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Subramoniam, V. I., Ed.Papers Relating to the Experimental Course in aSouth Indian Language.University of Kerala, Trivandrum (India).7038p.

EDRS Price MF-$0.65 HC-$3.29*Dialects, *Indians, Indo European Languages,*Intensive Language Courses, *Language Instruction,Linguistic Theory, Modern Languages, TeachingMethods, Universities*India, Intensive Kannada Course

Faced with a multitude of internal problem.:, causedby the large number of languagr.ls and language dialects in India,linguists discuss ways and means by which language instruction mightbe improved. An intensive language course given at Kerala isdescribed in several addresses and in short articles on languagetheory. Commentary on all aspects of the course is included, (RL)

PaperS relating to the experimental Course

in a South Indian cranguage

Edited byV. I. Subramoniam

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION & WELFARE

OFFICE OF EDUCATION

THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THEPERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATING IT. POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONSSTATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT

OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDUCATIONPOSITION OR POLICY.

YOationent 14.,4

Wsoe'vend* t_XtezA

.-Xlvernekem. X97O

Printed at the Kerala University Press, Trivandrum

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CONTENTS

Page

I. Prefatory Remarks 1

2. Introduction to the Method 4

3. Address of Welcome 14

4. Inaugural Address 17

5. Welcome Address 19

6. Presidential Address 22

7. Report on the course 24

3 Request to the Panel 30

9. Report of the Panel

10. Felicitation from the F. A. C. T. 33

11. Post-script

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PREFATORY REMARKS

India has a live problem of languages. With 101.6 classifiedand 514 unclassified languages spoken in India according to the1961 Census, this problem is likely to assume an unmanageableproportion as time advances.

For politicians the linguistic problem will yield an unfailingreturn as long as the electorate are conscious of their languagerights. A government which functions in a language alien to theelectorate is likely to be Misrepresented and misunderstood.There is no approvable substitute for the mother-tongue fortransaction in government and educational labiitutions, eventhough, the mother-tongue of the electorate is an undevelopedand unwritten language. A recent experimental proof that nativeAmerican children who were taught in Spanish showed a lowerI. Q. than those who studied in their mother-tongue, has settledonce for all the fact that teaching through the mother-tongue.however rudimentary that language might be in the developmen-tal scale is superior to teaching through a foreign, thoughdeveloped language.

The recent controversies over the language question inIndia have served as a pointer that the people will not be contentto accept any solution other than the use of the mother-tonguein government and education& institutions even if the numberof speakers of a language may not be sizable. The success of theSwiss experiment to introduce German and French spoken byninety per cent of the popufation and Italian spoken only by sixper cent for transactions in government and educational institu-tions and of the Russian experiment in which the local languageshave been used as the languages of the various Republics, whichnumber about two hundred and Russian as the link language forall the Republics is pointed out by them in support of their stand.Though the formation of the linguistic states has pacified for ashort while the demand for separate states on the basis oflanguage, the recent demands for further division of the countryhave also as reason, the existence of another language or otherlanguages. This in some cases is overtly mentioned as in the caseof the Punjab and Hariyana. In Telengana it is covertly stated.This demand for division will continue as long as the linguisticculture plays a dominant role in the outlook of the people. Theonly remedy is to devise a scheme by which all languages of thepeople are recognised as the language of the government al the

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Centre and States, as well as the medium of instruction in theeducational institutions. Such a proposition, appears to be ideal;but, will it be practicable? Technical advances registered inrecent years have made the proposition not too difficult to achieve.I mean here the efforts to automatize translations, and theimproved methods of teaching languages. Even with the eNistingresources we can improve the method of teaching in India so that,languages arc learnt within a limited time, and learnt thorough13.

The machine translation projects actively pursued inU.K., U.S.S.R. etez, face several difficulties due to the comple;ityof the language mechanism. Occasionally pessimistic propheciesare whispered. In spite of all these, energetic groups are workinghard with optimism. Whether or not the automatic translationi3 going to be a viable business proposition, its academic gains,even at this stage are indisputable. The bilingual dictionariesand grammars and the refinement in linguistic methods they havebrought, are some of them. Not a day is too early to prepare forIndian languages dictionaries and grammars which are orientedtowards machine translation and to popularize computer techno-logy in linguistic coding.

The second suggestion on the improvement of teaching isan urgent necessity which can be attended to immediately. Thepresent sysem of teaching languages occupies one fourth of theworking hours of the children in Kerala in the Primary Schoolstage, one third in the High School level, a little over half at thePre-Degree stage and one third in the graduate level. Over fivefull academic years out of fifteen are spent in learning languages.In spite of these long years of schooling, the percentage of passin English is about 40. In the mother-tongue it is between 70and 80. Besides the wastage in the form of failures, the standardacquired in languages, especially in English, by the candidateswho have passed the examinations is not worth mentioning. An

effective method of teaching will not only attract more studentsto learn languages but minimize the wastage involved in the

present system.

The method of teaching proposed in the following pageshas grown out of a personal experience of learning quicklylanguages which are related to each other. A few trial courseshave proved beyond doubt the validity of the method. An experi-mental course conducted simultaneously for the three languageswill help in modifying points which are not yet certain and toconfirm propositions that are yet to be confirmed,

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A blue-print detailing the various aspects of the project an,),seeking the support of the University of Kerala for a grant of -lenthousand Rupees only for testing this method was submitted bythe Principal Investigator on 2-11-1967. The Registrar, Universityof Kerala, promptly forwarded the proposal to the Secretary,University Grants Commission, New Delhi, who in a reply advisedthe University to submit the proposal to the Ministry of Educa-tion, Government of India, New Delhi. The Ministry in turnpleaded its inability because the scope of the project does not fallunder its purview for a grant. Meanwhile, B. B. flajapurohit.N. Sivaramamurthi and A. P. Andrewskutty showed an unusualinterest in the proposal and agreed with me to complete thegrammar, lexicon and the lessons before making a fresh movefor a grant to run a trial course, in spite of their heavy commit-ments in teaching and research. K. Kuttalam Pillai, %vim hadagreed to work on the preparation of the Tamil lessons couldnot proceed further in his work after completing the wordindex, due to unexpected commitments.

When the work was in progress, the group of investigatorsmet atleast once in a week and discussed the problems in segmen-tation and analysis, difficulties in formulating statements, framinglessons etc. A complete record of the proceedings of the meetingswas meticulously kept by B. B. Rajapurohit, who acted .is theSecretary for the Project. Along with him N. Sivaramamurthiand A. P. Andrewskutty cheerfully bore the brunt of implemen-ting rigorously my proposals which were formulated theoretically.They also saw to it that the preliminary draft was completed intime. To the three investigators and to the authorities of !haUniversity of Kerala, I am immensely grateful for their help andcontinued support. To the Editors of Kerala Kaumudi, Nlathru-hhumi, Dinamani, Swatesamitran, Andhraprabha, Andhrabhumi,Prajavani and Samyukta Karnatak, I am thankful for their readyconsent to make use of materials from their papers for thisproject.

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V. I. SUBRAMON I AM

INTRODUCTION TO THE METHOD

Any human being who speaks a language should have beena learner as well as a teacher, consciously or unconsciously. Ifthe language is his mother-tongue, he learns it in his early child-hood from his parents, siblings, and members of his society. andteaches it in his adulthood to his fellow beings of his village.If he knows another language its learning will have been moresystematic than that of his mother-tongue. His experience inlearning languages grows in proportion to the number of langu-ages spoken by him. Learning a language, thus, is an experienceshared by all members of the socieiy. This has enabled every oneto evaluate and criticise any hypothesis formulated for learning.This again is the reason why any of the existing hypotheses donot completely satisfy any learner.

COMPLEXITY IN LEARNING LANGUAGES

The factors involved in learning a language are many. Thelanguage proneness of the individual, his motives in learning, theteacher and his method, the lessons, the opportunities one getsin life by learning a language etc., are a few. Because of theinvolvement of complex-in some cases contradictory-factors, noone educational method is a cure all'. (1)LEARNING OF MOTHER TONGUE AND OTHER LANGUAGES

Learning ones own mother-tongue and learning a languagein addition to the mother-tongue are two related areas of learningwith a difference. In learning one's own mother-tongue, inter-ference: of any other language is non-existent. In learninganother language interference of the mother-tongue in the processof learning is a factor to be reckoned with. In the first, onlyacquisition of a language is involved. In the second, in additionlo acquisition, restraint of the mother-tongue is also invived.The numb,r of languages learnt increases the efforts of restrain-ing the languages already learnt, while acquiring a fresh language.The same method of teaching can be employed for both types oflearning.

