English in Mauritius: Foreign language or library language?

Sat Apr 1 15:22:38 UTC 2006

>>From the Mauritius Times,

As head of the Department of English studies, I am a regular reader of Mr
Parmamand Soobarahs views on the language situation in Mauritius, and
respect his commitment to the improvement of standards of oral and written
English. However, his article on the National Performance in languages,
published on Friday the 24th March 2006 in Mauritius Times where he
states, among other things, that the linguistics department of the
university must bear a great responsibility for the failure of our nation
in matters linguistic paints on oversimplified picture of how second
languages like English are acquired in the Mauritian multilingual setting.

Given the interconnection and interaction among and between the macro and
micro factors, efforts to improve the quality of teaching and learning by
addressing one or two of these factors are at best of limited
effectiveness and at worst counterproductive. There is a clear need for
efforts aimed at improving the effectiveness of English language Teaching
(ELT) to be informed by an ecological perspective on English teaching and
learning, that is, an encompassing view of language teaching and learning
within the totality of economic, political, social, cultural and
curricular influences.

In view of the importance for us to integrate into the global economy,
there is a need to expand and improve English language proficiency, I wish
that all stakeholders could see the connection between ELT proficiency and
economic growth, especially in these changing times. This implies that as
a nation, tremendous efforts and resources need to be expended on
revamping curriculums, updating English syllabuses producing new English
textbooks, developing skills-oriented examinations, and upgrading teachers
professional competence. My research indicates that there are three
interrelated groups of factors that impinge on ELT. The first group of
factors, collectively referred to as infrastructural resources, includes
school facilities, instructional equipment, language learning materials,
and professional competence of teachers and is influenced by government
policies and economic development.

Schools that produce high proficiency level in English are usually
provided with a whole range of modern instructional technologies from
basic equipment such as overhead projectors and tape-recorders to highly
advanced facilities such as state-of the art multimedia language labs.

Some schools lack the hardware to support educational reform and
innovations whose success often depends on the availability of good
teaching facilities and extensive use of instructional technologies.
Teaching in these schools usually takes the form of chalk and talk.
English textbooks must incorporate some of the latest developments in
English language education. For example, more innovative series of English
textbooks place a greater emphasis on the development of communicative
competence. English materials that are not specially prepared for language
teaching should also be readily available, for example, English newspapers
and magazines, English TV programmes, English websites, videos of English
movies. These materials cater for the different needs of English learners,
and provide them with greater exposure to authentic use of English, and
create a condition for them to learn the language experientially and
communicatively. Students who live in acquisition-poor environments such
as Mauritius are exposed to English only in their English classes and
mainly through a single set of textbooks. As a result, these students have
little opportunity to experience English in authentic use and to learn it
in context. This not only makes it difficult for them to develop their
communicative competence in the language but can also affect their
language learning strategies and incline them to take a largely analytical
approach to English learning. This factor, together with other contextual
constraints discussed above, contributes to a general tendency among
students to treat English as an object of analytical study rather than a
means of communication whose use can be effectively acquired
experientially.

Another important resource factor to be considered under infrastructural
resources is the professional training and competence of teachers. Some
governments even sponsor an increasing number of teachers for in-service
training in overseas universities. Shanghai, for instance, has been
sending groups of secondary English teachers to Lancaster University in
the UK for short-term training in the past years. According to the
Shanghai Curriculum and Teaching Materials Reform Commission (1999), by
the end of 2003, about 11,000 teachers of English in Shanghai had
participated in refresher courses, and between 1500 and 1800 core teachers
have received ELT training in overseas institutions. Because of their good
professional competence, these teachers are more capable of implementing
pedagogies such as skills-oriented, task-based, communicative approaches.

Besides resources, there are also a number of socio-cultural factors that
impinge on ELT. Two related socio-cultural factors that impact on ELT are
the perceived value and social uses that we make of English. When the uses
of English are largely limited to the domain of education, as in the case
for Mauritians, the motivation to learn English is low. Here there is
little opportunity to use English for social and vocational purposes, and
students have virtually no exposure to English out of class. Moreover,
when ELT is very much examination-oriented, it encourages narrowness and
dependency by testing mainly rigid textbook knowledge and largely ignoring
abilities and creative use of knowledge. The traditional culture of
learning that we have developed pushes ELT in many schools to take a
highly analytical approach and focus on the transmission and learning of
grammar and vocabulary knowledge out of communicative context.

