The Role of New Technologies and the Changes in Curriculum and Pedagogy of Modern Indian Language Teaching:
Dr.BRAOU Experience

K. S. Ramana
Asst. Prof. of Telugu
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University

• Bionotes
• Abstract
• Introduction
• Linguistic Profile
• The Impact of Technology and the Change in Curriculum and Pedagogy
• Language Curriculum: The Case of Telugu
• Language Teaching: Conventional Universities
• Language Teaching: The First Open University in India
• The Innovative Curriculum and Pedagogy
• Continuity in the New Tradition and the Process of Revision
• Conclusion
• Notes
• References

K. S.Ramana, M.A.,Ph.D., Asst. Prof. of Telugu, Dept. of Telugu Studies, Dr.B. R. Ambedkar Open University, Road # 46, Jubilee Hills, Andhra Pradesh. INDIA. Fax: +91-040-354-4830. Email: braouap@hd1.vsnl.net.in. He is a practitioner of Distance Education, a creative writer, a translator and freelance journalist. Currently he is the Programme Co-ordinator of the P. G. Diploma in Writing for Mass Media, a professional course in Media Journalism through Telugu medium. He also handles the foundation course in Telugu for undergraduate students. He has published papers on language, literature and Distance Education in Telugu and English and participated in national seminars and workshops. He has to his credit a book entitled Distance Education and Development of Regional Languages (in Telugu) which throws light on the status of distance education in India in general and Andhra Pradesh in particular. This book explains the key role played by distance education institutions in advancing the process of modernisation of the Telugu language. His main area of interest is curriculum design.

India is a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual society and the Indian constitution recognizes eighteen national languages. Telugu, a major modern Indian language belongs to the Dravidian family of languages spoken by 700 million people of Andhra Pradesh, a southern state (province) in India. In its effort to become an effective vehicle of communication in a modern, democratic, industrialised society, Telugu has to extend its roles and functions. The media of print; radio, video and audio have also necessitated a new urgency to innovate in language teaching and learning skills. As such, in tune with the new emerging technologies and social situations, the role of Telugu, and for that matter any developing language, has to be redefined to make it an effective channel of communication.

The rapid changes brought in by new technology in society, and the increased participation of more and more people in new social activities have put new demands on language use. These have to be reflected in the change in the curriculum. The main focus of the curriculum should be on the usage of language and be more context-bound. The content of the curriculum should give the clientele a perception relevant to modern times.

If we look at the educational scenario, we find that at the higher education level the curriculum of Telugu is neither relevant to meet language and communication needs, nor productive to suit social needs. The new registers, phrases, clauses, syntax and the use of passive and impersonal constructions which do not normally fit in the Telugu structure are being used in present day language due to the influence of newspapers, electronic media and computers. The learner should have an acquaintance with such usage in modern language. Hence, change in curriculum is inevitable as rapid changes in social settings alter the needs of learners. The institutions have to change their mindset and culture in order to innovate and experiment with new pedagogic strategies.

Dr.B.R.Ambedkar Open University (Dr.BRAOU), the first open (single-mode) university in India (1982), is the first institution to take up the challenge and develop a new syllabus to cope with the new demands of the clientele who need training in communication skills. Indira Gandhi National Open University adopted the same language teaching strategy in Telugu and other Indian languages later in 1987.

Thus this paper attempts to describe the Telugu language curriculum developed by the University in detail. It also evaluates the revision of the course and examines the changes that have been made to match the demands of the new technologies. It will also examine the Telugu language curriculum offered in Andhra Pradesh at higher education level in contrast to the curriculum offered by Dr.BRAOU. It throws light on the status of Telugu language teaching in higher education in Andhra Pradesh and the institutional effort of Dr.BRAOU in pioneering this experiment in the curriculum.

The present paper deals with basic issues concerning the pedagogy of language teaching in a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual society in general and in particular the pedagogic strategies involved in teaching/learning developing languages. Further it deals with the language planning of modern Indian languages and the efforts so far made on strategies of language teaching in conventional and distance education institutions. As a case study the pedagogic innovations made by Dr.BRAOU in regard to Telugu language in Andhra Pradesh is examined in detail.

