problems, and interact with others.
Activity-based learning is often referred to as project-based learning and shares many of the
goals of independent and cooperative learning. Students progress through activities at their
own pace, interest, and developmental level. At the same time, students take responsibility
for their learning and gain lifelong skills of collaboration and negotiation.
Although active learning experiences are student-centred and promote choice and
independence, the teacher must set up routines and expectations for learning and monitor
the results through appropriate recording devices for example, checklists or journal entries.
Teachers invite willing participation in activity-based strategies by ensuring that content and
activities are relevant and stimulating for students. Activities in the classroom can be of
various types. They feature from individual to group. Among these activities there may have
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variation as per need and adaptability. Activities ensure active participation of majority of
students. Generally, classroom activities are task based activities, role play activities, mental
imagery activities, etc. Activities executed in a classroom setting may not have the same
nature.
Individual Activity
Individual activity is more suitable to the class having small number of students. But it does
not necessarily limit to a class having small number of students. However, planning individual
activity in large class requires a great effort at the execution level. Sometimes planning
individual activity in large class may culminate into unsatisfactory results. It also consumes
a lot of time. In individual activity the teacher can present a picture and ask one student to
describe what is there in the picture. The teacher can ask a student to express his/her likes
and dislikes. Any type of activity needs scaffolding. The teachers job is to do the same.
Pair Activity
Pair activity is more suitable to the class where the teacher feels that individual activity may
not be suitable. Such activities lessen some burden that individual activities sometimes
create. Here students have interaction with each other. These activities are suitable for
teaching communication. Pair activities can boost healthy competition in the classroom. The
teacher has to have the ability to mold such competitive spirit of students. He/she also have
to ensure the proper direction to direct the competitive spirit to culminate into language
use/learning.
Group Activity
Group activities are thought most suitable to large classes. In Indian classrooms student
strength is far away from ideal. Nonetheless, many teachers grudge over the issue of large
classes. They accuse large classes of hampering the learning process. Alongside, they feel
helpless with the thought that it is very difficult to ensure that each student learns/uses
language. A group activity is one of the mostly advised classroom techniques to solve the
problem of large classes.
Activity-1
Activity:
Who are you?
Aim:
To introduce others
To complete the information sheet by asking and answering questions
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Grammar & Functions:

Introducing others
Present simple questions with question words:
What, where, how old
Present simple questions without a question word
Vocabulary
Personal information: jobs, age, towns
(Information Sheet)
Name
Age
Job
Where/live
Brothers & Sisters
Material: Photocopies of the information sheet

Procedure:
Divide students into pairs & give one of them an information sheet.
Ask him/her to fill up the sheet by asking questions to his/her partner with
What, where, how old, etc.
Give them 10 minutes to fill up the sheet.
Collect all the completed sheets randomly & mix them.
Then ask for volunteers to choose one sheet and announce the name of the
student the sheet gives information about.
Ask the first student to introduce the other student to the class with the help of
the sheet.
Provide any help that needs to scaffold the students performance.
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Time: 30 to 40 minutes
Tips for Maximizing the Effectiveness of Activities
Keep teacher talk to a minimum.
Explain as much as possible by demonstrating the process, explaining in different
ways, and repeating.
Dont worry if every learner doesnt understand every part of an activity.
Move on when the majority of the learners get the idea, and then circulate and help
as neededunobtrusively.
Repeat the activity to maximize student participation.
Have fun.
One way to gauge the success of a class for English language learners is to observe how
much or how little the students need scaffolding in the class. The more learners are working
independently, in pairs, or in small groups, the more successful the class. Activities are
designed to be lively, interactive, and fun. When people are comfortable they are likely to
learn more. An active, cooperative class is a class where a great deal of learningsocial,
cultural, and linguisticis evident.
Conclusion
Language teaching aims to equip learners to use language in meaningful situations. The
teacher can predict everyday situations students find themselves in. He/she has to adapt
such situations and devise activities of any sort. He/she make it a point that activities need
to be interesting. Analysis of students interests can help the teacher to devise classroom
activities. Thus, activities can become a major classroom technique to teach language
successfully.
References
Burden P.R., & Byrd D.M. Methods for Effective Teaching. Massachusetts: Ally Nand Bacon.
1994. Print.
Hadfield, J. and Charles Hadfield. Simple Speaking Activities. Oxford: OUP. 1999. Print.
Prabhu, N.S. Second Language Pedagogy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.1987. Print.
Ur, Penny and Andrew Wright. Five Minute Activities: A Resources Book for Language
Teachers Cambridge: CUP.2009. Print.
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Novels Of Kavery Nambisan Voice To The Silent

Author
Co-Author
A.A Vijaya Jyothi

Dr T Samba Siva Rao
Asst. Professor of English
Research Associate
Anil Neerukonda Institute of Technology & Dr Durgabai Deshmukh Centre for
Sciences, Visakhapatnam,
Womens Studies, Andhra University,
Andhra Pradesh.
Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
Abstract
The socio-economic condition of contemporary Indian society is exploitative with respect to
the majority of the population and particularly for Dalits. Postcolonial Novels not only depict
the impact of globalization but also a fight for human dignity in the caste based society. Caste
oppression play a significant role in excluding sections of society from the spheres of
economy. The inaccessibility to the resources keep these communities away from the
mainstream leading to unequal and unfair treatment of the people. Indian society has been
encountering this menace since ancient times and pre-colonial period witnessed exploitation
on the basis of caste, a reality none can overlook. First the colonialists, then the nationalists
and now the politicians in free India exploit the marginalized (so called low caste people) for
their advantage. The contemporary writer Kavery Nambisan has taken up this as a focal point
in all her novels.
Key Words: Caste, marginalization, criminal psyche
Introduction
The present paper focuses on the exploitation and socio-economic condition of contemporary
caste ridden Indian society particularly, Dalits. Postcolonialism not only depicts the impact
of globalization but also is a fight for human dignity from the caste based marginalization.
Hegel calls this marginalization as regression of the society. (Walder 95) As a postcolonial
novelist Kavery Nambisan resists the postcolonial amnesia (Gandhi 4) by exploring diverse
issues amassing details. Nambisans lucid examination and well thought-out narrative offers
a continuum of the post colony and post independent India from communal violence to
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corruption which works against the marginalized. Caste oppression plays a significant role in
excluding sections of society from the spheres of economy. The inaccessibility to the
resources keep these communities away from the mainstream leading to unequal and unfair
treatment of the people.
Sir H. Risley defines caste as collection of families or groups of families bearing a common
name which usually denotes or is associated with specific occupation, common descent from
a mythical ancestor, human or divine, professing to follow the same professional callings and
are regarded by those who are competent to give an opinion as forming a single homogenous
community (qtd. in Mohanty 2004: 133).
The society in India during ancient times and pre-colonial period witnessed exploitation on
the basis of caste, a reality none can overlook. Marginalization is depicted even in Epics
where Madhusudhan Dutt came up with Meghnadhvadh the first reinterpretation of
Ramayana in which Ravana, a brave and powerful ruler with moral principles is depicted as
demon. Despite his spiritual achievements through tapas, his good qualities were seen
through the myopic eyes within the constraints of rakshasa self (Nandy 1983).
It is a small reference from the Epic, Mahabharata to highlight the plight of the marginalized
castes, a condition that remained the same in the colonial time and even in liberal India.
Marginalization of caste in the society is quite obvious as per Manusmriti,s varnasamkara.
This theory made Indian society caste ridden and encouraged caste based patriarchy
(Chakravarty 2003). Varna system encouraged the belief in Karma in so called low caste
people which led to hereditary exploitation making them slaves and their children serve as
child laborers in the lands of upper castes. It also led to the persecution and discrimination
and did not allow the untouchables to give up the polluting occupations like removal of dead
bodies, carcasses, sweeping roads, cleaning public toilets etc thus dalits were called
chandals or sudras or polluted people. Thus caste system is one of the ingrained entities
influencing socio-economic condition of a nation. The stratification in the society leads to selfconscious classes as Bacqua in The Story that Must Not be Told says:
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Is it wonder that the beggar who accepts your coin and touches it to his
forehead has nothing but hatred for you? Or the shudra woman who cleans
your toilet mentally spits in your face every time she says, Vanakam Aiyya.
(143)
Close to this is Kavery Nambisans The Scent of Pepper where Nanji, the protagonist hates:
Gandhiji who said all are equal, and actually encouraged the intermingling of
castes.called them Harijans, ate and slept and lived with them. She said,
You cant defile this house by bringing in the polayas.(169)
The colonialists exploited the already existing caste system and exploitation which
encouraged divide and rule policy for their political and military supremacy. The law of
equality, employability like trade of liquor and tanning which otherwise is a polluted trade for
touchables, brought these marginals into the fold of the colonialists. The new avenue of
education in Britain opened by the colonialists for the low castes was exploited by the
touchables, who became nationalists later. Excepting few like Mahatma Gandhi, many
nationalists who belonged to high castes did not include Dalits in the freedom struggle. The
marginalized knew that they do not occupy prominent place in the society and that they were
not involved or interested in the freedom struggle pioneered by the nationalists. While a
section comprising other classes, various backgrounds, ideas and values converged to form
a dynamic group to enthuse the nation with a right kind of patriotic spirit but the dalits of our
nation preconceived that the nationalists would do no good to them. Therefore, when the
nationalists tried to bring the low castes into their fold, they became suspicious of the
nationalists:
The pug nosed, curly haired yeravas were happy in their illiteracy and
destitution,They could not understand why, all of a sudden, the Gandhiinspired, Khadi-clad Congressmen pains to settle them.The yeravas listened
with laughter in their eyes, to the advice of congressmen. (170)
John Rawls theory of justice, right over good and concept of justice as pointed out by Sarah
Joseph is no longer in use but the liberal-communitarian theory addresses individual
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freedom of equal rights and equal citizenship to all and social diversity. However, the nation
is not diligent in implementing such rights. Even pluralist theorists failed to articulate for
minorities and against their exploitation (Joseph123-134).Therefore, Independence is
certainly a flag freedom for these marginalized classes as Frantz Fanon calls it (Patil 2012).
Even after independence the life of most of these marginalized did not change in many rural
areas in India. Many writers like Romen Basu, Arundhati Roy describe the untouchables as
those who are not allowed to walk on public roads, not allowed to cover their upper bodies,
not allowed to carry umbrellas. They even had to put their hands over their mouths when
they spoke to divert their polluted breath away as in The God of Small Things (2002), They
even get beaten and ostracized for entering temples as in the case of Sambals father
Outcast (1986).
Mango- Colored Fish has one such scene:
It was a small temple built by the untouchables right there besides the mud
houses where they lived: an enclosure about four feet by three, and six feet
high, made of mud and brick and painted garishly in blue, green and pink. (191)
In The Hills of Angheri the outcastes live in hovels at the edge of the village;
they fetch water only when there is no one near the wells so on and so forth:
Chowraiahs family lived in the poorest quarter in a house that huddled, along
with eight or ten others, at the edge of the village. Their neighbors were mostly
Voddas, Kumbars and Chamaars, so poor that they cooked once in two
days.Gowru came to school.Her notebooks made of unused pages.Her
lunch was rice and lime pickle or a cold lump of ragi mudde.She offered to
take the left overs from other tiffin boxes for the cows,..which her friends knew
they did not have. (20)
Almost every country has some classes, communities or groups of people who are
economically backward and thus deprived of the basic amenities of life and are neglected by
the upper and lower-middle classes. These people are also socially alienated and are not
allowed to mix with others in any social activity. A stagnant society disregards and trivializes
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the marginalized in their midst by denying a decent livelihood. Kavery Nambisan in The Story
that Must Not be Told takes up the cause in a similar way as Arundhati Roy does in God of
Small Things or Rohinton Mistry in A Fine Balance.
Kavery Nambisans The Story that Must Not be Told depict exhaustion, alienation and
collapsing dreams, the new zone - exploitation of low caste. Similarly Arundhati Roy, in God
of Small Things writes about the atrocities commited on Velutha , After all they are not
battling an epidemic. They are merely inoculating a community against an outbreak (209).
Chandra Talpade agrees with A. Sivanand on the urgency of rewriting, rethinking history and
struggles of the unprivileged. The benchmark for assessing politics is politics of food to the
hungry, politics of the body to the homeless, politics of the family for those without an
income. Kavery Nambisan explores marginalization based on caste in The Scent of Pepper
and The Hills of Angheri, age and class as in The Story that Must Not be Told should not be
the question of identity, it should be a commitment. (qtd. in Mohanty 53)
Similar to Mulk Raj Anands The Untouchable, Arundhati Roys God of Small Things, Kavery
Nambisans novels also empathize with the dalits and are a motivating force for the Dalits to
rise against oppression and pave way to Dalit Writings. These novels are autobiographical;
portray suffering and humiliation, social and legal injustices by the upper castes, police and
even politicians, who indulge in rape of low caste women, destroy of their dwellings, and
other atrocities such as homicide.
Rukmini in Mango Colored Fish is a maid in Sharadas house and whenever Sharada visits
them Sharadas mother says:
That awful smell! You go into their filthy house ..she could not associate poor
folk with cleanliness. She hands over the clothes, standing inside the
bedroom.Mother not ask Sarasu, Rukminis mother to come inside, even
when it is wickedly hot. (26)
The higher classes always dominated the lower classes thereby preparing them
psychologically to accept their fate but The Story that Must Not be Told, encourages fight for
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identity and dignity as Kittans wife does. Kittan is a scavenger, who considers his job handed
down from generations to generations, with a belief in Karma philosophy. He boasts:
Once youve cleaned the toilets of rich people and seen their shit, youve seen
everything. (42)
Kittan gets the job of unblocking the main sewer for the Boys Hostel in Chepauk. Despite
pleading with his father many a time, Thatkan had to go into the hole, Kittan guides the boy
with commands, threats and abuses saying:
See? Easier than swatting in school. Keep going our food comes from other
peoples
shit,
dont
forget.The
boys
foot
had
slippedinto
the
sewagefound some thirty metres away by a team of rescuers from the

