Back to: Language Competence and Communication Skills
Define Language Across Curriculum (LAC) and Describe its Principles
LAC is a relatively new development in the study of foreign languages. Its primary goal is to help students learn a foreign language during class time in language and other subject courses. In the 1990s of the previous century, worldwide comparative studies that found that reading comprehension was crucial in all subject areas brought the significance and necessity of LAC to light. In order to assist kids acquire the necessary proficiency in the target language, LAC promotes not only the development of communication abilities in a foreign language but also literary skills, classroom management techniques, and teaching tactics.
The state of English language instruction in our educational institutions at the moment is not very promising. It has been shown that even after receiving higher test scores, the majority of our undergraduate and graduate students remain unable to speak English successfully. They prefer to distribute Xerox copies of notes rather than taking and writing down notes. Exam-taking has evolved into a necessary evil that does not reflect students’ true proficiency in the English language of instruction. Not just students, but many teachers also have a difficult time utilising English in conversation and in the classroom. The majority of them prevent students from participating in conversations or explanations of concepts because they are unsure of themselves or their proficiency in the target language.
Why should English be utilised in all subject areas in the classroom? One of the most popular languages in India is English, which has become a global language on social media and the Internet. Therefore, it is crucial that educational institutions encourage students to use English more and more so that they can, among other things, (a) improve their communication skills, (b) comprehend the content more effectively, (c) easily understand technical terms related to various subjects, (d) take and make notes for later conversion into full-length essays, and (e) submit original and plagiarism-free assignments.
By utilising English in the classroom, teachers are better able to organise their classes, use contemporary technology efficiently, keep up with current information, provide students their own notes, and help them create quality writing assignments from those notes.
For students to successfully converse in the target language and write examinations and assignments in it, the language teacher and the subject teacher must collaborate. The subject instructors can ask the language teachers for assistance with the specific vocabulary or grammatical constructions used in their fields, as well as for guidance on how to address any potential questions that students may have posed in class.
