Core – 6 –Methodology of Teaching Sanskrit

Unit-1 Nature of Sanskrit language teaching
Sanskrit is one of the ancient languages of India and the world. While teaching this language we come across different literary versions of language such as Vedic, classical and modern Sanskrit language. Barring some variations in linguistic aspects, the language more or less has its same grammatical structures followed. We should also keep in mind that Sanskrit is students’ second language. They have to learn other languages as well as their second language. They are mainly Hindi and Gujarati. Learning of Sanskrit would differ from learning these languages in the sense that these languages are used by masses and are given more importance in school curriculum, while Sanskrit is used by relatively small number of people. Promoting learning of Sanskrit among school learners and thereby society at large is one of the core aims of teaching the language teaching of Sanskrit has to aim at the same. Clarity of this basic aim and the nature of Sanskrit language help us understanding better nature of Sanskrit language teaching. Given below are some of the salient features and considerations with respect to language teaching.

• It is a Samasyuktabhasha- compounds are found common in Sanskrit text which are to be explained.
• It has sandhis as its intrinsic element so appropriate disjoining of sandhis should be done during teaching Sanskrit.
• It is considered to be sound language grammatically and flexibility with the structures of the language rather with grammar of the language is not often received positively.
  Teaching linguistic components such as verbs, adverbs, tenses etc are required to be explained.
• Pronunciation holds a very prominent place in teaching and learning as change in pronunciation would change its meaning in Sanskrit.
• Translation should be used as one of the strategies for teaching but not as the method for teaching Sanskrit.
• Vocabulary in Sanskrit is vast and the formation of words is unique which is to be discussed. Teachers are required to have knowledge of etymology of words.
• A large amount of literature is available in poetry form composed in different meters. Teachers are required to have knowledge of science of prosody and good recitation skills.
• A large amount of literature includes mythological stories, anecdotes etc which are to be narrated while teaching. Teachers ought to have wide knowledge of Sanskrit literature.
• Sanskrit language teaching aims at teaching of language skills as well as teaching literature to learners at the school level. So appropriate teaching approaches such as structural, communicative –functional and methods such as grammar translation, direct, Anvay , discussion, seminar etc. should be employed for teaching it effectively.