No textbook, however ”Resource Material for Teachers” has been prepared. It contains for each of the major topics, outline of sample scenarios with issues and discussion points. They are made available to faculty mentors for use in their respective discussions.

1. Self confidence
2. Major cause of unhappiness in family
3. Is anger a sign of power or helplessness?
4. Interaction & ragging
5. Relationship with teachers
6. Honesty
7. English: Should you feel embarrassesd
8. Right utilization of physical facilities
9. Major cause of unhappiness: Unfulfilled expectations
10. Freedom from rules
11. Goals: Short term and long term
12. Peer pressure
13. Dealing with people while coordinating work
14. Relationship in Family
15. Distinction between understanding and assuming
16. Time management
17. Difference between value and price of a facility
18. Design your own mess

This resource material has been developed for use in Human Values courses (HS 1001 and HS 1002) at IIIT Hyderabad. It is a compilation of topics with scenarios, saliant issues, and discussion points, which can be used by teachers/mentors to conduct discussions. given bollow is samle resource material on one topic.

7 English: Should You Feel Embarrassed

The scenarios below might be used to initiate discussion.

7.1 Scenario 1a:
You are in a class. The teacher asks a question. You know the answer, whereas the others are quiet. You are not fluent in English. Would you speak up?

7.1.1 Issues:
• Here the student is on the high ground. He knows the answer but not the others. Would he speak up?
• Would he hesitate that he will not be able to speak fluently? (Important thing to
be conveyed is that the student must not feel embarrassed. English is only a vehicle for communication.)

7.2 Scenario 1b:
You are not able to understand anything in a lecture, because of English. What would you do? Would you ask a question in the class?

7.2.1 Issues:
• Here the student is in a position of discomfort. He is not able to understand the lecture, when others presumably are able to. Would he speak up?
• Would he be hesitant that he will not be able to speak fluently?
• Would he meet and tell the teacher after the class, separately. (Thing to be conveyed is that English is needed for communication in this setting. Nothing to feel shy about.)
• Example: I had gone to a workshop which was being conducted in English. One of the young participants had come from a rural background and barely knew enough English to follow what was being said. He could not speak in it at all. However, he was the most active participant. Whenever, he differed with the theory or the view of the speaker, he would immediately raise his hand to ask his questions. He would speak in Hindi, and was animated in his discussions. Sometimes when he was told that he had understood wrongly, he would say ”oh, in that case it is ok”, but would not be detered. And he would be as animated as ever the next time around. In fact, his presence made a big difference to the workshop, and everybody gained because of him.

7.3 Scenario 2:
You are speaking in English with a person, when you learn that you and he have the same mother tongue. Would you continue speaking in English, or switch over to your mother tongue?

7.3.1 Issues:
• ’Bhaava’ or emotions are best expressed in your mother tongue. People come closer and become more informal when they are using their own language to interact.
• Mother tongue sometimes does not get used because you are not familiar with the expressions or vocabulary in the topic you are discussing. (It would be important to bring out the issue that it is only by using your mother tongue in that domain would you acquire the vocabulary etc. for that domain. You should use your mother tongue.)

7.4 Scenario 3:
You are with a group of people who have the same mother tongue, except for one person who does not. You are likely to switch over to your mother tongue. Should you, since one of the persons would not follow what you are discussing? What would you do?

7.4.1 Issues:
• It is natural for you to switch over to your mother tongue. It is hard not to! Therefore, would continue in mothertongue but try to summarize so the person does not feel left out.
• You would talk in a language everybody understands. It might turn out to be English or Hindi. (We should try to suggest that it is perfectly ok to use mother tongue. Special situations can be dealt with in a suitable manner.)

7.5 Scenario 4 (Complementary to 1a and 1b):
You know good English, but your listener does not. He has trouble following you. What would you do?

7.5.1 Issue:
• You would try to switch over to a language the listener knows?
• Continue in English as to impress your listener?

7.6 Other Issues:
• IIIT takes an English test, and you tell us that english is not important? Ans: The purpose of the English test is only to provide special help if necessary, as the medium of instruction is English.
• Language is important for communication. But that is all. You should not make it a yardstick of prestige or self-respect.
• For students who have a problem in understanding the lecture or reading the book, they should first work on ”passive” understanding or ability to comprehend. Speaking or ”active” ability can come later.

Compiled by:
Ramancharla Pradeep Kumar (ramancharla@iiit.ac.in)
Rajeev Sangal (sangal@iiit.ac.in)
IIIT Hyderabad