TEACHING ENGLISH AT UNDERGRADUATE LEVEL IN BARAK VALLEYDISTRICTS OF ASSAM WITH SPECIAL

EMPHASIS ON BASIC ENGLISH GRAMMAR

A thesis submitted to Assam University, Silchar in partialfulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Doctor of

Philosophy in the Department of Linguistics

By

Md Abdul KarimPh. D. Registration No.: Ph.D/1911/12 dated 24.09.12

DEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICSRABINDRANATH TAGORE SCHOOL OF INDIAN

LANGUAGES AND CULTURAL STUDIESASSAM UNIVERSITY

SILCHAR-788011, INDIA2015

I

DEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICSRABINDRANATH TAGORE SCHOOL OF INDIAN

LANGUAGES AND CULTURAL STUDIESASSAM UNIVERSITY, SILCHAR

DECLARATION

I, Md Abdul Karim bearing Registration No. Ph.D/1911/12

dated 24.09.12, hereby declare that the subject matter of the thesis

entitled “Teaching English at undergraduate level in Barak Valley

Districts of Assam with special emphasis on Basic English

Grammar” is the record of work done by me and that the contents of

this thesis did not form the basis for award of any degree to me or to

anybody else to the best of my knowledge. This thesis has not been

submitted in any other university/institute.

Place: Assam University, SilcharDate: 07.04.2015 (Md Abdul Karim)

II

CERTIFICATE

Certified that the thesis entitled “Teaching English at

undergraduate level in Barak Valley Districts of Assam with

special emphasis on Basic English Grammar” for award of the

Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Linguistics is

the outcome of a bonafide research work. This work has not been

submitted previously for any other degree of this or any other

university. It is further certified that the candidate has complied with

all the formalities as per the requirements of Assam University. I

recommend that the thesis may be placed before the examiners for

consideration of award of the degree of this university.

Dr. S. Ganesh BaskaranAssociate Professor

DEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICS

ASSAM UNIVERSITY(A Central University Constituted under

the Act XIII of 1989)SILCHAR-788011, ASSAM, INDIA

(Dr. S. Ganesh Baskaran)Supervisor

Department of LinguisticsAssam University Silchar

Date : 07.04.2015

III

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I express my deep sense of gratitude to my supervisor Dr S.

Ganesh Baskaran, Associate Professor, Dept of Linguistics, Assam University,

Silchar, for his guidance and help during the entire process of my research work

and in preparing this thesis without which it would not have been possible. I

express my indebtedness to Dr Topodhir Battacharjee, the former Vice Chancellor

of Assam University, Silchar and Dr Niranjan Roy, the Registrar in charge, Assam

University, Silchar for their kind co-operation at the time of admission to PhD

course and also for inspiring me in many ways. I thank Dr A.K. Baishya, Professor

and Head, Dept of Linguistics for his kind co-operation from the beginning to the

end of my research work. Thanks also go to all the other teachers of the

Department of Linguistics, Assam University, Silchar for their co-operation. I

cannot forget the inspiring push from back by Dr Arunima Dey Battacharjee, my

colleague and Associate Professor, Dept of History, S.S. College, Hailakandi and

Dr S.K. Nath, Asstt. Professor, Dept of English, Assam University, Silchar for

which I thank them both. I also thank Dr R.P. Biswas, Associate Professor, Dept of

English, Assam University, Silchar for his right advice which enabled me to pursue

PhD course in the department of Linguistics. Mr Hilal Uddin Laskar, Head, Dept

of Philosophy and Mr Debdutta Chakraborty, Head, Dept of History, S.S. College

deserve thanks for their helping me during the course work for PhD. I thank the

library staff of Assam University, Silchar for their co-operation while using the

library for research work. I must acknowledge the services rendered to me by the

employees of the department of Linguistics, Assam University, Silchar. I specially

thank Mr Shibojit Choudhary, Librarian of S.S. College, Hailakandi for his helping

me in various ways during the entire process of pursuing PhD studies. I must thank

all the Principals, Teachers of English Departments and the Students of the

Colleges of Barak Valley who extended their support and co-operation during the

process of data collection without which my endevour would not have been

successful. I feel proud to express my gratitude to my elder brother Mr M.A.

Halim, Deputy General Manager (Retd), North Eastern Electrical Power

Corporation (NEEPCO) for his instruction to do research for PhD under Assam

University, Silchar. I thank my younger brother Mr. M.A. Basit, Director of

IV

Pension and Audit, Dept of Finance and ex-officio Director, Small Savings, Govt

of Arunachal Pradesh for supporting me. The co-operation of my wife Sahanara

Begum Mazumder cannot be ignored for which she deserves mention. I have to

express my indebtedness to my eldest brother Mr Mujibur Rahman and sisters-in-

law Hafsa Begum and Salema Begum for helping me in many ways. Lastly, I

thank Mr Sandip Choudhury of S Cube, Silchar for printing and binding this

thesis.

Assam University, Silchar Md Abdul Karim

V

CONTENTS

Page No.

Title Page

Declaration i

Certificate ii

Acknowledgements iii-iv

Contents v

List of Abbreviations vi

Map of Barak Valley vii

Chapters

Chapter 1 : Introduction 1-26

Chapter 2 : Review of Literature 27-45

Chapter 3 : English Language Teaching : A Brief Profile 46-141

3.1 Introduction to Teaching English

3.2 Teaching Basic English Grammar

3.3 Common Errors in English

3.4 Pronunciation: An Important Issue

3.5 Methods of Teaching and the Teacher’s Role

Chapter 4 : Curriculum and Syllabus 142-156

Chapter 5 : Data Analysis and Interpretation 157-204

Chapter 6 : Findings and Suggestions 205-225

Chapter 7 : Conclusion 226-229

Bibliography 230-238

Appendices 239-254

VI

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

A. K. : Arun Kumar

A. L. C. : Abdul Latif Choudhury

EFL : English as a Foreign Language

ELT : English Language Teaching

ESL : English as a Second Language

G. C. : Guru Charan

H. S. : Higher Secondary

Ind E : Indian English

L2 : Second Language

M. C. D. : Madhav Chandra Das

M. H. C. : Moinul Hoque Choudhury

N. B. : Latin ‘nota bene’ used in writing to make some body

take notice of a particular piece of information that is

important. (OALD)

N. C. : North Cachar

NIT : National Institute of Technology

NNS : Non-Native Speaker

OALD : Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary

OUP : Oxford University Press

R. K. : Ram Krishna

R. S. : Rabindra Sadan

S. C. : Sarada Charan

S. K. : Sontosh Kumar

S. S. : Srikishan Sarada

VII

Fig. 1

BARAK VALLEY DISTRICTS : FIELD OF RESEARCH

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barak_Valley)

BANGLADESH

1

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

This research work makes an attempt to study the present situation of

English language among the under graduate students in Barak Valley districts of

Assam namely, Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi with special emphasis on Basic

English Grammar.

1.1 Background of the Study

Background of the study includes the definition of language, origin of

English language, Position of English language, Rise and spread of English

language in India, English language in the North-east, Geographical location of

Barak Valley, a map of Barak Valley districts where the research has been

undertaken, colleges in Barak Valley and the present position of English teaching

and learning in these colleges.

1.1.1 The definition of language

‘Language is the system of communication in speech and writing which is

used by the people of a particular country or region (Oxford Advance Learner’s

Dictionary of Current English ed. A.S. Hornby). Language is a social phenomenon.

It is the medium through which human beings transmit their ideas to each other. It

is the sound produced by a person and the other receives it through ear. However,

dumb and deaf can also transmit their ideas to others with the help of indications

made by fingers or other parts of the body which is called the body language. The

transmission of sounds to others to convey any idea is speech which is termed as

2

sentence and thus each part of the sentence is called a part of speech i.e. a word.

And to from a word, a letter or letters are necessary which are some fixed signs or

symbols. These signs and symbols are essential for writing the language. Again,

for writing, some rules are necessary and these rules are called grammar. Thus

every language has its own grammar which controls the language and becomes a

common affair for everybody’s understanding.

1.1.2 Origin of language

There are innumerable languages in the world and English is one of these

languages. But English is the only language spread all over the world. This

language originated from the Indo-European group “the largest and well defined

genetic family which includes most of the languages of Europe, past and present

and extends across Iran to territorial half of the Indian sub-continent” ( Bright : ed.

1992; Vol-II). According to western philologists, Greek and Latin were the oldest

languages indicating that there was a parent language from which all other

languages emerged. It is said that English descended from the primitive Germanic

language.

1.1.3 Position of English language

English has occupied a unique position in the international field. It plays a

pivotal role in the field of communication. David crystal (1985:7-9) gives a figure

of two billion users of English. He says, ‘ … if you are highly conscious of

international standard, or wish to keep the figures for world English down, you

will opt for a total of around 700 million in the mid-1980s. If you go to the

opposite extreme and allow in any systematic awareness whether in speaking,

3

reading or writing, you could easily persuade yourself of the reasonableness of two

billion”.

English is the national language of the United Kingdom, the United States

of America, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. Of course, there

are differences in pronunciation and vocabulary. In India also, like other countries,

English has a special place in the midst of so many languages spoken by the people

of this country.

1.1.4 Rise and spread of English in India

British came to India for business purpose and their business organisation

was East-India Company. But it had eye on Indian political situation. After 1765, it

became a political power in India and gradually they captured political power and

ruled over India for two hundred years. During this long period, English was

spread all over India. The Christian missionaries also played an important role in

spreading English in India side by side with their mission of preaching Christian

religion among Indian people. A section of people also started believing that the

access to education and knowledge was possible only through English. But the

general people thought that English was essential to get government jobs easily.

But after two hundred years of British rule, India acquired her

independence in the year 1947. But meanwhile, English had already established its

strong position in this country. The debates of constituent Assembly held in 1949

clearly indicated the significance of English in India. But Hindi was declared to be

the official language of the Union and English was given the status of an Associate

Official language for a period of fifteen years. Article 343 of the Indian

4

Constitution says, “… for a period of fifteen years from the commencement of this

constitution, the English language shall continue to be used for all the official

purposes of the union for which it was being used immediately before such

commencement”. However, special provisions were made for the retention of

English language under the discretion of the parliament even after the 15 year

period for the following purposes:

i) All proceedings in the Supreme Court and the High Courts

ii) Authoritative Text of Bills, Acts, Ordinances, Order, Rules, Regulations and

Bye Laws issued under the constitution or under any law (Kochhar)

In the academic field also, all the education commissions appointed after

India’s independence, recommended the study of English as an international link

language, as a window to the world and as library language side by side the use of

Indian languages as media of instruction at different stages of education.

According to the University Education Commission (1948-49), English is to be

studied in High School and in the University in order that we may keep in touch

with the living stream of ever growing knowledge. Even the Kothari Commission

and the Education Policy of 1968 had emphasised the “… three language formula

which included Hindi, the regional language and English in the curriculum”.

“English in India today is a symbol of people’s aspiration for quality in

education and a fuller participation in national and international life. Its colonial

origins now forgotten or irrelevant, its initial role in independent India tailored to

high education now felt to be insufficiently inclusive social and linguistically; the

current state of English stem from its overwhelming presence on the world stage

5

and reflection of this in the national arena….” (National Focus Group on Teaching

of English for NCF-2005). Thus English made its strong position in the midst of

multilingual Indian nation. It plays the role of a link language among the different

language speakers of India.

1.1.5 English Language in the North-East

English language in the North-Eastern states of India plays a role of link

language among the educated people of North-East India. There are eight states in

the North-East namely, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur,

Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. English is the medium of instruction at

the Post Graduate Level in all these states. However, in under graduate level both

English and Assamese are the media of instruction in Assam. In Barak Valley

districts namely, Cachar, Karimganj, and Hailakandi under Assam University, the

medium of instruction is only English . In Arunachal Pradesh, English is the only

medium of instruction from primary level to post graduate level and it is the first

language taught from the primary level onwards. English is the state language of

Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Sikkim. Assam is geographically

divided into two valleys namely, Brahmaputra Valley and Barak Valley. While the

official language of Brahmaputra Valley (Upper and Lower Assam) is Assamese,

the official language of Barak Valley (Southern Assam) is Bengali. Besides

Assamese and Bengali, the two major languages of Assam, other langauges like

Bodo, Mishing, Karbi, Hindi, etc. are also used by these communities. However, in

the tribal states like Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya, majority of the people

embraced Christianity as Christian missionaries convinced them. These Christian

6

missionaries set up schools and colleges in which English is the medium of

instruction. Of course, in Assam and in other north eastern states, Christian

missionaries also set up English medium schools which are playing a major role in

the field of education. Holy Cross School was the first English medium school set

up by the Christian missionaries in 1966 at Silchar. But now Don Bosco, St.

Joseph, Roland School, St. Capitanio, St. Mary’s Schools are there in Barak

Valley. These institutions are imparting education in English and there is

environment where English language is practised. The students of these schools

can speak English fluently. But these schools are very expensive and thus beyond

the reach of common people.

1.1.6 Geographical location of Barak Valley

The Barak Valley is situated at the southern border of Assam covering

three districts i.e. Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi. The three districts posses the

geographical areas of 3245, 1809 and 1327 km2 respectively. They collectively

cover an area of 6381 km2 that stands on the bank of the river Barak and her

tributaries (www.mapsofindia.com/maps/assam/assamdistricts.htm). It is bound by

the hill ranges in three sides — on the north by the N.C. Hill district of Assam, on

the south by the states of Mizoram and Tripura, on the east by the state of Manipur.

Only towards the west, it is bordered by the plane lands of Bangladesh (Sylhet

Division) (ibid). The population of the district of Cachar is 17,36,319, Karimganj

is 12,17,002, and Hailakandi is 6,59,260 which may be totally counted as

36,12,581 (Ibid). The Bengalees are the largest linguistic community in the area

and so Bengali is the official language in these three districts unlike the rest of

Assam where the majority people are Assamese speaking. Apart from the

7

Bengalees, the Meitai Manipuris, Bishnupria Manipuris, Dimasas, Rongmai

Nagas, Mizos, Khasis and the Kukis are the other linguistic groups who reside in

this Valley (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cachar-district). The Hindus and the

Muslims are the two largest religious communities in the region and next to them

there remains the Christians. As per census report 2011, the literacy rates of

Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi districts are 80.36%, 79.72% and 75.26%

respectively. (www.govt.nic.in).

In the Medieval period, the districts of Cachar and Hailakandi along with a

part of North Cachar Hill district formed the principality of Cachar under the

Dimasa kings since 1745 A.D. In 1832 after the assassination of the last Dimasa

ruler Govinda Chandra, the territory was passed over to the British rulers ( U.C.

Guha: Cacharer Itibritta : Hoogli Chapra Srirampore pp167-169). The district of

Karimganj was a part of the neighbouring Sylhet region of the Eastern Bengal and

thus it constituted a part of the Bengal Subah under the Mughal Emperors. When

the whole of Bengal was conquered by the British after the Battle of Palashi in

1757 the region went under the British along with the entire Eastern Bengal (J.B.

Bhattacharjee: Cachar Under British Rule in North East India : Radiant Publication

: New Delhi:1977 pp 30-32). In 1874 the British rulers added the modern districts

of Cachar and Hailakandi (then constituted the district of Cachar) along with the

district of Sylhet (Modern Karimganj district was its subdivision) to Assam for

administrative convenience. As a Bengalee dominated zone in the state of Assam

both the districts were specifically identified in the Government records as the

Surma Valley Division of the state (W.W. Hunter : Statistical Accounts of

Assam.1879 p375). Just before the Independence of India, in July 1947 the

8

Referendum of Syllhet took place on the question of the partition of the country. In

the Referendum the major part of the Sylhet district decided to go with Pakistan

and only three and half thanas of the Karimganj subdivision voted to join India.

They were added to the district of Cachar as the Karimganj subdivision at the time

of independence ( Census of India Cachar District 1951 p7). In 1983 Karimganj

and in 1989 Hailakandi were separated from Cachar and were made two new

districts for administrative convenience. In the post-independence period the entire

region covering the districts of Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi became

popularly known as the Barak valley after the name of the principal river the Barak

flowing over it.

People of Barak Valley speak the Sylheti dialect of Bengali. But they speak

standard form of Bengali on special occasions like delivering lectures on the stage

before microphone. They also use standard form when they write. There are

Manipuri, Bihari or other Hindi speaking people, Marwari doing business, Reang,

Burman and small number of Khasi people live in Barak Valley . But all of them

use Sylheti dialect as a link language.

1.1.7 Colleges in Barak Valley and Present position of Teaching

English in these colleges

There are many colleges in Barak valley. In Cachar district, there are G.C.

