What are the ways to improve English and fluency of children?
Language is not only a medium of expression, but also a way of thinking. Learning a language has a start but not an end. Any language has its own beauty and it needs to be understood with experience and has no rule laid down as such. English is a language used globally and is now a basic necessity to communicate to the masses. Knowing this language, in today’s world, generates a level of self confidence and thus, helps in better presentation of a topic or even an individual. Understanding that basic reading, writing and speaking parts of a language is one thing, and gaining fluency and then proficiency is another thing. We often stop learning a language once we start understanding it. However, gaining fluency and proficiency in it, should be a continuous process and this process should start in school itself.
In order to improve the English language and attain fluency in it, schools can undertake various activities. Unfortunately, we learn the language only till the 4th or 5th standard, wherein all the basics of Grammar are taught. Once that syllabus gets over, the levels or activities undertaken to improve it are stopped and English remains just a subject. Even though it is made mandatory to speak in English throughout school hours, this becomes impossible to follow. Students resort to the mother tongue and it becomes difficult to keep a check on this.
Grammar: This part of the language is the heart of any language and it should run in the blood of the students. Often, teaching tense, articles, nouns, and pronouns is stressed in schooling and at times Anecdotes, Hyperbole, Rhyme schemes and other figures of speech are just touched. These aspects are equally, or rather even more important, when it comes to writing the language. These parts help the student better explain himself in a way which engages the reader. From a writing perspective, these untouched areas of grammar should be stressed on and a compulsion to use them in essays could be encouraged so that the students learn about it more and more.
Vocabulary: This can be termed as the brain of the language. Once you start falling short of words, it becomes tough to speak in that language or even think in that language. Thinking in English itself would mean that a step up in learning the language has been achieved. Thinking in the mother tongue and expressing it in English can pose a barrier in the fluency. The syllabus should include vocabulary learning on a continuous basis and using that vocabulary in essays, public speaking, and other writing and speaking skills should be monitored. This set of words becomes the biggest asset while speaking in a language and that needs to be concentrated on.
Speaking: When English is taught from a tender age, speaking 5 lines about oneself is a compulsory school activity, which later gets left behind in the next standards. As the standards pass, the level of the topics should be increased and the plethora of subjects for elocution should widen. This would help the students to touch a variety of subjects and boost them to use different words, different formation of sentences, and such information through which reading about the topics would introduce them to a different side of the language.
Reading: Library reading is often left to voluntary participation. In this era and generation of mobile phones, it is hard on the students’ side to ignore that side of the world and resort to reading. Screens are a part of living and unfortunately books are part of the past. A high level of exposure at a tender age has increased the basic level of understanding that kids have. Keeping this in mind, a proficient level of literature needs to be included in the syllabus, which can be introduced to the students as part of the examination. Atleast, with the fear of scoring, the literature would reach the growing kids and the probability of those liking it and pursuing it would increase.
The more you hear a language being spoken, the more you get acquainted with it. With technology bringing in the best of things available, students can be introduced to listening to audio books as well. The more a language is heard, there is a better possibility of it being understood. Listening to audio books can yet prove to be a method to improve fluency and attain a mastery over the language.
Writing: Quite a few times, essay writing helps the student to think about a certain topic in a peculiar way and then put it on paper. However, with growing age, essay writing takes a back step and children often lose the hold on writing and expressing views on a certain subject. Thus, maintaining a daily diary can help an individual shape himself into expressing in a better way by looking for better words and aiming for better formation of sentences.
Language culture – Every language emerges from its own culture. Unless and until the culture is not familiar, experiencing the essence of it becomes tough. Watching English films or videos could aid the students to have a better impression of the language and understanding becomes easier.
Family routine: Schools are a 5 hour friend to the student. However, the rest of the hours which a student spends at home also play a very crucial part in the shaping of his or her personality. Introducing English in the family routine can be one of the measures to make the child more exposed to the language. There can also be fear in the early span of learning a language. This fear can be tackled well at home and a free space for mistakes can be made available to the child. Afterall, practice makes man perfect, and what better ground than home ground could serve this purpose better!
Learning a language, unfortunately, ends at school and students just use the language thereafter. The way of learning changes thereafter, however, the awareness while learning is lost. Students should continuously be told how to continue learning English after school is over and how they can improve their thoughts, writing skills, reading speed and speaking in English once they pass out. It should be embedded in every student’s mind, that learning only can help them attain a proficiency over English and that would assist them in being a better version of themselves in an open market.