English Foreign Language

1.0. THE GENESIS

English is an international language, spoken in many countries both as native language as well as a second language. No language, ancient, or modern can be compared with English in the number of geographical distributions of the homes, factories, companies, institution, shops and offices in which the language is spoken, written, or read. [F G. French.3] Besides the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, where about 400 million people use English as their native language, English is an important second language in many parts of the world including India. English has become the common man’s language in today’s context. It is taught in the schools in almost every country

Spoken English institutes are mushrooming every nook and corner of our country, especially in Tamil Nadu. The pity thing is that pupils are not properly trained to speak, read and write English in our schools. One of the major factors leading to this picture is the paucity of good teachers who are willing to take the necessary steps to ensure the development of speaking skills in the children. The second factor is the low-self esteem and the lack of learner motivation. The third factor is the insufficient time and resources. If such helps are provided without ceasing, it would prove a fruitful measure in student’s life. The overcrowded classrooms are another major block in our schools. The government does not give needed attention on the development of speaking skills in English. It never conducts any experiments on students learning out comes for many years after entering the

That is to say the native speakers of English are not confined to Great Britain alone, but are spread over three continents of the world, namely Australia, Europe and the United States of America. It is historical accident which led English to take deep roots also in other continents like Africa and Asia. There were many countries which became the colonies of Great Britain and since the day they came under British rule, English has been taught and used as a medium of communication there. In countries like India, Ceylon, Singapore, Pakistan, Nigeria, Zambia etc., English is still