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CHAPTER - 1

INTRODUCTION

Language is the indispensable mean by which we

express and record our thoughts. Language is our role means of

conveying abstract concepts, keeping record, writing laws,

making contractual agreement and engaging in many other acts

wherein we state or record ideas. Language therefore is the

basis upon which society functions. Without language, we

would have no modern civilization characterized by such

complex developments as science and technology, legal

procedure and literature- because we would have no precise

way to express and record of ideas involved. Neither would we

have any effective means of pooling our knowledge for future

generations. Owens (1996) defines language as ―a socially

shared code or conditional system for repressing concepts

through the use of arbitrary symbols and rule governed

combinations of those symbols‖. Language is constructed by a

society to serve its purposes. Language is a vehicle for

transmitting cultural heritage which embraces everything

created by man, all inventions and modifications of nature

made by man, all behavioral characteristics, intuitions

established to serves human beings, and non material elements

like human knowledge, desire, expectations, ambitions,

aspirations and visions. Phonological, morphological,

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syntactical, semantic and pragmatic knowledge are the major

components of knowledge of language.

The Well- known function of language is that of checking

tools with which to think. The Man considering the purchase of

a home, for instance, uses language as symbols for the ideas

upon which he bases his deliberation. Thus, language is used

more often than anything else to delimit cultural boundaries.

Language is not a given trait rather it is acquired. In this sense

human beings are not considered civilized until and unless they

know the language and therefore the enormity and intensity of

language growth occupy a dominant place in the realm of

human relations and social discourse. Language is also an

abstract system of word meaning and symbols for all aspects of

culture. It includes speech, written character numerals,

symbols and gesture of non- verbal communication.

Another way to understand this influence is to think of

language as a series of groove formed by one‘s linguistic habits.

As one reflects on a situation, his thought move through the

groove created by his language. Thus his language helps to

guide his thoughts.

Language supplies many of the tools with which we

remember. As man cogitates, he recalls many facts through

language. He remembers times in terms of linguistic

descriptions (for example Sunday, December 7, 1941) He

remembers money in terms of memorial significance (as $ 2500)

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He remembers his scholastic success in terms of his standing

in his class (fourth in a class of 125).

The well known functions of language are─

1. The role of language in arousing and releasing

emotions.

2. The role of language as unifying social force, and

3. The role of language in achieving social status.

The most important single influence on a language is the

linguistic needs of the society it serves. This statement rests on

a simple truism: a language must supply a name for every

object, every action, and every other phase of the life known to

the people it serves and it must possess structure, inflection,

and other characteristics necessary to express thoughts

adequately.

The role of linguistic needs as an influence on language is

likely to continue. Unless society is to become

incomprehensibly static, needs will continue to arise daily, and

every need will occasion a change in language, as words are

added, established words are given new meaning other means

(like structural changes) are involved to cover the new

situation. Also as needs disappear from society words and

expression will become obsolete, there by affecting changes in

languages.

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NATURE OF LANGUAGE:

The word language has its origin in the Latin word

―lingua‖ meaning ‗which is produced with the tongue‘. Human

language is transmitted from one individual to another not by

physical inheritance but by learned. The term language has

been defined in various ways. According to Sapir (1921), ―The

language is a purely human and non-instructive method of

communicating ideas, emotions, and desires by means of a

system of voluntarily produced symbols‖.

In another view, the language is a system of arbitrary

vocal symbols by which thought is conveyed from one human

being to another. (Hughes, John.P1962).

Those who are seriously interested in the health and

vitality of the intellectual and cultural life of the nation regards

language as the soul of the nation. Language is not merely the

medium of instruction at all levels of education; it is the

medium of growth. It provides capacity for preservation and

communication of intellectual life. At higher level, language

provides the medium of free and fresh thinking and research.

As such language plays a very important role in directing and

controlling fresh thinking in all walks of life. Some people would

like to define language as speech symbols being used in

communication of ideas.

Language is such expression and communication to or from

human beings by means of speech and hearing, the sounds

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uttered or heard, being so combined in systems involved,

conventionalized and recognized by common usage in a given

community that they are mutually intelligible to all,

approximately normal members thereof.

The process is mainly imitative and wholly conscious

under normal condition. The act of imitating the elder, when

frequently repeated, takes the form of habit. But child imitative

and habitual acts are not wholly reproductive. He constructs

his own structure and sentence though grammatically wrong,

and coins his own word and phrases to explain new situations.

Yet before long, without the knowledge of grammar he learns to

speak correct sentences and without the use of dictionary he

acquires right meaning of words. He may learn to speak

incorrectly because of the defective models of speech in family,

but the meaning of words he acquires is as a rule correct.

Under special demands it becomes a conscious process.

The history of the development of language of the race

is the history of the growth of intelligence. Man‘s superiority

over other animals is mainly due to language. Speech is

essentially a human faculty. It is extremely complicated mental

phenomenon, involving not merely the functioning of neuro-

motor apparatus for uttering meaningful sounds (-i.e., vocal

symbols for thing and actions; the auditory recognition of the

spoken words of speech symbols; the interpretation of visual

impressions including sign, pictorial or graphical symbols,

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gestures etc.) but also an elaborate mental mechanism of

associations, which make human language.

Language is to the intellect what body is the soul.

Growth is the characteristic of life. Growth takes place by

means of habit formation. So the intellectual growth is shaped

by the language habit from the very beginning when the child

depends upon the mother, father, teacher and society for the

formation of such habits.

Language is the essential requirement of all human co-

operative work. Speech is the instrument of society. It is used

not only for giving and receiving information but also for joining

man to man by way of greetings, conversation and discussion.

As Pattanayak (1981) said, ―If participatory democracy has to

survive, we need to give a voice to the language of every child.‘‘

The aim of language teacher is to seek action which

gives rise to speech. The purpose of language teacher is to train

in speech. Social action fertilizes the ground in which abilities

and skill connected with speech is developed. The language

teacher not only makes his pupils think and feel but he teaches

them to act as well. He teaches the four art, the four skills-

speaking, reading, writing and comprehension.

Language is a structured system of arbitrary vocal

sounds and sequences of sounds which is used, or can be

used, in interpersonal communication by an aggregation of

human beings, and which rather exhaustively catalogs the

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things, events and processes in the human environments.

(John, B. Carole, 1961)

The nature of language can be categorized more clearly in

the following six points:

LANGUAGE IS LEARNED

The child knows no language and he learns it over a long

period of time. He begins learning of language by making

various isolated sound like ma-ma- pa-pa etc. Finally he

acquires the speech sounds of his group by imitation. He also

learns grammatical construction of the language by limitation.

