Language Syllabus for the B.Ed. Curriculum of the Training Colleges

• Objectives

At the end of the language course within B.Ed. curriculum, the B.Ed. trainees shall be able to

6	narrate the features of culture in words and in writing with clarity, brevity and lucidity.
7	identify and select representative samples of literature or oral tradition and prepare textual materials reflecting the characteristics stated in 4 above.
8	prepare well structured lessons in oral and/or written forms for cultivating above mentioned points in the learners.
9	choose and use appropriate techniques and methods to teaching and contents.
10	define and explain the basic concepts of first language, second language,and third language in terms of,
	policy makers priority, and
	identify and distinguish techniques applicable to each in specific situations
11	to create appropriate environment for their students through language activities involving all the four skills.
12	to prepare, use and improvise various teaching aids for making teaching more effective.
13	to analyse and evaluate language textbooks and prepare supporting materials to supplement text books.
14	to prepare and use various evaluation tools, both subjective and objective, for assessing language performance in all the four skills such as,

14.1.		listening comprehension through life situations and recorded materials covering representative samples of discussions, lectures, interviews, or quizzes, conversations etc., in both silent and noisy situation in varying degrees of speed and clarity.
14.2.		reading comprehension by selecting passages containing difficult clusters, words, numerals, phrases, longer sentences demanding shift of intonation for marking interrogation, exclamation and command for the purpose of developing loud reading and other passages - both printed and hand written - of varying degrees of contextual complexity for silent reading.
14.3.		speaking practice on given oral, written or picture cues with teachers, fellow students and strangers on various topics, and
14.4.		lecturing, debating, making ex-tempo speeches, quizzing with modulation of voice from loud to soft and vice -versa in various situations.
14.5.		writing practice - both - reproductive and creative - of various forms beginning from sentence formation, paraphrasing, dialogue completion, letter and application writing, note-writing, summarizing, precise writing, expansion, explanation and illustration, paragraph writing, captioning, essay writing, narrative writing including quotations - both with proper organization of thought and maintaining sequence of events, practicing to-the-point answering of questions, controlling punition and spelling, note taking, practicing developing styles of powerful and lucid writing.

15	Describe and explain language syllabus for schools, correlate the textbooks, teaching and testing methodology to the syllabus and supplement the gap, if any, between the syllabus and textbooks and all the rest by teacher activity
	Time The B.Ed. trainees shall undergo language instructions within the B.Ed. course for at least 100 clock hours. In addition to this they will have practice language teaching for about 25 clock hours.
	C. Course Contents The course contents shall be divided into B units. Although some units are independent, in most cases a succeeding unit is largely dependent on the coverage of the preceding unit. It is, therefore, advantageous that the teacher proceeds following the sequence of the units suggested here, i.e. I to IX. The approximate time to be made available for covering each unit is also indicated against each unit.

UNIT - I

Topic : Fundamentals of Language Time : 15 Clock hours This unit shall again be divided into three parts and the coverage of the each part shall be as under: PART A (5 hrs.) Definition of Language and its Functions

This part shall be of general character and will deal with various aspects of language as under: The concepts as first, second and third language within the scope of Indian school curriculum, the concepts of mother tongue, second and foreign languages under the theoretical framework of language pedagogy, concepts of language acquisition and language learning, language variations such as home language versus school/formal language, standard vs. dialects including parameters of standardization, monolingualism vs. bilingualism with stress on habitual bilingualism as a natural phenomenon in border areas, archaic vs. modern forms of language including new usages, admissible variation in styles and registers, and notions of grammatical correctness and acceptability, notions of prescriptive and descriptive approaches of grammar teaching. The course contents of this part will have a bias towards modern and acceptable forms of language.

PART B (5 hrs.) The Features of the Language

This part shall be language specific and deal with the general features of the language concerned. This will contain the following: The name and identity of the language, a brief account of its historical evolution, dialectical variations of the language, if any, sounds and letters of the language and the basis of their classification, correspondence between these two, spelling as a matter of convention, vocabulary - its size, growth and development including loan of words and spelling conventions for loan words, phrases and idioms, current vs. obsolete words and their appropriate usage, meaning - expansion, contraction and shift, identifying word-classes (nouns, pronouns, adjective, adverbs, verbs etc.) basics of inflection and declension of words in the language, identifying sentence types and their transformations.