METHODS OF TEACHING

Among the methods adopted in teaching languages one isthe grammar-translation method. This involves the grammaticalanalysis of the language taught, and the categories of grammar(1) 'A Guide to Programmed Instruction' by Jerome P. Lysaught and Clarence

M. Williams, John Wiley and Sons., Inc., New York, London, 1903, p. 20.

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being defined in general terms with reference to meaning. Themother-tongue of the student is extensively used in teaching theforeign language through this method. Opposed to this is another

method, the direct method, which abhors the use of the mother-tongue while teaching another language. Practitioners of thismethod engage the pupil in conversation and supply meaning byreferring directly to objects and picture charts. They make signscr act out the meaning of sentences in order to make the studentsunderstand their significance. Grammar is used by some. Othersgive little importance to it. None of its foliow,,n.s use thegrammatical analysis of the native language.

A third method now gaining popularity is the audio-lingualmethod which admits the use of the mother-tongue to supplymeaning to the students. At the same time, it insists on memori-7ing dialogues and stories. Writing and reading are not used(luring the initial phases of instruction. Grammatical exercises,drills and changes in sentence patterns by substitution, arepractised in this method. (2)

The first and second method are opposed to each otherwhile the third one, the audio-lingual method. largely is a com-promise.

UNIVERSALS IN LANGUAGES

The Transformational approach to linguistics, in particularhas brought to the fore (1) the innate knowledge of rulesevery human being which constitute the grammar of any langu-age, 12) the analysis of all sentences in a language in terms ofdeep structures which are abstract representations of 'mderlyingconceptual categories and patterns which are cow:crted intosurface structures by the application of transformational rules and(3) many aspects of deep structure. and many. types of transforstational rules and other formal features are universal for alllanguages. (s)

t2) a. 'Foreign Language Learning , Rob.ert L. Politzer, Prentice Hall Inc.,Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 196,5, pp. 11-12.

b. Chapters 5 and 9 in 'The Linguistic Sciences and Language teiching',M. A. K. Halliday etal,.,Longmans, 1966.

(3) 'Learning a Language in the Fieldt; Problems of Linguistic Relativity,J. C. Gafford, University of Michigan, Modern Language Journal,Vol. LIII, May, 1969, Number 5, I). 31.0, as cited in '.Aspects', NoamChomsky, Mass. M. I. T. Press, 1965, pp. M--56.

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COMMONNESS IN COGNATE LANGUAGES

Though the theoretical stance of the transformationists isquite nebulous and their achievements over stressed, there islittle doubt that languages belonging to the same family sharemore commonness than the unrelated languages. The closenessbetween the related languages increases according to the time ofFepriration of each language from the family-the recent c:._esbeing much more closely related than those which separated fromthe family earlier. Time depth increases the complexity ofmember languages. Historical Linguistics has demonstratedbeyond reasonable doubt that if two languages are related theyshare common phonological, morphological, syntactic and seman-tic features due to common inheritance. Variations between diemare due to contacts with other languages or due to internaldevelopments. The area of commonness will be more., if the timeOf separation of the two languages is recent. It will be less if thetime depth is longer. Learners of these languages exploit theseas of commonness to their advantage and acquire easily theother language. The relationship between the two c..;gnatelanguages is similar to that of dialects in a single language. Anyspeaker of n dialect can acquire easily another dialect of the samelanguage because of their commonness. If the members of afamily of languages are spoken in an area for a considerable1,ut.i,,th of tune, with common contacts and political history, theirdifferences on that count will be negligible.

FERSONA:i_ EXPERIENCE

All four members who worked in the project have di:ferenthnguge backgrounds. V. I. Subramoniam's mothe -tongue is'Iamil. B. B. Rajapurohit is a Kannadiga. N. Sivarama Murthispeaks Telugu as his mother-tongue. Malayalam is the mother-tongue of A. P. Andrewskutty. But learning Malayalam orKalimada or Telugu for a Tamil speaker was comparati-;ely aneasier experience than learning Russian or German. This experi-ence shared by all members has been exploited for teachingpurposes.

TIME DEPTH AND CONTACTS

The four major languages have a time depth ranging from1000 to 3300 years : Tamil-Mdlayalam, 10th Century A. D.:

amil-Kannada, 4th Century A.D. Malayalam- Kannada, 3rdCentury A. D.: Kannada-Telugu, 9th Century B. C.: Tamil-Telugu,10th Century B. C.: and Malayalam-Tclugu, 13th Century B. C.")(4) Lexicostatistic Analysis of the Chronology of the Disintegration of Proto_

Dravidian, M. Andronov, Indo- Iranian Journal, Vol. VII, 1964 Nos. 2 and3, Mouton, Holland, p. 179.

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Their history of contacts was also similar. Sanskrit, Prakrit andPali were the early sources of borrowing for all the lour langu-ages. From historic times, they were spoken in an area in whichthey are now spoken, with boundaries which have remainedalmos, unchanged. These factors have added to the easiness incomprehension and learning of these languages.LEARNING AND RETENTION

Learning and retention are two factors seldom separated iulanguage teaching. Motives such as instrumentation and integra-tion help in the retention of the languages learnt, bee:utse if theneeds they create in life. (5) Besides these, a causal expianationoffered to a problem in a language enables especially the :Allis.t.0 retain that fact for a long time to come. Cognate languageanalysis provides explanations which will help the learner toremember facts of a language for a considerable lengh of time.DELIMITATION OF THE GOAL

The goal of all language learning is to acquire a nativelike command of both the spoken and written varieties of thelanguage. Such a goal is sizable and unachievable within thelimited period of time which a learner normally spends in learn-ing. The availability of dialects-regional and communal-compli--eates the learning in all languages. The literary language, ifspoken, will bring forth a response of derision from the folks.Their replies will be hardly understood by the students of thatlanguage. A. standard colloquial in the above said Dravidianlanguages is non - existent, which further complicates the probleuisof learning. Limitation of the goal, and finding an alternativefor the standard language are the two necessary steps for alllanguage teachers in South India.

The Newspapers with a large circulation can he assumedto adopt a variety of language which is understood by the massesin that language area. The language of the Newspapers for prac-tical purposes is a colloquial standard because of their circulationamong a large number of the native speakers. Learning to com-prehend, read, speak and write the Newspaper-language is thegoal set for the course which will run for a period of four weeksonly.

CHILDHOOD LEARNING AND ADULT LEARNINGIn childhood, learning is believed to be easy. Thmigh

perimenial data have not enabled to confirm or reject this hthesis. it is accepted that children have a pre-pubert) biologiva'

(5) Learning a Language in a Field 3. C. Catfocd, ModPra LanguageJournal, Vol, LIII, May 1969, No. 5, p. 315,

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pre-disposition which enables them to achieve fidelity inpronunciation. 01 Adults on the other hand can listen intenselyand comprehend more quickly than chilldren. Memorization willbe difficult for adults, whereas explanatory clarifications enablethem to remember the facts of language for a long time. Substi--tuition and generation of language forms are easier for them tohandle than for children. The learners to be experimented inthis project will be adults of the age bractet of 20-30.

COMPARING OTHER METHODS

The cognate method detailed above is principally useful inselecting words phrases and sentence frames for lessons. To alimited extend this can he used also in explaining difficult voc:Alni-lary items or points of grammar.

Since all parallel items in phonemics, grammar and seman-tics of two related languages are pressed into service in thismethod it does not sift the inherited from the borrowed ite,as inlanguages as is done by the comparative grammarians. Unlikecontrastive grammarians who describe the two languages andmatch them, this method emphasizes the framing of staterne.ntsand rules which are common to the related languages or areapplicable to the data found in the related languages. C6mmon-ness is its keynote. Exploitation of the commonness is its outlook.If a teacher has any partiality for the Grammar-translationmethod or the Audio-lingual method he is at libel Ey' to make useof one or more methods in presenting the lessons prepared on thebasis of this method. In that sense this method is accommodative.SHORT-COMINGS IN THIS APPROACH

(a) Newspapers seldom use certain fundamental vocabu-lary items like first and second perSon pronouns. This defect hasbeen overcome by supplying such vocabulary items to the corpusbut listing them within bracfets in the Dictionary. The News-papers often make use of Vocabulary items which are not deeprooted in the language, but are popular for a period of time andforgotten after that. Chances of such items entering the lessonshave been minimised because of the preference shown to wordswhich occur in more than one language.