LANGUAGE IS A SYSTEM

Just as various system of our body (e.g. heart, lungs, hands,

eyes etc) though different yet work in co-ordination, similarly

system of language function through sounds, words and

structures.

ARBITRARINESS OF LANGUAGE

It is not essential to have any relationship between the word

and the object for which it is spoken. We use different words for

the same object in different language e.g. book in English,

‗Pustak‘ or ‗Kitab‘ in Hindi etc.

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LANGUAGE SYMBOLS ARE VOCAL

All the words are produced with the help of tongue.

LANGUAGE IS BASED ON COMMON CULTURE EXPERIENCE

Human language transmitted from one individual to another

not by physical inheritance, but by learning.

LANGUAGE CHANGES

Every language is a living language. The language is

constantly changing and developing according to the need of

the speaker.

Language has important role in the human life. Its

scientific study is necessary. The scientific study of language is

described as linguistics. Several psychologists have discussed

the development of linguistics. Language is a range of

possibilities, an open ended set of options in behaviour that are

available to the individual in his existence as social man. The

context of culture is the environment of any particular selection

that is made from within them.

LINUGISTICS AS A SCIENCE

Linguistics is a science. It deals with a specific body of material,

namely spoken and written language, and that it process by

operations that can be publicly communicated and described

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and justified by reference to stable principles and to a theory

capable of formulation. Its purpose is the analysis of the

material and the making of general statement that summarize,

and as far as possible relate to rules and regularities, the

infinite variety of phenomena (Utterance in speech and writing)

that fall within its scope. It is an empirical science in that its

subject matter is observable with the senses, speech as heard,

the movements of the vocal organs to seen directly or with the

aid of instruments, the sensations of speaking as perceived by

speaker and writing as seen and read.

Linguistics includes studies which are descriptions of one

particular language or even of a one particular part of a

language. Linguistics is a science and adopts scientific methods

of procedure. It can hardly be called a physical science because

language, the object of its study, is not purely physical, various

aspects of language cannot be measured with the same

precision that purely physical phenomena can. As language is

an element of human behavior, linguistic can be regarded as

one of the social or behavioral sciences.

Indeed among all branches of knowledge linguistics is in a

special position. Linguistics differs from other studies in that it

both uses language and has language as its subject matter.

Since every branch of knowledge makes use of language,

linguistics may, in some respect, be said to lie at the centre of

them all, of being the study of the tool that they must use.

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Language is a system of systems. These systems are –

phonology, morphology, semantics and syntax. The part of

linguistics that deals with the material of speech itself is called

phonetics it is immediately concerned with the organ of speech

and the movements of articulation and more widely with the

physics of sound transmission and the physiology of hearing,

and ultimately with the neurological process involved both in

speaking and hearing.

In order to fulfill their symbolizing and communicative

functions, languages must organize the available noises that

can be produced by the vocal organs into recurrent bits and

arranged in recurrent patterns. This formal patterning and an

arrangement in languages is studied at the levels of phonology

and grammar. Phonology is concerned with the patterns and

organization of languages in terms of the phonetic features and

categories involved and grammar is concerned with the

patterns and arrangements of units established and organized

on criteria other than those referable to phonetic features

alone.

Meaning is an attribute not only of language but of all sign

and symbol systems, and the study of meaning is called

semantics which, therefore, embraces a wider range than

language alone.

In linguistics, morphology is the identification, analysis

and description of the structure of morphemes and other units

of meaning in a language like words, affixes, and parts of

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speech and intonation/stress, implied context (words in

a lexicon are the subject matter of lexicology). In this way,

morphology is the branch of linguistics that studies patterns of

word formation within and across languages, and attempts to

formulate rules that model the knowledge of the speakers of

those languages.

Semantic can be recognized as a level of linguistic

description and as a component of linguistic but it is much less

tidily circumscribed field of study than are phonics, phonology

and grammar sentences consist of words. Nevertheless

semantics can be considered from the point of view of word

meaning and from that of sentence meaning. Sentences have

meanings, and a child learns the meaning of many words by

hearing them in other people‘s uttered sentences and practicing

such utterances himself subject to the correction of others and

the test of being understood by those to whom he is talking.

These processes go on all our lives. The syntax in language is

very important.

The branch of grammar that deals with the inner

structure and general characteristics of sentences is called

syntax. The founder of syntax is generally considered to be the

Greek grammarian. Over the course of the development of

linguistic theory, the content and relative significance of syntax

in the description of language have varied. In the early period of

the study of linguistics, syntax was the study of the sentence

and its parts, which were analyzed according to the general

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concepts of logic (the study of the parts of a sentence). Thus,

syntax dealt with the meaning of a sentence, or the semantic

aspect of speech. In contrast, phonetics and morphology

studied the expressive aspect. This approach later led to the

view that syntax was a branch of grammar that examined

linguistic phenomena in terms of their evolution from meaning

(function) to form (Jespersen, J.O. 1954). Since the content of

a sentence was regarded as the subject of syntax, syntax was

sometimes equated with the method of synchronize analysis

and contrasted to the diachronic approach to language

(Potebnia, A.A.1958). Syntax came to be treated as ―the study

of the word in the sentence and of the sentence as a whole‖

(Meshchaninov, I.I. 1945). The syntax of sentences deals with

the types of predicative relations joining the main parts of the

sentence—the subject and predicate. The syntax of sentences is

also concerned with the general characteristics of the sentence:

modality, syntactic tense, and the communicative goal of the

sentence. This area of syntax also includes the study of the

sentences parts.

There are three major parts of general linguistics ─

(i) Descriptive Linguistics

(ii) Historical Linguistics

(iii) Comparative Linguistics

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(I) DESCRIPTIVE LINGUISTICS

Descriptive linguistics as its title suggests, is concerned

with the description and analysis of the ways in which a

languages aspirates and is used by a given set of speakers at a

given time. The many variant forms of pronunciation, grammar

and lexical content that the descriptive linguist records and

describes in a language at a given time may mark the sources

of subsequent historical changes ultimately having far reaching

effect descriptive linguistics is often regarded as major part of

general linguistics. Be that as it may, it is certainly the

fundamental aspect the study of language, as it underlines as

is presupposed by the other two subdivisions, historical

linguistics and comparative linguistics.

(II) HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS

Historical linguistics is the study of the development in

language in the course of time of the ways in which language

change from period to period, and of the causes and results of

such changes, both outside the languages and within them.

(III) COMPARATIVE LINGUISTICS

In comparative linguistics one is concerned with

comparing from one or more points of view two or more

different languages and more generally, with the theory and

techniques applicable to such comparisons. In historical

linguistics the comparison is limited to languages which may be

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regarded as successive stages of the speech of a continuing

speech community differing from one period to another as the

result of the cumulative effect of gradual changes, for the most

part imperceptible within a single generation.

