Do not Teach Tamil in Tamil school

Me:	Do not teach Tamil in Tamil school.
You:	என்ன சொன்னீங்க? மறுபடியும் சொல்லுங்க.
Me:	Do not teach Tamil in Tamil school.
You:	என்னது …… !!!
Me:	Yes, you heard me. If you want our next generation to master Tamil, do not teach Tamil.
You:	Are you sure you are alright?
Me:	Yes, I got your attention then. Let us chat further?
You:	சரி, பேசலாம்.
Me:	Sure, we all want the next generation in the diaspora to "learn" Tamil. I will get to the term "learn" little later. For the sake of simplicity let us use the word "learn" for now.
You:	Tell me what you mean by Do not teach Tamil in Tamil school.
Me:	I am getting there. But, note that I did not say Do not teach "Tamil". Please read this as Do not "teach" Tamil.
You:	Ok, I feel I am getting something, but I am not really getting it. Make it explicit.
Me:	See, we want these kids to get Tamil, use them in communication context freely, read good number of books in Tamil, and appreciate Tamil. We also want them to take Tamil to their next generation and we want every generation to repeat this forever. So, we want to prepare them for this; that is, use Tamil in real life. We all know that the kids coming to Tamil school starting at the age of 5 are not that keen in learning Tamil, taking to next generation, or even taking to themselves. Hence they do not care about learning the mechanics of the language. What do they want at that age? They all want to have fun. Dr. Ray says All kids virtually learn language in context. So, instead of teaching the language, let us create context so they can pickup Tamil from there. Let us look at an interesting quote. We cannot really teach a language; we can only create conditions under which it will develop in the mind in it's own way -- Von Humboldt in 1836.
You:	What does this really mean?
Me:	It means it is not possible to teach a language. We can only create learning opportunities from which the learners acquire as much language as they can.

Summary

Do not just “teach” Tamil; use it to teach other interesting, compelling, relevant, and useful content. The content that will enhance knowledge or skill in a topic other than Tamil. So, I am saying use Tamil as the language of instruction to teach something else.

Why? Because there are some fundamental problems in teaching a language. They are:

• language learning is dry
• kids are not that motivated to learn a second language; they are just interested in having fun.
• Learning a language does not help them to retain it for long term.

Let us also understand the kids attitude towards learning such as:

• grown up kids enjoy gaining new knowledge or skill that are useful in life.
• interesting content attracts and motivates learners
• they find it easy to learn something new

Some beliefs on language acquisition:

• the language acquisition takes place slowly, gradually, and naturally
• language retention should be higher
• assign the responsibility to learn to the learners; because they need to enjoy the class and they have no choice than learning.

Techniques

You:	Okay, I got it. So, how do I help them “learn” Tamil then?
Me:	Let me explain this with some examples.

Example 1, Teach how to do Thoppukkaranam to the beginners.

It is proven that doing thoppukkaranam activates brain cells and that helps the kids to perform better.

This may not be that fun, but it does have cognitive and physical value and it also involves the kids in an activity. This helps with muscle learning as Dr. Asher says. The most important thing is to do the whole class in Tamil; do not use English at all.

Refer to Dr. Asher’s TPR (Total Physical Response). Source: Teaching Language through Actions.

Example 2: Tell a story.

Ask kids whether they will prefer to do language drills or listen to a fun story. I am sure 90+% of the kids will prefer stories. So tell them a story in Tamil that they will understand and enjoy.

Godzilla story.

Refer to TPRS. Source: Teaching proficiency through reading and storytelling.

Example 3: Teach an interesting content

The high school kids may find learning some math tricks interesting and useful. Teach them the math tricks in Tamil. Again the most important thing is to teach the whole content in Tamil; do not use English at all.

Refer to CBI (Content Based Instruction) or TBLT (Task Based Language Teaching).

What is learning?

It is about knowing. Learning in language concept is to know [about] the language. What is the purpose of learning? To score high marks or use in real life?

Thanks

Logu

தாய் மொழிக் கற்றலின் அவசியம்

நாம் ஏன் தாய்மொழி கற்கவேண்டும்? நாம் ஏன் பெற்ற தாயிடம் பேசவேண்டும் என்று கேட்டால் எப்படி பதில் சொல்வது? நமக்கு உயிர் கொடுத்தவள் தாய்! நமக்கு அடையாளம் கொடுத்தது நம் தாய்மொழியல்லவா! நாம் யார் என்னும் கேள்விக்கு ஒரே பதில் நம் மொழியும் நம் கலாச்சாரமும் மட்டும்தானே என்கிறார் பேராசிரியர் முனைவர் ஹார்ட் அவர்கள்.

