TDU 01 PDF Version - The Open University

Secondary English
Unit 1:
English around us
Teacher Education
through School-based
Support in India
www.TESS-India.edu.in
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
The TESS-India project (Teacher Education through School-based Support) aims to improve
the classroom practices of elementary and secondary teachers in India through studentcentred and activity-based approaches. This has been realised through 105 teacher
development units (TDUs) available online and downloaded in printed form.
Teachers are encouraged to read the whole TDU and try out the activities in their classroom
in order to maximise their learning and enhance their practice. The TDUs are written in a
supportive manner, with a narrative that helps to establish the context and principles that
underpin the activities. The activities are written for the teacher rather than the student,
acting as a companion to textbooks.
TESS-India TDUs were co-written by Indian authors and UK subject leads to address Indian
curriculum and pedagogic targets and contexts. Originally written in English, the TDUs have
then been localised to ensure that they have relevance and resonance in each participating
Indian state’s context.
TESS-India is led by The Open University and funded by UKAID from the Department for
International Development.
Version 1.0
Except for third party materials and otherwise stated, this content is made available under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bysa/3.0/
Contents
Introduction
1
Learning outcomes
2
1
Why do people need to know different languages?
3
2
English in other languages
5
3
Spoken English around us
9
4
Written English around us
13
5
Summary
17
6
Resources
18
Resource 1: Further reading
Resource 2: Article from the Hindustan Times
Resource 3: Lyrics of the song ‘English Vinglish’
18
18
19
Related units
22
7
References
23
Acknowledgements
24
Introduction
Introduction
India is a multilingual country and most people speak two if not three
languages with varying degrees of proficiency. By the time learners reach
secondary level in schools, most people can read and write in at least two
languages, one of which is most likely to be English. Most speakers of
English in India learn and acquire literacy in English in the formal school
setting.
In this unit, you learn how English is more than just a school subject; it is
yet another language that may be used for everyday communication and
reading and writing.
Across India, people know and use many different languages for different
purposes. Some languages are used only to speak with family members and
relatives at home, while others may be used to talk and communicate with
friends and peers in the playground or in the school outside the class. Yet
another language may be used to read and write, or learn school subjects.
All these languages interact with each other and people often borrow and
lend words and terms from different languages to communicate better.
Multiple language use is enriching and enables people to express, share and
store varied experiences and knowledge.
Along with indigenous languages – that is, languages native to India –
English has a vibrant presence in India. While many people want to be able
to speak English fluently and well, much like people whose native language
is English, very often they study it only as a school subject. But learning to
communicate in English like people who use English for their everyday
work and experiences is difficult, complex and challenging.
Too often the study of English is reduced to a school subject. It is forgotten
that it is a language that has gained from and given to the Indian languages.
To advance in the world, whether the world of employment or education,
people need to be good at different languages – including English. To be
able to learn and use English with more confidence, it is necessary to think
about language itself, and English as a language.
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English around us
Learning outcomes
After studying this unit, you should be able to:
2
.
identify how much English you already know that you can build on
.
use the English present in your environment to learn more English
.
use different media (such as songs) to learn more English.
1 Why do people need to know different languages?
1 Why do people need to know
different languages?
Languages are the medium through which people communicate experiences
and knowledge of the world. The more languages that people know and can
use, the more their experiences and knowledge will grow. English is the
language being used by more and more people all over the world to share
knowledge and experiences.
People become better in learning and using languages when they have
something interesting and unique to say. Research into bilingualism and
multilingualism (that is, being able to use two or more languages) by experts
such as Jim Cummins (2001) and Rama Kant Agnihotri (2008; Nruparaj
Mahananda, 2013), also tells us that proficiency in the first – or home –
language can help to learn a second or third language like English more
easily (see Resource 1).
Now do an activity in which you consider the different languages that you
use.
Activity 1: Thinking about language use in everyday
life
Most people in India know two if not three languages. They speak
different languages in different situations and use different languages for
reading and writing in formal and informal contexts. Read what one
teacher says about the language she uses:
What about you? What languages do you speak, read and write? How
do you use the languages that you know? Fill in a table in the format
provided below. To help you do so, think about these questions:
.
