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Singh: stop smear campaign, start clean up

2011-04-22T20:53:00.002+05:30

Singh: stop smear campaign, start clean up

(http://www.avaaz.org/en/singh_stop_the_slander/?cl=1026971397&v=8924)

Last week, millions of us were shocked to read that our anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare was backing down on key demands of the Jan Lokpal Bill. But the reports were false. Who spread them? A Minister on the bill drafting committee.

Now the press is full of new allegations against other civil society representatives on the Committee. We knew those in power would do anything to stall and derail the Jan Lokpal Bill. Now they have put their media-spin machine into full-swing to smear our leaders and divide the movement.

Our only hope for a strong Jan Lokpal is to stand up to every dirty tactic the politicians use to kill it. Let's raise a massive call for PM Singh to rein in the smear campaign, identify those Ministers responsible and kick them off the committee by the next meeting on May 2nd. When the petition reaches 100,000, we’ll cover Delhi with mobile billboards and follow PM Singh around until the Lokpal process is cleaned up. Click on the link below and sign now.

To Prime Minister Manmohan Singh:

We call on you to reign in the smear campaigns being spread across the media, identify those Ministers that are spreading false information, and set an example by removing anyone who is up to dirty tricks from the drafting committee before the next meeting on May 2nd. We want the new era of corruption-free politics in our country to start now.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/singh_stop_the_slander/?copy

Fight against corruption

2011-04-07T19:30:00.003+05:30

Dear everybody

My busy schedule kept me away from contributing to this blog for quite some time. I keep receiving many queries from friends and followers of this blog on why I don't post blogs regularly.

I keep contributing my column 'English Blues' to Education Express, a weekly supplement with The New Indian Express. I want to express my views on social issues but somehow I don't find time to write. Now I'm forced to post this blog.

Right now I'm watching TV (Times Now). In the wake of Anna Hazare's hunger fast citizens interested in fighting against corruption are being interviewed. I'm glad to know that more and more youngsters want to 'demolish corruption'. It is a positive sign. Everyone interested in eradicating corruption in India should express their solidarity with Anna Hazare and take an oath not to indulge in any sort of corrupt practices.

If there is any clean politician, they should join Anna Hazare. "You are either with us or you are against us."

Here I reproduce Anna Hazare's letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Please read it and send in your comments:

Anna Hazare's 5-point letter to PM,

New Delhi: In a five-point letter to the Prime Minister, veteran activist and Gandhian Anna Hazare has explained why he is continuing with the hunger fast that the government has asked him to re-consider. Mr Hazare is clear that his agenda is not just to push for the bill, but to ensure that it is not drafted by the government alone - this, he says, would be undemocratic and would allow politicians to provide far too many loopholes to let themselves off the hook.

Here's the letter:

Dear Dr. Singh,

I have started my indefinite fast at Jantar mantar. I had invited you also to fast and pray for a corruption free India on 5th April. Though I did not receive any reply from you, I am hopeful that you must have done that.

I am pained to read and hear about government's reaction to my fast. I consider it my duty to clarify the points raised on behalf of Congress party and the government by their spokespersons, as they appear in media:

1. It is being alleged that I am being instigated by some people to sit on this fast. Dear Manmohan Singh ji, this is an insult to my sense of wisdom and intelligence. I am not a kid that I could be "instigated" into going on an indefinite fast. I am a fiercely independent person. I take advice from many friends and critics, but do what my conscience directs me to do. It is my experience that when cornered, governments resort to such malicious slandering. I am pained that the government, rather than addressing the issue of corruption, is trying to allege conspiracies, when there are none.

2. It is being said that I have shown impatience. Dear Prime Minister, so far, every government has shown complete insensitivity and lack of political commitment to tackling corruption. 62 years after independence, we still do not have independent and effective anti‐corruption systems. Very weak versions of Lokpal Bill were presented in Parliament eight times in last 42 years. Even these weak versions were not passed by Parliament. This means, left to themselves, the politicians and bureaucrats will never pass any law which subjects them to any kind of objective scrutiny. At a time, when the country has witnessed scams of unprecedented scale, the impatience of the entire country is justified. And we call upon you, not to look for precedents, but show courage to take unprecedented steps.

3. It is being said that I have shown impatience when the government has "initiated" the process. I would urge you to tell me - exactly what processes are underway?

a. You say that your Group of Ministers are drafting the anti‐corruption law. Many of the members of this Group of Ministers have such a shady past that if effective anticorruption systems had been in place, some of them would have been behind bars. Do you want us to have faith in a process in which some of the most corrupt people of this country should draft the anti‐corruption law?

b. NAC sub‐committee has discussed Jan Lokpal Bill. But what does that actually mean? Will the government accept the recommendations of NAC sub‐committee? So far, UPA II has shown complete contempt for even the most innocuous issues raised by NAC.

c. I and many other friends from India Against Corruption movement wrote several letters to you after 1st December. I also sent you a copy of Jan Lokpal Bill on 1st December. We did not get any response. It is only when I wrote to you that I will sit on an indefinite fast, we were promptly invited for discussions on 7th March. I wonder whether the government responds only to threats of indefinite fast. Before that, representatives of India Against Corruption had been meeting various Ministers seeking their support for the Jan Lokpal Bill. They met Mr Moily also and personally handed over copy of Jan Lokpal to him. A few hours before our meeting with you, we received a phone call from Mr Moily's office that the copy of Jan Lokpal Bill had been misplaced by his office and they wanted another copy. This is the seriousness with which the government has dealt with Jan Lokpal Bill.

d. Dear Dr Manmohan Singh ji, if you were in my place, would you have any faith in the aforesaid processes? Kindly let me know if there are any other processes underway. If you still feel that I am impatient, I am happy that I am because the whole nation is feeling impatient at the lack of credible efforts from your government against corruption.

4. What are we asking for? We are not saying that you should accept the Bill drafted by us. But kindly create a credible platform for discussions - a joint committee with at least half members from civil society suggested by us. Your spokespersons are misleading the nation when they say that there is no precedent for setting up a joint committee. At least seven laws in Maharashtra were drafted by similar joint committees and presented in Maharashtra Assembly. Maharashtra RTI Act, one of the best laws of those times, was drafted by a joint committee. Even at the centre, when 25,000 tribals came to Delhi two years ago, your government set up a joint committee on land issues within 48 hours. You yourself are the Chairperson of that committee.

This means that the government is willing to set up joint committees on all other issues, but not on corruption. Why?

5. It is being said that the government wants to talk to us and we are not talking to them. This is utterly false. Tell me a single meeting when you called us and we did not come. We strongly believe in dialogue and engagement. Kindly do not mislead the country by saying that we are shunning dialogue.

We request you to take some credible steps at stemming corruption. Kindly stop finding faults and suspecting conspiracies in our movement. There are none. Even if there were, it does not absolve you of your responsibilities to stop corruption.

With warm regards,
K B Hazare

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/anna-hazares-5-point-letter-to-pm-96844?cp

Please send in your comments.

There is an urgent need to start a movement against corruption.

Difference between ‘that’ and ‘which’

2010-07-14T14:29:00.002+05:30

There is a subtle difference between the use of ‘that’ and ‘which’ in a sentence. A relative clause provides additional information about the noun it describes, but it may be considered relevant or irrelevant to the overall point of the sentence.

A restrictive relative clause which begins with ‘that’ is usually considered essential or restrictive. Here is an example:

• I enjoyed reading the novel that I borrowed from my professor.

In the above sentence the word ‘that’ is relative to ‘novel’. There are many novels but here the reference is to a particular novel. The relative clause beginning with ‘that’ is considered restrictive, since it is an essential piece of information that identifies the novel.

Relative clauses beginning with ‘which’ may contain non-essential information and would be considered non-restrictive. Here is an example:

• KCG College of Technology, which is on the Old Mahabalipuram Road, offers aeronautical engineering programme at the undergraduate level.

In the above sentence the clause ‘which is on the Old Mahabalipuram Road’ is separated by commas and the information where the college is not essential to the main idea of the sentence. Even if it is removed the sentence will make sense. In the above sentence, it is not possible to replace ‘which’ with ‘that’.

In short, whenever the information is essential to identifying the subject, the proper pronoun to use is that. If the information is not essential, or can be set apart with commas, then the pronoun which is more likely to be correct. If the meaning of the sentence would be lost without the information, then it is most likely restrictive and that would be the proper pronoun to use.

Difference between ‘what’ and ‘which’?

2010-07-14T14:26:00.000+05:30

Difference between ‘what’ and ‘which’

Learners of English often are confused between the use of ‘what’ and ‘which’ in a sentence. Look at these two sentences:

1. What is your name?
2. Which is your name?

Though both the sentences are grammatically correct, we always use the first sentence that starts with ‘what’. The reason is ‘what’ refers to an open set and ‘which’ refers to a closed set. In the first sentence (What is …), the speaker has no chance of guessing any name. In the second sentence (Which is…), the speaker may have a few names in mind or on the list. "Which" generally suggests there are two or more possibilities and the person asking "which" probably knows what they are. Here are a few more examples:

‘What’ refers to an open set: What is your mother tongue? It could be any language and the person asking the question does not know what it is.

• What is the name of the examiner?
• What are the different options?

‘Which’ refers to a closed set: In which city were you born?’ It could be any of the cities which the person who asks the question knows.

• Which (of these) stories have you read?
• Which (of the) countries have you visited?

In the above sentences, it is not possible to replace ‘which’ with ‘what’. If the choice is clearly restricted, then 'which' is the better choice.

Both “what” and “which” are interrogative as well as relative pronouns.
As an interrogative pronoun, ‘what’ in a question suggests unlimited possibilities. Here are a few examples:

• What are you going to do this weekend?
The answer could be almost anything.
• What is your favorite picnic spot.
The answer could be any picnic spot.

“Which” in a question suggests a definite, limited list of alternatives. Look at these examples:
• Which game do you like the most?
Both the speaker and the listener have a few games in mind.

As a relative pronoun, ‘what’ means unlimited possibilities. Examples:
• The examiner asked the student what his name was.
• We don’t know what we are going to do this weekend.

“Which’ as a relative pronoun is specific. Examples:
• I went to Goa which is a beautiful place.
• I want to present a laptop to my boyfriend, but I don’t know which one to buy.

‘What’ is used in a range of expressions, all giving the idea of ‘no limits’. Examples:

• What about …
• What if …

Difference between ‘thanks’ and ‘thank you’

2010-02-04T06:20:00.001+05:30

Very recently, a student borrowed a book from me and while leaving my office she said, “Thanks, sir”. I wasn’t happy with her response. Was the student not polite? Was she not sincere in expressing her gratitude? Didn’t she appreciate the nice deed that I did for her?

Though she was very sincere in expressing her gratitude, I felt that the term ‘thanks’ was not a proper term to be used in the situation. ‘Thanks’ is a very casual term whereas ‘thank you’ is a formal term and moreover ‘thank you’ is a more polite term than ‘thanks’.

The phrase ‘thank you’ is more appropriate in the situation. We can use the term ‘thanks’ to our friends of the same age group but not to those who hold higher positions and thos who are elder to us.

In writings, both ‘thanks’ and ‘thank you’ can be used interjectionally. Thanks! Thank you! In a formal letter, we need to use the term ‘thank you’ to come off as professional.

Read the following scenarios to determine if someone actually appreciates your good deeds and has an interest in you.

Scenario # 1:

Ramesh: Reena, I returned from London last week. Sometime back, you told me that you like Tony Blair’s speech very much. This DVD has a collection of Tony Blair’s best speeches. Hope, you will like it.
Reena: Thanks, Ramesh.

Scenario # 2:

Ramesh: Meena, I returned from the UK last week. Here is a gift for you. It is a music album which I bought in Westminster Abbey.
Meena: Great! Thank you, Ramesh.

