MY CLASSROOM INDIA Dr. Santosh Kumar Mahapatra did not grow up speaking English, and studying English in secondary school was not easy for him. In fact, he almost failed the subject in Grades 10 and 12. Later, after he earned a master’s degree in English Literature but still felt he could not speak the language well, he improved his English-speaking skills while earning a second master’s degree. Now, he not only holds a PhD in English Language Teaching, but he has also designed courses—including one called English Conversation Skills. Dr. Santosh Kumar Mahapatra addresses one of his classes. 38 ENGLISH TEACHING FORUM 2017 americanenglish.state.gov/english-teaching-forum Dr. Mahapatra teaches a variety of courses as “unorthodox,” and he deals with the fixed at the Birla Institute of Technology and seating by using pair-work activities, moving Science (BITS) Pilani, a private, nonprofit around the classroom, having the students university in Hyderabad. He has taught move to sit around him in the front of the Introductory Psychology, Linguistics, and class, and creating opportunities for drama Print and Audiovisual Advertisement, but and skits. he said that his focus is on English language teaching. He mainly teaches Technical Report Luckily, BITS Pilani welcomes innovative Writing to first-year students and Advanced teachers. Because all four of the BITS Pilani Communicative English to second- and third- campuses require first-year students to year students working toward their bachelor’s take Technical Report Writing, there is a degrees in technology or engineering fields. standardized curriculum and textbook for He teaches two or three Technical Report the course. However, Dr. Mahapatra has the Writing classes, depending on the semester, freedom to supplement with materials that to approximately 130 students per class. he generates himself or that he finds on the Internet or in other textbooks. He has even One strategy Dr. Mahapatra uses to overcome designed two courses that are about to be the challenge of teaching large classes is to approved by the institution—the previously use pair work to assess in-class writing. After mentioned English Conversation Skills course giving students time to write, he displays a and one called Introduction to Critical rubric on the overhead projector and asks Pedagogy. When discussing his approach to students to exchange essays with a partner designing courses, Dr. Mahapatra stresses and grade one another’s essay by using the the importance of flexibility. He sets topics rubric. During this time, he is available to for the course, but he also waits to see who answer any questions that students may have. enrolls in the class and asks for students’ Once they have finished grading the essays, feedback at the beginning of the term. Once students return them and talk about their he discovers their needs and interests, he evaluations. He cautions that students must can adjust the readings, assessments, and his be paired carefully and that this technique teaching method. works best with students who have at least an intermediate English proficiency. Fortunately, The courses that he has created are for he reports that he has capable students. The undergraduate students. Introduction to students’ evaluations might factor into final Critical Pedagogy includes readings by Paulo grades, but Dr. Mahapatra uses the pair-work Freire, Antonio Gramsci, and others, with the assignments for formative assessment as well. intent of encouraging students to think about alternatives to mainstream education. The Each classroom at BITS Pilani is equipped English Conversation Skills class uses drama with projectors, audiovisual equipment, and and technology as foundations, so skits and Internet connectivity (these are resources that media are integral components. For instance, not all universities in India have). There are Dr. Mahapatra asks groups of four or five two styles of classrooms—those with stadium students to write a script on a social issue or seating and “flat” classrooms with immobile any other topic they find interesting. Each furniture. Dr. Mahapatra says the inability to group presents its skit while the other students move the furniture is unlike the situation in use rubrics to evaluate them. The rubrics which he studied English language teaching. themselves are flexible, as Dr. Mahapatra When he was studying, he said, the teachers- might change them depending on the aspects in-training had “roundtables where we sat of language he wants students to notice and together; we had discussions, and the teacher assess. After students complete the rubrics, was moving around while we completed they discuss their opinions in groups and activities or tasks, and that was much more then with the entire class. While many Indian interactive.” He describes his teaching style students can write English fairly well, many americanenglish.state.gov/english-teaching-forum 2017 ENGLISH TEACHING FORUM 39 The entrance of Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani-Hyderabad Campus of those same students struggle with speaking order to obtain a government school job, informally in day-to-day situations, and Dr. so he moved to Hyderabad in 2007 and Mahapatra hopes his English Conversation enrolled in the English and Foreign Skills class can help his students decrease the Languages University (EFLU). He said, gap between written and spoken English. “I had the habit of listening to the radio, the BBC … all the time. I didn’t have the money Dr. Mahapatra can identify with that challenge to buy a computer, so I depended on the because he was once a student who struggled radio to improve my English. When I came to express himself orally in English. He said to EFLU, the shopkeeper there spoke better that after earning his first master’s degree, in English than I did.” Dr. Mahapatra made English Literature from Berhampur University every effort to speak English rather than rely in Orissa, his home state, he was “able to write on Oriya, his mother tongue, and to interact grammatically correct English, and I could pass with people whose English-speaking skills the exams, but I could not speak. So whenever were more advanced than his. “I didn’t have I went to a job interview, I was rejected a single friend who spoke Oriya at EFLU,” because my English was bad.” According to he said. “I spoke only with those who could Dr. Mahapatra, his spoken English started to speak good English, and the motivation was improve when he attended a postgraduate to learn English.” diploma program in the Teaching of English. That program was his formal introduction He also spent time in the computer lab to teaching English language and applied watching YouTube, and he wrote for university linguistics. He said his teachers there helped magazines to improve his writing. He him improve his English enough that he could returned to EFLU and earned his Master’s in get a job, and he started teaching primary Philosophy in English for Specific Purposes, school after completing that program. and he completed his PhD in English Language Teaching, with an emphasis in Dr. Mahapatra then decided that he wanted language assessment, from the University of a “proper” Bachelor of Education degree in Hyderabad in 2015. 