‘English teachers should know needs of students’

Nagpur:

English teachers

in India face issues like lack of resources, time and demotivated students. Therefore, there is a greater need to give support to these teachers so that they are better equipped to understand the requirements of students and motivate them to learn the language, said Richard Smith, associate professor of English at Warwick University, UK, on Thursday.

Smith said, “English is an Indian language considering it is widely used for communication. The way people communicate here should come from within. So, it is important that teachers are equipped to teach the language correctly.” He was speaking at a two-day international seminar organized by GS College of Commerce and All India Network of English Teachers (AINET) to help English teachers understand their students and overcome challenges during teaching.

The programme, titled ‘International Teacher Research Conference’, was aimed at finding solutions to problems faced by English teachers while teaching the language.

Smith and other academicians were invited to the conference by British Council (BC) and Regional English Language Office (RELO) of the US Embassy, which also supported the programme. The experts conducted interactive sessions with teachers from around the country.

Amy Lightfoot, assistant director of English for Education Systems (EES) of BC, conducted a session on profiling students. Her focus was on exploring learner profiles or case studies as a form of classroom research.

Lightfoot told TOI that it is a good time now to motivate teachers and help them improve on their capabilities. She said, “The government of India is making serious efforts to improve the education system by providing resources for teachers’ professional development and classroom learning. Teachers here are expected to do a lot of things other than teaching. They are called for election and other administrative work which is frustrating.”