How many different languages do you know?
.
Where and with whom do you speak these languages?
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English around us
.
How and where did you learn them?
.
What kinds of exchanges do you have in these languages?
.
Which languages can you read and write in?
.
What do you read and write in each of these languages?
Language
I know
I speak, read,
write or
understand it
Where I
use this
language
With whom
I use this
language
English words
I use while
using this
language
Why do you think people use so many different languages in the
different work and home contexts of their everyday lives? Compare your
thoughts with the notes in the discussion below.
Discussion
Here are some reasons:
.
The different languages help maintain the boundaries between the
different areas of their lives.
.
Other languages do not have the words to express the experiences
and concepts relevant to that particular language (e.g. in Hindi there
is no equivalent word for ‘strawberries’).
.
There are simpler, more familiar words in one language. Words such
as ‘pen’, ‘pencil’, ‘train’, ‘bus’ from English are now commonplace in
Hindi.
Did you think of any other reasons? You could add them to the list.
So far in this unit you have been reflecting about how English is another
language that helps you to learn about the world and express and
communicate your experiences and knowledge.
In the rest of this unit you read some case studies and activities that help
you and your students to reflect on the English in the local environment. As
your students learn from English in their environment, watch them become
more confident and proficient learners and users of the language.
4
2 English in other languages
2 English in other languages
English is a language much like any other language you already know, and
you can use it to talk about your experiences and thoughts and ideas. In
some situations it is easier to use English to communicate, especially with
people who speak different home languages. It is quite often the only ‘link
language’. English is not just a subject in which you read stories, poems and
other lessons in your textbook.
If you think about it, you already know a lot of English words. In
Activity 1, you wrote a list of English words that appear in other languages
you speak. Can you add any more words to the list? Think of words such as
‘bus’, ‘station’, ‘school’, ‘pen’ or ‘pencil’, which have come from English
into our everyday use, or ‘pyjama’, ‘jungle’, ‘bungalow’, ‘curry’ and
‘coolie’, which have gone from Indian languages into English.
Now read a case study about Mrs Singh, whose daughter Preeti is anxious
about starting a new job in a big city where she is expected to know a fair
bit of English.
Case Study 1: Mrs Singh’s daughter gets a new job
in the city
Mrs Singh was very excited that her daughter Preeti had just landed a
very good job in Mumbai with a prestigious company. She couldn’t wait
to share the news with her friend and colleague Mrs Sen. Over their
well-earned cup of tea during the school recess, along with her
excitement and pride, Mrs Singh confided to her friend some of the
concerns Preeti had about her new job.
Preeti was very happy. She had just received her appointment letter
from the company she had applied to the previous June. It was
November now and she still could not believe that she, Preeti Dang of
Guwahati, would soon be a bona fide Mumbaikar!
‘Wow! Preeti!’
‘Congratulations, all the best!’
‘We’ll come and stay with you soon.’
Her friends were very happy for her. That night, after her friends had
gone, she went to talk to her parents. With them, she could let her
doubts and fears emerge.
‘How will I manage? My English is not so good. I can’t speak it very
fluently, I have a very limited vocabulary and I don’t have much
confidence! All the others who had applied looked so smart and
aggressive and know-all!’
‘Your English will improve and I cannot believe that you would ever
survive on only a few words, my precious child!’ said her father, stroking
5
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English around us
her hair. ‘And as for aggression, I promise you, in just three months you
will be just as quick with your words!
Preeti smiled; she knew her father was trying to console her. ‘But Papa,
that is the trouble, I don’t have the words! I don’t know English. How will
I manage?’
‘English is just a language, like any other language. Remember when
you were little, we lived in Kolkata and you knew such good Bengali.
You had a tough time in your nursery school when we shifted to Delhi.
Everyone found it so funny when you, a pukka Punjabi, spoke with this
soft Bengali accent!’
‘What? I don’t remember that at all!’ Preeti laughed. ‘I don’t believe it!’