sweepers colony. (229-230)
Kittans wife did not believe in this ideology. She wants to lead a life of dignity but not
as untouchable. This becomes an apple of discord between Kittan and his wife:
Ningi signed her doom when she married Kittan. She refused to clean toilets
and it led to furious fights between the two. She earned money by selling
flowers. (43)
An individual is influenced by the social environment in the country which has been the main
focus since the pre-independence days. Writers like Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao and even
contemporary writers like Kavery Nambisan, Arundhati Roy and Arvind Adiga deal with this
issue in their works. Their novels show suffering, inequality, poverty, deprivation,
disillusionment and exploitation of characters, which are weak and thoroughly Indian.
Marginalization actually leads to crimes as seen in The Story that Must not be Told, which
explores the criminal psyche of the marginalized:
Kumar quotes statistics, reminding me that two out of ten persons living in slum are criminals.
(118 Prem) : Lack of sleep and mental conflicts lead a person to swerve away from the
mainstream and adopt criminal culture which is true in case of Chellam and Swamy:
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On the fourth day it was one shared bidi, scratching boldly at their
masculinity, ogled women. (47) Money in hand, Chellam developed a taste for
millihelped Chellam to forget he was menial. Ponnu suggested a brothel....
For Ponnu, it became a habit. (49)
The novels of Kavery Nambisan though panoramic and Indian yet are apropos the
painful memories which requires inward contemplation in resolving the angst in human
lives. Negotiation between cultural identity and citizenship, humanity and national
development is often contestatory and conflictual. The phenomenon of globalization of
postcolonial cities has rendered many on the breadline and displaced.
Responding to a question whether Bakhas position changed after 50 years Dr. Mulk Raj
Anand says:
In Untouchable, Bakha becomes aware of his dilemma but is not shown to be doing
very much about it. But in The Road Bikhu, is caught in a situation where he has to fight back.
This struggle is now going on in all parts of India.
In A Town Like Ours, Rajkumari says that in order to abolish these atrocities on fellow
citizens;
We need a virile Gandhi, a military Gandhi, Gandhi on horseback wielding a
spear, gun or swordmany limbed Gandhi. (163)
Ethics and civilization no way guard them but make them outcast like the Dalits in the
society. Opportunities are not given to them politically, socially or even religion shows no
measures to uplift and upgrade them.
Ekalavya in Shashi Tharoors in The Great Indian Novel, is portrayed as a defiant and
aggressive character. In the Epic, Ekalavya obliges with the gurus demand, but Tharoors
Ekalavya does not do so. He raises his voice against discrimination and power politics and
refuses to accept the demand of his guru similarly, Baqua in The Story that Must Not be Told
says:
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Soon there will be terrorists who cannot bear the burden of poverty. And you
know that the terrorists dont discriminate. Pacing the room, he talks. The
world has a thousand sitaras. The future depends on who recruits this army.
(144)
Nambisans novels depict socio-economic and political status of so called low castes
and cautions of the danger that awaits the nation within the Indian social framework.
References
1. Chakravarti, Uma. Gendering Caste: Through a Feminist Lens. Calcutta: Stree,
2003.Print.
2. Joseph, Sarah. Interrogating Culture: Critical Perspectives on Contemporary
Social
Theory. New Delhi: Sage, 1998. Print.
3. Mohanty, Manoranjan. Class, Caste Gender. New Delhi: Sage, 2004.Print.
4. Nambisan, Kavery. The Scent of Pepper. England: Penguin Books,1996. Print.
5. _____________. A Town like Ours. New Delhi: Rupa Publication, 2014.Print.

6. _____________. Mango- Coloured Fish. England: Penguin Books,1998. Print.
7. _____________. The Hills of Angheri. England: Penguin Books,2005. Print.
8. _____________.The Story that Must Not be Told. England: Penguin Books,

2010. Print.
9. Nandy, Ashis. The Intimate Enemy: Loss and Recovery of Self under
Colonialism. New Delhi :OUP,1983. Print.
10. Patil, Anand B. Literary into Comparative Culture Criticism. Ambala : The
Associated Publishers, 2012.Print.
11. Walder, Dennis. Literature in the Modern World: Critical Essays and Documents.
New York: Oxford U P, 1990.Print.
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Shashi Deshpandes That Long Silence:

The Inevitable Silence of an Indian Woman
Khushbu Akash Trehan
Research Scholar
School of Studies in English
Vikram University, Ujjain (M.P.)
Abstract
Shashi Deshpandes That Long Silence is a spellbinding novel that put the inner lives
of women center stage and questions the tradition-bound Indian society that treats
women inhumanly. She is a renowned Indian novelist who has won many accolades,
including the Padma Shri award (2009) and Sahitya Akademi Award (1990), for her
talented craftsmanship. It is a poignant novel about the portrayal of women who lead
a subservient life and the chain of injustice they suffer through. The novel is merely
not just the story of the protagonist of the play but it is the story of every woman in
Indian family whether urban or rural. The study is based on the hypothesis that
Deshpandes writings persuasively depict the gender oppression and the real life
problems in modern educated India. The researcher aims at to highlight how women
are torn between traditional norms of the society and modern attitudes of self. In this
paper, therefore, an attempt is made to highlight the novelists attention to the
unsentimental representation of the Indian middle-class women and the oppression
confronted by them in a deaf patriarchal social order.
Key Words: Gender Oppression, Indian women, Injustice, Patriarchal Society.
Marriage incites man to a capricious imperialism

Simon de Beauvoir
Shashi Deshpande, a prominent Indian novelist, was born in Karnataka, India in 1938.
She is an award-winning Indian writer whose talented craftsmanship includes nine
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immensely popular novels: The Dark Holds No Terrors (1980), If I Die Today (1982),
Roots and Shadows (1983), Come Up and Be Dead (1985), That Long Silence (1988),
The Binding Vine (1994), A Matter of Time (1996), Small Remedies (2000), Moving
On (2004), In the Country of Deceit (2008) and Shadow Play (2013). Furthermore,
she has written umpteen short stories in the following anthologies: The Legacy and
Other Stories (1978), It Was Dark (1986), The Miracle and Other Stories (1986), It
Was the Nightingale (1986) and The Intrusion and Other Stories (1994). She has also
written four childrens books: A Summer Adventure (1978), The Hidden Treasure
(1980), The Only Witness (1980) and The Narayanpur Incident (1982). Deshpande
has won many awards and honors including the Padma Shri award in 2009.
Shashi Deshpande is considered as one of the most proficient women writers in India.
She being a person of Indian origin with cultural values never gave much importance
to her career. She had devoted her early years of marriage taking care of housework
and nurturing the children.
I never decided that I was going to become a writer; it was never a
conscious decision. I got married, I had no definite career, and I had two
children. I was restless with being just a housewife and mother; I was
looking for a job. Then we were in England for a year, my husband was
a doctor. I was very isolated there because he was at work all day and I
had these two children and no friends, so then we returned and he said
why dont you write about our year there?. Then I joined a journalism
course. I loved writing, I felt at home with it...so I think in one way I
stumbled into it but I really think of it this way as writing was something
which was waiting for me along the tine and then I reached that point,
and then I knew what my life was going to be about. (BBC World Service)
Shashi Deshpande has a penchant for writing whose major themes are inclined
towards human feelings and emotions. Her writings are the realistic depiction of the
people and the complexities of the everyday mundane life. Her primary concern is the
womens struggles in the Indian society. And to elucidate the same, she keeps women
center stage and delicately puts limelight on some of the thought-provoking issues.
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Her protagonists include the middle class and married working women. And being well
educated, they very well understand the social inequality prevailing in the Indian
patriarchal society.
My characters take their own ways. Ive heard people saying we should
have strong women characters. But my writing has to do with women as
they are. (Bande 136-240)
Deshpandes novel That Long Silence has received the most prestigious Sahitya
Akademi award in 1990. The author has portrayed the explicit gender discrimination
in a man-woman relationship that is socially constructed and further worsened by our
own people like patents, in-laws, relatives and neighbors. The author has dealt with
the female psychic frustrations in the novel and the silence rooted in the complicated
web of relationships between a man and a woman.
Set in a typical Indian background, That Long Silence brings forth an eerie tale of the
protagonist Jaya. She is presented in relation to tradition and the different
relationships she enters into, with a family. She has depicted the experience of Jaya
in different roles- as a dutiful wife (of Mohan), as an affectionate mother (of Rahul and
Rati) or even as a professional writer (who has given up on genuine writings). She is
shattered and feels subjugated with her marriage and life yet she remains silent
because a girl is always trained to be silent since her young years in an Indian social
set up. Eventually, she loses her identity and tries to rediscover herself at the end.
According to Indian tradition, a wife is expected to stay at home, look after the
babies and keep out the rest of the world. She is expected to have the qualities
prescribed in Indian tradition:
Karyeshu Mantri, Karaneshu Daasi,
Rupeeha Lakshmi, Kshamayaa Dharitrii,
Bhojyeshu Mata, Shayanetu Rambha,
Shat Karma Yukta, Kula Dharma Patni.
Like a slave while serving; a minister while counseling; Goddess Lakshmi in
her looks; the earth in forbearance; a mother while feeding; as wife like
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Rambha, the celestial prostitute; these six are the true characteristics of an
ideal wife. (Sinha 130)
As a writer, she is writing her personal story considering her the heroine and Mohan,
her husband, the hero. However, she feels guilty of herself to recall the past i.e. to
remember what she was and what she has become! She observes,
Self-revelation is a cruel process. The real picture, the real you never
emerges. Looking for it is as bewildering as trying to know how you really
look. Ten different faces show you ten different faces. (The Long Silence
1)
The married couple Jaya and Mohan have been living together for seventeen long
years after their marriage. Still there is a lot of incompatibility between the two and
Jaya is fed up of their monotonous life that brings in no excitement for her. She further
adds,
I had often found family life unendurable. Worse than anything else had
been the boredom of the unchanging pattern, the unending monotony. I
remember now how often I had sighed for a catastrophe, a disaster, no,
not a personal one, but anything to shake us out of our dull grooves.
(The Long Silence 4)
In her writing, she unfolds and pens down the experiences of her seventeen years of
married life with Mohan. She realizes that this relationship has entirely silenced her
wherein her voice never counts for anything as it is always about the likes and dislikes
of Mohan only. She feels oppressed like a bird in the cage in the married relationship
with Mohan and always wants to liberate herself from the uncanny traditions of the
family as well as of the society.
Mohan explains to assume Jayas company with him but he never looks
into her demands and neither does she communicate anything directly
to Mohan and hence there always remains a gap between husband and
wife and silence prevails in the house. (Basu 98-104)
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Jaya feels that she has lost her individual identity but has never raised her voice to
protest. She feels fragmented and does not know any more who she is, except for
Mohans wife! Furthermore, Shashi Deshpande observes that Jayas life can be
summarized as,
Stay at home, look after your babies, keep out of the rest of the world,
and you're safe. For all outside appearances hers was a happy family,
her husband was in a top position, they had two children - one boy -and
one girl - and she was yet another wife and mother whose life centered
around her family and her home- nothing more. (Nirmala 53-64)
She gets into a predicament when a magazine asks to include her brief bio-data along
with her writing but she was unable to write any. She could only write the below
mentioned lines and feels shameful and insulted about it. Consequently, she turns into
a very apprehensive and hesitant personality who gets engaged in searching her
identity as an individual. She starts believing that it is only the fairy tales where people
have happy families and they live happily ever after.
And I have found myself agonizing over what I could write. What there
was in my life that meant something I was born. My father died when
I was fifteen. I got married to Mohan. I have two children and I did not let
the third live. (The Long Silence 2)
She finds herself trapped in the roles assigned by the male-dominated society and
wants to liberate herself from a life where everyone considers her worthless. She
wants to unfetter the bonds of unsuccessful marriage in which she has lost everything
and become miserable. She is very much disappointed with the suffocating
happenings for these many years and finds no other way but silence as her means of
communication. But now, she revolts against the stifling traditions of the Indian society
and attempts to break the seventeen year long silence. She leaves behind the
frightening feeling of suppression and oppression.
Shashi Deshpande has presented a drastic transformation in the protagonists
personality where she realizes that she herself is responsible for her victimization.
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Initially a nervous and dutiful wife, Jaya emerges as an individual full of confidence
and learns to live for herself. She refuses to dance on her husbands tunes and
eventually feels emancipated.
In a nut shell, this paper is an attempt to portray Shashi Deshpande craftsman skills
that explore Indian feminine predicaments through the female psyche in routine life
with reference to the protagonist Jaya in That Long Silence. The author has beautifully
presented the subtle nuances of the struggles of women trapped in married
relationships. Feeling liberated and composed, Jaya moves ahead in her married life
with a new zeal.
Works Cited
Bande, Usha. A Study of Shashi Deshpande. Jalandhar: ABS Publications, 1994.
Print.
Deshpande, Shashi. That long silence. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 1998. Print.
Nirmala. Shashi Deshpandes- The Legacy-some feminist perspective. Indian
Scholar Vol. XII (2 July 1990) pp. 53-64. Print.
Tapan, Basu. Review of That Long Silence. Joining a Select Club No. 8- 14. May,
1998), pp. 98-104. Print.
Sinha, Urvashi, and Gur Pyari Jandial. Marriage and Sexuality in the Novels of Shashi
Deshpande, Shashi Deshpande: A Critical Spectrum, p. 130. Print.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/arts/features/womenwriters/deshpande_life.shtml
.Web
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TRIED AL(L)WAYS BUT IN VAIN
Joseph Kumar Kakumanu