THEORIES RELATED TO LINGUISTICS

There are some theories which contribute to the making

and development of linguistics-

(A) SKINNER’S VERBAL BEHAVIOUR THEORY

Skinner (1957) attempted to explain language without taking

into account any centralistic events such as ideas, meanings

and grammatical rules. The idea is that the first sounds a child

happens to emit can be shaped up by reinforcement to blossom

out into the full range of verbal sounds exhibited by an adult.

Skinner gave a few examples of how verbal responses might

come to be conditioned, responses which he claimed to classify

not because of what they mean, but solely as a function of the

S-R Contingencies involved.

(B) CHOMSKY’S TRANSFORMATIONAL GRAMMAR

LINGUISTIC THEORY

Chomsky’s (1966) view the most important task of linguistic is

to discover the nature of the language learning mechanism that

we are supposed to be born with, if linguistic could tell us

about that, it would undoubtedly give a great boost to efforts to

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teach a foreign language. When he used a term such as

linguistic ―insights‖ he means this kind of plantation, on the

borders of Psychology. This is to say that for all we know

children are born with a kind of linguistic endowment out of

which develops whatever it is that reprints the particular

system of their native language. Sometimes this inborn capacity

seems to be viewed as a capacity for acquiring a language, then

it is referred to as ―language learning device‖.

(C) SEMANTIC MEMORY

Kiss (1969) has devised a model on word associations, that is

the words which people are most likely to produce in response

to other words, kiss has extended this technique to build up a

computerized associative network by taking people‘s word

responses and using them as stimuli to elicit further

associations. For example the original stimulus bull, to which

cow is a common associate, cow in turn elicits herd, which say,

elicits both bull and cow, thus building up an interlocking

network between these words. It would involve a fantastically

uneconomic use of our mental resources to have two separate

semantic systems, one purely for linguistic use and other to

represent our knowledge of the real world.

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(D) MEDIATION THEORY OF MEANING

Osgood‘s theory of meaning will be taken as representative

of conditioning school of thought. The basic idea is to apply the

example of Pavlov and conditioning. The first S-R connection

equivalent to the do‘s original salivation response to food- is a

person‘s overt response. If the sound of the word spider is

repeatedly parried with object spider, the original response to

the object becomes conditioned to the sound of spider. Osgood‘s

account as ‗mediational‘ in that it takes account of the obvious

fact that we don‘t transfer the whole of the original overt

response to the word, we don‘t go around eating the paper on

which the word food is written nor stamping on books which

contain the word spider. (Osgood, C.E., 1971).

(E) INFORMATION THEORY

One of the first attempts to look at the structure of

language was first inspired by information theory. A theory

originally proposed in the field of telecommunications by

Shannon (1949). The basic idea here is that information has

nothing to do with the content of a message but is defined

solely in terms of the amount of uncertainty that introduced. If

an outcome is already fully predictable, there is no uncertainty

about it, therefore, the message send conveys no information,

but if there is some doubt or unpredictability about what the

message will be, then when received it will convey sense

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information. Shannon proposed the following simple model of

how information is transmitted from transmitter to receiver.

CHANNEL

NOISE

(F) GENERATIVE SEMANTICS

Semantic concepts are stored in our memories. But we

would still have the problem of how these concepts are

combined together in sentences to arrive at new meanings. For

example one may know the dictionary meaning of the words in

a foreign language but without knowing how to put them

together to form sentences. This is what the theory known as

generative semantics sets out to do i.e. to generate meaningful

sentences. Generative semantics has concentrated on

describing the meanings which underlie sentences.

The earlier approaches to the study of language

including structuralism and transformational Generative

linguistics were primarily kept out of theirs study the social

TRANSMITTER

RECEIVER

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aspect of language. They were mainly interested in investigation

the formal nature and behaviour of languages. Their main

objective was to study the phonological, morphological and

syntactical aspect of language. While structuralism kept out of

its domain the semantic aspect of language, Noam Chomsky

realized the importance of meaning and regarded it as powerful

tool in a linguistic analysis. Whatever be the approaches, some

skills are basic in language learning.

NATURE OF LINGUISTIC SKILL

Linguistics have unavoidable role in language learning.

There are some basic linguistic skills- reading, writing, listening

and speaking- necessary in all languages. Every individual

attempts to learn and master these skills.

(A) READING SKILL

Reading is a vast subject. The process of reading includes

many psychological as well as physical aspects. When we think

of reading, a question may arise. What is reading ? It is many

things to many people. For many countries since the invention

of movable type, reading has been the major instrument of

mass communication.‖ Boer J.J. and Dallman, M. (1964).

The art of reading can appear to be a more decoding of

the printed signs. Reading is a sensory process. Reading

requires the use of senses, especially vision. The reader must

react visually to the graphic symbols. The symbols must be

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legible, light must be adequate and eyesight must be clear.

Reading is a perceptual process perception means the

interpretation of everything that we sense. Reading occurs

when meaning is brought to the graphic stimuli. Reading is a

response made to the graphic stimuli we give meaning to the

print in the book. The responses include our muscular or vocal

responses made at the sight of the word. Sometimes we

evaluate a book or criticize it; we shower appreciation on the

author. All these are the result of our response to the graphic

stimuli.

(A-1) THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT OF READING

In reading, the eyes do not proceed along the line of print

at an even rote, but stop from time to time. The stops are called

fixations we read only during the ‗fixations‘. A good reader does

not look at every letter, nor does he look at every word in turn.

The number of words that a reader can see during our fixation

is called his recognition span. If the reader goes back to the

same reading area of second time, it is called regression when

the recognition span is longer and the regression few the

greater will be the speed of reading. Indeed, good reading habit

promotes self education which helps in the modification of

personality. A good reader is one-

1. Who can read with accuracy.

2. Who can read easily smoothly and fluently.

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3. Who can read intelligently and expressively that is, who can

understand what he has read and who can express what he has

read. This involves reading with proper intonation, rhythm and

stress.

4. Who takes pleasure in reading, He, who takes pleasure, in

reading, develops and un-satiating appetite for reading. The

more he read the hungrier- he grows and qualities for his

entrance to the unbounded field of knowledge.

5. Reading aloud is a helpful exercise for the development of

speech. Silent reading promotes understanding and expression.

In reading we have three stages-

1. The first stage is learning to read.

2. The second stage- at this stage, the pupils ought to know

their readers and how to deal with them.

3. The Third stage- The reading material is used for private

and independent enjoyment and as source of information.

In educational process reading is not enough. To

comprehend and to give meaning to the words is more essential

and desirable. So, the term reading comprehension is

frequently used in researches.

