ENGLISH LANGUAGE LABORATORY GUIDELINES FOR THE PROJECT DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR OPEN UNIVERSITY

ENGLISH LANGUAGE LABORATORY The changing context of University education in the 21st Century makes it necessary to restructure the curriculum and to reorient the teachers responsible for curriculum transaction, in order to impart soft skills in communicative English with view of increasing opportunities of their employability. In view of Globalization and the needs of 'Knowledge Society', the teaching of English has to shift the focus from teaching of literature to teaching of Language and communication skills.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE LABORATORY Seeking these changes in view, the Office of the Higher Education Commissioner, Govt. of Gujarat, Gandhinagar adopted an innovative approach and decided to establish state-of-art, LAN based English Language Laboratory in about 60 colleges of the State in the first phase. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University is entrusted the responsibility of implementing this project. ( BAOU henceforth ) The focus of the courses run in the English Language Laboratory will be on Functional English (method and curriculum).

Collaboration: Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University on behalf of the Office of the Commissioner, Higher Education, Govt. of Gujarat have signed an MoU with British Council, Mumbai for collaboration in training, vetting of materials and ancillary aspects on 5 th October, 2007 Workshop on “Material Production for Certificate Course ( Level II )” - was held for five days from 22nd October, 2007 to 26th October, 2007 at WALMI, Anand, Dr. Ray Mackay (British Council Expert) was the resource person. Proposed 2 nd workshop with the British Council for Diploma Course ( Level III) would be held in January 2008.

Managing English Language Laboratories: Admission Process Every English Language Lab established by the grant of Commissioner Office through the BAOU would be called as Auxiliary Center. For this the colleges will have to apply in given pro forma and submit them to the Co-ordinator of the project. BAOU has already sent these forms to the College. All English Language Lab established will accordingly be given recognition by the BAOU as Auxiliary Centers and a distinct Auxiliary Center no. would be assigned to them, once the forms are received from them. It is mandatory for the college to have an Auxiliary Centre no. to enroll student in the Language Laboratory.

Managing English Language Laboratories: Enrollment of a Student Enrollment no.: Initials of the course i.e. LI or LII or LIII followed by Auxiliary Center no. assigned by the BAOU followed by a digit. e.g. if a student enrolls in Level I and the assigned Auxiliary Center no. is 11 then the enrollment no. of a student is LI1101

Managing English Language Laboratories: Fees Registration forms (brochure) for candidates will be supplied by the office of BAOU Registration fee - Rs. 100, brochure / form fee - Rs. 50, (this is up to the college to decide they can charge less then this also) and the course fees for Level I, Level II and Level III Rs. 400, Rs. 800, Rs respectively should be charged and it shall remain with the college. The concerned colleges are to maintain separate accounts of the labs by college accountants. Only the Examination Fees for Level I, Level II and Level III - Rs. 100, Rs. 200, Rs. 300 respectively with the list of name of the enrolled students would go to the BAOU.

Managing English Language Laboratories: Additional Human Resource All additional human resource or expenditure for the same e.g. lab technician, the receipt to be given to the students etc. shall be managed by the college from the revenue earned by the college by different courses.

Courses Offered: Course fees Sessions (Theory + Practical) Duration Foundation Course ( Level I) months Certificate Course ( Level II ) months Diploma Course ( Level III ) year

Courseware: By the time we shall have our own courseware of Level I ( Foundation Course) we shall make use of Language in use Beginner’s Level (Course book and Self study book) for Level I. Courseware (course book and self study book) for each course i.e. Level I, Level II and Level III shall be provided to each English Language Lab by the BAOU. Books related to English Language Lab will be supplied for the reference purpose of the Lab.

Eligibility Criteria: Minimum qualification for the Foundation Course (Level I) is SSC (with or without English). Minimum qualification for Certificate Course (Level II) is HSC (with English) or those who have cleared Level I. Minimum qualification for Diploma Course (Level III) is Graduation.

Training the existing faculties: 1 After necessary discussions H. M. Patel Institute of English Training and Research, Vallabh Vidyanagar (Anand) has been entrusted the task of training part of the programme. The training for the first batch (24 colleges) was held between 25 th July to 4 th Aug 2007 at Kadi Sarva Vidyalaya Campus, Sector-23, Gandhinagar. The beneficiaries were the faculties of English deputed by the concerned college for this purpose.

Training the existing faculties: 2 The training for the second batch (30 colleges) was held between 16 th Aug to 25 th Aug, 2007 at H. M. Patel Institute of English Training and Research, Vallbh Vidyanagar. Proposed third batch training for the faculties of English designated for this purpose will be held in the month of January 2008.

Assessment and Certification: The evaluation of Level I shall be done by the concerned college and no grade/credit would be awarded. Student would be declared - Successfully Cleared (SC) or Not Cleared (NC). The college will then send the result in softcopy and hardcopy both with the name of enrolled students to the BAOU. Training of evaluators/assessors for different level courses will be arranged accordingly in consultation with H. M. Patel Institute of English Training and Research.

Assessment and Certification: The common pool of evaluators/assessors trained by the BAOU selected for the purpose shall conduct the evaluation of Level II and Level III Certification shall be done by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University.

Performance Appraisal of English Language Laboratory: The Co-ordinator of the English Language Lab through the Principal of the concerned college will submit a Quarterly Progress Report with a copy marked to the Office of Higher Education Commissioner, Govt. of Gujarat, Gandhinagar. The Consultative Committee formed by the Commissioner, Higher Education would visit the laboratory as and when they deem fit.