Abbas Husain, University of Karachi
Zakia Sarwar, PECHS Girls College
SPELT NEWSLETTER, Vol. IV, No. 3, 1989
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This paper aims to present a historical perspective on the ELT scene in Pakistan, and point out fixtures in the present that augur well for the future. While all is not well with English in Pakistan, it will be shown that the signs of the times hold a promise of hope. It is a good moment in Pakistan’s educational history to re-assess the situation. Here, away from home, we can sense a newness that is denied to us usually be familiarity. We can relate our achievements to a receptive audience. In doing so, what seems unimportant or insignificant because it is done in a very local context acquires value because it is seen as replaceable. We call this a ‘good’ moment because the recent changes in Pakistan have coincided with a groundswell of awareness that has been going on all along. English is needed. English is being badly taught. Something must be done. These three phrases sum up what parents, teachers, ministers, school heads, authors, newspaper reporters, job interviewers, employers, army/navy/air force personnel have been saying all along and wanting to be acknowledged. Their voices rose and the resulting din had to be noticed. It was. And providentially, a new era of relaxation began at about the same time. We shall outline in this paper the contours of this hope.
A Brief History Since 1947
From Macaulay’s famous Minutes to Independence, the history of English teaching is too well known to be repeated now. After Independence, there has been a steady decline. The causes are too many to be dealt with in detail here. Hence turning to specifications, let us take a look at the central documents that educational policy makers have had before them for chalking out their programme. We turn to article 214 of the constitution of Pakistan (1956) which states as follows:
(1) The State languages of Pakistan shall be Urdu and Bengali: Provided that for the period of twenty years from the constitution Day, English shall continue to be used for all official purposes for which it was used in Pakistan immediately before the Constitution Day, and Parliament may by Act provide for the use of English after the expiration of the said period of twenty years, for such purposes as many be specified in that Act.
(2) On the expiration of ten years from the Constitution Day, the President shall appoint a Commission to make recommendations for the replacement of English.
(3) Nothing in this Article shall prevent a Provincial Government from replacing English by either of the State languages for use in that Province before the expiration of the said period of twenty years.
There are several points to note here. First, the mention of English is noteworthy. As we shall see, not mentioning it had more disturbing consequences. Secondly, the word “official purposes” – the context clearly allows that. Thirdly, the other provincial languages are not mentioned and are not an issue. So, it is clear: Urdu or Bengali with English to be replaced by 20 years.
But 17 years alter, the Constitution of Pakistan in (Article 28) 1973, come sup with this:
“Subject to Article 251 any section of citizens having a distinct language, script or culture shall have the right to preserve and promote the same and subject to law, establish institutions for that purpose. Whatever else that means, it is clear that if I choose to call my friends ‘a section of citizens’ having a distinct language – English – I have a right to establish institutions – SPELT! – to preserve and promote that language! Lest this seem too flippant an interpretation, here is the Cabinet Division Memo, dated 8th June 1983:
“The authority has proposed that the process of change from English to Urdu as a medium of instruction should be implemented
(i) at the Intermediate level in all subjects and
(ii) at the graduate level for Arts subjects only, as from 1983-84; and that by 1987-88, Urdu should be adopted as the medium of instruction for all subjects, both Arts and Science, up to post-graduate level throughout Pakistan”.
Notice what this means. By 3 years, the National Language Authority expected somebody/somewhere to train the teachers, prepare textbooks, translate, consolidate and publish existing terminology (sec!). It is clear that when such a momentous task is undertaken without a fraction of the planning/resources/manpower available, the result can only be – stats quo! In 1989 we are back to status quo – in fact more, since English, which was a compulsory subject from Class VI, is now to be introduced in all government schools from Class I.
Meanwhile at the mundane/grassroots level, the problems multiplied. Consider:
(a) “… We find that knowledge of English continues to be essential for office going people and the question of their promotion without it does not arise.”
– Khamisani 1983:26
(b) Undue importance. Letter published in DAWN of March 3, 1983. To me it is all an enigma, why our people respond more promptly to requests made in English than in the national or regional languages. The more firmly you speak in English, the more prompt is the response. The more politely you speak in the national or regional language, the more you are neglected. Whether it is an enquiry concerning telephones, electricity, gas, water, radio, television, bank or any other government or autonomous institution, the position is the same. Why is it so?