40 ENGLISH TEACHING FORUM 2017 americanenglish.state.gov/english-teaching-forum Helping students familiarize themselves with technology encourages them to become independent learners. To maintain his English skills today, each day. He calls games “useful shortcuts,” Dr. Mahapatra said he continues “writing and he occasionally incorporates them in his and interacting in English as much as possible. classes to keep his students interested in the My wife doesn’t speak my language, and I topics he teaches. Other times, he brings don’t speak hers much. Our interactions are technology into the classroom to keep his in English. All of my interactions with students students engaged because he understands that and colleagues are in English, so English is his students value it, so it is advantageous for my language now. Now, I’m reading academic him to stay abreast of the latest technology. journals and writing to improve my academic Dr. Mahapatra uses technology to help him writing skills.” He has authored articles in relate to how his students think and feel. He academic journals and book chapters on said, “Technologically, I’m more advanced language assessment and teacher education. than my students. They don’t know about most of the online web databases, Web Dr. Mahapatra regularly participates in 2.0 … . They don’t know how to create professional development by attending presentations using Prezi, so I have to teach conferences and workshops. Recently, he has them.” He lists SpiderScribe and Moodle as attended workshops addressing assessment, tools he enjoys using in his classes. international publication, and materials development. He also had the opportunity to He also said that VoiceThread, a feedback tool, take part in several online classes, including is among the most popular of the tools he has two U.S. Department of State E-Teacher used with his students. Dr. Mahapatra asks his Scholarship Program courses, “Exploring students to make presentations in class, and he Web 2.0: Tools for Classroom Teaching and records them with a video camera. After class, Professional Development” through Lewis he uploads the presentations into VoiceThread and Clark College and “EFL [English as a and uses a microphone to comment on each foreign language] Assessment” through the presentation. Students can go to the website University of Maryland, Baltimore. Since and check the feedback he has given. What taking those courses, he has led a workshop they really like is that they can log in while to train teachers to use technology and preparing for future presentations, watch their Web 2.0 tools, and the teachers he trained previous presentations, listen to the feedback have created, and now maintain, electronic again, and try to improve. Dr. Mahapatra said portfolios documenting how they are using the tool is a “huge hit” with his students. the tools in their classrooms. Dr. Mahapatra also offered an online class teaching Helping students familiarize themselves assessment using Web 2.0 tools and wrote with technology encourages them to become an article about the experience, which was independent learners, which is one of recently published by the British Council in Dr. Mahapatra’s favorite parts of teaching. an international conference volume titled He said that what he is particularly proud of Innovation in English Language Teacher Education. in his classroom is that the “people who attend my class develop concrete information and Technology plays a large role in the way want to learn more about the discipline, and Dr. Mahapatra interacts with his students. they are in a position to learn on their own.” He said one of his biggest teaching challenges is that he struggles with making classes He laughed as he told the story of former interesting and keeping students motivated Bachelor of Technology students who have americanenglish.state.gov/english-teaching-forum 2017 ENGLISH TEACHING FORUM 41 graduated and have good jobs in multinational Kingdom. He also plans to attend more corporations, but, he said, “They want to workshops in India and hopes to speak at an learn more about linguistics! The money international conference to network with that they earn now is pretty good, and they other professionals interested in linguistics will have to get their master’s and a PhD [in and language assessment. Not long ago, Linguistics], which will take seven to eight the idea of speaking at an international years, and the money that they’ll get at the conference would have seemed far-fetched end of that is nothing when compared to the to someone who struggled to speak in money that they are making now, but they are English. That Dr. Mahapatra has come this welcome to pursue their interests. But I am far is a testament to his dedication and happy that I have inspired them to think like perseverance—qualities that he now hopes that, learn more, and that they are interested to pass on to his students. in it.” Dr. Mahapatra continues to challenge This article was written by Blaire Creamer Hart, himself professionally. He wants to have an a 2015–2016 English Language Fellow in Hyderabad, article published in an international journal India. She taught English for Employability at the within the next two years, and he would Siasat Daily Initiative. eventually like to pursue a postdoctoral fellowship in the United States or United All photos by Blaire Creamer Hart The auditorium and grounds at Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani-Hyderabad Campus 42 ENGLISH TEACHING FORUM 2017 americanenglish.state.gov/english-teaching-forum