This textbook has been prepared based on The Secondary Level Curriculum 2076 (Grade 11 & 12) as a compulsory subject. By incorporating the language and literacy components of the English language, this textbook is expected to help learners develop their communicative, creative and interpretative skills. The book also makes an attempt to cater to the needs, interests and expectations of the learners aiming to prepare for further academic undertakings. The curriculum has perceived and treated the learners as active participants in learning. Thus, the book demands a learner-centered, participatory and activity oriented approach in its delivery. The teacher is expected to be a manager, a prompter, a guide and a facilitator who engages the learners in the tasks and activities. The learners are expected to participate and interact with their peers in pairs and groups while doing tasks and exercises. They also need to make presentations in class and explore reference sources for additional information thereby learning on their own.
How is the book organized?
This textbook has two sections. Section I includes a wide range of contemporary issue-based thematic units with varieties of exercises on all language skills, grammar and vocabulary. Section II comprises genre-based literary texts followed by some tasks and exercises.
Section I
1. Reading
The Reading section includes a reading text preceded by Before you read and followed by a set of exercises. The Before you read section is intended to initiate the learners to the theme of the reading text. This section requires them to discuss certain questions in pairs or groups before they read the text. The reading text is for intensive reading. Silent reading is encouraged. Assistance by the teacher is expected at this level. There are three sections after reading text: vocabulary, comprehension and critical thinking. The vocabulary section is divided into two parts: the first part is related to the vocabulary task from the reading text and the second part is of general type. Comprehension section is focused on the students' understanding of the text. The tasks given in critical thinking require the students to think beyond the text aiming to develop students' thinking, expressing and reviewing the ideas.
2. Writing
The Writing section aims at developing creative writing skills in the learners by engaging them in tasks and activities mostly from the reading texts. They need to discuss each writing task in the class focusing on the content, words, structures, style and format. The students are expected to do the writing tasks individually where the teachers have the pivotal role in assisting them.
How to Address the Students with Disability in Classroom
3. Grammar
The Grammar section introduces a grammar content. The tasks and explanations may not be enough so students and teachers need to consult an authentic grammar book by the native writers. The presentation of the grammar content by the teacher should follow the inductive or eclectic approach.
4. Listening
The Listening section aims at developing listening comprehension skills on the learners. The listening texts are taken from authentic sources including different accents. Students may have difficulty in understanding the text just by listening once. So play the audio as many times as required in the earlier lessons. The listening section contains three types of tasks: pre-listening, while-listening and post-listening.
5. Speaking
The Speaking section introduces language functions to develop the communicative skills in learners through pair work, group work, role-play, etc. All the activities in this section are for enhancing fluency and accuracy among the learners for everyday communication.
6. Project Work
This section is meant to involve the learners in collaborative or solo-work. The teachers should ensure that the students have done all the work.
Section II
This section includes four genre-based units with 20 literary texts for extensive reading. Each text begins with Before Reading followed by Reading with a set of exercises. The texts are expected to develop learners’ reading and interpreting abilities through the activities under the sections; Understanding the text, Reference to the context and Reference beyond the text. The Glossary section deals with some difficult terms from the text. This section has four sub- sections: short stories, poems, essays and one act plays. There are 7 short stories, 5 poems, 5 essays and 3 one act plays.
1. Short Stories
The short stories are meant to develop reading skills for general understanding and their interpretations. Silent reading is encouraged as it requires full attention for comprehension.
Here are some tips that students might find useful while they read the stories, poems, essays and plays.
Guidelines for reading a short story
- Preview a short story before you begin reading. Read the first sentence carefully, and then skim for the key words and phrases.
- Look for the clues about the character, setting, and theme as you read.
- Think about the main conflict of the plot.
- Understand how the conflict is resolved.
- Think about what the story reminds you of the events in your own life or consider what it is that makes the story memorable.
Elements of a short story
- Plot is the sequence of the events in a story.
- Setting is the locale involving the time and a place in which the actions of a story take place.
- Theme is the author’s message, or insight about life or human nature.
- A character is an individual in a literary work.
- The narrator is the person who tells the story.
- Voice is the distinctive use of language that helps the reader understand the narrator’s personality.
- Point-of-view is the way in which the author narrates the story (e.g. first person singular).
- Literary devices are the techniques used in writing such as personification, alliteration, metaphor, etc.
- Symbolism is using specific symbols, be they words, people, marks, locations, or abstract ideas to represent something beyond the literal meaning.
2. Poems
Guidelines for reading poetry
- Pay attention to the ways a poem may refresh language and make it seem new. ∙ Use your emotions, experiences, and imagination to help you create meaning in a poem.
- Read a poem at least three times: once for enjoyment, once for meaning, and once for the structure and diction.
- Respond to a poem as a whole before analyzing its details.
Elements of poetry
- Poems are mostly organised into stanzas. Each stanza contains one or more lines.
- Imagery is the use of descriptive language that appeals to one or more of our senses of sight, sound, smell, touch or taste.
- Figurative language is language used for descriptive effect, often to imply ideas indirectly.
- Figure of speech is a specific device or kind of figurative language, such as simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration, assonance, etc.
- Rhythm is the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry.
- Rhyme repeats certain sounds to create musical effects.
- Symbolism is the use of specific symbols to help represent something.
3. Essays
Guidelines for reading essays
- Read the title.
- Mark the important areas of the text that help define the essay.
- Underline the important points.
- Notice the point of view.
- Find the mode of writing.
- Read the meaning of the text.
Elements of an essay
- Audience: whom the essay is intended for
- Purpose: the intention of goal for writing an essay
- Subject: the topic discussed in the essay
- Point of view: how the ideas are told to the reader
- Mode of writing: persuasion, description, narration, exposition
- Organization: how the ideas are organised in paragraphs
- Rhetoric: art of persuasion through the use of rhetorical devices such as metaphor, metonymy, sound patterning, repetition, alliteration, list of three (e.g. education, health and agriculture), etc. especially in persuasive public speeches.
4. One Act Plays
Guidelines for reading plays
- Like fiction, a play has a plot, a setting, characters and a theme.
- Preview the characters before you read.
- Try to read a play in its entirety in one sitting focusing your attention on the plot and the character(s).
- As a play is meant to be performed, you need to use your imagination to visualise what is happening in each scene.
- Read the stage directions as well as the dialogue.
- Pay special attention to what happens to the main character(s).
- Think about the theme only after you finish reading.
Elements of plays
- Tragedy is a play in which the main character suffers a downfall.
- Tragic hero is the main character in a tragedy.
- Comedy is a play that is humorous or satirical and often has a happy ending.
- Dialogue is the conversation that the characters have in a play.
- Stage directions may describe the sets, props, sound effects, lighting, and the actions of the characters.
- Irony is a contrast between appearance and reality. Three types of irony can contribute to humour: verbal, situational, and dramatic.
- In a monologue or soliloquy, the character reveals certain important thoughts and feelings about the action.
- Most of the plays are divided into acts and scenes.
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