Dewey, John (1938) once maintained that eight years of

age was the best age and was less significant than mental age

in determining reading ability. The age at which a child will

wish to learn to read will depend on his intelligence, his home

and his teachers. The intelligent child from a good home where

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there is a good reading tradition will learn to read quickly. The

intelligent child from a good home which is poor will learn to

read as soon as he realizes the value of being able to do so. The

dull child from a good home will learn to read because he will

come to understand sooner or later that to read will be a

necessity to him.

Many readers are teachers and have found an effective

technique with longer reading passages. It is known as the

SQ3R formula. This formula is an attempt to summarize what a

reader does when reading in his own language. The formula

stands for S-Survey, Q= Question, 3R= Read, Revise and Recite.

Many factors, physical and psychological, affect reading.

Some of the conditions needed by children to make maximum

progress in learning are physical and mental health, abilities of

visual and auditory recognition, intelligence, background of

experience, knowledge of the language, desire to read, purpose

for reading, interest in reading etc. A reasonable measure of

physical health in essentials to all kind of learning.

(B) WRITING SKILL

Writing makes a man exact. It fixes our vocabulary and

sentence patterns. It is the practical side of language learning.

All through our school days we are asked to write exercise and

compositions and notes we answer questions in examination;

as teachers use the blackboard to explain difficulties and pass

on information; we write down things we might otherwise

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forget; we write letters to our friends and relations; We write

business letters and official letters and letters to employers

asking them for jobs. In fact writing is a tool used to enable use

to express what is in our mind and for some people is almost as

important aspects. Sometimes we find some persons whose

faculty of writing surpasses that of speaking. Writing trains

our ears and eyes. We write what we speak or hear; so by

writing, our ears and eyes are trained. It also develops our

memory writing develops individual activity.

One has to pay much attention to writing work as devoted

to speaking and reading. The four linguistic activities may be

compared to the four pillars supporting the magnificent

structure of language. The readiness factors needed for writing

is the integrity of number sensory motor systems. Letter

formation requires the integration of visual motor sensory and

perceptual motor skill that is depended upon the maturation

and integration of a number of cognitive, perceptual and motor

kill which is develop through instruction. It is an academic skill

that allows individuals to express their thought and feelings

and communicate with others. It is a complex process of

handling language by pencil grip, letter formation and body

posture. Writing efficiency requires mastery of multiple skills,

including vision, coordinating the eyes, arms, hands, memory,

posture and body control as well as the task of holding a pencil

and farming letters.

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The question is what are the signs and symptoms the

children with hand writing present?

1. Children may exhibit strong verbal but particularly poor

writing.

2. Random (for non- existent) punctuation.

3. Spelling errors (Sometimes same word spelled differently)

reverse phonic approximations; syllable omissions; errors in

common suffix.

4. Clumsiness and disordering of syntax, an impression of

illiteracy.

5. Disordered numbering and written numbers reversals.

6. Generally illegible writing (despite appropriate time and

attention given the task)

7. Inconsistencies mixtures of print and cursive, upper and

irregular sizes, shapes as slant of letters.

8. Slow or labored copying as writing even if it is neat and

legible.

The skill of hand writing is also referred to as a

‗Graphomotor‘ Skill and includes, visual perceptual,

orthographic coding, Motor planning and execution kinesthetic

feedback and visual motor co-ordination. Good hand writing

has some qualities- easy to read, quickly to write, attractive and

uniformity.

Writing serves learning uniquely because writing as

process and product possesses a cluster of attributes that

correspond uniquely to certain powerful learning strategies,

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higher cognitive function such as analysis and synthesis, seem

to develop must fully only with the support system of virtual

language- particularly it seems of written language. (Emig,

Janet 1977). It is not hard to think of reason why writing may

have unattractive associations for children who are resistant in

either of these two ways.

1. As compared with speech, writing deprives the child of

immediate feedback, seems an artificial rather than a natural

activity, demands greater explicitness and precision and

involves the physical difficulty of manipulating pen and paper.

Writing is slow and hard, compared with talking. Indeed,

learning to avoid writing may often seem less trouble than

actually doing it.

2. School writing is linked with discipline in the punitive sense.

Student teachers with difficult classes are advised to give them

plenty of writing to keep them in order.

3. Writing embodies an enduring record of mistakes,

misunderstanding and embarrassing failures. The exercise

book, with its trail of red ink, is a coherent reminder of lack of

success. The pen cannot be wiped out in the way that spoken

error can be forgotten, writing difficulties can be linked to the

individuals‘ self-image. Tony can talk freely but avoids writing

because it makes him seen intellectually inferior; [Paquette,

J.J. 1981.]

Most students rarely see adults writing, and almost never

see them doing it for pleasure. They will see their teachers

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enjoying talking and reading and this modeling is an important

influence on this own practice. Fair and legible hand writing

makes a man perfect in all walks of life.

Writing has an instrumental value in schools. It is a

means of preserving the knowledge which the pupil had gained

or the judgment he has formed. It serves as a check on his

forgetting useful items of knowledge and ideas. The habit of

making notes of what is read and of summarizing helps the

recollection of what has been studied. So it is essential skill to

learn.

(C) LISTENING SKILL

Listening as a receptive skill has a parallel relationship to

reading and its aural aspect is closely related to speech.

Listening is the first basic skill, and yet researches in this are

very meager. According to Webster‘s Dictionary, to listen means

to gives ear, ‗to give head‘, to hear with attention, to hear

means- to have sense or faculty of perceiving sound. Listening

depends upon hearing and two terms are no synonymous.

Hence cannot be used interchangeably. Again it is also implied

that hearing is a physical phenomenon. Listening is a physical

as well a mental phenomenon, which does not mean that a

person giving full attention will understand the speech or oral

discourse.

Listening is technically known as auding. Listening is

mostly described as the process of nearing recognizing and

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interpreting or comprehending the spoken language. The

listening skill begins to develop from infancy; the child acquires

vocabulary and understanding of the immediate environment in

which he is brought up. As a result of these experiences he is

able to hear, recognize and interpret what he hears in his

immediate environment in fact; all human beings are

dependent upon their ability to listen and observe to derive

direction, information and knowledge till the acquisition of

reading skill. They do continue the avenue of learning

throughout their lives. Thus, listening is a significant medium

of receiving information from the infancy, to grave. Therefore,

listening means the hearing, recognizing and interpreting or

comprehending spoken language. It cannot be replaced by

books.

Duker in ‗Encyclopedia of Educational Research‘

differentiates these two terms in somewhat different way,

―Hearing involves the conversation of pressure of sound waves

into neutral impulses which move into the brain for

interpretation. Listening is the process of interpretation‖.