In scenario # 1, Reena expresses her gratitude politely but not enthusiastically. She didn’t express her affection for Ramesh or appreciate the gift. Ramesh did a nice deed for Reena by remembering what she liked and spent his money to buy the gift, but Reena’s response was not proper.

But, in scenario # 2, Meena expresses her gratitude politely and at the same time enthusiastically. Meena’s response shows that she likes the gift very much and also has affection for Ramesh.

If the word ‘thanks’ can be considered a verbal pat on the back, the term ‘thank you’ is a verbal hug. ‘Thank you’ takes more effort to say than does ‘thanks’. ‘Thank you’ is more personal than ‘thanks’. We say ‘thanks’ to anybody but ‘thank you’ to some people who have really touched our lives.

--

Introducing oneself in English

2010-02-04T06:19:00.000+05:30

“Hi, welcome! My name is Jane, the organizer of the conference.”

“Hello, my name is Dr Jayaram. Glad to meet you”

“Is Doctor your first name?”

“No, it is my title.”

“Are you Dr Jane or Ms Jane?

“I’m Jane”

This is a piece of conversation between a gentleman who attended a conference and the organizer of the conference.

The organizer, a Briton, was surprised to hear the gentleman use the title with his name while introducing himself because in the United Kingdom it is not common for academicians to use the title with their names when they introduce themselves.

Recently, I visited a university in Chennai to attend a seminar. Almost 90 per cent of the academicians I met on the occasion introduced themselves using the title ‘Dr’ with their names.

How to introduce oneself in English? Here is a sample conversation:

James: Hi my name is James. What is your name?
Rathi: Hi James. Pleased to meet you. My name is Rathi.
James: Pleased to meet you too. How are you?
Rathi: Great, thanks. How are you?
James: Very well, thanks.
Rathi: James, where are you from?
James: I’m from Goa.

--

Send in your feedback to the article and grammar related queries to Dr Albert P’Rayan at rayanal@yahoo.co.uk

English Next

2010-01-02T08:07:00.001+05:30

English Next was commissioned by the British Council and written by researcher David Graddol – a British applied linguist, well known as a writer, broadcaster, researcher and consultant on issues relating to global English.

The new report argues that we are already in a very new kind of environment and a new phase in the global development of English. What are the new rules and who will be the winners and who will be the losers? In this new study David Graddol suggests some of the answers by analysing demographic and economic trends in the Twenty First-Century which affect Global English and language policies worldwide and will influence its future.

David Graddol

Download English Next 1.8mb

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/english_next.pdf

Free English discussion on 'Manners'

2009-12-04T06:07:00.002+05:30

News from Jason West (EnglishOutThere)

Hi everyone...

This is an open discussion on Weds 9th Dec at 7pm GMT that will be based on the free EOT lesson on 'Manners' that you can get here:

http://www.facebook.com/EnglishOutThere?v=app_7146470109

Send it to your friends!

Download it, print it, work on it, listen to the MP3 and then come to the discussion.

Come to www.Facebook.com/EnglishOutThere and click on 'voice chat'.

Try to have a headset and microphone, it sounds better for everyone :-)

Thanks and see you there...

Jason

www.Facebook.com/EnglishOutThere

Useful websites for learners of English

2009-11-19T10:05:00.002+05:30

I receive a number of queries related to English language learning from readers of my column 'English Matters', published every Monday in Education Express, a weekly supplement with The New Indian Express (India). Recently, some readers asked me to review the websites that are useful for English language learners and discuss the same in my column. Here are useful websites for learners of English.

Enjoy learning English!

1. ToLearnEnglish.com

You can join the free club and learn English.

The newsletter includes

- ONE FREE WEEKLY LESSON...

- all the latest lessons published on the site

- the news of the site

To know more visit the site at http://www.ToLearnEnglish.com

2. TOPICS Online Magazine for Learners of English

This publication offers learners of English the opportunity to express and publish their ideas in English to an online audience.

http://www.topics-mag.com/index.html

3. ESL Independent Study Lab

http://legacy.lclark.edu/~krauss/toppicks/toppicks.html

Contains over 250 of the best Internet resources for ESL/EFL students!
All Web sites are clearly annotated. Organization is by skill area and language level.

Communication Skills for Teachers (part 2)

2009-11-15T19:39:00.003+05:30

In the first part of the article entitled ‘Communication Skills for Teachers of English” that appeared last week, I discussed the importance of communication skills for students of English literature who aspire to become teachers of English. I concluded the article with the statement that teachers of English should have proficiency in the language, positive motivation, appropriate body language, good presentation skills, sense of humour and interpersonal skills in order to be effective communicators.

The article also stressed the urgent need to develop students’ communication skills through literature. Not many teachers of English literature in India have been trained to use the communicative approach in the literature class.

As a student at a reputed college in Tamil Nadu, I was taught English literature by many teachers. A few of them were great professors who spoke impeccable English and delivered excellent lectures. Some were mediocre professors who just read literary pieces and dictated notes they had plagiarized from low standard books. One or two were really communicative and they encouraged students to communicate in the class.

Professor David (name changed) was an original thinker. We enjoyed attending his classes. His English was good and it was pleasure listening to him. His interpretation of literary pieces was food for thought for those students who had passion for English literature. The only problem with the professor was he spoke the whole period of 50 minutes and never allowed the students to interact with him. The students were passive listeners. How nice it would have been if we had discussed as a class on what the professor had said!

Professor Kumar (name changed) was a mediocre person. His pronunciation was not good and I always wondered how he was recruited to the teaching position at the reputed college. He used to read literary texts and dictate notes to us. He encouraged his students to read abridged versions of novels and buy ‘bazaar’ notes to prepare for examinations. Almost all his students could get pass marks in the courses Professor Kumar had taught but they could not develop their communication and critical thinking skills.

Professor John (name changed) was very popular among students. His interpretation of literary pieces was original and he encouraged his students to give their own interpretations. His classes were always very interactive. Thanks to him many students developed their critical thinking and communication skills. Professor John was a perfect example of ‘Developing Communication Skills through Literature’.

We can find many Davids, Kumars and Johns in any college where English literature programmes are offered at the UG or the PG level. Not many teachers of English literature are used to the communicative approach to teaching literature.
The need of the hour is to introduce the communicative approach in the literature class. In a typical communicative literature class, students will be engaged in many activities: reading various literary pieces, interpreting them, taking part in discussions, giving presentations, debating, etc. The classroom environment should be conducive for developing their creativity, critical thinking and communication skills.

Very recently, I asked a colleague of mine to share with me how her professors taught English literature and whether she was happy about the way they taught literature. Though she was quite positive about most of her teachers’ approach, she was not happy with her own classmates’ lack of communication skills and some teachers’ inability to enhance the students’ communicative competence. “Most students had communication apprehension and they were never trained to overcome it. Even after completing their MA in English they were never comfortable speaking in English. Many of them did B.Ed. and became teachers at the secondary level and some of them did MPhil and became teachers at the tertiary level. I don’t know whether they have learnt to manage their communication apprehension and developed their communication skills now.”

Developing learners’ communicative competence is one of the main responsibilities of a teacher of English. It is true that most students suffer from communication apprehension which refers to “a feeling of fear or anxiety about a situation in which one must communicate.” It is possible that they can manage and control their communication apprehension to some degree. Beattty, McCroskey and Richmond who have carried out research in the field of communication give the following suggestions to manage communication apprehension: i) Acquire skills and experience, and ii) Focus on success

In the context of developing communication skills through literature to ESL (English as a second language) students, the above suggestions can be applied as follows:

Acquire skills and experience

A lack of proficiency in the target language can cause communication difficulty and create apprehension. A lack of interpersonal skills can also cause communication difficulty. So it is important to gain language skills and also the skills of effective interpersonal interaction.

Focus on success

Giving oral presentations, attending job interviews, taking part in role plays and similar tasks are anxiety-provoking largely because they are highly evaluative. “The more you perceive a situation as one in which others will evaluate you, the greater your apprehension will be.” Prior success generally reduces apprehension and prior failure increases apprehension. It is important to train students to think positively and visualize others giving them positive evaluations. The teacher should give constructive feedback.

How to make the English literature class interactive and communicative?

The third part of the article will appear next week.

Send in your feedback to the article to Albert P’Rayan at rayanal@yahoo.co.uk

Communication Skills for Teachers of English

2009-11-15T19:34:00.002+05:30

Communication skills include many things – using the target language effectively, the way in which to the person we are speaking to, our body language including facial expressions, pitch and tone of our voice, interpersonal skills and a lot of other things. Effective communication skills are now required in each and every aspect of our life. Teachers of English are expected to have good command over the language and possess excellent communication skills.

A few weeks ago, I had an opportunity to visit a school in Chennai, India and interact with the teachers and the students of the school. Most of the teachers had good communication skills. Even students were able to express themselves in English well. Later, I met the principal and complimented the teachers on their communication skills: “Your teachers have good communication skills. With these teachers you can do wonders and produce students who can become powerful communicators.” The principal said, “We recruit only those teachers who can speak good English and communicate well.” Yes, teachers are expected to possess excellent communication skills. For a teacher, it is not just important to give a quality lecture but it is more important for the presentation of a lesson or lecture in class. A teacher with communication skills can enhance the learning process of students.

A week ago, I was a resource person at a workshop on ‘Effective Communication Skills’ at a rural arts and science college for women. The participants were students of English literature. Most of them want to do B.Ed. after completing their B.A. English and become teachers of English. When the organizer of the workshop approached me I was reluctant to accept his invitation to conduct a workshop at the college thinking it would be a tough task to train the students. The organizer gave me a clear picture of the college and the students studying there in one of his emails. “It is a rural college. Almost all the students are from villages. They are very poor in communication skills. We, teachers, try to make them speak but we find it difficult to develop their communication skills. We want you to speak on the importance of soft skills, including communication skills, and motivate them to speak.” On the eve of the workshop the person contacted me over the phone and said, “Sir, your target audience is a group of final year students of English literature. They are future teachers of English.”

I took it as a challenge and accepted the invitation. As soon as I entered the seminar hall, I was greeted by the students. Most students were bubbling with enthusiasm and their desire to learn new things and acquire essential soft skills was reflected in many ways. Inaugurating the workshop the principal of the college stressed the need for good communication skills for students who want to excel in the job market. When my turn to interact with the students came, I narrated a couple of anecdotes on the importance of soft skills and threw a few questions.

Why are you here today? Do you really need to develop your communication skills?
Why did you opt for English literature?
What are the career opportunities for those who specialize in English literature?
What do you want to become after completing your degree?
What are the characteristics of an effective teacher of English?
What are soft skills? Why do we call soft skills by that name?
Which is more important: confidence or competence?

Very interesting answers were given by the participants. My friendly approach helped me break the ice and establish a rapport with them. As a trainer, my main objective was to motivate the students and make them speak in English in public without fear and shyness. How to help the students channelize their enthusiasm and enable them to develop the much needed communication skills? My interaction with the students helped me understand the situation of the rural students better.

- Communication skills are often neglected in schools and colleges.
- The students have never had an opportunity to take part in group discussions, oral presentations, mock interviews, etc. - Some teachers of English are not proficient in English.
- Those teachers who are keen on teaching communication skills have not been trained in the field.
- The teachers have not heard the term ‘communicative approach’ and are not aware that they can teach communication skills through literature.

I spoke to the participants on the importance of communication skills and conducted a workshop on developing group discussion skills. For the first time, many students took part in group discussion. Though many were shy and helpless, some of them exhibited confidence and enthusiasm. There were a number of grammatical errors in their utterances, but they spoke confidently. “Had we had opportunities before, we would have done much better now,” said one of the students.