A comparison of modern Indian languages may inevitably arise with languages such as English, German, French, Russian and Japanese which, in the opinion of the linguists are developed languages. Modern Indian languages are generally developing languages which have to cope with industrial or postindustrial developments. This problem will necessarily be a problem for language planning and language development. Hence the pedagogical issues touched upon in this paper are studied and examined in the light of the contemporary socio-educational scenario.

India has 26 states. Many of them are separate linguistic entities. Around 1,652 mother tongues are spoken in India. They belong to different linguistic families as follows: Indo Aryan (532), Dravidian (148), Tibeto-Chinese (227), Austro-Asiatic (53), and others (91) (total 1,652). Eighteen languages are declared national languages according to the VIII Schedule of the Constitution of India. They are: 1. Hindi, 2. Telugu, 3. Bengali, 4. Marathi, 5. Tamil, 6. Urdu, 7. Gujarati, 8. Kannada, 9. Malayalam, 10. Oriya, 11. Punjabi, 12. Kashmiri, 13. Sindhi, 14. Assamese, 15. Sanskrit, 16. Konkani, 17. Manipuri 18. Nepali.

After India freed itself from the British in 1947, systematic efforts were made by central and state governments and institutions to limit the role of English and simultaneously enlarge the functions of Indian languages by planning in a careful and strategic manner. The 26 linguistic states formed are moving in this direction. About 72 languages—literary as well as non- literary—are used by the national radio broadcasting system.

All eighteen languages have rich poetic literature and fiction and many have been in use as a medium of instruction to the secondary level, even before 1947. The multilingual states in the union have been linguistically reorganised in stages from 1956 onwards. Regional languages developed rapidly since the formation of the linguistic states. These languages acquired official language status in most states and have been widely used in print and electronic media. They have been introduced as the medium of instruction at degree level. Central Sahitya Academi recognises 22 languages including English for developing and popularising literature across the linguistic borders. The literacy rate in India is 62% (1997) with males accounting for 73% and Females 50% (NSSO Report 1997-98).

There is an opinion that several language mediums may lead to problems that may affect the integrity of the nation in the course of time. But this is not so according to E.Glyn Lewis, who quotes the Soviet Union as an example:

However, multilingualism can become an asset in social development. It is understood and practised without prejudice, in the context of linguistic and cultural variations in India.

In India, modern Indian languages are developing more or less at the same pace. Though Hindi has been declared the official language of the union, it is also undergoing the process of modernisation and standardisation at a slow pace in spite of efforts taken by the national government and language planners. Thus it also is one of the major Indian languages developing at slow pace with similar constraints at implementation level. All the major Indian languages, despite ethnic and cultural diversity, indicate a common trend of displaying a high degree of capacity to adopt and assimilate the expressive elements of Western languages. They are developing intertranslatability with other Indian languages as well as English. The complementary role played by the different languages in the modernisation process will contribute to national development.

Language planners have identified critical areas and functions of the languages and are trying to formalise the process of standardisation and modernisation. The focus is very much on lexical expansion and development of new styles in the languages. The media, mostly the print media (that is, newspaper journalism) has contributed much to the development and modernisation of Indian languages. The major Indian languages have developed registers, terminologies and neologisms in the media which contribute to the modernisation process of Indian languages over decades.

Resource tools, teaching tools and learning tools are undergoing changes with the impact of technology. The evolution of educational technologies, especially the impressive advancement in delivery technologies, are creating amazing possibilities of expansion and innovation in the field of distance education¹.

In spite of the enormous benefits that the use of technology in distance education is offering, developing nations cannot exploit them to their full potential due the lack of economic resources and limited adoption of new technologies. A.W.Khan and Patricia McWilliams argue this in detail in a recent paper:

Khan and McWilliams discuss the limitations and constraints faced by developing nations in the application of education technology in distance education programmes. In spite of the argued limitations and constraints, a major shift has taken place from conventional face-to-face teaching to distance learning.

