English newspapers: a pedagogical resource

Ask a student of English literature or a competitive exams candidate - especially one hailing from a far-flung area - about the fountainhead of their knowledge in case of an absence of digital paraphernalia and the means to afford elite coaching centres. You would find a common pedagogical resource – English newspapers – that can help them come up on a par with their counterparts from elite backgrounds.

For the students and teachers who depend on English for their future pursuits, an English newspaper is the academic oxygen. They don't want to be stagnant, old and odorous waters by not refreshing their knowledge. And it is only possible when they have recourse to an English newspaper, which keeps them abreast of the latest developments in science and language. The contemporary vocabulary constantly evolving through linguistic developments and socio-media interactions can only be acquired from English newspapers.

As a first step, teachers instruct students to keep company with the newspaper, as its headlines, images and captions offer them modern and contextual vocabulary - the context, as the linguists assert, entrenches the words in our minds, making them part of our long-term memory. English newspapers also let educators learn standard formal English through osmosis as their style guides do not allow the use of colloquial and slang language in editorials and op-eds.

The learners in underserved communities are indebted to English newspapers for tapping into contemporary knowledge in times when books of foreign authors on current affairs are beyond their purchasing power. Students preparing for competitive examinations in less education-friendly cities, where coaching centres are unavailable, feel equally threatened by the growing risks that social media poses to their primary source of knowledge. An English newspaper is undoubtedly an unofficial academy for the students of competitive exams. Teachers usually advise students that reading one article of the English newspaper is more than reading one book.

In the beginning, students are advised to read an English newspaper on Sundays, as it is enough for a week for novice readers. The Sunday edition - an anthology of news, views, entertainment, critiques and analyses - serves as a syncretic primer for young learners of the second language.

Teachers lay great stress on reading editorials as they nurture intellectual discipline in students, which is needed to present one's informed opinion convincingly. The candid presentation of facts in the editorials teaches how to look at things and take a clear position which is strongly and persuasively argued.

However, of late, the space for editorial expression in the country appears to be evolving, with the place of traditional editorials becoming less certain. At least one Urdu newspaper has already discontinued its editorial section – perhaps reflecting a shift in readers' preferences away from conventional, overly agreeable commentary.

The death of the editorial is the death of the voice of a newspaper. This voicelessness may well have to do with something else than just the readers' preferences. A famous Bertrand Russell quote might explain this voicelessness: "What is new in our time is the increased power of the authorities to enforce their prejudices."

In fact, editorials teach not what to think but rather how to think and express. 'What to think' can be controlled, but when the art of 'how to think' is learnt, it proves iconoclastic. That's what conformists repel the most.

The extent of reliance on English newspapers as a critical education tool necessitates official institutional backing in some form of funding. The critics of newspapers, particularly of English ones, a la grapes are sour, dub English newspapers the opium of the students of competitive exams. Let it be white noise. A separate section must be specified for essay writing to hone the students' skill of essay writing – a skill mastered by a few. The letter-to-editor section must be spacious enough to accommodate contributions without mutilating them through over-editing. However, masterly and encouragingly edited letters and essays will train the contributors, as quality English teachers in the back of beyond are an extinct species.