PART C (5 hrs.) Development of Literary Forms

A brief account of historical development of literary forms of the language, past and present literary trends of the language, major characteristics of different trends across eras, different forms of current literature, reference to a few noted literary works in the language and works, basis of selection of various pieces for school text books.

UNIT II

Topic : Teaching of the Language in Schools Time : 5 clock hours

This unit will mainly deal with the various aspects of teaching the language in the schools and their importance. Thus this unit shall cover the following areas: Language as the most powerful medium of expression of thought, equitable control of both written and spoken modes, need to develop high degree of proficiency in language use in both the modes, need to develop equitable control on all the 4 skills, use of listening and reading for acquisition of knowledge and wisdom in different fields, language as a means to understand and enjoy literature of the language, effective language performance as a means to lead better and successful life, enrichment in vocabulary, idioms and phrases and their use.

UNIT III

Topic : Development of Language Skills Time : 20 clock hours.

This unit will mainly deal with as to how the B.Ed. trainees will ensure perfect development of all the four language skills i.e., listening, reading, speaking and writing in their students in the schools. Normally the development of listening and speaking skills are taken for granted although this is not true. This fact necessitates detail enumeration of each of the skills. Each skill will be dealt with in two parts; the first part will deal with the various aspects of the skills as a theoretical component and second part will suggest ways to develop those skills in their students in the schools. The broad outline of each of the skills to be developed are given below:

A) Listening skills (5 hrs.): This may contain two parts. PART I

Distinguishing listening from hearing, importance of listening - (as perfect understanding presupposes proper listening, listening for dictation and note taking, listening for proper understanding of commands/instructions, listening as a substitute for self reading, listening for both active and passive participation, listening for enrichment of knowledge as well as for enjoyment.

PART II

Listening practice in class through teacher-student, student-student and visitor-student interactions, developing patience to listening fully, mode of role shifting from listener to speaker, practice listening in the class by bringing variety of speech samples both life and recorded - followed by comprehension exercises, practice of listening in both controlled and uncontrolled situations.

B) Reading skills (5 hrs.): This also may contain 2 parts. PART I

Nature and types and mechanics of reading - loud and silent reading, and reading correction, reading for others, reading with clarity loudness, reading with correct pronunciation, pause and intonation, speed skimming, scanning, critical reading, control on speed of reading, rapid reading, silent reading for pleasure, information scanning and development of thinking.

PART II

Reading exercises for comprehension, note taking, improving speed, reading for library reference and marking important words, phrases and sentences, reading for written and verbal epitomization expression and explanation, reading with clarity, pause and intonation for giving dictation, reading texts of varying degrees of complexity representing samples of writings from different registers, reading handwriting of different persons, reading samples of scripts with missing letters or words, or misspelt, displace words or phrases, practice of proof reading. Efforts will also be made to expose the learners to the text of ancient scripts on barks or such other materials.

C) Speaking (5 hrs.): This may be divided into 2 parts. PART I

Importance of speaking preparedness and developing confidence, perfection in pronunciation, pause and intonation, speaking with clarity, control on speed and loudness, prompting, speaking mannerism, avoidance of cross-cutting in group discussion, speaking to-the-point, controlling different types of speaking situations - murmuring, coded speaking, conversation, loud speaking, reporting, making commentary, announcements, arguing, quizzing, non-verbal communication and body language and speech errors.

PART II

Practice speaking in the form of conversation in small groups, discussion in large groups, speech making, debating, elocuting, speaking for explaining, making others understand, use of boards, OHP, slides etc., at the time of lecturing, acquiring skill of story telling by keeping suspense and emphasizing points and modulating voice and intonation, reciting poems, dialogues, participation in dramatization, extempore speech, group discussion, exercises on remedial measures, addressing gatherings, quoting, criticizing, practice in code switching from formal to informal and vice versa and from dialect to standard and vice-versa.