For me it was a very enriching experience. The participants realized that mere reading of literature will not help them make progress with their life and that they should develop their communication skills. “Can’t literary pieces be used as a tool to develop students’ soft skills including communication skills? asked a highly motivated student. “We don’t know how to guide our students. We teach them English literature the way we were taught when we were students,” said one of the lecturers. “What strategies should we follow to improve our students’ interaction skills?” asked another lecturer. “How can we teachers develop our own communication skills? What is communicative approach? Can we develop students’ communication skills through literature?” were a few other questions asked by the teachers.

Teachers of English must possess the following communication skills: proficiency in English, positive motivation, effective body language, sense of humour, interpersonal skills, etc. The second part of the article will focus on these aspects of communication skills.

How to make your speech and writing sparkle?

2009-08-24T13:29:00.002+05:30

Reading students’ written assignments and listening to their presentations could be an interesting or a boring activity for any teacher of English. Recently, a teacher commented on his students’ assignments: “The students are fond of using clichés and they think that it is the right thing to do. I don’t know how to make them realize that they should avoid using clichés.” Yes, teachers do come across cliché-ridden speeches and writings of their students. Not only intermediate learners of English but also advanced learners use clichéd expressions while communicating.

What is a cliché? A cliché is a trite, overused or tired expression or stock phrase. It is an expression that has lost its freshness. The listener or reader considers such expressions boring. “Often the language that is now considered cliché is language that was, at one time, new and fresh, such as figures of speech. Today, “as red as a rose” is recognized pretty universally as a cliché, but at some time, it must have been fresh and inventive figurative language.” Most similes have become clichés. Here are some examples:

· busy as a bee
· drunk as a skunk
· free as a bird
· happy as a lark
· poor as church mice
· sick as a dog
· blind as a bat

Some journalistic expressions, proverbs, sayings, and the like are also likely to become clichéd after repeated use. Examples of this type of cliché include:

· in the nick of time
· fall on deaf ears
· nipped in the bud
· cry over spilled milk
· by hook or crook
· Christmas comes but once a year.
· You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.
· What goes around comes around.
Here is a list of clichés and better alternatives:
· In today’s society (today, currently)
· Pros and cons (advantages and disadvantages)
· This day and age (today, presently)

But, standard expressions such as ‘Happy birthday’, ‘Many happy returns of the day’ and ‘How do you do?’ are not clichés.

In order to be effective your speech and writing should sparkle. What should you do to make your presentations or writings sparkle? These are some tips:

Communicate clearly.
Use appealing words.
Use positive language.
Avoid clichés.
Use the language creatively.
Don’t use any word or phrase repeatedly.
Bid bye to your pet words and phrases.

Ask yourself these questions:

Do I get sick of hearing people use any trite or overused expressions? What are the expressions?
Do I use clichés in my presentations and writings? What are the clichés? Why do I use them?

Once you know answers to the above questions, you will be able to identify trite, overused, and tired expressions and know why they should not be used in presentations and writings.

Using a cliché can bore your reader or listener. It can annoy them. They may lose interest in your speech or writing. Clichés can become a barrier to effective communication.

Here's a list of 20 popular (or unpopular!) clichés, ranked in order of their frequency in the Oxford English Corpus, a database consisting of hundreds of millions of words of contemporary written English.

Rank Cliche

1 at the end of the day
2 back on track
3 the fact of the matter
4 few and far between
5 a level playing field
6 in this day and age
7 to all intents and purposes
8 when all's said and done
9 in the final analysis
10 come full circle
11 par for the course
12 avoid someone or something like the plague
13 think outside the box
14 in the current climate
15 mass exodus
16 at this moment in time
17 the path of least resistance
18 a baptism of fire
19 in any way, shape, or form
20 not fit for purpose

Send in your comments and queries to Albert P’Rayan at rayanal@yahoo.co.uk .

Clarity vs Ambiguity

2009-08-24T13:25:00.002+05:30

“India on Monday reported its first death due to the H1N1 flu infection, with a 14-year-old girl from Pune succumbing to the deadly influenza virus.”

I came across the above sentence on 4 August 2009 in a news report of a leading daily. What is wrong with the sentence? What does the word ‘its’ refer to? Very obviously the word refers to India. If that is the case, is it India’s first death? Is India going to die again?

The sentence is ambiguous. It is a faulty sentence construction and as a result the meaning changes. In order to convey the intended meaning clearly the sentence can be reconstructed as follows:

India on Monday reported the first swine flu death in the country, with a 14-year-old girl from Pune succumbing to the deadly influenza virus.

If a piece of writing is concise and clear, it conveys the intended meaning to the reader. A good piece of writing is free from ambiguity. Ambiguity can be defined as “a statement that contains two or more meanings, or a statement that is unclear”.

There are two types of ambiguity: semantic ambiguity and syntactic ambiguity.

Syntactic ambiguity arises as a result of the structure or syntax of a sentence. It arises not from the range of meanings of single words, but from the relationship between the words and clauses of a sentence, and the sentence structure implied thereby.

Look at this example of syntactic ambiguity.

· My teacher killed the robber with a gun.

Who had the gun? It is not clear whether the teacher or the robber possessed a gun or whether the teacher killed the robber by using a gun.

If the intended meaning is that the robber who had a gun was killed by the teacher, then the sentence should be reconstructed as follows:

· The teacher killed the robber who had a gun.

If the intended meaning is that the teacher killed the robber by using a gun, then the sentence should be reconstructed as follows:

· The teacher shot the robber dead.

Here is another example:

· Presenting a paper on web-based language learning, the director of the language institute asked the research scholar a question.

Who presented the paper? The director of the institute or the research scholar? Because of faulty sentence structure, the intended meaning of the statement is not clear. The sentence can be rewritten based on the meaning intended by the speaker / writer of the sentence.

· While the director of the language institute was presenting a paper on web-based language learning, he / she asked the research scholar a question.

· While the research scholar was presenting a paper on web-based language learning, the director of the language institute asked the scholar a question.

Semantic ambiguity “arises when a word or concept has an inherently diffuse meaning based on widespread or informal usage.” Look at this example:

· Our mothers bore us.

The sentence is ambiguous. The word ‘bore’ has more than one meaning. In fact, it has 24 different meanings. As the past tense of the word ‘bear’ it means ‘to give birth to’ and the word ‘bore’ also means ‘to cause boredom or ennui’.

As the meaning of the sentence is not clear, it can be interpreted in two ways: 1) Our mothers are boring, and 2) Our mothers give birth to us.

Here is another example:

· Fifty-five teachers attended the refresher course and there was not a single woman.

The word ‘single’ has more than one meaning. If we assume that the meaning of the word ‘single’ is ‘not married’, the sentence can be interpreted as the teachers were married women.

Is ambiguity in writing a bad thing? It depends on the subject matter. Ambiguity in writing can be either intentional or unintentional. Ambiguity can be used as a literary device to effectively strengthen one’s writing in several ways.

The adverts below are funny because of spelling errors or ambiguity or faulty sentence construction.

1. Great Dames for sale. (Great Dane is a breed of dog whereas a dame is a woman)
2. Have several very old dresses from grandmother in beautiful condition. (Ambiguity: Is the grandmother in beautiful condition?)

3. For sale: an antique desk suitable for lady with thick legs and large drawers. (Ambiguity: Does the lady have thick legs and large drawers?)

4. Dog for sale: eats anything and is fond of children. (Ambiguity: The dog is fond of eating children)

5. Get rid of aunts: Zap does the job in 24 hours. (Spelling error: ants and not aunts)

6. A superb and inexpensive restaurant. Fine food expertly served by waitresses in appetizing forms. (Ambiguity: Are the waitresses in appetizing forms?)

7. For Sale -- Eight puppies from a German Shepherd and an Alaskan Hussy. (The Alaskan Husky is a type of dog whereas a hussy is a woman considered immoral.)

8. We do not tear your clothing with machinery. We do it carefully by hand. (Ambiguity: Do they tear your clothing by hand?)

9. Tired of cleaning yourself? Let me do it. (Ambiguity: What does ‘it’ refer to? Is the person going to clean you?)

10. Dinner Special -- Turkey $2.35; Chicken or Beef $2.25; Adults: $10.00 Children $5.00. (Ambiguity: Are adults and children served at the dinner table?)

Here is another funny sentence from a newspaper:
James Klindt, who spent more than a year in the Quad-City spotlight for murdering and dismembering his wife, has opened a tiny eatery at 4th and Howell streets in Davenport, called Eats and Sweets.

Send in your feedback and English language related queries to Albert P’Rayan at rayanal@yahoo.co.uk

Presenation Tips

2009-08-06T14:48:00.003+05:30

Hi guys

Here are links to some interesting and useful videos on presentation skills.

Presentation Skills Course with Darren LaCroix
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkOJSj6Qcao

Presentation Skills: World Champion of Public Speaking Darren LaCroix
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOSADvJnrG8

Tip 1: Anyone can do it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFpOin0j90Q

Tip 2: Stupid presentation advice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NGenVbrj2E

Enjoy the videos.

Albert

Language of Presentations (Part 2)

2009-08-06T14:36:00.001+05:30

In the first part of the article I discussed the role played by the language while giving presentations and also listed the language needed to greet the audience, introduce oneself, and introduce the subject. The focus of the second part of the article is on the checklist to assess oral presentations and on the language needed to express other structural elements and the content of a presentation.

A few days back I asked my students to give presentations on topics of their choice. There were more than 15 presentations. The students were given the following checklist to assess each presentation and give scores.

Did the presenter greet the audience?
Did the presenter introduce himself / herself?
Did the presenter introduce the topic of his presentation?
Did the presenter give the objectives of his presentation?
Did the presenter announce the structure or outline of his presentation?
Did the presenter have clarity of thought?
Did the presenter have clarity of expression?
Were the listeners able to follow the presentation easily?
Was the presentation well-structured?
Did the presenter use signposts or transition signals?
Was the presentation free from jargons?
Was the language simple and free from grammatical errors?
Did the present use varied structure?
Did the presenter use appropriate body language?
Did the presenter maintain eye contact?
Did the presenter make the audience listen to him / her?
Was the presentation interesting?
What is the overall impact of the presentation on the audience?

Those presenters who used the language effectively could score more marks and better applause than the rest of the group. They used ‘signposts’ or ‘transition signals’ appropriately and guided the audience throughout their journey of listening to presentations.

A good oral presentation is well-structured. The presenter should state his / her objectives clearly. Assume that a presenter speaks on the topic “Time Management’. The language needed for this function is:

The purpose of my presentation is to define the term ‘time management’, to explain why it is important for students, and list different strategies to manage our time effectively.
What I would like to do during my presentation is to explain the importance of time management.
The main objective of this presentation is to give you some tips on ….
What I want you to get out of my speech is …
The point I would like to get across to you today is …

After making the audience know the purpose of your presentation, it is important to announce the outline of your presentation.

I have broken my presentation into 3 parts and they are: Number one: Definition of ‘time management’? Number two: Importance of time management for students of engineering. Number three: Strategies to managing our time effectively.
I have divided my speech into 3 parts and they are ….
In the first part of the presentation, I’ll define the term ‘time management’
In the second part, I’ll explain the importance ….
In the third part, I’ll list various strategies ….

It is also important to let the audience know whether there will be any formal ‘question-and-answer’ session after your presentation or whether they can interrupt you during your presentation.

There will be plenty of time at the end of my presentation for you to ask questions and seek clarification.
You may interrupt me at any moment to ask questions.
If you have any comments, you are welcome to make them at the end of my presentation.
Please stop me if you don’t understand anything I say.
Could you please keep your questions until I’ve finished.
I’d ask you to shoot your questions after I’ve my finished my presentation.
Please feel free to ask my questions related to my topic and presentation at the end of the presentation.

In the third part of the article I’ll discuss the importance of ‘signposts’ and ‘transition signals’ in oral presentations.

