Language Lab- the better option for Oral

Oral: The dilemma of oral of SSC examination for languages was at the centre of attention in Maharashtra from last two years. It is said that the language teachers from secondary schools bestow marks liberally in oral. It affects the passing percentage and the highly coloured result doesn’t reveal true caliber of students.  Due to this (mis)conception, the oral for languages was excluded from the academic year 2018-19.  Tendency of excluding oral was enormously enthusiastic that it didn’t give a thought of finding innovative solutions for the problem and its upshot brought the downfall of 12.31 percent in SSC result that impelled the inclusion of oral and internal evaluation system in the SSC exam from academic year 2019- 20.  But this inclusion does not promise that teachers won’t donate marks extravagantly in oral and internal evaluation this year too.  It was expected that the innovative and constructive solutions would be implemented considering the opinions of teachers of all languages for oral. Actually, it was the golden opportunity to undertake action research in finding innovative and practical solutions for the fraudulent habit of giving excessive credit in oral. No such expected solution is suggested in the GR of 8^th August 2019.  Considering the chaos all over Maharashtra, it is observed that no one opposes the oral but everyone is against the temperament of giving excess marks to the students who don’t perform up to the mark in oral.  
   

Language Lab: I suggest that the state board of education should launch the online portal to conduct oral through language labs set in every school of Maharashtra because it is the most practical solution to the present scenario of giving more marks in oral to the poor performance of the students. What the SSC board needs for online oral is the intense will power and futuristic vision as it is the 21^st century of globalization, information, science and technology. It is our prime responsibility to refurbish oral to meet the needs of 21^st century students. If technology collaborates, the outdated traditional procedure of oral will last no more. The Kothari commission had already proclaimed that destiny of a nation is shaped in its classrooms. It is need of hour that language labs should be developed in every school.

Procedure of Oral: The linguistic justice can be given in true sense to students through language lab while testing Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. As soon as students login on the portal, a progress line in red colour having four steps of LSRW will turn green indicating that they have completed the oral upto the particular skill/s online.

Listening: As students select listening skill, the option list testing listening skill is displayed. The options are words or sentences, an audio or audio-visual clip, a set of instructions or a speech, a poem or song, a news or an advertisement, a conversation or a passage. They can choose the option of their choice. After listening the selected option through headphones, there will be a set of five simple MCQs activities is displayed on the screen. They have to click on the appropriate options or they can type, write on writing pad in their handwriting or they can speak through the headphone. The written or spoken responses given of them are recorded on the portal.

Reading: A set of instructions or a speech, a poem or song, a news or an advertisement, a conversation or a passage is displayed on the screen. Students have to read loudly and it will be recorded and saved on the portal.

Speaking: A list of ten topics for speaking or a set of personal response questions or audio- visual clip or an animated clip or computerised dialogues or a conversation is displayed on the screen. By speaking, they can express their opinions and their responses are recorded and saved on the portal.

Writing: An audio- visual clip or animated clip or a slip of a saving account or a slip of reservation or an admission form or a wrapper is displayed to test their writing skill. They can type or write in their handwriting on writing pad connected to the computer and the responses are recorded and saved on the portal.

Assessment:  The recorded responses of the students can be judged by the computerised assessment developed by the software or app.  The SSC Board can take the help of different assessment systems available online. Otherwise it can develop its own system that can assess the responses of the students as per their quality of responses.

The pinnacle of determination of suggesting oral through language lab is to abolish the too much blamed subjectivity of the oral. The computerised or online assessment system will confer objectivity to the oral. Here the tradition of imparting marks generously will be uprooted.

All four skills are allotted twenty marks considering each skill for five marks and the scheduled time of the oral is twenty minutes for each student. The marks obtained by students will not be disclosed to students or their schools but the SSC board will directly add the marks of oral in mark lists of students.

Transparency: The identification of students through finger prints, face and eyes recorded by schools while filling forms of the SSC Board exam should be verified at the time of oral. The web camera of a computer or laptop can continuously keep an eye on students to prevent malpractice in oral.

The quantity of LSRW testing activities as question set should be so enormous that if hundred students from same school appear at the time, they all should get different activity sets so that it can eradicate the possibility of copying others. All these things provide transparency to oral.

Challenges:  I am completely aware of the physical and technological challenges of conducting oral through language labs and online portal. The first serious issue is developing language lab in every school. Additional one big classroom for language lab with availability of sets of computers/laptops, internet, web cameras, headphones etc. can be a grave issue in some of the schools in Maharashtra. The education board has to accept the challenge of starting online portal having effective and efficient software with the technology of identification of students, online computerised assessment system, storing the colossal data of recorded responses of the students, preparing question sets with audio visual or animated clips, imparting training to teachers and changing the mentality of teachers, students and parents. The board has to undertake this herculean task for the success of online oral through language labs.

Strength: There is no need to get frantic of the mentioned challenges as students, teachers and schools are already habituated of online process of the educational projects called Shaalasiddhi, Avirat and Kalchachani. Teachers are relishing Avirat whereas students of every school have to appear for online Kal Chachani before SSC exam. In some regions of Maharashtra, teachers cope with the online admission process for higher secondary education of their students. All these facts indicate that it is elementary for the SSC board to start a portal for online oral through language lab as teachers and students are already working on different online portals. It can refer the system used by so many online competitive exams like JEE and CET for verifying identity of students appearing for online oral. The question sets of activities testing LSRW can be collected from teachers of Maharashtra by arranging workshops by all eight divisional boards.

Hope: The SSC board can easily accept the challenges because online oral can turn eco-friendly process as it will save millions of papers, printing charges and its chemical procedure. It will reduce manual work of clerks and teachers in Maharashtra and can save transport expenditure too. Students won’t hate orals of languages but will spontaneously love due to languages labs where they enjoy musical audio - visual clips and learn the basic knowledge of ICT. ‘Live English’ the practical but innovative section newly added in English coursebooks of std X and IX from last three years can be treated ‘Live’ in true sense through language lab. Online oral will get more significance because parents, students, teachers and schools will treat it more seriously as marks of oral are not in hands of teachers or schools. At the same time, teachers and school will be free from baseless blame given by some parents that their children failed as teachers or schools didn’t give marks to their children in oral. Society, parents, and students have formed the misconception that the board has included orals in evaluation system to give excessive marks and pass students in SSC examination. The board must nip the evil in the bud hitting the nail on the head with the help of languages teachers who must give the positive message to the society, parents and students that oral is the movement specially designed for developing language skills of students. The SSC board should leave no stone unturned to start online oral in Maharashtra immediately. I know every cloud has a silver lining that schools, teachers, students will receive it with open arm as they know that if their dreams are big enough, the facts don’t count.

Mr. Sahebrao Budha Mahajan  9890377280  msb1166@gmail.om