(b) The similarity in sounds in related language :; will bea liability rather than a help because of the experience of learnersto be easily mislead by similar sounds. Experience has shownthat the learner w"! be. tempted to substitute the native sounds'6) ' The Optirail Age to Learn a Foreign Language', James J. Asher and

Ramiro Garcia, Modern Language Journal, Vol LIII, May, 1969, No. 5,p. 335.

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wherever their counterparts occur in the new language. But notwo languages can have a sound system which can be consideredas entirely different. Universal distinctive features in langua;esso widely apart structurally and geographically confirm thatsimilarity of sounds is a factor available in all languagci. Whensounds are similar, the learners should be adequately cautionedagainst the possible errors rather than avoiding them. In relatedlanguages the difference in pronunciation and the difference indistribution of similar sounds are comparatively less. Thereforethis point cannot cause much difficulty for learw,..,.s.

(c) All rules of conversion of one related language toanother have to be remembered by the learner if this method isto he successful. This will he time-consuming and wilt he 1.11111eCeSSarily burdensome because the learner has to remember ruleswhich may not be immediately needed for this purpose. Conver-sion rules in any method have to be learnt overtly in thegrammar-translation method and covertly in the direct Method.They cannot be eliminated in learning any language through anyaid hod. But in this method, new rules are sewer and are learntquickly because the starting point of learning is the commonrules found in the related languages.

td1 Another important criticism against this method isthat it wilt be useful in learning only related languages belongingto a family. For learning languages other than Cie related ones.this method will be of little use. Satisfactory achievement of thisend is in itself a major step in language learning. Besides. theexperience gained in adopting this method can be utilized forexploiting the universal categories found in unrelated languagesfor the purpose of teaching,

(el Yet another theoretical objection, not so strong now,as it was during the Post-Bloomfieldian days is mixing history indescribing a language. When function determines the form thegrammar, this theoretical objection deserves little cognizance.

PREPARATION OF MATERIAL FOR TEACHING

COLLECTION OF NEWSPAPERS

The daily issues of Newspapers published from two import-ant cities in the four States, one in the southern region and theother in the northern area. Were collected from 141-1967 to9-11-196.7.. For Malayalam. issues of Kerala Kaumudi publishedfrom Trivandrum, the southern city in Kerala, and Mathrubhumipublished from Cariicut the northern city of Kerala were collected.For Tamil, Dinamani published from Madurai. the southern city.and Swatesamithran published from Madras. the northern city of

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Tamilnadu, were gathered. The Vijayawada edition of Aandlira-prabha and Aandhrabhuumi from Secundrabad were collected forTelugu. For Kannada, Prajavani and Samyuktk Karnatak publi-shed from Bangalore and Hub li respectively were filed.

INDEXING

Out of two Dailies for this preliminary draft, only one issueeach of the four languages were word-indexed. The issue ofKerala Kaumudi dated 3-11-1967, the issue of Dinamani dated3-11-1967, Aandhraprabha dated 3-11-1967 and Prajavani dated3-11-1967 were indexed thoroughly and the list of words waswritten with meaning. The phrase and sentence frame indexeswere also prepared.

GRAMMAR AND LEXICON

A grammar for each language was prepared on the basisof the indexes. For phonology, the pronunciation of the investi-gator who is a native speaker of the language concerned wastaken as the basis for analysis. In all aspects of grammar andphonology, statements which wiE accommodate the facts foundin the four languages are more preferred than narrow statementscovering occurrences in a single language. This in some instancesappeared to be a bit artificial. But on second thought. wasfound to be beneficial and easy to state. Several grammaticalpossibilities which were hidden in the four languages were madeclear, by this type of analysis. The common items in phonology,morphology kind syntax were listed along with the items whichdiffer from each other. The frequency of words and the per-centage of tatsama and tadhhava were also calculated for eachlanguage. On the basis of syllables, the words were sifted asmonosyllables, disyllables, tetrasyLbles etc. A dictionary con-sisting of the words with their meanings was compiled.

LESSONS

The common items in phonology, grammar and semanticswere utilized to construct the initial lessons. Complexities wereintroduced in the succeeding lessons. In general the subjectmatter of each lesson was common for all the four languages.The common construction patterns were utilized fully. Wheneverthe suh;9ct matter of a lesson needed vocabulary items whichwere not found in the index, new, but probable words wereintroduced which were explained later. But such items weee fewin number.

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LESSON AIDSEach lesson was appended with a lesson aid in which the

grammatical explanation, cultural details etymological informa-tions with conversion rules in phonology and grammar, themeaning changes if any, indigenous and loan words, the coin.er-sion rules for loan words, exercises, pronunciation drills, patternsetc., were included. The grammatical it were gradedand were introduced gradually with cross references in order toavoid monotony. The aim of introducing lesson-aids was tominimize the task of the teacher. The lesson: with their aidswill be self-explanatory and the need fdr a teacher Will be confinedto the teaching of pronunciation.

DURATION OF THE COURSE

The lessons have been shaped for a course running for fourweeks. In each week five to six lessons are covered.

The lessons .1:1 be covered in the first week contain a voca-bulary of a thousand items.

In the second week five hundred additional vocabularyitems are introduced. In the third week seven hundred and fiftyadditional items and in the fourth and final week another sevenhundred and fifty items of vocabulary are added. The totalvocabulary introduced will be about three thousand.

SPEAKING AND WRITINGIn the first week pronunciation and intonation patterns

are taught and practised with the help of a native speaker andtape recorders.

In the second week, the details of the scripts and theircommonness are discussed in the class room. Practices in identi-fying the script are administered in the class room. In the thirdw'..ek writing single words and simple sentences, along withreading newspapers, and speaking are encouraged.

In the fourth week, short essays and letters are written bythe students as part of the class work. Short lectures and dialo-gues are also encouraged.

The last two lessons which are passages taken from theNewspapers are given in native scripts in addition to the Romanscript ;TEACHERS

The teachers employed will be native speakers of thelanguage or non-native speakers supported by native speakingassistants. They will have minimum gifts of presentation orpersonality.

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STUDENTS

Stticl6ht8 with. average Ability who have passed the B. A./B. Sc.ekainination with 40 45% in any one of, the languageparts will be selected for instruction. They will be between theage group of 20 30 years.

TIME SCHEDULE OF,WORK

The Course runs from Monday to Saturday in each weel;.The time schedule for each day is as fellows :

8-00 8 -45 Introducing linguistics and linguistic termi-nology in the first week.. From the .secondweek it will be alternated with an introduc-tion to the history and culture of the people

9-00 10.00 Lessons10-30 12-00 Drill on the lessons by a native speaker

2 -30 3-30 Lessons3-45 5-00 Drill6-00 7-00 Reading of journals, Newspapers, Listening

to tape-recordings. Guided home work forstudents who need assistance

8-30 9-30 Relaxed conversation about the language areaif all stut:ents live in a hostel:

On Sundays an oxcursion to a nearby village where Owlanguage is spoken will be arranged.

EVALUATIONIn the beginning of the course, a questionnaire to evaluate

the knowledge of each student on the language to be taught isadministered and scored.

On every Saturday, a test based. on the lessons given in theweek is conducted.and.the scripts are scored. before the students.They are to correct their own mistakes.

On the, final day in the fourth week, a. questionnaireadministered to the students to assess their achievementS.

An expert committee will compare the scores and suggestimprovements.TRIAL COURSE

A trial course in Telugu attended by three Tamil spea!ierswas run on 28th May, 1969 for a single day. They all felt that thelessons ,were easy. to comprehend and learning. Telugu wassimplified by this procedure.. They suggested the grading ofgrammatical.inforniations and recording of the pronunciation ontapes. The Tamil speakers found it diffiedit to pronounce thevoiced and aspirated stops of Telugu.

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Another trial course for Telugu has been conducted with theM. A. students of the first year who are twelve in number. Becauseof their detailed reactions the Investigators planned for a fulllength course.

Another course was tried with a svt of foreigners forMalayalam.

FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS

The theory on the basis of which the teaching materialhas been shaped has been acknowledged by the students of thetrial course to be quite effective: The contents Of the lessons andthe infOrmations in the lesson-aids need improvement in the lightof our experience in teaching the course. The budget for a fullfledged trial course for the three languages is given below,

BUDGET FOR A FULL - FLEDGED TRIAL COURSE

Fellowship at Rs 200/- per scholar to cover travel;board and lOdging for four weeks for 30

Its l's,

scholars ... 0,000.00IlOrthrarium for four instructors with foul assis-

tants at Rs. 250/:' 2,000.00Honorarium for Clerk and Typist at Rs 100/- each

and peons two at Rs. 50//- each 300.00Office expenses, printing, mimeographing, adver-

tisement and T: A:. for experts ,700.00

Totdt : 10.000.00

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V. I. SUBRAMONIAM

tt.

ADDRESS OF WELCOMEV. I. Subramoniam

10-8-1970

Colleagues and Friends,

Before introducing to you the method of teaching languagesevolved in the Department of Linguistics, I should introduce toyou our Chief guest. Sri A. N. Tampi whom many of the market-ing officers as well as the public of Trivandrum know intimatelyand remember with respect his many contributions to the growthof the society. He is a man of high culture and an undisputeddoyen among Educationists in India. He was responsible fororiginating many educational schemes, implementing them andevaluating them for their yield, when he served this part of ourcountry as the Director of Public Instruction, as the Principal ofthe Alagappa Chetti College at Karaikkudi and later asthe Chairman of the State Board of Education of theGovernment of Kerala. When the course for Malayalam wastested with a group of six foreigners in October last, I proposedto invite Sri Tampi to head the panel to evaluate the performanceof the students. He was then out of station and we had ...erylittle time to wait for his return. So we assembled a local Scru-tiny Committee consisting of M. Manuel and G. K. Panikkar.Therefore it is our fortune that Mr. Tampi has been kiwi enoughto accept our invitation and is present today to inaugurate thecourse, in spite of his age and other commitments.

Many of us have experienced that learning to speak andwrite another language of the Dravidian family is not difficultif we are native speakers of any one of the Dravidian languages.A speaker of Malayalam can learn Kannada much more easilythan German or Russian. This is largely due to the commonvocabulary items, sounds and grammar in the four Dravidianlanguages. These have been exploited in preparing the lessonsfor the course.

All major languages of the Dravidian family have dialectdifferences. In Malayalam the southern dialect is quite differentfrom that spoken in the north. The Muslims have a dialect ofMalayalam which is not easy for the Nayars or the Ezhavas tocomprehend. A standard language which can be understood by amajority of people. is not easy to locate. The language of lheNewspapers which have the largest circulation has been taken asa substitute for the standard language. The lessons in the courseare based on the language of the Newspapers.

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On all counts, intensive learning is much more productivethan leisurely learning for a year or two along with other sub-jects. Hence a four weeks schedule of seven hours per day forsix days in a week is framed for this course. Rouch ly a candi-date puts in 168 man hours within the four weeks. In a year offorty weeks with four hours per week a candidate can get in:4tritc-tion only for 160 hours. So this course in terms of an academicyear is just over one full year.

If the results of one's toil are known then and there, thecandidate will be encouraged to I:1J more work. The success ofthis procedure has been confirmed by educational psychologists.All efforts have been taken to score the questions and answers asthe candidate learns daily and to supplement it with a weekiytest which will be scored and discussed in the company of thecandidates.

The present course consists of learning through a set oflessons prepared and mimmeographed for Kannada. This will befollowed by an hour of instruction in phonetics alternated witha general introduction to linguistics. This will be followed bydrills in pronounciation, pattern practices, grammatical exercisesand supervised conversation, reading and writing. The candidatesand the Instructors will work together in the course for fourweeks to achieve the common goal of mastering the language.

If this trial course succeeds, it has great potentialities insolving the language problem of India, besides simplifying themethod of teaching languages in the schools and colleges in ourcountry. Scenting its potentiality when a mimmeographed copyof the course was presented to the Vice-Chancellor in Octoberlast as a Puja gift, the University of Kerala issued a press notepointing out the advantages of this method. The enterprisingChief Marketing Manager of the F. A. C. T., Mr. K. PrabhakaranNair among a few, noted the implications of this methyl at.dwrote to us immediately inviting us to conduct a trial course forthe Marketing Officers of the F. A. C. T., Alwaye. Owing toadministrative delay, we are happy that we are able to conductthe course at1east now, thanks to the drive and enthusiasm ofMr. Prabhakaran Nair.

Again it is he who has authorized me to let out partiallya confidential policy of rewarding the candidates who fare verywell in the course with increments and cash rewards. Thereforegentlemen, let us take this course seriously.

In Kerala, all major languages of India and of other coun-tries nave found a fertile ground for growth from very ancientdays. The early advent of Christianity in Kerala and the migra-tion of Jews in the early centuries after Christ paved the -way

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for the contact of Malayalam with Hebrew. The Arabfound a comfortable berth at Calicut. This paved the way forthe contact with the Semitic languages. Vasco de Gama Nvbenhe set his foot on the shores of Ca licin had noted the pr4.senev ofa white girl with a flute on the same shore. Portuguese \v aslearnt with care and pride in the court of Cochin. Sonskrii and1 amil had found favoUr and patronage with nobles and kings o!Kerala. I am told by Sri Tampi that Urdu was studied in thecourts of Travancore. Dutch, French and English were'learfWilthroughly by Keralites who were able to contribute significantlyin these three languages. Thus Kerala hosted several languages.No wonder, therefore that this small State has returned 115languages belonging to almost all language families of the world.in the 1961 Census. We have grown well with many langnae;es.We are going to grow well with many languages that our countryhas inherited. This method is -just an insignificant step inachieving such a goal.

B. B. Rajapurohit is to propose a vote of thanks to 11wauthorities of the University of Kerala and Prof, M. V. Pylec \du)took personal interest in this project and to the Chief MarketingManager Mr. K. Prabhakaran Nair.. Hence I will not trespassinto his territory. But I would like to recall with gratitude twohandsome grants. one from the Government of Mysore aRs 10,0001- for. five years and another from the Government ofAndhra Pradesh, of Rs. 6,500/- for a period of five years. ThesegrantS made it possible for the University of Kerala to appoint aLeCturer each in Kannada and Telugu. For the. grant from theMysore Government,' the then Governor and today the Presidentof the Republic of India, Shri V. V. Giri, was responsible. Forthe grant of the Andhra Pradesh Government, the lateShri Pattom Thanu Mai was responsible. With shock and dismayI learnt his passing away 'While I Was out of Trivandrum (aseparate condolence resolution is Moved).

Our venerable guest being a close friend of Pattom, will lieinterested to know the Tatter's help to the Department of Linguis-tics.and I request him to inaugurate the course and bless thecandidates and Instructors for i successfdl completion theCourse.

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INAUGURAL ADDRESS

Shri A. N. Tampi10-8-1970

Friends,

I am grateful to you and the Director, Linguistics Depart-ment of the University, for inviting me to deliver the inauguraladdress.

You know that the languages, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamiland Telugu share several Common features in sounds, grammarand vocabulary. AU these languages are spoken in South India.The aim of the present course, is, I understand, to- make theparticipants of the course, know the spoken language in Kannadaand to enable them to read the newspapers published in Kannada.

In this connection, I would like to state that the growth ofMalayalam was achieved, not in conflict, but in complete co-operation with Tamil. and Sanskrit. This spirit of assimilationhas enriched the literature of the country and given it that rwres-sary freedom which makes it possible for literature and art to befree from narrow provincialism. In this matter, it is difficult totalk of Kerala in isolation. It is part and parcel of Indian Art,Indian literature and Indian culture.

The history of the development of the language is markedin all its stages by the dominating influence of another languagewhich was in literary favour during the particular periods. Tamilwas the influencing factor in the earlier stage. As a matter offact the language was at that time known as KARINTAMIL andnot s_a_13 Malayalam at ail. We find a strong admixture of Tamilin the songs of the period composed by Kulasekhara Alwar andothers. The Payyannur Pattoia, the earliest work known to thestudent of Malaya/am will read to the modern Malayali as Gothicto the Englishman.