D) Writing (5 hrs.): This also may be divided into 2 parts. PART I

General features of writing - legibility and beauty, margin, linearity, space between letters, and lines, uniform size of the letters, using clusters and spelling uniformally where alternative forms are available, correct spelling and detecting spelling errors, paragraphing, captioning, providing headlines, underlining and marking words and phrases for remembering, embolding or italics, proper use of punctuation, use of powerful vocabulary and dictation, simple and lucid style, importance of fair copying, practice in carbon copying, taking points/notes, practice in better handwriting and control on speed.

PART II

Writing practice for improving handwriting, perfect copying, for sentence formation, composition and essays for summarization, precision, elaboration, writing practice by choosing appropriate and powerful vocabulary, use of idioms or phrases in writing, using simili, metaphor etc., rewriting of passages by altering words and phrases to make the same more powerful and appealing, precise writing, elaborating and explanations, measures for preventing errors, omission of small diacritical marks, practice in increasing speed of writing, writing practice for organization and development of ideas, different styles of writing - chronological sequencing or flash back writing of formal letters, petitions, essays, notes, criticism, taking notes, practice in creative writing of various types.

UNIT IV

Topic : Teaching Methods TIME : 20 clock hours. This unit will also have two parts, and Part II will have sections. PART I (5 hrs.) Approaches to Various Methods of Language Teaching

This will cover a brief account of literature of the language concerned and general features of teaching texts using the given texts for improving vocabulary, comprehension, appreciation, attitude formation and acquiring mastery over the language and techniques of taking the children from known premises to unknown, limited sphere to unlimited one. This will also stress on the role of different forms of speech and writing for teaching various aspects of the language, highlight the traditional and modern methods of teaching and suggest means of helping learners to learn than to depend on teaching. PART II This will cover specific features of teaching various forms of texts (= literature) to students. This is divided into 5 sections. Sec - A: Teaching of Prose (3 hrs.) Picking up samples of prescribed prose texts from school text books, trainees will be guided to teach texts for information, for gaining a powerful vocabulary and control of appropriate diction, style, organization and critical appreciation, to supplement the textbooks and familiarize them with textbook methods, discussion method, play way techniques, project method, dramatisationmethod, and to guide for supervised study. Sec - B: Teaching of Poetry (3 hrs.) Picking up samples of poetry of different characters, verse styles and times the trainees will be taught to understand characteristics, rhetoric, prosody, poetic diction, metre and thematic aspects such as romanticism, mysticism, patriotism, modern poetry and will be given practice in recitation, reading for pleasure, critical appreciation, analysis, explanation and in cultural understanding. Sec - C: Teaching of Drama (3 hrs.) This section will deal with objectives, importance and methods of handling classes of teaching drama/plays. It will lay stress on critically examining plots, characterization, dialogue, portrait of scenery, effect of sound and music, development of the story, embodiment of suspense and depiction of climax. Sec - D : Teaching of Grammar (3 hrs.) Significance of grammar, aims of teaching grammar, formal and functional grammar, inductive and deductive approaches of grammar teaching, grammar games, difference between traditional and descriptive grammar, need for redefining concepts of grammar from time to time, distinguishing grammatical correctness from acceptability. Sec - E : Teaching of Composition (3 hrs.) This aims at enlightening the teachers how to teach the students better the following items: Framing sentences in one's own words, writing story on given picture cues, word/sentence cues, completion of incomplete dialogue/narration, practice on precise writing, expansion and explanation, filling up blanks both by close test and banked options, writing letters, petitions, notes, reports and essays, original stories, attempting to write poems, writing life narrations, thought provoking essays, forming questionnaires, practice in developing powerful passages replacing words and phrases and restructuring sentences and modes, composition corrections, practice in drafting advertisements, notices, instructions in an appealing manner.