The change in the socio-economic and cultural aspects of a community demands new curricula, which is essential to its survival and development. The change in the curriculum in general is essential in order to suit to the present social and individual needs. G. Dhanrajan, in his address to the 12th Annual Conference of Asian Association of Open Universities, discusses the relevance of curriculum today for learners and strongly advocates that curriculum should reflect the complex changes that are taking place in individuals and communities:

Learner-centred distance education system will also change its delivery mechanisms in accordance with emerging technologies. Thus the change in learner attitudes and needs lead to a change in curricula and hence in pedagogy. This leads to change in the role of the teacher to that of a friendly counsellor and guide to the learner. Learner autonomy grows stronger and stronger the more we use information technology in delivering educational products. Learner isolation will be compensated through interactive media. To make the public communication channels more intelligible to the masses, language has shifted its focus more towards language as a vehicle to communicate rather than language as a vehicle for transmitting cultural literary values.

The kind of language and the varied styles of language need to be exposed to the learner. It again depends on the social set-up in which he lives and also the kind of occupation he is involved in. The newspapers, radio, television, cinema, indeed the entire media around the learner demands skills in a modern standard colloquial language with different styles. The administrative usage of language may have separate registers and the language as a medium in higher education may have different vocabulary and terminology in different subjects. The learner is expected to learn language-using skills in different situations in a technology driven society.

Language has a major role to play in the developmental process. Though democratisation of language has taken place since the pre-Independence period, so far the planners have not been successful in developing language skills that are needed in the changing social scenario amongst the students. Though they are fully aware that language can be used as an instrument for intellectualisation towards developing modern sensibilities and finally as an instrument of social change, they are not utilising this as effectively as they ought to.

Andhra Pradesh was the first linguistic state to be formed within the Indian Republic. The formation of the state took place on 1st November 1956. Andhra Pradesh is in the southern part of India and comprises 275.068 square km. The population of the state according to a 1991 census was 66.5 million. 86 per cent of the total population speak Telugu, and most of the rest have a working knowledge. The largest linguistic minority in Andhra Pradesh is Urdu with 6.2 per cent of the total population. The highest proportion of Urdu speakers are from Hyderabad, the capital city of Andhra Pradesh (26 per cent). The total literacy rate in Andhra Pradesh (1997) is 54% (male 63%, female 43%) (NSSO Report 1997-98).

When we look at the historical development of Telugu (First database Telugu inscription is from 575 AD) we notice two styles of writing—Padya and Gadya. The first one is in verse and the second one is in ornate prose. The colloquial variety was avoided by writers for a long time. From the mid eleventh century AD. (Nannaya's Mahabharatha, the first available work of Telugu literature is a translation of the Vyasa Mahabharatha in Sanskrit) to the eighteenth century, the champu (poetry and prose) literary style was continued. This was interrupted by the British rule in the first half of the eighteenth century. Changes were taking place in the country's social, economical and educational sectors.

The first printing press in Telugu was set up in Madras in 1806. The Indian languages were promoted as a medium of instruction at school level by the Charter Act in 1813. Textbooks were prepared for all subjects in different languages. In the nineteenth century Telugu found its place as a medium of teaching general education. Post-independence developments created new contexts where language was used with more vigour and variety. Prose was never cultivated as a means of conveying information and simple messages to the common people till the beginning of the nineteenth century (except the messages in inscriptions).

British rule changed the educational scenario in India and a shift took place from traditional education (gurukula type) to modern Western education. A major change occurred both in inputs of the education as well as in pedagogy. The situation where two varieties of a language, i.e., the classical (grandhika) and colloquial (wa: duka) existed side by side throughout the Telugu community continued for over a century. One existed in certain higher roles such as speeches, rituals, poetry newspaper writing and broadcasting, whereas the other variety is used in day-to-day conversations and folk literature.

Though the modernisation process of Telugu language witnessed a virulent controversy between the classical school and the modernist school, ultimately the efforts of the modernist school (Gidugu Rama Murthy, Gurajada Venkata Appa Rao, P.T.Sreenivasa Ayengar, Burra Seshagiri Rao) triumphed and the controversy ceased to be a topic of public discussion. New journals like Pratibha (1936) Janavani (1937) supported the use of the modern Vyavaharika style in creative literature and modern standard language in editorials and news reports respectively. From 1835 (Satyadita is said to have been the first Telugu news paper from Bellari) to date, a number of Telugu journals have come to light and they played a key role in the standardisation of the Telugu language.

