COMREHENSIVE TECHNICAL REPORT ABOUT THE PROCESS OF TEACHING ENGLISH AT THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS THAT TACLKLES WHATEVER IS RELATED

TO THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH AT 6TH GRADE.

Next to food there comes language, with which we are so intimately familiar that we take it for granted as we do breathing or working. There is no concept of a society without language and there could hardly have been any society that has touched the climax. It is the basis of human progress. It is the flesh and blood of human culture.. It is the means of social control and cooperation and involves us in the process of social interaction. It is an aid to our thought and permeates mans whole life. It is used as an agent in satisfying the immediate needs of the body as well as in the service of lofty flights of imagination and achievements of reason.

The status and importance of English language: F.G. French has rightly said, By the accidents of history and by the rapid spread of industrial development, science, technology and international trade, English has become a world language. It is the means of international communication; there is no other. Today there is no country in the world where a speaker of English cannot to be understood. English is spoken by most of the people in the world next to Chinese; but the speakers of English are spread all over the world whereas those of Chinese are confined to the Chinese subcontinent. English is the language of the international politics and is one of the six official languages of the U. N. O. It is a window on the world which provides us the glimpses of various developments, taking place in the world, and distilled essence of modern knowledge in all fields of human activity. Only this rich storehouse of knowledge, humanistic, scientific and technical, will prevent our isolation from the world. So in view of the role of English as an international language, as a window on the outside world, as a library and a link language, we cannot dispense off the study of English language. It is very wise and high time to start it at Elementary level to tear off the dark curtains of ignorance and unawareness.

The general objects of teaching English language at the Elementary stage: The general objectives of teaching English at this level set by the concerned authority go like:

1 Learn the basics of the English language that would form the foundation for its mastery in the future. 2 Use the basic structures of English sentences. 3 Learn the core vocabulary assigned for this stage. 4 Listen and understand simple English language. 5 Express themselves orally using simple English language. 6 Read and understand some simple written English language materials. 7 Write simple guided sentences in English language. 8 Appreciate the importance of English language as an international language of communication, for introducing Islam, the Islamic nations culture and the cultural achievements of Muslims to other nations. 9 Appreciate the importance of English language as an international language of communication to benefit from the achievements of other cultures in accordance with Islam. All the objectives mentioned above are realistic, appropriate and convincing. They are all possible to be achieved through the textbook designed for the pupils, except the last two, which seem to be of little relevance to the level of the students. As far as the appreciation of English as an international language is concerned, students will appreciate and realize its importance when they come across English language being spoken in different places like banks, hospitals, airports and shopping centers. But English language as a means to introduce Islam, the Islamic culture and to benefit from the achievements of other cultures is somehow beyond the level of the students. Before taking any initiative towards teaching English language or any second language, the basic step is needs analysis i.e. to analyze what the learning need English for. What is the purpose of teaching English in that particular context? The perceived needs of the students are filtered through the existing constraints, before they can be converted into teaching and learning. In view of the needs, situation, and learning, the objectives are formulated in order to achieve the desired aims. The objectives are then formed into a kind of syllabus. A syllabus lists all the objectives in order of priority and from the easy to the difficult. To obtain the objectives, mentioned in the syllabus, in the most effective way, textbooks are created to set planned teaching for teachers.

Textbook: Textbook is the most important and handy material, which a teacher mostly uses in the execution of his teaching. It eases the teacher in the sense that he does not have to look for the material to be taught in the class. In absence of textbook, selection of
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materials is often challenging and beyond the reach of some teachers. In this situation a planned textbook has to be there. It not only guides the teacher in the execution of his lesson but it also aims at appropriateness of level of students, time limit and perfect content in terms of the objectives jotted down for the students. The contents of the present textbook designed for the 6th grade elementary in light of above-mentioned objectives cover the alphabets, numbers up to 100, basic personal information and vocabulary about the items of the common use and approximately all the basic grammatical structures. A close review of the textbook reflects the following merits and demerits.

Merits: 1 The textbook is good for beginners. It starts with alphabets, words and numbers. It covers a wide range of vocabulary useful for daily routine activities. 2 The textbook fully corresponds to the objectives mentioned in the beginning of the book except one or two that seem to be irrelevant at this stage. 3 Selection of material (content) is in accordance with the pupils needs, interests and Saudi culture. The book touches upon spheres of common life that are the immediate concern of learning for students for communication purposes. 4 The material is sequenced and well graded. The course goes from easy to difficult. It somehow, co-relates with the wide range of students with multiple intelligence and I Q. 5 Overall recycling of the material is appreciable. Besides revision lessons, there is a recycling infused at different places in the book. 6 Balance is maintained between vocabulary and grammar.

