The fresh students are forced to speak in a language which is not theirs
- The speaking anxiety, in classrooms, can only be reduced when students are given freedom to speak in his mother tongue without any fear or taunts.
Intikhab Ahmed Panhwar
Their eyes are watching to see if they are called to converse and share their experience confidently, forgetting their past and thinking in the future with their hands grasped together moving reluctantly with their hearts pounding and perspiration dripping and trickling down their foreheads they stop near the podium and get frozen.
They nary utter a word, as their voice does not allow them to say anything. As a result, they chock and stand like statue in front of their fellows. This is what many teachers fail in identifying fresh undergraduates-Thousands of students get enrolled every year in Pakistan’s public and private universities where they pursue their dreams.
With vast diversity they enter into their selected learning programs and keep struggling to set their goals of lives. However, speaking demands nurturing that every parents have for their children. It is an admitted fact that children are heard and exposed to their target language without losing confidence, similarly they need an environment where they have space, where they are motivated and being heard with confidence and less discouragement.
In contrast, these fresh students are forced to speak in a language which is not theirs. As, Nelson Mandela puts it, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language that goes to his heart”. My teaching experience taught me what Mandela had proposed long ago, as I believe that students especially the fresh ones, be given that much freedom in the beginning so that they may be able to speak confidently.
There are numerous institutions which charge students on not being able to communicate in a language other than their own. As a result, these students fall victim of speaking anxiety and this lead them to be less confident and worried when it comes to speaking. For-instance, I teach in district Mirpurkhas Sindh province where there is diversity of students and each one hails from a multi linguistic background, during a class specifically in their first semester, they are given freedom to give presentations in any language they want and due to that they gain huge confidence and become ready to speak in second language.
Read: Easing Students’ Anxiety About Speaking in the Classroom
Speaking is an art which needs to be polished with constant practice and repetition. Teachers play a huge role in shaping these young minds to boost their morale and display their latent talents in front of the market/world. Universities are the biggest industries of knowledge where products are manufactured to sell in the various avenues of demands. If a product is substandard, it will not run in the market. Therefore, a colossal responsibility lies on the shoulders of teachers who possess first hand interaction with their students.
Students need help in pushing them further, but all it needs is to be patience and wait for the right moment and it will surely be realized slowly. Things get out of hands when teachers demand swift response, ignoring the background of students and their diversity alike. Moreover; there are many students in a class who sit at the back so that they may not catch teacher’s attention. This avoidance creates gap and becomes detrimental for students’ learning and confidence too. Most often, teachers are unable to find out these fellows and the semester comes to an end.
Unfortunately, teaching in Pakistan is served as daily wages job which offers nothing but survival. On the contrary, teaching demands huge responsibility and well preparation for a class. Our system is made in a way where serving teacher, being 18th scale is treated below his standard that is a reason there are more aspirants who wish to jump into the ocean of bureaucracy.
A well diagnosis is required to reduce the speaking anxiety, as an apprentice will not be able to understand this whole phenomenon. Furthermore, this is normal as everyone goes through it whenever and wherever they are called to speak or give presentations, then why worry about this? Besides this, students in fact, overthink, such as, ‘I cannot do it.’ ‘My fellows will laugh at me.’ so on and so forth. This is where the anxiety starts paving its way and hinders students from expressing themselves openly.
Although, lots of tips are available on internet regarding speaking anxiety, as prepare yourself before presentations, go and speak before the mirror, create friends circle where you are given space to speak and have your say, honestly, reality is something else.
Being a teacher, I am not against all those tips, but I observe this behavior differently. I come across with many students and have observed them closely all they need is teacher’s support and positive feedback, but on that proviso, they are allowed to speak in their own language. With this, students may gain a lot of confidence and dare speaking without any hesitation.
Extrinsic motivation plays a big role in everyone’s life, be it a student or any other professional, it encourages them to display their qualities and make them feel they have weight to carry and showcase genuineness. However, for students, teachers are the driving force as their role is huge in this digital age, because the rapid modernization has upgraded teachers as facilitators. Gone are the days, when teachers were treated like elders who were the best advisors to every problem which got in the way. One cannot say they are less responsible or they are irrelevant, but there is a shift in their service that is why they still possess huge responsibility among the digital natives.
In conclusion, it can plainly be said, the speaking anxiety, in classes, can only be reduced when students are given freedom to speak in his mother tongue without any fear or taunts.
Read: The Blank Page is waiting
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Intikhab Ahmed Panhwar is Lecturer (English) at Sukkur IBA University Mirpurkhas Campus
Yes, its a very true that Sir has reflected because, as a student I experienced it. I recalled the days, when I was the person, who hesitate to communicate due to the same reasons highlighted in this articles. Then, I remember the very first day of our class, when Sir Intikhaab has called everyone of us forward to communicate and provide us the freedom and space, what truly let me speak and now I can speak with confidence in front, in my language as well as in other language too.
Thank you Sir Intikhaab for your support and guidance, that truly matters alot to me.