College (Silchar), Cachar College (Silchar), Women college (Silchar),

Radhamadhav College (Silchar), M.C.D. College (Sonai), Kabugonj College

(Kabugonj), Pailapool College (Pailapool), Kalain College (Kalain), West Silchar

College (Barjatrapur), Jagannath Singh College (Udharbond). There is also a

9

Medical College and an Engineering College (NIT, Silchar), A.K. Chanda Law

College (Silchar) and B.Ed. College (Silchar). In Karimganj district, Karimganj

College (Karimganj), R.S. Girls’ College (Karimganj), R.K. Nagar College (R.K.

Nagar), Nilambazar College (Nilambazar) & Patharkandi College (Patharkandi)

are there. In Hailakandi district, S.S. College (Hailakandi), Lala Rura College

(Lala), A.L.C. College (Algapur), M.H.C. Memorial Science College (Algapur),

S.C. Dey College (Katakhal), S.K. Roy College (Katlicherra) & Women College

(Hailakandi) are there. All these Degree colleges are affiliated to Assam

University, Silchar. The oldest Colleges of the Barak valley are G.C. College,

Silchar established in 1935, Karimganj College (Karimganj) in 1946 and S.S.

College, Hailakandi established in 1950.

Although the medium of instruction is only English in these colleges, there

is no English speaking environment. All the students speak Sylheti dialect even in

the college campus. Except a few, almost all the teachers also speak this dialect.

Even in classes, majority of the teachers deliberate their lectures in this Bengali

dialect or in Standard form. Majority of the science teachers think that the students

do not understand English and hence for their better understanding of the subject,

they use local language. In Arts classes also some teachers use local language.

Only in English classes, teachers use English but sometimes some of them mix

Bengali while deliberating their lectures. As a result, the students do not listen

English and are weak in speaking English. Side by side, many teachers are also not

comfortable in speaking English in Barak Valley. In Barak Valley, there is no

environment for listening and speaking English and this is reflected in the

10

educational institutions except missionary schools where we find the English

speaking environment.

1.2 The present study

The present work is an attempt to study the situation of English among the

under graduate students of the three districts of Barak Valley namely, Cachar,

Karimganj and Hailakandi. This study also attempts to analyse the Basic English

grammar which are essential for speaking and writing correct English and also for

securing good marks in the examinations.

English has occupied a place in the international field which no one can

deny. Thus English has become a compulsory subject of study in all educational

institutions. The syllabus is also designed in such a way that along with literature,

grammar is also included. It is very natural that no one can write or speak correct

English without grammar. Learners start learning English almost from the early

stage of their academic life and continue learning English upto under graduate

level. During this long period of study, the students must be well aware of this

subject. But practically it does not happen. They cannot speak or write English

comfortably. Of course, English medium students are exceptions as they get the

environment for listening and speaking English. In vernacular medium schools,

English is taught very seriously and the old grammar-translation method is

followed. Even then the students are very weak in English. Along with prose and

poetry, grammar is also taught by the teachers with interest but the result is not

achieved.

11

When the students come to under graduate level, it is found that even at this

stage majority of the students are not able to speak English and their knowledge of

Basic English grammar is very weak. Although the students having English

medium background can speak English, their knowledge of Basic grammar is

found very weak. It is sometimes contradictory to note that some vernacular

medium students are better than the English medium students as far as grammar is

concerned. It is found that while speaking English, the English medium students

use expressions like ‘cousin brother, cousin sister, blunder mistake, fill up the

blanks, return back, with bag and baggage, did not went, I am hoping , I would be

knowing and many more which are wrong.

Hence the purpose of this study is to deal with English language with

special emphasis on Basic English grammar and to analyse it so that both the

teachers and students find interest in teaching and learning English respectively.

As for grammar, if the teachers teach sincerely and the students learn it with

interest, it will not stand as a barrier for students in answering the questions on

grammar in the examinations or writing correct English. Thus the aim of the

researcher is to investigate the present status of English among the under graduate

students of the three districts of Barak Valley namely, Cachar, Karimganj and

Hailakandi and to advance findings and some suggestions after data collection and

analysis.

1.3 Rationale of the Study

English is comparatively an easy language and its grammar is also easy to

understand. But there is a wrong notion among the people that this is a hard subject

12

of study and the students are also not the exceptions. Some students are afraid of

English particularly its grammar and hence they become fully dependent on the

teacher and go for private tuition with the intention to pass the examination or to

get good marks in English. Although they pass or get good marks in the subject,

they do not learn the subject properly and remain weak for the rest of their life.

Students know that English is a language of much importance in the

national and international level. It plays a pivotal role in the field of

communication. In India also it has a special place. This language is used in the

interviews and competitive examinations as a common language. Students get the

scope for a long time to study the language upto degree level. But it remains a hard

subject to many students. Again, it is found that grammar remains a dry subject of

study and even most of the teachers of English in colleges are indifferent to

teaching English grammar and some of them expressed their inability to teach

grammar in a very close discussion. As for students, even after coming to under

graduate level their base in English particularly in grammar is found very weak.

Majority of the students feel uncomfortable in listening and speaking English.

They also feel embarrassed when questions on grammar are asked or when they are

asked to speak English. The study of grammar is an interesting field but a very few

show interest in the study of grammar. Many of the teachers prefer to teach prose,

poetry etc. and remain confined to syllabus so that it can be finished in time. By

syllabus, some teachers mean prose, poetry, drama or novel and they say that the

students should practise grammar and composition themselves at home as they

were taught grammar and composition earlier upto H.S. level. So Grammar

remains untouched at degree level. Grammar is not included in Dibrugarh

13

University syllabus as their idea is that the students must have the basic knowledge

of grammar because they studied grammar upto H.S. level.

The researcher has undertaken the study of grammar at under graduate level

for certain reasons. Normally, English grammar and composition are prescribed at

degree level by many universities. In Assam University degree syllabus, grammar

is prescribed for Degree First Semester students, composition for second semester

students. So Degree first semester is the last stage of learning English grammar for

Assam University students. In second year and third year Degree classes, there is

no General English subject. The Assam University has prescribed some grammar

in first semester which were studied earlier by the students. It is clear that the

University authority wants that the students should have the last chance to revise

their knowledge of grammar. Moreover, 50% of the syllabus is based on grammar

so that the students can score good marks in English. But the researcher has found

from his long teaching experience that students do not get good marks in English

rather many of them fail in this subject although the syllabus is very small. Where

the defect lies has become a subject of research and to find out the solution or

remedy is a big task. Barak valley is within the reach of the researcher and hence

he has undertaken this research project to study the situation of English particularly

the Basic grammar among the students of Barak Valley districts. Side by side, he

aims to analyse grammar in an easy way so that both the teachers and students find

interest to study this subject. With this end in view, a detailed investigation has

been made. The outcome of the research work may be helpful in overcoming the

defects of the teaching process. The teachers may take help for further

14

improvement of their present teaching ideas. Again it would be of great help for

the future researchers to work on the related field. Moreover, in future, the findings

of the research may influence the public authorities who make policies and the

persons who design the curriculum.

1.4 Objectives of the research work

The main objectives of the research work are:

1. To investigate the present situation of English in general and grammar in

particular among the under graduate students of the three districts of Barak

Valley, namely Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi.

2. To analyse the Basic English grammar which are necessary to speak and

write English correctly and which are also prescribed in the syllabus of

Assam University, Silchar.

3. To help the teachers to know the best methods and ways of teaching

English grammar so that the students can learn it easily and remember it

forever.

The other objectives of the undertaken research are as follows:

1. To make the teachers conscious about the difference between the British

English and the American English as students are confused when they use

computer because in computer normally we find American English.

However, it can be converted to British English also for the convenience of

the learners.

15

2. To make the teachers aware of the varieties of English and the particular

dialect which is standard English and used as official language so that they

can inform the students about it.

3. To inform the teachers about the importance of listening and speaking skill

so that they encourage the students to listen and speak English.

1.5 Hypothesis

The proposed research work is based on the following hypothesis:

1. The competency level of English language by teachers and students is not

effective upto the mark.

2. The teachers’ and students’ lack of interest in teaching and learning English

grammar respectively is the main cause which hampers the teaching and

learning process.

3. The grammar study remains a neglected part as much care has not been

given to it by many concerned with it.

1.6 Statement of the problem

English is a compulsory object of study in all classes upto under graduate

level. Students get the scope for a long time to learn the subject. When the students

come to under graduate level their knowledge of English must be good. But it is

not normally found with majority of the students. Students who studied in English

medium schools earlier can speak English but the vernacular medium students

cannot speak. As for grammar, both the section of students are found weak in

grammar. The condition of vernacular medium students is very pathetic. Except a

very small number of students, majority of them can neither speak nor write the

16

language correctly. Even when the students having English medium background

speak English, they use wrong expression like cousin brother, cousin sister,

blunder mistake etc. It is also found that some students are afraid of English. They

memorise and somehow manage to pass. But most of the students fail in the

subject even at the under graduate level although the syllabus of Assam University

is very small. Every year many students have to clear back papers in English. The

question arises how these students passed the examinations earlier.

Normally in vernacular medium schools, students do not listen English in

the mouth of their teachers who teach English and the students are also not

required to speak English. When these students come to degree level, they feel

very uncomfortable when they are required to listen the lectures of the teachers in

English. Many of them express that they do not understand English and request the

teachers to speak in the local dialect. Teachers also feel that they do not understand

English and hence the lectures often become bilingual. But a big question arises

why the students are very weak in grammar particularly the Basic grammar which

are prescribed in the syllabus. A number of factors associated with both the

learners of English and the teachers of English are there. Most of the college

teachers concentrate on teaching prose, poetry, drama, novel etc. but they do not

prefer to teach grammar or avoid it. Students are also not serious about it. Hence

grammar remains a neglected part.

The present study tries to investigate these problems : the part being played

by learners of English while learning and the teachers while teaching English

particularly the Basic English grammar at under graduate level in Barak Valley

17

districts as Assam University, Silchar has prescribed a syllabus for degree course

in which general English is made compulsory in first year where 50% of the

syllabus is based on grammar and composition. A student can pass the examination

only with the help of grammar and composition or can secure good marks but this

does not happen to many students under this university.

1.7 Scope and Limitation of the Study

The study is based on ten colleges of the three districts of Barak Valley

which are under Assam University, Silchar. Three colleges from each district have

been taken. Out of these three colleges, one college is from urban area, one college

is rural based and one is girls’ college. Total three colleges from urban area, three

from rural areas and three women colleges are there. Also the only one Science

College in Barak Valley is taken as field of study and as sample. The number of

colleges has been limited to ten only for time constraint and for better results.

1. Colleges from Urban areas

i. G.C. College, Silchar

ii. Karimganj College, Karimganj

iii. S.S. College, Hailakandi

2. Colleges from Rural areas

i. M.C.D. College, Sonai, Cachar

ii. Nilambazar College, Nilambazar, Karimganj

iii. A.L.C. College, Algapur, Hailakandi

3. Ladies’ Colleges

i. Women College, Silchar

18

ii. R.S. Girls’ College, Karimganj

iii. Women College, Hailakandi

4. M.H.C. Science College, the only Science College in Barak Valley.

The above categories are made for the convenience of data collection and

analysis. Only the students of Degree third semester are taken as the target group

so as to find out the real scenario of the English language teaching and learning.

The researcher has decided to examine the third semester students and collect data

from them because they have already passed the general English subject. They

have gathered the experience of teaching and learning situation in degree first

year; how they were taught by the teachers and how much they achieved from the

class room teaching of English particularly the Basic English grammar which were

prescribed for them.

1.8 Methodology of data collection

Definition of the sample: The study is based on survey. The data required

for the study have been collected from the teachers and students of ten colleges of

the three districts of Barak Valley. Three colleges from Cachar district, three from

Karimganj district and three from Hailakandi district and a Science College located

at Hailakandi are taken. Data used are both primary and secondary.

Tools used for the study: The data required for the study are collected with

the help of:

1. Questionnaires

2. Personal interview

3. Observation of classroom teaching.

19

4. Two sets of questionnaire have been prepared for collection of data. One

set is prepared for teachers and another for students. After collection of

data, these have been interpreted and analysed.

1.9 Organisation of the study (Chapterisation)

The researcher has undertaken a survey in total ten colleges of Barak

Valley of which three are from urban areas, three are from rural areas and three are

ladies colleges and one Science College covering Cachar, Karimganj and

Hailakandi on the basis of the objectives of the study.

The entire thesis is divided in the following chapters:

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Review of Literature

Chapter 3: English Language Teaching : A Brief Profile

3.1 Introduction to Teaching English

3.2 Teaching Basic English Grammar

3.3 Common Errors in English

3.4 Pronunciation: An Important Issue

3.5 Methods of Teaching and the Teacher’s Role

Chapter 4 : Curriculum and Syllabus

Chapter 5: Data Analysis and Interpretation

Chapter 6: Findings and Suggestions

Chapter 7: Conclusion

These chapters are followed by a Bibliography and Appendices.

20

Chapter 1: This chapter is Introduction which includes the background of the

study, geographical location of Barak Valley and a map of Barak Valley districts

where the research has been undertaken, rationale of the study, objectives of the

research work, hypothesis, statement of the problem, scope and limitation of the

study, names of the colleges in Barak Valley and present position of teaching

English in these colleges. Also the names of the colleges where the survey has

been conducted, methodology and data collection (definition of the sample, tools

used for the study) and organisation of the study (chapterisation of the thesis) are

there. In the background of the study, the researcher has presented a brief

description of language, origin of English language, position of English language,

rise and spread of English language in India, role of English language in the North-

Eastern States.

Chapter 2: This chapter is the “Review of Literature”. In this chapter, the

researcher has highlighted various works available which are related to this field of

studies. During the library visits, various research works have been found on

English language teaching both at national and international levels. But it is very

difficult to find research works on the related field at the Barak valley level.

Moreover, it is also very difficult to trace any work on the systematic study of

Basic English grammar. As far as the researchers knowledge goes, no similar work

has been done on the Basic English grammar till date. However, some existing

literature related to the present study both at national and international level are

found and reviewed in this chapter. The present study is based on teaching Basic

English Grammar in Barak Valley. Hence some grammar books which are

available in Barak Valley need to be reviewed. With this end in view, the

21

researcher visited some famous book stalls of Barak Valley and collected the

grammar books which are normally sold by them and followed by the students and

teachers of Barak Valley. Some of the grammar books are also reviewed in this

chapter.

Chapter 3: This chapter is ‘English Language Teaching : A brief profile’.

There are five sub-chapters under this chapter.

3.1 Introduction to teaching English: In this heading, an introduction to teaching

English is given. It is very essential on the part of the teachers to know the varieties

of English and which variety of English is being taught, the learners should know

that. There are varieties of English viz. British and American and also in British

English there are dialects. The teachers should inform the students the particular

dialect which is Standard English and used as official language. So these are

discussed in this sub-chapter.

3.2 Teaching Basic English Grammar : In this sub-chapter, Basic English

Grammar has been discussed. By Basic English Grammar, the researcher means

that the grammar which are necessary to write correct English and to speak

correctly and also which are prescribed in the Syllabus for General English as a

compulsory paper. The discussion has been started from the Alphabet as

English grammar starts from its Alphabet. The chapters like Vowel and

Consonant, Word and Sentence, Use of capital letters, Subject and Predicate,

Parts of speech, Objects, Verbs, Correlatives, Gender, Number, Person, Case,

Mood, Gerund and Verbal noun, Transformation of sentences, Tag question,

Determiners including Articles, Tense, Voice, Quasi-Passive Verb, Narration

22

(Direct and Indirect Speech), Degree of comparison, Punctuation, Clause and

its analysis, Subject-Verb agreement (concord) etc. are discussed. From

School level to Degree Pass Course level, some of the above chapters are normally

prescribed in the Syllabus for study. The journey of English grammar starts

from alphabet and ends with written composition. Unless a student is fully

aware of Basic English grammar, he or she cannot write compositions

correctly. Each of the above chapters has been discussed separately with some

techniques wherever possible so that the students can understand grammar

easily and remember it forever.

3.3 Common Errors in English : In this sub-chapter, there is a discussion on

common mistakes in English which are often committed because of the lack of

clear knowledge of Basic English grammar. Correct English is based on grammar

and usage. So some incorrect sentences are discussed on the basis of grammar and

usage.

3.4 Pronunciation : An Important Issue : In this heading, there is a discussion on

pronunciation of English words including the wrong pronunciation of some Indian

names and places. Pronunciation is a tough task for both teachers and students

whose mother tongue is not English. The same is the case with English speaking

people also. British came to India and ruled over this country for two hundred

years. But they could not pronounce the Indian names of people and places in a

proper way. To achieve correct pronunciation, training is necessary and the best

way to pronounce is to imitate proper pronunciation of the words. It may be done

23

comparing the pronunciation of an unknown word with a known word e.g. bury as

in cherry, deaf as in dead, tortoise as in forties and the like.

3.5 Methods of teaching and the teacher’s role: In this sub-chapter, different

methods of teaching English are discussed along with the role of teacher. There are

many methods of teaching and some of the important methods are discussed in this

chapter.

