Communication Training in the Global Contexts:Foreign Language Skills
An International Seminar cum Workshop 28th - 29th Jan, 2006
It was organized by the Department of
English and Modern European Languages, Banasthali Vidyapith in collaboration
with DACHL-IN. The coordinator of the seminar was Prof. Kunj Bala Goel, Head of
the Department of English and MEL and Dean Humanities Mrs Hansavahini Singh
worked as the secretary of the seminar.
The seminar was enriched by the presence of the honourable guests: Prof. Mariya Becker, an academic exchange service professor in Slowakia, having specialized in communicative research and cognitive. Linguisties and Prof. Giannina Perrucchini, Head of the Department of Italian Institute of culture and guest lecturer at Delhi University. Among other distinguished participants were Prof. M.K Natrajan , the Co-ordinator of DACHL-IN and the Head of the Department of German at M.S.U Vadodara and Dr.Bashir Ahmed, Reader in General Department Srinagar. Prof Sudha Rai and Prof. N.K Jain from Rajasthan University alos attended this seminar apart from many other members of the faculty of English and Modern European Language, Banasthali and the faculty members from a few other colleges. The Inaugural session was compeered by Dr. Pragya M. Singh . Proffessor Kunj Bala Goel extended a warm welcome to the distinguished guests and the participants of the seminar. She elucidated the seminar topic by throwing light upon its aims, methods, problems, components etc. Thus, in a way she circumscribed the field of the seminar cum workshop.
Prof. N. K. Jain presented the theme paper by remarkably explaining the keywords of the topic itself. With a keen eye he observed that defining language as a means of communication tells us what language does or how it acts. He also said that there has been a gradual shift from the language studies to communication accompanied by a shift from accuracy to fluency, which is attained mainly through practice. He also focused on English for specific purposes and the importance of analysis of the student’s needs along with the significance of the global communication for India. The problems of cross-cultural communication were also discussed. Leaving the discussion open ended, he suggested a topic for a future seminar about the content worth communicating.
Prof. M.K. Natrajan then shared a few of his experiences with the participants. Where does the problem at the level of communication lie? Is communication within us, between us or among us? There are a few problems acting as blocks to communication upon which he reflected. He also informed the gathering about DACHL-IN, which is an associating teacher’s, German language, and literature and culture studies.
Dr. Bashir Ahmed viewed Banasthali Vidyapith as an eye-opener, guide and inspiration to the whole world for its sincere endeavor towards women empowerment and bringing the world through the means of teaching foreign languages. A word of caution was given by him that communication must not breed misinterpretation with its various implications.
In the first session of workshop, Mrs. Hansa Vahini Singh, introduced Mariya Becker who discussed various aspects of communication. The cultural differences at them and to sensitize them. Everything, even silence can be a kind of communication. She stressed upon the business communication, but with a wider perspective and with an aim to simplify the complexities of communication of diverse types and standards. The session was made thought provoking by dividing the participants into separate groups wherein they were given the opportunity to express their views on ‘paralinguistic aspects’. They were also spurred to exchange the views upon ‘Interview skills’. Well that was actually a great experience for participants.
On the second day of this seminar cum workshop the faculty members and many other participants presented their papers on the given topics. The papers varied from developing the four basic language skills, that is, listening, speaking, reading and writing to the development of cross cultural communication.
The idea of bridging the gulf between different languages and cultures was emphasized. The presented papers covered a wide variety of aspects related to the seminar topic. The concept of LPG id test federalization, privatization and Globalization has new demands on the modern world as BPO, call centers, IT industries etc. which are breaking the boundaries among the nations. Tourism, education, economy, and literature all demand developed communication skills in foreign languages. Today, when the role of teacher has been marginalized and the learner has steered into the focus – media, literary classics, audio-visual aids, play way methods of teaching, language games, soft skills etc. have become the ways of developing communicative competence. In the seminar session there were papers on all of them. Apart from these, portrayal of the current scenario was made by the presentation of the new role of the pedagogue and English language teaching at the school level. If resemblances between different languages similarity in the structures, and phonology of the different languages of the world. The papers were dexterously analysed by Prof. Sudha Rai who sincerely and whole-heartedly appreciated the endeavour made by the participants and the department on the whole.
The most interesting and interactive session was conducted by Prof.Giannina Perucchiniw. In her workshop session she actually gave a live presentation of the communicative approach to language teaching. Her focus was on stimulating learners to participate in the speech acts. For that, different types of devices and visual stimuli were used. She emphasized on students response, their fluency and spontaneity.
This seminar cum workshop proved to be a successful effort towards investigating variegated aspects of communication skills, foreign language teaching and developing global communication.
