Maneuvering Indigenous Literature in English Language Teaching Classes

Abstract

Oral literature was a unifying factor for various tribes to establish civil societies. The 'Veda' is called 'Sruti' as it existed orally. Most of the folk literatures still exist in oral forms. They tell the story of man and nature as the aborigines of the land. The inclusion of such indigenous literature in the curriculum would definitely be a delightful experience for the tribal students in an English Language Teaching (ELT) class. In most of the ELT classes, it is observed that the teachers never consider their students as 'whole persons'. Whole-person learning implies that the teachers need to understand the feelings of the students, their interests to learn, their cultural and social background as well as their intellect. In the context of Kalahandi, the tribal students' native language like 'Kuee' and 'Kalahandia' may be used in an ELT class to make the meaning clear and also to build a bridge from the known to the unknown and from familiar to unfamiliar. The tribal students would feel more secure when they understand English clearly transcribed into their dialect. The use of native language can help reduce the threat of the new learning situation among the students. The literal native language equivalents of the English words could be found with the help of dictionaries or that of the local people. This would allow the students to combine the English words in different ways to create new sentences. If the students can translate from one language into another, they will be considered successful language learners. THE DAWN JOURNAL VOL. 9, NO. 2, APRIL JUNE 2020 Dr Tapan Kumar & Dr Arun Behera www.thedawnjournal.in 1443 At the initial level, however, the primary skills like reading and writing may be developed. Little attention may be given to speaking, listening and pronunciation. Learning among the tribal students in ELT classes may be facilitated through attention to similarities between the English language and their native language. To sum up, it would not be out of place to say here that English cannot be taught in isolation; the indigenous literature ought to be integrated into the curriculum. This paper focuses on the use of grammar-translation method in ELT classes.