2016-17

National Seminar on Language Across Curriculum

A National Seminar on ‘Language across Curriculum- A Break Away from Conventional Teaching’ was organized on 11 February 2017 by the college in collaboration with English Fountain. This seminar was attended by approximately 100 participants comprising of Principals of Teacher Education Institutes and schools, teacher-educators, school teachers, academicians and students pursuing their B.Ed course.  The inaugural address rendered by Sr. Clare DSouza, Provincial Superior, Western Region Province of The Congregation of Carmelite Religious.  Sr Clare presented a gist of the concept and need to integrate language across the curriculum. She elucidated how mastery over the language leads to mastery over content. Sr Clare supported her views with many experiences from her career as an educational leader.

The key note address was delivered by Ms Jennifer Thomas, Assistant Professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences. Ms Jennifer spoke on ‘Multilingualism in India: An asset or a hurdle?’ wherein she highlighted India’s linguistic heritage. Emphasizing that language is an intricate component of our culture, Ms Thomas provide some invaluable reflection on how multilingualism is a resource to be explored given the fact that our classrooms are a mosaic of learners from different backgrounds. In the technical session on ‘Critiquing State Policies on Language and Education’, Dr Supriya Deka, Associate Professor , Anjuman Islam College of Education, analysed various polices  on education focusing on how these policies have impacted Language Education. In the technical session ‘Exploring Reading - Writing – Learning Connections’, Dr Mariamma Joseph, Principal Pushpanjali College of Education, investigated the important skills of reading and writing and elucidated with suitable examples how these skills play a pivotal role in the learning process. In the post lunch session, papers were presented on four subthemes - English as a Global Language in a Multilingual Country, Developing Sociolinguistic Awareness in the Indian Classroom, New Perspectives in the Teaching of Languages- Challenges and Problems and Use of e-Platform in Developing Communication Competencies. The seminar culminated in the Valedictory function presided over by Mr Prakash Almeida, Founder-Director of English Fountain. In his inspiring valedictory address, Mr Almeida shared his thoughts on the emerging challenges of building communicative competence of learners. Thus the seminar helped the participants to critically examine various aspects of language learning and find viable answers that plague the entire learning process in general and language classroom in particular. The seminar was a success due to the unstinted efforts put in by Manager Sr Sushila, Convenor Principal Dr Mariamma Joseph, Organizing Secretaries Ms Angelina Nunes and Dr Helen Jadhav and the entire faculty and staff of Pushpanjali College of Education.