The third groups of factors that impinge on ELT are related to curricular
and pedagogical practices. Within the educational system, the curriculums
that we have adopted also contribute to differences in levels of
proficiency in English. Research indicates that schools that have achieved
a high proficiency level are those which have implemented content-based
English instruction (CBEI). CBEI integrates English teaching with the
study of other school subjects. Such instruction has clear advantages over
other forms of language instruction. One advantage is the maximization of
students exposure to the target language. A related advantage is students
exposure to contextualized language use, that is, relevant, meaningful,
and authentic language use. A third advantage is the repeated use of the
target language for problem-solving and communicative purposes, which is
necessary for developing a high level of listening, speaking, reading and
writing skills. Still another advantage is students strong motivation to
learn the target language well in order to succeed in subject learning.
Formal practices such as pattern drilling and exercises involving
repetition, imitation, and substitution tend to involve artificial or
meaningless language use and students often fail to transfer skills
trained via such formal practices to real communication.

Without adequate teaching conditions, pedagogical innovations introduced
through centrally controlled curriculums and syllabuses are not likely to
be implemented properly and may only enlist lip service. Where the social
uses of English are largely absent, there will be little opportunity to
learn it for communicative purposes. When examinations ignore
communicative use of language knowledge, teachers and students will not be
motivated to develop communicative competence. The connection and
interaction between these and other factors suggest that it is not an easy
task to improve the quality of ELT in acquisition poor environments. Much
remains to be done both in and beyond language classroom.

A rescue operation to restore English to its legitimate status in our
multilingual setting is an ideal whose time has come. To give English such
a status would require, among other things, a major shift in attitudes and
values with respect to language. We seem here to cultivate a mindset that
equates language with ethnicity, but the globalization of our economy
forces us to reframe languages as forms of economic capital rather than as
identity markers. Lack of proficiency in English can lead to a failure to
gain access to knowledge reproduced in that language. If large sections of
learners fail to grasp the knowledge made available to them, what then is
the purpose of their education?

Although the extent of the falling standards has yet to be empirically
quantified and qualified, there is enough evidence to suggest that
students knowledge of English, the medium of instruction, is not
satisfactory. I would therefore like to a make a strong recommendation to
the Ministry of Education & Human Resources, which is the largest provider
of English language education, to define a clear English language policy.
What exactly do we wish to achieve through the teaching and learning of
English in this age of Globalization? The absence of clear guidelines from
the government in a situation where the use of English is de-emphasized
yet at the same time it remains the medium of instruction leads to
ambivalence on the part of both teachers and students.

The teaching of English in Mauritius is grounded within a peculiar
linguistic environment where there is ambivalence towards English, since
teachers of English are the primary instruments through which proficiency
in English is effected. A myriad questions may arise pertaining to the
preparation of teachers for this phenomenal task. When there is a lack of
clarity of vision regarding the objectives for teaching and learning
English, when most English language teachers are themselves not very clear
as to the status of the English language and its future position in the
country, this has several implications:

1. Firstly, it is very difficult to plan a viable and long term language
methodology without clarity of vision.

2. Secondly, it is difficult for a government to commit itself materially
and in terms of manpower if it is not clear what importance or role
English has in the country.

The point I am making is that the only way of restoring English to a level
of teaching at which it could be properly used as a medium of instruction
is for learners to receive a massive increase in their exposure to English
and their use of English. Otherwise, the status of English in Mauritius
will be relegated from as second language to foreign language, and at
worst it will become a library language -- a language for writing reports
in government and parastatal organisations.

Satish Mahadeo
Head of the English Studies department

University of Mauritius

Paramanund Soobarahs comments: Mr Mahadeo's letter brings official
confirmation to our thesis that the teaching of English stands badly in
need of improvement, and that action in that regard is essential for our
economic development.  It is a very valuable contribution to the debate.
Mr Mahadeo's position as Head of English Studies department at the
University of Mauritius commands that his advice be heeded by the Ministry
of Education. I hope to come back to the subject from time to time with my
layman's views. I also hope to highlight and perhaps even add to some of
Mr Mahadeo's views in a couple of weeks' time.

http://www.mauritiustimes.com/310306satish.htm