கண்ணுடையர் என்பவர் கற்றோர் முகத்திரண்டு

புண்ணுடையர் கல்லா தவர்

இது தன் தாய்மொழியை பேசவோ எழுதப் படிக்கவோ முடியாதவர்களுக்கும் பொருந்தும் அல்லவா?

நாம் நம் எண்ணங்களையும் உணர்வுகளை வெளியிடும்போது நம் தாய்மொழியைத்தான் முதலில் பயன்படுத்துவோம் என்கிறார் முனைவர் ஹார்ட். ஆதலால் அந்த தாய்மொழியறிவு இல்லையென்றால் நாம் வெளிப்படுத்த நினைக்கும் விஷயங்களைக் கூட சரியாக செய்யமுடியாமல் போகலாம் அல்லவா?  தாய்மொழியை கற்காமல் வேற்று மொழிகளை மட்டுமே கற்பவர்கள் எந்த ஒரு மொழியிலும் மொழித்திறமை பெறாதவர்களாகவே இருக்கின்றனர் என்னும் அதிர்ச்சித் தகவலையும் அளிக்கிறார் முனைவர் ஹார்ட் அவர்கள். பல மொழிகளைக் கற்போம், ஆனால், ஒரு மொழியை, அதாவது தாய்மொழியை, கசடற கற்போம்.

இங்குள்ள சூழ்நிலையால் இங்கு வளரும் பிள்ளைகளுக்கு தமிழ் அவர்கள் தாய்மொழியல்ல, அது அவர்களின் தாயின் மொழி என்கிறார் மொழியியல் பேராசிரியர் முனைவர் குமார் அவர்கள். இங்குள்ள நம் பிள்ளைகள் தமிழை அவர்களின் தாயின் மொழியாக மட்டும் கருதாமல், தங்கள் தாய்மொழியாகவே உள்ளூர உணர்ந்து தமிழர்களாக வளர, தமிழர்களாக வாழ வழிசெய்து கொடுக்க அயராது உழைக்கும்  அனைவருக்கும் பாராட்டுக்கள்!

குழந்தைகள் சிறு வயதில் மொழி கற்கும் இயந்திரங்களாக இருப்பது இயற்கை அதிசயங்களில் ஒன்று. மூன்று முதல் எட்டு வயது பிள்ளைகள் எந்த மொழியையும் இரும்பைக் கவரும் காந்தம் போல பற்றிக்கொள்கிறார்கள். மேலும் பலமொழி கற்பதால் மூளை வளர்ச்சி அடைவது ஆய்வின் மூலம் கண்டுபிடிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது என்றும் கூறுகிறார் முனைவர் குமார். எனவே இங்குள்ள பிள்ளைகள் ஆங்கிலத்தோடு தாய்மொழி தமிழ் படிப்பது அவர்களுக்கு மற்ற துறையிலும் சிறந்து செயல்பட உதவும்.

தாய்மொழி என்பது பல நூற்றாண்டுகளாக நம் மூதாதையர் பேசிப் பழகிய மொழி. அது நம் மரபணுக்குள் ஆழப் பதிந்துள்ள மொழி. ஏற்கெனவே நமக்குள் நல்ல வளர்ச்சி பெற்றுள்ள மொழியைப் படிப்பதால் உண்டாகும் நண்மைகள் வேறு புதிய மொழி படிப்பதன் மூலம் எப்படி உண்டாக முடியும்? தாய்மொழி பேசுவதாலும், படிப்பதாலும் மட்டுமே நாம் ஒரு மொழியில் புலமை அடைய முடியும்.

நம்முள் ஏற்கெனவே உள்ள தாய்மொழியில் நல்லதோர் தேர்ச்சி பெற்றால் அந்த திறன் மற்ற மொழிகளை எளிதில் கற்க உதவும் என்கிறது ஒரு ஆய்வு. தமிழை ஆழக்கற்றதனால்தானே பாரதியாரால் அத்தனை மொழிகளை சிறப்பாக கற்க முடிந்தது.

தாய்மொழி தமிழை நாம் நன்றாக கற்கவில்லையென்றால் நம் மொழியில் குவிந்துள்ள ஏராளமான இலக்கிய செல்வங்களை நாம் அனுபவிப்பது எப்படி?