UNIT V

Topic : Lesson Planning Time : 15 clock hours. This aims at developing the ability of planning and writing meaningful lessons and teaching them effectively in the teacher trainees. A good teacher should have the competence of preparing supplementary materials. (i) This will have some introductory lectures on Aims and objectives of making lesson plans for classroom teaching, structure of the lesson plan, treatment of teaching prose and poetry - language mastery, improving vocabulary, developing comprehension, appreciation and attitude formation. (ii) General aims and objectives of language teaching may cover Specification in terms of behavioural changes. Content analysis of the chosen text (both thematic and linguistic contents). (iii) This will also cover Steps involved in a lesson - selection of teaching methods and strategies. Activities of the learners and teachers to develop various language skills. Evaluation and importance of home assignments. Unit plan. Resource Unit. Concept of micro-teaching, preparation for teaching. Skill of observing lessons and Assessment of lessons. Traditional and modern methods of teaching - question answer, lecture, narration. Textbook method, discussion method, play way technique, dramatization, project method, supervised study, discourse analysis. Tips on taking cues from the prescribed texts and encroaching unknown areas.

UNIT VI

Topic : Correlation of Syllabus With Text Books and Teaching Methods and Evaluation and Review Thereof Time : 5 clock hours Syllabi are generally framed by a group of experts who are not necessarily the teachers. The teachers rarely get an opportunity to have to say in syllabus framing. It is therefore proposed to have a component of syllabus - review in the new B.Ed. curriculum. Each teacher will have the opportunity to critically review the syllabus and put forth his innovative ideas. Review of language syllabus for the secondary level shall form part of this unit. The teacher-trainees will be able to correlate syllabus, textbooks and teaching and come out with practical suggestion to bridge the gap if any. There shall be a sub-component to review the current textbooks in terms of importance and principles of textbook construction, qualities of a good textbook. There shall be suggestions for improvement of present text books and preparation of supplementary materials.

UNIT VII

Topic : Teaching Resources and Activities Time : 5 clock hours This unit will bring to the active attention of the learners the importance and practical utility of the following: a) Textbooks, reference books, dictionaries, encyclopedia and glossaries, source books, workbooks, teacher guides, inscriptions, manuscripts; b) Audio materials such as cassettes, gramophone plates and other recorded materials; c) Visual aids such as writing board, flannel boards, pictures, flash cards, photographs, charts, slides, transpencies, film scripts, video tapes etc. d) Mass media such as News papers, Magazines, Radio, Films, TV and Video cassettes. e) Modern gazettes such as language laboratory and computers. Demonstration in the use of (b) to (e) shall be given in the classroom. f) Activities : Excursions, visits, interviews, dramatization, debates, discussions, seminars, symposia, wall board magazines, literary clubs, and language games. Importance and utility of the above said materials, innovation and improvisation of Teaching Aids, multi media, CAL, Tips for preparation and use of teaching aids shall also be highlighted. g) Quality of language teacher - subsequent in-service training, attending any refresher course, keeping abreast with modern development in the field.

UNIT VIII

Topic : Evaluation and Testing Time : 15 clock hours. This unit will have 3 parts. PART I : Theory ( 6 hrs.) This part will cover the theoretical aspects of evaluation. The issues to be covered here will include: Concepts of Testing Vs. Evaluation, kinds of tests - aptitude test, proficiency test, diagnostic tests, achievement test, speed test and power test, principles of giving number and types of options for both subjective and objective tests, concepts of comprehensive, summative and holistic tests, concepts of reliability and validity of question papers, continuing evaluation, principles of writing simple, comprehensible rubrics, ratio among different levels of difficulty in evaluation tools, rationalization of distribution of marks, setting of questions in terms of learning objectives already outlined, comprehensive coverage of the syllabus, laying down marking schemes, principles of avoidance of repetition of questions, making length of question papers proportionate to time, need for setting mistake-free question papers, testing and standardization of question papers, feed-back from administration of tests and remedial measures. PART II : Practicum (7 hrs.) This part will cover the practicum. The B.Ed. trainees will learn better by setting question papers themselves and testing them for reliability. The trainees will examine the strength and weakness in them in terms of rubrics, coverage, distribution of marks, correctness in both forms and contents, length of questions, set papers for all the 4 kinds of tests, prepare objective and subjective tests, simplify rubrics and make question papers interesting and challenging, work out marking scheme, prepare answer sheets, test validity, reliability and non-repetitiveness, prepare question papers for evaluating listening, reading, speaking and speaking proficiency (giving picture cues, word cues and using audio cassettes) and make efforts for developing question banks. PART III (Remedial Measures - 2 hrs.) The B.Ed. trainees will receive feed back from try outs of evaluation tools and prepare remedial lessons, prepare remedy to group and individual work, suggest measures of correcting teaching strategy, self-assessment of teaching ability.