Send in your feedback and queries to Albert P’Rayan at rayanal@yahoo.co.uk

Language of Presentation (Part 1)

2009-08-06T14:27:00.003+05:30

In the past I have written a few articles on how one can develop his / her communication skills in general and presentation skills in particular. Since a number of readers have sent me queries asking me to discuss the role played by the language in the oral presentation, I am driven to contribute a series of articles on the topic. Below are two queries related to the theme:

“I’m an MBA student from Kerala. I have to make a presentation next week. Though I’m fluent in English, I’m not familiar with the language of oral presentation. I need some tips on how to introduce a topic, how to make a transition from one section to another, etc. Considering the importance of the role of the language (English) in making presentations, I request you to discuss the topic in your column.”

“I’m a marketing executive. My major job responsibility is to talk to customers and make presentations on the products our company promotes. I feel the need to develop my English language skills in order to make effective presentations…”

The language plays a vital role in making a presentation. An effective communicator is a person who has an excellent command over the target language. He / She is capable of making an effective presentation. How you say something more important than what you say. In other words, ‘manner’ is more important than ‘matter’.

I have listened to some great speakers who have won the admiration of the audience for making impressive presentations. I have heard the audience utter the following statements after the presentations were over: “It is a wonderful presentation.” “The presentation was excellent.” “The presenter was quite clear.” “It was worth attending the session.” “It was simply superb!”

Given below are some factors that contributed to the success of their presentations:

1. Clarity of thought
2. Clarity of expression
3. Simple language
4. Short sentences
5. Positive words
6. Assertive communication
7. Appropriate transition signals
8. Accuracy (grammar, pronunciation, expression)
9. Fluency
10. Appropriacy (using formal or informal words as required)
11. Interesting anecdotes, thought-provoking questions, decent jokes
12. Effective body language
13. Rapport with the audience
14. Enthusiasm (speaking with passion)
15. I’m-ok-and-you-are-ok attitude
16. You-win-and-I-win approach

As this column ‘English Matters’ is devoted to the aspects of the English language, I would like to focus only on points related to the language from the above list and discuss them here.

It is said that the first impression is the best impression. A good presenter has a positive impact on those who have come to listen to him / her. He draws the attention of the audience and makes them listen to him / her constantly by his words. It is very important for the presenter to create a rapport with the audience. It is possible only if he / she understands the minds of the audience.

The presenter uses simple language, short sentences, positive words, assertive communication and correct transition signals in order to make his / her presentation easier for the audience to follow and thus to have a positive impact on them.

A good presentation is well structured. A typical presentation will have a beginning (introduction), a middle (body) and an end (conclusion).

During the beginning or introduction, the presenter gets the audience’s attention by greeting them with a smile and using any of these expressions:

· Good morning / afternoon / evening ladies and gentlemen.
· Hello everybody.
· Hello, it is nice to be with you today.
· I’m very delighted to see you all here today.

The second stage is introducing oneself. By doing so, the presenter can come closer to the audience and create a rapport with them. During this stage the presenter mentions his / her name, position, company and mentions other important details.

· Let me introduce myself.
· I’d like to start by introducing myself.
· My name is …
· I’m a scientist from …
· I’ve had wide experience in the field of ...

The third stage of the introduction part is introducing the topic. Here you mention what exactly you are going to speak about. It is important to situate the subject in time and place, in relation to the audience and/or its importance. Here are some expressions:

· I’m going to talk about …
· The topic / subject of my presentation is …
· I plan to speak about …

To be continued.

Send in your queries and feedback to Albert P’Rayan at rayanal@yahoo.co.uk

Effective Presentation Skills Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOwQUd8qkMM

English Language Teaching Resources

2009-08-06T10:25:00.006+05:30

Dear Teachers and Learners of English,

Here you'll find some interesting links to English language teaching resources.

1. Impact of PTE Academic on language testing and learning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcvP44XLqpU

2. Concordance between language tests
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fp1edL_sMIk

3. The need for a new English language test
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgYQ9KqLYDM

4. Testing "real-life" language
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqOxyAeVeY4

Albert

2009-07-29T11:04:00.004+05:30

Do you want to become a great speaker or speech writer? Here is an interesting article for you. The writer has analyzed many speeches and gives tips on effective speech writing. The article is from the BBC News Magazine.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8128271.stm

Want to know how to handle all of these?

By Denise Winterman

BBC News Magazine

A brilliant speech can go down in history. But most of us write words the world will never listen to. Can speech-writing teach us skills for dealing with tricky situations in everyday life?
Pants. Just one of the reasons the US Embassy in Britain is currently advertising for a speech-writer. It says knowledge of the nuances between the Queen's English and American English is vital, for obvious reasons.

However speech-writing is about much more than trying to avoid red faces. As far back as the ancient Greeks, the power of carefully crafted words has been fully understood and expertly exploited.

But rather than being all about creative flair a good speech-writer uses a number of techniques to get a point across. And these verbal tools are not only useful at the lectern, anyone can use them in everyday situations, from handling a boisterous child to reasoning with a traffic warden.
This is because speech-writing is the language of persuasion. And the average day largely consists of trying to persuade people, says Dr Max Atkinson, a communications consultant and author of Speech-Making and Presentation Made Easy.

"The way words are put together makes all the difference," he says. "It's often thought that great speakers are blessed with a gift, but they all use the same techniques. What makes people stand out is how often they use them.

"These techniques are the building blocks of effective speech-writing and can be used in other areas of life. Some people use them without even knowing. They are usually the best speakers and the most persuasive people, but anyone can learn them."

Mantra

Study great speeches and you will soon see a formula, agrees Adrian Furnham, professor of psychology at University College London. While some are more complex, others are relatively simple.

What makes the techniques adaptable to everyday life is the fact that language is governed by rules - rules we all learn from the time we begin to speak.

"Even the smallest child is learning the rules of language, and language acquisition and so these techniques can be applied to them," says Dr Atkinson.

"Research has shown that you can get a different reaction from a child depending on how you speak to them. Like everyone else, they respond to the way something is said."

In a nutshell, a great speech is communication at its most effective, and we all want to communicate effectively in whatever situation we find ourselves in, says professional speech-writer Lawrence Bernstein.

"The rules and techniques of good communication work on all levels - if you're on a stage speaking to thousands of people, asking your boss for a pay rise, trying to buy a new house, or teaching a class of 10 year olds."

So what are the best techniques?

CONTRASTS
A tactic used by John F Kennedy and by Margaret Thatcher.

People are still quoting JFK's line: "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." And Baroness Thatcher was at her most formidable when she famously told the 1980 Tory party conference: "You turn if you want to, the lady's not for turning."
"Using contrasts is a real winner," says Dr Atkinson. "Research shows 33% of the applause a good speech gets is when a contrast is used.

"This is because you are often using a negative and then a positive and that has impact. It makes your point bigger and better."

It's a technique that translates into everyday life, especially with children. While explaining they can't have one thing, it's good to point out what they can have instead. "No, you can't have a skateboard of your own, but you can have a go on your brother's."

THREE-PART LISTS

Three really is the magic number. "Education, education, education" - Tony Blair's 1997 election-winning mantra. Or it can be a list as simple as "here, there and everywhere".

It's a technique used by US President Barack Obama - he used 29 three-part lists in roughly 10 minutes during his victory speech on election night, says Dr Atkinson.

The theory behind the technique is that three is the first and earliest point at which a possible list of similar words can become unequivocal. No other word needs to be added to make it a list.
"It's about completeness. A third word can give confirmation and completes a point," says Dr Atkinson. "It applies in all walks of life. Church services and prayer books are full of three-part lists. Research has shown that people know a prayer is finished when it ends with them praying for three things. They know to say 'Amen' and don't have to be prompted."

Also, it is economical - a third word is the earliest point at which a possible connection, implied by the first two, is confirmed. If you carry on listing items, say speech-writing experts, you risk being criticised for "going on and on". It can be the same in life in general.

IMAGERY AND ANECDOTES

Be it "opening doors" or "breaking down barriers", paint a carefully constructed picture with your words.

"It's about taking people on a journey and making it memorable," says Prof Furnham. "Imagery and anecdotes are some of the best ways to do this and they can personalise things."

Again, it's President Obama who experts say is a master of this technique.

"He knows how to use imagery both to increase impact and to make his points. He paints an image but also evokes associations with great communicators of the past like Lincoln and King," says Dr Atkinson.

This technique works whether addressing a nation, or guests at a wedding, say experts.

BREAK THE RULES

A good speech-writer knows the rules to follow, and also how to break these to maximum effect. There is always room for the unexpected in a great speech, and in life, says Phil Collins, former speech-writer for Tony Blair.

If done well it can grab people's attention - and he should know. Mr Collins penned Mr Blair's joke about there being no danger of his wife "running off with the bloke next door".
It was one of the former prime minister's most unexpected and memorable lines, delivered in his last speech to a Labour conference in 2006. It was deftly done and showed a real understanding of Blair and Gordon Brown's prickly relationship.

"No one was expecting it, which is what made it so good and so memorable," he says. "Pitched right and delivered well, something unexpected will make people sit up and listen."

Jacko couldn't beat it!

2009-06-29T07:07:00.004+05:30

The great singer couldn’t beat it!

As a Michael Jackson fan I was shocked to hear the sad news of the music legend’s sudden departure. Like most of his fans, I wanted him to make a great comeback. We are very much disappointed.

I have a collection of all his albums. As a tribute to the great entertainer I listened to his songs for the past two days. I have always enjoyed listening to Billie Jean, Heal the world, ..... and watching the 'Thriller' video ..

He was a great entertainer. He made us smile, but he was a tortured soul and was not happy in his life. The world considered him ‘bad’ and ‘dangerous’ and didn’t treat the ‘thriller’ the way he should have been treated. He touched the hearts of millions of people around the world. May he taste happiness and peace in heaven!

We all love Jacko regardless of the controversies ... He was a gifted person and let us salute him for his amazing talents.

May his soul rest in peace.

Click on the 'comment' button and express your views.

Albert

English, the richest language

2009-06-14T10:31:00.008+05:30

English is the richest language. The millionth word Web 2.0 was added to the English language on 10 June 2010. One of the word watchers in Chennai, India phoned me on 9 June 2010 and said she would be happy if either 'jai ho' or 'slumdog' became the millionth word. That was the wish of many Indian word watchers. They must have been very much disappointed.

English is a true global language spoken by people all over the world. The English language is very adoptive. It borrows words from different languages and thus invites everyone to be part of the global language family.

The fact that English has now more than a million words is good news for all global citizens.

(The following information is taken from http://www.globallanguagemonitor.com/)

The Global Language Monitor on 10 June 2010 announced that Web 2.0 has bested Jai Ho, N00b and Slumdog as the 1,000,000th English word or phrase added to the codex of fourteen hundred-year-old language.

Web 2.0 is a technical term meaning the next generation of World Wide Web products and services. It has crossed from technical jargon into far wider circulation in the last six months.

Two terms from India, Jai Ho! and slumdog finished No. 2 and 4. Jai Ho!

At its current rate, English generates about 14.7 words a day or one every 98 minutes.

“As expected, English crossed the 1,000,000 word threshold on June 10, 2009 at 10:22 am GMT. However, some 400 years after the death of the Bard, the words and phrases were coined far from Stratford-Upon-Avon, emerging instead from Silicon Valley, India, China, and Poland, as well as Australia, Canada, the US and the UK,” said Paul JJ Payack, president and chief word analyst of the Global Language Monitor. “English has become a universal means of communication; never before have so many people been able to communicate so easily with so many others.”

The English language is now being studied by hundreds of millions around the globe for entertainment, commercial or scientific purposes.” In 1960 there were some 250 million English speakers, mostly in former colonies and the Commonwealth countries. The future of English as a major language was very much in doubt. Today, some 1.53 billion people now speak English as a primary, auxiliary, or business language, with some 250 million acquiring the language in China alone.

These are the fifteen finalists for the one millionth English word, all of which have met the criteria of a minimum of 25,000 citations with the necessary breadth of geographic distribution, and depth of citations.