The print and electronic media (radio, television and cinema) at present play a vital role in the standardisation and modernisation of both written and spoken Telugu. Standardised Telugu has been accepted as the main vehicle of communication by all the major dialect groups in Andhra Pradesh (namely Eastern Dialect, Southern Dialect, Central Dialect and Northern Dialect). It is obvious that the central dialect is the base for modern standard Telugu, that is sista vyavaharika—the speech of the educated and well informed middle class.

At the national level, the school text books of Telugu as well as of other subjects in Telugu up to class X (Secondary School Certificate) level continue to be in quasi-classical style. The Telugu Academi (1968), a state owned autonomous organisation, produced various books in different subjects in Telugu. They were also written in quasi-classical style that is called 'Sishta Vyavaharika'. Too much reliance on Sanskrit while creating new terms in the subjects put the efforts of the Academi under severe criticism. The language texts prescribed for B.A., B.Com., B.Sc. (common syllabus) are also in quasi classical style.

In spite of the legislation declaring Telugu as official language in 1966 and the formation of the Official Language Commission in the state (1974), Telugu could not be implemented effectively as the official language at various levels of the administration. The state, the media, the language planners and writers are trying to accelerate the process of modernisation and standardisation of Telugu in an organised and unorganised method and there is a considerable change in the mindset of users of the language. The modernisation process is taking place by means of language codification, language elaboration, and language cultivation.

Let us examine Telugu's status first in the conventional universities at the under-graduate level. The preamble or objectives of the syllabi developed by conventional universities in Andhra Pradesh is not clear, but it can be understood through the content, style and structure of units as achieving traditional scholarship in Telugu². What is lacking is thematic unity and organised information to say the least. Coming to the content and style of the units, it needs to be mentioned that they neither serve as models for improving the communication skills of the learner (in writing or speech) nor make them understand modern literary genres. It is obvious that after completion of such a course the student would hardly improve his abilities in prose writing in his subject or even in other subjects. The vocabulary acquired by the student does not help him to cope with the present day situations, as it is derived from medieval poetry. The prescribed grammar will not give him any understanding of the language in the current usage with its many dialectical variations. The literary part of the syllabi does not give scope to viewing the world in a modern perspective.

The Correspondence/Distance Education centres of Andhra Pradesh universities (dual mode universities) also follow the same syllabi as prescribed to the students of conventional colleges. There is not much difference between the instruction offered by these correspondence institutes and conventional colleges. There is no uniformity in style either. Their non-serious and semi-commercial attitude towards learners restricts them from visualising the need for a change in curriculum. As a result there is hardly any attempt on the part of the correspondence course institutions to go for a modernised syllabi.

It must be remembered here that language has to be taught as a tool of communication, particularly for the general student pursuing an undergraduate course. If the student shows interest and chooses the Telugu language and literature as his special subject then literature, aesthetics and criticism may need to be introduced to him as part of the curriculum. Hence, we must understand that there is a difference between literature teaching and language teaching. If we club them together we may naturally fail to give the learner the adequate and requisite knowledge needed to meet the changing circumstances.

As the needs of learners are bound to change, there arises a simultaneous need for a change in the teaching of a language. People's language commands a place in the teaching strategies of the personnel engaged in it. The standardised colloquial Telugu as evolved by the media is noticeably responsible for the shift in the history of language teaching in the state.

