Seetha Lakshmi

'There is a compulsion, not option to use technology', said Raveendran N., President of the Computer Society of India. (The Hindu Newspaper 2008). He stressed that barriers including language should be circumvented to make technology available to all. The use of computer technology enhances the knowledge and resources of the Tamil language. National Institute of Education and Ministry of Education in Singapore are continuously harnessing effective Information Technology in Teaching and Learning in Singapore Schools. Tamil Language Education is not an exception for it. Naa Go Tamil Language Information Technology competition was one of the process to develop the IT and Language skills among the Singapore Primary School Tamil Students and Tamil teacher trainees. 50 Primary schools and Diploma in Education Year 2 teacher trainees took part in this competition which capitalized on their skills. From the palm leaves in the olden age when Tamil words were written more than 2500 years ago to the age of computers and internet has made Tamil a living language. Among all the Indian Languages, Tamil has already made a considerable presence on the internet. Naa Govindasamy was known as "The Father of Tamil Internet". In view of all his noteworthy contributions towards Tamil Language and the Tamil community, the Naa Govindasamy Tamil IT Award was inaugurated to inspire our young generation to engage in the development, use and promotion of Tamil IT. The National Institute of Education (Tamil Language & Culture Division) and Tamil Murasu, a local Tamil newspaper, jointly organized the Naa Govindasamy Tamil IT Award Competition at the national level to all Primary schools offering Tamil language and Tamil teacher trainees from NIE. This paper shares the process, the experience and the outcomes in terms of IT and language skills among the students and teacher trainees.

A key recommendation of the Tamil Language Curriculum & Pedagogy and Review Committee Report released in 2005 was that the Tamil alphabet be taught over a period of 2 years. With the increased emphasis on the use of Spoken Tamil in classroom, it is important that students use oral language as an important starting point. Although spoken language can be written down, written language is largely different from speech. The reading of texts aloud is a bridge between spoken language and reading, because it helps them to understand what written script looks like. Tamil orthography involves 24 7 letters to represent various meaning bearing words. The challenge to students then, becomes the gradual mastery of sub skills such as symbol sound relationships, the recognition of words and later comprehending the text. Several methods can be instrumental in strengthening the student's command of the language, these include, the use phonic, semantic and contextual strategies to develop confidence in word recognition, the fostering of spelling skills and comprehension, appreciating the alphabet, reading alphabet books creating words with alphabet, exploring different kinds of writing the alphabet, recognizing and producing the alphabet through word processing.