‘Oh, yes. I nearly forgot!’ her mother said. ‘Preeti, always remember two
things. You know more English than you think; the English use so many
Indian words, like “curry”, “bungalow”, “dacoit”, “jungle”, “cot” … even
your “cushy job”.’ Her mother had a twinkle in her eye. ‘“Cushy” comes
from our “Khushi”, their “pyjamas” are the same as our “pajamas”. Their
“verandah” comes from Hindi, and best of all, their “shampoo” comes
from the Indian “champi”!’
Preeti was intrigued. I didn’t know that, she thought.
‘But besides that, just think in your everyday Hindi how many words of
English you use already,’ her mother told her. Preeti thought for a
minute and said, ‘No, I hardly use English.’
‘Really?’ said her mother, ‘Do you go to school or to the paathshaala?
Do you use a kalam or a pen to write with on your copy? You go to the
post office or the bank. You take the bus if you have to go somewhere
… somewhere like the market … even bazaar has become English! You
say “left” and “right”. You say “Good morning” to your teacher, whom
you call Madam or Sir. In the morning, you will have a biscuit with your
tea. And what were you chatting with your friends about? That boy in
your college, you said he had personality! Have you realised that these
are all English words?’
Her father smiled as he looked at Preeti. ‘It was – what do you call it in
your school? – yes, an exchange programme. The English took some of
our words and added it to their language and we have done the same.
All technical study, all higher studies in the sciences are conducted in
English… that is what your uncle, who works in IIT, told me. In fact, take
your uncle – you would call him an engineer.’
Preeti hugged her parents and thanked them with all her heart. They
had given her so much confidence; she felt she would be able to handle
anything that she would have to face in Mumbai in her new BPO job.
Now that her parents had opened her eyes to how much English she
already knew, the words just kept coming at her as she lay in bed,
trying to sleep. She had a million things to do before she left but all she
could think of was how she would put on lipstick, wear a nice suit, sling
her bag over her shoulder and head to her office. The only difference
6
2 English in other languages
would be that now she knew she was thinking in English with a bit of
Hindi in it.
'Hmm,’ she thought as she finally slipped into slumber. ‘Just like all the
other English!’
Activity 2: Try in the classroom: English in other
languages
So far in this unit, you have thought about the languages that you use in
your daily life and about the English that is used along with these
languages.
Here is an activity that you can do in your classroom to help your
students reflect on the languages – including English – that they use in
daily life.
1 Draw the following table on the board and tell your students to
copy it in their notebooks.
Language
I know
I speak, read,
write or
understand it
Where I
use this
language
With whom
I use this
language
English words
I use while
using this
language
2 Complete the first row of the table, using yourself as an example.
Language
I know
I speak, read,
write or
understand it
Where I
use this
language
With whom
I use this
language
English words
I use while
using this
language
Hindustani
speak
At home
With my
parents and
siblings
Bus, car,
school,
university
3 Put your students into groups of five or six. Tell them to complete
the table in groups, one row per student. Give them a time limit to
do this, for example, 10–15 minutes.
4 When most students are ready, stop the activity and invite some
students to share the discussion. Spend some time on the final
column: ‘English words I use while using this language’.
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English around us
Pause for thought
After trying this activity with your students, think about the following
questions:
.
Were your students surprised by how many English words they use
in their daily lives?
.
Do your students feel positive about the number of languages that
they speak? If not, how can make them feel positive?
Tell your students about what you have learnt in this unit.
8
3 Spoken English around us
3 Spoken English around us
It is a common experience of teachers that when students are asked to speak
in English in the class, they usually go quiet. Teachers carry away the
impression that the students don’t have anything to say. What could be the
reason for this?
.
Students don’t know enough English to speak confidently.
.
Students are not encouraged to try out the English they know.
.
Students are shy and anxious about airing their pronunciation and/or
limited English in public.
What if students are allowed to combine the English they know with their
local languages in the initial stages while speaking? Mixing languages like
this is also known as code-switching, or code-mixing. You can read more
about this in Resource 1.
There is a lot of spoken English in the environment around us, including
songs on the radio and TV. If you listen to popular songs in Hindi, Tamil,
Telugu or any other Indian language you may have noticed how many of
them use words and phrases from English. See Resource 2 for an article
about this topic from the Hindustan Times.