Dr.BRAOU, initially known as Andhra Pradesh Open University was brought into being on 26th August 1982. Starting with a modest strength of 6,321 enrolments, the cumulative enrolment of students reached approximately 8,00,000 in 1999. It has about 130 Study Centres spread all over the state. Telugu being the major spoken language in the state the university has a highest enrolment in Telugu medium 87% compared to 8% in English medium. The rest of the 5% is in Urdu medium (1997-98 Statistics Evaluation Report 1998). The University is offering 21 programmes in different levels (Research, P.G., U.G. programmes, Diploma and Certificate programmes) and has designed 172 courses in English medium, 145 courses in Telugu medium and 74 courses in Urdu medium. The Audio Visual Research Centre has so far produced 1,620 radio lessons, 247 audio lessons and 131 video lessons (up to April 2000) in support of printed course material. It started regular telecast of video lessons and teleconferencing (1999), and radio counselling (2000). The University has five foundation courses in the first year in the UG programme - 5 courses = 36 credits (four courses of 8 credits and one course of 4 credits). In the second year there are 6 core courses, i.e., optional courses with various combinations which come under the categories of B.A., B.Com., B.Sc. etc. = 36 credits (6 credits each). In the third year there are 6 core courses = 36 credits (6 credits each). The Telugu language course is offered as one of the core foundation courses common for all in first year UG programme. Apart from English, Telugu, Hindi, Urdu and functional English are offered as modern Indian language courses. Besides science and technology and social science, the University has recently introduced a 5th core course in Information Technology in English, Telugu and Urdu mediums.

A first step in the promotion of any regional language in India is to move towards democratisation. As the needs of learners change, there ought to be a change in the teaching of a language too. Language being a vehicle of communication, it has a major role to play in the developmental process. The regional medium acquires significance in the context of the expanding base of higher education sector. Language teaching for a long time was understood or misunderstood as teaching of literature. A quick glance at the material generated from 6th class to the undergraduate level in the formal stream reveals that its emphasis and content were geared only for literature teaching for about a century.

Earlier, the written word was confined to legal and literature purposes. Everyone notices a discernible change in society and its needs. People's language commands a place in the teaching strategies of personnel engaged in it. Added to this phenomenon is the flourishing of prose. The rapid increase in access to education placed a special premium on democratisation of language teaching.

In fact the media to a large extent popularised the language since the early 70's. It should be remembered here that it is not poetic or highly elitist language that promoted Telugu language teaching but the colloquial language as spoken. Standardised Telugu language as evolved by media is responsible for a noticeable shift in the history of language teaching in the country. Even to promote people oriented literature, a movement for radical language planning has to come from the institutions of higher learning as well as the media.

Standardisation thus is the key to modernisation. Once regarded as elitist the planners of the languages now see the need for freeing the languages from age-old shackles.

Furthermore, rapid changes in society have evidenced the increased participation of more and more people in new social institutions.

Realising need for standardised colloquial Telugu owing to the massive expansion of readership, Dr.BRAOU attempted a unique innovation/experiment. As part of course material for the first year of the Open University, the Department of Telugu evolved a course module. We were guided in this respect by

a    increase in the spheres of the use of regional language

b    Telugu as the official language and

c    Telugu is increasingly being accepted as the medium of instruction.

The objectives of the foundation course in Telugu reflect the above views³. The module was developed after a detailed analysis of the needs of the students and also the requirements of a changing society. The University strongly believes that curriculum change should reflect social change and further influence the process of such change.

The course is designed in such a way that the main focus is on the usage of the language rather than the grammar of the language. The diverse use of the language is taken care of by introducing different genres and variations in the usage of the language. The content of the units gives a new perception of the present day world as it helps the learners in the modernising process. The learner develops his communication skills in modern prose as used in Mass Media and creative writing. Awareness of social and regional variations, the handling of different styles appropriate to the varied situations and acquisition of delicate nuances and rich vocabulary are considered as the other objectives of the syllabi designed by the team⁴.

The text contains the notions and concepts required to understand the content and is easily understandable by the learner. The self-instructional method is followed while designing the units duly incorporating self-testing exercises, objectives, introduction, logic organisation, conclusion, glossary etc. To achieve the well laid-down objectives of the course, a strategy was evolved in the preparation of the text. The main lessons are graded. Appropriate segmentation of the content into units ensures the logical tempo of learning. Prose materials represent different styles and specimen pieces are given to supplement. Notes are also given about the writers and an attempt is made to explain the technical vocabulary.

