#107, Book Review: ‘English through Folktales: A Self- Study Book’ by Anand Mahanand and Lalita Goswami – Reviewed by Mian Md. Naushaad Kabir
ELTWeekly Vol. 3 Issue#107 | December 11 | ISSN 0975-3036
English through Folktales: A Self- Study Book. ByAnandMahanand andLalitaGoswami.
New Delhi: Viva Books. 2011. Pp. 97. Rs. 160. ISBN 978-81-309-1472-5.
Reviewed by
MianMd.NaushaadKabir, Doctoral Researcher, The English and ForeignLanguagesUniversity,Hyderabad
The recent literature in the field of materials development suggests the use of culture specific and locally available resources in teaching foreign or second language to the learners, young or adult. Such recommendations strongly pave the way for bringing in folk resources in the classroom as they are by their own nature unique representative of specific cultures, and highly familiar to the people adhering to those cultures. The thematic familiarity with the resources replete with various types of genres scaffolds learners’ learning of the ‘unknown’ through the ‘known’. Without much effort and with more ease, they can know about equivalent expressions in the target language, and word equivalents for culturally specific terms generally not seen in traditional materials. Learners can chant musical rhymes or funny doggerels, act out the characters through role plays and enhance their knowledge in other cultures retaining their own cultures, which are, otherwise, on the verge of extinction for the rapid globalization of popular western cultures. A cursory look at the book under review is most likely to lead any reader to think in similar fashion detailed so far. (more…)