The European missionaries who settled down in Malabargave a great fillip tothe growth of Malayalam. For proselytismand propoganda they mastered the " lingua malabarica " withcharacteristic ease and thoroughness. By the publication ofgrammar books and scientific treatises in the language, the com-pilation of dictionaries and the institution of printing presses, inthe wake of which cropped up newspapers and libraries, theypaved the way for the rapid liquidation of illiteracy in the land,

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Similarly, English owes not a little to other languages foris development, and if English had grown to the present positionof an international language', it is because it' freely borrowed fromother languages. Therefore, there, should be no conflict betweenlanguages. As a student of History, let me tell you that linguisticconflict is more dangerous than political conflict. There shouldbe complete co-operation between languages.

If you can bring about an understanding between thevarious languages purely from the academic side and make people:eager to learn the sister languages also, the unity of India. to alarger extent, will be achieved. Freedom and facilities should:hegiven to people to study as many languages as possible, and thatwill, be really a proper educational: approach towards the problemoc.languages.

I must congratulate you the Head' of the Department ofLinguistics for, giving the students a chance to get inStrUction inother Dravidian languages like Kannada here. The,. 'grant. ,Youhave received from the Govennitents of Mysore and AndhraPradesh. is the token of. the great regard they,entertaio for youand for the Department and also because of the: feeling that studyof many languages is an important step in solving the languageproblem of our country.. . . :

With these words, let me thank you. again for 'giving ire.

an opportunity to participate in this function. 'I' am tiappy toinaugurate the course for Kannada organised by the'Department of the Kerala UniVerSity.

'WELCOMEB. B. Rajapurohit

7-9-1970On behalf of the members of Staff of nepartment of

linguistics and the Trainees of the Intensive Kqunada COure.haNagreat pleasure in extending a Very hearty welcbme to all whohave, made it convenient 'to spend a few hours with us here thisevening.

We are all happy that Dr. A. &iyappan, the Vice-Chancellorof Kerala University is here amidst us today. He is one of theeminent Anthropologists of. India. Anthropology, . whim li.is

. Linguistics as.its section. and Linguistics which bas,Anthropologyas one of Its sections are very closely related, with only a -varyingdegree of, emphasis on the details. Therefore, it is our goodfortune to:have him here in the chair and I extend a very heartyelco,me to, him.

The very poPulaiity of Sri M. K. K. Nalr will stand in`testimony to his potentialities. He is a man of varied experienceboth in the Onyernment and 'the fa§t developing public Sector ofIndia. Sri M. K. It: Nair's personality is largely responsible forthe growthOf the A. C. T. He is always a source of inspiration

'to his officers 'whether he is pr.eSeht or absent from the.scene.

Sri S. Prabhakaran Nair, th.2' Marketing' Manager of theT. is .a soft 'spoken man with a turbine of action. Our

elderly colleague in a private conversation, some days ago Wascomplimenting F. A. C. T. for having chosen a right man for tb,

irightjob. Alr. ,Prabhakatan Nair's interest which has bcenmainly responsible to. make this course a reality. I extend ahearty Welcome to hirtn.

Nearly two years ago, the Department of Linguistics con-ceived a method to teach Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Teluguto the speayers of any, one of these languages in a shortest poi si-ble weeks. 'Me scheme and the teaching material were'Wof'ied'oat, the hyPothesis that it should be theoretieally'OSSible to learn, Or teeh a gent tically related language withease. 'Wficn the Department WaS''vell set" to implement thesctienie viitti its 'teaching Material' made ready for the purpose.thie,bePailinent wrote to the concerned academie. bodies to Make-,ti,g7aitt:Of 10,000/- forl its implementation Due to one rett,onor the other' ive,Were'not luck to get the grant. But the F. A. C. I.look interest blithe 'scheine 'and came forward accepting all the

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terms put forth by the University. Thus this function is theculmination of its magnificent offer. Learning another languageis not only a matter of cultural give-and-take but also a nece.isityin the present linguistic set up of our country.

As a token of mutual underStanding. the Government ofMysore made a grant of Rs 10,000/- in 1968 to the Department ofLinguistics to pu-chase Kannada books and subseqamtly anyearly grant of Rs. 10,000/- for five years, to develop Kannadastudies in this University. Similarly the Government of AndhraPradesh also made a grant of Rs 6,500/- to develop Telugustudies. Now the Department has nearly two thousand Kann tdaBooks on its library shelves.

The cultural exchange between these two parts of -Indiafor the-past many centuries, has always been a matter of greatsignificance. Sri Sankaraacliarya, has established his Mutt atSringeri in the Mysore State. The Kerala kings had invitedScholars from Mysore. This was reciprocated by MysOrelalSo.The kings of Kerala have also patronized the Kannada's-6110141.s.For instance the Commentator on Sabdaanusaasana, a Kannadagrammar, Shri Kundaligiri Acharya was receiving 'grants froma Travancore king who lie was, is yet to be identified. Not onlyKerala has imported scholars, it has also exported many scholars.This.was-nOt confined to the cultural and atadernic.field only, brit.was extended to the administrative side too. *Kerala has eXporlikleven kings. There is a reference in SaiMini-Bliaratha 'Of LakSh-miisa of 16th Century. that Chandrahaasa the son of Meedhaavi,a king of Kerala Deesa, became a king in Kuntalapura, thepresent Kukanur in Raichur District of Mysore State.

The intensive course in Kannada which the Depgirtentconducted during the past four weeks has relevance in this sensealso. Both the success and failure of such an adventure areequally valuable for us because both will have something to teachus.

Dr. R. C. Hitemath, who is the ProfesSor and Head of theDepartrnenf of Kannada and the DirectOr of 'the Institute ofKannada Studies at Karnatak University, Dharwar, is 16akiiigafter an active Centre of Research in Kannada Literature andLinguistics in' the Northern part of Mysore State. We 'are Veryhappy to have him here as an expert to evaluate the' trai.lees iiiidthe trainers as well. Dr. Hire-math Was assiSted.by-Mrs'. ElizabethZacharia, Professor and Head of the Department Of Edneation,Univers'ity of Kerala, Trivandrum, in explaining-the intricacies ofTeaching Techniques. Sri G. Ragliavendra' Rao, Principal. Central

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School, Trivandrum who has had a long standing experience inteaching and who happens to be a native speaker of Kannadaalso assisted Dr. tliremath, in explaining the practical problemsinvolved in teaching. I extend a hearty welcome to them also.

The ten F. A. C. T. Sales Officers who under went thetraining in Kannada siiould be .thanked for the understandingthey showed and the co-operation they extended to their Instruc-tors. They withstood all the hardships that the design of thecourse imposed on them. As an Executive Instructor. I wouldlike to express my gratitude to all of them.

The Department' takes .this -opportunity to express its heart-:felt -thanks-to,a11;those who sent messages df well wishes especi-ally to :HisExceitency Shri V. V. Girl, the President of India whoWith,his.usual large heatedness immediately wrote saying that"My.]gookl wishes are always with you".

Last but-not the 'least, I welcome you one and all who came-to,grace The occasionand make it ,a ,grandsuccess.

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS-

A. Aiyappan

970

Dr. ,Subramoniam, Sri Nair and Friends,

I am thoroughly unprepared for- 6 speech, but yoti havemercifully said I am to offer only,remarksi and Since. I-haye beenassociated with the progress...of -.this cours&for.someweks,iimight. at once.say that 1,,am,theart.and,soul,:with the enterpriSo.We are in a muliti-lingual State. We.have.to spend more :thatiitheusual quantum of energy in acquiring linguistic. skills, 1.,onglenigago, I remember I started learning Kannada, I had to engage,since the courses like this--were not rivailabler,,'.'a;j4Private tutor.And in spite of: the .best efforts of, the :teacher.'my' prOgreSS Wasso bad that he gave me up. But still I remember the verses"haaralamme hasu beeku". Also the popular, the old fashionedKannada song beginning with "mataadabaaradeenu" and thingslike that. I have been just recollecting what other things I learnt.The acquisition of any Dravidian language or acquisition of anyIndian language is fairly an easy thing provided, there Is luilleientmotivation. In my own case, I learnt Hindi in a few weeks; hut,when I learnt to study Tamil, though I was living in the midst ofTamil speakers, my progress was very very slow. So I don'tattribute doing a little bit of self analysismy failure in acquiringspeaking ability in Tamil due to the lack of I. Q. or the capacityto learn languages. If that was true, I should not have madeany progress in learning Hindi. There the reason must he psycho-logical, motivational. My motivation perhaps was very strongwhen I wanted to learn Hindi. My motivation was weak whenI was making an attempt to learn Tamil. I may, by he way,find the motivation strong in the case of all these trainees herebecause this is part of their job, and so the motivation must bevery strong. And without the evaluator telling me the progress,I can make a guess and say that those trainees, the people deputedfrom the F. A. C. T. Sales Department must have done very verywell. I have no doubt about that. Of course, subject to correc-tion, this is a wild guess, and I don't want to be shown to bewrong. So this is just a beginning and if the idea catches. thereis nothing preventing Dr. Subramoniam and the Department ofLinguistics here from embarking upon more ambitious schemeson teaching modern Indian langvages.

