A MATTER OF TEXTS AND TESTS
English is a funny
language that does not follow any logic when it comes to pronunciation and
spelling yet it is one language that has truly conquered the world. However
much we denigrate the British for suppressing us and ruling over us for 200
years, this legacy that they left behind has given us a firm foothold in our
foray into world affairs. As national boundaries become obscure and ever widening thought and
action take us into a global village, it is imperative for our ‘generationext’
to imbibe the nuances and intricacies of this world language that unites us. The thrust on English education has spread
from the boundaries of schools to colleges and universities. Many professional
institutes have included English for communication in the curriculum. So let us
delve deep into this matter and analyze the merits and drawbacks of English
language learning in our system.
No doubt, the CBSE syllabus which is graded and age appropriate is the end product of much painstaking effort and
revision The lessons included in the
literature reader of classes VIII, IX and X relate to the lives of our children
and have much relevance and significance for them. The activities are also eminently suitable. But when it comes to Classes XI and
XII the same insight into the psyche of the growing child seems to be lacking
in the selection of prose and poetry . The textbooks Hornbill and Snapshots of
Class XI and Flamingo of Class XII have only a few lessons which may appeal to
the imagination of teenagers. Fortunately a few uninspiring lessons such as The
Landscape of the Soul, The Adventure, Silk
Road , The Ghat of the Only World and Poets
and Pancakes were deleted last year. While teaching these lessons I used to
wonder whether they were picked and chosen to bore the learner. The old world
philosophy that pedagogy is meant to instruct and not please the learner has lost its relevance in the present world. The aim of teaching literature should be to
acquaint the students with the gems of literature, to bring them in contact
with the masters who knew how to use the best words in the best order. Literature
can humanize you, so the lessons should convey a message powerful enough to
inspire students and contain words and language which may prompt them to read
further and to experiment with language.
We have numerous poets and authors who are
considered to be shining examples and geniuses of literature .For any
recitation competition, our students hunt for poems written by the masters. When there is no dearth of marvellous
poems written by famous poets, why do we prescribe insipid poems such as
Childhood and The Voice of the Rain for Class XI students, as if they are the
best samples of English literature ?. Instead of a small excerpt from Keats’s
Endymion, why not include one of the odes? Should we not initiate our students to the intricacies of language as
in Browning’s ‘ My Last Duchess’ or
Tennyson’s ‘Ulysses’? When their
counterparts in ISC are learning original Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Shelley and
Keats, shouldn’t we introduce a few specimens of classical English prose and
poetry to our students in CBSE?
We could find a much better selection in the
textbooks prescribed by CBSE many years back, namely, The Web of my Life and
Guided Reading. The poignancy of the story of The Foghorn , the humour in The
Judgement of Paris and the shock and heart break of Hiroshima
Last year the CBSE introduced a long
reading text in Class XII. The choice of
‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ was most laudable as the story had all the ingredients which could
immediately captivate the attention of young readers .Keeping in mind the
stress and strain experienced by the students of Class XII who are plagued by
various entrance tests and coaching
classes, we had advised the students of Class XI to buy the book
during the vacation and read thoroughly
before classes begin for the next
session. Then like a bolt from the blue came the circular stating that the Long
reading text has been changed. Instead of The Hound of the Baskervilles , we
have to choose between The Invisible Man and Silas Marner. If the aim behind
the introduction of long reading text
was to inculcate reading habit in children, ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles ‘was
the best choice. But the decision to replace such a gripping tale by uninspiring ones after just one year smacks of
a hasty decision taken without much
thought. Sufficient time should have been given for the students
and the teachers to air their views and the decision to change the text book could
have come after a couple of years.
The writing skills are the most appropriate
and useful part of the CBSE syllabus. Mastery of writing items such as letters,
speech, debate, notice, advertisement, report and the like would surely give
the students the much needed practice and preparation for their future life.
But with all other aspects of the syllabus such as ASL, PSA , the long reading
text, the main and the supplementary readers, only limited time can be spared
for the practice of these items in class. The decision to introduce ASL in
Class XI and IX was a wise one, even though the exercise is time consuming. But
PSA is a cause for anxiety for parents and students. It would be advisable to
base the questions in Language Conventions on the exercises taught
and done in these class .Some kind of
coaching should be given for PSA in order to alleviate the anxiety of parents
and children. Open text Book Assessment is also a laudable step but it prolongs
the exam by another half an hour. This has given rise to much criticism and
resentment as young children are made to sit and write for nearly four
hours at a stretch resulting in much physical discomfort and mental fatigue. Why not delete comprehension passage
and include OTBA? Limiting the question paper to 3 hours would certainly reduce
the burden of our students.
Let me be pardoned for digression when I
state that one aspect of the ICSE-ISC syllabus has appealed to me much.
Needless to say ISC English is tough- original Shakespeare and the classics in
poetry and prose are taught at the High school and Higher secondary levels. But
the syllabus is stretched over a period of 2 years and there are plenty of choices in the
question paper so that not much strain is felt by the teacher or the learner.
Another matter of grave concern for the
teacher of English is that the short forms used in SMS and e mails have crept into
the literary language. No one can deny that short forms are necessary to
express matters in limited space. But the same short forms tend to creep into
the note books and exam papers since the younger generation is adept at taking
such liberties with language. Besides many of them feel that it is prudish to
insist upon writing ‘ you’ and ‘ between’ when u and b/w can do the trick .As
evolution takes place over the years we can expect many such changes in the
world language . Recently I read that the comma which has become obsolete in
its use may disappear from the language. The humble apostrophe was culled from
street signs in Britain
Submitted by
Shailaja
Chandran, Vice Principal, 
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