This seminar paper states frequently three key concepts in the presentation and those three concepts require explanation. In experiential pedagogy, educators engage with learners providing direct experience to construct knowledge, develop skills and inculcate values. The acquisition means possessing concepts or skills by the learner without conscious attempt for the same, e.g. mothers possess the knowledge of early childhood care as and when a need arises. The acquisition process is non-conscious in terms of the mental process that goes on in which the individual is unaware. Non-conscious processes are not thought about consciously. With these three explanations, the topic is introduced.
Classroom teaches language, after all, teaching is an artificial attempt for learning. But outside the classroom, that is, in the natural setting one acquires language without direct teaching from any source. Migrant labourers from Kerala to Saudi Arabia acquire Arabic for which they are not undergoing any formal teaching experience as in a classroom. They directly operate the target language for encountering necessities of their lives there. This learning is non-conscious, means that the target group is not learning explicitly Arabic with its nuances in terms of phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics through any conscious attempt. They try to communicate with the native speakers’ for various purposes to pull on their lives in a place where language and culture are alien. Likewise, the migrant labourers from north Indian states who work in the shops speak Malayalam and their learning of Malayalam is not with the help of any formal classroom setting or learning of grammar in an explicit way. They do not or appear for any language test to assess learning. What makes the migrant labourers to acquiring language? The answer is simple, that is, they are experiencing language through the direct use of it, rather than learning about the language.
These two instances and similar stories of acquisition of language by the target groups show the interplay of three factors. First, they begin the operation of a new language without waiting for its sound, form, syntax, the meaning of words and the appropriateness. The second is that they are non-conscious in the use of the language in the sense that they are not intentionally aware of the form or structure of the words or sentences they utter. The third is that they are experiencing the context against which the utterance is necessary. If these are the interplay, why can’t they be effectively manipulated in formal teaching of language in the classroom and thus the language learning attempts be accelerated? This question is addressed here.
Why experiential pedagogy?
Suppose the teacher is on an attempt of teaching the taste of mint, and she says another word ‘sweet peppermint’ and thus explains the aroma of the plant and use of mint in preparing soft drinks and as ingredients for cooking. Whatever be the explanations given, whatever be the explanations given to the leaners through words or pictures, neither the meaning reaches the tongue of the learner, nor the sound ‘mint’ dissolves into cognition. The only way out is to give a snippet of fresh mint leaf and chew it and ask the learner about the taste. That is the taste of mint.
Here, if the learner is afresh to this particular taste and listens to the word appropriate, the learner experiences that new word. This experience is acquired through sensory organs and from those sensual content, new synaptic connections are realized. Thus the experiential process is completed with the ionic changes with the neurons. If strong synaptic connections have happened there will be long-lasting learning output.
This is the real background against which experiential pedagogy has been suggested as a process for construction of new knowledge.
Experiential pedagogy can be justified on three counts;
a) Experiential learning is concept formation through the functions of eyes, tongue, skin, nose, and ears. So that, with every learning experience the learner is activating her sensory organs. Sensory organs are the gateways for conception formation.
b) Through new and new experiences the learner is collecting data for reaching inferences. In turn, these inferences turn to be findings on which construction of knowledge is completed.
c) Construction of knowledge always gives opportunity to examine and re-examine the knowledge that one has previously. On the attempt to examining and re-examining a previous knowledge the learner testifies the existing knowledge and manipulates it.
Cognition or mental process is activated on experiential pedagogy. Thus learning becomes activity oriented.
How does experiential pedagogy work?
Experiential pedagogy works through the classroom process initiated by the teacher. Look at the following process for realizing experiential learning in the face-to-face instruction in language classroom;
a) Students try to predict the lines of a poem that they are about to read. This prediction was realized in written form by creating almost equivalent thoughts of the poet, within the individual students. The poem, The Fish wrote by Elizabeth Bishop was handled in the class, likewise.
b) After reading the two short stories, teacher asks them to compare the principal characters, for which the background for comparison is provided through certain triggers;
· Explain the physical appearances of both the principal characters. What are they?
· What are the traits of both the characters?
· Compare the roles and responsibilities undertaken by the characters?
The present researcher made an attempt to make the students to write a comparison of Sakina (The Smaller Ghandhis} and Amma (Roots) and found the strategy effective.
c) After listening to the initial events the students were asked to guess and write the middle part and the end part of the story. Without waiting for teacher’s loud reading and interpretation, students made an attempt to complete the story with their craft of writing. The researcher effectively used this strategy when he was teaching the story ‘The Law of Life’ written by Jack London.
d) Write a letter to the author appreciating the poem or story is a creative and constructive exercise for the students of any level. In the letter let them explain why do they like the creation of the writer, for which they shall be motivated with the following questions;
· Which part of the poem/story is most interesting?
· Which event of the poem/story made you more anxious?
· What is the message of the poem/story?
All the above activities are non-conscious in the sense that the learner is not intentional of the use of grammar, structure, idioms or phrases of the target language. Their challenge is to create the poem, story, character sketch or appreciation. In the attempt of the creation of these linguistic discourses, their focus would be on the construction of the task, where they would not be conscious of the nuances of the language in terms of the grammar, structure, spelling, idioms or phrases. Their concern is to express the ideas in the way they like to complete the task. Thus the language becomes neutral and motive for expression or communication becomes prominent. The nuances of language like grammar, structure, and spelling become intuitive and constructive in the process of expression and communication.
Teachers’ role
If the acquisition is non-conscious and result-oriented, why can’t the teachers think on that line of thought for language instruction? Teachers’ role begins with generating classroom process in which the learners are involved in discourse creations and refinement of the creations completed by the learners. The debate is another classroom activity in which the teacher can make the students to involve in experiential learning. Teacher’s role shall be neutral in generating arguments pro and con. The teacher also takes the initiative to generate maximum arguments even from students who are dull and lethargic to learning strategies. On the attempt of presenting the arguments with warmth and enthusiasm, their concern would be with the strength of the arguments and counter-arguments. They would be non-conscious of the language, but conscious of the argument only.
