{"id":32437,"date":"2021-08-31T08:45:19","date_gmt":"2021-08-31T04:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/?p=32437"},"modified":"2021-08-31T08:45:19","modified_gmt":"2021-08-31T04:45:19","slug":"1956-sc-examiners-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/1956-sc-examiners-report\/","title":{"rendered":"1956 SC Examiners\u2019 Report"},"content":{"rendered":"
Mauritius Times – 60 Years Ago<\/u><\/span><\/h5>\n
\u201cThe Standard of English: Low\u201d, say School Certificate Examiners<\/u><\/em><\/span><\/h5>\n
\"\"<\/u><\/em><\/span><\/h5>\n

By R. Rummun<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Now that the exams are striding fast, and the very thought of the English Language is troubling minds, we feel it will do much good to SC add even GCE candidates taking this language and also to teachers and parents to know what the examiners have to say on that subject.<\/span><\/p>\n

The most important section of the English Paper is the one dealing with composition \u2013 Paper I. Its purpose is to test the candidate\u2019s ability to express his thoughts clearly, logically and convincingly. It strictly stipulates that he must provide a \u201creasonable length\u201d, and pay attention to \u201cstyle, subject-matter and arrangement\u201d. For the guidance of candidates, we shall group the various paragraphs of the Report dealing with Paper I under four headings, suggested by the above requirements, and treat them in the same order.<\/span><\/p>\n

Length of Composition<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

This is a point that puzzles many candidates. The Report emphatically states that the compositions were generally short. \u201cFew candidates wrote 3 pages and the average was barely 11\/2 pages\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many could write even this and, being short of ideas, fell to \u201cstupid repetitions\u201d and padding \u2013 \u201cThe opportunities afforded by the subjects to introduce local material were not seized with conviction and description lacked colour and knowledge.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Style<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

After recording this sad lack of material, the Report mentions a general absence of fluency. The candidates were evidently straining every nerve to make themselves understood, but the efforts of many were rendered fruitless by faulty constructions of sentences and paragraphs, and errors of vocabulary, idiom and concord.<\/span><\/p>\n

As regards sentence-construction, the examiners stress the need for \u201ccomplete sentences, simple, compound and complex.\u201d The main faults were lack of unity of thought, and the use of \u201cloose and completely uncontrolled\u201d sentences, or the other extreme of short, jerky, monotonous sentences.<\/span><\/p>\n

A very important point is mentioned about vocabulary: the use of coinages (drying-leaves making, chasing-time, habituated, etc.) and such stale and meaningless phrases as, \u201cas a matter of fact\u201d, \u201cand so on and so forth\u201d, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n

Subject-Matter<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

“This was often slight, childish and elementary. Frequently it was incorrect. There was an absence of individuality in these compositions. Many candidates appeared to avoid subjects favouring a personal approach and concentrated instead on those requiring objective writing (e.g., Nos 1, 3, 6). There was much reliance on conventional ideas expressed very superficially.\u201d The above remarks, which we could not resist quoting in full, deserve careful study.<\/span><\/p>\n

A good number seemed unable to concentrate on a topic, but inability to convince was also due to lack of \u201cfactual knowledge.\u201d (e.g., in No. 1 \u2013climate). <\/em>Thus, candidates are advised not to write on a subject on which they have \u201conly hazy and inaccurate notions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Coming to relevance, we learn that many who attempted No. 6 (Forests) <\/em>digressed badly, no doubt through lack of material. But most of those who tackled No. 8 (School Plays) <\/em>were woefully irrelevant, since they wrote not on dramatic productions but on sports.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the ticklish problem of interpretation, the examiners have this to say: \u201cA wide tolerance is observed by examiners, but some candidates go beyond this and have to be penalised for gross, often deliberate, irrelevance.\u201d There seem to be two causes for this: first, a misreading of the title; second a deliberate \u201c<\/strong>twisting\u201d of the subject to suit the candidate\u2019s \u201cown convenience\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Arrangement<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Under this heading will come plan & construction, and paragraphs. The examiners admit that many candidates did make some kind of mental or written plan, comprising introduction, body, conclusion. But they failed in execution. In many cases the introduction bore no relation to the body of the composition and the conclusion was but a poor repetition of some point already dealt with. Rarely were the main threads gathered into a summary. Often the conclusion was inexistent or irrelevant, being introduced by a lonely and meaningless \u201cThus\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

As regards paragraphs, the examiners note the absence of \u201ca topic sentence to introduce a new point\u201d, and failure to achieve unity within the paragraph. Many paragraphs had not one idea but \u201cas many as six disjointed thoughts, unrelated to one another.\u201d Such mistakes were more glaring in the scripts of those who had chosen a subject beyond their capacity, but they often found their way in essays on such familiar subjects as \u201cTea.\u201d <\/em>There were also numerous cases of multi-paragraphed compositions: e.g., as many as ten \u201cso-called paragraphs\u201d in an essay of 11\/2 pages.<\/span><\/p>\n

General Remarks<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

On the whole, the Report concludes: \u201cThe standard of work in English Language I was low. Punctuation was haphazard and elementary blunders were rife. Spelling was often very shaky. Handwriting was careless and often illegible.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

* Published in print edition on 31 August 2021<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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