Question- Describe the limitations of existing text books of English and also give some suggestions for their improvement.

Ans.

Limitations of Text-books :- The importance and significance of text books can’t be denied in the field of education. There cannot be two opinions that the place of text books in the field of teaching is important. Besides their effective place in teaching, the present text books possess some drawbacks too. Some of them are described below : 

(i) Poor Presentation :- The present text-books of English are written according to syllabus. The objective of the author is to complete all the syllabus. So they are not able to pay attention to language, style, order and subject matter of the textbooks. Such text-books are neither specific nor do the students take interest in reading them. In brief, the present text-books are not according to the language, style, interest, mental level and local circumstances of the students. The books do not inspire the students to learn. There is adverse impact on the development of the student and the teaching method of the teacher due to shortcoming of their presentation. 

(ii) Avoiding Students :- The teaching in our country is teacher dominating. It is greatly teacher centred rather than child-centred. So, the text books do not pay attention to the abilities, interests and requirements of the students. This is an unsuitable situation from the psychological point of view. 

(iii) Far from Practical Knowledge :- The present text-books lack on the latest informations. In them, the real activities, experiences, current affairs, and social problems have not been given a place. In other words, the prevalent text-books have reading material of low quality. By studying such literature the students of course gain theoretical knowledge but they are deprived of the practical aspect of knowledge, which is quite relevant. 

(iv) Aimlessness of Text-books :- The text-books are often used not as a means but as an end in themselves. Many teachers either tell the same things which are mentioned in the text-books or read it to them and think that they have done their duty. There are some teachers who ask a student to stand up and read a text-book while they themselves prepare attendance register by asking the students to remain silent. It hinders the development of children and their viewpoint becomes narrow. 

(v) Lack of Revision :- Once the text books in India have been written, they are employed for study of the students year after year. In other words, suitable changes are not made in the present text-books by adding new experiments and information from time to time. In other words, the text-books approved for the students are traditional and not up to the mark. With the help of such books, the students cannot be made to take interest in the extensive study of the subject.

(vi) Poor quality of Text-books :- The physical aspect of the text-books such as paper, printing, packaging, pictures, format, cover and get-up are not paid attention. Sometimes it happens that their cover and pages tear within a year. Reading such torn books is not only objectionable, but also contrary to psychology.

(vii) Affected by Dirty Politics :- The present text books are quite affected by ruler political party of the state. Changes in NCERT books have been enough to prove it. Such types of books propagate narrow thoughts and ideals. These books educate the students for caste difference, animosity, mutual hatred and narrow nationalism. So such types of dirty policies harm the society in place of benefiting it.

(viii) Lack of Initiative :- The present text-books encourage rigidity and uniformity in the field of education. It encourages cramming in place of thinking and reasoning and does not let develop initiative.

(ix) Out of Reach :- The prevalent text-books in our country are highly priced in comparison to other countries. Its reason is that the Indian publishers want to earn fast money. Because of high prices many students are not able to buy text-books. Their development is obstructed in the absence of text-books. In such a condition, the high prices of the text-books is a great limitation.

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