International Journal of Educational Science and Research (IJESR) ISSN 2249-6947 Vol.

3, Issue 1, Mar 2013, 75-80 TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.

GLOBAL STANDARDIZATION OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING - NCERT FRAMEWORK FOR ENGLISH REFERENCED BACK TO THE COMMON EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK OF REFERENCE AND AMERICAN COUNCIL OF THE TEACHING OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
ROWEENA B D'COUTO Assistant Professor, Dr. N.G.P.Institute of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India

ABSTRACT The responsibility of designing curricula has been considered as highly localized, and absolute freedom has been extended to various boards and bodies. Fixed in the context of globalization and standardization, perhaps a minimum common framework of reference should be drafted for English at the primary education level for learners across the world. This paper considers how the NCERT ( National council of Educational Research and Training) framework for English curriculum has a reference back to Common European Framework of Reference and American Council of the Teaching of Foreign languages and proposes it as a model for evolving a globally standardized English curriculum at the primary level. KEYWORDS: Curriculum Development, Common European Framework of Reference, National Council of
Educational Research and Training, American Council of the Teaching of Foreign Languages

INTRODUCTION
The breaking down of trade, commerce, educational and political barriers between countries and regions, has resulted in a world where globalization and standardization are the trend. Globalization definitely requires a common medium of communication, and considering the present international language competencies and usage, English would naturally be the first choice. But, no specific or uniform curricular framework for English has been identified which can be followed across the globe. The responsibility of designing curricula has long been considered as highly localized, and absolute freedom has been extended to various boards and bodies of each region to develop their own curriculum. Fixed in the context of globalization and standardization, perhaps a minimum common framework of reference needs to be drafted for primary English language education for learners across the world. For a country like India, with its diverse political, racial, linguistic and cultural backgrounds, NCERT(National Council of Educational Research and Training) has, through the National Curriculum framework, developed a uniform curriculum applicable across the country. This paper considers how this uniform curriculum for English can be introduced as a common curriculum for English which is truly standardized and global in content to provide a uniform, global format of English usage.

76

Roweena B D'couto

Need for Standardization of English Learning and Teaching English definitely fits the role of the ideal medium for global communication, but, the English language itself has acquired varied local and regional accents, phonetics and even grammar, so much that, the same sentence may convey an altogether different message in different regions. Thus the development of a standardized curricular framework for learning the English language appears as the first step which will lead to the development of a truly standardized and global format of the English language. This curriculum should consist of certain specifications which will help students from different cultures and languages to study the English language in tandem. NCERTs Curriculum for English India is a country that speaks many languages, taking this into consideration the NCERT has designed a syllabus which will not only be learnt as a language for communicative competence but furthermore act as a medium for learning other subjects. The English syllabus put forth by the NCF of the NCERT, offers English as the language of communication all across India, bridging all barriers of communication in different sectors; being accepted by every household, and in trade and industry as the language to interact with, it thus serves as the link language for all cultures and languages. The NCF -2005 further states - Thus English must be seen in relation to other subjects a language across the curriculum is of particular relevance to primary education, and later all teaching is in a sense language teaching. This perspective will bridge the gap between "English as subject" and "English as medium". We should in this way move towards a common school system that does not make a distinction between "teaching a language" and "using a language as a medium of instruction". The NCF thus rightly emphasizes the learning of English as a subject, then as a medium of learning other subjects which by itself again reinforces English as a medium of communication which would act as the basis of developing a uniform curriculum. The NCERT syllabus for English encompasses all aspects of the language namely listening, reading, speaking and writing. Listening: The NCERT focuses on the phonic way of learning giving importance to the letter-sounds, rhythm and an activity based language, the focus here is to make the child familiar with listening, listening to the teacher talk or any recorded material, this will result in a spontaneous reaction to any familiar content that will be discussed in class like an instruction . The Reading skill: The Reading competency is mainly focused for a child to be visually familiar with text(words), reading with comprehension based on the level, to be able to associate meaning with written/printed language which will further enhance a childs capabilities to read simple words/short sentences with the help of pictures. Speaking Skill: This skill not only encourages a child to speak in English but also to develop proficiency in the mother tongue or the first language, establishing a bilingual approach through various sources like signs, visuals, pictures, questions /answers. Basic expressions, fragmented utterances, to narrate experiences, and incidents, and in turn be able to interact with peers, are some of the skills that Students derive, the students are able to exchange ideas and carry out brief conversations, or even participate in dramas and role-plays. Writing Skills: To be able to draw and paint and use it as a forerunner for writing, to be able to write short sentences, simple words and phrases, to be able to take dictation and to be able to copy from the board. Students will also learn to write short compositions based on pictures, write a description of a person, thing or place, and prepare a notice.