Asst. Professor
Vignans Lara Institute of Technology & Science
Guntur Dist., Andhra Pradesh.
Things advanced so fast to keep pace

Made me even look for a simple place!
Manmade all but far-reaching for me, a man;
Only makes me think against all, too less than!
My heart beats for trying but in vain!
And so it goes on to confess all in pain!
Tried always to be first rated;
But ended in vain frustrated!
Tried always to go a long way;
But mended in going along the way!
Tried always to be in formals;
But force landed into informals!
Tried always to resolve issues different
But was offended to solve sues indifferent!
Tried always to be in the fore front
But only defended to before front!
Tried always into things to be allowed
But contended even without being aloud!
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Learned in vain that one has to learn more

To grow more and to grab gambles galore!
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Mathew Arnold as a Critic of English Literature

With Special Reference to Functions of Poetry
Dr. George Kolanchery

Asst. Professor (English),Bayan College, Oman
(Aff. Purdue University, USA)
Abstract
Mathew Arnold is an important critic of English Literature. Before him, English criticism was
in fog, and whatever criticism we find, is more based on personal notions than on any
consistent methods. Dryden is regarded as the first critic of English, but his criticism is based
on personal notion- sympathy and knowledge rather than on any formula. It is the reason
that even in his age, the authority of Aristotle remained unquestioned. The romantic critics
besides their rich criticism were more lost in their theory of imagination and lo e for
metaphysis. It is in Arnold that English literature could have a critic of real nature, who laid
down certain principles following which poetry could be criticized.
Herbert Paul very
pertinently remarks, Mr. Arnold did not merely criticize books himself. He taught others how
to criticize. He laid down principles; if he did not always keep the principles he laid down.
Nobody, after reading Essays in Criticism has any excuse for not being a critic.
Key Words: Mathew Arnold, Critic, Functions of Poetry
Introduction
The originality and importance of Mathew Arnold lies in the fact he laid down principles and
brought criticism to stand on a solid ground. He did not claim or wish to probe to the
metaphysical depths as Coleridge did because this could have obscured the lines of his
criticism. He took the help of an empirical test, one which could be applied after long
experience with beautiful poems and ideas. He advises critics to give themselves great
labor to draw out what in the abstract constitutes the characteristics of a high quality of poetry.
It is much better simply to have recourse to concrete examples to take specimens of poetry
of the high, the very highest quality and to say: The characters of a high quality of poetry are
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what is expressed there, because he thinks, there can be no more useful things for
discovering what poetry belongs to the class of the truly excellent and there do us most good,
than to have always is ones mind lines and expressions of the great masters ad to apply
them as a touchstone to other poetry, and this principle should be borne in mind in making
a real estimate of a poem.
Originality of Arnold as a critic
Mathew Arnold sees two dangers in the way of the real estimate the historical estimate and
the personal estimate and warns critics to shun them because their duty is to find out the
real classic, and these two estimates make them overrate a poet and the way therefore foil
his project. The cloud of glory playing round a poet is a dangerous thing and it blinds
criticism by conventional admiration and renders the investigation of literary origin
unacceptable. And our personal affinities, likings and circumstances have great power to
sway our estimate of his or that poets work. The dangers can be shunned, Arnold thinks by
learning to feel and enjoy the best work of the real classic ad thus the difference between it
and all lesser work can be appreciated. But if it is not enough, he adds that the high qualities
lie both in the matter and style, and these have a mark, an accent, of high beauty worth and
power, the substance and manner will possess in an eminent degree.
Criticism of His Method
Arnold himself has twisted his own judgment a bit. No doubt most of the lines that Arnold
quotes in support of his theory are admirable. But when he himself quotes from Milton:
And courage never to submit or yield,
And what is else not to be overcome?
We find that these lines no doubt have ethical value, and strength, but in regard to the style
and manner. They are simply flat with redundant phrases. Here Milton is morally exalted.
It is due to the fact that Arnold is more concerned with his duty to the society- how to live
rather than with his duty to literature how to appreciate. R. A. Scott James remarks,
Arnolds powers of appreciation might be twisted by his preconceived schemes of moral
excellence. This line in Arnolds artistic make-up from time to time conflicts with a purely
disinterested judgments. We see the same bias in his dislike of Scotch drink, scotch religion
and Scotch manners and in his harsh treatment of Keats in regard to Fanny Browne. Mr.
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Eliot remarks that his creative and his critical writings are essentially the work of the same
man. The same weakness, the same necessity for something, to depend upon, which make
him an academic poet make him an academic critic. And his dependence upon moral values
have twisted his judgment. Without moral no poetry is great for him. He was apt to think of
the greatness of poetry, as Eliot says, rather than of genuineness.
His method of comparing passage with passage is not a sufficient test for determining the
values of a work as a whole. He himself insists upon the total impression. It is the whole
impression that counts. Even in his famous distinction between the historic, the personal
and real estimate, he has a bit underrated the significance of the personal. It is true that we
may be easily carried away by our personal affinities, likings and circumstances, but in a
piece of literature that means much to us personally, we may find the utmost that really in it.
An alert reader must keep himself in rapport with the author and the subject. The reason
why some criticism is good, says Eliot, is that the critic assumes in a way the personality of
the author whom he criticizes and through his personality is able to speak with his own voice.
Arnold himself could appreciate Wordsworth because he himself is like Wordsworth and
made a personal estimate.
Arnold has failed to see beauty in minor poetry. It is not necessary that all hills must be Alps.
It is due to the fact that for Arnold, as Eliot remarks, poetry meant a particular selection and
order of poets. It meant as for anyone else the poetry that he liked that he re-read. He liked
poetry laden with moral values and it is the reason that he was conscious of what or him
poetry was for, that he could not altogether see it for what it is. A critic must separate the
man from himself and Arnold failed to do so, because his was not that type of intellectual
suffering which is necessary for looking ahead for the new stage of experiences. But he had
rendered a great service in separating poetry from charlatanism and giving some standard
of criticism howsoever unsatisfying they may be to modern critics.
Functions of Poetry according to Arnold
Arnolds views about poetry are elaborately stated in his Study of Poetry. He is confident
that poetry has a great pleasure and has to play a very dignified role in the life of mankind.
It is in poetry where it is worthy of its high destinies, our race, as time goes on will find an
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ever surer and surer stay. It is capable of higher uses, interpreting life to us, consoling us
and sustaining us i.e. it will replace religion. Poetry with such a destiny, must of the highest
kind.
Poetry as a Criticism of Life
For Arnold poetry is not meant to delight, it is meant to provide food to soul. He defines
poetry as a criticism of life under the condition fixed for such a criticism by the laws of poetic
truth and poetic beauty. For Arnold criticism of life means the noble and profound
application of ideas to life and the laws of poetic truth and poetic beauty as truth and
seriousness to substance and matter, and felicity and perfection of diction and manner.
Arnold believes that poetry does not present life as it is. The poet rather adds something of
his own from his noble nature to it and this something contributes to his criticism of life.
Poetry makes men moral, better and nobler, but it does so not through direct teaching, or by
appealing by reason like science, but by appealing to the soul of man. The poet gives in him
poetry what he really and seriously believes in; he speaks from the depths of his soul. The
real greatness of a poet lies in his powerful and beautiful application of ideas to life to the
question: how to live. Thus poetry interprets to us the ways of facing the odds of life and the
method of surviving such a crisis. It interprets in two ways it interprets by expressing with
magical felicity the physiognomy and movement of the outer world, and it interprets by
expressing with inspired convictions, the ideas and the laws of the inward world of mans
moral and spiritual nature. In other words, poetry is interpretative by having natural music in
it and by having moral profundity.
Thus for Arnold poetry has a great role to play. In fact he makes the moral purpose of poetry
as the integral function. He says, a poetry of revolt against moral ideas is a poetry of revoltagainst life; a poetry of indifference towards moral ideas in a poetry of indifference towards
life. By treating moral ideas, he does not call upon composing didactic poems that bring us
but a very little way in a poetry. Since moral ideas are really main part of our life, therefore,
a poetry that has to console and sustain man has to base on moral ideas. The question
how to live itself is a moral idea and it is the question which more interests every man and
with which in some way or the other, he is perpetually occupied:
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Nor love thy life, nor hate; but what thou livst,
Live well, how long or short permit to heavn.
In these lines, Milton utters a moral idea. When Shakespeare says that:
We are such stuff as dreams are made on,
And our little life is rounded with a sleep.
He utters a moral idea. Poetry therefore to utter such moral convictions must be of highest
order. It ought to be excellent both in matter as well as in manner. It must have universal
truth and high seriousness for matter and the natural felicity of a superior order that blends
harmoniously with the matter.
Conclusion
The greatest poets and philosophers of all ages have believed that the ethical view of life is
the essential view of life and Arnold also believed the same. It had become all the more
important in his own age when materialism had dominated the life of people, and when
religious values were crushed due to the development of science. Arnold knew the melody
of his age and therefore, protested vigorously against it. He wanted to renew the permanent
ethical values of life and reconstruct art on its time basis. He believed that poetry embodied
in ethical values will save man from meeting disasters resulting into hollowness of life.
Therefore, he insisted on the union of the best subjects and the highest expression in poetry.
Only such poetry could achieve its ultimate end!
Bibliography
Gill, Richard: Mastering English Literature (3rd Ed.): Palgrave Macmillan, England, 2006.
Retrieved from http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/arnold/
Retrieved from https://neoenglish.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/what-is-the-function-of-poetryaccording-to-arnold/
Retrieved
1822.html
from
http://englitnet.blogspot.com/2011/09/victorian-criticism-matthew-arnold-
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T. S. Eliot: Contemplation through Indian Theology

