| The Government College of Teacher Education, | | | | trainees confessed that they had to translate into |
| Thiruvananthapuram, where I teach, draws the | | | | Malayalam, the content in the Course Book. |
| cream of talent from across Kerala State, South | | | | - In many schools, trainees found that there were |
| India. The second semester of the academic year | | | | several pupils studying in Standard IX who did not |
| 2009-10, commenced on 01 June 2010. The Second | | | | even know all the English alphabets. |
| Spell of Practice Teaching of twenty day duration | | | | - It was particularly difficult for the pupils to follow |
| started on 05 July 2010. | | | | the class when the trainees attempted to teach |
| On Saturday, 17 July 2010, all the trainees of the | | | | English only through English! |
| English Optional, assembled in the Department to | | | | - Even during the sixth period (ie; the last period |
| provide their impressions about the experience they | | | | of a school day) allotted for English, in one school, |
| gained and to narrate the difficulties they | | | | the students were distracted and did not seem to be |
| experienced thither to during class room | | | | really interested in learning English. |
| transaction. This particular session was eagerly | | | | - It was very difficult to engage classes as per the |
| awaited by both the teacher educator and the | | | | Teaching Manual prepared based on SCERT |
| trainees because a new Course Book for Standard | | | | guidelines. |
| IX had been introduced by the State Council of | | | | - Many trainees found that engaging the pupils in |
| Educational Research and Training (SCERT) of the | | | | group work simply resulted in difficulty of |
| Government of Kerala. | | | | managing the class. It also consumed a lot of time |
| Given below are a few notable comments: | | | | often ending in the trainees requesting the school |
| | | | | authorities to provide extra teaching period to |
| - The non-availability of the newly introduced Course | | | | complete the class. |
| Book for teaching for a whole division in some | | | | It was found that pupils invariably carried to class, |
| schools, even though the classes commenced for | | | | Bazaar guides such as ‘Labour India' which has |
| the new academic year in the first week of June, did | | | | translations in Malayalam of the reading passages |
| create problems for some trainees. | | | | along with worked out answers of exercises of the |
| - In most schools trainees found that at the | | | | English Course book. This kind of dependency on |
| secondary level, there are categories of students: | | | | guide books may be a reflection of the inability of |
| Ones eager to learn; Ones that like to be taught | | | | pupils to follow the newly introduced Course Book! |
| English only through the mother tongue, namely | | | | Perhaps this is the right time to conduct a minor |
| Malayalam; Ones with widely different linguistic ability- | | | | research to find how exactly the newly introduced |
| those who cannot speak or write a single sentence | | | | Course Book is being received by students, teachers |
| correctly in English. | | | | and teacher trainees through out the state. |
| - To enable the pupils to grasp the theme, many | | | | |