DEVELOPING FLUENCY IN ENGLISH AMONG ESL LEARNERS IN INDIA

There is no denying the importance that English enjoys as a global language. To acquire social and professional success in this world, proficiency in this language has become a very significant factor for the youth of today. In fact, now with the whole world being connected through electronic means, the ability to speak well in English has taken predominance over other skills of this language. It may not be farfetched in saying that, one is now required to excel in speaking English as much as they are expected to be proficient in other core skills, to define success. The teaching of the speaking skill to ESL (English as a Second Language) learners has become more important than ever before. Yet, the English curricula at most educational boards in India do not really focus upon enhancing this skill in learners; with the learners perhaps being expected to pick up this skill from their environment at home or at school. To ensure that the learners are trained in speaking English, the onus thus falls on the respective schools to provide them with conscious, ample and relevant opportunity to speak in English. A sustained period of speaking in English has to be ensured by the schools so that fluency in the speech of the learners may be ensured. At this stage, focus on meaning rather than correctness should be the priority for the language teacher. For this, the school and the teacher should be able to create an environment where the teacher is seen as a facilitator and not ‘a teacher’ during the communication activity. The teacher when playing the role of a facilitator with the learners refrains from correcting learners in their attempts while speaking, encouraging them to use the language more often than they otherwise would. The learners motivated through such indirect assistance tend to use English more, resulting in leveraging their current level of acquired English to build upon the language further. Words Worth English Language Lab, a well-known digital language lab, addresses this vital aspect of language learning. This digital language lab has a fully integrated teaching-learning content to facilitate spoken English using day-to-day scenarios. Over a due course of time, the learners using this component of the above mentioned digital language lab, are able to speak without hesitation, external assistance or intervention. It is only when this stage has reached, that one could assume that a reasonable degree of fluency has been achieved by them. The correctness in grammar form and appropriate pronunciation used can be made the focal point of teaching and language enhancement at a later stage. To encourage rapid progress towards fluency in speaking English, correcting the learners by reminding them of the ‘technicalities’ of grammar form or correct pronunciation are best avoided. This is especially true for an ESL (English as a Second Language) environment like that in our country.