Gitartha Goswami
Assistant professor,
Department of English,
Lumding College,
Lumding, Nagaon, Assam, India
&
Research Scholar,
Dept. Of E.F.L.
Tezpur University, Assam
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to examine the influence of Indian religious philosophy in T.S. Eliots
poetics. Right from his Harvard years, Eliots main struggle with respect to religion is how
God can be perceived in a concrete way and what is/ are the way(s) towards such
apprehension. The heterogeneity of thought and ideas of the Harvard philosophers during
his study years stimulate his crisis opening up different questions such as interrelation
between body and soul, whether God is figurative or a speculation, fact or illusion, whether
absolute submission is possible, etc. However it appears that Eliot becomes successful in
drifting away such a conflicting and troublesome situation in due course of time resulting the
accumulation of a contemplative state. Interestingly, in his attempt at acquiring such spiritual
grace through Christianity, there is a considerable amount of influence of Indian theological
concepts. While Eliot had shown an interest in Indian philosophy right from his Harvard years,
his later works reflect an obdurate affirmation of religious faith. It is contended in this paper
that Eliot draws upon Indian philosophy and theology to consolidate his faith in Christianity.
Key words: Anglo-Catholicism, contemplation, faith, metaphysics, spiritual crisis.
After a long drawn struggle with spiritual crisis, T. S. Eliot, during later part of his career
accumulates a position that calls for a sanctification and self awareness regarding religious
belief. Keeping aside his sense of doubt and perverseness, during that time, Eliot seems to
be more affiliated towards a kind of faith and starts accepting religion pertinaciously as a
means of utmost gratification. His acceptance and submission to the call of spiritual
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transcendental world is however not an outcome of a short spanned thought. The lingering
sense of dubiousness starts long years back; before the time of his conversion to the Anglo
Catholic church. It is simultaneously reflected in his poetic and literary principles of that
period.
While searching for faith, Eliot fails to dissolve in the scientific, rationalistic explorations which
were fashionable among most of the western philosophers. Finding no way in the
contemporary western philosophers Eliot drifts towards the oriental philosophy to drive away
his long drawn spiritual crisis. In his Harvard years, under the influence of his teachers
Lanman, Babbitt and so on Eliot becomes much inclined towards eastern theology in both
intellectual and spiritual sense. He is convinced that the mysticism of the east can be a
tangible solution to his long drawn religious crises which remains unresolved in the occidental
philosophy of religion. In other words, Eliot draws upon Indian religious scriptures especially
The Bhagawad Gita, Upanisads and the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali in his quest for faith. In After
Strange Gods Eliot writes:
Two years spent in the study of Sanskrit under Charles Lanman, and a year in
the mazes of Patanjalis metaphysics under the guidance of James Woods, left
me in a state of enlightened mystification. A good half of the effort of
understanding what the Indian philosophers were after- and their subtleties
make most of the great European philosophers look like school boys- lay in
trying to erase from my mind all the categories and kinds of distinction common
to European philosophers from the time of the Greeks.(43-44)
However, Eliots conversion to Anglo-Catholicism notwithstanding, his study of religion such
as Buddhism or Hinduism cannot be dismissed out of hand. If nothing, it at least helped to
frame his own concept of religion and Christianity along with intellectual quest for religion
and theology at Harvard. Even after accepting submission to the faith of the Anglican Church
as the ultimate solution to his long drawn spiritual crisis, Eliot does not give up concentrating
on different religious and theological issues. It appears that Eliot, in due course of time is not
interested in looking at religion only as a means of apotheosis but rather as a force that
enlightens one by showing a controlled and positive way of leading life. For Eliot, utmost
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devotion to religion yields only to faith. Critics like Russell Elliott Murphy in his book Critical
Companion to T.S.Eliot comments:
for Eliot religion serves a single impulse, the religious impulse, which is itself
inspired by the individuals awareness that there is some purpose to existence
that cannot be satisfied or explained by purely social means.(78)
Again in the essay The Function of Criticism Eliot expresses that the very idea of religion is
the inner control. Thus for him the control that a religious faith yields not only influences the
behavior of an individual but also his inner feelings, the soul. While meditating on religion
from this specific angle, Eliots confrontation with Christianity has become more and more
intense. He starts operating upon religion as an institution from an intellectual point of view.
In other words Eliots affinity with the Anglo Catholic church cannot be kept only under the
circumference of the theological and emotional world of Christianity. Whereas it also works
as a simultaneous way of looking at religion as a part of his conscious will.
What Eliot tries to confront is an accepted world of faith where utmost spiritual gratification
can be attained. He knows that it can be done only with a spiritually disciplined mind. Such
ideas are subsequently reflected in the later creative works of Eliot, especially in The Four
Quartets. Deviating from the typical tendency of involving in a world within the text passing
through a vacillated view, Eliot here finally reaches upon a feeling of affirming the real spirit
of Christianity. As a result, the poem becomes less indirect in meaning and expression and
technically less sensitive with an intense focus on the principle of poetic organization. In other
words it starts operating upon a sense of meditative form and thereby paves the way for
acquiring the divine meaning of the sense of being. Here Eliots attempt is to dissolve in a
world of meditation alienating from this earthly world. However, his desire for that world of
spirituality is the Christian world. But one of the ways that he executes in attaining blissfulness
in Christianity is Indian theology which he derives from various Indian theological sources
such as Yoga Sutra, The Gita, Upanisads and so on. Thus Eliot contextualizes the Indian
concept of metaphysics as a means of self-realization, to attain faith in Christianity.
Eliots conformity with Buddhism cannot be separated from his quest for a contemplative
world. It appears that apart from the Harvard philosophers Eliots fascination for Buddhism
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was stimulated by Bertrand Russell. Russell, many a time, while defending the existence of
God and the validity of the religious mystic world speaks in favour of Buddhism. Buddhism
extols that God is a formless entity and for the sake of religious conformity there is no need
of having a concrete manifestation of God. Again it also denies the existence of soul.
According to Buddha, cycle in life is a continuous process. Rebirth is not transmigration rather
it is causation of the next life by the present. As the present state of consciousness inherits
its character from the past, the past in a way continues in the present through its effects.
Memory thus becomes explicable even without a soul. Buddha always comments upon some
profound truth which reasoning cannot grasp. His silence regarding all metaphysical
questions about non empirical things can be interpreted that he believed in a transcendental
experience and reality the truth about which cannot be described. This echoes to some extent
Eliots urge for accepting religion as something that cannot be unmasked by applying logic.
Most importantly, from Buddhism Eliot learns the idea of renunciation and meditation that he
fails to find in western theology.
It may be mentioned here that Eliots reading of the Bhagawad Gita was a part of his early
search for answers to philosophical and religious problems. As a means of renunciation of
the earthly world of Maya, The Gita recommends continuous chanting of Gods prayer. Eliot
too accepts that only through continuous prayer one can lead to renunciation and for him
poetic meditation can help in communicating with the divine. Because Eliots perception in
his later period is that words in poetry have no longer remained only as an expression of
poetic thought but a solemn source of interconnection between the devotee and the supreme
being. His failure to find adequate words and his inability to avoid impression of feelings
remind his acute consciousness of the search for the poetic decorum that suits exactly as
prayer to God. In Indian theology, words are considered to be Brahma, the divine power. In
the section v of Burnt Norton, while referring to his inability to accumulate meditative verse
Eliot utters:
Words strain,
Crack and sometimes break, under the burden,
Under the tension, slip, slide, perish,
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Decay under imprecision, will not stay in place,

Will not stay still.
Here consequently, the poets recommendation of words is not merely the ordinary
collocation of poetic verse but the meditative one which he fails to attain after a long drawn
spiritual struggle. While in his attempt at reconciliation with the divine, the poet is distracted
by some earthly worries as a result of which his prayer (words) never attains the desired
goal. It cracks, breaks because of earthly interference. It is fully a derivative of Indian
mystical concept that while attaining God, a person is hindered by earthly troubles of
Maya.According to Radhakrishnan, religion according to Hindu tradition is not the mere
affirmation of propositions. It is not simply an exercise of intelligence. It is the response of the
whole man. It claims total allegiance. It appears that Eliot finds a solution to his inability to
connect with the divine through Indian religious doctrines such as recommended by
Radhakrishnan and tries to affiliate to such conviction regarding religion apparently in
Christian context. It leads Eliot to have a solution to his crisis showing the way to
transcendentalism. The changed attitude of the poet is seen in Little Gidding where he utters:
You are here to kneel
Where prayer has been valid. And prayer is more
Than a order of words, the conscious occupation
Of the praying mind,
Thus here the poet is not in a perplexed state as seen in the earlier context where his main
problem was inability to connect with the divine. Everything seems to be fragmentary leading
to failure in his attempts. But here the poet is in a position to admit that he has attained the
way to the divine. Here the words have been rendered to spiritual chanting as it is a product
of the praying mind.
Many a times in the poem, Eliot speaks of desireless action. For instance in the section iii of
East Coker, he utters:
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I said to my soul, be still and wait without hope