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In German there is a proverb, which translated means"all beginnings are difficult". And, bere.also when we try to dosomething new," the difficulties are magnified and we feel thatthere is something wrong with us. The law of 'inertia acts andwhen we begin, the opposition or trouble appears to be moredifficult than it really is'. Here again there is considerable acti-vity in a parallel field that,is,,, in the production of text books inMalayalam by the State InStittite of Languages. It is also tryingto create interest in people'here for the study of other Indianlanguages. Now I think at the present moment the Languageinstitqt,c 4,,c9nducing,,a;course in the study , of Tamil. And'1 rtflrishna WA'TiCTiits1P;irector was -Willing paethat they will behav,ing very,sonn,courses.in. Marathi etc., and I hope itw,i1111).eextended.to all North Indian languages such as Punjabi,Pahari etc.

The people of Kerala have more need for the -icq iisitionof linguistic skills because this University is also partly exportoriented ,;We have a over populated and small State that our

to go olit,',nebeSsarily 'f.->r their liv'rig and seekin'the'faroff Placs.'''There might' be need here, not

only stii4y:Of-t.rariotiS ndian languages but also for thesttidie4the'lariguagerS of Weilern Asia .such as Modern. Arabic,Say,forfxainple,;VeiYlarge'nuMbers of peopie are going to' PersiaankVther:ii/aCe's. Many Of 'thiM without any preliminaryprefialatiiin, Aria there'are'POOple now going to Arabia: clocseof..firm who are Mutlirns have some acquaintance withArabic, fhey,'can manage ; §omehoiv. But others 'must be findingit vetY''verY'di cul .

So here is the ginning, of a yery-,good programme in theDepartment of Lingnistics and `I hope th a will be the first of aspris.ofactiyitios,,wfiioh win go .on qpnfinually.expanding. So Ihave great pleasure,in being lhere,participating in this function,and alspeVending, my good, wishes tp of you.

!*1.; ft/ ";,-

t

.!(r','ItH

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REPORT ON THE WORKING OF THE INTENSIVE

COURSE IN KANNADA FOR- THE

F .A. C. T. PERSONNEL

V. I'. Subramoniam

7-91-1970'

Before reporting to you the teaching' programme adoptedfor the last,four weeks- in the-class'room., I' will; with your pertnis-sion take a few minutes, to- outline to you the bask principle.s' ofwhat` is now known among academics, in spite' of our protest asthe KERALA METHOD of teaching languages.

COMMONNESS M RELATED- LANGUAGES

Languages, which belong to a family, like Malayalam,Kannada, Tamil. and Telugu share a. large number or sounds,grammar and, vocabulary items The degree of commonnessvaries according to the time of separation of these. languages.If Malayalam and Tamil separated around. 90D'. A. D. andMalayalam and Kannada around 300 A. D. the degree. of same-ness. is more between. the first group than in, the. second group.The degree of commonness makes learning:of-Kannada: compara-tively easier fin a Malayalam speaker than learning Telugu whichseparated around 1300 B. C. The commonness of languages isutilized fully in preparing the lessons.

STANDARD LANGUAGE AND NEWSPAPERS

All languages have dialect' differences, which, even to. sr

native speaker will be diffleult to comprehend/ if Ire is familiarwith only one of the dialectt. There- are only two ways- to getover this difficulty: One is to study all dialecti of the languagewhich in practice will be very difficult to achieve. Another is tolearn a standard dialect which is understood by most of thespeakers of the language. The literary dialects is rigid in almostall languages. Whereas, the language of the newspapers, whichare understood by millions of people is near to the spoken tongueand is flexible in absorbing new words. Hence the language ofthe newspaper has been selected for analysing and for the prepa-ration of the lessons. An explanation of the method adopted andthe lessons for Kannada, Malayalam and Telugu were mimeo-graphed and a copy presented as a Puja gift to the Vice-Chan-cellor of the University of Kerala, in October last.

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GOAL ORIENTED COURSE

If one's entire concentration is on a specified goal, itsachievement will be speedy. This goal-oriented outlook has beenadopted for the course as a whole, as well as for individuallessons. The lessons which re twentyfour in number have exer-cises with grammar, paradigms, pronunciation differences and alist of new words. The minimum that is expected of the exercisesis to make the lessons understood by the Trainees. As appendices,the whole grammar and the vocabulary based on the newspaper-texts have been given. The grammar and vocabulary will helpa candidate in understanding the lessons. Information notrelevant to the set purpose is avoided in the lessons as well as,in the class room. The Trainees and the Instructors were con-scious that every day (and every hour) was important in thiscourse. This brought seriousness of approach to all concerned.All time-bound col, ses have this advantage.

DETAILS OF THE COURSE

The course which was started almost immediately after abrief inaugural address by Shri A. N. Tampi, the Chairman of theState Advisory Board of Education, Kerala State, at 9-30 A. M.on 10-8-1970 had six hours of instruction daily and an hour ofrest and conversation. The morning work began with a less inread and explained by B. B. Rajapurohit from 9-00 to 10-00 A. M.This was followed by a general introduction to Linguistics offered

G. K. Panikkar and alternated by lessons in Phonetics ofMalayalam and Kannada by S. Velayudhan Asari for the first dclyand later by V. I. Subramoniam from 10-00 to 11-00 A. M. TheTrainees who had a tea break from 11-00. to 11-30 A. M. resumedtheir work of reading as a group, the lessons covered earlier.and later read the lessons. This was handled by T. Chandrikaupto 12-30 P. M. After the Lunch. recess the Trainees assembledat 2-30 P. M. to construct the new sentences on the pattern ofthose found in the lessons and to acquire an ability in talking.This was looked after by V. Mahilamma upto 4-00 P. M. Aftertea break for half an hour, A. P. Andrewskutty engaged themfor exercises in grammar constructing paradigms for the first twoweeks. From the second week the writing reading and speakingability was encouraged and supervised by him from 4-30 to 6-00P. M.

TESTS AND VALUATIONS

On all Saturdays a test was administered to the Traineesto find out their ability in grammar. vocabulary, comprehensionand later in writing in the Kannada script. The first test whichwas only for half an hour in duration was increased by half anhour every week. The test in the final week lasted for two bour*,

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On the next working clay after the test, the candidates themselvesscored their answers on the basis of master answers given tothem. This gave them a sense of participation and an opportu-nity to know why they were right or wrong and how they couldimprove. Since they judged their own answers, the usual com-plaint against the Instructor for over or under evaluating thecandidates' answers did not arise. Also one of our interestingfinding which deserves to be brc:ught to your notice is that theTrainees, by and large, were much more conservative in givingmarks than the Instructor who revalued the answers independ-ently. In 80% of the cases the Trainees gave to themselves muchless marks than the Instructor.PARTICIPATION OF THE KANNADA SPEAKING RESIDENTS

The Kannada speaking residents of Trivandrum extendedtheir fullest co-operation to the course by inviting the Traineesto a Bhajan on 27-8-1970 and attended two receptions one on22-8-1970 and another on 29-8-1970. Thus, an environment nor-mally obtainable only in the Mysore State was available in Tri-vandrum itself which, the Trainees made use of fully. For futurecourses we intend to arrange for a system of paid invitations tothe homes of the native speakers on one or two Sundays to givean intimate knowledge and familiarity to the Trainees about thehome life of the native speakers.CO-OPERATION OF THE TRAINEES