Pause for thought
What do you think of the practice of including English words with local
languages in popular songs? Do you enjoy such songs? Why or why
not?
Now read a case study featuring a teacher who uses a popular song to teach
his students about how English words are combined with local languages.
Case Study 2: Bhushan uses a local language
song with English words in the classroom
It was the third week of the new term. Bhushan, an English teacher at
the government school in the small town where he lived, was getting
ready for another day of teaching. He had been looking forward to this
term. He had attended a week-long in-service training programme
during the vacation. The resource person had been full of ideas and
suggestions that the teachers could use to make their classes more
engaging and interesting for the students.
I signed up for the training programme as I had lately begun to feel that
I had reached a sort of dead end with my students. Despite my best
efforts, I couldn’t get them to learn enough English. I did all the
exercises in the textbook with my students and on their part too they
worked very sincerely. The training programme gave me some hope and
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English around us
I promised myself that I would try and implement at least a few of the
ideas.
However, over the following weeks I wasn’t able to bring about much
change in their learning. I was still thinking about the school, my classes
and the students, when my thoughts were interrupted by the squeals of
two young schoolgirls who had also boarded the same bus I get to
school everyday. Unable to help myself, I started to listen to their
conversation. They seemed to be discussing a new film. Soon one of
the girls started to sing a song from the film. I listened to the sweet
young voice and was soon caught up in the song. How many English
words there were in the song!
As soon as the bus reached the stop near the school I alighted and
rushed to the staffroom. The conversation of the girl students and the
song had reminded me of one of the suggestions of the resource person
– about using songs and music as a teaching resource in the
classroom.
I found Bharat, my colleague who had recently bought a new
smartphone. I asked if he could download the song from the film,
English Vinglish, that the girls had been singing (see Resource 3).
He was happy to do so and lent the phone to me to take to my English
class. I greeted my students with a wide smile and said:
As I began to play the song from the smartphone, I saw wide grins on
the faces of my students and then they broke into spontaneous
applause.
I was a happy man. I had finally found a key to unlock the potential in
my students and connect with them. I thought of a number of activities
to follow up playing the song. I just knew that this term was going to be
different.
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3 Spoken English around us
In the next two activities you can try out these ideas for yourself.
Activity 3: Try in the classroom: using songs in
the classroom
In the case study, you read about a teacher who used a song containing
English words in his classroom. You can do the same in your
classroom. Follow these steps:
1 Ask students to bring in lyrics of songs in their local languages
that incorporate English words and phrases. It doesn’t matter if
some of your students don’t bring in lyrics – you just need a few
copies.
2 In your next English lesson, divide your students into groups of
four or five and provide each group with a copy of some lyrics.
First, let students identify the words or phrases in English used in
the song.
3 Next, ask each group to try and translate the English words into
the local language. Give them a few minutes to do as much as
they can.
4 Finally, ask students these questions:
◦
Is it possible to translate the English words into the local
language?
◦
How do the English words affect on the song? Do they make the
song better?
◦
Think about how some things can be best said in a particular
language only.
Pause for thought
After trying this activity in class, think about the following questions:
.
Was it easy for your students to find songs with English words? Can
you find more songs in your local language that use English words?
Or entire songs in English from movies in your local language?
.
Were your students able to translate the English? If not, why not?
.
What did your students think about this activity? Did they enjoy it?
Activity 4: More activities to do with songs
In the case study, the teacher thought of a number of activities to follow
up playing the song. Can you think of some activities that you could do
with this song or similar songs in the classroom? If possible, discuss
this with a colleague and make notes.
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Discussion
Now compare your ideas with the ones below. Are they similar? Did you
think of other activities? Add them to the list.
.
Encourage students to partially or completely translate the Hindi/
local language songs that they like into English.
.
Have a competition for the Hindi/local language song that has been
translated into English, retains its meaning and can still be sung to
the same tune.
.
Write the lyrics on the board (in roman script) and ask students to
circle all the English words in the song.
.
Discuss why you think songwriters use English in Hindi/local
language songs.
