Guidelines and Priorities: Tamil

  1. Long term plans
    1. Develop on online Literary Grammar
    2. Develop a set of readings for literary Tamil
  2. Immediate plans
    1. Create a webspace/archive where instructors can upload their teaching materials in Word, PDF, HTML or scanned images. Group members can edit and upload them back on to the webspace. Thus, a consensus among members can be reached about the type and nature of materials to be used by everyone. This webspace will be password protected and the distribution of materials will be restricted to members only. This way we can avoid any copyright issues. The site for this has now been created and can be accessed at http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/plc/salrc/. Email H. Schiffman at haroldfs@ccat.sas.upenn.edu for the user name and password.
    2. To begin with we upload “natural materials” possibly short stories, short snippets from radio plays, movies etc. on to the webspace. Members can edit such materials in order to use them in Tamil classroom. (Web pages may be created using such edited materials incorporating any multimedia features such as sound, video, glosses, online exercises or any other interactive facility, wherever possible).
    3. Create a glossary of words, especially keeping in mind the learning of Tamil in the American context. Culturally relevant words, at least 2000, covering topics such as marriage, rituals etc., can be emphasized with suitable illustrations. (Annotated glossary) [Remember that overall glossaries and dictionaries etc. will be the responsibility of the Chicago site.]
  3. Principles underlying various priorities
    1. Make a databank (archive including sound, video, picture files) with information about available software
    2. Guidelines for material production need to be written, including fonts and format
    3. Pronunciation guide illustrating natural reading: kiraamam vs. graamam
    4. Materials to be performance oriented – learner oriented
    5. Teacher likeability is a different issue, what is important is content and its usage
    6. Work load between teacher and student—what do we expect of students, and what do we expect of the teacher?
    7. Task based instruction preferred over other types.
    8. High priority is for beginning materials, especially a graded Elementary Reader.
    9. Get a hold of available materials, wherever possible—especially authentic materials.
    10. Contemporary sources – Dalit materials, urban, village, folk … (core and supplementary materials need to be distinguished)
    11. Old and new materials – contact people concerned and select
      1. Make a selection of already available materials
      2. Create fresh materials
      3. Develop lesson plans
      4. Classroom versus self-learning purposes
    12. Identify standard for transcribing spoken form of Tamil (Ex. enRu is it NNu or nnu? Mazhai – is it mazha or mazhe (or maRe?)….
    13. (standard spoken Tamil: should choose a variety that avoids regional stereotypes)
  4. Beginning (Core)
    1. Radha’s Script book - Tamil pronunciation CD, KK’s CD, elementary and conversational Tamil books, Vasu’s Tamil A to Z (Macintosh software), Penn Web materials on Alphabet, words and conversational exchanges, EA and Asher’s book (permission from book publisher will be sought to get Romanized form into Tamil script), Berkeley material, Jim and Raja conversation. (Convert Lindholm and Paramasivam’s book into Web accessible form, CLS materials
    2. Supplementary:
      • tulika and tara reading materials
      • Cre-A dictionary
      • McAlpin’s Core Vocabulary list
      • Lifco’s dictionary (?)
      • Prof. KK’s dictionary
    3. Learning aids
      • Nursery Rhymes
      • Children songs
      • Simple movie songs, especially Kannadasan and Pattukkottai
  5. Need to be developed
    • Spoken – Written word glossary
    • Language Games (CIIL’s books on Tamil word games, number games and nursery rhymes can be used)
    • Attached find a list of CIIL materials prepared in a number of languages.
    • Terminologies used for Tamil Math (eTTooTTe arupatti naalu…)
  6. Intermediate Level-Available materials
    • Lindholm and Paramasivam’s reader
    • John and Gopal dialogues (Chicago)
    • KK’s Intermediate Tamil text book
    • Kausalya Hart’s Reader and Grammar
    • Radha’s Intermediate Tamil (to be published)
    • AIIS materials by Paramasivam (AIIS, Madurai)
    • Kausalya Hart’s Tamil Madhu
  7. Intermediate Level-Supplementary
    • Newspaper reader
    • Reference Grammar of Spoken Tamil, Harold F. Schiffman
    • Tamil Conversion Rules written to Spoken (Manuscript by Radhakrishnan, U. of Texas)
    • Pre-reading resources from the UPenn site.
    • Asher’s Tamil
    • Thomas Lehman’s Grammar of Modern Tamil
    • KP’s Tamil marpilakkanam
    • Pedagogical dictionary – English – Verb
    • Schiffman’s English Dictionary of the Tamil Verb (English Tamil) (still in preparation)
    • Dictionary of Word Combination in Tamil (to be published from Mozhi)
  8. Needs for intermediate Tamil and Advanced
    • Grammar of Contemporary Modern Literary Tamil
    1. Advanced Tamil
      • AIIS material (authored by K.P.)
      • Asher and Radhakrishnan Advanced Tamil reader
      • Short stories
      • Radio Plays Reader (Schiffman): add more plays.
      • Movie scripts: Nayakan, Mouna Raham
    2. Advanced Tamil-Supplementary
      • Dictionary of Tamil Idioms
      • Sangam
      • Drama
      • Beschi’s Guru Paramarta Guru
      • Mu. Va’s
    3. Advanced Tamil-Modern, Medieval and Sangam (Superior and Distinguished)
      • Literary reader consisting of pedagogical interpretation of Tamil literatures including Thirukkural, Kambar Ramayanam starting from Putukkavitai to Sangam – moving backward. (needed)
  9. Materials Currently in the Database at LangNet Can be accessed by going to LangNet (http://fipse.worlddesign.com/public/) - The National Portal for Language Resources (Click on 'Tamil' where it says "choose a language

Working group for Tamil.
Pedagogical Materials Project
March 7- 8, 2003
University of Pennsylvania