UNIT IX

Topic : On Job Learning through Teaching Time : 10 clock hours. This will form part of B.Ed. training not testing alone. This will provide on job training and build up confidence in them. The trainees will be divided into groups; four trainees will constitute a group. Each group will perform practice teaching for 10 hours. It would be ideal to have different schools for this purpose. They would divide their teaching into several parts such as (i) start (ii) introduction (iii) recapitulation of previous lesson (iv) brief hints on new lesson (v) presentation (vi) checking the attention of the class (vii) generating curiosity in the students (viii) question-answer method (ix) eliciting questions from students (x) explanation and clarification of doubts (xi) review and summing up and (xii) home assignment. The teacher's mode of delivery, voice and gesture will also be assessed. Projects for Internal Assessment Each B.Ed. student has to select one Project from Group A or Group B and prepare 2 test papers. This could preferably be done towards the end of the course after completion of the 'practice teaching'. GROUP A 1. Review of secondary school language Text Books of any given class. 2. Analysis of a Question paper for secondary school final exam. 3. Preparation of a balanced Question Paper for secondary level. 4. Review of language syllabus for Secondary level. 5. Preparation of glossary (relating to the text materials). 6. Construction of Language Games and Administration. 7. Recordings of pupils pronunciation errors identified and report of remedial measures undertaken. 8. A case study of gifted and slow learners in language learning. 9. Conducting a survey of problems faced by the language teachers at the school level (in terms of textbooks, curriculum, teaching and students participation). 10. A survey of the students' reactions about their mother tongue. Text books and class room procedures. GROUP B 1. Review of the activity/literary clubs in secondary schools. 2. Study of the functioning and quality of wall board magazines in schools. 3. A report of the activities conducted by the student-teacher co-ordination committee and measures to instill literary interest in the pupils. 4. A report on the creative abilities of the pupils at the school level. 5. Interviewing the writers, artists and critics with a view to prepare a write-up. 6. Reviews of a novel/drama/travelogue. 7. Review of an anthology of poems/short stories. 8. Preparation of write-ups on the use of dictionaries, encyclopedia, grammar books and other reference materials. 9. Preparation of brief biographical sketches of one or two eminent writers. 10. Preparation of a report on the children literature published in various magazines. Framework of Assessment of Internal Projects: a. Projects 40 marks b. Two tests 60 marks (2 x 30) Total 100 marks NOTE 1. The college is free to introduce any other activity depending on the actual situation. The above is only a broad guideline. 2. Weekly 5 hours are to be allotted for language teaching methodology papers. Out of these 5 hours, one hour should be utilized for developing communicative skills of the B.Ed. students by organizing, seminars, symposia, debate and discussions on the topics from the prescribed syllabus. Role-play, dramatization, adaptations and other allied activities may also be conducted during this hour to elicit their active participation. E) Scheme of Evaluation for B.Ed. trainees 1. The final evaluation of B.Ed. trainees shall be for 150 marks. This will have four components: the first one will have two sub-sections as under: 1.1 Written   a) Objective type   b) Narrative/Essay type 1.2 Practice teaching 1.3 Viva Voce 1.4 Internal Assessment Broad outline of each of the above components are given below: 2. Written Test 2.1. Part I (Objective Type) : 50 marks This part 1 of the written question paper shall be objective type. This will cover all the 8 units in a reasonable extensive manner. There shall be 10 major questions and each question will have 5 sub-questions. 1mark shall be allotted for each sub-question. Out of 10 major questions, 6 shall be multiple-choice questions, 2 shall be 'yes-no' type question, 1 open ended short answer question and 1 matching type question. For MCQ questions there shall be four options for each and for MT questions, in the second column, there shall be more options, the ratio being 5:7. The 'yes-no' type questions will be based on the factual/grammatical information given in the course contents and they shall not demand application of general knowledge of the trainees. The open ended questions shall be cross-checked so as to ascertain that they elicit only one unambiguous simple-sentence answers. There shall not be any option for this section of the question paper. 