[Duker Sam, 1969]

Brown D. (1950) suggested the term ‗auding‘ for

listening. Analogous to the definition of reading, he defined

‗Auding‘ as the gross process of hearing, listening to recognizing

and interpreting spoken language. Thus, ‗hearing‘ means

reception of sound waves through ears which is nearly a

physical phenomena while, listening means hearing with

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attention and ‗auding‘ includes hearing, listening processes and

interpretative process.

According to Harrworth, G.L. (1966) it can be presented

as -

Auding = Hearing + Listening + Cognizing

From the view point of the commission on English

curriculum of the National council of Teachers of English

Listening does not include critical examination of spoken

words, while in the practical situation it seem as that the term

listening is not used with a wide connotation. Instead of

Listening the term listening comprehension is widely accepted.

According to Spearitt, D. (1962), there seems little

need to look beyond the term ‗listening comprehension for the

accurate description of the talk involved. He writes, ―Proposed

distinction between listening and auding may be a useful

semantic, distinction, but these appear to be no practical

advantage to be gained by employing the term auding.‖ Thus

‗listening and ‗auding‘ are two distinct terms. While ‗listening

comprehension‘, ‗aural comprehension‘ and ‗auding‘ are

interchangeable.

(C-1) LISTENING COMPREHENSION

Wilkinson (1970) preferred the term listening comprehension.

Comprehension carries the understanding of word or phrase

beyond recognition to the understanding of a word the meaning

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intended by the author. This involves determining the meaning

of the words in their language setting and at the same time

linking the meaning into larger language pattern and fusing

them into a chain of related ideas. Listening involves many

skills which could be summarized as follows.

1. Listen to find the main idea or thought.

2. Listen to select the significant details.

3. Listen to summarize and organize ideas.

4. Listen to arrive at generalization on conclusion.

5. Listen to predict out comes or to draw inferences.

6. Listen to follow direction.

7. Listen to find out the sequence of ideas or points presented.

8. Listen critically to react to what is listened.

A pupil who fail to acquire these skills cannot

comprehend well from what the immediate goal of all listening

is comprehension. Comprehension is thus a complex of skills.

Some consider these skills as the behavioral changes or the

specification of comprehension which are generally expected to

be developed as a result of teaching listening comprehension

the aspect which is most neglected in our primary and as

secondary schools.

An effective listener is one who has developed the ability

to attend thoughtfully to spoken discourse, to grasp the

meaning intend by the speaker and to respond critically to the

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total impact of this talk or address. Therefore listening

comprehension was considered in the present study.

(D) SPEAKING SKILL

The ability to speak a foreign language is without doubt

the most highly prized language skill, and rightly so, because

he who can speak a language well can also understand it and

can learn it with relative case unless it happens to be a

language like Chinese or Japanese, whose writing systems

constitute major learning problems of their own. Speaking

ability is described as the ability to express oneself in life

situations as the ability to report acts or situations in precise

words, or the ability to converse, or to express a sequence of

ideas fluently. Writing is an event of yesterday, but this does

not mean that it has no significance. It has and it ought to

receive its due share. But the question what do we write, is

replied as we write to spoken word. Or that the written or the

printed word is but a symbol of the spoken word. Writing is not

language, but merely way of recording language by means of

visible marks (Bloomfield,1935).

―Speech is the ground work; all the rest are built up from

it. Through speech, the pupil learns to make the direct

connection between the English word as phrase and the object,

action or idea it bears. He learns the habit of using word in the

correct sentence pattern and phrase patterns and he can learn

this in no other ways‖. (French, F.G.1948). The fact is that in

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actual life, man is concerned more with the spoken form of his

language than with its written form.

There has been a great thinking on this point as to what

should be the standard of speech in English. It is as worthy of

acceptance as any other brand of English and the time has

come for its establishment as a regional standard. There is an

educated Indian pronunciation of English. The best speakers of

English in each of our states use it. We have to tape record and

study the sounds and speech habits of educated Indians in

every walk of life, of the best lawyer‘s judges, businessman

political leaders and professors in order to define the feature of

educated Indian pronunciation. This can be our working

standard. English-speaking people who live in such states as

countries where English is widely use, will soon pick up and

accept a variety of near pronunciations. It will show that this

pronunciation contains a large number of vowels, diphthongs

and consonants than the average Indian pronunciation of

English that it has a stress system and a system of intonation;

and that it is completely intelligible to speakers of other

educated dialects of English in India. Teachers aim therefore,

should be to teach educated Indian pronunciation, the near

pronunciations to our pupils.

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(D-1) RETARDATION IN SPEECH

Every language has its own set of sound habits. Speaking

a muscular matter. In speaking of own language, says Hindi,

we learn certain specific muscle- habits. ‘n’ sound is never

represented by ‗d‘ in English. Had it been so ‘Data Ram’ should

have written as ‗Thatha Ram’. Languages are particular in oral

construction. Words like ‗bit‘, ‗bite‘, ‗beat‘, ‗heed‘, ‗hide‘ are

similar in all respects difference in the quality of the vowel. This

quality vowel is not well understood and hence we hear ‗head‘

instead of ‗hid‘ or ‗sheep‘ in place of ‗ship‘.

In our Indian schools, less and less attention is paid to

speech training. If may be that teachers in general do not

realize its significance. They rely too much on the translation

and grammar method. The result is that there is no speech

training in the class rooms. Our teachers are not well equipped

in phonetics. There is no provision for teachers to receive

training in phonetics and phonemics at a large scale. Secondly,

the useful devices, such as take records and gramophone

records, which can be helpful in learning pronunciation, are

neither available at the training centers nor at the institutions

where the teachers serve.

Language is related to human behaviour which varies

according to race, creed, caste and society. Mastery of reading,

writing, listening and speaking is highly desirable in every

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society. Though it is likely to be affected by so many variables

particularly English language.

FACTORS AFFECTING LINGUISTIC SKILLS

Human behavior is always is always affected by tradition

norms of the society. Linguistic skills are also no exception to

this phenomenon. Various research studies are being

conducted in this area. Linguistic skills have been found to go

affected by so many variables such as;

1. Inadequate stimulation (talking and playing with the

child).

2. Delayed general development ('global developmental

delay'), physical development ('motor skills'),

cognitive development

3. Specific difficulty with language learning. Not very

interested in language, prefers other modalities e.g.

physical activities.

4. Poor control and/or co-ordination of the speech

muscles: lips tongue etc

5. Medical problems.

6. Inadequate awareness of communication lacks

"communication intent".

7. Reduced hearing e.g. ear infection, fluid in ear,

impacted earwax etc.