7 The textbook and the workbook make sufficient use of colorful pictures and illustrations. It is attractive for young beginners.

Demerits: 1 Time is the main factor that hinders the progress of learning process. We must look at the time allotted to the language class. Obviously students can be expected to achieve more if they have a greater number of hours to learn it. A lot will depend, too, on how the classes are sequenced. Does the class meet everyday? In the former

case, it will be easier to assume that students remember what went on in the class before. But on the other hand if classes are arranged twice a week, then they dont have an equal amount of time to digest what they have learned. Time allotted for teaching the book is inconveniently short. 2 Writing has not been emphasized, as it ought to have been. There are hardly any activities in the pupils book that provide students with any writing practice. Plus the workbook does not contain enough writing activities. For example, in the workbook there is one activity of trace and copy for practicing the alphabets which has repeatedly been used across the first four lessons. 3 Dictation is missing in both the textbook and the workbook. It has been observed that in the textbook for first year intermediate different activities and exercises are given for the purpose of dictation. But there are not such examples in either the pupils book or the workbook. Its importance can be judged from the fact that for Arabic language students have a special subject and a separate book for dictation (IMLA). 4 There exists a lack of activities for teaching words, numbers and alphabets. Teaching all the alphabets in the first four lessons is not justifiable and appreciable (with students having no prior knowledge of English alphabets). 5 There is excessive use of grammar and vocabulary. The students cant grasp so much material at such an early stage of learning. Approximately the entire English grammar has been introduced within limited span of time. The textbook is not systematic in the amount of vocabulary presented to the students. For instance, the students have to learn 120 words in the first term of the academic year. It is difficult for beginners to digest such sizable vocabulary. 6 The textbook tends to follow the same format from one unit to the next. This similarity of format involves a rigid sequence, which fails to attract students attention. Following the same sequence in each unit becomes boring over a period of time and students thus feel de-motivated. Classes start appearing increasingly similar and the routine becomes increasingly monotonous. In the textbook, for example, letters, numbers and words are presented in the same style, sequence and colouring. More or less the workbook follows the same monotonous style. Most of The exercises are, colour the numbers, letters, words etc, trace and copy numbers, letters etc, say the numbers etc. There is a no variety in the book as well as in the workbook. Variety means involving students in a number of different types of activity and where possible, introducing them to a wide selection of materials.

7 Structural aspect has been emphasized at the cost of functional aspect of the language. The functions of language should form the basis for a language learning syllabus rather than the traditional grammatical items. This syllabus fails to teach the use of the language rather what it seems it to be doing is teaching the grammar of the language. Students should be taught grammar as it is central to language but the amount of that should be limited. 8 Balance is inclined towards reading skills. Listening receives hardly any attention. There is enough stuff in both the books that aim at practicing reading skills, but listening, the core skill of English language, has largely been ignored. 9 Cursive writing has been overlooked intentionally or unintentionally.

10 The stuff as well as the presentation of certain exercises is the same in both the book and the workbook. The workbook is designed for the purpose of reinforcement, recycling and practice, but if the same exercises are given in both the books it loses its impetus in aiming at improvement. It also de-motivates and bores students. 11 The textbook provides a good grammatical background for the next class but as for as the contents and objectives are concerned, there is a big gap between the contents of this book and the next one i.e. the textbook designed for 1st year intermediate, which is too tough and challenging. So this book does not prove to create a sound foundation for the next one, especially in respect to the contents.

Recommendations: The following recommendations and suggestions are presented in sequel to the above-mentioned merits and demerits 1 Textbook and workbook should be combined into one for the purpose of convenience. 2 The number of periods per week must be increased in order to make sure that the students, especially the ones who are comparatively weaker, learn and digest the knowledge that is driven into their minds. 3 Presently, time allotted to English per week is 90 minutes. It comes to two periods of 45 minutes duration each. It would be better if the periods were increased to three or four per week.

4 Dictations, though simple and short, should be included in the course. 5 There should be more writing and listening exercises/activities in both the textbook and the workbook. 6 Activities for teaching words, numbers and alphabets should be included in more number, different styles and variety. 7 Excessive use of grammar should be minimized and the emphasis should be laid on the use of language rather than on learning the grammar of language. 8 There should be variety in the presentation of each unit. 9 There should be exercises in both the pupils book and workbook that aim at developing the habit of writing cursively. 10 Overall the book is good for beginner; but it is replete with too much vocabulary and grammatical structures to mug up and absorb; especially by learners of middle or low I Q.

