Malayalapaatam' set to ease Malayalam learning

MALAPPURAM: A day after the Kerala assembly passed the Malayalam Language (learning) Bill making it compulsory to learn the language from the next academic year, the Malayalam University announced a set of tools and mobile applications to impart basic language lessons to non-Malayalam medium students and first time learners of the language. “The university has launched a comprehensive plan named ‘Malayalapaatam’ to support the enactment of the new Malayalam law. The components of this project are meant to provide easy and free access to language learning resources for the students and teachers of the English medium schools and other learners across the world,” said vice-chancellor K. Jayakumar. A special language teaching package for the CBSE and ICSE schools will also be developed as part of the project. The university had earmarked Rs 50 lakh for the plan this year, he said.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan would officially launch the ‘Malayalapaatam’ project on Monday at the University. The Language Technology Centre at the University is coordinating the project with the help of its own students and faculties besides a few experts from outside. The Literature, Linguistics and Cultural Heritage studies departments are also contributing to the ambitious project. University students have developed a mobile game application which helps learners to grasp the alphabets and word formation easily. An online students’ dictionary is also a component of the plan. The dictionary would contain audio visual resources of language, literature and culture to give the users a deep understanding of the language. The applications and online tools to make language learning interesting for the non-Malayalam medium students would be provided to all schools free of cost. The teachers would also be given training for the newly developed language pedagogy, the VC said.