1,000,000: Web 2.0 – The next generation of web products and services, coming soon to a browser near you.

999,999: Jai Ho! – The Hindi phrase signifying the joy of victory, used as an exclamation, sometimes rendered as “It is accomplished”. Achieved English-language popularity through the multiple Academy Award Winning film, “Slumdog Millionaire”.

999,998: N00b — From the Gamer Community, a neophyte in playing a particular game; used as a disparaging term.

999,997: Slumdog – a formerly disparaging, now often endearing, comment upon those residing in the slums of India.

999,996: Cloud Computing – The ‘cloud’ has been technical jargon for the Internet for many years. It is now passing into more general usage.

999,995: Carbon Neutral — One of the many phrases relating to the effort to stem Climate Change.

999,994: Slow Food — Food other than the fast-food variety hopefully produced locally (locavores).

999,993: Octomom – The media phenomenon relating to the travails of the mother of the octuplets.

999,992: Greenwashing – Re-branding an old, often inferior, product as environmentally friendly.

999,991: Sexting – Sending email (or text messages) with sexual content.

999,990: Shovel Ready – Projects are ready to begin immediately upon the release of federal stimulus funds.

999,989: Defriend – Social networking terminology for cutting the connection with a formal friend.

999,988: Chengguan – Urban management officers, a cross between mayors, sheriff, and city managers.

999,987: Recessionista – Fashion conscious who use the global economic restructuring to their financial benefit.

999,986: Zombie Banks – Banks that would be dead if not for government intervention and cash infusion.

--

———————————————————————————————————

2009-06-07T08:37:00.011+05:30

If Karunanidhi's wives had become MPs...

2009-05-29T13:34:00.004+05:30

If Karunanidhi's wives had become MPs...

As the ministerial berths sharing talks betweenTamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and the Congress officials failed, the DMK chief blackmailed Sonaia Gandhi and Dr Manmohan Singh by saying that it would give only outside support to the UPA government. Karunanidhi was not happy with the number of ministerial berths offered by the Congress. He demanded meaty portfolios to his son, daughter and grand nephew and pressurized the Prime Minister to give ministerial berths to controversial MPs TR Balu and Raja. His demands can never be justified by any right thinking person.

After a series of talks with the Congress party officials Karunanidhi has decided to accept cabinet ministerial berths to his son, grand nephew and one of his loyalists. He has tasted success to a great extent in getting what he wanted. But, he has become a laughing stock. As expected he has made his son Stalin the Deputy CM of Tamil Nadu. I'm sure, within six months Karunanidhi will step down and make Stalin the CM. Dr Karunanidhi is a perfect example of an affectionate father! Who can compete with him in showing his love and affection on his children?

Thank God! Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi’s wives have not become MPs. By asking them not to contest the recent general election, Dr Karunanidhi has done a favour to the nation. Had the women become MPs the number of women MPs in the 15^th Lok Sabha would have gone up to 61 and the aged leader would have demanded Deputy Prime Minister post for one of them based on the social justice formula ‘equal rights for women’. He would have demanded ‘Home’ Minister portfolio to the second wife based on the fact that she is a home maker.

Long live our representatives!

Albert P'Rayan

An open letter to Sri Lankan President Rajapakse

2009-05-19T15:13:00.002+05:30

Dear Mr President Rajapakse,

You boast saying that you have liberated Sri Lanka from the LTTE. Who is going to liberate the suffering Sri Lankan Tamils from you? Who is going to liberate them from those Sinhalese who treat Tamils like a dirt? You called LTTE cadres 'terrorists'. What about you? Your armed forces deliberately targetted Tamil civilians and killed thousands of them.

Your Defence Minister Ranjan Wijeratne demonstrated his art of telling lies by making statement to the press that there had been no civilian casualties despite heavy bombing. The photos of many bomb-blasted bodies and hundreds of people injured by helicopter strafing and more are available on the Internet. Wasn't it a genocide?

Tell the world how you are going to heal the wounds of those who have been shattered by your cruelty.

Tell the world how you can justify your crimes against humanity.

Tell the world how you are going to rehabilitate the refugees and how you are going to reconstruct the places destroyed by your army.

Until and unless you give the Tamils their rights, you cannot make Sri Lanka a peaceful country. Hope you will translate your promises into action.

Albert P'Rayan

Genocide in Sri Lanka

2009-05-13T20:03:00.013+05:30

Thousands of Tamils in Sri Lanka have been killed by the Sri Lankan armed forces. Every day we read news reports about the tragedy in Sri Lanka. The humanitarian crisis in the island nation calls for action.

Recently, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a statement saying he was "appaled at the killing of hundreds of civilians in Sri Lanka". The UNICEF described the conflict in the island as a "catesrophe for children". Tamils in different parts of the world have staged protests against the killings of innocent civilians. The UK, France and Austria called the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to formally discuss the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka, but their move was strongly opposed by Russia, China, Japan and Vietnam.

So far no concrete action has been taken to stop the killings of Tamils. It is a shame India has not come forward to put an end to the sufferings of the ethnic group. Our politicians are only demagogues and they do not have a soft spot for the suffering humanity. They talked about the genocide in Sri Lanka and made tall promises in order to woo the electorate. It was a major poll in the state of Tamil Nadu in the general elections that took place on 13 May. Even leaders who were not at all bothered about the welfare of Tamils in the tiny island shed crocodile tears during the election campaign.

No one can justify the killings of civilians in the ongoing war between the Sri Lankan army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE). We should take steps to force the United Nations and powerful nations to persuade Mahinda Rajapaksha to protect the Tamils.

Look at the photos above and if you are moved leave your comments which will be forwarded to the UN Secretary-General.

Albert P'Rayan

Email: rayanal@yahoo.co.uk

Discussion

2009-04-24T11:36:00.004+05:30

Hi everybody

Show me an honest politician and I'll show you God.

How do you react to this statement? Have you heard of any politician who is honest?


The synonyms and antonyms of the word 'honesty' are given below:

Synonyms: uprightness, morality, trustworthiness, goodness, scrupulousness, decency, rectitude, righteousness, fairness, reliability, honor

Antonym: immorality

Synonyms: sincerity, truthfulness, integrity, frankness, candor, openness, authenticity, straightforwardness, directness

Antonym: untruthfulness

I am interested in reading your comments on the above statement.

Albert P'Rayan

Email: rayanal@yahoo.co.uk

Long live our politicians!

2009-04-06T04:57:00.004+05:30

Are there honest politicians in India? Let me rephrase the question. Do honest men and women enter politics in India?

I came across a news report that former President Dr Abdul Kalaam called upon the leaders of various political parties to field honest persons as candidates in the forthcoming parliamentary elections. Doesn't the wise man know that the leaders themselves are not honest?

Is there any politician who can be called 'Mr Clean or Ms Clean'? I'll be immensely if any Indian citizen sends me a list of those clean politicians. Many are living examples of this sentence: 'Politics is a dirty word and politicians are dirty people'.

Parliamentary elections are nearing. Demagogues have started wooing the voters in order to be elected and reelected. If anyone wants to attend a course on 'art of telling lies', they must attend political meetings.

Politicians who complete their five-year term as MPs seek reelection. They know that they need not be accountable to people. They will make empty promises and get elected again using their money and muscle power.

Following the footsteps of Narendira Modi and Bal Thackeray, Varun Gandhi has allegedly made a hate speech against Muslims. Some of our politicians have glorified the speech. Some leaders have failed to condemn the hate speech. If they are not against such Varuns, they are with them. It is quite strange an animal rights activist's son dares to violate human rights. Varun should be ashamed of having the surname 'Gandhi'. Mahathma Gandhi tried to unite people whereas Varun Gandhi is trying to divide the nation in the name of religion. Communalism is more dangerous than terrorism. Communalists are more dangerous than terrorists.

People do not want intellectuals to become their representatives. They want only movie stars and those with cinema background to be their representatives. In the State of Tamil Nadu only those who have cine experience can become chief ministers. Karunanidhi and Jayalalitha are chiefs of two major political parties. Vijayakanth, Sarath Kumar and Karthik have started their own political parties. As long as people consider movie stars as their heroes and worship them as their gods, we can't expect intellectuals to get elected.

Political alliance is not based on principles or values but on many other things which gentlemen and ladies do not approve of.

Should we voters remain silent? Are we voiceless and powerless? Can't we change the way we think and act?

Please post your comments.

Albert P'Rayan

Should Students of Science / Technology be Taught Literature? (Part 2)

2009-03-14T15:38:00.000+05:30

Should Students of Science / Technology be Taught Literature? (Part 2)

In response to the first part of the article that appeared last week, Sulochana Rengachari, a retired professor of English, sent me this email message:

“I have taught English at all levels, from PUC to M.Phil. After retirement I was asked to teach spoken English to MCA students. They are not interested in literature. They feel it is a colossal waste of time, money and energy, to spend time on imaginary works of art. They don't even wish to improve their vocabulary. My professor would give a number of synonyms while explaining a new word. I found it very useful while introducing the same point in different contexts. I followed this method while teaching literature students. They were quite happy to learn the synonyms. Out of habit I reeled out a few while teaching MCA students. They wanted the meaning for all the words. They were highly offended when they realized that they had been spending time on learning synonyms while one word would have served their purpose. They are interested only in developing their functional skills. It would be better, therefore, to introduce content material pertaining to their field.”

The message we get from the email is clear: ‘Teach what the students want you to teach’. It is important to know the language needs of the learner. Most students of science and technology know the importance of communication skills. They expect the teacher to help them acquire the skills. As mentioned in the first part, students of science / technology are expected to have creative and critical thinking skills. It is the role of the English language teacher to develop the three C’s in the students: creativity, critical thinking and communication skills. Can the goal be achieved by incorporating literature in the English course?

Those who oppose the integration of literature in the English language course raise these questions: “Can literary pieces serve as effective teaching tools in the English as a Second Language (ESL) environment?” “Does the teaching of literature have any value in English for Science and Technology (EST) classes?”

A number of ELT professionals are of the opinion that literature should be excluded in the English course taught at the tertiary level. Considering the utilitarian view of the English language, they encourage the use of authentic materials such as newspaper and Internet articles and popular literature, as opposed to classical literature, in the English class.
Recently, I asked a group of engineering students to answer these questions: “What are the benefits of reading? Why do you read books / newspaper or magazine articles, etc?” Their answers were:
- development of reading skills
- pleasure
- hobby
- self-enrichment
- improving knowledge
- enriching imagination
- freedom from boredom
- learning English

Students in general and students of science in particular lack reading skills. To the question on whether by introducing literature it is easy to promote reading skills among students of science and technology, the response of some practicing teachers is that students can develop their reading skills by reading literature (newspaper, magazine and Internet articles) that they are interested in and that is relevant to their field of specialization. On the other hand, some teachers and even students are of the opinion that literary pieces such as poems, short stories and plays can be used as an effective tool to learning English as a second language.

Recent research on ESL reading shows that extensive reading helps improve students' second language proficiency by focusing on the overall meaning of the text, rather than on linguistic aspects of the texts (Day & Bamford, 1998). This reading-for -meaning can be divided into two categories, one is efferent reading and the other is aesthetic reading (Rosenblatt, 1978). Efferent reading aims at gaining information in a text, while aesthetic reading aims at enjoying the experience of reading.

Why is literature important? Rick Rylance, a Professor of English at the University of Exeter, says that the studying of English literature includes three central activities. According to him, it is a three-legged stool and, in order to support any weight, all three legs are essential. “In no hierarchical order, there is, first, the cultural aspect, in which students and teachers engage primarily with literary texts ….. in order to enable discussion of issues and values. Second, there is the functional or instrumental aspect in which students and teachers acquire and understand modes of communication and how to operate them successfully. Finally, there is the creative aspect. This is of increasing importance and includes not only ‘creative writing’, but also the broad appreciation of intellectual and aesthetic creativity and originality.”

