In Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal the women
respondents became uncertain and confused because they had
to speak in Tamil and Bengali and think in English, and
this caused them to suffer from "mental fatigue". (30)
The next section raises an important issue in teaching an
Indian language to Anglo-Indian student. During the
classroom observation and subsequent interviews, the
researcher identified intelligent and creative children.
But, the teachers had failed to identify them.
For example, when some answers demanded a "yes" or a "no",
some Anglo-Indian students drew a picture as an answer,
offered verbal elaborations of the answer and used mime
very effectively to describe their feelings. A few were
fluent in articulating the reasons for the answer and
showed an originality and flair for detail when describing
a situation or person. The daydreamers, "musthiwallahs",
"goondahs" and the Indian language failures were thinkers
who could occupy their time without being stimulated.
They were window-watchers who were aware of what was going
on in the class. They questioned beyond the simple "why"
or "how", and they experimented with familiar objects in
the classroom to see what else could be done with them.
(31)
But, the teachers ignored them, never spoke to them without
reprimanding them, never pinned their drawings on a notice
board and correlated their failure to pass an Indian
language with low ability. (32) The next section discusses
teacher expectation of Anglo-Indian students.
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