Though the days' work was tiring, the Trainees withstoo.1the course with a rare sense of responsibility. Even when theywere visibly tired and when queried about it, they remarked thatthey were tired only in appearance but cheerful in spirits. Allof them were reasonably regular even to classes in the earlymorning hours and agreed to adjust their week-end trips to theirhomes, whenever a class programme intervened. In the first week,they requested for schethiling the classes in the afternoon a biteart, so that they may leave for their rooms early. An additionalcup of coffee was also asked for, which was supplied immediately.Regarding the change in the working schedule, we advised themto wait for a week and to renew the request if they so feel. Theydid not repeat it : But, utilized even the tea breaks to listen torecorded songs or the news broadcasts in Kannada. All of themstayed in a single lodging house on our request which made iteasy for the staff members to visit them for an after-supper talk.TOOLS IN THE COVRSE

The lessons prepared and mimeographed already servedas the basis of the course. Each of the Trainees had a free copy.They were also given each a map of the Kannada alphabet and acopy each of Bharadvars English-English-Kannada Dictionary,

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Vijaya Kalyaana, a historical novel by H. Thipperudra Swamyand Gubiya Sattamotta another noviJI by Janardhana Gurkar asgifts from the Department Of Linguistics. We could not havethe help of a language laboratory which could have enabled theTrainees to imitate, record and correct on the basis of mastertapes their pronunciation of Kannada. Two tape recorders one,of the Executive Instructor and another that of a Trainee werepressed into service. We were fully conscious that they werepoor substitutes for a 'language laboratory.

REFERENCE TO INSTRUCTORSThe hist, actors, I am sure will feel highly embarrassed if

I am to register my appreciation for sharing the work cheerfully,constantly observing the progress of the lessons, introducingimprovements in their method of teaching and fully co-operatingwith the whole teaching programme, sacrificing many of theirpersonal comforts even on declared holidays. One or two occa-sions I saw the sick wife or the child of the staff memberwaiting in the car while he lectured in the class room.

ANALYSIS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE

Before. concluding the report I have to place before youa brief analysis of the age, educational background, previousknowledge of Kannada and a few other details collected throughan initial questionnaire adniinistered, before the candidate joinedthe course. These are correlated with the performance in theclass and certain conclusions are drawn for utilization in thecourses to be run in the future.

The lowest age of the Trainees is 21 and the highest is 40.Eight Trainees are in the age bracket of 21-29. Two are 40years of age. The average age of the Trainees is 26. When ageis correlated with performance the joungest of the trainees (21?

had consistently scored an A grade and stood first in the class.Also one of the eldest (40) was found to be improving his scorefrom failure to B and securing the third rank in the third test.Two trainees who are aged 24 and 25 have a score of C, B, B andD to C respectively which is ordinary. Another trainee who is40 has a score of D, C, A and C. Therefore age cannot be consi-dered as a sole influencing factor in getting a higher score.

Seven of the 'trainees are graduates in Agriculture. Theydid not do any language as a part in the examinations. One is aB. Corn. graduate whose language requirement for the examina-tion is almost negligible. One is a Science graduate. Anotherhas taken the B. A. Degree examination with 75% in Malayalam.But their present achievements have no predictable relation withtheir past performance in the language part. The two highest

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and a low score are secured by the graduates in Agriculture.The Science graduate has a progressive score from D to B andthe B. Com. graduate from D to C. The Arts graduate has a scoreof D. C, A and C. Again previous performance in any one of theIndian languages has no relevance in the present course.

Among the Indian languages known to the Trainees, Hinditops the list, with 50% knowing to the extent of speaking, readingand writing and 30% knowing to read and write. One knowsonly to speak. Another knows that language but has not specifiedhit; ability. Only one does not know Hindi.

Among the Dravidian languages Tamil is known to 50%of the candidates. Of them, three have speaking ability. Onehas speaking, writing and reading ability. Another has onlyspeaking and writing ability.

Knowledge of Hindi or Tamil acquired previously againhas not helped in securing a higher score for the candidates. Thecandidate who has stated that he has reading, writing and speak-ing abilities in Hindi as well as in Tamil has secured D to Cgrade. The candidate who secured the highest score has statedthat he knows Hindi (writing reading and speaking) and Tamil.only to read and write.

When an analysis of the previous acquaintance withKannada through a long stay in the Mysore State has or has nothelped the candidates in securing high scores in the presentcourse is made., the results are the following: One who was inDharwar for five years and has stated that he has speakingability in Kannada has secured a score of A, D, B and C, Anotherhaving two months in Government offices in the Mysore Statehas B, A, 13 and A. Tr.:: first rank holder has stayed only foififty days in the Mysore State. Others, except one, have stayedthere from four days to one month. One who has not at allvisited the Mysore State has a score of D, B, B and B As expec-ted, previous visits to the language area has some influence ingetting a higher score but not in all cases.

Language acquisition is a complex skill which cannot beattributed to any one factor like age, previous training in langu-ages or the stay in the concerned language area.

The questionnaire had a few test sentences to find out howmuch of ignorance of Kannada each trainee has before startingthe course. The most ignorant of the lot who secured the lowestrank has fared not badly because of an improved score of C,C and B. The most knowledgeable has a descending score A. D.B and C. A tabulated statement with the rank on the basis ifthe questionnaire and the four tests is given below for comparison.

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I QR IT 1R I T 2R T

3R I T4R

1 II (A) IX (D) IV (B) VII (C)

2 I (A) I (A) I (A) I (A +)3 VII (D) IV (B) VI (C) X (C)

4 IV (C) V (B) III (C) IX (C)

4 III (B) II (A) III (B) II (A +)5 VII (D) VII (C) VII (C) VII (C)

6 IX (D) VI (C) It (A) VI (B)

7 VI kii) III (B) IV (B) IV (B)

8 X (D) X (D) VII (C) V (B)

9 V (C) VII (C) V (B) III (B)

(Q = Questionnaire, R = Rank, T = Test)

The analysis though dreary has the purpose of impressinon you that the performance of the candidates in the course isdue to the,. efforts in the class room and not due to extraneousfactors.

An expert committee consisting of Prof. R. C. Hiremat,Head of the Department of Kannada and the Director of theKannada Institute, Dharwar who has intimate acquaintance withthe teaching of Kannada as a foreign language, Mrs. ElizabethZachariah who ably heads the Department of Education, Univer-sity of Kr. rala, Trivandrum and Sri G. Raghavendra Rao a veteranteacher who is now the Principal of the Central School at Pattom,Trivandrum has evaluated the performance of the students andthe method in the forenoon of 7-9-1970 and you will hear fromProf. Hiremath whether the course is a success and if so to whatextent ?

One of the Trainees is to propose a vote of thanks inKannada which will give you another opportunity to evaluatethe yield of the course.

Mr. President and friends ! humility forbids me to observeanything more than saying that the course is not a failure on anycount. The Experts will say how much of a success it is. Youwill also find out soon from the Trainee whether the Expertsassessment is a realistic one. At least at this late hour let me bewiser in turning over the floor to Sri G. Raghavendra Rao

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JO

REQUEST TO THE PANEL OF EXPERTS

(Prof. R. C. Hiremath, Prof. E, Zachariah,Principal G. Raghavendra Rao)

I request the Panel to assess objectively the ten MarketingOfficers of the F. A. C. T. who underwent training for a period offour weeks from 10-8-1970 to 5-9-1970 and advise me whether th,:candidates have picked up sufficient capability in

(a) talking(b) ccimprehending(c) reading

and (d) writing KannadaThe assessment may be based .on the language of the Nel%s-

papers in Kannada.(The issues of a few Kannada Newspapers are placed on

the table. The internal assessment based on four tests adminis-tered is also placed on the table to give the Panel an idea of theperformance of the candidates in the class. The question papersare also filed for the Panel's scrutiny. The. Panel may takefullest liberty in modifying the assessment on the basis of theperformance of the candidates before it. The assessment of thePanel is the final one.)

2. Also I will appreciate the Panel's opinion regardingthe method adopted i.e. the utilization of the commonness in therelated languages like Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil .etc. to buildup courses for teaching these languages.

The mimeographed copy of the method and the 'lessonsis placed on the table. The Instructors will be available for afrank discussion when required.')

3. Any other advice of the Panel for the improvement ofthe lessons, lesson aids, change in the duration of the course,framing of advanced courses ate. on the baths of its Endings willbe very much appreciated.

If the report is made available by 2-00 P. M. today, copiescan be duplicated and circulated.

Department of Linguistics,University of Kerala,Trivandrum, 7-9-1970.

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Sclf V. I. SubramoniamProfessor of Linguistics.