For hope would be hope for the wrong things
Such communication with the soul reminds the poets awareness that the action determines
the future consequence of mans life. The desire for wait without hope and his emphasis
only on trying indicates the influence of Karma Yoga of The Gita where Krishna teaches
Arjuna about desireless action. Again in the third section of East Coker, Eliot contextualizes
the condition of Arjuna in The Kurukshetra war and his expression of utter helplessness
before Krishna in the modern world of the merchants, bankers, statesmen, rulers etc. and he
tries to establish that both the sections suffer from the same problem i.e. the problem of
loosing the motive of action.
Eliot used to borrow some images that have direct connection with Indian theological
teachings such as the image of the stairs, the boat, voyagers and so on. Eliot frequently uses
the image of the ladder or the stairs to show the protagonist climbing up or descend. These
images of stairs remind us of the Indian Upanisadic philosophy. In Indian Yogic concept, the
way to reach the ultimate has a stair type structure where different Yogs perform as specific
stair such as dhanyo Yog, Jyano Yog bhakti Yog etc. To perform Astango Yoga, one has to
come across different stages of Yoga which ultimately leads one to the acquisition of real
meaning of life that is Muksha ( release). One can keep all his anxieties away by means of
Siddhi. In section iv of Burnt Norton Eliot speaks of such type of stairs as a means of attaining
the transcendental world. Again in Aranyaka Upanishad the symbol of sea or the ocean has
been used to signify the eternal state of being or oneness. Eliot subsequently uses this
symbol of sea in Little Gidding and renders the people in the world as voyagers and sea
man to remind the fact of Aranyaka Upanishad.
Eliots desire for entering into that transcendental world has a fine conformity with the
aphorism of Patanjalis Yoga Sutra. According to Patanjali, nature consists of three prime
elements Prakash( light), Kriya and Isthiti representing three Gunas or qualities mainly
Sattva Guna(illumination), Raja Guna( activity) and Tamo Guna( inertia). Throughout the
poem Four Quartets Eliot is in constant search for light which can be interpreted in terms of
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the poets search for prokash, one of the elements of nature representing Sattva guna of
Patanjali.
Yoga sutra propagates the principle that the mind of a man is always overwhelmed with
earthly thoughts which is called maya. It is universal and the great saints try to overcome
such bindings of maya by controlling the mind through penance, meditation leading the mind
and body to a level of ecstasy. In Yoga sutra it is termed as Sampurna Anand. Patanjali
believes that meditation can imbibe one with the spirit of Oprakit Anand through the Oprakit
Indriyos paving the way for Kayalya, a form of divine power that enables one to identify and
understand his own self. Such understanding of the self enables one to submerge the atma
with Paramatma(divine soul) and according to him this is the ultimate stage of salvation.
In Four Quartets Eliot is in constant search for that world of contemplation. The indulgence
of the personas journey in different metro trains, his voyages etc. are the reminder of Eliots
acute consciousness of the transcendental world and his desire to submerge in it. However
in such context, Eliots instrument is not any religious chanting typically used by saints or
mystics but poetry. In other words Eliot tries to intensify poetry to that level of
transcendentalism where it can be equivalent to the religious chanting of the saints
confronting a sense of sanctification and religious conformity.
References
Bergonzi, Bernard. T.S.Eliot: Four Quartets. London: Palgrave Macmillan,1969.Print.
Cooper , John Xiros . T.S.Eliot and The Ideology of Four Quartets. Cambridge: Cambridge
UP,1995. Print.
Eliot ,T.S. After Strange Gods: A Primer of Modern Heresy. New York: Harcourt, Brace and
co,1933.Print.
---. For Lancelot Andrewes. London: Faber and Faber,1934.Print.
---. The Idea of A Christian Society. London: Faber and Faber,1939.Print.
---. The Complete Poems and Plays of T.S.Eliot. London: Faber and Faber,1969.Print.
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Gardner, Helen. The composition of Four Quartets. London: Faber and Faber,1978. Print.
Kearns, Cleo Mcnelly. T.S.Eliot and Indic Traditions, A Study in Poetry and Belief.
Cambridge: Cambridge UP,1987.Print.
Kramer, Kenneth Paul. Redeeming Time: T.S.Eliots Four Quartets. Cambridge:Cowley
Publication, 2007.Print.
Murphy, Russell Elliott. Critical Companion to T.S.Eliot. Oxford: OUP, 2005. Print.
Murray,Paul. T.S.Eliot and Mysticism, The Secret History of Four Quartets. New
York:St.Martins Press,1991.Print.
Spurr,Barry.
Anglo-Catholic
in
Religion
T.S.Eliot
and
Christianity.Cambridge:The
Lutterworth Press,2010.Print.
William, Monier. Buddhism in its Connexion with Brahmanism and Hinduism and in its
contrast with Christianity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,2009.Print.
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Home Environment and School Adjustment on Academic Achievement

among Secondary Level Students
Dr. N. Vasuki Associate Professor

Associate Professor in English Education,
Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science
and Higher Education for Women,
Coimbatore, India.
&
Angel Micheal Raj M.Ed General
Abstract
Home always remains as the source of greatest satisfaction and security to its members. The
relationship among the family members and their ways of behavior plays a leading role in the
adjustment of an individual especially children. Next to home, school is the most important
experience in the process of socialization of children. Both the environments, share influential
place in child's life and also contribute to the development of children. The investigator felt
that home and school background together would emerge as the two main factors which
effect academic achievement. Hence the present study has been conducted to know the
effect of the Home Environment as well as the School Adjustment on Academic
Achievement.
Key words: Home Environment, School Adjustment, Academic Achievement
1. INTRODUCTION
Children in the present scenario have a very good skill technologically. But coming to the
side of emotions still they are weak. This problem is based on their atmosphere that they
face in home and school. The ages between 12 to 16 falls into a very dangerous period
because the person in that age has more tensions, anxieties, stress and sometimes which
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may lead to abnormal behavior pattern. Students face lot of stress in and outside the society,
especially with their peer group, teachers and media. Their ambitions, though defined are
being put to test in the shape of their expected performances. So on that situations home
and school should support a child in its development.
2. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1. To study the Home environment and school adjustment of students in relation
to
Gender
Types of School
2. To find out the relationship between home environment and school adjustment
on academic achievement of the students
3. METHODOLOGY
For the study the investigator adopted Survey Method and Random sampling was done. The
Sample size was 400 Secondary Students. Tools used for the Data Collection was Personal
Data Sheet, Home Environment Questionnaire, School Adjustment Questionnaire which was
developed by Rajiv and Swarupa (2009). The Scoring responses for the positive items was
(5, 4, 3, 2, 1) and for negative (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). Statistical techniques which was used Percentage
Analysis, T Test, ANOVA and Correlation Analysis
3. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
Table - 1
Analysis of t test scores based on Home Environment with respect to Gender
VARIABLE
NO
MEAN
S.D
Girls
200
138.56
24.09
t value
0.58NS
Boys
200
137.21
22.05
NS - Not Significant
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From the above table, it is clear that the calculated t- value (0.58) is not significant. It infers
that there is no significant difference in the scores of home environment with respect to
gender. The mean scores show that girls have better home environment than boys. Hence
the hypothesis stated, There is no significant difference between Boys and Girls in relation
to their Home environment is accepted.
Table 2
Analysis of t test scores based on School Adjustment with respect to Gender
VARIABLE
NO
MEAN
S.D
Girls
200
63.94
12.40
Boys
200
57.61
12.60
t value
5.06HS
**Significant at 1% level
From the above table, it is clear that the calculated t value (5.06) is highly significant at 1%
level. It infers that there is high significant difference in the scores of school adjustment with
respect to gender. The mean scores show that girls have a better school adjustment than
boys. Hence the hypothesis stated, There is no significant difference between Boys and
Girls in relation to their school adjustment is rejected.
Table - 3
Analysis of f test scores based on Home Environment with respect to the Type
of Schools
S.NO
1.
2.
3.
VARIABLE
Government
Aided School
Government
School
Self- Financing
NO
MEAN
S.D
140
140.90
20.73
120
121.99
23.18
140
148.49
17.25
f value
56.90HS
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From the above table, it is clear that the calculated f value (56.90) is highly significant at
1% level. It infers that there is high significant difference in the home environment with
respect to the type of schools. The mean scores show that Self Financing school students
have better home environment. Hence the hypothesis stated, There is no significant
difference between the students of Government, government aided and self financing
students in relation to their Home environment is rejected.
Table -4
Analysis of f test scores based on School Adjustment with respect to the Type
of Schools.
S.NO
1.
2.
VARIABLE
Government aided
school
Government
school
3.
Self- financing
NO
MEAN
S.D
140
64.68
12.63
120
55.81
11.35
140
61.11
13.03
F VALUE
16.57HS
From the above table, it is clear that the calculated f- value (16.57) is highly significant at 1%
level. It infers that there is high significant difference in the scores of students on school
adjustment with respect to type of schools. The mean scores show that Government Aided
school students have better home environment. Hence the hypothesis stated, There is no
significant difference between the students of Government, government aided and self
financing students in relation to their school adjustment is rejected.
Table 5
Correlation between the scores of Home Environment and School Adjustment
r value
VARIABLES
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Home environment scores

School adjustment scores
0.50
It is inferred from the above table that there is a positive correlation between the scores of
the students based on the home environment and school environment. Hence the hypothesis
stated that There is no significant correlation between home environment and school
adjustment of secondary students is rejected.
Table 6
Correlation between the scores of Home Environment and Academic Achievement
r value
VARIABLES
Home environment scores
Academic achievement scores
0.23
the students based on the home environment and academic achievement. Hence the
hypothesis stated that There is no significant correlation between Home environment and
Academic achievement of secondary students is rejected.
Table 7
Correlation between the scores of School Adjustment and Academic Achievement
r value
VARIABLES
School adjustment scores
0.18
Academic achievement scores
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the students based on the school adjustment and academic achievement. Hence the
hypothesis stated that, There is no significant correlation between school adjustment and
Academic achievement of secondary students is rejected.
5. FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
From the study it is found that Home Environment and School Adjustment have influenced
on one another and also affect the academic achievement of the students. So the
development of a child does not support only by home or school, but it should be nurtured
by both home and school which means the entire society.
1.
There is no significant difference between Boys and Girls in relation to their Home
Environment
2.
There is significant difference between Boys and Girls in relation to their
School
Adjustment.
3.
There is significant difference between the students of Government, government

aided and self financing students in relation to their Home environment.
4.
There is high significant difference between the students of Government,

government aided and self financing students in relation to their school adjustment.
5.
There is significant correlation between Home Environment and School Adjustment,

Home environment and Academic achievement, School Adjustment and Academic
Achievement of secondary students. .
CONCLUSION
Home and school are the place where children grow up and learn all the aspects of life. Even
in this advanced era parents and teachers are not aware of the emotions of their children.
They dont spend enough time with their children this may cause emotional disturbances and
affect their activities. Only care, love and support can enrich a child in its performances
throughout its life. If they have a convenient atmosphere in home and school they will be a
successful person in their life too. It is not sure that both atmospheres will be favorable
always, so when one lacks the other should support.
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REFERENCES:
Tejpreet,A. and Ramanjit,S. (2003). Difference between parent child relationships of high
and low achieving children .Adolescent development: myths and realities. Children Today,
8(5), 2-7
Verma, B.P and Gupta, C.K. (2006). Effect of home environment on cognitive abilities of pre
adolescent children. Voc. Guid. Newle, 41, 13-18.
William, J, H. (2010), Parental involvement on the educational outcomes of urban secondary
school children, American Educational Research Journal, Vol. 47, No.3, 633-662.
Xia Nailing,S. (2011), Importance of family versus school factors in producing academic
and non academic student outcomes. Child Development, 32, 501-510.
http:// www.google.com / psychological research.
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Difference Between the Performance of Extrovert and Introvert EFL

Learners on Task-Based Information-Gap, Opinion-Gap And
Reasoning-Gap Activities
1Reza
1&2&5
Gholami, 2Elham Sermanshahi, 3Ali Azadi, 4 Rajan Periannan, 5Reza Vaseghi
Department of Language and Humanities Education, Faculty of Educational Studies,

University Putra Malaysia (UPM)
3
Isfahan Azad University (IAU)
4Sendayan
Secondary School, Malaysia
Abstract
This research investigated the difference between the performance of extrovert and introvert
EFL learners on Task Based activities in an Iranian English School. The task types
investigated here were information-gap, opinion-gap and reasoning-gap activities based on
the Bangalore Project activities (Prabhu, 1987). It was hypothesized that introversion and
extroversion can affect learning in some ways. Then, this paper investigated such affectivity
facets which seem to influence learners performance on tasks offered in English classrooms
in Mashhad, Iran. Therefore, three research questions and null hypotheses were established
to find out if there is any significant difference between the performances of extrovert and
introvert EFL learners on information-gap, opinion-gap and reasoning-gap activities. Then, a
random sample of 140 participants in the English School was drawn who firstly took a
standard Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised to have their personality dimension
determined, afterward their performances were evaluated within 6 weeks using a researchmade rating checklist with a reliability of .87. It included 5 categories based on which the
performances were evaluated. These categories consisted of task fulfillment, fluency and
comprehensibility, grammatical accuracy, appropriateness, vocabulary selection. The data
(scores) for information-gap and reasoning-gap activities were not normally distributed and
therefore on-parametric Mann-Whitney test was employed to examine the difference
between the performances of the two introvert and extrovert groups but for opinion-gap there
was a normal distribution and to compare the means of two independent groups for
determining the difference between them, a t-test was utilized. The results revealed that: For
the performance of information-gap activity, there was no statistically significant difference
between two Introvert and Extrovert groups since p-value was greater than 0.05 (p=0.311).
For the performance of reasoning-gap activity, there was no statistically significant difference
between two Introvert and Extrovert groups since p-value was greater than 0.05 (p=0.752).
Finally, for Opinion-gap activities, it was concluded that there was no statistical difference
between two groups since the result for the t test was t (138) =.174 with a p-value of 0.862.
In general, the results suggest that both extrovert and introvert perform with no significant
difference regarding different task based activities and because introverts are usually
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underestimated among Iranian teachers, the results of this study might bring an
understanding that in task-based language classes, there should be less concern about the
performance of introvert learners because they do as much well as the stereotyped
extroverts. The detailed results and conclusions will be discussed intensively in the paper.
Keywords: Extroversion & introversion, TBLT, information-gap, reasoning-gap, and

