English Language Acquisition of the Secondary School Students Belonging to Tribal Area of Nanded District: An Investigation

Abstract

Being an International language English holds an important position in school curriculum of India. It is introduced as a second or third language. The students not only study it as language but as a subject. However the performance of the students in English is a matter of discussion. There are some issues regarding English language acquisition at secondary level of school education. These issues are much intense in Tribal area of the country in general and Maharashtra in special. The remote, backward, notified tribal areas of the Maharashtra are known for the diversity of sociolinguistic factors. Nanded district located to south east part of Maharashtra state has the tribal region covering Kinwat and Mahoor tehsils. Most of the people in this area are the people from Scheduled Tribe and Nomadic Tribe social categories. The schools located in this tribal area are mostly in vernacular language i.e. in Marathi. Despite of the strenuous, Himalayan efforts undertaken by the state government, a sorry state of affairs is still rampant to exist in the achievement of English and the acquisition of English language of secondary school students belonging to tribal area of Nanded district in Maharashtra state is not satisfactory. The dialects, social background, weaker economic condition, aloofness from the advanced world, lack of amenities, health issues, ignorance are some of the social issues. Poor infrastructure, lack of teaching aids and competent teachers in tribal schools are some causes behind poor performance in English language. Students commit mistakes in spellings, sentence formation in addition to wrong pronunciation.