English Language Teaching- A Theoretical Perspective

Abstract

Language, the divine gift of God, is man’s finest asset. Language distinguishes human beings from animals. Language is an instrument of thought to the philosopher. By using language, people communicate themselves and sharing their ideas, feelings and sorrows.Language is a form of behaviourto the sociologist and form of activity to the psychologist. Webster (1984)is of the view that, “Language is audible; articulate human speech is produced by the action of the tongue and adjacent vocal organs”. Jespersen(1966) defines language as “a set of human habits, the purpose of which is to give expression to thoughts and feelings”. It is inferred that language is purely human, a vehicle of thoughts, expression or communication of ideas and feelings.In the Encyclopedia Britannica language is defined as “a system of conventional spoken or written symbols by means of which human beings, as members of a social group and participants in its culture, communicate”. This makes it clear that language is a human quality, a social activity and means of communication of ideas, feelings and thought.
Englishas a foreign language started life in India due to its association with the British colonizer. In the closing years of twentieth century, English began to emerge as the global language and the Indian classroom was transformed because of the change in the environment of the learner.
The present paper tries exploring English language teaching in school and college curriculum employing methods of language teaching and Audio visual aids in terms of teaching of English