Socio-cultural Sustainability through Study Material: English Language Teaching in India

Neha Toppo

neha2015.17@gmail.com
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT(ISM), Dhanbad, Dhanbad-826004, India (India)
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3335-8976

Mojibur Rahman


Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT(ISM), Dhanbad, Dhanbad-826004, India (India)

Abstract

Teaching materials are the primary source of input in the language classroom. The potential of English language teaching (ELT) materials to preserves and transmit our culture, value, identity, and language make it significant for socio-cultural sustainability. The materials developed by the National Council of Education and Research Training (NCERT) are far and wide running study materials in primary and secondary schools in India. India exhibits a massive variety of cultures, customs, languages, and religious beliefs. The selection and development of apt materials is, therefore, a matter of serious deliberation. The centrally developed material, despite numerous benefits, often lacks in representing different groups of students, especially the backward and marginalized ones. The contents, in most cases, are representative of the mainstream. Therefore, the study suggests teachers developed supplementary materials to which learners from all the groups can relate. The researcher has taken the context of Jharkhand and illustrates self-developed supplementary materials prepared using contents from learners’ social and cultural backgrounds. The article offers various suggestions on how to develop such materials that could bring socio-cultural equity in the classroom, making a significant contribution to social sustainability.


Keywords:

Language teaching, material development, social sustainability, supplementary materials

ARCHER W. G., 2016, The hills of flutes, G, India, Delhi.
  Google Scholar

ASGARI A., 2011, The compatibility of cultural value in Iranian EFL textbooks, Journal Language Teaching and Research, 2(4): 887-894.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4304/jltr.2.4.887-894   Google Scholar

BOMPAS C. H., 2010, Folklore of the Santal Parganas, Gyan Publishing House, New Delhi.
  Google Scholar

BUTTARO L., KING K., 2001, Understanding adult ESL learners: Multiple dimensions of learning and adjustments among Hispanic women, Adult Basic Education, 11(1): 40-60.
  Google Scholar

HOFSTEDE G., HOFSTEDE G. J., MINKOV M., 2010, Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind, McGraw Hill, New York.
  Google Scholar

National Research Council, 1999, Our Common Journey: A Transition toward Sustainability, National Academy Press, Washington, DC.
  Google Scholar

The UK Government Sustainable Development Strategy, 2005, Securing the future: delivering UK sustainable development strategy, http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/context/documents/1408un.pdf (23.07.2020).
  Google Scholar

UNESCO MGIEP, 2017, Textbooks for Sustainable Development: A Guide for Embedding, Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development, Delhi.
  Google Scholar

UN, 2005, 2005 World Summit Outcome, www.un.org/womenwatch/ods/A-RES-60-1-E.pdf (9.09.2014).
  Google Scholar

UNESCO, 2018, Culture for the 2030 Agenda, http://www.unesco.org/culture/flipbook/culture-2030/en/Brochure-UNESCO-Culture-SDGs-EN2.pdf (27.05.2019).
  Google Scholar

UNESCO, 2014, Roadmap for implementing the global action programme on education for sustainable development, UNESCO, Paris, http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/1674unescoroadmap.pdf (23.07.2020).
  Google Scholar

Download


Published
2021-07-01

Cited by

Toppo, N., & Rahman, M. (2021). Socio-cultural Sustainability through Study Material: English Language Teaching in India. Problemy Ekorozwoju, 16(2), 245–249. https://doi.org/10.35784/pe.2021.2.26

Authors

Neha Toppo 
neha2015.17@gmail.com
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT(ISM), Dhanbad, Dhanbad-826004, India India
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3335-8976

Authors

Mojibur Rahman 

Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT(ISM), Dhanbad, Dhanbad-826004, India India

Statistics

Abstract views: 74
PDF downloads: 23