Assignments are structured to test the comprehension of the student. Further, with its learner-centred approach, the University attaches great importance to a style of presentation which is lucid, intimate, informal and is self-explanatory. The objective is to improve the comprehension ability of the learner, develop writing skills in modern prose, widely used in media as well as prose genres of literature and also modernise the thinking process of the learners keeping in view present social and educational needs.

The printed module is supplemented by Radio/audio and video lessons produced in dialogue form. The areas of difficulty are identified by the faculty members and explained through radio, audio and video lessons (10 video lessons, 6 audio lessons and 26 radio lessons). Learners are encouraged to make use of this electronic media support at Study Centres. Learners are provided with an opportunity for face-to-face contact with teachers (counsellors) in contact-cum-counselling sessions at Study Centres. The problem of isolation felt by the learner is lessened to some extent in this particular activity.

The influence of traditional pedagogy is still lurking in the minds of learners as well as counsellors and they still rely and demand face-to-face contact. Technology driven change in the pedagogy is in the process of acceptance and practice of the learner. But the learner's attitudes towards the use of multimedia learning packages are changing slowly and they are showing keen interest in learning through this device. Print media is occupying the main and major portion of the material. However radio, audio and video components are in the process of shifting from a supplementary to a complementary role.

It will take some more time to adopt and use the technology in the University due to the lack of economic resources and inadequate facilities. But in spite of many odds, Dr.BRAOU is now telecasting lessons in Doordarshan (national TV channel for regional telecast) and conducting teleconferencing in various subjects. Radio counselling is also being given to students regarding various programmes offered by the University. No wonder that this kind of shift in pedagogy again leads to changes in curriculum planning.

In the light of this experiment done by Dr.BRAOU, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) also has adopted the same strategy in language teaching at the undergraduate level. The course material developed by IGNOU has in fact further sharpened the Dr.BRAOU model (Notes 5). One can find that the syllabi offered by IGNOU are similar to that of Dr.BRAOU.

The innovative experiment initiated by Dr.BRAOU radicalised the thinking of curriculum planners in all national languages because IGNOU caters to the 12 major Indian languages.

Revision of course material is essential in view of the changes in socio-technological settings, learner needs and institutional demands. It is a continuous process because the course material has to be updated time to time while keeping in view innovations and experiments in knowledge of the subjects. Distance learning is material based learning wherein the learner depends mostly on material in print or electronically distributed.

Revising the distance education materials means revising the curriculum as well as the pedagogy. The materials play the teachers' role in the distance education pedagogic frame. While revising the material, one has to keep in mind the following: Learning objectives, access devices, study guidance, in-text questions, feedback, assessment items, choice of language medium, language level and readability, style, content adequacy, academic credibility, difficulty level of content, student opinion on the content, experts' opinions on the content.

At Dr.BRAOU, Telugu foundation course materials were produced in 1983. In 1987 a rigorous verification and correction of typographical and chronological errors was done.

The Telugu language teaching material developed by Dr.BRAOU has no model to compare it against since it is a complete modification of conventional language-teaching curriculum in terms of its objectives, materials and learners. Hence the assessment and revision of material should be a continuing process in order to keep pace with the changing needs of the learners and society.

The faculty has taken up the revision work after carefully assessing feedback from the following:

1    Course maintenance corrections file (collected from students, counsellors and experts from time to time).

2    Collected questionnaire samples from the students.

3    Collected questionnaires from the counsellors.

4    Assessment by the expert committee constituted for the very purpose.

The questionnaires prepared for students (400) and counsellors (100) are simple and open-ended. The variables are:

1    the difficulty levels of the units,

2    shortening the size of units,

3    the deletion of the existing units, and

4    addition of the new units.

Diagram 1: Percentage of Content Revision (Feedback from Students)

Diagram 2: Percentage of Content Revision (Feedback from Counsellors)

The overall percentage of suggested content revision is shown in the diagram. The variables are tested unit wise. The difficulty levels vary from unit to unit and the response of the students and counsellors are quite similar regarding first and second variables. The deletions recommended by the students are based on the complexity of the concepts like style and style variations, methods of translations. The deletions recommended by students and counsellors are also similar to the maximum extent. Students' response to the fourth variable 'Addition of new units' is less and the counsellors response is encouraging with new innovative concepts. One such concept for example is 'reading skills'. This concept has validity in terms of the profile of the distance learner.