Integrating literature into the ESL syllabus is beneficial to the learners’ linguistic development. It is very important to select an approach which best serves the needs of ESL learners. Having the goal in mind, that is the development of the 3 C’s: Creativity, Communication, Critical thinking, students should be encouraged to express their opinions and make connections between their own personal and cultural experiences and those expressed in the literary text. This approach helps students develop knowledge of ideas and language through different themes and topics.
The teacher should decide what kind of literature is appropriate. Many factors such as proficiency level, student needs and interests determine this. As McKay (1982) claims, reading texts may come from simplified versions of existing texts, or young adult literature. Furthermore, she suggests we use literature which is familiar to students in terms of culture and themes. It is also important to give students a chance to select own texts.
I have introduced literature in the EST class and my students have enjoyed it. Through literature I have helped them develop their creativity, communication and critical thinking skills. You are free to send in your comments to me at rayanal@yahoo.co.uk

Should students of science and technology be taught literature?

2009-03-14T15:22:00.002+05:30

Should students of science and technology be taught literature?

Recently, I initiated a discussion on the topic whether students of science and technology should be taught literature. A number of teachers from different countries sent in their views on the topic. The responses were mixed.

The word ‘literature’ has different meanings. The meaning implied in the topic is that literature is written artistic works such as poems, short stories, plays and novels which have high and lasting value. Those who have studied and taught / teach literature list the following merits of incorporating literature into the English course. Literature enables the students to develop their creativity, fosters their thinking skills, teaches them the philosophy of life, exposes them to different cultures of the world, and helps them improve their interpersonal skills. Engineers and technologists need to possess creative and critical thinking skills in order to be successful in their career. In the age of globalization, they need to understand the cultures of different countries. Those who are employed in BPOs and multinational companies are trained in intercultural communication. By teaching literature we can help future engineers to acquire these qualities and skills.

What are the views of the practicing teachers?

Mercy Marcus, a lecturer in English at KCG College of Technology, Chennai, says, “Literature should be incorporated into the ‘Engineering English’ course, but the literary pieces should be carefully selected. For example, open-ended short stories, and science fiction can be prescribed. Such literary works foster creative and critical thinking in students. She also adds, “Science fictions make students learn new technical vocabulary and at the same time help them learn the target language in an interesting way.”

Ravinarayan Chakrakodi of Lancaster University, UK, while sharing his experience of teaching English to students of engineering and technology raises a question whether the students really feel the need for literature. He taught English to groups of 1st, 2nd and 3rd semester engineering students from one of the best colleges in Karnataka.
“The students studying in that college were from different states in India and were highly motivated to learn English. When we, a group of English teachers, had to design syllabus to teach them English we conducted a needs analysis and found out that they were not interested in studying Literature at all. What they were interested in was developing their functional skills. They wanted to develop interaction skills and presentation skills, particularly debating and argumentation skills both in speech and writing. They wanted to learn interview skills and know how to write a CV, a job application, etc.” Ravinarayan stresses the importance of analyzing the language needs of students and teaching the language items based on their needs.
“We, in fact, tried using literary stuff earlier and saw that most of them started bunking off English classes. When we changed the strategy for the next batch, we could see how interested they were. We used very good materials published by the Cambridge and Oxford Universities (some of them had cultural stuff that were not relevant to us but we adapted them) e.g., Speaking Extra, Writing Extra, Discussion Skills, etc and succeeded in sustaining their interest until the end of the semester.” “I think it's time we realised literature is not the means and ends of teaching English. We need to develop specifically tailored courses to meet the requirements of the target group instead of pushing our own agendas. I am not denying the fact that content is important in teaching a language but content can be drawn from different sources, from the fields that students are interested in. For example, If we are teaching English to nurses, they may not be interested in reading narrative pieces. They would rather be interested in reading authentic materials that are most relevant to them. May be case histories, health related content or medical literature would interest them more than Wordsworth or Tolstoy or Karnad.”

Sridevi, Assistant professor of English, Vijaywada, strongly feels that literature renders ethics and morals which are very essential now-a-days. “Man is in thirst of knowledge. In that process, literature makes him become aware of various aspects and angles of lives, behaviour, etc. Literature gives him solace and emotional relief in his routine life of technical education. So, I feel that literature should be a part of Engineering English Syllabus.”

Gilberto Dias, who has done some research on the topic, has discussed it in detail in the article entitled, “Technothrillers and English for Science and Technology” published in the International ESP Journal in 2000.

He throws a few thoughts on the topic. He summarizes the basic ideas as follows:

1. The contemporary availability/success of techno, medical, or legal thrillers provides additional reading materials to be used in EST courses.
2. These texts are both motivating and informative (you can find lots of specialist vocabulary and professional problems). Authors like Michael Crichton (techno), Robin Cook (medical), and John Grisham (legal) are the ones I would mostly recommend.
3. English teachers can use single passages or even organize a whole course based on a book or in a combination of passages. I've done that with Jurassic Park on several occasions and would be glad to exchange experiences, views with colleagues.
4. The use of a fictional story will not divert teachers and students from EST objectives. Typical EST activities can be combined with other typical literature class activities.
5. Students can be sent to match information in the fiction books with specialized information/publications -sometimes the literary arguments are very true, others they ring very true but aren't.
6. When the selected books have a movie version, discussions can be more interesting as both media could be subjected to comparison. Let’s have a lively discussion on the topic.

Send in your comments to me at rayanal@yahoo.co.uk

IATEFL Cardiff Online Forums

2009-03-09T06:32:00.003+05:30

Dear Teachers of English,

The IATEFL Cardiff online forums will be launched today (Monday, 09/03/09). Teachers of English can register and take part in online discussion. Visit the site: http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2009

Topics are:

* Business English
* ELT Management
* ESOL
* English for Specific Purposes
* Global Issues
* Learner Autonomy
* Literature, Media & Cultural Studies
* Learning Technologies
* Pronunciation
* Research
* Teacher Development
* Teacher Training & Education
* Testing, Evaluation & AssessmentYoung Learners
I'm one of the moderators for the forum: Teacher Training & Education. If you have any question related to teacher training & education, please send it to me at rayanal@yahoo.co.uk
I'll be glad to meet you at http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2009

Best wishes
Albert P'Rayan

IATEFL Conference 2009

2009-03-02T15:31:00.003+05:30

The 43rd Annual International IATEFL Conference, being held this year in Cardiff UK from 31 March to 4 April 2009, offers teachers a unique opportunity to share their teaching experiences, learn from each other and to develop their teaching skills and knowledge.

Not everyone though is able to attend the conference in person, but this year
IATEFL and the British Council are trying to offer as many people as possible
the opportunity to participate online.

To know more about the conference, please vist the site: http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2009

Indefinite closure of colleges in Tamil Nadu

2009-02-10T13:25:00.001+05:30

The Tamil Nadu government ordered the indefinite closure of colleges and hostels in the wake of students’ protests against the ongoing conflict in Northern Sri Lanka. The sudden closure of hostels caused hardship to thousands of students from other states.

Can the Tamil Nadu government’s order to close the educational institutions be justified? Did the government order the closure of colleges fearing unrest or did they have any hidden agenda?

You are welcome to contribute your views on the topic.

Albert P’Rayan

Faculty Pay ‘by Applause Meter’

2009-01-13T20:26:00.004+05:30

I came across this interesting article in Inside Higher Education. Please read it and give your comments.
Albert P'Rayan

Faculty Pay ‘by Applause Meter’

It’s not like professors to think that they are so well compensated that it’s not worth hoping for a $10,000 bonus. But out of more than 2,000 faculty members at Texas A&M University’s main campus, only about 300 have agreed to vie for a bonus being offered for their teaching — and all they would need to do is have a survey distributed to their students.

The reason for passing on a chance at $10,000 is that many professors are frustrated by the way the money is being distributed: based solely on student evaluations. Numerous studies have questioned the reliability of student evaluations in measuring actual learning; several of these have noted the tendency of many students to reward professors who give them higher grades. Further complicating the debate is a sense some have that the university is endorsing a consumerist approach to higher education. The chancellor of the A&M system, Michael D. McKinney, told the Bryan-College Station Eagle: “This is customer satisfaction.... It has to do with students having the opportunity to recognize good teachers and reward them with some money.”

That comment didn’t go over well with many professors who believe that their job responsibilities include — at least sometimes — tough grading, or challenging student ideas or generally putting learning before student happiness.

“That customer idea really, really bothers me,” said Clint Magill, a genetics professor who is speaker of the Faculty Senate at College Station. “You can’t buy the grade or the degree so how can we be the same as a consumer thing? It’s like saying ‘If you give us professors this much, you get your grade.’ If we have any principles at all, it doesn’t work that way.”

University administrators have defended the plan and they point to research that they say shows student evaluations can be reliable. But the researcher who did the studies Texas A&M is citing said in an interview Monday that he never endorsed evaluations of the sort A&M is using or the way they are being used — and that this all runs counter to his key findings.

Origins of the Idea

Many colleges and universities use student evaluations of teaching as part of faculty reviews, and students flock to Web sites like RateMyProfessors.com to see what other students say about instructors. But RateMyProfessors is at least theoretically not part of formal reviews, and official student evaluations tend to be used as just one part of a review of teaching. Programs like the one at Texas A&M are rare — although the University of Oklahoma is doing a pilot project in its engineering and business schools with a similar bonus offer.

The idea of offering the bonuses has been talked up in Texas by the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative-leaning think tank with ties to Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican. A&M officials started talking about the bonus idea after all of the university system’s regents — appointees of Governor Perry — attended a seminar, organized by the foundation, during which the bonus idea was promoted.

An essay by the foundation’s president, Brooke Leslie Rollins, argues that faculty members are too focused on research and need incentives to pay attention to students. In endorsing the idea of relying on student evaluations, Rollins writes that “research shows that students are excellent judges of learning, especially when deliverables for a course are clearly stated” and adds that the “current structure at Texas universities gives teachers very little incentive to strive toward excellence.”

Then McKinney, the chancellor, sent a letter to all faculty members this fall telling them that the system was starting the program at three campuses — College Station, Prairie View A&M and Texas A&M-Kingsville. McKinney asked faculty leaders to join with presidents in devising the form students would be given to evaluate the professors — but many professors immediately balked, and the Faculty Senate at College Station specifically advised non-cooperation with the effort.

As time has passed, the university has taken steps that have improved the bonus plan — even according to its critics. For instance, the university has decided not to have all faculty members who volunteer to seek the bonus compete against one another, but will instead have individual colleges’ professors compete. This change responded to criticism noting that many science courses tend both to have lower grades and lower student evaluations. In addition, the university announced that these student evaluations would not be used for tenure or promotion purposes.

The questions that are being used in the reviews include the following (to which students respond on a five point scale): My instructor seemed to be knowledgeable about the subject matter. My instructor created a classroom atmosphere that was productive/conducive to learning. My instructor was enthusiastic about the subject matter of the course. I would take another course with this instructor, if possible, or recommend this instructor to other students. I recommend this instructor for a teaching excellence award.

Magill, the Faculty Senate speaker, said serious problems remain with the system. “Any evaluation of teaching that doesn’t include some measure of learning has some real problems,” he said. Magill said that there is nothing wrong with using student evaluations, but that they need to be examined not just for scores, but for context based on the course, the students, their achievement levels, and their success at mastering key skills. These concerns aren’t just theoretical. A major study by Ohio State University in 2007 — in which student reviews were linked to actual learning by examining students’ grades in subsequent courses based on the course they reviewed — found absolutely no correlation between student evaluations and actual learning.

What the Ohio State researchers did find — as many other studies have found — was clear correlation between the grades the students receive and those they give their professors. And that’s another worry for Magill. “My biggest concern is the people who would be the worst teachers might think ‘I can really raise my scores by improving grades.’ They won’t, but they’ll mess up the grading system,” Magill said.