Opinion-gap
1. Introduction
There have always been some classes with which the teachers are not satisfied regarding
the final performance of the students and think some students are not successful enough.
Spolsky, B. (1989 p.2) states that it is always the case that some individuals are more
successful than others in mastering the language, even though the language has in all cases
been ostensibly identical Regarding this, two issues can be then brought into investigation.
Firstly, we need to know what teaching method has been applied for such classes. Secondly,
Psychological Factors need to be considered as influencing factors. This research
investigated the difference between the performances of extrovert and introvert EFL students
(as psychological factors) on task based activities (as a teaching method). By deeply looking
at the change regarding the students role in his learning from a traditional view up to
constructivists view, we can conclude that personal characteristics can affect the way a
person thinks and interacts. Researchers have found out that certain factors function
simultaneously and produce what you may call a social interactive language. Among such
factors, this research will try to investigate personality traits which seem to have a central
role in constructing (or generating or conveying) meaning (Willis D. & J. Willis (2001), Willis,
J. (2000), Nunan, D. (1989, 1999 & 2001).
Brown, H. D. (2007) has categorized psychological and sociocultural factors as two facets
of the Affective Domain of the second language acquisition. Personality factors within a
person seem to contribute in some way to the success of language learning. It is worth
mentioning that the researchers have considered a group of trait related issues including
affect, emotion, self-esteem, self-efficacy, inhibition, risk taking, anxiety, empathy, motivation
and extroversion as main affective factors (Hilgrad, E.R. 1983, Gerald Matthews, J. J. D.,
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Martha C. Whiteman 2003, Eysenck, H. J. 1968 & 1947, Brown, H. D. 2007, Burger, J. M.
2000, Spolsky, B. 1989 and Allen, B. P. 2000 among which the last one, extroversion and
its counterpart introversion was chosen among Personality Traits as an intrinsic side of the
affectivity (Brown, H. D. 2007, p.152) and its effect on performance and achievement of EFL
students on task based activities was investigated as the direction of this study.
Extroversion according to Brown H. D. simply means the extent to which a person has a
deep-seated need to receive ego enhancement, self-esteem, and a sense of wholeness from
other people as opposed to receiving that affirmation within self. Extroverts actually need
other people in order to feel good. But introverts are not necessarily loudmouthed and
talkative. They may be relatively shy but still need the affirmation from others. Introversion,
on the other hand, is the extent to which a person derives a sense of wholeness and
fulfillment apart from a reflection of this self from other people (Brown, H. D. 2007,) By
emergence of constructivism which integrated linguistic, psychological, and sociological
paradigms, this concept by Jack C. Richards and Theodore S. Rodgers (2003, p. 244)
conforms this reality that the commonest solution to the language teaching problem was
seen to lie in the adoption of a new teaching approach or method. Constructivism focuses
mainly on social interaction and the discovery, of meaning. The emphasis is put either on the
importance of learners constructing their own representation of reality or the importance of
social interaction and cooperative learning in constructing both cognitive and emotional
images of reality. In most text books, methods and approaches have been divided into major
trends of the twentieth century, alternative methods and approaches and current
communicative approaches appearing after the emergence of communicative methodologies
in 1980s. (Brown, H. D. 2007, Jack C. Richards and Theodore S. Rodgers, 2003 and LarsonFreeman, D. 2001)
This research investigated Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) since it can be regarded
as a recent version of a communicative methodology (Richards and Rodgers, p. 151) and a
major focal point of language teaching practice worldwide (Brown, H. D. 2007, p.242) It
highlights classroom interaction and learner-centered teaching. Moreover, it views the
learners experience as a significant contribution to learning process. TBLT proposes the
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notion of task as a central unit of planning and teaching (Richards and Rodgers, p. 224). P.
Skehan (2003) defines tasks as an activity which requires learners to use language, with
emphasis on meaning, to attain an objective. In another definition, Skehan emphasizes that:
success in tasks is evaluated in terms of achievement of an outcome, and tasks generally
bear some resemblance to real-life language use (Skehan, 1996b, p.20).
In this research, three task types were chosen as central activities based on the Bangalore
Project conducted by Prabhu in 1987. These activities include information-gap, opinion-gap
and reasoning-gap activities. An information-gap activity involves the exchange of
information among participants in order to complete a task. An opinion-gap activity is
identifying, and articulating a personal preference, feeling, or attitude in response to a given
situation. And a reasoning-gap activity requires students to derive some new information by
referring it from information they have been given (Prabhu, 1987, p.46). As learners work to
complete these tasks, they have abundant opportunity to interact and such interaction is
thought to facilitate language acquisition as learners have to work to understand each other
and express their own meaning (Larsen-Freeman, 2001) which is the central point in TaskBased Approach (Feez, S., 1998. Crookes, G., 1986). Since the students get engaged in
these activities, their personal traits may influence the learning outcome significantly because
these task based activities require the learners to rely on their personal imagination and way
of thinking and then their learning outcome is supposed to be affected by personality factors
either positively or negatively. This is why Brown asserts that If we were to devise theories
of second language acquisition or teaching methodologies that were based only on cognitive
considerations, we should be omitting the most fundamental side of human behavior (Brown,
H. D. 2007, p.152) Ernest Hilgard (1983) also notes that A purely cognitive theory is rejected
unless a role is given to affectivity (Hilgard, p. 267). Hence we see here that during
performing the Task Based activities, personality traits work actively and might even affect
the performance to some extent. It is mostly supposed that introverts are reserved and quiet
and have a tendency to reclusiveness while extroverts are considered loudmouthed and
talkative. We might then misunderstand these traits as Brown mentions the reason as
because of a tendency to stereotype extroversion (Brown, H. D., 2007p. 166) (Eysenck,
H.J, 1947 &1968)
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In Iran, English classes in governmental schools are still taught traditionally (using methods
like GTM) in which the students have the least control on the learning process, such a thing
can affect the learning habits in general and they cannot easily move toward learning of a
second language independently in which they are supposed to freely negotiate meaning
while in private English classes, task-based language teaching, audio-lingual method, etc
are employed which have brought much better results regarding the students overall English
competency. The interference of old improper habits of both learners and teachers may seem
to be very hard to cope with. In EFL environments like Iran where English language is mostly
taught traditionally, the ideas of teaching through tasks and teaching the students how to
learn and control learning seem a hard and tough activity due to the mentioned problems.
Age, culture, irrelevant topics and getting used to traditional learning may compound the
problem of personality trait, introversion in particular. What this research determined was
whether or not there is any difference between extroversion and introversion and the
students performance on task based activities during which the learners need to be in direct
negotiation and interaction with the peers and the teacher in the classrooms of a private
English school in Iran in which TBLT is applied for a long time. The research tried to
determine whether extroverts perform significantly better comparing to the introverts because
it is supposed that introverts tend to be quiet, a fact that might be considered as influencing
their performances on information gap, opinion gap or reasoning gap activities.
2. Extroversion and introversion

Extroversion simply means the extent to which a person has a deep-seated need to receive
ego enhancement, self-esteem, and a sense of wholeness from other people as opposed to
receiving that affirmation within self. Extroverts actually need other people in order to feel
good. But introverts are not necessarily loudmouthed and talkative. They may be relatively
shy but still need the affirmation from others. Introversion, on the other hand, is the extent to
which a person derives a sense of wholeness and fulfillment apart from a reflection of this
self from other people. (Brown 2007, Gerald Matthewset al 2003, Burger, J. M. 2000, Allen,
B. P. 2000, Hilgrad, E.R.1983, Eysenck, H. J. 1968 &1947) The introvert has a more
subjective while the introvert a more objective outlook. The introvert shows a higher degree
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of behavioral activity and shows a tendency to self-control (inhibition) whereas the extrovert
shows a lack of such control (Eysenck, 1947).
3. Task Based Language Teaching and Tasks

TBLT refers to an approach based on the use of tasks as the nucleus unit of planning and
instruction in language teaching. Some advocates believe that it is a logical development of
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) (Bretta and Davis, 1985; Prabhu, 1987; Beretta,
1990) A task based approach aims to provide learners with a natural context for language
use. As learners work to complete a task, they have abundant opportunity to interact. Such
interaction is taught to facilitate language acquisition as learners have to work to understand
each other and to express their own meaning. By so doing, they have to check to see if they
have comprehended correctly and, at times, they have to seek clarification. By interacting
with each others, they get to listen to language which may be beyond their present ability,
but which may be assimilated into their knowledge of the target language for use at a later
time (Larson-Freeman, D. 2001; Brown, 2007). Engaging learners in task work provides a
better context for the activation of learning processes than form-focused activities, and hence
ultimately provides better opportunities for language learning to take place (Richards, J. C.,
& Rodgers, T. S.,2003, p. 223). Willis D. & J. Willis (2001) assert that: in contrast to formbased approaches, task-based learning (TBL) involves the specification not of a sequence
of language items, but of a sequence of communicative tasks to be carried out in the target
language. Central to the notion of communicative task is the exchange of meanings.
Moreover, they state that TBL represents an attempt to harness natural processes and to
provide language focus activities based on consciousness-raising which will support these
processes. Task-based learning is a very good approach to getting people to interact
conversationally, without being limited to conversation classes (Nunan, 1989). By turning to
task, in general, it is a piece of meaning-focused work which involves learners in
comprehending, manipulating, producing or interacting in the target language while their
attention is principally focused on meaning rather than form (Nunan, 1989, p. 10). ). Crookes
defines a task as a piece of work or an activity, usually with a specified objective, undertaken
as a part of an educational course, at work, or used to elicit data for research (Crookes,
1986, p. 1)
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4. Hypotheses
The specific objectives of this research were to determine the difference between extrovert and
introvert EFL learners performances on information-gap, reasoning-gap and opinion-gap
activities. Then based on the research objectives, three null hypotheses of the study were
established as follow:
H01: There is no significant difference between extrovert and introvert EFL learners
performances on information-gap activities.
performances on reasoning-gap activities.
performances on opinion-gap activities.
While alternatively, it was believed there is such difference between the performances of
extroverts and introverts with a preference towards extroverts as the dominant and more
competent students. The following deals with the method in details and in next part, the data
analysis and results are presented.
5. Method
5.1 Participants
A total of 140 male and female subjects, 75 extroverts and 65 introverts, out of 300 students
enrolled in the pre-intermediate level of a private English School in Mashhad, Iran were
randomly chosen. The subjects ranged in age from 17 to 18 and all had the same English
background knowledge. At pre-intermediate level, they could express themselves more
meaningfully and take part in conversations interactively and have an active role in
information exchange, a level which was more appropriate for the purpose of this research.
5.2 Materials and Questionnaires
5.2.1 EPQ-R
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One of the instruments in this research was Eysencks Personality Questionnaire-Revised