Pause for thought
Try one of the activities from your own list, or the list in the discussion
section above, with your class. After trying the activity in class, think
about the following questions:
.
Did the activity work well? If not, why not?
.
What would you change if you did this activity again?
If you have access to the internet, watch this clip of an interview with
well-known lyricist Prasoon Joshi about the trend of using English words
in local language songs. Do you agree with his views?
12
4 Written English around us
4 Written English around us
Have you come across words such as ‘Hinglish’, ‘Tenglish’, ‘Tanglish’ and
‘Banglish’? Do you know what they mean? ‘Hinglish’ is a mixture of Hindi
and English, ‘Tenglish’ a mixture of Telugu and English, ‘Tanglish’ a
mixture of Tamil and English, and ‘Banglish’ a mixture of Bengali and
English.
Can you think of where you might have seen or heard ‘Hinglish’, ‘Tenglish’,
‘Tanglish’ or ‘Banglish’?
Look at the images in Figure 1. Can you identify the English words in the
predominantly Hindi images and Hindi words in the predominantly English
images?
Figure 1 A series of signs with Hindi and English text.
If you look around, you will find many more such examples of
advertisements and other printed items that have words from English as well
as the local language. Sometimes the words are translated from the local
language into English and sometimes the English words are represented in
the script of the local language. Why do you think the English words aren’t
always translated into the local language?
In the next case study you will read about a teacher who makes use of the
print she sees in her environment as she travels around her town carrying out
her everyday activities. This is followed by an activity that you can do by
yourself and with your students.
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Case Study 3: Manjula teaches her students that
English is not a foreign language
Manjula looked at her class of tenth graders. They read what she had
written on the board and then they looked at her. She waited for the
morning buzz to subside. Her students were from non-English speaking
homes and they found English very complex and very confusing. Right
now, they seemed to find their teacher a bit confusing too.
‘Can anyone read aloud what I have written and comment upon it?’ she
asked.
There was the normal expectant hush and then Rashmi stood up.
‘Madam, you are saying that English is not a foreign language, but how
can that be? All of our states have their own language – Assamese
speak Assamese, Punjabis speak Punjabi, and so on – and we have no
English state.’
‘Very well answered, Rashmi. But the British left us their language and
we have used it to talk to each other and to the world,’ said Manjula.
‘Today, on the bus, on my way to school, I kept my notebook and pencil
in my hand and these are some of the words I saw along the roads, on
autorickshaws, outside buildings: “Road closed”, “Subway”, “Speed
limit”, “Horn prohibited” and “Beware of the dog” (this was outside a
house). On the back of an autorickshaw, I saw the he planned to rent
out that space and he wanted people to contact him at “autoadsdelhi.
com”.’
The teacher was happy to see that the students were all listening
intently. One boy at the back stood up. ‘Madam, all the hoardings, the
advertisements on the road, they are mostly in English; all the cars on
the road, their brand names are written in English.’
‘Good, good. Anybody else?’ asked Manjula.
Another boy, Farhan, put up his hand. ‘Madam, I had to take my mother
to the hospital yesterday. There also most of the signs outside the
rooms were in English.’
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4 Written English around us
‘Well, now that you see that you can find English words all around you
in your markets and streets, would you say that English is a foreign
language, like German or Dutch or Swahili or …’ Manjula racked her
brains, ‘Chinese or Japanese?
‘Once you start looking you will be surprised at how much English is
used in the market place. The clothes you buy, the toothpaste you use,
the stationery shops, the photocopy shops, the groceries you buy –
many of the names and brands are written in English and even the
advertisements for them use a lot of English.’
‘Now, this is your activity for the next week. While on your day-to-day
activities, you will go around on an “English alert”, and write down the
English words you see around you. Write down the words or phrase and
a short note about where you saw them.
‘Find me as many English words, directions, sentences, sayings and so
on that you can on your way to the market, to a movie or to a friend’s
house, anywhere! We will vote on who finds the most interesting
collection.’
‘Madam, madam, can we please do it in groups? I am not very good at
noticing signs on the road. I will help in the writing and …’ Neha’s voice
trailed away. What she wanted to say was it would be far more fun to do
it in groups. It always was.