The teacher:
Teaching is a sacred profession, the profession of prophets. The teacher is the most influential person of the society, who builds the nation. He is an engineer maker, a doctor maker, a scholar maker, a scientist maker etc. It has rightly been said, the tree grows as the twig is bent". Who is to bend this twig of nation? undoubtedly the teacher. Henry Adams says, " A teacher affects the eternity, he can not tell where his influence stops." The school is like a factory where students are brought as raw material and it is the teacher who prunes and polishes and converts them into sparkling diamonds of the society. So teaching is the most sensitive issue and teachers are the most important and significant members of the society. They are supposed to be kind of model for the pupils and others as well. They must be Muslims of high morality, pious, highly qualified, fully trained, well versed in their profession, sincere and fully devoted to their duties.

The role of the teacher: The role of the teacher will depend to a large extent on the function he performs in the execution of different activities. We will examine the roles of controller, assessor, organizer, prompter, participant and resource.
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The teacher as a controller: The teacher plays the role of a controller when he is totally in charge of the class. He controls not only what the students do, but also when and what language they speak. Clearly the introduction of new language often involves the teacher in a controlling role, particularly at the accurate reproduction stage. It is important to realize, however, that this control is not necessarily the most effective role for the teacher to adopt. Indeed if he wishes the students to use the language in any way, then control will have to be relaxed since if all the language used is determined by the teacher the student will never have the opportunity to learn properly. The teacher as a controller, then, is useful during an accurate reproduction stage and in general during lockstep activities. But even during immediate creativity, for example, it is vital that this control should be relaxed to some degree and during communicative activities or the practice of receptive skills, the teacher as controller is wholly inappropriate.

The teacher as assessor:

Clearly a major part of a teacher's job is to assess the student's work, to see how well they are performing or how well they performed. A difference has to be made, however, between correcting and organizing feedback. During an accurate reproduction stage, where the teacher is totally in control, he will be correcting students errors and mistakes. His function is to show where incorrectness occurs and help the student to realize what has gone wrong and to put it right. Where students are involved in immediate creativity, or where they are doing a drill type activity in pairs (e.g. asking and answering set questions) the teacher may still correct, but that correction might be gentle. Gentle correction involves showing that incorrectness has occurred, but not making a big fuss about it. Gentle correction involves the teacher in saying things like ' well that's not quite right we don't say 'we goed . we say we went ' but not insisting that the student then repeats the sentences in the same controlled way. Where students are working in pairs or groups in a fairly controlled situation the teacher may inject this type of correction without completely destroying the atmosphere since he is not stopping the activity in the same way as he would if he asked for repetition and then insisted on a short drill. Organizing feedback is a major part of assessing students' performance (for their benefit) so that they can see the extent of their success or failure. The teacher

waits until an activity or task has been completed and then tells the students how well they did.

The teacher as organizer:

Perhaps the most important and difficult role the teacher has to play is that of organizer. The success of many activities depends on good organization and on the students knowing exactly what they are to do. A lot of time can be wasted if the teacher omits to give students vital information or issues conflicting and confusing instructions. The main aim of the teacher when organizing an activity is to tell the instructions about what they are going to talk about (or write or read about), give clear instructions about what exactly their task is, get the activity going, and then organize feed back when it is over. This sounds remarkably easy, but can be disastrous if the teacher has not thought out exactly what he is going to say beforehand. Certain things should definitely not be done when organizing an activity: teachers should never, for example, assume that the students have understood the instructions. It is wise to check that the students have grasped what they have to do, and where possible, the students' native language can be used for this. Teachers should never issue unclear instructions; it is wise to plan out what you are going to say beforehand and then say it clearly and concisely. In lower level classes with monolingual groups, the students' language can be used for this. It is essential for the teacher to plan exactly what information the students will need. For example, if an information gap exercise is being used students must be told not to look at each others material. If they do, the exercise will be ruined. If students are reading for specific information they must clearly understand that they are not to try to understand everything, but only read to get the answer to certain questions. If they do not understand this a lot of the point of the exercise will be lost. Lastly the teacher must be careful about when he gets students to look at the material they will be using for the activity. If he hands out material and then tries to give instructions he will find that students are looking at the material and not listening to the instructions!

The teacher as a prompter:

Often the teacher needs to encourage students to participate or needs to make suggestions about how students may proceed in an activity when there is a silence or when they are confused about what to do next. This is one of the teacher's important roles, the role of prompter.

