Teaching English sans Cultural Baggage: Review Of Indigenous Practices In Kerala

Abstract

The south Indian state of Kerala at the turn of the century, implemented an ‘activity-based, learner centred, process oriented curriculum’ in the constructivist paradigm with a pronounced focus on ‘Discourse-based Pedagogy’. There were however variations in transactional patterns particularly in tribal and rural areas where teachers showed a pronounced affinity for the bilingual method. An NGO, the English Language Teachers’ Interaction Forum (ELTIF) attempted to train teachers and also teach school children in villages using novel tasks and activities which were conversation driven and ‘interactive’. A variant of all these was the attempt by a school in a remote town to introduce an ‘immersion programme’ where native speakers from the UK, lived and interacted with the local community and also engaged sessions for school children.