The teacher understood and smiled. ‘All right, you can do it in groups.
But the lists had better be “super hits” – another phrase you can see
outside a movie hall!’
Activity 5: An English journal
In the case study, the teacher asks her students to note down any
English words that they see in their local environment. It is very useful
while learning languages to keep a journal in which you can write and
add anything interesting or remarkable that you come across.
1 Try keeping a journal for a week or so, and note down any words
or phrases that you can see in English in your local environment.
If your mobile phone is able to take photos, you could also take
photos of the words that you see.
2 Once you have experimented with keeping an English journal, ask
your students to collect printed words in English from their
environment and copy them into their own English journal or
notebook. They must also make a note of where they found the
words.
3 Put some chart paper on your classroom wall and use it for an
‘English Word Wall’. Tell your students to keep adding words and
phrases when they find something new. This will help them learn
how much English is in their environment.
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English around us
Once you and your students have collected a few words and phrases in
journals and on the word wall, discuss these questions with your class:
16
.
Do these words and phrases appear only in English, or are the local
language equivalent words found along with them? For example,
‘entrance’ (‘pravesh’ in Hindi) and ‘exit’ (‘bahar’ in Hindi) are found
printed on entrance and exit gates of public buildings in Delhi.
.
Why are certain words and messages written in English, and what
does this convey?
.
Could the same words or phrases be written in a local language?
5 Summary
5 Summary
In this unit you have read about how English is a language like any other
language. Most people in India know many different languages, which they
can speak, understand, read or write in to different extents. As people learn
other languages they may learn English. Indian languages can help people to
learn English and in turn English can help them learn and express
themselves better in their native languages. Everyone knows a lot more
English than they think they do.
The important thing is to look for and create language learning opportunities.
The more opportunities that are created for learning language, the better
everyone gets at using different languages, including English. If people start
to look and are aware, it may be possible to find at least some English in the
immediate environment; nowadays English may be found in advertisements,
messages, songs and on the TV, or at public institutions such as hospitals,
banks, market places and so on.
Learning English does not have to be confined to learning it merely from the
textbook. Keep your eyes and ears open and you will be amazed how much
English is around you, waiting for you to use it.
What key things have you learnt in this unit? Write three key things that you
have learnt.
You have had the opportunity to try some techniques out in the classroom.
.
Which techniques have worked well with your students?
.
Which activities did not work so well? Can you make any changes to
make them work better?
.
Which activities will you continue to use?
What next?
See Resource 1 for links to further reading about topics discussed in this
unit.
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6 Resources
This unit may prompt you to investigate this topic further. The following
resources and links may be helpful in exploring more and further developing
your teaching practice. You could add these links to your own collection of
teacher development resources.
Resource 1: Further reading
Find out more about bilingualism and multilingualism
.
‘Bilingual children’s mother tongue: why is it important for
education?’ (Cummins, 2001)
.
‘Multilinguality for India’ (Agnihotri, 2008)
.
‘Multilingual classroom by Ramakant Agnihotri’ (Nruparaj
Mahananda, 2013)
Find out more about code-switching
.
‘The functions of codeswitching in ELT classrooms’ (Sert, 2005)
.
Code-switching Lessons: Grammar Strategies for Linguistically
Diverse Writers (Wheeler and Swords, 2010)
Using songs in the English classroom
.
‘Using songs in the English classroom’ (Moll, 2009)
.
‘Using songs in the classroom’ (TeachingEnglish, 2011)
.
‘Using songs in the classroom’ (TeachingEnglish, 2012)
Links to songs (with activities for learners for English)
‘Using authentic songs in the ELT classroom’ (Kavanagh, 2007)
Resource 2: Article from the Hindustan
Times
Hindi songs featuring a tadka of English lyrics
We all like a bit of mix-n-match and is it any wonder that just like we
converse in Hinglish, most of our songs have Hinglish lyrics too. However,
the trend isn’t new, it’s been going on for a while now. The late ’50s and
early ’60s saw songs like ‘Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu’ (Howrah
Bridge, 1958) and ‘C-A-T, Cat... Cat Maane Billi’ (Dilli Ka Thug, 1958)
with English lyrics.