The role of prompter has to be performed with this discretion for if the teacher is too aggressive he starts to take over from the students, whereas the idea is that he should be helping them only when it is necessary. The teacher as participant: The teacher should participate as an equal in an activity especially where activities like simulations are taking place. Clearly on a lot of occasions it will be difficult for him to do so as an equal (since he often knows all the material and all the details etc. such as with information gap exercises, jigsaw listening, etc.). The danger is that the teacher will tend to dominate, and the students will both allow and expect this to happen. It will be up to the teacher to make sure it doesn't. Teachers should not be afraid to participate since not only will it probably improve the atmosphere in the class, but it will also give the students a chance to practice English with someone who speaks it better than they do.

The teacher as a resource:

The teacher should be a kind of walking resource centre for his students. In other words the teacher should always be ready to offer help if it is needed. After all he has the language that the students may be missing, and this is especially true if the students are involved in some kind of writing task. We must qualify this role, however, by saying that the teacher should not be available as a resource for certain activities such as the communication games. In other words there are certain activities where we want to force the students to perform in English entirely on their own with no outside help. In this case the teacher will not be available to help. But there are many other activities writing individually or in pairs or groups, discussing etc. The teacher should make it clear that he is available as a resource, as a source of information, if the students need such information.

What the teacher should know: Before the teacher can start to consider planning his classes he needs to know a considerable about the profession. Clearly a well- prepared teacher needs to know a lot about his job before he can start to make successful plans. There are six major areas of necessary knowledge. a) The language for the level The teacher must know the language that he is to teach his students. By "know" we mean that the teacher must be able to use the language himself and also
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have an insight into the rules that governs its form and its use. This is obviously the result not only of the teachers' own knowledge of English but also of preparation and study where facts about language can be absorbed. b) The skills for the level The teacher himself needs to "know" the skills he is going to ask his students to perform. It is no good asking them to write a report if the teacher cannot do it himself. c) The aids available for the level The teacher has to know what aids are available and appropriate for the level he is teaching. These may include wall pictures, flash cards, tapes and tape recorders, overhead projectors, sets of books and material and, of course, the blackboard. d) Stages and techniques in teaching The teacher needs to know and recognize different teaching techniques and stages. He needs to know the difference between accurate reproduction and communicative activities so that he does not, for example, act as a controller in both cases. He also needs to be able to recognize stages in the textbook he is using so that he realizes when an activity is controlled rather than free and vise versa. In particular, then, he must have a working knowledge of the issues and the principles behind the teaching of receptive skills. e) A repertoire of activities The well-prepared teacher has a large repertoire of activities for the classes. He can organize presentation and controlled output practice; he can direct students in the acquiring of receptive skills and organize genuinely communicative activities. This repertoire of activities enables him to have varied plans and achieve an activities balance. F) Classroom management skills The well-prepared teacher will have good classroom management skills. He will be able to adopt a number of different rules, will be able to use different student groupings, and will be able to mention discipline. These areas are all vitally important for a teacher and they imply a lot of work particularly where a level is being taught for the first time. Without these areas of knowledge a teacher is in a poor position to make decisions about lesson planning.

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Existing situation: A good number of English teachers are foreigners doing their utmost within limits. But they are not successful to avert the situation. Some of them feel dissatisfied and feel frustrated may be due to the cultural differences, economic pressure or other reasons. There are also teachers who are not well versed in the English language. They have faulty pronunciation, methods of teaching and most of the time they use Arabic language in classrooms. Many are not conversant with the new techniques of teaching English and the new development in the field of language teaching. They do not keep themselves in touch with educational magazines, Internet and other sources of information. Still the shortage of English teachers in the Kingdom is yet another issue. The employment of a good number of Saudi teachers in this department is good and hope giving. A few of them are good teachers but there are also teachers whose knowledge of English language, way of teaching, interest and sincerity with this profession are not quite up to the required level.

Recommendations: 1) Native or non-Arab teachers should be employed especially at the elementary level, to avoid the use of mother tongue in the classrooms. 2) Appreciation of teachers by the concerned authority will play a vital role in improving the performance of teachers. They might be awarded some incentives such as merit certificates, awards etc. so that they may prove their worth thoroughly. 3) Special efforts should be made to ensure that the teachers of English language themselves posses a good command of English language. 4) Refresher courses must be conducted for all the English teachers. 5) There must be sub-supervisors to assist and help the supervisors and the teachers.

Audio Visual Aids in Teaching English language:Audio- visual aids mean the devices which can be used in teaching for their appeal to the ear and the eye. 1) Visual aids: (Aids that can be seen) a) The simple visual aids are black / white board, bulletin board, flannel board, charts, diagrams, graphs, cartoons, posters, maps, pictures, wall pictures, globes, models, flash cards, cut-outs, flip charts, cue-sheets, advertisement etc b) The mechanical visual aids are epidiascope and filmstrips. 2) Audio Visual aids: (aids that can be heard and seen) The mechanical audio visual aids are films, television, computer etc.

