Learning English for Employability

There was a time to conduct seminars, workshops, conferences on Indian Writing English, Immigrant Writings and so on. Now it is the trend to focus on ‘Employability’. As citizens of global village or in a country where westernization is adopted in faster pace, it may be easy to adopt education culture of western countries also. Now in India, youngsters are somewhat matured than those of previous generations. They need living role models not guidelines. This paper will discuss on ‘learning English for employability’ not ‘teaching English’. Now teachinglearning process is learner centered. Therefore, becoming employable can also be learner centered. How much important it is to make the students realize the need of English language, how a learner can be exposed to a work culture, what the role of stakeholders like government, universities, institutions, parents and teachers is in that.


Short Communication
After the world has shrunken and become global village and employment crossed frontiers, learning English has become inevitable and therefore it became lingua franca. Having discussed much on methodologies of teaching English, peoples' mind turned unto the objective of it. Now at every nook and cranny, people cogitate the objective of learning English i.e., employability. The necessity for it is the lacuna that it has. It has been a long process to find the way out how to bridge the gap [1].
Development of a person's knowledge and skill depends more on the living style, surrounding, exposure and culture of a person than his receptivity which is a natural process. It is applicable also to a student of India who is learning English as a second language and getting employability skill. There are many stake-holders in the scenario starting from government policies to the classroom atmosphere. The role of each when the others are perfect and the gap between expected and existing will be dealt in this paper. Hence, it will discuss on 'learning English for employability' not teaching English. It must be learner centered including becoming employable.
Like in all businesses including education, generally people are ready to accept that the customer is always right. In learning-teaching process, student is the customer. His approach cannot be blamed however it is. Instead the atmosphere to learn can be modified to suit his needs. Learners, a lump of unmolded clay in the hands of stakeholders who make him or her learn a language and employable, plays a vital role. Since the current generation is somewhat matured than those of previous. He or she needs living role models not guidelines. This paper portrays how all the other stake holders except the learner should adjust themselves for a positive change [2].
The role of government in learning English may be indirect but has high impact. In selection of teachers who are the major sources in language learning, it gives least importance to language ability. Most of government posts are filled by seniority basis or objective type test. It is likely to increase its literacy rate than supporting quality education.
The government should test the teachers' language and communication ability. The recent announcement by NABARD for approving loan facility to all irrespective of students' academic performance proves the statement.
Universities have removed the entrance exam for professional courses with a good notion to provide education to all. But the outcome is poor employability skill among the graduates due to lack of communication skills. When a situation prevails to get clarity on different types of English and their updates through conferences and workshops, a common understanding and clarity of Technical English is required. Moreover, it is questionable to expect learners to express their technical ideas when they are unable to utter even a single sentence of day-to-day life. Instead of Technical English and Communication Skills Lab (computer based), the varsity can think of alternative to provide a syllabus according to the need of learners. The existing evaluation pattern also gives room for communicating ideas through writing the examinations. Most of the learners are comfortable in writing whatever they like than speaking [3].
The role of institution is like a joint family. The culture adopted by learners is based on the environment where they are exposed to. At matured state, the learners know how to take advantage of the situation. When there is a poor knowledge of young learners' psychology, a lot of mishaps happen. Many of the schools and colleges are run by either politician or business men whose motto is making money. They strive for result oriented admissions not quality. Their motto leads them to appoint unqualified candidates who are suitable for their salary package. In turn, as a cyclic process, unemployed professional graduates come into the picture as teachers in language learning process. As language teachers know, learning a language is not an input alone. It must be practiced over a period of time in order to develop it as a skill. The institutions should consider converting language knowledge into a skill. The colleges must give exposure to the environment of work place, provide infrastructure to practice. They must provide many role models for all types of required skills to learners. 'Good infrastructure is also a reason for good performance' said by a rank-holding student from Panimalai Engineering College [4].
It is a general attitude of illiterate parents to graduate their children. It makes them take decisions blindly. Without considering their ability to support in their children's studies, they admit them in professional courses. The parents are the first and best role models to children. When the parents are unable to monitor and guide their children in studies, learning process still gets slower. Other than school or college hours, the learners can practice communication only the way in which the surrounding requires. Here the expectation of the parents go higher to the level that once they admitted their children in any college, their children would be prepared and sold for the best in job market. They forget that home is the best nursery where character building starts.
Teacher is next to the parents in language learning process. While learning of L1 is initiated by many stakeholders, the language teacher initiates L2 in class room. Other subject teachers also join hands in this in a few institutions. But in the majority, they hurdled in the practice of language by learners. Along with language, the teacher teaches all sorts of communication skills also. Therefore much of the degree than other stakeholders falls on them. Their knowledge and ability in instilling the employability skill in the learners is vital. The teachers are the people whom the learners are observing much more next to their parents and adopt behavior psychologically. The current scenario is not fulfilling it. The teaching job is seen, in common, as a best one to spend time with members of the family. Teachers are less passionate in teaching than money making. They often forget that teaching is an enabling process. By rebuking the learners, they become an example of how not to be. The growth of private training institutions for language learning and employability skill proves the gap in requirement. The gap can be filled by selecting the right candidate for teaching profession by government and private institutions. -human being is a self-sophisticated social animal -less passionate -poor role model -create right mentality for education [5,6].
Technology, as double sided sword, plays a vital role in learning process. By reducing human effort, it increases productivity and also gifted many types of new diseases as bonus. The fact is that by introduction of communication devices like computer with internet and mobile phones, the learners concentration is centrifugalized from learning. The technology has added another language called sms or email language which the learners have to update for better survival.
Instead of receiving passively, the learners of this generation are much more active to respond to the environment. They undergo all sort of misleading. All stakeholders try to escape telling that it is the role/in the hands of learners to select the right one. But they never think of good to the society and well-being of the public and country. The learners are expecting conducive environment in India to take up or prepare for unexpected disaster only by nature. Totally corrupted by all starting from parents, teaching faculties, institutions, government. Society-less passionate-uncared for English-ambition less-wrong attitude-diff. languages (sms) to communicate -confusable-This generation has been weaned on computer games -Students are enslaved by technology.
It is a joint venture for all stakeholders to make the learners acquire a language and become employable. They should realize how much important it is to make the students realize the need of English language, how a learner can be exposed to a work culture, role of individual stakeholder like government, universities, institutions, parents and teachers in that.