BREAKING BARRIERS

Synopsis of the Book
Title: Breaking Barriers: The Dawn of English Teaching in Kargil
Author: Kazim Ali
Genre: Applied Linguistics/ELT (English Language Teaching)

Synopsis
Breaking Barriers: The Dawn of English Teaching in Kargil, traces the beginning of ELT in the Kargil District of the Union Territory of Ladakh. It is an engaging exploration into its origin, and at the same time, the current status of ELT in Kargil is accurately highlighted by it. The book combines research results with the author’s real-life pedagogic experiences and observations in and outside the classroom.
It begins with unraveling the complex historical events that took place in Ladakh and moves on to explain how, in between those changes, formal education itself was introduced in the region. The many agents and forces responsible for the initiation and growth of modern education in Ladakh and their many contributions in the field of education have been discussed in depth. The euphoria of independence, with it, the unprecedented impetus on the expansion of the education system all over the country, and its arrival in Ladakh is also an area under investigation in this work.
The later part of Breaking Barriers: The Dawn of English Teaching in Kargil, focuses on the chronology, beginning with the introduction of quality modern education in the town by the European missionaries and later on carried forward by many social entities. It attempts to understand the immense contribution of religious bodies and non-government organizations in the grounding and grooming of ELT in Kargil. At the end, the hurdles on the way to the achievement of communicative competence and proficiency in English are listed so that both the educators and those involved in planning the curricula can work in the direction of rectification.