My evaluation of a plus one student of higher secondary stream in Kerala.He has secured A plus in English as per his tenth standard result( SSLC,Kerala syllabus)
DATA
Write up by the student in a terminal exam conducted by the school authorities.
OBSERVATIONS
1."He was striking
against alien rules ….".( uses improper words like "striking","alien" instead of "fighting" and "foreign")
2."He told
Indians-----don’t be afraid" is grammatically wrong.
He told Indians not to
be afraid. - is the proper way to report a command ( solution –needs more practice in reporting
commands and imperative sentences.)
3. There are spelling
errors here and there like "partisipated " instead of "participated","manny "instead of "many" , "idepented " instead of "independent"( solution
-the student should be trained to mind the spelling of every word.)
4……."He was first
participated "……( paragraph 2 beginning ) is wrong. “….he first
participated” is the right one.( punctuation error, no clear idea about active
voice and passive voice ;solution-give training in punctuation and change of
voice )
5.The student does not
know the proper tense form of many words like strike as in “he strike against
england ’ ;2nd sentence in paragraph 2 (The right sentence :He struck against England).,and fight in “Gandhiji fight not
only against…..” should be "fought ".
SOLUTION – TRAINING IN THE PROPER USE OF PAST TENSE .
6.The student is not
careful in the use of helping verbs like "do/does /have / has ."( “It have to be
free ".from paragraph 2 middle ;wrong . The right sentence is “It has to be
free.”) NEEDS TRAINING IN THE USE OF HELPING VERB.
7.The answer sheet was valued by a teacher ,but these errors have not been pointed out to the student in any way.No red marks ,corrections or comments seen.( Personal attention is not given to the student at any time of the course )
8.The parent thinks that her son deserves A plus in English and does not know why her son doesn't get high marks for English in the higher secondary examination.( The Aplus grades awarded in the SSLC proves to be unreliable )
CONCLUSION
1.The training given in English to the students of higher secondary appears to be insufficient to make them use good English in writing.
2. Many students who pass out from the high schools of Kerala with A plus in English do not deserve the grade given.
The following issues have been noticed in their writing as exemplified by the above data.
a) Uses improper words like "striking","alien" instead of "fighting" and "foreign".
b) Errors found while reporting commands and imperative sentences.
c) Gives no importance to the spelling of even common words like "independent" or "many"
d) There are punctuation errors
e) The students have no idea about active voice and passive voice and do not use them properly.
f) The students have no idea about tenses and do not use them properly.
g) The students have no idea about helping verbs and do not use them properly.
3. Measures must be taken to give importance to training in basic grammar in classes in high schools and higher secondary.
4. The evaluation process as part of the Kerala syllabus for English in high schools and higher secondary must be altered so that the competency of the students in basic grammar of English in each term could be rated and must be followed up with remedial teaching before every public examination.
-Radhakrishnan C K