2.2. Part 2 (Narrative/Essay Type) : 50 marks The part 2 shall aim at giving the B.Ed. trainees the full scope to give vent to their faculty of creativity. This will have three sections. Section A: Running Questions : 20 marks. This will contain questions that demand thinking, analysis, interpretation , precision, expansion and the like using beautiful language pregnant with powerful vocabulary, phrases and idioms, proverbs and quotations. There shall be three major running questions out of which two have to be attempted to. Each question carry for 10 marks each. Section B: Essays : 15 marks. There shall be three topics for essay writing out of which one shall have to be attempted to. The topics shall be something within the course contents and no abstract or generalized topics shall be given. This will carry 15 marks. Section C: Short answer questions : 15 marks. There shall be 7 questions eliciting short (paragraph size) answer out of which 5 have to be attempted to. They will carry 15 (=5x3) marks. Questions will be based on prescribed texts. 3. Practice Teaching : 30 marks. During the period allotted for practice teaching the B.Ed. trainees shall be constantly observed by members of the faculty. Among other points following shall be given special attention. 3.1 Knowledge of the syllabus and the text to be taught. 3.2 Ability to explain the topic to be taught and getting the message across. 3.3 Ability to draw the students' attention to the lessons content and again take them from the given text to the realm of application and widen their knowledge of vocabulary, phrases and idioms, proverbs, and information base. 3.4 Ability to guide the students in mastering all the four skills with special emphasis on speech making (using adequate pause, stress and appropriate loudness) debating, story-telling etc. 3.5 Ability to guide the students to express in both oral and written forms. 3.6 Ability and skill to correct students' scripts enabling them to know the incorrectness. 3.7 Ability to inspire students to make fair copies. 3.8 Class room management skills. 3.9 Ability to maintain his own voice quality (viz., raising and falling of voice, control of speed and loudness, correctness in pronunciation/accent, pausing modulating intonation, clarity and all the like). 3.10 Giving and correcting adequate homework. 3.11 Any other activity the B.Ed., college decides to include for observation. 4. Viva-Voce : 20 marks There shall be the component of viva-voce which will carry 20 marks. It will help the B.Ed. trainees complement their performance. It is possible that some trainees can not express themselves properly in all aspects as situations in the particular class do not demand. Or some might have some better ideas which they could not express because of time. Or some might have developed some wonderful ideas/models/teaching aid which they could not demonstrate before. Or there could be some shy trainees who can not perform on their own but could do wonderfully in table-talk or quizzing. It is also possible that the members of faculty of B.Ed. colleges have some important points to ask in viva-voce, or cross examine some items of activities already seen for internal assessment. 5. Internal Assessment : 50 marks This has already been dealt under the section 'Activities'. The trainees shall be assessed on the performance of these activities. F. References Each training college will enlist about 10 books touching the course contents given above as reference books. It would be ideal if the training colleges in the country prepare a common bibliography and attend it at the end of the syllabus. G. Accessibility of the Syllabus This syllabus shall be an open document and be accessible to all concerned. Every teacher and student of B.Ed. course shall possess a copy of this syllabus. H. Revision and Updating This syllabus shall be subject to revision and updating every five years. All training colleges will note the points of its weakness, inadequacies and excesses from time to time. Points of view of educationists and general public shall also be welcome.