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Uses of Audio Visual Aids: These aids can serve a variety of purposes; for example, 1) They can be used to create situations in order to make the meaning of a word or a structure clear and to practise them in meaningful situations. 2) The efficacy and effectiveness of these aids is obvious from the fact that they dispel the monetary of practice work by creating variety. 3) The meanings of some words can be taught only with the help of visual aids. This is apparent from the extensive use of sketches in dictionaries. 4) The aids like radio, television, projectors, computers etc. improve the teacher's own command of the language e. g BBC programs, commercial cassettes and discs etc. 5) These aids do a hard job of motivation for the pupils by making the lessons fascinating and lively and make the pupils feel at home in their classrooms. 6) The display of various charts, tables, pictures, models etc. in the classroom lend an atmosphere of gaiety to the room and at the same help the pupils to learn even the troublesome and boring items happily and sometimes unconsciously. Anyhow, the gist of the matter is that these aids perform a vital role in the learning of a second language.

The existing Situation: If we probe into the existing situation, we are baffled to learn that these aids are extinct in many of the institutions. Not to talk about the availability of these aids, some teachers have adopted a cynical attitude towards these aids; others talk about their being useless in the situation they are working in. Still others talk about their being expensive and unaffordable. Some teachers complain against their principals being non- cooperative, indifferent and even some others talk about their pupils in harsh words and so on. A worrying reality is that some of the teachers are unaware of the importance of these aids, so they make lame excuses when they are questioned about them. The course book for 6th grade Elementary is aided with audiocassettes. In many schools the teachers do not use them due to the non-availability of cassette players or some other reasons. Only a few teachers prepare and use flash cards, posters etc. They struggle hard to make their lessons lively and enjoyable by giving a variety to their pupils, but there are many who only throw dust in their own eyes and that of the supervisors. Some teachers do not take the pains to prepare even very simple teaching aids.

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Suggestions and Recommendations:

1) The teachers must be familiarized with the importance and effectiveness of these aids. 2) Teachers must be offered refresher and short teaching courses to familiarize them with preparing and using simple teaching aids. They should also be made conversant with the use of technical aids; e. g projectors, computers, tape-recorders etc. 3) Special efforts must be made to provide as many aids as possible. At least some simple and inexpensive aids like flash cards and posters charts may be provided. 4) Teachers should persuade and encourage their pupils to bring English charts, tables, posters etc. and furnish their classrooms with such aids. 5) Language laboratories may be set up; if not in all the institutions, then at least in the big institutions. 6) The principals must be advised to display English bearing wall charts, posters, models etc. here and there in their schools to motivate pupils and teachers. 7) Last but not the least is timely provision of these aids. Normally if any audiovisual aid is provided, it is too late to teach and the teachers feel helpless to their effective use.

Pupils' environment and age:

In learning a language, the learners' age, I.Q and environment count a lot. While learning the first language, the learners environment assists a lot, besides the ever-growing experiences the learner is encountering every moment. His language habits grow naturally. The more he acquires experiences, the more he gains firm hold over his language manipulation. At this stage, he learns the language automatically and unconsciously. There is no obstacle in learning the language; rather the whole environment favours him. All around him finds a favourable and supportive environment. His parents, family members and all others make him listen and guide him to speak the target language. He has no past experiences to hinder his learning. But in case of second or foreign language, the habit pattern with the first language creates an obstacle. His experiences and environment, having remained the same, the second language does not fit and adjust easily into his experiences; and demands entirely different grouping of things, actions, relationship and persons and of time, place and one's own habitat. The outcome of this all is that he approaches the second language learning with the questions like what, why and how than with an unconscious and automatic manner. So the first language was a habit formed automatically without any kind of reasoning about it. While the second or foreign language often starts with reasoning, hesitation and certain amount of self- consciousness; rather than as spontaneous and
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natural fun. There is an inner comparison about the features of two languages; conflict in not finding the second language an effortless pursuit and constant confrontation of the same environment about which he is made to talk in a different way, is often troublesome and problematic for him. The learners would be at ease to learn the target language if only they are provided an environment of the target language to the maximum; if his eyes are made to see this language and culture; ears are made to hear it; tongue is made to struggle with it and mind is made to think in this language.