Chapter 4: This chapter is ‘Curriculum and Syllabus”. In this chapter, the

Curriculum and the Syllabus of Assam University are discussed critically. Also

there is a common discussion on the syllabus. Assam University Degree General

English syllabus is limited to first year. Drama, Novel and Essays, are not

included. Hence General English should be extended to second year also to

accommodate drama, novel, and essays. Communicative English should be there

and ‘Listening and Speaking’ should also be included as it is in Assam Higher

Secondary Syllabus.

Chapter 5: This chapter is ‘Data Analysis and Interpretation’. In the beginning

of this chapter, the methodology adopted for the study is discussed in detail.

However, this chapter is the basis of the present research work. The study is based

on data collected from field survey through questionnaires, personal interviews and

classroom observations. The study was conducted during the academic years 2013

and 2014 in the colleges of Barak Valley. The data so collected are analysed and

interpreted in this chapter for the purpose of findings and suggestions.

The study is based on data collected from field study. The data required for

the study were collected from total ten colleges of Cachar, Karimganj and

24

Hailkandi. Total population of the students was 400. There were thirty students

from arts section from each college, twenty from science where science section

was available and twenty from commerce section where commerce was available.

Extra ten questionnaires were supplied to M.H.C. Science College, Algapur, the

only science college in Barak Valley to make the total population of students 400

for easy calculation of percentage.

Total number of teachers’ population was twenty five. These twenty five

teachers were available during data collection. Eleven teachers were from Cachar

district, seven teachers were from Karimganj district and seven teachers were also

from Hailakandi district.

The data were collected with the help of questionnaires, interviews and

class room observations. Two sets of questionnaires, one for the student

respondents and the other for the teacher respondents were prepared. The students’

questionnaire contains sixty five questions covering Basic grammar from various

angles and on language. The questions on grammar are normally included in the

syllabi which are necessary for basic knowledge of English language and also

which are set in the examinations. The teachers’ questionnaire contains only

seventeen questions mainly based on students and syllabus. The researcher

personally visited the colleges under survey taking permission from the principals

of the respective colleges, met the students in the classroom and teachers in their

common room and distributed the questionnaires among the respondents and

collected the questionnaires from them.

Out of sixty five questions of the students’ questionnaire, question numbers

7,8,9, 10,11 and 12 are based on English language, numbers 63 and 64 are about

25

the teachers and the other questions are based on English grammar. Question Nos.

5,9,10,11,39,63 and 64 were to be answered only by giving tick () mark against

the chosen answer. Other questions were to be answered in one sentence or in one

word. The questions on grammar were based on the definition of ‘grammar’,

consonants, semi vowels, definition of the word, subject and predicate, determiners

(including articles), syllables, parts of speech, antecedents, complements, objects,

strong verbs, weak verbs, defective verbs, quasi-passive verbs, participles,

correlatives, gender, number, mood, modal verbs, case, transformation of

sentences, tag question, tense , voice change, narration, clause, prefix, suffix,

word-order, phrase, idiom and group verbs, substitution into a single word,

formation of sentences and correction. Serial number 65 has thirty three sentences

covering various angles of grammar which were to be corrected by the students in

a very short way.

On the other hand, the teachers’ questionnaire was based on teachers’

opinion about their students , syllabus etc. Only the opinions of the teachers were

sought to find out the present situation of English in Barak Valley. Questions are:

1. Whether the teachers teach English grammar. 2. Whether the teachers prefer to

teach English grammar 3. Whether the teachers complete the grammar prescribed

in the syllabus or not. 4. Whether students are aware of Basic English grammar.

5. Assam University General English is confined to first year only, whether it

should be in second and third year also. 6. Most of the students in Barak Valley

cannot speak English, why? 7. Whether the teachers deliver the lectures in English

or in Bengali or Bilingual. 8. When the teachers speak English inside the class,

students understand it or not. 9. Teachers’ opinion about grammar - an interesting

26

subject or a dry subject. 10. Whether the students request the teachers to explain

the subject in local dialect or not. 11. Whether the teachers are in favour of a

separate class for spoken English. 12. The students are getting sufficient time in the

present semester system or not. 13. Teachers’ opinion about the students – whether

they are interested in learning English or not. 14. Whether the students have base

in English. 15. Whether General English should be included in second year or third

year. 16. Any student is zero-based at the under graduate level or not. 17. There are

some anomalies in the Oxford Dictionary about ‘Lakh’ and ‘Crore’ and the

teachers’ opinion was sought.

The researcher also interviewed students and teachers during his visit to the

colleges under survey and collected some information (data) from them about the

actual situation of teaching and learning in Barak Valley. The researcher also

observed the class room situation while he met the students in the class room.

After the data collection, the researcher analysed, both the students’ and

teachers’ questionnaires. And the results found from the data are presented

separately in tabular form. The responses are also mentioned in percentage.

Chapter 6: Findings and Suggestions: This is the most important chapter of this

research work. In this chapter, the findings of the study are presented in detail and

suggestions are put forward.

Chapter 7: Conclusion: This is the last chapter and in this chapter, the researcher

has drawn a conclusion about the research paper which will help in improving the

teaching and learning of English not only in Barak Valley but also in other places

of the country. In this chapter, the scope for future research on teaching and

learning English is also discussed.

27

Chapter 2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Introduction

In this chapter, the researcher gives the review of related literature which

focuses on the broad areas of teaching of the various aspects of teaching English

language in general and Basic English grammar in particular. Though various

research works have been found in the field of English language teaching both at

international and national levels, no sufficient works have been found at the state

level and also not a single work on the systematic study of Basic English grammar

at the Barak Valley level could be traced so far as the knowledge of the researcher

goes. However, some published and unpublished works related to grammar are

reviewed here.

A language is based on two things: (i) Vocabulary and (ii) Grammar.

Grammar is related to vocabulary which forms a sentence. According to David

Wilkins (1972:III), “ Without grammar very little can be conveyed, without

vocabulary nothing can be conveyed”. Words are like the bricks of a building. So

grammar and words are closely related. ‘Vocabulary’ means words and words are

parts of speech and hence grammar. Thus ‘vocabulary’ is related to grammar.

2.1 Definitions of Grammar

Dictionary definitions of grammar often refer to it as the study of language

as a system of words that demonstrate some apparent regularity of structure

(morphology) and arrangement into sentence (syntax). Sometimes the definition

28

includes the pronunciation of words (phonology), meaning of words (semantics)

and history of words (etymology). Some definitions emphasise grammar as a

system of rules in a language. According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s

Dictionary of Current English (ed. A.S. Hornby), grammar means, “the rules in a

language for changing the form of words and joining them into sentences.

As per Cambridge School Dictionary (ed. Melissa Good, Cambridge

University Press), grammar means, “the way you combine words, and change their

form and position in a sentence or the rules or study of this.”

According to chambers (20th Century) Dictionary (ed. E M Kirkpatrick, W

& R Chambers Ltd. 1985), grammar means, “The science of language, from the

point of view of pronunciation, inflexion, syntax and historic development”.

Calidinn and Connelly (1986 as cited in Muhammed 2006) sustained that

there are as many definitions as there are different beliefs and the mind. Some have

defined grammar as a collection of rules where as some on the other hand think it

is the way of understanding a language which is a big supplement to facilitate

learning. According to a few, it is a way of communication and it helps the learners

to communicate in the target language with others. A majority has defined

grammar as structure, set of rules and regulation.

However, the main reason for learning grammar is because it helps one’s

language abilities (Crystal 2004:7). There are four core linguistic domains in

language learning: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. In all these,

grammar serves a very important role (ibid:7). Grammar is the way to study the

meaning of the language. (Ibid:9). Learning grammar can improve learners’

proficiency, correctness and contribute to developing fluency (Hinkel & Fotos

2002:10).

29

2.2 Historical background of grammar teaching

Importance of grammar teaching in second language teaching is well

known. Long ago from the 15th century, there had been a long debate on the

problems of teaching grammar effectively. For centuries, language has been

synonymous with language teaching then the role of the grammar declined with the

introduction of communicative language teaching (Thompson, 1996). At the

beginning of 1970 the interest of real language teaching emerged and more interest

was taken in social and cultural teaching of language. It proved to be a shift from

audio-lingual and grammar translation methods to the exploration to

communicative teaching of language. Hence integrative tasks were focused instead

of discrete structures.

Teaching grammar has always been a matter of controversy especially in

second language acquisition as Thornbury (1999 p.14 as cited in Neupane 2009)

says, “infact no other issue has pre-occupied theorists and practitioners as the

grammar debate and the history of language teaching is essentially the history of

claims and counter claims for and against the teaching of grammar”.

2.3 Beliefs about teaching grammar and its influence

The main difference in grammar teaching methods is due to teachers’

different views about the role of grammar. According to the historic overview of

the role of grammar, Bygate et.al. (1994 as cited in Neupane 2009) says that in the

light of the centuries old tradition of language teaching dominated by Latin and

Greek, the study of language is mainly the study of its grammar. In old times,

grammar has the central role in structural linguistics. According to wilkins (1972

30

as cited in Bygate et.al. 1994 as cited in Neupane, 2009) the aim of the language

teacher is to enable the people to learn it. Some people have a view that grammar

teaching is not essential because it does not facilitate second language acquisition.

Krashen and Terrel (1983, P. 144 as cited in Neupane, 2009) are in favour of this

idea when they say, “We prefer to avoid oral grammar instruction in class rooms

simply because they take time away from acquisition activities. Whereas others

own the view that it is essential to teach grammar”. Ur (1996 as cited in Gnawali

et.al. 2001 as cited in Neupane 2009) has similar views.

Savvidou (2004) also believes that communication cannot take place

without structure or grammar. Ellis (2003 as cited in Mahammad, 2006) among

others argues that in order to achieve the objective of communicative competence,

grammar and communication should have to be integrated.

Many like Weaver, Nally and Moermen (Voices from the Middle, Volume

8 Number 3, March, 2001) believe that grammar must be taught through writing

and effective grammatical skills cannot be developed without it. Teacher must take

risks in order to motivate students in writing activities in place of just giving them

grammar exercises and grammar concepts can be taught by helping the students to

edit their grammatical structures in their written work.

In most East Asian countries English language is taught through traditional

teacher-centred, book-centred, grammar-translation method and a strong emphasis

is given on note learning ( Liu & little wood 1997 as cited in Rao Zhenhui, 2001)

in his article ‘Matching teaching styles with learning styles in East Asian context).

Due to this traditional approach, teachers adopt an introvert learning styles and

31

students think knowledge something to be taught explicitly and transmitted by

their teachers rather than to be explored and interpreted by themselves. For Asian

students, grammar is an essential tool in building confidence, language knowledge

and fluency. (Krashen,1982, cited in Vasilopoulos, 2008).

2.4 Grammar teaching in ESL/EFL classes

Grammar teaching in ESL/EFL classes has been a topic of heated debate,

triggering issues like” should we teach grammar?” “which grammar should we

teach?” and “ should grammar be taught explicitly or implicitly?” (Ellis, 2006,

p.83-84). Although grammar teaching might be defined in a narrower aspect as

reference to traditional grammar-translation type of “presenting and explaining

grammar (Ur1996)”. Or “presenting or practising grammar (Hedge 2000), it could

also be viewed in broader term ( Ellis 2006 P. 84) : “ Grammar teaching involves

any instructional technique that draws learners’ attention to some specific

grammatical form in such a way that it helps them either to understand it

metalinguistically and/or process it in comprehension and /or production so that

they can internalize it”.

In this broader perspective, much recent research such as Norris and

Ortega’s (2000) meta analysis of 49 studies and Ellis’ (2002) research (as cited in

Ellis 2006, p. 85) have advocated grammar teaching for its effectiveness in second

language teaching. According to Ellis (2006), “there is now convincing direct and

indirect evidence to support the teaching of grammar ( P86)”. It has also been

widely agreed that meaning-focused, “descriptive grammar” (Celce-Murcia and

Larsen- Freeman, 1999) or functional grammar for communicative uses of

32

language should be the centre of attention in ESL/EFL classes ( Van Patten,

Williams & Rott 2004: Ellis, 2006) in contrast to the traditional form-focused

grammar.

However, deciding “which grammar to teach” and “how to teach” have

remained more controversial. Some have claimed that only minimal concepts of

grammar should be taught while others have argued for the necessity of teaching

the entire grammar.

2.5 Review of Some Grammar Books

The present study is based on teaching Basic English in Barak Valley.

Hence some grammar books which are available in Barak Valley need to be

reviewed. With this end in view, the researcher visited some famous book stalls of

Barak Valley and collected these grammar books which are normally sold by them

and followed by the students and teachers of Barak Valley.

The books are as follows :

1. Bannot, T. R. & Martin, H. (2011). Scholar Junior and Senior English

Grammar. New Delhi: Scholar Publishing House.

2. Choudhury, D. & Battacharjee, S. (2003). An Approach to English

Grammar & Composition (Bani Prakashani, Guwahati).

3. Das, Bikram K. (2013). Functional Grammar and Spoken and Written

Communication in English (Orient Blackswan Private Limited, Kolkata).

4. Dey Sarkar, P. K. (2010). A Text Book of Higher English Grammar and

Composition, Book Syndicate, Kolkata.

33

5. Dey, S. C. (2008). Middle School Grammar. (Published from Kolkata),

Tapash Chakraborty, Rabindra Sadan, Baguiati, Kolkata-59.

6. Elliott Berry, Thomas. (1996). The Most Common Mistakes in English,

Tata Mc Graw Publication, New Delhi.

7. Gupta, Nilanjana. (2000). English for All, Macmillan India Ltd.

8. Hornby, A. S. (2010). Oxford Advance Learners Dictionary, Oxford

University Press.

9. Karim M. A. (2010). Basic English Grammar and Composition, Quality

Books Publishing, Silchar.

10. Murphy Raymond. (1996). Essential English Grammar, Cambridge

University Press, Cambridge.

11. Potter, Someon. (1996). Our Language, Penguine Books.

12. Swan, M. (1996). Practical English usage. New York: Oxford University

Press.

13. Thomson, A. J. & Martinet, A. B. (1995). A Practical English Grammar,

Exercise I & II, Oxford University Press.

14. Walker, E. & Elsworth, S. (1993). Grammar Practise for Intermediate

Students, Orient Longman.

15. Wren, P.C & Martin, H. (2001). High School English Grammar and

Composition, S. Chand & Co. New Delhi.

It is found that Bengali medium students and majority of their teachers in

Barak Valley do not follow Grammar books written by foreign writers. They

follow books written by Bengali writers.

34

The researcher has consulted all the above books for review and noted some

problems in some of the above books which are discussed below.

In Hailakandi, Karimganj and Cachar, it has been found that majority of the

students are from Bengalee community. Bengali is the major language in Barak

Valley. Side by side Manipuri, Hindi speaking, a few Khasi, Naga and Reang

students are reading in the Colleges of these three districts. But the common

language is Bengali and that also is the Sylheti dialect of Bengali. So almost all the

students know Bengali and some of them studied in Bengali Medium Schools.

Hence Bengali medium students follow English Grammar written in Bengali

Language or the books which are Anglo-Bengali. Of course, English Medium

Students follow Grammar written in English only.

As per information collected, it has been found that a very few under

graduate students purchase the Grammar book prescribed by Assam University.

They fully depended on the commercial note books available in the market which

are below standard and full of mistakes. As a result, many students fail in the

subject and majority of the students get very poor marks in General English. It is

also collected from the students that they purchased Grammar books while they

were at Schools but they did not read those Grammar books and they depended on

the teachers in Schools and in private tuition. Same is the situation when they are

at under graduate level. They engage private tutors for English and many of them

are not expert in Grammar.

Moreover, there are some Grammar books in which some wrong expressions

are found. There is a book named ‘Middle School Grammar’ which was followed

35

by many students at Middle School level and which is still considered a good

Grammar book. It was written in 1931 in simple Bengali of those days and it was

not revised. In this book, some expressions like ‘Fill up the blanks, I am seeing,

We are seeing’ are found. In Practical English Exercise II (OUP) by A. J. Thomson

and A.V. Martinet there is use of expression ‘Fill up the spaces’. In A Text Book

of Higher English Grammar and Composition, the expression ‘Fill up the blanks’

is used many times in this book. In this book, there is some confusion in

transformation of simple sentences into compound sentences. For example, the

simple sentence ‘He is both tall and strong’ is transformed to ‘He is not only tall

but also strong’ as compound sentence. The compound sentences must have two

coordinate clauses i.e. they should be independent. But here in the compound

sentence, only one finite verb is there and clauses are not independent. ‘He is not

only tall’ does not give complete sense. And ‘but also strong’ is related to the

first part of the sentence. Hence it cannot be a compound sentence. It remains a

simple sentence. The compound sentence should be either ‘He is tall and he is

strong’ or ‘He is tall as well as he is strong’. In the year 1995, in Assam

University General English question paper, the sentence ‘Fill up the blanks’ was

given in first question for correction. It means that the sentence is wrong and that

was to be corrected. The correct answer is ‘Fill in the blanks’. ‘Fill up’ is used

elsewhere i.e. in the vertical situation e.g. Fill up the bottle with water or fill up the

post with suitable candidate. This is exclusively the opinion of the researcher

because vertical and horizontal situations make the use of ‘fill in’ and ‘fill up’

justified and clear to the students and teachers.

