Language Learning Laboratory

Specifications

Language Lab

Good communication skills are indispensable for the success of any professional.  If one wants to reach out to people, he or she has to speak their language.  The English language, in particular, has become essential in the lives of young people who aspire to advance their careers anywhere in the world.  English language learning has therefore become a must for any Indian student today.

Language learning is not the same as learning any other subject.  It is not confined to writing an examination and getting a degree or award.  The four skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking have to be practiced.  Being able to communicate well is the most important factor when seeking a placement in a company or institution.  Communication involves one’s ability to listen carefully so as to grasp the meaning and to respond in turn with apt words and clarity of pronunciation.

The language laboratory plays an important role in the language learning process.  This article discusses the various features of the language laboratory.  As it is a technological aid for learning, it has a number of advanced facilities that can help a student to learn a language with proficiency to communicate.  It has become inevitable in today’s context but, at the same time, it poses certain challenges.  This article attempts to highlight the significance of the language laboratory and its challenges imposed on the learner and the teacher.

It is required of any learner to have a good command of the language for communication purposes, with clarity and accuracy being vital for effective and efficient communication.  What helps one to acquire such proficiency in a language is the process and the method of learning that language.

The curriculum of the present educational system in India does not have a laboratory session for arts subjects.  Only those who study science subjects have practical work, which is undertaken in a laboratory.  Hence, a laboratory for language learning is something new to Indian students, whereas it is very common in Western countries to train children in the laboratory to enrich their language learning experiences.

Some highlights of the language laboratory are given below:

1.      It is a tool designed for teaching any language.

2.      It helps one to learn pronunciation, accent, stress and all other aspects of the phonetics of a language.

3.      Effective communicative training programmes for the general public, private and corporate sectors, junior and senior level officers can be given through the lab.

4.      Web-content creation, the setting up of in-house news magazines, corporate publicity and identity, and teaching materials can be generated through the language laboratory.

5.      General documentation, software documentation and all forms of technical documentation can be done.

6.      Experts can utilize the laboratory for creating and editing scientific and technical materials for teaching language.