Motivation for Research: The urge to master the English language is quite dominant in India for the sheer reason that it can lead to social mobility and even help one acquire a job. But the absence of practice which is a pre-requisite for mastering any skill has resulted in millions in India failing to master the English language despite learning it for twelve years in schools and perhaps an additional two years at the Under Graduate level too. The investigator for over a decade, had been serving as a Resource Person for English Language empowerment programmes in Kerala, particularly in the rural sector and found that neither a language enrichment programme of one week or even one month duration on a daily basis following the bottom-up process is likely to result in any significant improvement or lead to social mobility.
Statement of the Problem: English language we know brings with it a cultural baggage and there are many in India who perceive the language as oppressive. While the fact remains that for many the ‘difficulty’ to master the English language arises from own failure to ‘use’ the language regularly, the obvious reason for failure to master the language is the fear of making mistakes and the likelihood of ridicule. Further, there is no real follow-up after the short term empowerment programmes.
Objectives of the Study: The main objective of the study is to find out the nature of the bottom-up model of English language empowerment programmes. The specific objective is : 1. To find out whether short duration English language empowerment programmes organized for the rural community are sustainable in nature. 2. To suggest ways of plugging loopholes if any in the current English language empowerment programmes for rural learners.
Methodology: The data for this empirical and analytical study was collected in the participant observer study mode by the investigator. Following teaching sessions employing the bottom-up process during short term English language empowerment programmes, informal interviews with participants were conducted to find out whether the programmes benefitted the target group in any way.
Findings: The study found that the bottom-up process unlike the top-down process which is advocated by agencies like the British Council is quite appropriate for empowerment programmes particularly in rural areas. But the failure on the part of participants to use the target language regularly, results in no significant improvement in own English language competence. The bottom-up process of language empowerment programmes unfortunately turn a blind eye to the cultural dimension of language which in turn affects proper acquisition of the language for own improvement.
Further, even if a person approaches the language with a positive frame of mind with sufficient motivation, the absence of someone competent enough to empathetically assist in correcting the errors one makes, can result in lack of progress in ones effort to master the language after attending the bottom-up process of language empowerment programmes.
Novelty/Author’s contribution towards creation of new knowledge: The investigator suggests that one time hit-and-go empowerment programmes fails to produce the desired objective of transforming learners and should be replaced by short term programmes on a regular basis for the same target group. More significantly, it is high time that Resource Persons stopped underplaying cultural aspects while teaching a foreign language like English especially if the goal is to avoid clumsy use of the target language, viz English. Alternatively, to make the empowerment programmes sustainable, given the recent surge in online learning, well chalked out online training sessions in addition to face-to-face programmes may be given to enable aspirants in rural areas to improve own English language competence.
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Keywords: Bottom-up Model, English Language, Empowerment Programmes, Rural Learners.
