LANGUAGE IN INDIA Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow Volume 15:2 February 2015 ISSN 1930-2940 Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D. Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D. Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D. B. A. Sharada, Ph.D. A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D. Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D. Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D. S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D. G. Baskaran, Ph.D. L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D. C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics) N. Nadaraja Pillai, Ph.D. Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A. Materials published in Language in India www.languageinindia.com are indexed in EBSCOHost database, MLA International Bibliography and the Directory of Periodicals, ProQuest (Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts) and Gale Research. The journal is listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals. It is included in the Cabell’s Directory, a leading directory in the USA. Articles published in Language in India are peer-reviewed by one or more members of the Board of Editors or an outside scholar who is a specialist in the related field. Since the dissertations are already reviewed by the University-appointed examiners, dissertations accepted for publication in Language in India are not reviewed again. This is our 15th year of publication. All back issues of the journal are accessible through this link: http://languageinindia.com/backissues/2001.html Contents RIP RP: In Search of a More Pragmatic Model for Pronunciation Teaching in the Indian Context ... Anindya Syam Choudhury, Ph.D., PGCTE, PGDTE, CertTESOL (Trinity, London) 1-11 Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 15:2 February 2015 List of Contents i Enhancement of Public Speaking Skill through Practice among Teacher-Trainees in English: A Study ... Dr. C. Arun, M.A., M.Phil., B.Ed., Ph.D. Dr. V. Peruvalluthi, M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D. 12-18 Cultural Conflict in Divakaruni’s Select Short Stories: Silver Pavements, Golden Roof ... A. R. Bharathi, M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D. Scholar 19-28 Khoibu Tone ... Laishram Bijenkumar Singh, M.A., NET, Ph.D. 29-42 The Village Community among the Tangkhul Nagas of Manipur in the Nineteenth Century ... Console Zamreinao Shimrei, M.Phil., NET., Ph.D. Research Scholar 43-56 Problems faced in Korean Language Education in Manipur University ... Dr. L. Iboyaima Singh, M.A., M.Phil, Ph.D. 57-67 Acquisition of Negation in Manipuri-Speaking Children ... Dr. L. Iboyaima Singh, M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D. 68-78 What Lifelong Learning Means to a Malaysian Senior Citizen ... Kuang Ching Hei, Ph.D. 79-97 The Inner Journey of Man to Self-Discovery – A Study of Saul Bellow’s Herzog ... Mrs. Mythili. S., B.T in English 98-103 A Study of Discourse Marker in Prem Chand’s “Kafan” ... Nazia Saleem Ansari 104-112 The Effect of Short Message Service (SMS) on Iranian EFL Learners’ Attitude toward Learning English ... Parvin Pirasteh, M.A. in TEFL Vahid Reza Mirzaeian, Ph.D. 113-131 Communalism and the Politics of the Sacred: A Study of Tamas by Bhisham Sahni ... Prateek Deswal, M.A Eng., NET 132-142 Linguistics: An Aid to ELT in Indian Contexts ... Richa Srishti, Ph.D. 143-156 Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 15:2 February 2015 List of Contents ii A Comparative Study of English Language Teaching in English and Non-English Medium Secondary Schools/Colleges from Grade 8 to Grade 12 in India ... Sanjay N. Shende, M.A., B.Ed. NET 157-175 Essentials for Differentiated English as Second Language (ESL) Instruction ... M. Saravanapava Iyer, Ph.D. 176-200 A Comparative Evaluation of Two ESP Textbooks for Students of Engineering: Merits and Demerits ... Seyed Mohammad Mohammadi, M.A. in TEFL Ali Safayee Moghadam, M.A. in TEFL 201-225 A Dictionary in Assamese and English by M. Bronson: Historical Background and Lexicographic Approach ... Subasana Mahanta, Ph.D. 226-235 Romancing the Third Gender: Analysis of the Representation of the Transgender in Delhi: A Novel, with Special Reference to the Character of Bhagmati ... Ms. Subhra Roy, M.A, NET., SET. 236-244 Gender in Anal: A Preliminary Investigation ... Th. Thajamanbi Devi, Ph.D. Research Scholar 245-255 Christianity and Social Change among the Naga Tribes of Manipur ... M. Thanmung, Ph.D. 256-267 Development of Speech Audiometry Material in Goan Konkani Language ... Marissa. A. Dias, MASLP Student Usha Devadas, Ph.D. (Corresponding author) B. Rajashekhar, Ph.D. 268-280 Second Language Listening – Investigating Self-supporting Needs ... M. Saravanapava Iyer, Ph.D. 281-301 Formula for Effective Teaching and Classroom Management J. John Sunil Manoah, Ph.D. 302-306 Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 15:2 February 2015 List of Contents iii ================================================================= Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 Vol. 15:2 February 2015 ================================================================= RIP RP: In Search of