Existing situation: Now the question is do our pupils have anything like the ones mentioned above; the answer is in negative. In this region, most of the students do not listen, speak, read and write the target language at homes, where they spend most of their time. At schools, they come across the language only in their classrooms that too for a few minutes; even in their classes most of their time is consumed in listening and speaking the Arabic language because their teachers prefer speaking Arabic language to English. The reading and writing task, which they do in their classrooms, is too little for learning the language. In the market a few signs boards or a few items they buy, may bear written English. Most of the pupils are too weak to read them. If they have motivation, they can come across this language on TV, radio or even on computer but nothing is there to motivate them. It will also not be out of place to mention that the behaviour of some of the parents, the school principals and the teachers of other subjects is indifferent towards English language. Perhaps they consider it the language of infidels and nonbelievers.

Recommendations:
Following suggestions and recommendations in this concern: 1) Special efforts should be made to reduce the use of Arabic language in the classes so that pupils may get maximum chance to listen to this language. 2) English language laboratories may be established in the schools to improve the deteriorating standard of the English language. If it is difficult to set them up in all the schools, then they may be set up gradually, starting from big schools at some level e. g elementary, intermediate or secondary. 3) The display of English language bearing charts, posters, and models at different places will help a lot to improve the situation. 4) The English language teachers should motivate their pupils to deliver speeches, dialogues and Quranic translation in English language in the functions and the school assembly meetings in the morning. 5) The names of the classrooms and offices e. g principal/ vice principal office, laboratories etc may be written at their gates in English language along with Arabic.
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6) Seminars may be conducted and initiated on media to promote healthy environment for English language. The public may be familiarized with the importance and advantages of the English language.

Pupils' age: The learners age is also of an extreme importance in learning the second language. Studies in the western world report: a) That a child learning two languages before the age of five or six, may find easy to use the first language after sometime and continue using the second language for all purposes. b) At the age of two the child often wields two phonic systems together and also uses them both equally well. Penfield, the physiologist, has made the most notable contribution in this concern. He has put his research in the physiology of the human brain. According to his theory, before the age of 9, the brain is suited for language learning. But with the passage of time, the speech areas in the brain progressively become stiff; hence the capacity to learn the language shows a decrease. However these are experts and psychologists who observe that till the age of 21 there is no decline. They further observe that: a) Children in comparison to adults, even after brain injuries mostly learn to speak again, that is, their brain adapts afresh the new connection. b) Children under 4 are seen to transfer their speech mechanism from left to right of the brain. c) The children who learn more than one language in early childhood normally are seen learning additional languages relatively easily. For an adult the "content" of the language is more important and for a child "the form", so the latter acquires the structures of a language directly and an adult needs to talk a lot about it. The adult does not get to use the structures so easily. There are interferences. The research in this field concludes that early start of second language learning has the following benefits: 1) Greater facility in imitation. 2) Less interference from previous experiences. 3) Less or absence of self-consciousness or hesitation. 4) Flexibility of speech centers. So there are more chances of quick and correct speech, fluency and proper intonation in learners at early stages.

Existing situation: The pupils joining the intermediate schools in first year class are normally of 13. All the expert linguists, psychologists and neurologist don't consider this age best

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suited to learn the second language. So this is also one of the reasons of the present deteriorating situation of teaching and learning English language. Undoubtedly it is a positive and appreciable step to start it from the elementary level, but still the pupils of the 6th grade elementary are of 12, which is again not the best age.

Recommendations: The psychologists and linguists agree that as early a learner starts learning second language, as quick, correct and fluent he is in this language. Even the neurologists findings also direct the second language learning at an early age, earlier than 9; so it is suggested and recommended that it may be started at least at the age of 9 or earlier.

Evaluation: Evaluation is a term, which is used in place of "examination" in the modern educational practice. It is concerned with the measurement of the extent of learning and as well as with determining the worth and value of that learning.

Tools of evaluation: Tests and examinations are the most widely- used tools of evaluation. However, a distinction is sometimes made between the two. A test is regarded as an attempt to see whether the things taught have been learnt or not; whereas an examination is regarded as an attempt to find out whether the pupils have attained a certain predetermined standard. Thus the test is directly concerned with teaching while an examination is linked with an externally fixed standard of achievement. However, both test and examination have the same common function, namely, evaluation. It has become conventional to call them "test.

Uses of test: Tests can be used for various purposes some of them are these: 1) To find out pupils strengths and weaknesses and take suitable remedial measures. 2) To judge the success or failure of the teacher's own teaching and make necessary changes in his method and strategy. 3) To set definite goal before both the teacher and the taught. 4) To motivate the pupils to learn to get more marks. 5) To change the pupils study habits and improve the quality of teaching by improving the quality and increasing the frequency to the tests. 6) To select pupils for promotion to the next higher classes or to award certificates.