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8. Changes in child's environment e.g. moving.

9. Exposure to too many languages for the child.

10. Inadequate opportunity for speech e.g. the child

everyone talks for, the "babied" child has a more

dominant sibling etc.

11. Emotional factors e.g. behavioural problems, anxiety,

pressure to perform etc.

12. Short attention span.

13. Family history of speech and language delays or

difficulties.

14. School environment.

15. Economic status of the parents.

16. Influence of peer group in school.

17. Media and mass communication.

18. Environmental, psychological, socio-economic,

cultural deprivation.

This list includes one or other kind of deprivation in any

area which affect the linguistic skill. Thus, deprivation may be

an important factor of having its role in language learning.

CONCEPT OF DEPRIVATION

Psychologists use ‗deprivation‘ as a hypothetical construct

as well as an empirical variable to characterize procedures and

conditions in laboratory studies as well studies done in natural

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settings. In the context of socio- economic and cultural

variations in societies, it has been frequently employed

interchangeably with other expressions such as ‗cultural

deprivation‘, ‗environmental deprivation‘, ‗social deprivation‘, ‗

economic deprivation‘, ‗parental deprivation‘, ‗psychological

deprivation‘ and social disadvantage. Most of these terms points

to the deficient environmental conditions and impoverished

experience characteristic of the socially disadvantaged people

(e.g. SC, ST, and OBC). Literally ‗deprivation stands for the

dispossession or loss of opportunities, privileges etc. However

researchers have a virtually used as synonymous with

‗privation,‘ that is, lack or insufficiency of the basic necessities

for the survival of the individual. Thus the empirical studies of

deprivation include both lack as well as loss of factors

considered necessary for the growth and adaptation of the

individual.

Some efforts have been made to go beyond the mere

categorical or nominal level treatment of deprivation, by

considering it in terms of proximal experiential variables.

Tripathi, L.B. and Misra, G. (1975) proposal of prolonged

deprivation is such an attempt. It refers to a broader spectrum

of variables constituting the basic sources of experiences of the

individual. It is considered as a prolonged process relative to a

defined socio- cultural setting. Socio- cultural life in any

community can be conceived of as continuum, at one end of

which lie those who have all their physical, social and economic

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needs gratified, leading to varied experiences of life, while at the

other end lie those who are physically, socially and

psychologically most handicapped in fulfilling their need, was

modified by Biswas, Nanda and Pandey (1996).

These authors ( Tripathi, L.B. and Misra, G. 1978)

constructed a Prolonged Deprivation Scale (PDS) to access the

life conditions and experiences across 15 areas i.e. housing

condition, home environmental, economic sufficiency, food,

clothing, formal education experiences, childhood experiences

rearing experiences, parental characteristics, interaction with

parents, motivational experiences, emotional experiences,

religious experiences, travel and recreation and miscellaneous

socio- cultural experiences. A factor analysis revealed two

factors i.e., psycho- economic deprivation and experiential

deprivation. Its variations have been developed by Misra,

Shukla (1986) and Pushpa (1990). Recently, Mukherjee,

Chaterjee and Gupta (1991) found three factors i.e., of

prolonged deprivation, viz. psycho- economic, cultural and

emotional.

Chambers, R. (1991) has identified five dimensions of

deprivations: poverty proper (lack of income and assets);

physical weaken (under-nutrition, sickness, disability, lack of

strength); isolation (ignorance, illiteracy, lack of peripheral

location); vulnerability (to contingencies, to becoming poorer);

and powerlessness.

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Caste, gender, ethnicity become linked with deprivation

because of the features of social structure. As noted by Edward

R. (1979) ―membership in a social group is the source of

problem and makes disadvantages a phenomenon of socio-

cultural origin‖ (p. 27). Disadvantage involves aspirations of the

girl child also differ. In a nation- wide study Anandlakshmy, S.

(1994) has noted that the birth of the girl child tends to be

greeted with anemic joy, if not grief, and that she continued to

be treated within the family and outside as a second class

citizen, (p. 43).

R.C.Tripathi (1982) has identified three criteria to

classify the status of deprivation –

1. ORGANISMIC VS. ENVIORNMENTAL

2. OBJECTIVE VS. SUBJECTIVE

3. ABSOLUTE VS. RELATIVE

1. ORGANISMIC VS. ENVIORNMENTAL

Deprivation is said to be the property of the organism or

the environment. If the deprivation is organismic, one refers to

the conditions which are responsible for lack of fulfillment of

need. Deprivation in this case is that of the organic inputs and

it leads to tissue deficits. Under this category would fall food /

nutrition, water, sex, and sleep deprivation. Tissue deficit is

assumed to be a noxious state and drives the organism to take

appropriate steps to reduce it. Secondly, the locus of

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deprivation may be environmental. Here the dimension of

categorization employed is generally the richness versus

poorness of environment e.g. the case of rural- urban or slums

and non- slum areas. One generally operationalizes

environmental deficit in terms of level of living (housing,

employment, education, etc.) or in terms of the absence of

objects and persons (e.g., parents) which should be present in

the normal treated a belonging to mutually exclusive sets and

no effort is made to relate appropriate variables in thee realms

or even to see how they influence psychological processes in

interaction with each other.

2. OBJECTIVE VS. SUBJECTIVE

Deprivation is also sought to be distinguished in terms of

objective and subjective criteria. The distinction is actually

based on how far the measurement of deprivation is

independent of the individual‘s subjective states. The emphasis

on objective deprivation is intimately linked with the concept of

minimum basic requirement for psychological functioning. One

looks for a line which could serve as a ‗cut off‘ line to demarcate

deprived from the non-deprived. The assumption is that one

know what is require and in what amount. In case of subjective

deprivation it is presumed that only an individual knows what

he want and in what amount. If the ‗desired‘ falls below his

subjective standard, he feels deprived. He may have arrived at

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the reference after comparison with relevant others or even

independently. The concept sometime implies that comparison

with others is a necessary condition for subjective deprivation.

However, one can also conceive of standards of which are

arrived at by individuals themselves. This may happen when

one takes into consideration the subjective states resulting

from the acceptance of organic inputs. Consider, for example,

prescribing the amount of the food a beggar must eat to feel

satisfied. The distinction between objective and subjective is

tenuous for example; it is generally assumed that objective

deprivation leads to a drive state of an organism.

3. ABSOLUTE VS. RELATIVE

The distinction comes closer to the objective versus

subjective distinction with the only possible exception that

absolute deprivation seems more possible in case of primary

needs and less in case of secondary needs, in which case

relative- deprivation appears to be more appropriate.

While there is nothing wrong with a classification and

assigning of labels, what seems to have happened in case of the

above classifications is that they have been redefined as

descriptors of deprivation as it is obtained in the real world?