The feedback was consolidated and put to the curriculum review committee and a new revised syllabus has been finalised. The production of supplementary media was also discussed and finalised, keeping in view the difficult concepts in the text⁶.

The course frame has not been changed but the skills of language use have been further elaborated by adding new areas like Telugu as official language, and Telugu in mass media (print and electronic). This reflects changing learner needs in the age of information technology where the learner needs to develop skills to write for print and electronic media. However the electronic material prepared is supplementary in nature. The University is trying for an integrated approach, but it will take some more time to make it a reality. The telecasting of the lessons, teleconferencing, and radio counselling on the course proved to be great motivators for learners. These changes in the pedagogy reflects the limitations and constraints in adopting new technologies, particularly in developing nations and Dr.BRAOU is no exception.

The past century has witnessed a revolution in the education system. Distance education has cut down the distances and created ample opportunities for extending existing and new programmes to a new clientele irrespective of time, space, and through a variety of media. New innovations from the technological revolution are influencing the teaching and learning process at present and will continue to do so in the future.

Technological innovations have brought in new situations and new social settings wherein the role of the language has been undergoing rapid changes. The distance education system must take up the new challenges and attempt an experiment in language teaching with utmost sincerity and social commitment. It is proved in the case of Dr.BRAOU⁷.

In spite of the hardships that are common in developing countries in applying technology to pedagogy, Dr.BRAOU has been able to exploit information technology in imparting education to the maximum possible extent by using multimedia, teleconferencing and radio counselling. It is now possible to reach the Telugu diaspora spread all over the world from Fiji and Australia in the Pacific to Mauritius and South Africa in Africa to the American continent to encourage and stabilise their linguistic inheritance.

Under the influence of technology, society is changing. Learners' needs are changing. This results in a change in curriculum and pedagogy. The time has come when conventional universities and the teachers have to change their mind set and be prepared to work along the lines of the globalised distance education system. One must recognise that change is the only rationale for existence.

1    The evolution of educational technologies are classified into five generations: First generation (The correspondence model—print); Second generation (The multimedia model—print, audiotape, videotape, computer-based learning, interactive video); Third generation (the tele-learning model—audio-teleconferencing, video-conferencing, audio-graphic communication, broadcast TV/radio and audio-teleconferencing); Fourth Generation (the Flexible learning model—interactive multimedia (IMM), internet-based access to WWW resources, computer mediated communication); Fifth generation (the intelligent flexible learning model—interactive multimedia (IMM), internet-based access to WWW resources, computer mediated communication, using automated response systems which will reflect the impressive advancement in the delivery technologies) (Taylor 1999).

2    In the First year, the general Telugu student (common to B.A., B.Sc., and B.Com.,) has 4 lessons (known as units in DE methodology) that are prescribed from classical poetry and 5 from modern poetry. The size of a U.G. level book on an average has 60-70 pages. As part of non-detailed study a 200-page (book) history is prescribed. In the second year 3 lessons are taken from classical poetry and 4 from modern poetry which run to 67 pages in 1/8 demy, 5 edited essays are given under prose, which runs to 78 pages. A drama with medieval content written in neo classical style is also prescribed which runs to 78 pages. The units on grammar are prescribed in the first year, which is oriented to teaching prescriptive grammar. The stylistic devices, prosody, alankaras and essay are prescribed in the first year and the translation in the second year. Lyric and free verse were not included in the syllabus. 'Images in modern poetry', which is prescribed in the syllabus, was not discussed. Teaching the art of essay writing and translation has not apparently been given any significant status but was included for the sake of completeness. In two years the student has to study 20 lessons of this nature in all.

3    The syllabus team of Dr.BRAOU Telugu Department defines the objectives as follows:

4    It must be noted that the Foundation course is different from the syllabi offered by other conventional universities. The course comprises of 17 blocks and forty units numbering 438 pages. The course begins, with a presentation on writing conventions, use of dictionaries, words and meanings, and goes on to usage of idioms and proverbs, word formation, types of sentences and their function, essay writing, journalistic writing, letter writing styles and dialects, uniformity in style. The course also includes the principles and practice of translation as well as introduction to trends in modern poetry, short story and drama.