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REPORT ON TILE PERFORMANCE OF THE CANDIDATES INTHE. KANNADA LANGUAGE TRAINING CONDUCTED BY THEDEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICS, UNIVERSITY OF KERALA.

TRIVANDRUM.

7th September, 1970.

To start with we were shown the teaching material usedfor the course. We noted the Four written Tests conducted pre-iously.

With this preliminary information, the test including Viv(..Writing, Reading etc. was commenced at 10-45 A. M. and wasover by 1-30 P. M. The candidates were found to speak KannadaLanguage with the proper intonation, stress, pitch etc. At theareas of common agreement there was no difficulty whatsoever.But in a few cases where the phonological difference existsbetween the two languages namely Malayalam and Kannada alittle more training is necessary to catch the correct phoneticvalue. The performance of the candidates on die whole at thephonological level has been satisfactory. At the sentence leveltheir performance was still better. They could converse easilyand comprehend spoken Kannada and express easily even alittle complicated idea, though at times they could use some ofthe English and Malayalam equhalents here and there. The gra-mmatical knowledge of these ten students is very good. Theycould follow the grammatical features such as the noun, theincrement and the case, the verbal endings, declensions etc.

At the reading and writing level however, they need alittle more practice. If they will follow it up they could be quitegood even at that. At present most of them can follow the biggerhead lines in the daily newspapers and they are well acquaintedwith the Kannada Script.

We are extremely happy to place on record the brilliantperformance of the candidates. In the objective test we have twocandidates scoring more than 70% marks, six scoring between60% and 39% and two between 5% and 59%. This is certainlyan achievement in a short period of one month's training. Wecongratulate the Department of Linguistics, Dr. V. I. Subramo-niam, Professor and Head of the Department of Linguistics,Dr. B. B. Rajapurohit, Dr. G. K. Panikkar, Mr. A. 13: Andrews-kutty, Miss T. Chandrika and Miss V. Mahilamma who have donea good job of teaching the language. They have designeda good course and followed it up. This goes a long way towardsnational integration,

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We place on record the pioneering efforts made by theKerala University in this respect which needs to be followed byother Universities.

Trivandrum,7th September, 1970.

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(1) Sd/Mrs. Elizabeth Zacharialt

(2) Sd/Dr. R. C. Hiremath

(2) Sd/Shri G. Raghavendra Rao

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FELICITATIONS FROM THE F. A. C. T.S. Prabhakaran Nair. I. A. S.

7-9-4970Mr. Vice - Chancellor, Prof. Subramoniam, Colleagues of theF. A. C. T.. Ladies and Gentlemen.

I am not going to make a speech. I have been asked tofelicitate. Before I do that, let me convey the apology ofMr. M. K. K. Nair, our Managing Director, for his inablity to bepresent here and deliver the Valedictory address wh cii he pro-mised to do. He is unavoidably held up in Delhi for official work.But for this unexpected meeting which is scheduled at Delhi hewould have been certainty here and gladly participated in thisevening's function. I have been asked to convey his apology tothe Vice-Chancellor to whom he already sent a telegram and toeach one of you present here.

I am glad to say that our company, Fertilizers and Chemi-cals Travancore Ltd., known shortly as F. A. C. T., is deeplyindebted to the University of Kerala and Dr. Subramoniam andhis colleagues for organizing this course exclusively for us. Thatthe course has been a tremendous success has been testified bythe external experts who evaluated the participants. Actually1 had occasion to have a beef chat with them, early today. Theyhad all praise for the performance of the candidates. In thereport also they have expressed their appreciation about thecandidates and the manner in which the course is conductedThat the partidipants are by and large able to speak a languagewithin four weeks is certainly a glowing tribute to the method ant'the manner in which it is conducted. It speaks volume aboutthe efforts of the staff which conducted this course. The partiei-pants have also certainly every reason to be proud of theirachievements. As far as I know this course is the first of its

kind conducted anywhere in India. The pioneering efforts of theUniversity and Prof. Subramoniam and his colleagues have beenamply rewarded. In the success of this course I see two significantresults. First, that in a country torn apart by dissension mainlybecause of language barriers, here is an opportunity for ourfellow countrymen to learn the. language in the shortest timepossible. This is bound to pave the way for the national integra-tion and make India really one. As far as I am concerned, I alsofeel, and that is more relevant to me. is the second significantachievement.: To me it is a break- through in the relationshipbetween the University and the Indi stry. I am told that in alldeveloped countries there is a close a4iociation between the Uni-versity and Industry. Universities ot:er tailor made courses

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required by the Industry. A curriculum of related subjects :sdesigned to serve the needs of the Industry. There is a freeexchange of personnel between the University and the Industry.A Professor of today may be a Senior Executive of tomorrow. in

Industry and vice-versa. Unfortunately in this country theUn:versities and the Industry, I may be pardoned for this expres-sen of views, mostly live in isolation. Only we cite one or twoexamples. Let us take Commerce graduates : They have tr,

necessarily look up to the industry for employment. I had an()cc anion. to supervise the work of many commerce graduates

were joining our company. I should say that they hard:3:linow anything about the Book-keeping in companes. They donot know what books are maintained in companies when theyjoin the companies. If commerce graduates are not able to dothis job for the company I would venture to ask of what vse willtheir traning be to the Industry. Another example that I wouldlike to cite is about the Engineering graduates. A couple of yearsback, two years back to be exact, I had an occasion to sit on aselection committee for selecting executives for our company--Senior executives in our company. Some of them who weredistinguished very highly in their academic career, who hadpassed our written test with very high marks appeared before usfor an interview. We asked some of them whether they haveseen any fariory. Atleast, five of the Engineering graduates hadnot seen any factory even though they had a degree to theircredit. This is certainly a matter of concern that an Engineeringgraduate, mechanical or electrical joining a company withouteven seeing a factory during his course. It is in this backgroundIhat I venture to say that the present course is a break through.It provides them scope for better understanding about the require-ment of the industry. This course has been a tailor made coursetor the Industry. F. A. C. T. wanted their Sales Officers to learnSouth Indian Languages. The University offered to provide theF. A. C. T. with a course. a short course to enable them to learnthe 1r aguage. If this association would get extended and moreand more tailor made courses could be offered by the University

the University and Industry would be benefitted. I wouldalso take this opportunity to suggest that courses like Commerce.

general course, should also be designed or redesigned to meetthe requirements of the industry so as to enable the graduates toget employment and to enable the industry to absorb them with-o.t difficulty. Now coming back to the course, the presentsuccess has emboldened us t._ utilize this facility for training moreand more of our personnel. I have great pleasure in announcingthat if the University is willing we are willing to depute furtherbatches of our Sales Officers for these courses. We have for themoment about 150 Sales Officers and Officers of the same cadre

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who require training or learning the South Indian languages. Wewill be very happy to send them in batches of ten so that all ofthem would be trained in this way. We had discussions withProf. Subramoniam, who indicated that there are some difficultiesin getting teaching aids. Particular mention was made about thelanguage laboratory. I had the opportunity to discuss this matterwith our Management and I am glad to say that we have acceptedin principle in advancing the fees of .the prospective students sothat the Department would be able to purchase the requiredequipment. Of course, the details have to be worked out betweenthe University and our company. I don't want to take more ofyour time, I would like to congratulate my

the

who havecome from F. A. C. T. and have undergone the course and success-fully completed this course. Those of you who are top scorerscan be assured that this would be recognised and rewarded. I onceagain thank the University and the Department of Linguistics,particularly Prof. Subramoniam and his devoted band of collea-gues for this help that they ,have offered to the F. A. C. T. andthe Industry in general.

iSpeech taped and transcribed)

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POST SCitIPT

Following the advice of the Visiting Expert Committee tointroduce the script early, the. native script will be iiiterlaced fromthe fourth lesson to the fourteenth lesson. From the fifteenthlessen to the end, the lessons Will be printed in the native scriptonly.

The Prefatory remarks and the Introduction to theMethodthe first two paperS are from a forthcoming bookA Method for Cognate Language Teaching'.

A few of the speeches haye been taped and tra .L,cribed byG. K. Panikkar and B. B. Rajapurohit. A. P. Andrew .kutty readthe proofs. The Superintendent of the Kerala UniYerSity Presssupervised the efficient printing. To all of them I am grateful.

V. I. Subramoniani

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