(EPQ-R) in Persian Language (subjects native language) to determine the students traits
and in particular the extroversion and introversion. This questionnaire which is suitable for
people above 16 years old, had been widely used in Iran both educationally and
psychologically and had been validated frequently through previous studies and its reliability
was 73% for students for the educational purposes. It was selected because it had been
standardized educationally and for which there was an established validity and reliability. In
the questionnaire the subjects were asked to reply yes or no to 57 questions. EPQ-R
contained a Lie Scale to measure the subjects tendencies to fake good while completing the
questionnaire (Gerald Matthews, et al, 2003, p. 22). After the sample was randomly selected
(140 Subjects), on different days, they were given the Persian version of EPQ-R. The results
were checked through the answer sheet. Finally, 65 introvert and 75 extrovert male and
female subjects were identified through EPQ-R.
5.2.2 Checklist of Assessing Learners Oral Proficiency (CALOP):
This checklist was used to assess each single subjects performance of three task types
while performing and completing them during the natural class setting and schedule within 6
weeks. For a better evaluation, the Checklist of Assessing Learners Oral Proficiency was
used because all of the different task types could be observed and evaluated by the
researcher and could give a better view about the hypothesized difference on the
performances of the extrovert and introvert groups. The categories or criteria selected for
the checklist tried to mostly include the most frequent common categories of the other
scales and make the most appropriate scale for the purpose of this study. The main focus
was to evaluate the students performance of information-gap activity, reasoning-gap
activity, and opinion-gap activity. Considering the diversity of the task types, it was decided
to include the following criteria and categories each of which had a score range from 1 to
4. A score of 1 was the lowest and 4 was the highest score of the task performance and
because there were 5 categories on the checklist, a total score of 20 could be attained by
the students. These categories included, task fulfillment, fluency and comprehensibility,
grammatical accuracy, appropriateness, and vocabulary selection. To establish the validity,
it checklist was referred to panels of experts. With the suggestions and comments from the
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panel of experts and the research supervisory committee members, the survey was then
modified to account for the suggested changes. Through a pilot study, this revised checklist
was used to measure its internal consistency. Chronbachs alpha and item total correlations
assessed its internal consistency reliability. Overall, the five combined components that
comprised the Checklist were found to have an overall internal consistency of .87. Then, the
checklist was used to evaluate the subjects performances within 6 weeks whose data were
then transferred to SPSS.16.0 and analyzed.
5.3 Procedure
After deciding about the materials aforementioned, at first, a pilot study was conducted to
determine the students personality dimensions, to examine CALOPs reliability and to
determine the sample size. Then 140 male and female students who had enrolled in the
mentioned English Language School were observed within six weeks. These students had
been randomly chosen and were in different classes. The researcher observed every
students performances of three task based activities through different sessions and
evaluated them using CALOP. A score between 0 and 20 was given to each student for each
activity separately. Finally all the data (raw scores) were transferred to the Statistical
Package for Social Science (SPSS) software, Version 16.0 (student Version) for data
analysis and hypotheses testing. To decrease the observers effect, students were not
informed their performances were under observation. Hence, it is believed that students were
not significantly affected due to the presence of an observer.
6. Data Analysis
Various statistical procedures were used to examine differences between the two groups and
to discover if any significant difference exists between the introvert and extrovert students
performance of information-gap, reasoning-gap, and opinion-gap activities. Collected data
(scores ranging between 0-20) were transferred to SPSS. Descriptive statistics have been
employed to report the data including the students performances scores obtained by the
researcher through the checklist of oral proficiency assessment scale on three task type
activities (Information-gap, reasoning-gap, and opinion-gap activities). The following steps
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were taken in order to provide a statistical analysis of the independent and dependent
variables:
Assigning numerical values to task based activity performances of the learners
Separating data into two groups (introverts and extroverts)
Entering the data into SPSS software for data analysis purposes.
Performing Test of normality, independent sample t-test (parametric test), and MannWhitney test (non-parametric test) to discover if there is any statistically significant
difference among the independent introvert and extrovert groups.
7. Results and findings

This study explored the difference in EFL performances of Iranian introverted and extroverted
learners on three task based activities including information-gap, reasoning-gap and opiniongap activities which were the main task types of the Bangalore Project as well (1987). The
nature of this study was quantitative and the study tried to investigate the performance
differences between two groups. The sample of this study was drawn randomly and
consisted of 65 introverts and 75 extroverts. During the data collection procedure, the
researcher observed all the students through different sessions in the natural setting of the
class based on the checklist of task type assessment. After the data was transferred to SPSS,
descriptive data, Independent Sample t-Test and Mann-Whitney Non-Parametric tests were
completed to determine if there were statistically significant differences between the
independent groups. Three hypotheses (H01-H03) were tested to respond to the research
questions proposed in this study demonstrating that:
I. H01: Data were not normally distributed for two extrovert and introvert learners
performances on information-gap activities, and then a non-parametric Mann-Whitney test
needed to be run because it has no assumptions such as normality of the distribution. The
results (presented in appendices 2 and 3) showed that there was no significant difference
between two Introvert and Extrovert groups performance of information gap activity since
p-value is greater than 0.05( p=0.311) and it fails to reject H0. For information gap activity,
the mean rank for introverts was 74.20 with the sum of ranks of 4823.00. The mean rank
for extroverts was 67.29 with the sum of ranks of 5047.00. Based on the output described
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in tables 2 and 3, Mann-Whitney test shows the fact that asymp. sig. (2-tailed) value of .311
was not below .05, and therefore, not significant and it failed to reject H 0. To sum up, there
was insufficient evidence to conclude that differences in information-gap activities existed
between introvert and extrovert EFL learners.
II. H02: Because the scores were not normally distributed for two extrovert and introvert
learners performances on Reasoning-gap activities, then Mann-Whitney test was applied.
The results (presented in appendices 4 & 5) showed that there was no significant difference
between two Introvert and Extrovert groups performance of Reasoning gap activity since
p-value is greater than 0.05 (p=.752) and it fails to reject H0. Therefore, it was concluded
that there was no significant difference between two Introvert and Extrovert groups
performance of Reasoning- gap activity. For Reasoning-gap activity, the mean rank for
introverts was 71.66 with the sum of ranks of 4658.00. The mean rank for extroverts was
69.49 with the sum of ranks of 5212.00. Based on the output described in tables 4.8 and
4.9, Mann-Whitney test shows the fact that asymp. sig. (2-tailed) value of .752 was not
below .05, and therefore, not significant and it failed to reject H 0. To sum up, There was
insufficient evidence to conclude that differences in Reasoning-gap activities existed
between introvert and extrovert EFL learners
III. H03: For the third task based activity, the data were normally distributed for both extrovert
and introvert learners, then to determine performance difference of Opinion Gap Scores
between Introvert and Extrovert groups, an independent sample t- test was employed
because its assumption (normality of distribution) was met and applied. Appendix7 displays
the results of the Independent Samples t-Test for the introverted and extroverted group. To
be statistically significantly different at the .05 level, the t value would need to be greater
than 2.00. The Levene statistic tests the hypothesis of equality of variance of the dependent
variable grades. A low significance value (typically less than .05) would indicate significant
variance between the groups. A significance value of .918 indicates a lack of significant
variance between the grades of this group. This indicates that there is no statistical
difference in the performance difference of Opinion Gap Scores between Introvert and
Extrovert groups. The final result for the t test was t (138) =.174 with a p-value of 0.862.
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Therefore, with a 95% confidence level, Null Hypothesis 3 is accepted. To sum up, there
was insufficient evidence to conclude that differences in Opinion-gap activities existed
between introvert and extrovert EFL learners.
8. Conclusions and discussion

This research can be regarded as an attempt to open an avenue into the mind of English
teachers and direct them to the realities by which they would stop underestimating introverts.
Teachers preference of any of these personality traits might have deteriorating effects on
the atmosphere of the class and the learners in the sense that they might be discouraged
and demotivated and probably stop attending the classes consequently. Since TBLT is
increasingly applied in Iran, knowing that there is no difference between extroverts and
introverts performance in TBLT classes, might help teachers to focus on the teaching itself
and in case of any problem in the performance of the learners, they can seek and find the
solution in other sources apart from the personality. Based on the structure of this research,
task based activities regarding the performances of the two groups and extroversion and
introversion as factors affecting learning will be discussed as follow:
Considering three task types, it is confirmed by the results that performing each type of
tasks is not dependant on or influenced by the mentioned personality traits. It is of note that
the obtained results here are congruent with the findings reported earlier by Gholami (2011)
and Gholami, Vaseghi, and Barjasteh, (2011). The former reported that gender differences
do not correlate with the performance of task based activities while the latter study found that
extroversion is not a benefit in a task-based language classroom. In fact, one of the concerns
of English teachers in TBLT classes might probably be the students participation particularly
in pair or group works. Information gap activity involves a transfer of given information from
one person to another or from one form to another or from one place to another (Prabhu,
1987, p. 46). Based on the current misconception, introverts might not intend or be verbally
able to transfer the required amount of information for they are willing to be the quieter
partners or the poorer ones. This research concluded that both introvert and extrovert
learners are the active partners in successfully conveying the meaning through pair works
and the achievement of the goals would not be hampered regarding the performance of the
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information-gap activities. Regarding reasoning-gap activities which are in fact deriving some
new information from given information through process of inference, practical reasoning, or
a perception of relationships or patterns, both extrovert and introvert learners performed
acceptably and demonstrated no statistical differences over the task types. Reasoning-gap
activity involves comprehending, and conveying information, as in information gap activity,
but the information to be conveyed is identical with that initially comprehended. There is a
piece of reasoning which connects the two (Prabhu, 1987, p. 46). Teachers need not worry
in the sense that introverted students or probably extroverted ones may be unable to convey
meaning through timetables, etc and they can be assured that students of both personality
types perform somewhat similarly on negotiating the gap in their thoughts and can infer and
come to a conclusion based on the required instructions of the planned lessons. Finally, for
opinion-gap activities defined by Prabhu (1987, p.47) as activities which involve identifying
and articulating a personal preference, feeling, or attitude in response to a given situation,
the research came to an interesting judgment. Prabhu (1987) in Bangalore Project mentions
that there is no objective procedure for demonstrating outcomes as right or wrong, and no
reason to expect the same outcome from different individuals or on different occasions. Then,
he asserts that there exists a pedagogic complexity with opinion-gap activity because it is
naturally open-ended in outcomes and then he recommended such task type for advanced
level learners in a second/foreign language because the value of open-ended activity can be
better realized in developing linguistic capacity. But for lower levels, such activity leads to
learners verbal imitation and thus stops being open-ended (Prabhu, 1987, p.49). Although
the students from pre-intermediate levels and took part in conversations interactively, both
groups attained lower scores on the last task type activity (opinion-gap) and confirmed
Prabhus notion of suitability of such a task for advanced learners. He asserts that interaction
in an opinion-gap activity is likely to have too high a level of unpredictability, thus making it
difficult for learners to cope (Prabhu, 1987, p.49). Accordingly, extroverts and introverts
performed with no significant difference on information-gap, reasoning-gap and opinion-gap
activities. More interestingly they both had lower scores (and ability) on doing opinion-gap
activities in which they had to state meaning which was their own. Such a fact, as confirmed
by Prabhu . leads to a high level of uncertainty, diffidence, or anxiety, though it offers
correspondingly high level of pleasure from success (Prabhu, 1987, p.49). As far as it is
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shown by the relevant literature, various notions have been posed to find out the relationship
between extroversion and introversion and many other factors. For years a preference or
priority is given to either of these personality traits and it has been demonstrated that
sometimes each of these traits affect learning in some ways and the learners belonging to
each trait outperform their counterparts. Despite this fact, it needs to be asserted here that it
cannot be definitely claimed which learners with a definite personality trait outperforms the
other in language learning. Psychologically, extroverts and introverts are different and
behave according to their traits; however, in language learning, more detailed research
seems to be needed to determine which learners learn better or outperform. This might
remain as a misconception or be proved as an existing fact sometime in future.
9. Future works
The following recommendations for further research are made: Because this study was
limited to students in Iran EFL context, a study including EFL learners in another EFL or even
ESL countries would verify or reject the findings of this study. Besides, this study can be
replicated with the same procedure for subjects from advanced levels to extract more
information about the field. This study was aimed to the performance of the introverts and
extroverts, a study to determine the difference between the performance of male and female
students over these task based activities (gender rather than trait) might probably reveal
more information if there really is a difference regarding the task types traits and their
assumed effects on TBLT performances.
Moreover, personality traits other than extroversion and its counterpart can be scrutinized
through these tasks to reveal more reliable results concerning personality traits and their
assumed effects on TBLT performances.
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Hilgrad, E.R. (1983), Introduction to Psychology, Harcourt Publishers.
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Larson-Freeman, D. (2001). Techniques and principles in language teaching. Oxford