One may echo Syed Mohammad’s question: why is it so? Why are our policy makers stuck with ambiguities and confusion? The answer lies in a paradox of attitudes that bedevils every discussion in language teaching particularly English teaching. In one such forum, it can be said:
“Those who argue for Urdu do so best in English!”
English is the language of upward mobility. English is also important for national development. English is the language of the colonists. We “forced the colonists to leave the shores of this country; the English language should also beat a hasty retreat” (Karim, 1983:29). These sentences are uneasily held in the same mind. It is no wonder, then that problems arise!
ELT in Pakistan: Eight Issues
Let us now see the core issues of the ELT scene in Pakistan, in which the controversy of English as a second / or foreign language vs English as a medium of instruction adds no less to the confusions already prevailing. We shall note 8 aspects:
1. The textbook: The material is based on the grammar translation method. The reading passages are written by Pakistani authors, with a few poems by British/U.S. poets. As the level goes higher, the textbooks become simpler! SPELT ‘Evaluation of Textbooks’ Project report documents this thoroughly. Thus the mechanical exercises, the literary bias, the unattractive getup combine to make the book difficult and irrelevant.
2. The syllabi: Working along the lines outlined above, the authors of the syllabus of the Board of Secondary Education provide us with objectives which are vague and do not really provide any guidance to the teacher. For example:
“Subjects of a general nature should be avoided in all original written work. In composition, the correct use of English as a foreign language is of more importance than the interest of its subject matter. The English aimed at should be clear, simple and correct.” (English Syllabus May 1973, BISE)
The Board also specifies the objectives for teaching listening as under:
(i) To recognize the role of listening in the total language arts programme;
(ii) To recognize the nature of listening as a two-fold process of receiving and interpreting;
(iii) To develop the ability to attend listening tasks of increasing complexity;
(iv) To develop critical, creative habits of listening.
The general objectives of teaching English in the light of Education Policy 1972-80 are:
(i) Ensuring the preservation, promotion and practice of the basic ideology of Pakistan and making it a code of individual and national life.
(ii) Building up national cohesion through education and by promoting social and cultural harmony compatible with our basic ideology.
The above examples simply show that high-sounding words are used in the curriculum document which really do not mean much as teaching objectives.
3. Classes: A typical classroom is ill-furnished, without proper light or fans, with minimum resources of blackboard and chalk. The gloomy interior and the sheer numbers make it a daunting task for the teachers to think beyond the routine tasks at all. One must realize, however, that large numbers of students are a reality that will remain so for a long time to come. The need then is for innovative classroom management techniques (pair work/group work) rather than expecting class numbers to go down.
4. Learners: This is the most neglected aspect of the situation – what kind of English does the typical Pakistani need? It is sad to note that often, after the teachers have discussed the propriety of a book they would like to teach, they think that the learners are “getting in the way” of learning it! Or as James Moffett (1968) put it: “All the year long we plan and edit and reshape the perfect syllabi; and come September, the wrong kind of learners enter the classroom”
5. Exams: Any exam which allows rote-learners and memorizers to pass is open to question on all three grounds – reliability, validity and ‘sanity’. This last is for the paper-setters. Even if some justification for essay-type answers can be found for content papers such as history or sociology, for English it is clearly a disaster. And as Dr Parveen Hasan puts it:
“It is a sad commentary that year after year, students who obtain positions in the various public examinations give highly critical comments on the curriculum which they studied and the methods employed to teach and examine them. They need to pass the examinations so they do their best and come out with outstanding results, but no candidate has ever mentioned having enjoyed the challenge of courses he/she studied for these examinations.”
6. Teachers: The typical B.Ed. teacher in Karachi has done her/his B.A. or Intermediate and studied these subjects in a 2-year course. Often she/he may not have had English as their subject in B.Ed., but may be asked to teach it on the first day of their job. And as for motivation, economic incentives, respect in society, self development opportunities – or even just a plain ‘pat on the back’ for work well done – is not provided. We are told this is worldwide but that is scarcely a consolation. Prof. Karrar Husain, a sage and mentor of our society describes it thus: “The barometer of a society’s self-respect is the worth it gives to teachers who will mould its children.” Stories of their lethargy, ineptness or ignorance just pale before this mighty indictment.
