Journal of English Language Teaching

Teaching English to tribals: A case study of Spiti, Himachal Pradesh

Suneela Sharma

Associate Professor of English, Dept of Higher Education, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh

Keywords: Teaching English to tribals, difficulties in learning English

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Abstract

This paper is based on the case study conducted to understand the educational backwardness of tribal learners in the tribal district of Spiti, Himachal Pradesh with special reference to English language. It describes the language learning problems of tribal learners and analyzes the causes of their backwardness in respect of English. A micro approach was used to study and analyze the quality in the education of Tribal learners of Munselling School in Rangrik, Kaza, in the setting chosen for the study. The study was a qualitative study as the hypothesis was formulated after the data was collected through interviews, observations, case study and focus group discussion. It reports the findings on the impact of teaching English to these tribal learners by volunteer teachers.

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