The student teachers:

1. Develop positive attitude towards Malayalam language and literature as well as towards the rich and vivid culture and art forms of Kerala.

2. Realise the importance of Malayalam as mother tongue in the learning of other languages and subjects.

3 Develop insight into the principles and theories of language learning.

4. Get acquainted with relevant modern techniques that could be applied in the teaching of Malayalam.

Aims of teaching mother tongue in general and Malayalam in particular - The mother tongue as medium of thought and communication of ideas, emotions, imaginations, creativity and aesthetic taste.

The correlation of the study of Malayalam with other languages - How far the knowledge in the mother tongue can be utilised in the study of other languages - Importance of mother tongue in the study of non-language subjects.

General principles of language learning - Language as a skills subject - Hence the importance of reinforced practice and formation of correct habits. The hierarchical order to be followed in die learning and mastery of language skills - Concrete before the abstract; sound before symbol; impression before expression; listening before speaking, conversation before reading; reading before writing; group work to precede individual work, particularly in the lower classes. The importance of gradation, maintaining the spiral approach in the presentation of curricular material.

New methods in teaching of mother tongue - Direct method; play way with special reference to reinforced practice; projects; dramatisations, the Dalton plan.

Listening with comprehension as the most important and primary language skill; Learning activities for developing the skill for listening for different purposes (say, comprehending the major idea of the content; identifying subtle details, etc.)

Importance; aims of oral work in the first stage; characteristics of skilled oral presentations; types of oral work suitable to the initial state, viz., conversation, story telling, dialogues, games, nursery rhymes, simple poems and songs.

Second stage: more advanced exercises; oral work preparatory to written work; reproduction of dialogues; improvised playlets, speeches.

Third stage: Exercises of more advanced nature.

Importance; various functions served by reading; different methods of teaching to read: alphabetic method; word method; the story method; mixed or composite method; the method most suitable to Malayalam; silent reading and loud reading; importance and functions of each; characteristics of skilled reading; the need for good models; reading for various purposes (say, gathering the main idea, identifying details, etc.); correct procedures for practice leading to mastery of skill, application of technological devices for training; introducing to library work; training in the use of reference books and Dictionary.

Importance; writing as a skill involving neuro-muscular coordination; need for physiologically and psychologically sound training; different methods of writing: using copy book, transcription, dictation, etc.

Characteristics of good handwriting: legibility, beauty, proportion, spacing, speed; the need for good models; handwriting scales for evaluation and monitoring.

The aims of teaching prose at different levels, expansion of vocabulary, familiarity and use of sentence patterns, understanding and use of correct grammatical forms; familiarity with and expression through different compositional forms; appreciation of literature written in various forms; familiarity with literary works and authors, etc. are core aspects to be taken care of with judicious selection to suit the stages of development; different types of prose lessons; principle of selecting prose lessons for various developmental stages; characteristics of a good detailed textbook for specific levels.

The student teachers:

Get acquainted with the principles of curriculum construction.
Become capable of selecting lessons for the learning of prose and poetry.
Develop their skill in curriculum transaction.
Become familiar with different approaches and models of learning mother tongue.
Identify modern strategies for learning Malayalam.
Realise the significance of teaching communicative Malayalam.
Acquire ability in assessing students' performance.

Content - a medium for learning the language - Strategy - a device for the transaction of the content - Systematic teaching strategy

Significance of curriculum for the learning of language. - Principles of curriculum construction. New trends in curriculum construction - Qualities of prose and poetry to be selected for the different types of lessons in the curriculum. Major and supplementary materials; their significance in learning the language.

Traditional vs modern strategies - Explaining content - its drawback - Memorising content - limitations in language learning - Teacher-initiated vs student-initiated learning.

Motivated by a fear of failure Learning outcome is a memorisation of factual information land a superficial level of understanding

Motivated by an interest in the subject matter. - Outcome is reading and understanding of the material

Student centred vs conventional approach - Small group vs large group approach - Cognitive vs non-cognitive approach

Meaningful verbal learning model Gagne's hierarchical model Information processing model Concept attainment model

Inductive instructional method of learning grammar Deductive method of learning grammar Problem-based teaching of composition Reading for comprehension - a strategy for learning prose Constructivist model for creative learning Learner-activated instruction N Interactive strategy
Intervention model of teaching pupils of limited proficiency in Malayalam.

Strengthening dialogue - Improving pronunciation, intonation, stress.- Enriching vocabulary - in business, administration and professions. - Role-playing - Narrating and reporting.

Purpose - Summative and formative assessment - Norm-referenced vs criterion-referenced assessment - Types of assessment - Objective tests - Evaluating one's teaching.