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DEPRIVATION AND LINGUISTIC SKILLS

Bernstein (1971) made distinction between ―elaborated‖

and ―restricted‖ code made language the main pillar of the

deprivation position attributing educational failure of the

disadvantaged children to the poverty of their languages.

Mohanthy (1990) studies motivated by such a position

unfortunately promoted a linguistic deficit view which

characterized the speech of lower class, the poor, the minority

and the disadvantaged as deficient and inadequate for fostering

educational and cognitive development. One can seem up with

Edwards (1979) that the very idea of linguistic deficit in

conceived and ―Saturated with middle class bias‖ (p. 48). Du

Toit, L. (1994) confirms that underachievers are often

unemployed, or end up in ―dead – end jobs‖, which offer little or

no hope for the earn lower salaries. He concludes that a child‘s

future is radically influenced by underachievement.‖

There may be some specific factors that affect the

linguistic skills of the deprived students in secondary schools -

The first important factor is learning environment. A

learning environment consists of all those physical elements

e.g. lighting, sound, space, and furniture. (Husen & Neville,

1985). Learning climate however has so to do with the

prevailing conditions of a learning area – a class room in

particular and school in general. It involves the atmosphere and

general environment in the class room or school that may help

or hinder the learning process of linguistic skills. This includes

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physical and material resources, emotional tone, and attitude of

the teacher, social attitude of the peers, rules and regulations.

(Hawes & Hawes 1982).

The second important factor is inhibitive learning

climate. It is a climate where deprived students do not feel

secure or motivated to their task. This includes Inadequacies in

teacher training and skills, lack of interest in linguistic skills,

negative attitudes towards the deprived students. Student-

teacher ratio is so high that teacher has no time for individual

attention, thus students have little contact with teacher.

The third important factor is related to home and family.

In has been proven that family relationships and family

environment influence a child‘s success at school (Kapp,

1994). The home environment is the important influence both

positively and negatively on child‘s performance in school.

Insecurity, family disharmony, and inability of parents to offer

the child emotional, socio-economic security- are all the factors

that affect the learning-linguistic skills of a child. A child who

grows in poor conditions, does not succeed in rising above

these circumstances and there is a danger that he will leave

school early and become part of that vicious cycle of poor

unstable employment, poverty, participation in negative social

practices and crime. Most of the deprived students manifest

poor linguistic skills and poor self concept.

The fourth factor is related to environment and society.

There is strong link between school performance and socio-

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economic status of a community. Those students who belong

to the deprived class face so many problems like lack of

housing, lack of food and clothing which are the basic

necessities of life. So they are not interested in learning. The

working parents have little or no time to talk or to check their

children‘s school work. Hence the children are not good in

linguistic skills. Some parents are illiterate or have very little

school training, so they are unable encourage them to improve

the linguistic skills. Present researcher‘s experience is that in

agricultural areas school attendance is irregular especially

during planting and harvesting seasons, as children are given

various tasks to help and even take care of the younger

siblings, while their parents are busy in their fields.

The fifth factor is related to the school .Within the school

system, there are a number of factors that can cause

underachievement. Van Wyk in du Toit (1994 ) has listed

some of the causes as follows:

(i) Teacher‘s inadequate instruction

(ii) Pupil‘s inadequate participation in learning process

(iii) Uninteresting syllabus

(iv) Lack of facilities in schools

(v) Lack of proper guidance

The sixth factor is related to the child. Children differ

from each other in the way in which they cope with their

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problems, and therefore manifest various personality

characteristics, some of which may result in deprivation.

Topping this list is the issue of self image. Deprived students

usually reveal a negative self concept. Self image is shaped by

all positive and negative reflections received from meaningful

individuals in the child‘s environment. Hence children who

internalize mostly negative responses from parents, teachers

and peers may form a low self image and develop a negative

attitude to school which can result in deprivation. The next

issue is over anxiety or fear of failure may also inhabit

academic achievement by bringing about negative effects, which

may inhibit thinking. The next issue is truancy in school which

has contributed to poor linguistic skills.

Van der Aardweg (1989), stated that a number of studies

had reported a positive correlation between family size and

delinquency. Larger families were usually found in the lower

socio-economic status where other additional causes of truancy

like overcrowding, poverty, illiteracy exist. So it indicated that

deprivation may be closely related to linguistic skills.

PROBLEM OF THE STUDY

The characteristic learning difficulties of Indian students

of English are those which arise out of one or the other of the

following; lack of proper motivation, interest and attitude,

teacher competence, mother tongue, interference, family

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background, school atmosphere, lack of audio visual aids or

other facilities, orientation towards second language and

parental attitudes etc.

Since the deprived and poor students lack parental

competence and support, the schools need to function as a

substitute for parents and families. The linguistic skills most

essential for success in school. The most damaging deficiency of

deprived children may lay in the lack of basic verbal and

language skills. These children tend to be less verbal and

deficient in language as defined by school. There may be a gap

between the language they hear in their homes and they use in

school. Their vocabulary are limited as they hear far less variety

in language, receive much less verbal stimulation and deficient

in specific communication skills.

Research survey and experience clearly indicates that the

families of deprived students are merely interested to earn

money alone and they have nothing to do with intellectual or

academic discourses. As a result they may score below their

mental capacity, show low academic achievement in

comparison to non – deprived students who may be having

remarkable command on vocabulary and consequently on

language used in their school. As far as India is concern few

attempts were made to investigate the relationship between

deprivation and linguistic skills. There are very few attempts

that construct and standardize tool or technique for the

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measurement of linguistic skills in English namely as reading,

writing, listening and speaking.

English is now regarded as a service language or a tool,

which enables learners to acquire mastery in other subjects.

Hence there is an urgent need to relate the teaching of English

to teaching of other subjects. Instead of regarding the time

spent on developing linguistic skill as waste of time, it is

necessary to regard it as a wise investment.

Due to deprivation many young students never realize

their full potential and they are not able to use their talent and

contribute to their country. It is important that the school and

society as a whole take adequate steps to solve the problem of

deprived students especially related to linguistic skill which

they require in their daily life. Today language is viewed as

‗skill‘ rather than knowledge. A linguistic skill helps the learner

to ‗communicate‘.

All children learn not only the basic systems and sub-

systems of their language but also how to use them

appropriately (i.e. they acquire not only linguistic but also

communicative competence). Languages are inherently variable,

and different styles tend to be used in different contexts by

different age group.

