Should English Be Banned From the Marathi Classroom?
At a Marathi-medium school in Pune, Class 7 has 44 students and English is Language II. The teacher estimates she uses Marathi for about 70 per cent of the English period, mainly for instructions, grammar explanations and discipline. A cluster observer tells her to use English only, 'for maximum exposure', and will return in three weeks. A short diagnostic shows most students can copy sentences and complete fill-in-the-blank grammar items, nine can answer 'What is your name?' and 'How are you?', and three students who attend private English tuition dominate whole-class question time. The next lesson is a poem, 'The Little Bird', with eight new words. The room has a blackboard, chalk, the textbook and no projector or audio player. Periods are 40 minutes; the observer's checklist rewards 'learner talk' and 'use of English by teacher'.
1. Is the observer's English-only advice appropriate here? State your position and outline the poem lesson.
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Position. Maximum exposure is not the same as maximum learning. The students need comprehensible input, and 100% English in this class would make the lesson incomprehensible for most of the 44. Judicious L1 use is a resource: it can clarify a concept after an English attempt, manage the class, and reduce anxiety. The target should be a planned shift, not a ban - for example from 70/30 to about 50/50 over three weeks, with English reserved for routines, praise, simple instructions and the parts of the poem students can handle.
Poem lesson (40 minutes).
- 5 min: Picture and gestures for three key words (bird, nest, fly). Say each in English, then give a one-line Marathi gloss; do not gloss all eight.
- 5 min: Teacher reads the poem aloud twice with actions.
- 5 min: Echo and choral reading of two lines at a time.
- 8 min: Pairs read two lines to each other and act them; teacher circulates.
- 5 min: 'One English word, one Marathi word' for how the bird feels.
- 7 min: Write two lines in the notebook using a frame.
- 5 min: Two pairs perform; teacher notes learner talk.
This meets the observer's checklist through pair talk and routines, without pretending that 40 minutes of unsupported English is comprehensible.
2. How would you assess speaking for 44 students within the 40-minute periods and with no audio equipment?
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Design. Do not run one-by-one oral exams; that would take several periods and test only the confident students. Use a paired task at the teacher's table while the rest of the class does a written matching task on the same vocabulary.
Procedure. Four pairs per period, two minutes each, plus transitions: about ten minutes of testing while the class works. Over three days all 44 are covered. The task is a short information gap: each partner has three pictures and asks 'What is this?' and 'Where is it?' The teacher listens to both partners and does not correct during the task.
Rubric. Two criteria only - message clarity (can the listener understand?) and one target feature (question word order or the use of 'is'). Three levels each, recorded on a simple grid. Keep a sample of six students' notes for moderation.
Practical points. Train the class in the written task first, or the teacher will be interrupted. Use a timer. Do not test more than two criteria; a long rubric will not be applied consistently. Record evidence, because a mark without a note cannot be defended to the observer.
3. How should the teacher handle the three tuition-going students who dominate question time?
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Problem. Their fluent answers can mislead the teacher about the class level and can train the other 41 students to wait rather than think. The observer may also see a lively English lesson that is actually a conversation among four people.
Actions.
- Use random name sticks or a class list with a counter so that the same three are not called twice in a row.
- Use think-pair-share: every child speaks to a partner before any whole-class answer, so the quiet majority gets rehearsal time.
- Give the three a 'question asker' or 'group coach' role: they must ask a question or help a partner answer, not answer themselves. Train them explicitly in how to wait and prompt.
- Seat them apart and in different groups.
- Praise the attempts of students who rarely speak, using specific language ('you used "nest" correctly').
Reasoning. The aim is not to silence them but to redistribute the talk. Their tuition English is useful as a model if it is used for asking and helping; it is harmful if it becomes the only English the class hears from students.