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7) To assess the quality of the staff and the effectiveness of the activities of the school.

Salient features of a good language test:

The following are the salient points of a good language test: 1) The test must cover all the language skills that the student is required to master. 2) Questions should be properly formed and should be clear. These should be no ambiguity. 3) The question papers should be neither too difficult nor too easy. It should contain; (a) Questions that all students can answer. (b) Questions of average difficulty that average students can answer. (c) Difficult questions that can be answered by bright students only. 4) An English language paper should make use of three types of questions: viz. essays type, short answer type and objective type. 5) A question should aim at testing one language skill only. 6) Instructions to answer questions should be brief, clear, well defined and free from ambiguity. 7) The time allotted for the test should be such, that an average student should be able to do all the questions easily, the question paper should neither be too long nor too short. 8) Examinations should test only what the students are expected to know and not what they don't e. g if pupils are not taught translation or composition, they should not be asked these questions in examinations. 9) All tests and examinations should discourage cramming and rote learning. 10) The tests and examinations must support / encourage the creativity of the pupils. 11) The questions should be spread all over the course. 12) Paper setting is a technical and difficult job. Teachers should be imported training in the new techniques of testing. 13) These tests should discourage the blind guessing and fragmentary learning.

Prevalent situation: There are few number of teachers who are sincere and true to their duties and are well informed with the worth and value of examinations. They are trying their best within the limits they are working in. On the other hand there are a good number of teachers who seem to ignore the importance of these examinations. Certain

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drawbacks, which have been observed with the preparation of question papers, are as follow:
1 2 3 4

5
6 7

A number of question papers do not follow the objectives and the distribution of marks set by the ministry of education. Some teachers have been observed following no pattern or order of questions. Even some question papers bear no numbering for the questions. One is stunned and startled to see some of the question papers, which are full of blunders in grammar and spelling. Some hand written papers have been found illegible. In some cases the question papers do not cover all the aspects of the language taught. The general appearance of some of the papers has been bad and irritating to solve them. A few question papers have been observed to be too much above the standard of the pupils and some of them are below their standard i.e. they are either too difficult or too easy. In some of the question papers the wording, sentences and pictures are ambiguous. The poor photo coping adds more ambiguity to these papers.

The most shocking and embarrassing reality is that 98% of the pupils, who pass their secondary school examination securing 95% or more marks, cannot write a few sentences on any topic; nor can they read or speak English language in real situations. They are at loss and cannot find a word to write or say something in real life situations. Not to talk about the students whose score is less than 95%. They are in the worst situation. Now a question arises that where does the fault lie and who is responsible for this degrading situation; the teacher, the system or the concerned authorities. An open secret of the situation is that this examination system and then the teacher himself are responsible for all this. In this system of examination pupils are evaluated through objective type tests like multiple type, matching type, true false type and completing type etc. The advantages of these tests are above board but in this situation, the disadvantages are much more than the advantages. The following advantages have been observed in this system of examination. 1 The best objective type test, prepared by experienced and well-versed teachers, evaluates only certain limited aspects of language skills and the worst one is positively harmful, encouraging blind guessing and fragmentary learning (important items). 2 The most important feature of learning a language is the ability to express oneself, orally and in written form, coherently and lucidly. So these tests are totally a failure. This aspect of language is totally neglected in this system of

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examination. This is the reason that the pupils, even after spending six years in learning this language, totally fail to write even a simple paragraph or say a few sentences on some topic assigned to them. 3 A common teacher cannot do justice to these tests. It needs well-trained and experienced teachers in this concern and such teachers are rare. 4 Some of the teachers, as the exam approaches, disclose, directly or indirectly, the questions in the class rooms or in special lessons for one reason or the other. The pupils can easily cram or mug up and guess at these few words/sentences about which their teachers talk as the most important items expected to be in the examination. 5 The best test in the world would be of no or little value if it is not conducted properly and the objective type tests fail badly on this account. They require elaborate and complex arrangements to prevent copying.

Oral tests: Since listening and speaking are two major aspects of English language, oral tests have an important role to play. They have also been given due importance and status in this system of education especially at the 6th grade stage. These tests are also totally a failure due to some reasons or others e.g. 1 Most of the teachers perhaps are, perhaps, not familiar with the importance of these oral tests; so their behavior is unjustified towards these tests. They consider these tests of no or little value. 2 A good number of teachers use these oral tests as a tool to improve the passing percentage of the pupils and indirectly they try show a better performance as teachers. Research proves that there are a good number of students who secure very low percentage in the written exams but they get 100% marks in these oral tests and in this way they get through the examination and are promoted to the next classes. In reality they cannot read or speak a single sentence and similarly they fail to respond to simple sentences in the spoken language. 3 Favoritism has also a very negative role in these exams. There are teachers who favour their own favourites and the favourites of their colleagues, principals and others who have close relation with these teachers.