Aurorin V. (1977) said, ―Language cannot exist and

develop outside society. Development of language as the most

important, most perfect and universal means of

communication, formation of thought and accumulation

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Transmission of expression.‖It is equally important to realize

that languages are not discrete objects out there, almost frozen

in time and space, both physical and mental. They are actually

constantly changing, fluid systems of behaviour which human

being acquire and change to define themselves and the world

around them.

Bossio (1965) reported poor language and speech

development of deprived children. He attempted to identify the

language development and reading attainment of deprived

children. It was found that deprived children were backward in

their language development. It was therefore thought desirable

to study the linguistic skills of the deprived students in

comparison to non-deprived students. It could help in

understanding the problem of linguistic skills of the non-

deprived and deprived students. Therefore, the researcher drew

the analogy and took the project to study the linguistic skills of

deprived and non deprived students and compare them.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

The problem of the study identified in this manner may be

stated in the following terms: ―A Comparative Study of

Linguistic Skills of Non-Deprived and Deprived Students”

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DEFINITION OF THE TERM USED

Reading has been defined as the conversion of printed or

written alphabet, letters or words into sounds.

READING COMPREHENSION SKILL

Reading has been defined as the conversion of printed or

written alphabet, letters or words into sounds. The reading

comprehension has been defined as to making response to

graphic stimuli, printed or written words and to give meaning to

the words. Operationally, It refers to the knowledge of

vocabulary, visual perception and discrimination in English

language and as is measured by reading comprehension test

developed by investigator.

WRITING SKILL

Writing refers to putting thoughts in visible and readable

prints. Operationally it refers to the copying written matter from

the page or expressing thoughts in readable form and as is

measured by writing test developed by investigator.

LISTENING COMPREHENSION SKILL

Listening is the process through which an individual picks

up the language. Listening comprehension skill has been

defined as ability to attend thoughtfully to spoken discourse, to

grasp the meaning intend by the speaker and to respond

critically to the total impact of the talk. Operationally it refers to

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comprehend spoken words, statements and passages in English

language and as is measured listening comprehension test

developed by investigator.

SPEAKING SKILL

Speaking has been defined as ability to express oneself in

life situations in precise words. Operationally it refers to read

sentences and describes pictures orally. It is measured by

speaking tool developed by investigator.

DEPRIVATION

It refers to social isolation that leads to disturbances in

development and behaviour. It is measured by PDS scale

developed by Girishawar Misra and L.B.Tripathi. Deprivation

has been defined as the lack or insufficiency of the basic

necessities for the survival of the individual. Operationally it

refers to the lack as well as loss of factors considered necessary

for the growth and adaptation of the individual.

OBJECTIVES

The following were the objectives of the study-

(a) To know if there is any difference in reading comprehension

skill in English language among deprived and non-deprived

students.

(b) To know if there is any difference in writing skill in English

language among deprived and non-deprived students.

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(c) To know if there is any difference in the listening

comprehension skill in English language among deprived and

non-deprived students.

(d) To know if there is any difference in speaking skill in

English language among deprived and non-deprived students.

RATIONALE

Children are not born deprived, rather deprivation is an

acquired from of behaviour which result from a combination of

factors relating to home, family, school and child. Deprivation

has many faces: the child who grows up in a home which is

culturally and educationally un-stimulating is handicapped by

environmental deprivation; the child who is unloved and

rejected by his parents suffers emotional deprivation; and the

child who lives in residential care, for long periods or

permanently, is deprived of normal family life. Maturation plays

an essential part but it is of little avail without environmental

opportunity.

Neither opportunity for learning nor maturational

readiness is, however, sufficient by itself. To these two

ingredients a third must be added: motivation or a willingness

to learn. This desire to learn is the essential driving force which

has its spring in the quality of relationships available to the

child.

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Children who come into residential care have rarely been

so fortunate. Recent evidence shows that even those who

experience short-term care have got off to a poor start from the

very beginning of their life; and throughout at least their first

seven years, they continue to be a disadvantaged group

(Mapstone, 1969). As one would predict, this then affects their

educational progress and adjustment at school. This close link

between deprivation and education was similarly shown in a

series of studies relating to eleven- and fifteen-year-olds

(Pringle, 1971).

Evidence has been accumulating on the damaging effects

of a culturally impoverished or deprived environment on

intellectual growth. This is a home-be it with a small or capital

H-which fails to provide the necessary 'intellectual food' to

develop the child's potential to the fullest extent (Dinnage and

Pringle, 1967). Without the necessary diet of rich opportunities

for play and for language development, the ability to learn

remains stunted. The consequence is most severe and all-

pervasive during the earliest years of childhood. It is then the

basis laid for speech development for learning how to learn; and

perhaps most important of years that parental expectation and

stimulation provide the child with the motivation to want to

learn.

The exact difference which an enriching or depriving home

background respectively can make, needs a great deal more

research. 'However, a conservative estimate of the effect of

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extreme environments on intelligence is about 20 I.Q. points.

This could mean the difference between a life in an institution

for the subnormal and a productive life in society. It could

mean the difference between a professional career and an

occupation which is at the semi-skilled or unskilled level.'

(Bloom, 1964). The deprivation produces the ill-effects on every

aspect of life.

In the light of these recently recognized needs, priorities

may have to be reconsidered. The maximum possible time

should be devoted to talking to children, reading and telling

them stories, encouraging them to make up and act simple

plays about everyday occurrences, inviting them to relate

anything that has happened during the day-all aimed at

helping them to express their feelings, ideas and thoughts.

Deprived children need this help far beyond the stage when it is

normally required because so many of them have missed these

experiences at the right time.

Quick results cannot be expected. If there is a slow growth

in the child's capacity to use and enjoy language, then gradual

improvement in intelligence, adjustment and educational

progress is likely to follow. Mixed age groups in residential

units may also help: younger children learn from and imitate

older ones, while the latter can be encouraged to play with, talk

and read to the little ones, ostensibly to help houseparent but

at the same time improving their own power and desire for self-

expression. Thus the children try to overcome to deprivation.

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But, it is the non- deprived which may contribute

significantly to development of linguistic skill of the students.

Thus the study may be helpful in exploring the linguistic skills

of deprived students.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY:

The problem was very widespread and varied from primary

level to higher level of education. There were numerous

variables affecting the linguistic related attitudes. So the

present study was delimited in the following manner-

(a) Students of class VIII were studied only.

(b) Student of Almora district was included only.

(c) Age group of students was kept within a narrow range of

above 12 to 14 years.

(d) Linguistic skills were studied only with reference to

deprivation. Other variable were not included.

(e) There are about three hundred languages in the world but

keeping in view the worldwide important of English language.

Linguistic skills in English language were taken up to study in

this research work.

(f) The study was limited in its area, method and techniques.

A brief description of review of related literature has been

provided in the following chapter.

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