36

Again some verbs which do not take continuous forms are also used as

progressive verb. In some of the above books, some verbs are mentioned which do

not take continuous forms but the reason is not explained. In some exceptional

cases, a few verbs can be used in progressive form but it was not mentioned in

majority of the above books. When the verb ‘hope’ is used in continuous form, it

means the negative sense eg. ‘I am hoping’ or ‘I was hoping’ indicates ‘less hope’

i.e. negative sense. This is only explained in Practical English Usage by Michael

Swan but not a single under graduate student knows the name of this book. High

School English Grammar and Composition by Wren & Martin is a good book but

this is followed by the teachers and a very few students. Scholar Junior and Senior

English Grammar by T.R. Bannot and H. Martin are followed by English medium

students and some other medium Students. In this book, there are nine parts of

speech instead of eight parts of speech where ‘Determiners’ are also shown a part

of speech. ‘Determiners’ are adjectives and hence it is not necessary to separate

them as another part of speech.

‘The Most Common Mistakes in English Language’ is a book by Thomas

Elliott Berry which deals with common mistakes in English but the researcher

found that no students know the name of the book. Some under graduate students

who studied in English Medium Schools have mentioned the names of two

Grammar books namely, ‘Scholar Junior and Senior English Grammar’ by T.R.

Bannot and H. Martin and ‘High School Grammar and Composition’ by Wren and

Martin but they are also not fully aware of Basic English grammar.

37

First of all, there are two varieties of English namely, British and

American. In India and other parts of the world, the British English is used as

official language. Again in British English also there are dialects and ‘East

Midland dialect’ is the standard variety which is the standard language of England

and followed by India and other parts of the world. In Grammar books available in

Barak Valley, there is no discussion about this. Hence students are not aware of

this basic thing which they must know at least at the under graduate level. The

most important thing is that some of the Grammar books followed by students of

Barak Valley are written not by the qualified teachers of English who are experts

in this field. Some local publishers are doing business out of this kind of books.

These publishers convince some of the teachers in English someway or other and

sell these Grammar books very tactfully. These Grammar books are prescribed by

these teachers for their personal benefit. As a result, students are not getting the

original and genuine Grammar books which are available.

From the class room teaching experience for the last thirty years and

considering the problems faced by students and the need of the students, the

researcher wrote a Grammar book named ‘Basic English Grammar and

Composition’ (Anglo-Bengali) which is being considered helpful by many of the

teachers teaching English Grammar at various levels for which the book is being

followed by a number of students. The book starts from Alphabet and covering all

Basic grammars ends with some Basic English compositions. The book has only

192 pages. The main attraction of the book is that the author has tried his best to

explain the chapters in a very simple way with some techniques wherever possible.

In this book, the difference between American English and British English is

38

discussed in a very brief way. Moreover, there is discussion on the dialects in

British English and the dialect that is used as Standard English.

2.6 Review of Dictionaries

Oxford Advance Learners’ Dictionary by A.S. Hornby is internationally

famous and available in Barak Valley and many students & teachers follow this

Dictionary. This Dictionary also serves the purpose of Grammar including

vocabulary. In this renowned Dictionary also, there are some anomalies. The

definition of ‘Crore’ was given – noun (Ind E) ten million, one hundred LAKHS.

The word LAKH was also shown as a noun but ‘Hundred, thousand and Million’

are shown as number and in their plural, ‘s’ is not used. As per English Grammar,

the words ‘Lakh’ and ‘Crore’ should not have ‘s’ in their plural as they are also

numbers. Numbers are determiners and hence adjectives. So while ‘hundred’,

‘thousand’ and ‘million’ are shown as number, ‘Lakh’ and ‘Crore’ are shown as

noun. According to English Grammar all these words are both noun and adjective.

The words ‘Lakh and Crore’ are basically Indian words and they appeared in this

dictionary first in its 7th Edition and then continued in its 8th edition also. The

researcher contacted the Dictionary authority in October, 2011 and Diana Lea, the

Principal Editor, ELT Dictionaries, Oxford University Press admitted the

anomalies. She thanked the researcher and assured to correct it in its next print. It

is a great pleasure and achievement of the researcher that a few months back, the

New Eighth Edition of this dictionary came in the market and it is found that the

anomalies are corrected. In the New 8th Edition the changes are as follows :

39

Crore – number (Pl. verb) (Plural Crore or Crores) (IndE) ten million, one hundred

LAKH.

Lakh - number (plural verb) Plural Lakh or Lakhs (IndE) a hundred thousand.

But one explanation is not still there. In direct expression i.e. two lakh or two

crore, ‘s’ is not used in plural. But ‘s’ is used in expressions like ‘lakhs of people’

or ‘crores of money’ as hundreds of people or thousands of rupees or ‘millions of

people’. The letters to the Principal Editor, Diana Lea and her reply through email

are attached in the appendices.

In ‘Chamber’s 20th Century Dictionary’ edited by E M Kirkpatrick, Lakh

is also spelt as Lac and Crore is defined as Ten millions or One hundred lakhs.

Here we find that ‘s’ is used in the plural of Lakh and Million which is wrong as

per rules of grammar.

2.7 Review of Some Research Works

Anima Baishya’s unpublished PhD research work submitted to Assam

University entitled “The Pedagogical Implications of English Vocabulary Items

for Assamese Medium Learners with special reference to Kamrup District

(2007)” is an attempt to study vocabulary along with some grammar items like

vowels, consonants, pronunciation, verbs noun relation, prefix, suffix (for word

formation), present, past and present participle form of the verbs, synonyms,

homonyms, comparative form of the words etc. The study focuses on the

implications of pedagogy in a systematic and organised manner in order to

improve the pathetic condition of students regarding the knowledge of English

language as teaching and learning English and its vocabulary are unsatisfactory in

40

Assamese medium schools. The study tries to contribute to the field of English

vocabulary teaching in Assamese medium schools.

Although she touches various aspects of grammar as mentioned earlier but

these are related to vocabulary studies only. Of course, she mentioned the

grammatical factors of a word which relates to different parts of speech. Her entire

thesis is based on vocabulary and other linguistic related matters. The researcher

has not found any systematic grammatical discussions in her research work.

However, her work is a major attempt to study vocabulary along with some

grammatical relations.

N. Dasgupta’s unpublished PhD research work submitted to Gauhati

University entitled “Vocabulary: A study (1975)” is also an attempt to study

vocabulary. He has shown how important vocabulary is in teaching English along

with the criteria of selection and gradation of teaching English vocabulary. He tried

to locate the problem of the hypothetical gap that exists between the students of the

age level 12(plus) reading in non-English medium schools in Meghalaya. He tired

to prepare the glossaries of English words containing the weight of each word and

the difficulty value of each word in respect of class VI. He discussed the

theoretical background of words, its nature and growth. But his work is fully based

on vocabulary itself and the Basic grammar on the basis of the words are not

discussed in his work. But his work is also a major attempt to study vocabulary but

not related to grammar studies in detail.

“Conceptions of Grammar Teaching : A case study of teacher’s belief

and class room practices” by Thomas S.C. Farrel, LIM Poh Choo Patricia

41

published in TESL-Ej Sept. 2005 , is a case study that investigated and compared

the beliefs and actual class room practices of two experienced English language

teachers with regard to grammar teaching in primary school in Singapore. Areas

where practices converged with or diverged from belief about grammar teaching

are examined and discussed as well as factor that have influenced the teachers’

actual classroom practices. The findings suggest that teachers do indeed have a set

of complex belief systems that are sometimes not reflected in their classroom

practices for various complicated reasons, some directly related to context of

teaching.

The case study of the beliefs of two experienced primary school teachers

and their actual instructional practices in grammar teaching attempted to answer

the following research questions: (1) What are the two teachers’ belief about the

way grammar should be taught in primary schools? (2) What are their actual class

room practices of teaching grammar. Both the teachers agreed that grammar is

important and has to be taught. Students need to know grammar rules and how to

apply them in their writing. Drilling is a useful tool in grammar teaching. Grammar

involved teaching language structures. The approaches to grammar teaching

depend largely on the students’ proficiency level in the English language. One

teacher agreed that grammar is concerned with using correct tenses. There is a

place for deliberate teaching of grammar for the effective teaching of language

items.

Both the Teachers agreed that the teaching of grammar is crucial in order to

enable students to use grammar structures correctly in written work. Furthermore,

42

one teacher said that she would not hesitate to directly re-teach grammar structure

if she discovered that her students had not fully understood the structure and were

not able to use it correctly in speech and writing. Both the teachers strongly believe

in providing grammar drills for their students. However, both the teachers adopted

somewhat of a traditional approach to grammar teaching.

Here the researcher has found that the basis of research is primary school

and its two teachers’ opinion regarding teaching of grammar. But the present

research is based on teaching English at under graduate level. It is a question

whether English grammar should be taught at degree level or not . According to the

opinion of the researcher, drilling of grammar is important and hence Basic

English grammar should be taught at degree level also. As a result, the students of

this level will have the chance to update their knowledge of English grammar

which is very essential for writing and speaking correct English.

The main reason for learning grammar is because it helps one’s language

abilities (crystal 2004:7). There are four core linguistic domains in language

learning: listening, speaking, reading and writing. In all these, grammar serves a

very important role (Ibid: 7). Grammar is the way to study the meaning of the

language (Ibid:9). Learning grammar can improve learners’ proficiency,

correctness and ease internalization of its syntactic system and contribute to

developing fluency ( Hinkel and Fotos 2002:10).

A recent study of Norris and Ortega (2000) undertook probably the most

comprehensive analysis of published data on the value of grammar instruction.

These authors stated that in many cases it is not easy to tell whether

43

communicative, explicit or meaning-focused instruction led to greater degrees of

L2 learning acquisition because of the disparate sample sizes and statistical

analyses employed in various research studies and publications. Thus to make

sense of research findings published in past two decades, Norris and Ortega

standardized the results of 49 studies on L2 learning acquisition and grammar

instruction.

English Teaching with grammar : A study on how English teachers at

upper secondary school in Sweden use grammar in their teaching (2002

Rebeca Ronna): It aims to investigate how English teachers at upper higher

secondary schools in Sweden use grammar in their teaching and how their attitudes

towards grammar affect how they use it in their teaching . To examine this,

qualitative interviews were conducted with three English teachers. The result of

these interviews showed that the teachers’ attitude towards grammar have great

impact on their teaching. The two teachers who had positive views used deductive

grammar teaching with the students and also worked with focus on form, while the

teacher who did not like grammar had no formal grammar teaching and only let her

students work with grammar using games and quizzes on the internet.

The consequence is that those without any grammar teaching might

encounter difficulties if they continue studying English at a higher level. It is

important for teachers to keep up recent research that has proved that students

perform and learn better from formal teaching.

How grammar matters in NNS Academic Writing. The relationship

between Verb Tense and Aspect usage patterns and L2 writing proficiency in

44

Academic Discourse”. By Kyung Eun Min - a thesis submitted to the University

of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 2013.

This study focuses on English verb tense and aspect system that would give

direction to the study and ultimately suggest how grammar teaching should be

treated in ESL writing courses.

This thesis addresses the significance of teaching grammar in ESL/EFL

academic writing courses by restating the question of “Whether or not to teach

grammar” to “how and when to teach which grammar”. The study aimed to

investigate whether the usage of verb tense and aspect would have a positive

relationship with the students’ language proficiency. Although it was possible to

hypothesise that more proficient students would have better knowledge of verb

tense and aspect and use more variety of verb structures, the results strongly

suggested that grammatical knowledge represented by the NNS usage patterns of

verb tense and aspect system was not an only factor; rather, the analysis of students

writing samples highlighted the role of academic discourse as a significant variable

to the frequency of each verb structure. Moreover, the error analysis of students’

writing samples implied that merely counting the frequency rate of ‘correct uses’

or ‘avoided uses/ non uses’ did not fully reflect their L2 writing proficiency; it

seemed to have close relationship with their knowledge of more variety of

functions each verb tense and aspect and their ability to make opportune uses of

each function for the appropriate content. Put in another way, these findings

suggested that patterns of using English verb tense and aspect was relevant to the

students’ L2 writing proficiency because higher level students were able to

45

incorporate grammatical knowledge to the paper’s purpose, contents and its

discourse register. Thus this study concludes by proposing that grammar is neither

an opposing component of “contents” when teaching L2 academic writing nor a

competent factor against “structure of coherence” when assessing students’ writing

proficiency. It would be most ideal and reasonable to choose grammar content that

does not stand alone but have significance in meaning, function and purpose as

they merge into the entire writing process.

Conclusion

The researcher has tried his best to trace the research works related to this

present research work entitled ‘Teaching English at under graduate level in Barak

Valley districts of Assam with special emphasis on Basic English Grammar”. The

above are some of the research works related to English language teaching as well

as grammar teaching which have been reviewed. But not a single work has been

found on the systematic study of English grammar at the Barak Valley level. So

this is a unique research work on the part of the researcher which will help the

teachers, students, the future researchers and the others concerned with it.

46

Chapter 3

ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING : A

BRIEF PROFILE

Introduction

In this chapter, the researcher gives a detailed account of English language

teaching. There are five sub-chapters under this chapter. The sub-chapters are:

1. Introduction to Teaching English 2. Teaching Basic English Grammar 3.

Common Errors in English 4. Pronunciation: An Important Issue and 5. Methods

of Teaching and the Teacher’s Role.

3.1 Introduction to Teaching English

After passing Higher Secondary, the students come to under graduate level

and meanwhile they are much matured and they understand and grasp much better

than earlier. So at this level, before teaching the language students are to be given

some primary ideas about English. They should be informed that there are varieties

of English and not a single type of English is used throughout the world. First of all

it can be said that English is a language divided by two countries namely, England

and America. In England, one type of English is used while in America, another

type of English is used and there are differences between these two varieties. It can

be observed clearly in vocabulary, spelling and pronunciation. The English used in

England is called British English and the English used in America is called

American English. Students should be given the idea that British English is used in

47

India and in many other countries of the world. And in British English also there

are dialects and only one dialect is taken as the standard language which is used as

official language of England and that one is followed by India and other countries

of the world.

In the Middle English period, there were four dialects namely,

Northumbrian, Southern, Kentish and the East midland dialects. Out of these four

dialects, the East midland dialect was taken as the standard language of England.

In this regard, a small history may be referred to students. In 878, King Alfred

defeated the Vikings and the Government of Southern England came to be

established in London which later became the capital of the whole of Britain. Thus

the English spoken in London and the East Midland was gradually adopted as the

official variety of English. And as time passed by, this dialect became the

‘standard’ language – the form of English generally accepted for use in

Government, the law, business, education and literature. So it is a historical

incident. It is said if Vikings, who held the north of England, had defeated the King

Alfred, the capital of Britain might be York and the standard English language

would be a very different kind of English.

Students should also be given the idea that dialects are not the corrupted

forms of a language spoken by ignorant people who make mistakes because they

have not learnt correct grammar. A standard language is not linguistically better

than other dialects. It is simply the dialect that has been adopted for official

purposes such as Government and education. All other English dialects also have

grammar that are rich and systematic as Standard English even though it may be

very different. For example, I bain’t ready = I’m not ready. Can ye no help me? =

48

Can’t you help me? She’s after telling me = She’s told me. I ain’t done nothing = I

have not done anything. Another example is, ‘He don’t like it’ or ‘I wants a rest’

(Michael Swan). In Honours classes, these are discussed but in pass course classes

these things are not discussed normally. Students should know that all the Standard

languages are basically dialects. In Bengali, there are dialects and in Hindi also,

there are dialects which the students know.

It is very essential for the students that they should know the difference

between British English and American English otherwise there will be spelling

mistakes. It is often found that students write ‘color’ and ‘center’ without knowing

that these are American words. So the teachers should inform them about the

peculiarities of American English. In American English ‘W’ is pronounced as ‘W-

U’ and ‘Z’ is pronounced as ‘Zee’. Double letters in a word are pronounced

separately. The Americans do not say ‘double –s’ or ‘double-l’. They say, ‘s’ ‘s’ or

‘l’ ‘l’ separately e.g. class, pillar etc. Some rules are given here to distinguish

British English from American English.

1. The words ending with |-our | in English of England are only |-or | in American

English. For example, colour – color, labour – labor, favour – favor, humour –

humor etc.