University Press, Inc. 2nd Ed.
Mitchell, R. & Myles, F. (2004), Second Language Learning Theories. 2nd ed. University of
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Nunan, D. (1989). Designing tasks for the communicative classroom. Cambridge University
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http://www.nunan.info
Prabhu, N. S. (1987). Second Language Pedagogy, Oxford University Press.
Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T. S. (2003). Approaches and methods in language teaching: A
description and analysis. 2nd Ed. Cambridge University Press.
Spolsky, B. (1989). Conditions for Second Language Learning, Introduction to a General
Theory. Oxford University Press
Willis D. & J. Willis (2001). Task-Based Language Learning. In the Cambridge Guide to
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Edited by Carter R. & D. Nunan.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Willis, J. (2000). A holistic approach to task-based course design [on-line]. Available:
http//langu.hyper.chubu.ac.jp/jalt/pub/tlt/2000/feb/wilis.html
APPENDIX 1: Test of Normality
APPENDIX 2: Output of Mann-Whitney Test Ranks for Information-Gap Scores
Character
N
INTROVERT 65
INFORMATION-GAP
SCORES
EXTROVERT 75
Total
3: Output of Mann-Whitney Test Statistics
Mean
Rank
Sum of Ranks
74.20
4823.00
67.29
5047.00
140
a for
APPENDIX
Information-Gap Scores
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INFORMATION-GAP
SCORES
2197.000
5047.000
-1.012
.311
Mann-Whitney U
Wilcoxon W
Z
Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed)
a. Grouping Variable: Character
APPENDIX 4: Output of Mann-Whitney Test Ranks for Reasoning Gap Scores

Character
INTROVERT
REASONNG-GAP
SCORES
N
65
EXTROVERT 75
Total
Mean Rank Sum of Ranks

71.66
4658.00
69.49
5212.00
140
APPENDIX
5: Output of Mann-Whitney Test Statistics a for Reasoning Gap Scores

REASONING-GAP SCORES
Mann-Whitney U
2362.000
Wilcoxon W
5212.000
Z
-.316
Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed)
.752
a. Grouping Variable: Character
APPENDIX 6: Group Statistics for Opinion Gap Scores

Character
Error Mean
OPINION-GAP SCORES
INTROVERT
EXTROVERT
N
65
75
Mean
14.27
14.21
Std. Deviation Std.

2.03
2.02
.25
.23
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APPENDIX 7: Independent Sample t-test for Opinion Gap Scores

t-test for Equality of Means
t
df
Sig. (2tailed)
OPINION-GAP SCORES Equal variances assumed
.174
138
.862
Equal variances not assumed
.174
135.15
.862
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AUTHORS DECEMBER 2015

Dr. Divya Walia is working as an Assistant Professor in the Dept. of English, S.S Jain Subodh
College, Jaipur. Her area of specialization is ELT and has been in the field of teaching and research
for 11 years now. Her areas of interest include, Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), Computer
Assisted Language Learning (CALL), Linguistics and Indian Writing in English. She has got papers,
published in national and international journal on these subjects/areas.
Prof. M.Deva Santhanam Pillai has been teaching English and allied subjects for the past 29 years.
He has served as Head, PG Dept. of English, Andhra Loyola College, Head Dept. of Communication
and Soft skills (CSS), Professor in Charge of In House Training at K L University and Master Trainer
with the Academic Staff College, K L University. Presently, he is Associate Professor of English and
Head of the GRE TOEFL training division of K L University. He has conducted more than 30 Faculty
Development Programmes and Language Workshops.
Mamta Sharma, a Research Scholar (Feminism) at Shri Ram Swaroop Memorial University,
Barabanki (UP), has been working as an Assistant Professor at Ansal Technical Campus, Lucknow.
She has presented and published several research papers in various renowned universities and
journals during 13 years of her career as an academician. Presently she is writing a book on common
errors made by Indian students while communicating in English. Her research work is on Queer
Theory.
Dr. A. Madhusudhana Rao, M.A., Ph.D. (English), is working as assistant professor at
Annamacharya Institute of Technology and sciences. Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. He did his Ph.D.
from Sri Venkateswara University Tirupati.
Anand Dampella is currently working in the Sultanate of Oman as an English Language Instructor.
Earlier, he worked as an Assistant Professor in KL University, India. He loves to teach English
Literature. He completed his M.A., and M.Phil. from Nagarjuna University and is in pursuit of getting
his doctorate.
G. Satyanarayana working as Asst. Professor of English in S.G.A. Govt. Degree College,
Yellamanchili, Visakhapatnam an institution of NAAC Grade. He participated and presented many
research papers at national and international seminars. Some of his works are published.
Dr Santhosh V.M., currently serving as Associate Professor of English in Payyanur College, Kerala,
is an active researcher specialised in Postcolonial Studies, Indian English Fiction, and Culture
Studies. He is also a much sought-after Soft Skills Animator and ELT Trainer. He is a Research Guide
as well as a member of the PG Board of Studies (English) of Kannur University.
Charu Agarwal is a PhD scholar, doing research in the field of Modern Indian Drama from Banasthali
University, India. She has worked as Research Associate and taught English Language and Literature
at the same University. As a Fulbright Language Teaching Assistant she has taught Hindi Language
at Yale University, USA.
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Dr. C. Isaac Jebastine works as Head, Department of English and Foreign Languages,
Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India, and also has been Coordinator for
Centre for Technical and Academic Writing, Bharathidasan University. He has published a book and
about 15 articles in International and National journals of repute.
Sweta Ravindran has been a full-time Ph.D. Scholar at the Department of English, Bharathidasan
University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India, and is working on the novels of Amy Tan, a ChineseAmerican writer, under the guidance of Dr. C. Isaac Jebastine.
Manju George works as a Senior lecturer in the Department of English Studies of Bayan College,
Muscat. She has a Masters in English language and literature with TEFL from the Department of
English, University of Kerala and also a Master Degree in Advanced Methodology of Teaching of
English from the Department of Education, University of Kerala. She has also given a presentation at
the International ELT conference held in Oman.
A. Cruz Thivagaran, M.A., M.Phil., PGDCA. currently teaching English at JP College of Engineering,
Ayikudy, Tamilnadu. He began his teaching career in 2010, at Selvamm Arts and Science College,
Namakkal soon after earning his M.Phil., degree in English from St. Josephs College, Trichy. He
published articles in seven International peer reviewed Journals. He presented papers in 22
International, National and State level Seminars. His articles are published in Six Seminar
Proceedings with ISBN.
Srinivas Bandameedi worked as an Assistant Professor of English in Engineering Colleges in
Hyderabad. He also worked as a University lecturer in Libya. Currently he is pursuing his PhD from
English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad.
Dr. S. R. Chaitra is an eminent person working as Assistant Professor in English in the prestigious
Maharaja's College of University of Mysore. Though her contribution is noteworthy in English
Literature, she is specialized in the field of Stylistics and is making her efforts to signify language
study in literary analysis.
Jana Samuel Rajiv Kumar pursued his schoolings and Intermediate in Giddalur, Prakasham (Dt.),
AP. Later, he moved to Vijayawada and pursued his B.A in English Literature. He did his M.A in
English Literature & PGDLL from Andhra University. After doing his degree in Bachelor of Education,
he started working as an Assistant Professor of English in Vignans Lara Institute of Technology &
Science.
Chidanand Navi: Post Graduate student, Dept. of Studies in English, Rani Channamma University,
Belagavi
Dr. Harish Kumar Singh, Assistant Professor in B.Ed. Department, S. S. Khanna Girls Degree
College Allahabad, (University of Allahabad), U.P. His teaching experiences are nearly about 11
years. Nearly 20 research papers, published in International and National journals and presented
over 50 research papers in International and national conferences and seminars and also attended
more than 15 workshop related teaching, learning problems. There five books are under process. Dr.
Harish Kumar Singh was awarded his D.Phil. Degree by Allahabad University in 2010
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Dr. M. Moovendhan, Head & Assistant Professor of English at A.N.J.A.College, Sivakasi, TN with 8
years teaching experience has edited 2 books, published 15 articles, and presented 27 papers at
various National and International Seminars/Conferences including Thailand. He has completed a
UGC Minor Research Project and has organized two National level seminars sponsored by the UGC
and ICSSR respectively. His interests are American Drama, ELT and Literary Criticism.
Abdul Latheef Vennakkadan has done BA and MA in English from the University of Calicut, and
has submitted his doctoral thesis in ELT to MANU University, India. He has been teaching English in
different universities for more than 11 years and has co-authored two books on English Language.
His research interests include instructional technology, cyber learning tools and TESL/TEFL testing.
He is presently working as Head of the department of English, Kondotty Govt Arts and Science
College, Kerala -India.
Milind M. Ahire is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English of M.G. Vidyamandirs M.S.G.
Arts, Science & Commerce College, Malegaon Camp, Nashik (Maharashtra). He is interested in ELT
and Materials Production.
A. A Vijaya Jyothi is working as Assistant Professor in English at Anil Neerukonda Institute of
Technology and Sciences, Visakhapatnam. She has published 8 articles National and International
journals. She has also presented 9 papers in various seminars.
Dr. T Samba Siva Rao is working as a Research Associate in Dr Durgabai Deshmukh Centre for
Womens Studies, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam. He has published 9 articles in National and
International journals. He has presented 25 papers in various National and International seminars.
Khushbu Akash Trehan holds a Masters of Arts degree in English Literature and pursuing Ph.D. in
Canadian Literature (Thesis submitted for evaluation). Additionally, she is a certified TESOL trainer
with specialization in Business English Teachers Training. She has keen interest in the area of
research and has 4 International and 2 National Publications in various peer-reviewed journals.
Furthermore, she has presented 8 Research papers at National/International Conferences.
Joseph Kumar Kakumanu is working as an Asst. Professor, English at Vignans Lara Institute of
Technology & Science, Vadlamudi, Guntur Dist. in Andhra Pradesh. He is also a Soft-Skills Trainer
and a Placement Officer. Currently he is pursuing his Ph.D in English from Andhra University under
the guidance of Dr. L. Manjula Davidson, Professor & Head of the Department, A.U.
Dr. George Kolanchery, Asst. Professor of English, currently works at Bayan College (Aff. to Purdue
University, USA), Oman. He is the Chairperson of College Research Committee and Head of General
Foundation Program. He has presented his papers at National & International ELT Conferences in
Oman, UAE, India, Malaysia, Philippines etc.
Gitartha Goswami (M.A.,M.Phil, SLET) has been working as an Assistant Professor in the
department of English, Lumding College, Lumding, Nagaon, Assam. He has been pursuing his Ph.
D. in Tezpur Central University on T.S.Eliot.
Dr.N.Vasuki has been working as Associate Professor in English Education, Faculty of Education
Avinashilingam Institute For Homescience And Higher Education For Women, Coimbatore for the
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past 29 years. She is handling English Education, Philosophy, Guidance and Counselling for B.Ed,
M.Ed students and guiding M.Phil and Ph.D Candidates.
Ms.Angel Michael Raj was Dr.N.Vasukis M.Ed Research Scholar and she is doing higher studies
now.
Reza Gholami, Ph.D is a Researcher and University Lecturer at Azad University of Mashhad, Iran.
He is a renowned writer of ELT books. He also works as Editor and Reviewer for international ELT
journals.
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Disclaimer
Research papers published in this journal are the contribution done by the authors. Authors are solely
responsible for their published work in this journal and GEORJ is not responsible in any form.
Cover page courtesy: Kavitha Sumesh
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