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6 Resources
The ’70s took this trend further with popular songs like ‘My Name is
Anthony Gonsalves’ (Amar Akbar Anthony, 1977), ‘My Heart is Beating’
(Julie, 1975) and ‘Monica ... Oh My Darling!’ (Caravan, 1971). The ’80s
weren’t far behind with SP Balasubramaniam crooning ‘I Don’t Know What
You Say’ (Ek Duuje Ke Liye, 1981) and Kishore Kumar singing in broken
English in ‘Naa Jaiyo Pardes’ from Karma (1986).
Our very own Anu Malik continued this trend in the ’90s with songs like
‘My Adorable Darling’ (Main Khiladi Tu Anari, 1994), ‘What is Mobile
Number’ (Haseena Maan Jayegi, 1999) and ‘Why Did You Break My Heart’
(Akele Hum Akele Tum, 1995). The new millennium has seen a surprising
rise with more and more songs featuring English lyrics. Shaan has sung
many such songs like ‘One Love’, ‘Rock n Roll Soniye’, ‘My Dil Goes
Hmmm’ and recently ‘That’s All I Really Want to Do’.
Playback singer Neeraj Shridhar, who has also been a part of many such
songs, says: ‘In many of my songs, the English influence comes naturally
and is not forced – be it “Hare Krishna Hare Ram” (Bhool Bhulaiyaa, 2007),
“I’ll Do the Talking Tonight” (Agent Vinod) or even the latest “Tumhi Ho
Bandhu” (Cocktail).’ Surely this trend is here to stay!
(Source: Sharma, 2012)
Resource 3: Lyrics of the song ‘English
Vinglish’
For a video of the song, see here.
Coffee-voffee, sugar-vugar, paper-vaper,
News-vews, clock-vock, time-vime, run-vun
Train-vain, pass-vass, late-vate, class-vass
Friendship-vendship, bonding-vonding, fun-vun
Badla nazara yun yun yun
Saara ka saara new new new
Main happy-vappy kyun kyun kyun
Main busy-vusy hoon hoon hoon
Dheeme dheeme, slowly slowly
I'm learning-vearning seekhun-veekhun nayi zubaan
I'm learning-vearning seekhun-veekhun nayi zubaan
Aflatoon (English Vinglish)
Hain junoon (English Vinglish)
Morning noon (English Vinglish ...) [×2]
It’s all about English Vinglish
Oh oh oh!
Morning noon English Vinglish
Oh oh oh!
Teda lagta hain sab kuch yun
Acchha lagta hain phir bhi kyun
I'm trying vying dekho toh
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TDU 1
English around us
I'm liking viking this that woh
Dheeme dheeme, slowly slowly I'm learning vearning
Seekhun veekhun nai zubaan
Dheeme dheeme, slowly slowly I'm learning vearning
Seekhun veekhun nai zubaan
Aflatoon (English Vinglish)
Hain junoon (English Vinglish)
Morning noon (English Vinglish ...) [×2]
It's all about English Vinglish!
Oh oh oh!
Morning noon English Vinglish!
Oh oh oh!
Kaisaa asar
Chadhaa hai sar
Ke chalte chale hum bekhabar
Rukne ko naa kaho
Chalte hi jaane do
Oh oh
Qatraa hain darr
Qatraa fikar
Kahin raahon mein hum kho naa jaaye
Raahon ko mod do
Rukne ko naa kaho, oh oh
Badlaa nazaraa
Yun yun yun
Saaraa ka saara new new new
Main happy vappy kyun kyun kyun
Mein busy vusy hun hun hun
Ha!
Aflatoon (English Vinglish)
Hain junoon (English Vinglish)
Morning noon (English Vinglish ...) [×2]
It's all about English Vinglish!
Oh oh oh!
Morning noon English Vinglish!
Oh oh oh!
Hurry vurry
Walk shalk
Train vain
Clock vlock
Late vate
Home vome
Run vun run vun
Hello vello
Food vood
Call vall
Talk valk
TV SHIVI
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6 Resources
Sleep veep
Num num num num ...
