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Analysis of Written Work

4.2.3 Conventional Vs Experimental Techniques

(a) Same procedure with a difference
In the conventional way of teaching, practice was given in the grammar to be used in a particular composition, the lesson in the course-book was read, questions were asked based on the lesson and finally the composition work was taken up.  The teacher asked questions, the bright learners tried to give the answers or the teacher supplied the answers himself.  The outline was written on the blackboard and learners wrote the composition.

The experimental technique also mainly depended on developing the competence of the learner by giving him practice in the structure and vocabulary to be used.  Exposure to the written medium was also provided by making the learners read a passage given in the textbook and work out comprehension questions.  Then the writing activity was taken up.

But the main difference was in the way the practice was given the type of comprehension questions asked.  Learners in the experimental group practiced the new structure by using it in meaningful situations.  They used the new structure to ask questions, collect information about their friends, recorded them and then organized them in a proper order, so that the information can be presented to class as a unified paragraph.  Even the comprehension questions were not based on the content of the lesson.  But the questions made the learners be aware of the way the linking and sequencing devices were used in a written piece of work to convey a message effectively.  Further, instead of the teacher asking the questions all the time, learners were divided into groups where they could ask each other questions, think of different answers to the same question, select the most appropriate one and write the answers.  In this way they were made to concentrate more on appropriacy rather than on accurate expression alone.