Parents and Principals: There are some parents and principals who yearn to make their young ones conversant with the English language. Their keen interest and efforts to promote this language are above board. But there are some parents and principals whose attitude towards this language is indifferent, unjustified and objectionable. They
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consider it worthless and next to nothing. That is why a good number of teachers are allotted the last periods to teach English language i.e. 5th, 6th, or 7th. It is a time when pupils are entirely exhausted and unwilling to learn and eager to go homes. Some parents and principals have adopted a cynical attitude towards this language and even towards the English teachers. They consider the English subject something less important. They force the English teachers to pass all the pupils in this subject. Perhaps the reason is that they are eager to show good results to the authorities because indirectly it is the result of their own performance. Or may be the reason is that they themselves do not know the English language, so they are cynical and prejudiced against this language. Parents hardly visit the schools and see the teachers to know the performance of their young ones, and to discuss the difficulties and problems concerning the English language.

The concerned authorities: The inefficacy of the system of education in the kingdom is that a pupil failing in English and pass in other subjects is promoted to the next class without any hesitation. Secondly the English teachers are not allowed to work properly and fairly. There may hardly be a few teachers who feel satisfied and work wholeheartedly with keen interest in the existing situation. The fact is that the authorities do not let the teachers adjust themselves in any institution. They are disturbed time and again, by being transferred from one school to another and then to the next and so on and so forth. Psychologically it takes time, at least six months, to understand the psychology, cultural background, mentality, and the overall personality of the pupils. The same time is taken by a student to understand a teacher, his method of teaching and his style of speaking etc. Then an emotional link between a student and a teacher is of equal importance. It takes a good deal of time to establish this emotional attachment. But before this teacher-student relationship is fruitful, the teacher is thrown into a new situation where both the parties have to start from the zero.

Suggestions and Recommendations: Following recommendations and suggestions are presented in the light of the above discussion. 1 The primary aim of teaching English language at 6th grade elementary stage is to enable the pupils to acquire the four basic language skills with a limited range of vocabulary and syntactic structure. Testing should, therefore, be confined to these skills and a working knowledge of vocabulary and structure. The teacher must keep in mind that a mere knowledge of structure and vocabulary will serve no useful purpose. It is the ability to use this knowledge for effective communication that
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constitutes real language ability. So measures should be taken to ensure that these tests would lead the pupils towards real communication. 2 The importance and worth of these exams may be inculcated in the minds of the teachers and the taught by holding seminars, refresher courses etc. 3 It needs a good training and technical skills to conduct such kind of exams. Refresher and special training courses should be conducted by the authorities where the teachers should be practically trained and familiarized with the objectivity, validity, reliability and administration of these tests. 4 The principals should be advised to arrange teacher-parents meetings in order to shoulder the falling standard of English language in the kingdom. 5 The exams should be conducted by the directorate of education to avoid the corruption. In this regard the directorate may set up examination centers. Pupils from different schools may be mixed up in these centers. Then expert and welltrained teachers should invigilate in these centers. 6 The questions papers should be set up by expert, well-trained and honest teachers for the directorate of education. 7 In learning the language the ability to express oneself coherently and lucidly, is a major objective and essay type tests appear to be the only valid tests to tests and promote communicative competence in writing. So these testes should be given equal weight age to the objective type tests. 8 Then there are short answer type tests, which combine the advantages of objectivity and wider courage of the syllabus of the objective type test and some amount of comprehensiveness of the essay type tests. Therefore there seems to be happy compromise between these two extreme types and greater reliance should be placed on them for evaluation of language skills. 9 Another suggestion in this regard is that a balance should be maintained between objective type and essay type questions giving an equal status to the oral tests. 10 The education ministry should establish a separate examination department, which will be responsible for all kinds of exams. Examination halls should be constructed to make the above-mentioned task easy and practicable. 11 English language as a subject should be given due status and it should be made compulsory for all the students for their promotion to the next class. 12 A campaign should be initiated on media across the kingdom for promoting English language. 13 It should be made compulsory for all the teachers to work for at least three years in one institution unless there is a serious and severe complaint against them. Every teacher should be assigned a class for three years at a stretch.

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