Functional English as a subject in technical courses.

Abstract

The English language has long been considered as an internationally accepted facet of communication. Hence, to survive and succeed in global environment, it’s imperative to have proficiency in English. Inadvertently, schooling worldwide inculcate English as a primary medium of instruction and also as a prime subject. The benevolence is carried forward, up to the undergraduate level. However, observing the current trend in graduates, it is realised that the university stipulate a mere 2 hours in a week in Engineering Colleges for ‘Functional English’, in a semester spanning 3-4 months. The reduced teaching hours and the failure to consider English as a compulsory subject with respect to attendance and evaluation has been a major setback, especially for students hailing from a background, where native language is the major medium of instruction. This condition cannot be seen with complacency, since the students in 4 years undergraduate degree course appear for atleast 64 subjects, where, their performance is judged by English writing skills. Also, the failure to implement ‘Functional English’ successfully has reflected in various stressors during placement. The high rate of rejection at interviews has been much attributed to the lapses in communication and presentation skills alone. The outlook therefore necessitates an effective content based teaching methodology. The current study suggests certain remedial measures to improve the effectiveness of English subject at Engineering level and also discusses them in brief.