2. The words ending with |-re | in British English are |-er | in American English.

For example, centre-center, theatre-theater, fibre-fiber, litre-liter etc.

3. The double consonants in the middle of the words or in some other parts in

British English are single consonant in American English. For example,

accommodation-accomodation, traveller-traveler, programme-program. But

49

the word ‘pillar’ is same in American English. Some words must have

migrated from America to England or vice-versa. For example, past participle

of ‘forget’ is ‘forgotten’ in American English but it is used in British English

also.

4. In British English, |-r | or |-re| is not pronounced when they are at the end of

the words but they are pronounced in American English.

5. In abbreviations, full stops are not used in British English but full stops are

used in American English. For example, MA-M.A., MBBS-M.B.B.S.

6. A.M. and P.M. are used in American English while a.m. and p.m. are used in

British English. But here we find full stops. Without full stops ‘am’ looks

auxiliary verb and p.m. is made equal to a.m. This is the assumption of this

researcher. Diana Lea, managing editor, ELT Dictionaries and reference

grammar gave the same opinion while contacted. This may be usage. In

addition to the above, some words are listed below for clear understanding.

British American

Aeroplane Airplane

Anaesthesia Anesthesia

Analyse Analyze

Angry Mad

Any where Any place

Biscuits Cracker, Cookie

Catalogue Catalog

British American

Cheque Check

Curriculum vitae Resume

Engaged Busy

Enrol Enroll

Film Movie

Flat Apartment

Gynaecology Gynecology

50

British American

Handbag Purse

Holidays Vacation

Jug Pitcher

Lawyer Attorney

Lift Elevator

Lorry, Van Truck

Mad Crazy

Organise Organize

Paediatrics Pediatrics

Pavement Sidewalk

Petrol Gas

British American

Programme Program

Railway Rail road

Realise Realize

Rubber Eraser

Shop Store

Skilful Skillful

Sweets Candy

Toilet Bathroom

Torch Flash light

Trouser Pant

Tyre Tire

N.B. ‘Enrol’ and ‘Skilful’ are completely opposite. Single ‘l’ is in British English

and double ‘l’ are in American English.

Nowadays, Indian people are using the above words without caring much

about the distinction between the American and the British English. It should be

pointed out that in Computer, the language used is American. However, it can be

converted into British English also. In Honours course, peculiarities of American

English are included in the syllabus but it should be explained to Pass Course level

students also in brief otherwise majority of the students will remain in dark.

51

The syllabus is designed in such a way that the pass course level students

are required to study Prose, Poetry, Grammar and Compositions & sometimes

Drama or Novel. But before teaching all these, teachers should give an

introduction to the language which the students may not know as they were not

told earlier. Students are to realise that these are new things and the particular

teacher and the class will be very interesting to them while teaching English. The

teacher should keep in mind that he should speak English only so that the student

listen and learn it. To learn a language, listening and speaking both are equally

important. Students are to be taken into confidence that they can learn and speak

English just by listening as they learnt their mother tongue. They know that they

were born without a language but gradually they learnt a language which is their

mother tongue only by listening it from their mother and dear and near ones.

Therefore, listening and speaking skill has been introduced by Assam Higher

Secondary Education Council. The skill is to be continued to degree classes also

side by side with the prescribed syllabus.

It is observed that the under graduate students in the Colleges of Barak

Valley cannot or do not speak English because most of them hailed from

vernacular medium schools and they do not have the habit of speaking English.

Unless they do so they cannot learn speaking. Hence they should be compelled to

speak English. The teacher may arrange for a spoken English class where each

student is to speak or try to speak English. They should be encouraged to speak

English even it might be right or wrong initially. No student is to be discouraged

even he or she may be zero-based. This is very important because most of the

students come from vernacular medium schools and their level of understanding

52

and speaking is very poor. These students feel very uncomfortable when they are

asked or required to speak English.

It is to be kept in mind that the teacher’s role is very important as the

students follow the teacher. A teacher of English should not utter a single word

other than English for the sake of students. But it has been found that some of the

College teachers deliver their lectures in local languages. It very often happens

other than English classes although the medium of instruction is English. Only

speaking or listening English in English classes is not sufficient. Students should

listen English in other subjects also. Some Science teachers might think that the

subject matter is important and hence they prefer local language. The result is that

the students become gradually weak in speaking and side by side teachers also

become weak in speaking English. Ultimately, they suffer in the greater field

where there is no alternative to English language. Hence a teacher of other subject

can help improving the speaking skill of students by delivering the lectures in

English.

Finally, the basic knowledge of the students may be tested. The teachers

may test the students and understand their base in English and teach them

according to their level of understanding. Grammar teaching should be started

from alphabet as English grammar starts from alphabet. /A/, /I/ and /O/ are three

letters but they are also words and hence ‘parts of speech’. ‘A’ is adjective, ‘I’ is

pronoun and ‘O’ is interjection. The teacher should proceed very systematically as

many chapters are not included in the syllabus. Hence the teacher should give a

revision of the chapters which are not prescribed in the syllabus. This introduction

to teaching English is not only applicable to teachers of Colleges of Barak Valley

53

but also to teachers who teach English at any other level and in other parts of

Assam and the country.

In the above discussion, some preliminary information about English is

given. Students’ confusion about the use of vocabulary, British English and

American English, standard English, students’ weakness in speaking and writing

English correctly or their lack of knowledge of Basic English grammar, emphasis

on listening and speaking etc. are also discussed. Teachers are also given some

guide lines to teach grammar. Absence of deliberations in English in other subjects

particularly in Science subjects by Science teachers is also mentioned.

3.2 Teaching Basic English Grammar

We know that grammar controls a language. English is not an exception

and hence the study of grammar is very important. Without proper knowledge of

grammar, no one can write or speak the language correctly. English grammar is

smaller than that of many other languages like Sanskrit, Hindi, Bengali etc. English

has only 26 letters and with these letters the language goes. Of course, there are

small letters and capital letters but many of them are of same shape. Any learner

can learn the letters within a very short time. But it takes sufficient time to learn

the letters of other languages like Chinese, Sanskrit, Hindi, Bengali or South Indian

languages. Hence a learner can learn English easily. This is one of the reasons that

English has flourished all over the world and has become International language.

Therefore, English is taught and learnt everywhere with sincere effort. But many

teachers are indifferent to teaching English grammar and many students also do not

54

show interest in learning grammar. The result is that there are common errors in

writing and speaking this language.

Grammar is a big field of study. Hence Rhetoric, Prosody, Phonetics and

other linguistic rules are not included in this research study. Normally the Basic

Grammar which are necessary for writing and speaking the language correctly are

prescribed in the syllabus. In Assam University, Silchar, 50% of the marks are

allotted to grammar in degree first semester General English syllabus. By Basic

English Grammar, the researcher means the following chapters: Use of Vowels

and Consonants, Words and Sentences, Use of Capital Letters, Subject and

Predicate, Parts of Speech, Objects, Strong Verbs and Weak Verbs, Correlatives,

Gender, Number, Person, Case, Mood, The Infinitive, Gerund and Verbal Noun,

Participles, Auxiliary Verbs and Modal Verbs, Affirmative and Negative

sentences, Interrogative sentences and Formation of Questions, Determiners

including Articles, Tense, Quasi-passive Verb, Voice, Narration (Direct and

Indirect Speech), Degree of Comparison, Kinds of sentences – I (Assertive,

Interrogative, Imperative, Optative and Exclamatory), Kinds of sentences – II

(Simple, Complex, Compound and their transformation), Synthesis of sentences,

Clause and its analysis and difference with Phrase, Subject-verb agreement

(Concord), Sentence pattern and Word order. Vocabulary is also related to

grammar and hence the following chapters are also included in the discussion:

Word formation, Phrases and Idioms, Group Verbs, Homonyms, Appropriate

prepositions, Substitution of English Words, Correction of sentences. Correction of

sentences is a chapter based on all the above chapters. From School level to Degree

pass course level, some of the above chapters are normally prescribed for study.

55

The journey of grammar starts from the ‘alphabet’ and ends with written

composition. Here the researcher’s concern is to deal with grammar and not with

composition. Composition is a matter of practice. Unless a student is fully aware of

Basic Grammar, the particular student cannot write compositions correctly. The

above mentioned chapters are analysed here for better understanding of both the

teachers and the students. A teacher is to teach grammar systematically. Hence it is

wise to start from the chapter, ‘Vowels and Consonants’

3.2.1 Vowels and Consonants

English grammar actually starts from its alphabet. The word ‘alphabet’

which means the letters of a language is derived from the Greek letters, ‘alpha’

and ‘beta’. The word ‘alphabet’ is plural while the word ‘letter’ is singular. So

none should write ‘alphabets’ which is wrong. There are three letters |a|, |i| and |o|

which are not only letters but also words which is discussed earlier.

Letters are divided into two sections: (1) Vowels and (2) Consonants.

1) Vowels: |a|, |e|, |i|, |o| and |u| are vowels.

2) Consonants: 21 letters are consonants of which ‘W’ and ‘Y’ are called

semi-vowels. But these two letters are used as consonants although they

sound like vowels e.g. wet, yet etc.

If two vowels or vowel sounds are found in a word, then it is called

‘Dipthong’ e.g. hair, fair, about, boy (bɔi), toy (tɔi), etc.

If three vowels or vowel sounds are found together in a word, then it is

called ‘Tripthong’ e.g. beautiful.

56

Each word has one or more units that are pronounced. These units are

called ‘Syllables’. If a word has only one syllable (unit), then it is called a

‘Monosyllabic’ word. e.g. do, go etc. If the word has two syllables, then it

is called ‘Di-syllabic’ word. e.g. fool-ish, pas-sage, fel-low etc. If the word

has three syllables, then it is called ‘Tri-syllabic’ word e.g. mis-con-duct,

in-tens-ive etc. But if the word has more than three syllables, then it is

called ‘Poly-syllabic’ word e.g. per-soni-fi-ca-tion, in-de-pend-ence, in-ad-

mis-sible etc.

3.2.2 Word and Sentence

There is a wrong idea about the definition of word and sentence. Normally

it is taught as in some grammar books that a word is a group of letters which gives

a meaning and sentence is a group of words which gives a meaning. But these

definitions of word and sentence are not perfect. We know that there are three

letters in English namely |a|, |i| and |o| which are not letters only but they are words

also and hence they are parts of speech; ‘a’ is adjective, ‘I’ is pronoun and ‘O’ is

interjection. Therefore, the perfect definition of the word is ‘one or more letters are

combined to form a word if it gives a meaning’. Similarly, a word can be a

sentence e.g. go, do, come, etc. These words may be imperative sentences. Hence

the perfect definition of the sentence is ‘one or more words are combined to form a

sentence if it gives a complete meaning’. But it should be kept in mind that a

‘phrase’ is also a union of words which gives a sense but not a complete sense. ‘I

read in B.A. first year’ is a sentence but ‘after sometime’, ‘with a view to’, ‘during

the summer season’ etc. are phrases, not sentences as they do not give a complete

57

meaning. A ‘Sentence’ has a verb but ‘Phrase’ does not have any verb. Students

are to be given some sentences and phrases together so that they can identify which

one is a sentence and which one is a phrase.

3.2.3 Use of Capital Letters

There are 26 letters in English but there are Capital letters and small letters.

This peculiarity is in English and not in other languages like Sanskrit, Bengali,

Assamese, Hindi etc. Hence there are some rules on ‘use of letters’. The rules are

as follows:

1. The first letter of the first word of a sentence is Capital letter. e.g. Man is

mortal. How are you? etc.

2. The first letter of every line of a poem is capital letter. Although some poets

use small letters while composing their poems but this is not widely spread

and also not accepted by all.

3. The first letter of proper noun is capital letter e.g. Delhi, London, Ram,

Rahim, Brahmaputra, Himalayas etc.

4. Pronoun ‘I’ is always capital wherever it may be in the sentence. e.g. if he

comes I shall go.

5. The first letter of the first word within inverted commas is capital. e.g. The

teacher said, “Do not make a noise.”

6. The first letter of the ‘title word’ is capital. e.g. He is Mr. Das.

7. The first letter of a language or race or nation is capital. e.g. He speaks

English. He is a Bengalee. He is an Indian.

58

8. The first letter of the day, month or any special day is capital. e.g. Monday,

January, Christmas, etc.

9. Creator of the universe and its pronoun start with capital letters. e.g. Human

beings are afraid of God as He is omnipotent.

10. Abbreviations take capital letters e.g. HSLC, MBBS, MA, PhD, BC, AD

etc. It should be noted that in British English, the abbreviations are without

full stops. Full stops are in American English e.g. H.S.L.C., M.B.B.S.,

M.A., Ph.D. etc.

It should also be noted that a.m. p.m. and p.a. are having full stops and also

in small letters in British English. This is exception. The Latin expression ‘ante

meridiem’ is a.m. and ‘post meridiem’ is p.m. Here we find small letters in

original expressions and therefore, British English a.m. and p.m. are original and

should be used in India. A.M. and P.M. should be avoided as they belong to

American English which is not Indian English and Indian English is British

English.

3.2.4 Subject and Predicate

In every sentence there are two parts. The first one is called ‘Subject’ and

the second one is called ‘Predicate’.

Subject: The thing or person that is discussed, described or deal with in a

sentence is called the subject.

Predicate: The part of a sentence containing a verb that makes a statement

about the subject of the verb is called the predicate.

59

‘Raju goes to the college’ is a sentence. Here ‘Raju’ is the ‘Subject’ and

‘goes to college’ is the ‘Predicate’. Here something is spoken about the person

‘Raju’ and what does he do is the ‘verb’ part and the statement about Raju. So the

person is ‘Subject’ and the verb part along with the statement is called

‘Predicate’. Some sentences should be given to students for practice so that they

can understand and find out the subject and predicate very easily.

3.2.5 Parts of speech

‘Speech’ means somebody’s expression i.e. word or words. In other words,

it is a sentence. So the sentence has words. Thus each word in a sentence is called

Part of speech. There are eight parts of speech: 1. Noun 2. Pronoun 3. Verb

4. Adjective 5. Adverb 6. Preposition 7. Conjunction and 8. Interjection.

Teachers are to discuss the parts of speech one by one in a way that the

learners can develop a conception about each part of speech that they never forget

it. Students should not memorise the definitions of parts of speech. They should

understand the meaning of each part of speech.

3.2.5.1 Noun: Noun means name. So the name of anything is noun. It may be

the name of a person, thing, place or quality.

Noun = Name = Nam (e) = Nam. This sound ‘Nam’ is available in many

languages like, Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, Sanskrit, and Assamese. So all the

speakers of these languages can easily understand ‘what is noun’.

60

3.2.5.1.1 Kinds of Noun

Noun is first divided into two parts: 1. Concrete noun and 2. Abstract noun.

Concrete noun is divided into four parts: a. Proper noun b. Common noun

c. Collective noun and d. Material noun.

a. Proper Noun: Proper noun is a name of a particular person, place or a thing.

Examples are as follows:

1. Mary, Ram, Rahim, Shakespeare, Tagore etc. are names of persons.

2. Kolkata, Delhi, London, Silchar, Karimganj, Hailakandi etc. are the

names of places.

3. Tajmahal, Kutub Minar, India Gate, Leaning Tower etc. are the names

of monuments.

4. English, Bengali, Hindi, Arabic, French, Russian etc. are the names of

languages.

5. The English, The Bengalee, The American, etc. are the names of nations

and races.

6. The Ganges, The Brahmaputra, The Arabian sea, The Sun, The Moon,

The Earth, January, February etc. are the names of rivers, sea, planets,

month etc.

b. Common Noun: A common noun is a common name given to every person or

thing of the same class or kind. Common noun is a word that refers to an

object or a thing but it is not the name of a particular person, place or thing. It

indicates its class or kind. e.g. man (human being) the cow (class of cows).

61

c. Collective Noun: The noun which indicates many numbers of the same kind

e.g. Cattle, committee, team, poetry, class, army, family, crowd etc. After

collective noun both singular and plural verbs are used.

d. Material Noun: The things which can be measured but cannot be counted are

material nouns, e.g. Sugar, Milk, Sand, Iron, Cotton, Gold, Water etc. Material

nouns do not take the plural forms.

e. Abstract Noun: It indicates the name of a quality, state or situation e.g.

Honesty, Kindness, Highness, Darkness, Blindness, Freedom, Wisdom etc.

Length, Breadth, Strength, Childhood, Manhood, Friendship, Heroes,

Obedience, Knowledge etc are also Abstract nouns.

N.B. Before Abstract noun, no article is used.

3.2.5.2 Pronoun: Pro + noun = Pronoun. ‘Pro’ means ‘in favour of’ or

‘supporting’ (instead of). Hence the word ‘pronoun’ means a word that is

used instead of a noun or noun phrase (Oxford Advance Learner’s

Dictionary) e.g. I, we, me, our, she, him, her, it, they, them, who, what,

which etc. Reena left the university and she never came back. Under

graduate students may compare pronoun = Pro + noun with ‘Pro Vice

Chancellor’ = Pro + Vice Chancellor to understand the meaning of the prefix

‘pro’.