What the Research Says

Frank B. Ashley III, vice chancellor for academic affairs at the A&M system, said that faculty concerns are understandable because “there is suspicion about anything that comes from the system office.” But he said that the idea is to honor good teachers, and that professors will come to see that.

Ashley strongly disputed the idea — widely held by researchers — that student evaluations are not reliable and encourage grade inflation. He characterized the debate as unsettled. “You’ll find studies that say it’s true and studies that say it’s not true,” he said. Asked for a study that shows that student evaluations are reliable and don’t encourage grade inflation, he said that the article he used in working on the policy was “Student Rating Myths vs. Research Facts,” and was published in 1999 in the Journal of Personnel Evaluation in Education.

The author, Lawrence M. Aleamoni, is now retired as a professor of education at the University of Arizona. Reached Monday, he said that he did in fact show in his article that some student evaluations can be reliable. But he said that several parts of the Texas A&M policy run counter to his findings and recommendations.

For example, Aleamoni said that the only times he has found student evaluations to be reliable is when they are nationally devised and normed, and not when they are “home grown,” as A&M’s questionnaire is. Further, Aleamoni said that his research found that students may answer very specific questions about their professors reliably. But broad questions — such as “Does this professor deserve a teaching award?” — are the sort that students tend to answer based on student grades.

But Aleamoni said that even if his research suggests that some student evaluations — designed in ways that differ from the Texas A&M approach — can be reliable, he has always stressed that these evaluations should never be the sole basis for a decision about the quality of someone’s teaching. “Students are only in a position to judge performance in the classroom,” Aleamoni said.
Any real evaluation of teaching, he said, must include peer analysis of such issues as, “How well was the course designed? Are the materials current and up to date? Have they set up the right kinds of standards for the students?” And students aren’t in a position to judge these things, he added.

Another Approach

Cary Nelson, president of the American Association of University Professors, said that the A&M system sounded like the idea of paying professors “by applause meter,” which he said was offensive. “This corrupts peer evaluation, diminishes the faculty role, and encourages grade inflation,” he said. “You give them A’s and you get 10 grand.”

At the same time, Nelson said that the idea of rewarding long-term commitment to teaching was something he applauded. He said it makes much more sense to design rewards that look at the long term and that feature a variety of measures, not just student reviews. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he teaches, has awards for teaching in which student evaluations are considered but only over the long term, and only with the recommendation of a department chair, who would not put forth a nominee known for giving everyone A’s, or hold back on nominating a tough grader. Further, the award requires evidence such as work as a mentor, developing new courses and playing a leadership role on curricular matters.
There are different awards for different teaching levels, but the prize — like A&M’s — is significant. Winners of the graduate teaching prize receive $5,000 in cash immediately and a recurring $3,000 boost in their salaries. (Nelson noted for full disclosure’s sake that while he has not won this prize, his wife has.)

A process like the one used in Illinois means that long-term effectiveness is rewarded, and the process “lends authority to the award.” The process at A&M, he said, “sounds like public relations.”

— Scott Jaschik

The original story and user comments can be viewed online at http://insidehighered.com/news/2009/01/13/bonuspay.

Is India a cricket-addicted nation?

2009-01-13T20:11:00.003+05:30

We, Indians, give more importance to cricket than any other game. Indian cricketers are considered 'gods' and temples have been built for some of them. What are the ill effects of cricket addiction? Express your views on the topic.

Anti-terror laws and human rights

2008-12-18T07:07:00.004+05:30

In the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attack the Indian government introdu

ced two bills. The first bill proposes setting up a National Investigation Agency (NIA) with sweeping powers of investigation. The second would strengthen existing anti-terror laws to allow suspects to be detained without bail for up to six months on the orders of a judge.

The proposed amendment to the UAP Act gives NIA extensive powers, including detention period of 180 days instead of 90 days and denial of bail to a foreigner accused of terrorism. Even an Indian accused in a terror-related case cannot be released on bail. The bill says that anyone in India or in a foreign country who directly or indirectly raises or collects funds or provides funds for a terrorist act shall face at least five-year imprisonment, which may extent to life.
These laws are against human rights. If criminals are detained and punished, the laws will serve their purpose. The laws can be misused by those who are in power and even innocent can be accused of terrorism and detained for months and years.

We know that POTA, introduced by the BJP-led NDA government, wasn't effective and was misused by those who were in power. Instead of combating terrorism it terrorised political opponents and human rights activists. As a result, when the UPA government had to say 'bye' to it. Now, after the Mumbai terror attack, out of pressure from some political parties the UPA government has introduced the anti-terror bills.

Can we support such draconian laws which are against human rights?

Can such laws really help the country combat terrorism?

Will such laws be used to curb political opponents?

Will human rights take a back seat because of the implementation of these laws?

You are welcome to express your views on the topic.

Looking forward to reading your comments.

Albert P'Rayan

Mumbai Terror Attacks

2008-12-01T20:41:00.001+05:30

I just signed an urgent message calling for unity following the attacks in Mumbai. Read the email below -

Thanks
Albert P'Rayan

Dear friends across India and the world,We're all feeling the shock of the awful attacks in Mumbai. All our hearts go out to the victims and their families. The attacks were aimed at our people, our prosperity and our peace. But their top target was something else: our unity. If these attacks cause us to turn on each other in hatred and conflict, the terrorists will have won. They know that hatred and chaos feed on division. As radical extremists, their only hope of winning is by turning the rest of us against each other.Let's deny them that victory. We're launching a message to extremists on all sides and all our political leaders, one that will soon be published in newspapers across India and Pakistan. The message is that these tactics have failed, that we're more united than ever, united in our love and support to each other, determined to work together against terror and call on our leaders to do the same. If millions of people sign it, our message will be unmistakable, click below to sign it and please forward this email widely:http://www.avaaz.org/en/india_undivided/98.php/?cl_tf_sign=1

It's time to speak out, let's do it together.

Thanks

Reservation Policy

2008-10-21T13:05:00.004+05:30

Dear bloggers

Do you agree or disagree with the statement?

Reservation based on caste in higher education institutes such as IIT, IIM and professional colleges should continue in order to fight social inequality that is prevalent in our society even after 60 years of independence.

You are welcome to share your views on the topic.

Best wishes

Albert

Word Alteration

2008-10-21T06:02:00.004+05:30

Word alteration

The Washington Post's Style Invitational asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition.Here are this year's winners:

1. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.

2. Foreploy (v): Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.

3. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.

4. Giraffiti (n): Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.

5. Sarchasm (n): The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.

6. Inoculatte (v): To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

7. Hipatitis (n): Terminal coolness.

8. Osteopornosis (n): A degenerate disease.

9. Karmageddon (n): Its like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer. (a favorite)

10. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.

11. Glibido (v): All talk and no action.

12. Dopeler effect (n): The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

13. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.

14. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.

15. Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a grub in the fruit you're eating.And the pick of the literature:16. Ignoranus (n): A person who's both stupid and an asshole

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Share your funny anecdotes

2008-10-09T08:00:00.002+05:30

Dear bloggers

Recently I discussed with my students how blogging helps learners of English enhance their writing skills. Most students were enthusiastic about blogging. They wanted to know how they can develop their writing skills. I asked them to visit this site and a few other sites which may motivate them to write.

You can develop your writing skills in a number of ways:

1. If you have any funny anecdotes, feel free to share them with other bloggers.

2. If you have some laughable jokes, share them with others (Try to write on your own).

3. Take part in discussions. Give your views on topics under discussion.

4. Have you read any interesting and thought-provoking book recently? Share your reading experience with others.

5. What is your favourite movie? What impact did the movie have on you? Why don't you talk (write) about it?

6. Most of have had funny dreams. You are not an exception. Do share one of your funny dreams with us.

I look forward to reading your stories.

Best wishes

Albert

Reading for pleasure

2008-10-01T14:39:00.005+05:30

Dear bloggers

Do you enjoy reading books? What type of books do you read? Which book did you read recently? Do share your reading experience with other bloggers. Please don't forget to include the following details: title, author, publisher and gist. What impact did the book have on you? Do you recommend the book to others? Why? I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes

Albert

Expressing the idea of quantity

2008-09-16T17:45:00.001+05:30

Expressing the idea of quantity

1. Which of the following two sentences is g rammatically cor rect? Please explain with examples. i) A number of students has joined the literary association. ii) A number o...read more...

Measures to tackle terrorist attacks

2008-09-16T14:33:00.005+05:30

Dear bloggers

More and more bomb blasts and terrorist attacks are taking place in India and other countries. Unfortunately, innocent people are killed. People are not safe and secure. They can't move out freely. This is the situation in many cities in India. Should we blame the terrorists or the failure of intelligence agencies? What measures should the government take to tackle this menace?

Please express your views.

Albert P'Rayan

Should English be taught as a subject or as a life skill?

2008-09-14T10:16:00.004+05:30

Dear Bloggers

Please contribute your views on the following discussion topics:

Should English be taught as a subject or as a life skill?
What measures should educational institutes take to develop students' communication skills?

Looking forwards to reading your comments.

Best wishes
Albert

Vitality of communication skills in today’s job arena

2008-09-11T14:56:00.002+05:30

Vitality of communication skills in today’s job arena

Albert P’Rayan

KUMAR scored 92 percent in his +2 examinations and was admitted to a well-known engineering college in Chennai. His parents were proud of their son’s achievement and Kumar too was very happy that he joined a reputed institute of technology. He had many wonderful dreams of achieving academic success and being placed in a good company. After joining the college, he felt very uncomfortable mingling with his classmates and interacting with teachers. In the mid-semester examinations he failed in four subjects. What were the reasons for his poor performance?

The student hails from a village in Tamil Nadu. He studied in schools where the medium of instruction was Tamil and he never had an opportunity to speak in English or listen to lectures in the language. Here at the college most of his classmates were from Chennai and some of them were comfortable conversing in English. The lectures were in English and he found it difficult to follow lectures. He felt as if he were in a desert where there was no one to guide him.

Kumar was totally frustrated and when he was about to discontinue his studies, a teacher counseled him on how he could overcome his problems. He raised these questions: “Is it possible for me to speak English fluently like some of my classmates? Will I be able to acquire the skills recruiters look for in candidates applying for IT jobs? Will I be placed in a good IT company?” Sridhar (name changed) is a student of engineering. He is very intelligent, innovative and creative. He is technically strong and has won a number of prizes in inter-collegiate competitions. His friends call him ‘scientist’. Very recently he approached me and said, “Sir, my English is very poor. I want to improve my English. Please help me.” He wanted to improve his English language proficiency by joining the Business English Certificates (BEC) preparation course. I gave him a diagnostic test and his scores in different components (listening, speaking, reading and writing) of the test were less than 25 percent. When asked why he didn’t perform well, he replied: “This was the first time I took tests in listening and speaking.

During the listening test I couldn’t understand any conversation. It made me realise that my listening skill is very poor and I should develop it by all means.” Sridhar is determined to develop his communication skills. He said, “I know that my success depends on my ability to communicate well. I am ready to sacrifice anything in order to improve my communication skills and get placed in a reputed software company. I need your guidance.”

A few days ago, I administered a proficiency test to 37 engineering students from different departments. The test had four components: listening, reading, writing and speaking. Only 10 students scored above 50 percent. Most of them failed in listening and speaking. Ironically, all these students had scored above 70 and some of the above 80 in their first-year university examinations in English. A comparative analysis of the students’ first-year English examination marks and the proficiency test scores shows that most students do not have adequate communication skills and are not ‘industry ready’.

Recently I interviewed a senior executive of Talent Management Group at HCL. As a member of a recruiting team, he has visited a number of colleges and has assessed the skills of students. According to him communication skills and soft skills are very essential for engineers. He says that not even 30 per cent of the students have acquired the skills and it is the responsibility of the college management to enable students to master the required skills.