“இந்த magazine editor என்னிடம் ஒரு article எழுதச் சொல்லி request பண்ணார். நான் எந்த topic--இல் develop பண்றதுன்னு think பண்ணி think பண்ணி எனக்கு headache தான் வந்தது. Final-லா இந்த topic-லேயே publish பண்ணா super--ஆ இருக்கும்னு decide பண்ணி ஓரளவு complete பண்ணிட்டேன்.”

இது என்ன மொழி? இதுதான் தமிழா? என்று கேட்கத் தோன்றுகிறதல்லவா? இதே போக்கில் சென்றால் நாளை நம் சந்ததியினர் பேசப்போகும் தழிழ் எப்படி இருக்கும் என்று நினைத்துப்பார்க்கவே பயமாக இருக்கிறதல்லவா? இந்த நிலை வராமல் இருக்க நாம் நம் பிள்ளைகளிடம் தமிழில் பேசுவோம். தமிழை கற்க வைப்போம். நாம் நம் பிள்ளைகளுக்கு கொடுக்கும் சொத்துக்களில் சிறந்த சொத்து நம் மொழியையும் கலாச்சாரத்தையும் அவர்களுக்கு சரிவர கொடுப்பதுதானே.

நன்றி

லோகநாதன் வெங்கடாசலம்

Testing - Look what I found!

A teacher once said "the monthly tests take too much time."

A Conversation teacher asked "how can we test conversation and ensure each student gained the skill?"

These questions made me to look into testing of language classes. What do Ray and Krashen say? What does Douglas Brown say? What do successful schools and countries do?

After going over several testing methods, landed on the testing method used in Finland. Finland has the world's best education system ranking near the top consistently since 2000 in the international testing. So, they must have a good testing system, right? Let us see.

How do they test? Nothing. Meaning? Yes, they do nothing. That is, they do not give any tests until the student reach the age of 16. Starting kindergarten at 7, a student will be in 9th grade at 16. The tests are conducted when they reach 9th grade. What! So, how do they know the kids are learning then?

This means our Tamil schools that teach up to the age 13 usually and grade 7, does not have to conduct any tests at all then. Is that right?

Language experts say testing does not help a learner learn anything. Testing consumes too much time that can be used productively. The total time spent for preparing for the test, conducting the tests, correcting, grading, and maintaining the logs all can be used to help the students to acquire more language.

I am not saying testing is wrong, but, I believe tests are not worth the investment; the value add is very low.

If you google for US education vs Finland education you will find the following:

• US ranks around 20 while Finland ranks near the top.
• US spends huge amount of time and money for standardized testing while Finland does no such thing.

Ken Robinson goes to the extent of saying the US is trailing in education because of the testing craze!

Do we have any study that confirms testing adds value to the community language education other than using it for promotions and reporting to the parents?

There is another advantage in not having tests. The student drop outs will drop (out)!  

Testing is too narrow; what this means is that the focus is too narrow. It goes against how we acquire language; if we teach 100 words, the students will save 50 in memory, and only use 25 in output. Also which 25 will be used depends on the individual. So, if we give test that tests 25 words, no matter what strategy you use to pick, you are not going to come out with a test system that will test the skills of most of the students. Hence the testing goes against how the language is acquired. I would say the testing is a scam!

Testing wastes precious class time

A typical community language school runs once a week for about 1-2 hours a week. Assuming a test is given once a month, the test, and the preparation for the test, requires about 2 hours for each test. That is 2 hours out of 8 hours is used for testing. That is 25% of wasted time.

The testing puts unnecessary pressure on kids who have low motivation to learn their heritage language.

Refer to the chapter "Testing, Testing" in "Creative schools book by Ken Robinson.

Alternate approach

How do we know the learners are learning? This is a good and important question. One idea we can use is to give them a real life task or problem, and ask them to complete the task or solve the problem in the class. The task/problem has to be interesting and meaningful. The task can integrate the language skills we want the kids to acquire. From their completed work we will know how much they know. Using the end product we can asses who needs additional language training.

Conclusion

I do not see any good reason why we have to have tests in community schools. Tracking student progress, reporting to parents are low values at a very high cost of pressure on students, sacrificing real learning opportunity, and losing time on low value tasks.

Most importantly the test scores does not represent actual language skill. Most students spend 30 - 60 minutes before the test preparing, and score over 90% in the test. The typical problem here is that most of what is prepared for the test is forgotten few days after the tests are over; the test taker keep the materials in their short term memory and most are trashed away after the test. Real learning takes place when the language skill is pushed to the long term memory. In case of test preparation the push to long term memory does not take place.

Let us cancel all the formal tests. Conduct informal assessment in the class every day. Use it to plan for next class and report to the parents.