62

3.2.5.2.1 Kinds of Pronoun

There are eight kinds of pronoun: a. Personal pronoun b. Reflexive pronoun

c. Possessive pronoun d. Demonstrative pronoun e. Interrogative pronoun f.

Relative pronoun g. Indefinite pronoun h. Distributive pronoun.

a. Personal Pronoun: I, we, you, me, us, he, she, him, her, it, they, them are

pronouns which indicate persons are personal pronoun.

b. Reflexive Pronoun or Emphasising pronoun or Emphatic pronoun: The

pronoun which is formed with suffix ‘self or selves’ is called Reflexive

pronoun e.g. I did it myself. He killed himself.

c. Possessive Pronoun: Mine, ours, his, hers, yours, its are possessive

pronouns e.g. This book is mine.

d. Demonstrative Pronoun: This, These, That, Those, are Demonstrative

pronouns e.g. This is a cat. That is my pen.

e. Interrogative Pronoun: Who, what, which, whom, why are Interrogative

pronouns e.g. Whom do you want? Who are you? etc.

f. Relative Pronoun: Sometimes, who, what, which, that do not indicate

questions rather they relate something e.g. This is the book which I bought

yesterday. Hence these are relative pronouns. Here the word book is called

the Antecedent of the Relative pronoun ‘which’.

g. Indefinite Pronoun: One, anyone, other, others, another, anybody,

anything, some, someone, somebody are Indefinite pronouns e.g. one

should do one’s duty.

Note: One should do his duty (wrong). One should do one’s duty (right).

63

h. Distributive Pronoun: Each, either, neither, each other, one another are

Distributive pronouns e.g. Each of the students will be given a book. Either

of you can go. Neither of you should do it.

3.2.5.3 Verb: A word that expresses an action or an event is called a verb. Verb

= action e.g. He works in this garden. We eat rice. ‘Work’ and ‘eat’ are verbs. I

am writing the thesis. ‘Write’ is main verb and ‘am’ is auxiliary verb. There are

modal verbs, regular verbs, irregular verbs and defective verbs also. These are

discussed separately in ‘Kinds of verb’ chapter. The teacher should discuss all

these in detail and students are to understand and not to memorise.

3.2.5.3.1 Kinds of Verb

Verbs are of many kinds. But basically the verbs are divided into two parts:

1. Transitive verb 2. Intransitive verb. In a sentence, if the verb has an object, then

it is called Transitive verb and if the verb does not have any object, then it is called

intransitive verb e.g. I do it (Transitive verb), I am going to college (Intransitive

verb). Here ‘it’ is object.

Again there are Auxiliary verbs and Modal verbs.

Auxiliary Verbs: am, is, are, was, were, have, has, had, do, does, and did are

auxiliary verbs.

Modal Verbs: can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would,

ought, need, dare and used are modal verbs. These are also called defective

verbs because they do not take ‘s’ in third person singular number, they

cannot be used as infinitive and they cannot take ‘ing’ when they are in the

sentences.

64

Students are aware of auxiliary verbs but they may not know the modal

verbs and their uses.

Examples:

1. I shall help you. (simple future)

2. I will help you. (certainty)

3. He can swim. (ability)

4. May I come in. (permission)

5. It may rain. (possibility)

6. It might rain tomorrow. (less possibility)

7. You should help him. (moral duty)

8. We ought to love our country. (obligation)

9. You must go home. (certainty)

10. You shall get your book tomorrow. (promise)

Note: Past tense of ‘shall’ is ‘should’ which is also used as moral sense

and past tense of ‘will’ is ‘would’ which is more polite than ‘will’ e.g. Would you

give me your pen please.

Also there are strong verbs and weak verbs.

A verb while forming past tense changes its vowel in its middle position is

called strong verb e.g. do – did – done; go – went – gone.

A verb which takes |-ed|, |-d| or |-t| while forming past tense is called weak

verb e.g. bend – bent – bent; walk – walked – walked.

65

According to P.C. Wren and H. Martin, strong verbs are irregular verbs and

weak verbs are regular verbs. Students are to read the list of strong verbs and weak

verbs which are given in grammar books.

3.2.5.4 Adjective: Adjective means a word that describes a person or a thing.

The word which describes the situation, quality, quantity, and number etc.

of a noun is called ‘adjective’ e.g. He is a good boy. She has some money. Here

‘good’ and ‘some’ are adjectives.

N.B. Determiners i.e. a, an, the, few, a few, the few, little, a little, the little, some,

any, many, much, all etc. are adjectives.

‘More’ and ‘Most’ are adverbs e.g. more beautiful, most beautiful. More

books are necessary. Here ‘More’ is adjective. Determiners are not a separate

part of speech as they belong to adjective.

3.2.5.4.1 Kinds of Adjective

Adjectives are of five types:

1. Adjective of quality: Good, bad, small, big, large, sweet, red, white, honest etc.

2. Adjective of quantity: Some, much, little, more.

3. Adjective of number

a. Definite adjective: One, two, three etc.

b. Indefinite adjective: Some, many, few, no, several etc. First, second,

third etc. are called ordinals.

c. Distributive adjective: Each, every, either, neither etc.

4. Demonstrative adjective: This, that, these, those etc.

5. Interrogative adjective: What, which, whose etc.

66

3.2.5.5 Adverb: Ad + verb = Adverb. It means that something adds to a verb.

One hint we get from the ‘prefix’ that a word that adds information to a verb is

called an adverb. But adverb is a word that adds more information about a verb, an

adjective or any other adverb e.g. He eats much. He is a very good student. She

talks too much. Here ‘much’, ‘very’ and ‘too’ are adverbs.

Here ‘eat’ is a verb and ‘much’ describes the verb ‘eat’. So the word much

is adverb. The word ‘good’ is adjective and the word ‘very’ describes the adjective

‘good’. Hence ‘very’ is adverb. The word ‘too’ describes the adverb ‘much’ and

hence ‘too’ is an adverb.

3.2.5.5.1 Kinds of Adverb

Adverb can be divided into the following:

1. Adverb of time: Now, before, daily, already, late. e.g. He arrived late.

2. Adverb of frequency: Always, once, twice, seldom, again, frequently e.g. His

father seldom comes here.

3. Adverb of place: Here, there etc. e.g. Come here.

4. Adverb of degree or quantity: Too, any, quite, very, fully, rather etc. e.g. He

was rather happy.

5. Adverb of manner: Clearly, bravely, well, hard etc. e.g. The soldiers fought

bravely.

6. Interrogative adverb: When, why, how, where etc. e.g. When did you come?

7. Relative adverb: Interrogative adverb can be used as relative adverb. e.g. Do

you know the time when he will come.

67

3.2.5.6 Preposition

Pre + position = Preposition. ‘Pre’ means ‘before’. Hence one can

understand that something takes the position before something. Thus a word sits

before a noun or pronoun and forms a relation with other parts of the sentence is

called preposition e.g. The book is on the table. He is going to college. He is fond

of music. Here ‘on’ , ‘to’ and ‘of’ are prepositions.

In the above sentences, the word ‘on’ sitting before the noun ‘table’ forms

a relation with other words of the sentence. Again, I agree to your proposal. He is

proud of his son. Here ‘to’ and ‘of’ sitting before pronouns ‘your’ and ‘his’ form a

relation with other words in the sentences.

A word or a group of words which is used before a noun or pronoun to

show its relation with other word or words of the sentence is called a preposition

e.g. about, at, after, by, for, in, on, of, to, with, out, into, up, out of, on behalf of

etc. are prepositions. Students are to read the list of prepositions again and again

where these are used in the sentences.

3.2.5.6.1 Kinds of Preposition

Preposition is divided into three parts:

Simple preposition: At, by, for, from, in, off, on, out, to, up, with, till.

Compound preposition: About, above, across, among, along, around, before,

below, beside, beyond, between, inside, outside, within.

Phrase preposition: According to, along with, away from, in lieu of, in

addition to, in course of, in front of, on account of, in order to, inspite of, with

68

a view to, by virtue of, instead of etc. For example, He could not sit for the

examination on account of illness.

3.2.5.7 Conjunction: Con + junction. ‘Junction’ normally means where two

or more roads or railway lines meet. It is a meeting place. So from the word

‘junction’ the students will have an idea about conjunction. The word or the prefix

‘con’ means ‘trick or game’. Hence a word enters in between two words or

sentences and plays the role of a joiner. According to Oxford Advance Learner’s

Dictionary, a word that joins words, phrases or sentences is conjunction e.g. and,

but, if, because, or, though, where, still, otherwise, while, yet, as if, as well as etc. I

like him because he is a good student. He is poor still people respect him. Work

hard otherwise you will fail. I entered the room while he was sleeping. Though he

is suffering yet he will not complain. He is sleeping as if he were dead. I know

where he was born. He as well as his father was present there.

3.2.5.7.1 Kinds of Conjunction

Conjunction is divided into two parts:

1. Coordinating conjunction: And, but, for, or, nor, either… or, neither… nor,

not only …but also etc.

a. Correlative conjunction: Either … or, Neither … nor, Both … and, Not

only … but also, Though … yet, No sooner … than etc.

b. Compound conjunction: So that, as if, as soon as, even if, as though etc.

2. Subordinating conjunction: After, because, if, that, though, although, till,

before, as, when, while, where etc.

69

A conjunction which joins a clause to another clause on which it depends

for its full meaning is called subordinate conjunction e.g. you will fail if you do not

study hard. He left the place because he could not meet him.

3.2.5.8 Interjection: There are some small words or sounds that express

some sudden mental feelings. These words or sounds are called Interjection e.g.

Ah! Alas! O! Oh! Hurrah! Bravo! etc. are interjections.

In fine, a short sound or word spoken suddenly to express an emotion is

called Interjection. Alas! She is dead. Ah! What are you telling? Hurrah! We

have won the game. O! What a beautiful bird. Oh! You have come again.

Bravo! You have done well.

N.B. Interjection has no classification.

After explaining the parts of speech, lastly the teacher should say that all

the parts of speech are themselves ‘nouns’ because all are names of parts of

speech. Also the students should practise some sentences so that they can identify

the parts of speech.

3.2.6 Complement

Sometimes in a sentence, the verb requires a word to express a complete

meaning. Such a word is called ‘Complement of the verb or completion of the

predicate’. This type of verb is called, ‘Incomplete Predication’.

Both Transitive verb and Intransitive verb have complements e.g. sugar

tastes sweet. I consider him honest. Here ‘sweet’ and ‘honest’ are complements.

70

Complements are of two kinds: 1. Subjective complements

and 2. Objective complement

1. Subjective complement: When the complement gives information about the

subject, then it is called subjective complement. In case of transitive verb, the

complement describes the subject e.g. He seems happy, The flower looks

beautiful. The words ‘happy’ and ‘beautiful’ are complements.

2. Objective complement: When the complement gives information about the

object, then it is called objective complement. In case of transitive verb, the

complement describes the object e.g. We made him captain. The magistrate

found him guilty. Here ‘captain’ and ‘guilty’ are complements.

Note: ‘Complement’ should be discussed along with the verb as the chapter is

related to verb.

3.2.7 Object

What is an object? This question comes first. In the sentence, He writes a

letter, if we ask a question what does ‘He’ write? The answer comes ‘a letter’. So

the word ‘letter’ is object.

Objects are of two kinds: 1. Direct object and 2. Indirect object

In the sentence, ‘He teaches us English’. If we ask a question, What does

‘He’ teach? the answer is ‘English’. Whom does ‘He’ teach? comes next. So

‘English’ is direct object and ‘us’ is indirect object. Generally the thing is Direct

object and the person is Indirect object.

71

Object is also divided into three parts:

1. Retained object: In a sentence, sometimes there are two objects. When

such a sentence is converted into the passive voice, any of the objects is

made subject and the other object remains in its place. So the object which

is not used is called Retained object e.g. He teaches us English. Passive

voice is: i). English is taught us by him.

ii). We are taught English by him.

Here in the first sentence, ‘us’ is Retained object and in the second

sentence, ‘English’ is Retained object.

2. Cognate object: Sometimes we find similarity between the verb and the

object in a sentence. It seems that the object comes out of the verb in that

sentence. Such object is called Cognate object e.g. (i) He runs a race. (ii)

He dreamt a fearful dream (He saw a dream is incorrect) (iii) She sings a

sweet song. In the above sentence, race, sleep, dream, song are cognate

objects.

3. Reflexive object: In a sentence, if the same person or class is both subject

and object then, this object is called Reflexive object. It is also called

Personal object e.g. He killed himself. I did it myself. The cat seated itself.

Here, himself, myself and itself are Reflexive objects or personal objects.

3.2.8 Use of Adjectives and Adverbs

1. The flower smells sweet. (sweetly is wrong)

2. He looks pale. (palely is wrong)

3. It tastes sour. (sourly is wrong)

72

4. He feels sad. (sadly is wrong)

1. We feel warmly on the subject. (worm is wrong)

2. He spoke angrily. (angry is wrong)

Superior, inferior, senior, junior, prior, take ‘to’ instead of ‘than’.

1. As a dramatist, Shakespeare is superior to Marlowe.

2. Jane is inferior to her sister in intelligence.

3. I prefer milk to tea.

4. His death was prior to the Second World War.

5. He is senior to me.

Comparative form.

1. Which is the better of the two. (best in place of better is wrong)

2. He is the taller of the two. (tallest in place of taller is wrong)

3. The population of Kolkata is greater than that of any city in India.

(Without ‘that of’ the sentence is wrong)

4. Better death than dishonour. (to in place of than is wrong)

5. Death is preferable to dishonour. (than in place of to is wrong)

Unique, idea, perfect, complete, universal, entire, extreme, chief, full

are not used in comparative form. They are always superlative.

1. This is the perfect specimen I have seen. (‘most perfect’ is wrong)

3.2.8.1 Adverbs: (Proper use)

1. I haven’t got any. (none instead of any is wrong)

2. I could not find it anywhere. (nowhere instead of anywhere is wrong)

3. I can’t see any wit in her. (no instead of any is wrong)

73

4. He is very weak. (so instead of very is wrong)

5. He is so weak that he cannot walk. (too instead of so is wrong)

6. He is too weak to walk. (very instead of too is wrong)

7. I don’t know anything whatever of the matter. (nothing instead of

anything is wrong)

8. Does she sing well? Certainly she does. (of course instead of certainly is

wrong)

3.2.9 Correlatives

The conjunction which is used in pair is called Correlative Conjunction or

Correlative which is discussed in ‘Kinds of conjunction chapter’. Examples are:

1. Both … and: Both Ram and Rahim are present.

2. Either … or: Either you sit peacefully or leave the room.

3. Neither … nor: Neither you nor your father came.

4. Not only … but also: He is not only rich but also honest.

5. Whether … or: I don’t know whether the minister will come or not.

6. No sooner … than: No sooner had he reached the station than the train left.

No sooner did he reach the station than the train left. (then is wrong).

7. So … that: He is so strong that he cannot be defeated.

8. Though …yet: Though he is poor yet he is happy. Though he is poor, he is

happy. (Both the sentences are correct).

9. Rather … than: I would rather die than surrender.

10. As … as: He is as strong as lion.

11. Such … as: The teacher gave him such a punishment as he deserved.

12. Other … than: The thief is none other than the night guard.

74

3.2.10 Gender

Under graduate students understand masculine, feminine and Neuter

gender. Male is mesculine, female is feminine and which is neither male nor

female is neuter gender.

Some examples are given below:

1. Author – Authoress 8. Lad – Lass

2. Bachelor – Maid 9. Monk – Nun

3. Bridegroom – Bride, 10. Papa – Mamma, Dad – Mum, Daddy – Mummy

4. Colt – Filly 11. Peacock – Peahen

5. Fox – Vixen 12. Poet – Poetess

6.Goat – She goat 13. Sheep – Ewe

7. Horse – Mare 14. Shepherd – Shepherdess

N.B. ‘It’ and ‘this’ are pronouns and they are common and neuter gender

Poet, author and editor are nowadays used as common gender. For

example, Kamala Das is a poet. Diana Lea is the Managing Editor of OALD.

3.2.11 Number

Number is of two types: 1. Singular number 2. Plural number

Under graduate students understand number. But in some cases they face

problem which are discussed bellow.

There are some words which are both singular and plural e.g. Cannon, sheep,

deer, swine, aircraft, species, pair, dozen, gross, hundred, thousand, lakh (lac),

crore, However, hundreds of people, lakhs of people, crores of rupees,

millions of people are used. In case of amount of money, Lakh, Crore etc. will

75

have singular verb. For example, five lakh (rupees) is a big amount. (Oxford

Advance Learner’s Dictionary).

