No we don’t have windmills – at least not in Goa. Pity.
Gazing on them is so meditative and relaxing. But I am sure we can recall an
experience – an activity to be precise – where we put in all our effort on an imaginary
objective and find it all wasted (or wasn’t necessary).
Welcome to the world of Cervantes, the pioneer of the novel.
The idiom emerges from the main character of Cervantes’ novel Don Quixote (1605) wherein the intrepid
Don Quixote charges at a windmill to subdue it thinking it is a giant with
flapping arms.
This derision with which this seemingly meaningless action has
met with, has been somewhat undercut in recent times by a reappraisal of his
humanity. In the sleeve notes on a film by James March titled ‘Don Quixote:
Lessons for Leadership’ he writes, ‘Quixote reminds us that if we trust only
when trust is warranted, love only when love is returned, learn only where
learning is valuable, we abandon an essential feature of our humanness.’*
When an invitation to participate in a conference with the
acronym TILT careened into my inbox I was wondering if it entailed a whiff of
Spain. The short form however, stood for Techniques and Innovations in Language
Teaching. As teachers we are always tilting this way and that in the classroom
simply (sometimes desperately) trying to teach the nuances of the English
language. So I decided to send in a research paper preceded by an abstract of
what I intended to say.
In hindsight, I found the idiom had some resonance with the
conference. The perceived duality between English language and English
Literature seemed to pose hurdles where there weren’t any. Some bemoaned the
dethroning of Shakespeare in favour of more language-oriented courses – ‘In the
context of globalization, English Language Teaching [ELT] is moving away from
Literature, more focus being given to soft skills, computer applications etc.
Hence literature like pure sciences, finds itself pushed to the walls,
languishing in the margins.’
Yet there was a spirited defense of Literature as well. One
paper quoted José Hernández Riwes Cruz stating, ‘Literature enhances ELT
[English Language Teaching] through elements such as authentic material,
language in use and aesthetic representation of the spoken language, as well as
language and culture enrichment.’
The conference provided a lot of food for thought for our
teaching practice. There were 3 parallel sessions – each subdivided into 4
thematic sessions, each featuring about 15 papers – over two days. It was impossible
to be in 2 (or 4!) seminar halls at the same time. Perhaps this was the only
way to accommodate the 168 papers scheduled for TILT 2014.
It is possible to teach language and literature at the same
time. In fact, in the coming semester at the second year Bachelor of Arts
programme in college, we have a compulsory paper titled, ‘Language through
Literature.’ Currently I am helping a student from Canada with her Grade 12,
ENG4U course. We do language and literature-related activities – and it works.
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*http://www.wisdomportal.com/Stanford/JamesMarch.html; published in Gomantak Times Weekender, St. Inez, Goa on Sunday, 30 November, 2014; pix source spanishsaharaset
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