Global Standardization of English Language Teaching - NCERT Framework for English Referenced Back to the Common European Framework of Reference and American Council of the Teaching of Foreign Languages

77

Grammar is also emphasized by giving the students information on all grammatical terms through reading, writing, listening and speaking. Existing Standards of English Proficiency- CEFR and ACTFL Currently the two major standard frameworks for English language are the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference) and ACTFL (American council on the teaching of Foreign languages) CEFR The Common European Framework provides a common basis for the elaboration of language syllabuses, curriculum guidelines, examinations, textbooks, etc. across Europe. It describes in a comprehensive way what language learners have to learn to do in order to use a language for communication and what knowledge and skills they have to develop so as to be able to act effectively. The description also covers the cultural context in which language is set. The Framework also defines levels of proficiency which allow learners progress to be measured at each stage of learning and on a life-long basis. The CEFR evaluates and categorizes the learners into three broad categories namely-Basic user, Independent user and proficient, these are further sub classified into six categories as under: Basic user - A1-Breakthrough - A2- Way stage Independent User - B1- Threshold - B2 - Vantage Proficient - C1- Effective - C2- Mastery (Language Policy Division, Council of Europe, Strasbourg The English edition is published by Cambridge University Press.ISBN : HB 0521803136 - PB 0521005310 www.uk.cambridge.org/elt) ACTFL The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, a national organization dedicated to the improvement and expansion of the teaching and learning of all languages at all levels of instruction throughout the U.S.A. The ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines, first published in 1986, are global characterizations of integrated performance in each of four language skills namely, speaking, writing, reading, and listening. The ACTFL Guidelines are based in large part on the language skill level descriptions used by the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) and adapted for use in academic environments. The ACTFL has separate guidelines for reading, writing, speaking and listening which have been extensively tested and interpreted, owing to their role as the Evaluative core of the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) and in the context of research projects, articles, and debates. These guidelines grade the learners proficiency as Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, Superior and Distinguished.

78

Roweena B D'couto

The NCERT Referenced to CEFR and ACTFL The NCERT curriculum for English, as defined in the NCF, estimates that at the end of 5th year the child is able to develop his/her overall proficiency in the English Subject. These competencies are equivalent to the CEFR/ACTFL. The below table gives a sample comparison of the English speaking proficiencies at the 5th standard level under the NCERT framework, with other standard frameworks like the Common European framework of Reference and the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign languages. The level of descriptors are the same . NCERT(1-5)Std This level of speakers can communicate any message that they tend to express, they can also participate in conversation and discussions. Now when we say social situations we are talking of communicating an idea, introducing themselves, and also These level of speakers can This level of speakers can speak with an uninterrupted flow where social situations are concerned. Social situations like greetings, details regarding personal communicate about the place they live at, They can also give details related to their surroundings like to talk about their living conditions and the events that take place the activities that there are involved in. Here we can see that the speaker will be able to communicate part time experiences, past time hobbies and habits and even day to day routines habits. Can narrate stories ,incidents that might occur in the near future can give the necessary briefing required in a limited way to any incident that takes place it can be related to the personal or surrounding issues. and CEFR-A1 LEVEL ACTFL LOW-BEGINER.

describing themselves. Lets now look at the greetings they can express greetings, wishes and feelings and also give their preferences about any particular aspect. Can make presentations and describe, talk about a theme, can be involved in role play which means participation in various speech activities like dramas. Here we can see the school children are able to listen to instructions

information and direction all these items can be categorized under this section. In this particular aspect we can see that the speaker will be able to talk about her/his likes and dislikes.

directions, listen to greetings and to the rhymes in the class room. Also they pay a keen ear to the narrative aspects as we have seen earlier for the speaking part of it. in the similar way we can see that they are equally attentive in class when it comes to listening of various texts. These students are able to be involved in all the 4 skills like reading writing and speaking as we have seen earlier.

Global Standardization of English Language Teaching - NCERT Framework for English Referenced Back to the Common European Framework of Reference and American Council of the Teaching of Foreign Languages

79

This table highlights the fact that the level of proficiencies that the students of standards 1-5 of the NCERT Framework achieve is comparable with the performance as per the CEFR and ACTFL This further establishes how the NCERT framework has a reference back to existing standard frameworks of English language proficiency like the Common European Framework of Reference and American Council of the Teaching of Foreign languages, and thereby validates its suitability as a model for evolving a uniform curriculum with particular reference to English at the primary level.

CONCLUSIONS
This paper emphasizes the need for a standardized curriculum of teaching English so that it can be used as a language for global communication, thus a common framework has to be developed that will function in an environment that is flexible and adaptable to children who come from different cultures and languages. For a country like India, with its diverse political, racial, linguistic and cultural backgrounds, NCERT (National council of Educational Research and Training) has, through the National Curriculum framework(NCF), developed a uniform curriculum for English language teaching. By comparing the NCERTs curriculum to existing standards of proficiency in English, like the CEFR and ACTFL, this paper shows that the NCERTs curricular framework for English language teaching is truly standardized and global. Thus, this paper strongly advocates the use of the NCERT curricular framework for primary education in India, as a role model through which English can be taught in a uniform format across the globe. List of Acronyms CEFR: Common European Framework of Reference ACTFL: American Council of Teaching Foreign Languages NFS: Non formal Schools.

NCERT: National Council Education Research and Training

REFERENCES
1. American Council on the Teaching of Foreign languages - ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines 2005, 2009 Retrieved from http://www.actfl.org/ 2. Council of Europe, European Language Portfolio ,Education and Languages, Retrieved from

www.coe.int/t/dg4/education 3. International Communication and Globalisation: A critical Introduction, by Ali Mohammadi, 1997 Sage Publications. 4. National Council of Education Research and Training (2006); Syllabus Volume 1/Elementary Level, Retrieved from www.ncert.nic.in