Students should look at the following: (‘s’ is not used in the plural)

One hundred, two hundred, one thousand, two thousand, one million, two

million, one lakh, two lakh, one crore, two crore, one dozen, two dozen, this

deer, these deer, this sheep, these sheep.

Two lakhs, Two Crores are wrong. (refer common errors chapter)

There are some nouns which are always plural e.g. Furniture, people, cattle,

scissors, spectacles, trousers, riches, alms.

1. These furniture are beautiful. (Furnitures wrong)

2. Cattle are grazing in the field. (Cattles wrong)

3. The people of Bengal are very conscious.

N.B. Normally the word ‘People’ is plural. We know there are smaller tribes or

groups living in a place, they are called ‘a people’ e.g. Bodo is a people in Assam.

In that case, the word ‘people’ takes plural form. i.e. ‘peoples’. For example,

Bodo, Mishing, Reang, Karbi etc are peoples in Assam.

There are some nouns which look plural but they are singular e.g. News,

Mathematics, Physics, Electronics, Economics, Measles, Mumps etc. It is a

good news for me. Mathematics is an interesting subject. Mumps is a painful

disease. Measles is an infectious disease.

It should be noted that ‘Number’ is related only to ‘Noun’. All singular and

plural numbers are nouns only. Look at the following: Half – halves, Life –

lives, Thief – thieves, Calf – calves, Wolf – wolves, Ox – oxen, Mouse – mice,

76

Louse – lice, Son-in-law – Sons-in-law, Formula – formulae, (Formulas),

Index – Indices, Radius – radii, Axis – axes, Crisis – crises, Phenomenon –

phenomena, Criterion – criteria, Memorandum – memoranda, Basis – bases,

Thesis – theses.

N.B. The English – The people of England (plural)

The English – Nation (Singular)

Examples: 1. The English speak English. (Here, people of England)

The English speaks English. (Here, a single nation)

The English are a brave nation. (Correct)

2. One year – two years (plural) but Two-year-course, five-year-

course (singular)

One rupee – two rupees (plural) but ten-rupee-note (singular)

One week – two weeks (plural) but six-day-week or five-day-

week (in offices) (singular)

N.B. Students should see the lists of gender and number chapters in grammar book

and observe the transformation minutely.

3.2.12 Person

Person is related to noun and pronoun.

First person – I, we, me, us, our

Second person – you (singular), you (plural)

Third person – He, she, they, him, her, them.

I am – we are

77

You are – you are

He/ She is – they are

Sometimes third person becomes second person e.g.

Ram comes here. (Ram, third person)

Ram, come here. (Ram, second person). Here Ram is addressed.

God helps us. (God, third person)

O God! Help us. (God, second person). Here God is addressed.

3.2.13 Case

The form of noun or pronoun that shows its relation to another word in a

sentence is called Case.

Case is of three kinds: 1. Nominative case 2. Objective case 3. Possesive

case.

1. Nominative case: The subject in a sentence is nominative. Nominative

case is the form of a noun or pronoun when it is the subject of the verb. For

example: 1. Rana plays 2. She sings 3. The boy wants a book 4. I go to

school. Rana, She, the boy, I are nominative case.

N.B. Vocative case: When nominative case is addressed, then it becomes

vocative case. Ram comes here. Ram is nominative case but Ram, come

here. Ram is Vocative case here.

2. Objective Case: Object of the verb or preposition in the sentence is called

Objective case.

78

When a noun or pronoun is the object of the verb or preposition, then it is

called an objective case e.g. I see a picture. He killed a snake. Birds sit on

the trees.

Objective case is of two types: 1. Accusative 2. Dative

a. Accusative: Direct object of the sentence is called Accusative Case.

b. Dative: Indirect object in the sentence is called Dative Case.

Example: He gave me a pen. Here ‘pen’ is direct object and hence it is

Accusative Case, ‘me’ is Indirect object and hence it is Dative case.

3. Possessive Case: A noun or pronoun or a form of word which shows that

something belongs to somebody or something, then it is called Possessive

Case e.g. 1. Bird’s nest 2. Cat’s eyes 3. The door of the house 4. Summer’s

rain. Here Bird, Cat, The house and Summer are Possessive Case.

3.2.14 Mood

The word ‘Mood’ is derived from the Latin word ‘Modus’ which means

‘manner’. Mood is of three kinds. 1. Indicative mood. 2. Imperative mood and

3. subjunctive mood. In some grammar books, there is another mood called The

Infinitive mood. But according to P.C. Wren and H. Martin, ‘Infinitive’ is not

included in this chapter. It has been discussed separately.

Mood is the mode or manner in which the action denoted by the verb is

represented.

One of the categories of the use of verb that expresses facts, questions,

wishes or condition is called Mood.

79

1. Indicative Mood: A verb which is used to make a statement of fact, question

or supposition is called Indicative mood. Examples are:

a. Statement of Fact: (i) Ram goes to school regularly. (ii) He can write

well. (iii) We are taught English.

b. Question: (i) Is he a good student? (ii) Are you well?

c. Suppositions (assumed as fact): (i) I shall go if he comes. (ii) If it

rains we shall not go out. Here it is assumed that ‘he will come’ and ‘it

will rain’.

2. Imperativee Mood: A verb which is used to express command, advice,

request or prayer is called Imperative Mood. This mood is used in present

tense, second person only. In first and third person the idea is expressed with

the help of ‘let’ e.g. (i) Come here. Look at him (order). (ii) Please come

here. Kindly do it (request). (iii) Take care of your health. Do not tell a lie

(advice). (Iv) Have mercy on us. Save us (prayer). (v) Let us go. Let him go.

3. Subjunctive Mood: Subjunctive mood is of two types: (i) Present

Subjunctive (ii) Past subjunctive.

a. Present Subjunctive: (i) God bless you. (ii) God save the King etc.

b. Past subjunctive: (i) If I were a bird I could fly. (ii) I wish I knew his

name. (iii) I wish I were a millionaire etc.

From the examples only, students can understand Mood. Initially they are

to concentrate themselves on the above sentences to form a clear idea about

‘mood’.

80

3.2.15 Infinitive

When the preposition ‘to’ sits before the main verb, it becomes ‘infinitive’

e.g. to come, to go, to do, to write, to play, to walk etc. See the following

sentences:

1. He wants to come here.

2. I like to swim.

3. He wishes to see him.

4. He refused to obey the orders.

5. The teacher desired to meet him.

In some sentences ‘to’ remains silent.

Examples:

1. Please (to) meet me after the meeting.

2. I saw him (to) cross the road.

3. Let him (to) try.

4. You need not (to) go there.

N.B. If the word ‘Dare’ is used in the affirmative sense, then ‘to’ is used e.g. He

dares to do it. But in the negative, ‘to’ is not used e.g. You dare not do it. ‘Ought’

is used to express duty or obligation e.g. I ought to love my country.

3.2.16 Gerund and Verbal Noun

A gerund is a form of verb having ‘ing’ and a noun and a verb at the

same time. The same definition is applicable to ‘verbal noun’ also. But there is a

difference which will be clear from the following sentences:

1. Riding is a good exercise. (Gerund)

81

2. The riding of horse is a good exercise. (Verbal Noun)

Hence a ‘verbal noun’ is a gerund with ‘the’ before and the preposition

‘of’ after it.

From the above two sentences only, one can understand what is Gerund

and what is Verbal noun.

Some more Examples:

1. Playing is a good exercise. (Gerund)

2. The playing of cricket is a good exercise. (Verbal Noun)

3. Gardening is his favourite hobby (Gerund)

4. He likes reading poetry. (Gerund)

5. He was punished for committing a crime. (Gerund)

3.2.17 Participles

Participles are of two kinds: 1. Present participle and 2. Past participle.

Sleep – Sleeping (Present Participle) Do – Done (Past participle)

Present participle means, the verb is not complete

Past participle means, the verb is complete.

A participle is that form of a verb which is both a verb and an adjective at

the same time.

Examples:

1. She is a crying child (Present Participle)

2. A rolling stone gathers no mass. (Present Participle)

3. He played a losing game. (Present Participle)

4. I saw the tiger approaching. (Present Participle)

82

5. We saw a fallen tree on the river side. (Past participle)

6. The burnt child was kept in the police station. (Past participle)

7. Being frustrated, he left the place. (Past participle)

N.B. Participle is a verbal adjective and Gerund is a verbal noun.

3.2.18 Sentences (Affirmative and Negative)

A sentence which indicates positive sense is called Affirmative sentence

e.g. I go to college.

A sentence which indicates negative sense is called Negative sentence e.g. I

do not go to college.

Examples: (From Affirmative to Negative.)

1. Rajat can sing well – Rajat cannot sing well.

2. She told me something – She did not tell me anything.

3. We met somebody there – We did not meet anybody there.

4. Go immediately – Do not go immediately.

Some sentences without changing the meaning.

1. Man is mortal – Man is not immortal.

2. He tried every plan – He left no plan untried.

3. He is too weak to walk – He is so weak that he cannot walk.

4. Water is colourless – Water has no colour.

5. Always speak the truth – Never tell a lie.

6. Everyone loves him – Who does not love him?

7. Solomon is the wisest of all kings – No other king was as wise as

Solomon.

83

8. Only a rouge can act this – None but a rouge can act this.

Negative sentences can be formed by placing ‘not’ or ‘no’ after

auxiliary verb or modal verb. If auxiliary verb is not there, then ‘do’ comes

e.g. I went – I did not go.

The above sentences will give a guide line how a sentence can be

transformed into negative. Students are to be given some more sentences

for practice.

3.2.19 Formation of Interrogative Sentences

A sentence which indicates question is called interrogative sentence. To

convert into interrogative, the auxiliary verb or modal verb in the sentence is to be

taken first in the sentence. If auxiliary verb is not there, then ‘do’, will come e.g.

He is ill – Is he ill? I went – did I go? All the interrogative sentences will take note

of interrogation i.e. question mark (?).

Examples:

1. Leena goes to college – Does Leena go to college?

2. I should go home – Should I go home?

3. She is playing – Is she playing?

Sentence can be transformed into interrogative without changing the meaning.

Examples:

1. Everyone is proud of him – Who is not proud of him?

2. Everyone loves him – Who does not love him?

3. Nobody can trust a liar – Can anybody trust a liar?

4. Everyone will help a blind man – Who will not help a blind man?

84

5. Their glory can never fade – Can their glory ever fade? When can their

glory fade?

3.2.20 Formation of Question

Who, why, when, what, where, which, how are necessary to form a

question e.g. My name is Amit. To get this answer, the question will be, What is

your name?

Examples:

Statement Question

1. My father is a doctor. What is your father?

2. Her mother is seventy years old. How old is her mother?

3. I am forty years old. How old are you?

4. I blamed him for this act. Why did you blame him?

5. He came for a particular work. Why did he come?

6. She is coming home. When is she coming home?

7. He is going to college. Where is he going?

8. A tree fell on the road. What happened on the road?

9. I like Tagore most. Whom do you like most?

10. The plane will reach at 9.30 a.m. When will the plain reach?

So from the above questions, the students will have an idea how to form

questions.

85

3.2.21 Tag Question

A tag question is a form of question which gives emphasis on the statement

given.

If the statement i.e. the sentence is affirmative, then the question tag is

negative. i.e. negative-interrogative and if the sentence is negative then

the question is interrogative only.

Examples:

1. He is running fast …………………? (isn’t he)

2. We have plenty of time …………………? (haven’t we)

3. He was a doctor…………………? (wasn’t he)

4. This is very expensive …………………? (isn’t it)

5. You have not met him …………………? (have you)

6. You like music…………………? (don’t you)

7. She did not go to college…………………? (did she)

8. They will write to us…………………? (won’t they)

There are some exceptions in Tag question. For example:

1. I am well…? (aren’t I)

2. I am a writer…? (aren’t I)

3. I am writing a letter…? (aren’t I)

There are some sentences in which the question tag is only interrogative

although the sentences are affirmative.

Examples: (as per P.C. Wren and H. Martin)

1. Let’s go to the market…? (shall we)

86

2. Wait for a while…? (can you/will you)

3. Have some more rice…? (will you)

4. Close the door…? (can you/will you)

The following sentences are also to be noted:

1. There is a temple in the market… (isn’t there)

2. There are some good students in the class… (aren’t there)

3. Somebody has called… (haven’t they)

It is to be noted that tag question is suitable according to the statement. It is

adjusted with the practical life situation. For example, if a father asked his son to

carry a heavy bag, then the question automatically comes ‘can you?’ and not ‘can’t

you?’ if a teacher asks a student to close the door, then the question comes ‘will

you?’ and not ‘won’t you?’ if an unknown person or a person of equal status asks

someone to carry a bag, the question comes, ‘will you?’ or ‘can you?’ Here

negative-interrogative does not arise. So the teachers are to explain the situation

first and the students are also to realise this.

3.2.22 Articles (A, an, the)

‘A’, ‘an’ and ‘the’ are called Articles. They are also determiners. Students

may have some idea about the articles. Hence some complicated situations are

discussed here.

Students know that ‘a’ and ‘an’ are called Indefinite articles and ‘the’ is

called definite article. They also know that before consonant ‘a’ is used and before

vowel ‘an’ is used. ‘The’ is used before definite things but exceptions are there.

87

Use of ‘a’ and ‘an’

1. If the first letter of a word is vowel but it sounds like ‘u’ and ‘wa’, then

‘a’ is used e.g. a university, a useful animal, a union, a one rupee note, a

one way road etc.

2. In abbreviations, if vowel sound comes before a consonant, then ‘an’ is

used e.g. an LP school, an MA but a BA, a CA etc.

3. If ‘h’ is silent in a word, then ‘an’ is used e.g. an honest man, an heir,

an hour etc. but before the word ‘Hotel’ some teachers use ‘a’ and

some use ‘an’. As per Oxford and Chambers Dictionary, ‘an’ before

Hotel is old fashioned. But the researcher thinks that both ‘a’ and ‘an’

may be used and there is no harm in it. ‘History’ and ‘historical’ are

two words like Hotel and hence same principal may be followed.

Use of ‘the’

1. Before common noun, ‘the’ is used e.g. The cow is a useful animal.

The camel is called the ship of the desert. But the researcher opines that

without ‘the’, common noun can be understood. Everyone is of the

opinion that before the word ‘man’ as human being, ‘the’ is not to be

used. Similarly, if we say, Camel is called the ship of the desert, then

‘camel’ here means the entire class of ‘camel’ exactly like ‘man is

mortal’. So there should not be any rigidity regarding ‘the’ before

common noun.

2. If proper noun is used as common noun’ then ‘the’ is used e.g. Kalidas

is the Shakespeare of India.

88

3. Before river, sea, ocean, mountain ranges and group of islands, ‘the’ is

used e.g. The Ganges, The Arabian Sea, The Himalayas, The

Andamans etc.

N.B. But before a mountain or an island ‘the’ is not used e.g. Mount Everest (The

mount Everest is wrong).

4. Before newspapers, religious scripts, nation, race ‘the’ is used e.g. The

Statesman, The Quran, The Gita, The English, The Bengalee etc.

5. The earth, The moon, The sun, The north, The south etc.

6. If an adjective indicates class, then, ‘the’ is used e.g. The rich, The

young, The old etc.

7. ‘The’ is used before the abbreviation of the countries or organisations

e.g. The UK, The USA, The UNICEF etc. Some exceptional cases are:

The Punjab, The Deccan, The United Kingdom, The United States of

America.

8. ‘The’ is used before material noun if it is definite. e.g. The water of the

Ganges is considered holy. Similarly, if Abstract noun is definite, then

‘the’ is used e.g. We praise the wisdom of this man. The honesty of this

man is unquestioned.

No article is used before the following:

1. Names of country, city, town, persons, single mountain, language, day,

month and road.

Some exceptional situations explained above are to be seen very carefully to avoid

confusions.

89

3.2.23 Determiners

1. Few, little (a few, , a little, the few, the little)

2. Much, many, some, any

3. Each, every

4. Either, neither

5. No, both, all

6. This, that, those, these

7. Less, fewer

8. A lot of, lots of, a large number of, a great deal of are determiners like

articles a, an, and the.

Few means negative sense in number.

Little means negative sense in quantity. (material i.e. uncountable)

This indicates near.

That indicates distance.

Either, neither, each and every take singular verb

Students are to know the meaning of the determiners as stated above.

Unless they know the meaning, they will be confused.

3.2.24 Tense

The time of the verb is called tense. This chapter is considered the most

important chapter in English grammar. Tense is necessary for speaking also

without which we cannot express the time of our works or action or event.

90

Tense is divided into three parts: 1. Present 2. Past and 3. Future. Again one

tense is divided into four parts: (i) Indefinite (ii) Continuous (iii) Perfect and (iv)

Perfect Continuous.