7. Real World English: The student’s world is the classroom. But we must not forget, as Coriolanus said: “There’s a world elsewhere.” The student is exposed to a kind of English in the school which does not tally with what he find outside. He learns to read the textbook, which is not reading. And arguments for the value and importance of English in science, technology, commerce, business, advertising continues to come at him from all sides. And the mismatch with the literary bias/grammar exercises is obvious and frustrating. We need to make efforts to close this gap. One interesting sidelight was the result of a survey of the use of English in offices (unpublished). Government officers of high ranks said that English should be replaced by Urdu in education, business and official work. This was probably in deference to the hallowed Government Policy that they have all hear and believe in. Yet, 91% of these officers said, English is needed for a high-level job. The contradiction sharply demonstrates the essential double-minded attitude.
8. Teacher Training: At a discussion on Teacher Training, there were teacher educators of eminence – stalwarts whose services to the Government College of Education were too many to be listed and spread over the entire span of Pakistan’s history. A retired principal of a College of Education, said in her speech that in 1947-48, the Government of Pakistan launched a crash programme of 9 months to train teachers so that the demands of the nation could be answered with the urgency that they required. The course was called “Licentiate of Teaching” – i.e. a teacher completing this programme would be given a licence to teach. An old member of the panel said shyly, “I have that licence still.” She then said that the Government later (in the 50’s) called that identical programme “Certificate Course”, i.e. whoever did this course would earn a certificate to teach. Another teacher said, “I have one of the first certificates!” The principal then said that when protests were launched for the Course, the Government WITHOUT CHANGING ANYTHING ELSE, called it the Diploma Course (in the 60’s) and, added parenthetically, “I have the Diploma” – at which the audience had a good laugh. This anecdote is recounted here in detail because here, in the implications behind such a situation, lies the crux of the matter. There has been an unwillingness to take teacher training seriously. There has been an apathy – an appalling indifference – to what went on even in those 9 months at the college. No one asked what kind of situations a young teacher could face in reality – and what could be done to equip him/her to meet them. The same crash programme went on even when the “emergency” was over … it began to be called by different names so at least someone somewhere knew that something else was happening. The results were obvious. Today, as a result of these factors, the teaching community is at its most beleaguered phase. The lot of English (and indeed other languages) cannot be expected to be improved.
What Now?
We have just touched upon the eight factors that account for the dilemmas in the system. What is happening now in the country regarding ELT? Where are the contours of hope we had promised earlier? They are in two kinds of effort: Govt./Public and Private sector.
Government Level
(a) The National Academy of Higher Education (NAHE) at the University Grants Commission, Islamabad, runs a four-month diploma course in Teaching English as an International Language (TEIL), under the supervision of a KELT (Key English Language Teaching) officer of the British Council. It is technically a nine-month course in which, after four months of face-to-face teaching, participants are given a five-month period to monitor their own teaching, before they are awarded the diploma. This course is for government teachers from universities and colleges.
(b) The National English Language Institute (NELI) Islamabad, runs a teacher-training workshop of three tiers spread over two months. This is aimed at school teachers.
Private Sector
(a) Some teachers of English took the initiative and established SPELT, which for the past five years has held seminars and workshops to create awareness of the ELT issues. SPELT also runs a year-long teacher training course which aims at producing master-trainers and resource persons at the school and college level. The course has recently been recognized by the Royal Society of Arts, Cambridge University, Great Britain.
(b) The Teachers’ Resource Centre and the Pak American Cultural Center also organize workshops in ELT. PACC has been running the Experts Teaching Experts Course (ETEC), with the specific purpose of training teachers for their own teaching setup.
Note: This paper was presented at a conference of English Teachers held at Hyderabad, India in March 1989.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Board of Secondary Education (1973): Outline of Curriculum: Karachi
Government of Pakistan, The Constitution of Pakistan 1956, Karachi
Government of Pakistan, The Constitution of Pakistan 1973, Islamabad
Government of Pakistan, Education Policy 1972, Islamabad
Hasan, Dr. P. (1989): The System of Examination: Paper presented at National Seminar for Excellence in Schools, NIPA, 1988
Karim, Rafat (1983): The Role of English in Pakistan: in English Language Teaching UGC Islamabad
Khamesani, A. (1983): The Role of English in Pakistan: in English Language Teaching, UGC, Islamabad
Moffett, James (1968): Teaching the Universe Discourse
Syed Muhammad (1989): ”Why is it so?” Letter to the Editor, appeared in DAWN March 3, 1989
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