The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : English communication skills stressed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 10, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

English communication skills stressed

Staff Reporter

India `cost-effective destination' for learning the language

TEACHING ENGLISH: Chris Gibson, Director, British Council, Chennai, addresses the second International and 38th Conference of the English Language Teachers' Association of India at Crescent Engineering College on Thursday . — Photo: A. Muralith aran

CHENNAI : The increased importance of communication skillsin English teaching was noted by speakers at the English Language Teachers Association of India (ELTAI) conference at Crescent Engineering College here on Thursday.

The Second International and 38th ELTAI conference that concluded on Friday drew more than 600 delegates from countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Iran, South Korea, Israel, Singapore, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Eritrea.

Speakers pointed out that India was becoming increasingly sought after as a cost-effective destination for the learning of English. The conference theme is `English for Today and Tomorrow'.

V. M. Periasamy said these changes follow English becoming a global language of business. G. Viswanathan, Chancellor, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) University, Vellore, said that historical reasons had given Indians access to English. The lack of access to the language was exaggerating the divide between the rural and the urban and the upper and the lower class in contemporary India, he said. He urged members of ELTAI to give language training to teachers of all subjects, rather than to those of English alone.

Chris Gibson, Director, British Council, Chennai, expressed concern for the indigenous languages and said that India must maintain a balance between the language used in its interactions with the outside world for development and the languages it uses internally. He hoped that English would be a part of any reforms in education. Philip Clegg, Head, English Language Training Support (South India), released the Conference issue of the ELTAI journal. Khalid A.K. Bukhari, Secretary, Seethakathi Trust, Chennai, opened an exhibition on English Language Teaching resources.

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