5    The details of IGNOU syllabus are as follows:

In Block-I, writing conventions, words and meanings, idioms and proverbs, types of sentences and styles are introduced. In Block-II content based texts representing good styles of writing belonging to Arts, Social Sciences, Environmental Science, Popular Science and Nutrition are given. In Block-III literature writings including, autobiography, feature, travelogue, short story and modern poetry are given. Block-IV introduces journalistic writing, letter writing, document writing, précis writing and translation.

6    The revised text runs into 355 pages which, when compared to the previous text (438 pages) is lesser in size. The units were also reduced from 40 to 23. There are 5 blocks and 23 units as follows: Block I Reading and writing skills—unit-1 Reading skills; unit-2 writing skills; unit-3 use of dictionary. Block-II Language structure and use—unit-1 sandhi; unit-2 words types of meanings; unit-3 idioms; unit-4 word formations; unit-5 types of sentences. Block-III style—unit-1 definition of style and style variations; unit-2 uniformity in style; unit-3 style sheet. Block-IV Areas of language use—unit-1 language planning; unit-2 Telugu as official language; unit-3 Telugu as medium of instruction; unit-4 writing few mass media; unit-5 writing for news paper; unit-6 methods of translation. Block-IV Areas of language use—unit-1 letter writing; unit-2 essay writing; unit-3 evolution and forms of poetry; unit-4 short story; unit-5 novel; unit-6 play, playlet, one act play. The supplementary package of radio, audio and video lessons was also identified according to the newly revised syllabus. 6 video, 12 radio and 2 audio lessons are newly proposed. 14 out of 26 radio lessons are selected from the already existing lessons. All the remaining lessons were prepared afresh by the faculty.

7    To cater to the needs of the professionals in Telugu media journalism, Dr.BRAOU has developed a new course, the P. G. Diploma in Writing for Mass Media. At a time when communication is realised as a major player in the society, this Diploma may meet the demands for better communication that are needed in print and electronic media. In the same line client-driven language skills can be marketed in small packages of communication suitable for each category of specialised professional people and agencies concerned. This is how the institutions should respond to the needs of individuals and society.

Chaturvedi, M. G; & Mohale, B. V. 1976, The Position of Languages in School Curriculum in India, NCERT, New Delhi.

Common Core Syllabus to B.A., B.Com., and B.Sc. in all Conventional Universities and Affiliated Correspondence Institutions, Andhra Pradesh.

Dhanrajan, Dato' G. 1998, Address to 12th Annual Conference of Asian Association of Open Universities, 4-6 November 1998, The Open University of Hong Kong.

Khan, A. W. & McWilliams, Patricia 1998, 'Application of interactive technologies in open and distance learning: An overview', Indian Journal of Open Learning, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 7-20.

Lewis, Glyn E. 1972, 'Multilingualism in the Soviet Union', in Sociology on Language, ed. J. A. Fishman, Monten, The Hague.

National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) Report, 1997-98.

Telugu Foundation Course Syllabus 1983, ed. Dr. C. Rama Rao & Dr. K. Viswanatha Reddy, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University.

Telugu Foundation Course Syllabus, 1988, ed. Dr. K. Viswanatha Reddy, IGNOU, New Delhi.

Telugu Foundation Course Syllabus 1999, revised, ed. Dr. K. Viswanatha Reddy, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University.

Taylor, James C. 1999, 'Distance education: The fifth generation', 19th ICDE World Conference on Open Learning and Distance Education, Vienna.

Year-wise Reports, 1991-92 to 1997-98, Centre for Evaluation, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.

Have a question about the conference? 
Post it here and check for conference announcements

|  important dates  |  submission of papers  |  welcome downunder  |  organising committee  |   keynote speakers  |  the venue  |  accommodation  | program outline  |  preconference workshops  |  postconference workshop  |  registration fees & payment  |  social activities  |   general information  |  conference secretariat  |  university of south australia  |  home  |

back to index by author

 (c) University of South Australia 2000