Strategies in Acquiring of English in Circumventing the Language Learning Disability: A Product and Process of Acquiring Second Language

Abstract

A substantialincrease in the quantity of Students taking up Englishas the Second Language is so obvious in developing countries like India. The need for effective measures to augment and reinforce the learning of English with respect to such students has become paramount importance. A small group ofsuch students wasselected and their efficiency in the learning process of English in a specified time was carried out on different paraphernalia towardsof such an exercise. Two methods wereadopted in the evaluation of the learning process.. One group of students was taught both in English and in their respective mother tongue. The other group of students was taught only in English and at no point their mother tongue was involved in the exercise. The First group of students was taught to read in their respective mother tongue and gradually movedto English and the enhancement in the cognitive proficiency was evaluated with reference to the reading exercises.Students who have had both the efficiencies in their mother tongue andEnglish wereinvolved as assisting forces. The Second group of students was taught only in English. The various paraphernalia considered for the study remained the same irrespective of the student group. Standard procedures of Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English (SDAI) were adopted in following the augmentation process of learning and ability in acquiring English. All the basic and essential modalities were included in the study. Students were encouraged to involve themselves so voluntarily and wholeheartedly and their participation was encouraged. The group of students who used theirmother tongue was found to be in an advantageous position and use of mother tongue proved to be a significant factor in assisting themin the learning process. The group of students taught only in English didn’t exhibit better understanding or perception of English than their counterparts. The shortcomings experienced in language perception in every aspectof the different paraphernalia taken up in the study, in respect of the group of students taught only in English could not be considered as lack of skill in the acquisition of English and the difficulties to cope with the learning process seems to be temporal and keeping up with efficiency of the other group is only transitional The findings of both of these approaches for students acquiring English are highlighted in the present paper.