Students at the newly inaugurated language lab at Oxford Public School in Ranchi on Thursday. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Meet Ranchi’s English-speaking schoolchildren with a British twang.

Oxford Public School launched an English language laboratory on Thursday for its students to develop proficiency in speaking, reading and writing skills. The CBSE school, situated in Bahu Bazar, has opened the lab for students of Classes III to X.

“Our main aim is to ensure uniformity among students in learning English, as teachers of different classes use individual methods. With the help of the lab, our students will be able to pick up English vocabulary as well as improve their conservation and writing skills,” principal of the school C.J. Jacob told The Telegraph.

He added, “We are shifting from traditional teaching methods to a conducive environment for learning through audio and visual clips.”

Once students sit before computer screens, they would follow automatic instructions and answer questions in British accent, Jacob explained.

The lab has a capacity to accommodate 54 students.

The students will attend the lab once a week and learn phonetics, grammar and syntax using the software, Words Worth English Language Lab, under the guidance of teachers. They will also be provided with headphones.

“The best thing about the lab is that our teachers will guide us to learn English with the help of audio and video set-ups,” said Kajal Kumari, a Class VI student.

“After completing my Plus Two, I have decided to prepare for TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). I will get admission to good universities abroad based on TOEFL scores. The English language lab will definitely help in fetching good scores,” quipped Sherven, a ninth grader.

The language lab has been developed at an estimated Rs 2 lakh, courtesy JIL Information Technology, Delhi.

JIL had sent resource persons to train 12 teachers of Oxford Public School two months ago. Oxford Public School is the second cradle in Ranchi, after the ICSE-affiliated St Xavier’s, to boast an English language lab.