According to NASSCOM report, today only 25 percent of India's technical graduates and about 10 to 15 percent of other graduates are employable at once. This means 75 percent of all those who graduate even from tech-schools cannot be employed. Nasscom director Sandhya Chintala attributed this to the 'lack of soft skills, including the lack of ability to communicate in English'.

Speaking at the inauguration of the Delhi merit assessment zone of MeriTrack, a major skills assessment company in May 2007, NASSCOM president Kiran Karnik stressed that there is an ardent necessity to improve basic communication skills among students applying for IT jobs. “Our system of education does not encourage development of communication skills. Rarely are we required to communicate. We are only expected to take notes in class. The result is that while we produce the best of technical brains, when required to explain the technicalities to the customers or even to the board room, they fail miserably,'' he said.

What is wrong with our English curriculum? Should English be taught as a subject or as a life skill? There is a gap between the skill sets educational institutes deliver and the skill sets industries look for in prospective employees. There is an urgent need to bridge the gap.

Albert P’Rayan is an ELT resource person and editor of ELTeCS – India and Sri Lanka list. He can be contacted at rayanal@yahoo.co.uk

To readers of 'English Matters' in NIE

2008-09-02T09:38:00.000+05:30

Dear 'English Matters' readers,

I have received queries from readers of my column 'English Matters' in Education Express (NIE) on how they can develop their English language skills in general and writing skills in particular.

As a response to their queries, I have started a blog called 'raydeal-engchat' and you can have access to some of my articles by visiting the blog at www.raydeal-engchat.blogspot.com . Soon I'll post all my articles related to English language learning and English language teaching to the blog. You are invited to become members of the blog. You can contribute your views, queries and comments.

For more details, please contact me at rayanal@yahoo.co.uk and mention 'raydeal-engchat' in the subject line.

Best wishes

Albert
Albert P'Rayan

Editor, ELTeCS - ISL
Email: rayanal@yahoo.co.uk

2008-08-31T15:09:00.000+05:30

COMMUNICATION: PROBLEMS AND REMEDIES

Albert P'Rayan

Many readers of my column English Matters in Education Express, a supplement with The New Indian Express have emailed me asking me to suggest tips to develop their various language and communication skills. I sent replies to some of them and for the benefits of those who did not get my reply to their queries the following message serves as a common reply.

I have taught English communication skills to students of engineering and technology for many years in India and abroad. While training students to develop their speaking skills and soft skills such as interpersonal and group skills, I have diagnosed a number of problems which act as hurdles for them to communicate effectively. Some students write well, but they are not able to express themselves orally; some speak fluently, but can’t write without grammatical errors; some are comfortable speaking among themselves in a small group, but are not comfortable facing the audience; some have problems with their body language and use inappropriate gestures while interacting with others; some find it difficult to maintain eye contact; some are always misunderstood………

Recently, I asked a group of 45 second year mechanical engineering students to state the difficulties or problems they have while making an oral presentation or taking part in a group discussions. The students listed the following problems:

• Limited vocabulary
• Lack of grammatical accuracy
• Lack of fluency
• Lack of active listening
• Fear of speaking in public
• Fear of expressing certain views
• Lack of confidence
• Lack of exposure / practice
• Fear of mistaking mistakes
• Shyness• Lack of interpersonal skills
• Lack of group skills
• Thinking in one’s mother tongue and translating it into English
• I’m not okay – you are okay attitude
• Insecure feeling
There were about 10 students who had fairly good communication skills. Their strengths were 5 C’s: Confidence, Commitment, Conviction, Courage and Clarity. Whenever I needed volunteers for some activities, those ten students volunteered and exhibited the 5 C’s. They had clarity of thought and clarity of expression. I asked them whether they also had experienced such problems or difficulties. ‘Yes’ was their reply. Then I asked them to suggest remedies for the problems stated above.

Given below are some remedies which have been proved effective for them.
• Develop a passion for English. Once you are passionate about something you will do it by all means and you will enjoy doing it.
• While conversing in English with someone give importance to the message and do not be preoccupied with grammatical accuracy. If you are much worried about grammar and pronunciation errors, you will not develop your fluency. Kill the language without fear. Once you become fluent, you should try to improve your grammar.
• Accept yourself as you are. Do not compare yourself with others. No one was born with all the language skills required for effective communication. If it is possible for others to acquire communication skills, it is possible for you too. Have a healthy attitude: I’m okay – you are okay.
• Practice is very important. It is a key to success. By reading books on swimming, you can’t learn swimming and become a good swimmer. Whenever you get an opportunity to speak in front of others, make use of it.
• Try to think in English. If you think in your mother tongue and speak in English it may not sound natural. Though it is difficult it is possible.
• Buy a good dictionary and use it to build your vocabulary. Learn new words in contexts.
• If you know someone who speaks English well, try to converse with him regularly. Find out from him how he mastered certain language skills.
• If you have access to English language dailies, read stories or news items that you find interesting 10-15 minutes every day. You should make it a habit. It helps you develop your reading skills.
• Watch English news 10-15 minutes regularly on TV to develop your listening skills.
• Watch English movies at least once a week.
• Mingle with others freely. It helps you develop interpersonal and group skills.

This is a summary of the remedies suggested by the students. I’ve discussed most of them in my previous columns. It will be redundant if I discuss them again.

The following is a letter written by one of the readers. It should be a source of inspiration for those who want to quench their thirst for English.

"I am a native of a remote village in Warangal district in Andhra Pradesh. As there was no High school in my village I joined a nearby high school in Parkal which is about six kilometres from my village. We were taught English alphabets in class 6. I completed my class 11 in 1966 and I didn’t get an opportunity to join any college for reasons more than one: the nearest college was about 40 kilometres from my village, there were financial constraints and I secured only 3rd class in my class 11.

I was forced to go for agricultural work. During free hours I wanted to learn English by reading newspapers and magazines. I made it a habit to go to a public library that was about 12 km from my village every day and tried to read English newspapers.

In the year 1969 I was appointed as a Hindi Teacher in a school. But I had thirst for teaching English. Without knowing proper English myself how can I teach English to my students? So I was determined to learn the language and teach it to those who come from poor background. My salary was not enough to buy new books to learn English. Anyhow in 1974, I subscribed to Andhra Prabha and Indian Express so that I can read news stories in Telugu in Andhra Prabha and read the same stories in English in The Indian Express. This method helped me a lot in learning English.After one year I stopped subscribing to the Telugu newspaper and depended only on the Indian Express. I purchased a long note book and started copying two or three news items from The Indian Express every day. I made it a rule to write two pages a day at any cost. Within one year I could grasp the spellings of many words.I read ‘Letters to the Editor’ column regularly and started composing my own sentences based on the pattern of some sentences. If I missed my home work one day for any unavoidable reason I would complete it the next day.

I spent hours and learnt English on my own. I became confident and requested my head master to allow me to teach English to class 7 students. He did not consider my request since I didn't have formal qualification. .I invited some students to my house and taught English to them. This experience helped me enrich my English. Later I did the following degree programmes by distance education mode: MA English, MA History, MA Political Science, B.Ed., LL.B, and a Certificate course in Journalism and Mass Communication.

I am 60+ years of age now and practicing as a lawyer in the district and sessions court at Warangal in Andhra Pradesh. Even today I copy one or two pages of any article of a news paper or any magazine to develop my vocabulary."
Yours sincerely
ArukondaJayashankar

Albert P’Rayan is an English Language Teaching (ELT) resource person and editor of ELTeCS - ISL. He can be contacted at rayanal@yahoo.co.uk

Speak Simple English to be an Effective Communicator

2008-08-31T08:35:00.000+05:30

On the eve of the 61st Independence Day I was invited by the correspondent of a sub-urban matriculation school in Chennai to preside over the Independence Day function at the school.

The gentleman said, “We’ll be glad to have you as our chief guest for the function.” “What is my role as the chief guest?,” I asked him. “You are expected to hoist the national flag and give a speech for 10 minutes,” he said. “The speech should be in English,” he added. “Why should the speech be in English?” I asked him. He replied, “It is to motivate the students to speak in English.” I accepted his invitation and said that I would give a speech highlighting the importance of Independence day celebration.

It is a challenging task for anyone to speak to students of age group 4 to 17 if they have not had the experience of speaking to them on a formal occasion. I tried to find answers to these questions. “Do the students know English?” “Should my speech be formal or informal?” “Do the students have the ability to understand what is spoken to them?”

I found out that majority of the students of the school do not know English. Again those who say that they know English do not communicate in the language. Knowing English is different from having the ability to speak the language and understand it with comprehension.

It is easy to speak to students whose proficiency in English is good. I haven’t had difficulty in addressing the students at the tertiary level. Nobody ever complained to me saying that they didn’t understand what I said. Now I am in a situation where I have to tailor my speech to a different category of students.

What is the best way to convey my message to this ‘different’ category of students? I thought of making it interactive. Just a few minutes before the function started I met a few students with the intention of assessing their proficiency in English. I asked them a couple of questions in English: “Why do we celebrate Independence Day?” “Why do we hoist the national flag on the Independence Day?” The students were not comfortable answering my questions.

It is good to be interactive and informal but it will be quite an embarrassing experience if a speaker asks questions to the audience and the audience is not responsive. I used different strategies to convey my message and make myself understood.

It is important for a speaker to know his audience and the occasion. Given below are some strategies one can follow in situations like the one I mentioned above.

- Using anecdotes.
- Using local examples.
- Being down to earth.
- Coming down to the level of the audience.
- Using simple English.
- Using monosyllabic words.
- Not sounding philosophical.
- Saying ‘no’ to high-sounding words.
- Keeping our message short and simple.

It is very important to know the audience. Whenever you are asked to give a speech or make a presentation to an audience ask these questions: Do I know my audience? Why are they here? How can I create a positive impact on them? Will my message be understood by them? How am I going to influence them?

Recently one of my students made a power point presentation in front of her classmates. There were around 50 students in the class. The topic of the presentation was “Twenty-20 Cricket: An Analysis”. The student’s presentation was good but for one thing. She showed a video clipping in which an Australian commentator expressed his views on the twenty-20 form of cricket. At the end of the presentation I asked the students how many of them understood the commentator’s views. Only five students put up their hands to say they listened to the message with comprehension. Later the student presenter said, “I should not have shown the video clipping. Without it the presentation would have been more effective.”

A few months back after attending a function at a college, I had an opportunity to interact with a few students who also attended the meeting. One of the guests gave a lecture on the importance of science and technology. I wanted to know whether the students really enjoyed the lecture and initiated a conversation with them.

“How was the lecture?”
“The resource person spoke well. I enjoyed listening to him. His language was damn good.”
“It must have been very interesting?”
“Yes, sir”
“Good. What did he speak about?”
“We didn’t understand what he said. He used hi-fi words.”
“What do you mean by hi-fi words?”
“High-sounding words.”

An effective communicator’s message is understood by the majority of the audience. Using ‘high-sounding’ words that is difficult for the audience to understand or speaking in an accent that is strange to the audience does not mean effective communication.
“You are what you communicate. Good communication matters because your ideas are as good as your ability to communicate them. "

Albert P’Rayan is an ELT resource person and editor of ELTeCS list for India and Sri Lanka. He can be contacted at rayanal@yahoo.co.uk

Welcome to raydeal-engchat.blogspot.com

2008-08-31T07:59:00.000+05:30

Hello, are you an anglophile?
Do you love discussing anything related to the English language?
Do you have any interesting anecdotes and jokes that you can share with fellow bloggers?
Do you want to discuss any interesting topic with like-minded bloggers like you?
Then this is the website for you.
It is open for all those who love to chat in English.
Welcome!
I take delight in being the moderator of the blog.
Start contributing your queries, responses to queries, and views on topics under discussion.
You are also invited to suggest new topics for discussion.
Enjoy being part of 'raydeal-engchat' family.