Thanks
Logu

Creating a lesson plan

It is important to plan a lesson so we can use the class time effectively and be efficient in producing results. Without a lesson plan it will be கண்ணைக் கட்டி காட்டில் விட்டது மாதிரி. Here is a suggestion for a lesson plan.

Format

A lesson plan should have the following elements:

1. Goal of the day
2. Objectives to reach that goal
3. Materials and equipment needed to do the class
4. Class procedures/activities
5. Teacher selected activity
6. Evaluate that the learner learned
7. Extra class work aka homework

Class schedule

How would a typical class look like? Experts suggest breaking the long classes into small activities. I recommend the following schedule for a 90 minutes class.

Activity	Time (mins)
Warm up	5
Lesson	20
Break	5
Lesson	20
Break	5
Lesson	10
Teacher planned activity	15
Evaluation	5
Homework	5

Warm up

Welcome the students, the students settle down, and start a short warm up converstion.

Breaks

The research says 18-20 minutes is the optimal amount of time the brain can concentrate on one thing. It needs to stretch, relax, and recharge for at least 5 minutes after every 20 minutes. This 5 minutes break after every 20 minutes helps the learners to grab more content than they can in 90 minutes stretch. Depending on the grade level, we can use these breaks to use restroom, stretch, have a small talk with classmates, etc.

Goal

What is the goal of the day, that is the overall purpose of today’s class? What should the learners be able to do at the end of the lesson? Make sure this statement does not say what the teacher will do in the class. Make it what the learners be able to do at the end of the class.  Let us not start the class without clear understanding of this goal. Without a goal, it is difficult to produce quality result.

Objectives

What steps shall we take to reach the goal mentioned above? Provide the list of interim goals to reach that big goal. What will the students do to reach the goal of the day; This is like a plan. Make it explicit and avoid vague statements. Discuss the terminal and enabling objectives. A terminal objective is the end goal and the enabling objective is the steps to reach the terminal objective.

Materials and equipment

It is a good idea to list the materials and equipments we need in the class. This help the teachers and learners to plan ahead.

Class procedures

Provide the list of activities the class will do. Make sure the activities are not just teachings by teachers only. It should be activities the kids will involve in. Make sure the activities are unified towards the goal of the day. The activities could include stories, projects, discussions, simulations,etc. It will typically be warm up activity, and other class activities as a whole class, small groups, teacher talk, student talk, and closure.

Example: if the goal is to help them have a phone conversation, jumping to an historical story is a misalignment.

Teacher selected activity

It is highly impossible for external curriculum developer to know everything the class would need. So, it is a good idea to give time for teachers to plan the activities relevant and interesting to their students. Allocate 15 minutes in the schedule for this.

Evaluate

How do we know the learners learned what we want to them to? This is not a test. Perform informal assessment. Dr. Ray suggests we check for comprehension with the benchmark students. This will eliminate the need for separate test. Separate tests take too much time and they do not help the learners to learn anything. These regular evaluation should tell a teacher where the student is and make plan for next classes accordingly. I do not recommend periodic tests at all. This weekly evaluation should be the main tool to know where the students are. Stay away from giving marks, grades, etc.

Extra class work aka homework

The homework need not be done at home alone. It can be done in the class with the help of the teacher. Discuss homework. If the students have time they can do the homework in the class.

Another Approach

This model suggests breaking the class into multiple small activities. Depending on the skill level of the student, we can even plan just one activity that covers the language aspects and ask the students to work on it. Please see TBLT for more information. A big advantage with this approach is that we involve the students in an interesting activity, and when they complete the task we know they learned the lessons. So, a separate testing can be completely avoided.

Lesson Plan Development Process

Begin with end in mind

• Understand and write down the learning goal.
• What do you want the learners to be able to do after the class?

Seek to understand your learners first

• Understand the learners, their interests and needs
•  What do they want or plan to accomplish from this class?
• What do they plan to do with the acquired knowledge or skill?

Think Win-Win

• Break the bigger goal into smaller goals. For each small goal, develop an activity for about 20 minutes of time.

Synergize

• Work with the learners.
• Be guide on the side.

Sharpen the saw

• Get their feedback on the goal, content, the activities etc.
• Make plan to learn and improve from these feedback.

Conclusion

There are many ways a class lesson can be planned. This is one way generally accepted by majority of the language teachers. The general idea is taken from Teaching By Principles by Douglas Brown. Ideas like 15 minutes for teacher planned activity and the breaks in the middle are mine.

Thanks

Logu