a More Pragmatic Model for Pronunciation Teaching in the Indian Context Anindya Syam Choudhury, Ph.D., PGCTE, PGDTE, CertTESOL (Trinity, London) ==================================================================== Abstract With the growth in the use of English the world over, and a subsequent increase in the number of English speakers whose first language is not English, the pronunciation needs and goals of learners have undergone great changes. This is true of the Indian scenario as well, where the acquisition of ‘native-like’ pronunciation does not seem to be a hallowed aim any longer. What most learners are striving for is a kind of ‘neutral’ intelligible English pronunciation, free from those influences of their first language that hamper clarity when they speak English. However, when it comes to teaching pronunciation the Indian teacher willy-nilly has to follow the Received Pronunciation or R.P., a model which is waning in influence even in its birth place, England. One reason for this, of course, is that this variety is described well in various textbooks and pronouncing dictionaries. This paper would delve into and examine this dichotomous situation of the ‘model’ to follow in the Indian context, and drawing on research on pronunciation and pronunciation teaching would try to show why Standard Indian English Pronunciation (SIEP) could be considered a more viable model than RP. Keywords: Received Pronunciation (RP), Standard Indian English Pronunciation (SIEP), model, intelligibility, native speaker, non-native speaker With the exponential spread and growth of English in the last several decades, leading to the development of Englishes in different sociolinguistic situations across the world, several hitherto-considered givens in teaching in English as Second Language (ESL)/ English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts have been questioned and debated upon. One such Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 15:2 February 2015 Anindya Syam Choudhury, Ph.D., PGCTE, PGDTE, CertTESOL (Trinity, London) RIP RP: In Search of a More Pragmatic Model for Pronunciation Teaching in the Indian Context 1 question pertains to the issue of the so-called ‘native speaker’ pronunciation norms in the ESL/EFL contexts. In the Indian context, there has been an insistence on the persistent use of Received Pronunciation (RP) as the norm despite there being numerous reasons for not remaining tied to it. This paper, prompted mainly by the reaction of a friend of mine, an English teacher in an Indian university, who not only turned his nose up at my suggestion that a pronunciation model based on the proficient Indian English user could be a possibility in the Indian classroom but also belligerently dismissed any attempts to dent the image of the hallowed RP, would essentially deal with the following two issues: 1. The model of English pronunciation which could/should be presented to English language learners in the Indian context in general. 2. The implications of the choice of the model mentioned above. The paper will, of course, attempt to show an awareness that a discussion of the two issues entails bringing in a host of other concomitant issues like the ownership of English, the relevance of the ‘native speaker’, the issue of standard, the notion of intelligibility, and so on and so forth. It is also pertinent to mention here perhaps that the paper will not focus on the ‘how’ aspect of pronunciation but rather on the ‘what’ aspect. In other words, the paper does not intend to focus on the methodological aspects of pronunciation pedagogy nor does it intend to engage in the debate about whether pronunciation should be or could be taught or not. This paper, as has already been pointed out earlier, has been occasioned primarily by the views of a friend, an English teacher, who shares the strain of thought expressed by Mohan when the latter says that “in the midst of multitudinous languages coupled with dialectal variations, in India, it is difficult to arrive at a single acceptable model of pronunciation like RIP (Received Indian Pronunciation)” (174). Mohan (175-176) further goes on to list the features which he thinks “may affect ‘intelligibility’ of India English at an international Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 15:2 February 2015 Anindya Syam Choudhury, Ph.D., PGCTE, PGDTE, CertTESOL (Trinity, London) RIP RP: In Search of a More Pragmatic Model for Pronunciation Teaching in the Indian Context 2 level”, expressing his apprehension that “if there are too many differences, English will not be English but Tanglish or Hinglish or sometimes half-baked English”, before pronouncing in no uncertain terms that “it is not feasible to replace RP in the Indian context here and now.” It is clear that however much we profess in the academia today that there is an urgent need to celebrate diversity and pluricentricity in English language pedagogy, there is a strong centripetal force in operation which apprehends a kind of linguistic anarchy in the wake of the growth of different World Englishes and, therefore, seeks some kind of stability by clinging on to any of the established standard varieties of the ‘centre’ nations like the UK or the USA.