Note on Kannada Language Teaching

Teaching Kannada now…

The pandemic and the resulting lockdown had changed the language input patterns for children. For the past 18 months many bi-lingual children have been deprived of educational services in-turn reducing their exposure to Kannada. The familial pressures during the pandemic may also have affected the kinds of stimuli they would get at home. We can expect to see the effects of these in the classrooms when children return to school. Moreover, we are also seeing enrolment of children from English medium private schools to GLPS and GHPS. Many of these children have learnt Kannada as second language and it has been observed recently that at class 6 and 7 they have not mastered basic reading and writing skills. These circumstances call for a re-look at language classrooms. There is a need to focus on exposure to language rather than teaching the content of text books. Teachers will need support in gathering and using contextual and inspiring content that will include ALL children in the teaching-learning processes.

The focus of language classrooms when children come back to school will be to provide a safe place for dialogue and to foster opportunities to cooperate and collaborate. Stories will be an excellent starting point for all age groups.

Stories - Stories provide numerous opportunities to develop various language skills. Carefully selected stories can be used for children to make links to what is happening around them - their lived reality. Stories have the ability to create dialogue and discussions which in-turn may provide much needed emotional support.

Exploration activities – Children can engage in exploration activities in safe environments outside the classroom, for example looking at trees, flowers, leaves, insects, birds etc., Specific language activities should be given based on their exploration. Learning in context will require children to use richer language to include all the complexities that they observe.

Experience sharing – Providing opportunities for children to share their past experiences will help teachers in understanding the learners thereby providing valuable inputs for lesson planning.

Question time – Children may have a lot of questions lingering in their minds about the way world changed around them. Space to ask questions and discuss about matters that concern them will also develop their language abilities.

In addition to the above activities, classes 4 to 7 can also engage in the following:

Reading practice focusing on meaning – Learner diversity is the reality of any classroom. The pandemic has expanded the range of diversity further. Exposure to a variety of texts – books of different genres to satiate the needs of different levels of learners will be essential. Children may need help in recognising letters and may need to start from the basics. Group work and use of diverse resources to support reading will be crucial.

Writing practice – Children should engage in purposeful writing. This can be achieved through extension of stories, writing original stories, observations and their experiences etc. Some children may need help from teachers/volunteers to note down their thoughts and observations. Providing adequate support and engaging children in writing with a purpose is essential.

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