(Source: lyricsmint.com, 2012)
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TDU 1
English around us
7 Related units
22
.
TDU 9 Helping your students to listen: Find out more about using songs
and other audio files in this unit.
.
TDU 15 Beyond the textbook: Find more about using media from the
local environment in the classroom for language learning purposes
(including pictures, adverts, newspapers and news articles, and television
programmes).
References
References
Agnihotri, R.K. (2008) ‘Multilinguality in India’ (online), Seminar, no. 590,
October. Available from: http://www.india-seminar.com/2008/590/
590_rama_kant_agnihotri.htm (accessed 5 February 2014).
TeachingEnglish (2011) ‘Using songs in the classroom’ (online), British
Council/BBC. Available from: http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/
using-songs-classroom (accessed 6 February 2014).
TeachingEnglish (2012) ‘Using songs in the classroom’ (online), British
Council/BBC. Available from: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/
using-songs-classroom-0 (accessed 6 February 2014).
Cummins (2001) ‘Bilingual children’s mother tongue: why is it important for
education?’ (online), Sprog Forum, no. 19. Available from: http://www.fiplv.
org/Issues/CumminsENG.pdf (accessed 5 February 2014).
Kavanagh, F. (2007) ‘Using authentic songs in the ELT classroom’ (online),
Tune into English. Available from: http://www.tuneintoenglish.com/?
p=833 (accessed 19 February 2014).
lyricsmint.com (2012) ‘English Vinglish title song lyrics – Amit Trivedi, Shilpa
Rao’ (online), August. Available from: http://www.lyricsmint.com/2012/08/
english-vinglish-title-song-lyrics.html#ixzz2sY7AQrQn’ (accessed 6
February 2014).
Moll, H. (2009) ‘Using songs in the English classroom’ (online), Humanising
Language Teaching, vol. 11, no. 2, April. Available from: http://www.hltmag.
co.uk/apr09/less01.htm (accessed 6 February 2014).
Nruparaj Mahananda [YouTube user] (2013) ‘Multilingual classroom by
Ramakant Agnihotri (online), YouTube, 13 February. Available from: http://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=l74ULxuBM3E (accessed 19 February 2014).
Sert, O. (2005) ‘The functions of codeswitching in ELT classrooms’ (online),
The Internet TESL Journal, vol. XI, no. 8, August. Available from: http://
iteslj.org/Articles/Sert-CodeSwitching (accessed 6 February 2014).
Sharma, G. (2012) ‘Hindi songs featuring a tadka of English lyrics’ (online),
Hindustan Times, 8 August. Available from: http://www.hindustantimes.
com/StoryPage/Print/915531.aspx (accessed 6 February 2014).
Wheeler, R. and Swords, R. (2010) Code-Switching Lessons: Grammar
Strategies for Linguistically Diverse Writers, Portsmouth, NH, Heinemann.
Introduction available from: http://www.heinemann.com/shared/
onlineresources/e02610/csl_introduction.pdf(accessed 6 February 2014).
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Acknowledgements
The content of this teacher development unit was developed collaboratively
and incrementally by the following educators and academics from India and
The Open University (UK) who discussed various drafts, including the
feedback from Indian and UK critical readers: Kim Ashmore and Snehlata
Gupta.
Except for third party materials and otherwise stated, this content is made
available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike licence:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/.
The material acknowledged below is Proprietary and used under licence (not
subject to Creative Commons Licence). Grateful acknowledgement is made
to the following sources for permission to reproduce material in this unit:
Figure 1: photographs by Snehlata Gupta for TESS-India and The Open
University.
Resource 2: Guarav Sharma, ‘Hindi songs featuring a tadka of English
lyrics’, Hindustan Times, August 18, 2012 © HT Media Limited.
Resource 3: Lyrics from the song ‘It’s All About English Vinglish’ courtesy
of Swanand Kirkire.
Clip art: used with permission from Microsoft.
Every effort has been made to contact copyright owners. If any have been
inadvertently overlooked, the publishers will be pleased to make the
necessary arrangements at the first opportunity.
24