There are some basic rules involved in tense but due to lack of clear idea

about these rules, students cannot identity the sentence that belongs to a particular

tense. Here some guidelines are put forward so that anyone can identify tense

easily.

3.2.24.1 Present Tense

3.2.24.1.1 Present Indefinite

There are three conditions to identify present indefinite tense which are as

follows:

i. When anyone of the words like always, daily, regularly, generally,

usually, frequently, sometimes, occasionally, everyday, today etc.

are present in the sentence e.g. The college opens today. He always

stands first in the class. He usually comes at 7 p.m.

ii. Habit: e.g. He likes meat. My father is an early riser. He goes to

school by bus etc.

iii. Universal truth: e.g. The earth moves round the sun. Flower looks

beautiful. It rains in summer. Iron does not float on water.

3.2.24.1.2 Present Continuous

In any sentence if the word ‘now’ is present then it is present continuous

e.g. I am writing a letter now. But there is a situation without ‘now’ which is also

91

present continuous e.g. The baby is crying because it is hungry. The words ‘it is’

give the clue.

N.B. Some verbs like see, feel, think, appear, hope, like, understand, hear,

want, know etc. do not take any continuous form. In all the grammar books

available in Barak Valley, it is mentioned but why these verbs do not take

continuous form is not mentioned. First, the students should know that there is no

continuous process in these verbs. Some living examples can be cited from the

practical life situation. For example, if a student is asked to go to the principal’s

room, he or she should go step by step but if the same student is asked to see the

fan in the class, he or she can see this with the twinkling of an eye. No continuous

activity is necessary to see the fan. Again people take bath in the winter season

mixing hot water with cold water. But before pouring water on the body, they test

it whether this water is suitable or not. While testing, they touch this mixed water

with the tip of the finger. Only a touch is sufficient to test this water and no

continuous touching is necessary. From these two examples, the students can

understand why these verbs do not take continuous form.

So these verbs will take the tense of the earlier form serially i.e. if it was to

be present continuous, then it will be present indefinite; if it was to be present

perfect continuous, then it will be present perfect. This is applicable to other tenses

also. e.g. He feels better now. I see a picture now.

According to P.C. Wren and H. Martin, ‘I am thinking of going to

England’ is right. They think that ‘am thinking’ = ‘think of’ is an idea. ‘I am

92

hoping’ means ‘less hope’ (Michael Swan). I am seeing a doctor tomorrow

(Future) (Sidney Greenbaum).

3.2.24.1.3 Present Perfect

In the sentence, if Just now, yet, already, recently are found, then the

sentence belongs to present perfect tense. e.g. My sister has come just now. He has

already crossed the limit. He has not finished his work yet. Recently the price of

the essential commodities has gone up. The word ‘perfect’ means ‘complete’. In

present perfect tense, the auxiliary verb is has or have and the verb is past

participle. e.g. I have done. He or She has done.

3.2.24.1.4 Present Perfect Continuous

The verb is present, complete and continuous e.g. I have been doing. He

has been suffering. If ‘since’ or ‘for’ is present in the sentence, then the sentence

belongs to present perfect continuous tense e.g. He has been suffering from illness

since Monday last. He has been suffering from fever for two days.

N. B. If the exact name of the time is mentioned, then since is used. If the name of

the time is not mentioned, then for is used.

Note: (i) He is ill for seven days (incorrect)

(ii) He has been ill for seven days (correct).

(iii) I have been knowing him since 2005 (incorrect).

(iv) I have known him since 2005 (correct).

93

3.2.24.2 Past Tense

3.2.24.2.1 Past Indefinite: In this tense, we find ago, earlier, yesterday,

last and the like e.g. I reached here one moment earlier. ‘I have reached here one

moment earlier’ is wrong. My brother passed MA last year. He was killed in the

last war (Passive voice). I wish I were dead. (I am not dead).

3.2.24.2.2 Past Continuous: Normally in this tense, ‘While’ or ‘when’ is

found. e.g, He was sleeping when I entered the room. In this tense, auxiliary verb

is either ‘was’ or ‘were’ and ‘ing’ is with the verb. e.g. I was going. They were

going.

3.2.24.2.3 Past perfect: in this tense, auxiliary verb is ‘had’ and the verb is

past participle. e.g. I had done. She had done. ‘Before’ or ‘after’ is found in the

sentence.

Two verbs of past and one was finished before another. This is past perfect

tense. The work which was finished before is past perfect and which was

finished after is past indefinite. e.g. we had arrived before the drama started.

3.2.24.2.4 Past perfect Continuous: In this tense, the verb is past,

complete and continuous at the same time. e.g. I had been working for six days. In

this tense, only ‘for’ is used. The formation of this tense is ‘had been’ and ‘ing’

with the verb e.g. I had been going. At that time he had been writing a novel for

two months.

The past perfect continuous is used for an action that began before a certain

point in the past and continued up to that time. (P.C. Wren and H. Martin)

94

3.2.24.3 Future Tense

3.2.24.3.1 Future Indefinite: The action takes place after one moment.

Modal verb ‘shall’ or ‘will’ is present in the sentence. e.g. I shall go. He or she will

come. My brother will go to Kolkata tomorrow.

The following sentences are to be observed.

1. The boat is full of water. It is going to sink.

2. My brother is going to Kolkata tomorrow

3. She is going to have a baby.

These sentences also indicate future action although they belong to present

continuous tense.

3.2.24.3.2 Future Continuous: In this tense, ‘shall be’ or ‘will be’ is used

and ‘ing’ is with the verb. e.g. I shall be going. Action will be in progress at a time

in future. e.g. I think it will be raining when we start. From next year he will be

playing for our team.

3.2.24.3.3 Future Perfect: There will be two works of future tense, one

will be finished before the other. The work which will be finished earlier is future

perfect and the later work is in present indefinite (not in future indefinite). e.g. He

will have washed his hands before he eats. ‘Shall have’ or ‘will have’ and Past

participle of the verb – is future perfect tense. e.g. I shall have done. He or She

will have done.

3.2.24.3.4 Future Perfect Continuous: In future, a portion of the work is

finished and then continues. ‘Shall have been’ or ‘will have been’ and ‘ing’ with

the verb are the signs of future perfect continuous. e.g. I shall have been going. He

95

or she will have been going. We shall have been working for four years. The

following points may be noted.

Each continuous tense has ‘ing’ with the verb

Each perfect tense takes past participle of the verb.

‘For’ is common to all perfect continuous tense. ‘Since’ is also used in

present perfect continuous tense.

Use of shall instead of will and will instead of shall indicate certainty.

N.B. Grammar rules are not to be learnt in isolation. These should be studied with

examples and the techniques as stated above are helpful to differentiate one tense

from the other. Sentences are given in the examination in the following ways:

1. He (suffer) since last month. 7. We (arrive) before the drama started.

2. The child (cry) because it is hungry. 8. He (come) here recently.

3. He (stay) here until you return. 9. I (know) him for a long time.

4. Cuckoos (use) the nests of other birds. 10. I entered the room while he (sleep).

5. I (buy) a pen last week. 11. I wish I (be) dead.

6. I (thank) him for what he had done. 12. He (kill) in the last war.

There is one indication in each sentence given above. The students can

identify the particular tense if they are aware of these indications. One can learn

tense in the above ways for perfect understanding.

3.2.25 Voice

Voice is the form of a verb that shows whether the subject of a sentence

performs the action (the active voice) or is affected by it (the passive voice).

‘Voice’ is of two kinds: 1. Active voice and 2. Passive voice

96

I do this (active) – this is done by me (passive). Here, the object ‘this’ is

made subject and the subject ‘I’ is made object with the help of ‘by’; verb ‘do’ is

made past participle i.e. ‘done’ and an auxiliary verb is used according to the tense

in the active form. In Imperative sentence, the word ‘Let’ is used first to make

passive voice. Preposition ‘to’ is used instead of by if the verb is ‘know’ before the

person. e.g. Do it now – Let it be done now. I know him well – he is known to me

well. But, the tree is known by its fruits.

Students are to practise conversion of active voice to passive voice

according to sentences belonging to Assertive, Interrogative and Imperative

sentences separately for clear understanding.

Some sentences from Assertive Sentence

1. He writes a letter – A letter is written by him.

2. He is writing a letter – A letter is being written by him.

3. He has written a letter – A letter has been written by him.

4. He wrote a letter – A letter was written by him.

5. He will write a letter – A letter will be written by him.

6. I shall have written a letter – A letter will have been written by me.

7. He teaches us English – (i) English is taught us by him. (ii) We are taught

English by him.

Some sentences from Imperative Sentence

1. Do not laugh at the beggar – i). Let the beggar be not laughed at.

ii). The beggar should not be laughed at.

2. Read the book – Let the book be read.

97

The following sentences are to be noted carefully.

1. We call him Mahatma – He is called Mahatma.

2. Someone killed him – He was killed.

3. We must endure what we cannot cure – What cannot be cured must be

endured.

In the above sentences ‘by’ is not necessary.

Again, 1. I saw them cross the road (active). They were seen cross the road

(passive).

2. I saw them crossing the road (active). They were seen crossing the

road (passive). (Cross and crossing will not change.)

Also see the following sentences:

1. Sugar tastes sweet. (active) - Sugar is sweet when it is tasted. (passive)

2. He worked two hours. (active) – He worked two hours as he was told to

do so. (passive)

Note: 1. All sentences belonging to perfect continuous tense are not converted

into passive voice.

2. Sentences of future continuous tense can be converted into passive form

but there is no use of it.

The above rules are to be minutely observed for clear understanding of the

voice change.

98

3.2.26 Narration

Narration is Direct and Indirect Speech.

A retired ME School teacher, now a teacher in a private High School once

asked this researcher why narration is prescribed in the syllabus as it is very hard

and the students do not understand it and it is also not necessary. This researcher in

turn asked him a question whether he sent any massage to somebody sending his

son. He said, ‘yes’. The massage can be expressed in two ways, direct and indirect.

This is called narration. The teacher did not say anything but smiled. It seemed that

he could realise the necessity of Narration. The researcher gave an example only.

1. Father said to me, ‘Go to Ravi and tell him to return my money.’(direct)

2. Father asked me to go to Ravi and to tell him to return his money. (indirect)

Here, ‘Father said to me’ is reporting verb and ‘Go to Ravi and to tell him to return

my money’ is reported speech.

Some rules are there to change Direct Speech into Indirect Speech.

1. If the reporting verb is present or future tense, the tense of the reported

speech does not change. 2. If the reporting verb is past tense, the tense

of the reported speech changes to corresponding past tense. 3. No

change of tense is necessary if the reported speech is universal truth or

habitual fact. 4. Pronoun, in the reported speech, changes according to

the reporting verb. 5. In Assertive, Optative and Exclamatory sentences,

conjunction ‘that’ is used; ‘if’ or ‘whether’ in Interrogative sentence

and ‘to’ in the Imperative sentences. If what, when, why and where are

present in the sentence, then no other conjunction is necessary.

99

Again,

1. In Assertive sentence, ‘said to’ becomes ‘told’ in the indirect speech.

2. In Interrogative sentence, ‘said to’ becomes ‘asked’ or ‘enquired’.

3. In Imperative sentence, ‘said to’ becomes ‘asked’, ‘ordered’,

‘forbade’, ‘requested’, ‘proposed to’, ‘suggested to’, ’advised’

according to the meaning of the reported speech.

4. In Optative sentence, ‘said to’ becomes ‘wished’ or ‘prayed’.

5. In Exclamatory sentence, ‘said to’ becomes ‘cried out in joy’ or

‘sorrow’, ‘exclaimed in joy’ or ‘sorrow’ or ‘sadly’.

Direct Speech Indirect speech

This That

Here There

Now Then

Today That Day

Yesterday The previous day or the day before

Tomorrow The next day

Ago Before

Students must observe the following sentences very carefully.

a. Assertive: 1. He says, ‘I am well.’ – He says that he is well.

2. He said, ‘I am well.’ – He said that he was well.

3. He said, ‘I shall go.’ – He said that he would go.

100

4. He said, ‘I was ill.’ – He said that he had been ill.

5. The man said to me, ‘I saw a tiger.’– The man told me that he had

seen a tiger.

6. He said to me, ‘I shall help you.’ – He told me that he would help me.

Universal truth: The teacher said, ‘The earth is round.’ - The teacher said that

the earth is round.

Habitual fact: He said, ‘My mother reads the Gita everyday.’ – He said that his

mother reads the Gita everyday.

b. Interrogative: 1. The teacher said to me, ‘Can you do this sum?’ – The teacher

asked me if I could do that sum.

2. He said, ‘What is your name?’ – He asked what my name was.

3. Mother said, ‘Where did you go yesterday?’ – Mother asked

where I had gone the day before.

c. Imperative: 1. He said to me, ‘Do it now.’ – He told me to do it then.

2. The teacher said to the students, ‘Do not make a noise.’ – The

teacher asked the students not to make a noise. The teacher forbade

the students to make a noise.

3. He said to me, ‘Please give me your pen.’–He requested me to

give him my pen.

4. The General said to the soldiers, ‘March on’ – The General

ordered / commanded the soldiers to march on.

101

d. Optative: 1. Mother said, ‘May you be happy.’ – Mother wished that I might

be happy.

2. He said to me, ‘May God bless you’ – He prayed that God might

bless me.

e. Exclamatory: 1. They said, ‘Hurrah! We have won the game.’- They cried out

in joy that they had won the game.

2. He said, ‘What a fool I am!’ – He exclaimed in sorrow that he

was a great fool. He exclaimed sadly that he was a great fool.

3. He said, ‘Bravo! You have done well.’ – He praised/ applauded

him saying that he had done well.

Students are to practise as many sentences as possible but the above

sentences give some idea about the narration.

3.2.27 Degree of Comparison

Degree is of three kinds: 1. Positive degree 2. Comparative degree and 3.

Superlative degree.

Degree is related to Adjective and sometimes Adverb e.g. Good – better –

best. Happy – happier – happiest.

Note: After comparative, ‘than’ is used; ‘to’ is used in some cases; ‘the’ is used

before superlative degree.

Examples:

i. He is better than any other boy in the class.

ii. He is superior to me.

102

iii. He is junior to me.

iv. He is the best boy in the class.

3.2.27.1 Transformation of Degree of Comparison

1. No other city in India is as big as Kolkata. (Positive)

Kolkata is bigger than any other city in India. (Comparative)

Kolkata is the biggest city in India. (Superlative)

2. No other metal is as useful as iron. (Positive)

Iron is more useful than any other metal. (Comparative)

Iron is the most useful metal. (Superlative)

3. No other peak in the world is as high as Mount Everest. (Positive)

Mount Everest is higher than any other peak in the world. (Comparative)

Mount Everest is the highest peak in the world.(Superlative)

Note: The above sentences are sufficient to understand the Degree of comparison.

Students are only to read the list of ‘Degree of comparison’ of Adjectives available

in any grammar book.

3.2.28 Kinds of Sentences – I

Sentences are divided into five parts:

1. Assertive or Declarative 2. Interrogative 3. Imperative 4. Optative and

5. Exclamatory or Exclamative.

1. Assertive: In Assertive sentence, something is described e.g. He does not

play well. She wrote a letter. A sentence which makes a statement is called

Assertive sentence.

103

2. Interrogative: A sentence which asks a question is called Interrogative

sentence e.g. Who are you? Are you well? etc.

3. Imperative: A sentence which expresses command (order), advice or

request is called Imperative sentence e.g. Do it now. Do not laugh at the

beggar. Please, give me a pen.

4. Optative: A sentence which expresses wish or prayer is called Optative

sentence e.g. May God bless you. Long live our president.

5. Exclamatory (Exclamative): A sentence which expresses exclamation i.e.

a strong feelings or emotion is called Exclamatory sentence e.g. Hurrah!

We have won the game. Alas! What a fool I am.

Note: According to P.C. Wren and H. Martin and Sidney Greenbaum, sentences

are of four parts. Optative is not a separate sentence.

3.2.29 Kinds of Sentences – II

Sentences can be divided into three parts: 1. Simple, 2. Complex and

3. Compound.

1. Simple: A sentence which has only one finite verb is called a simple

sentence. In other words, a sentence which has only one subject and one

predicate is called simple sentence e.g. He is too weak to walk.

2. Complex: A sentence which has only one principal clause and one

subordinate clause is complex sentence e.g. He is so weak that he cannot

walk. In complex sentence, clauses are dependent on each other; one cannot

give the full meaning without the other. Subordinate clause is also called

dependent clause.

104

3. Compound: A sentence which has two or more coordinate clauses is called

a compound sentence e.g. He is very weak and he cannot walk. He is not

only tall but also he is strong. In compound sentences, clauses are

independent and one clause can give the full meaning without the other.

Only the three sentences cited as examples above are to be observed and

from these three sentences, the students can understand the difference in simple,

complex and compound sentences.

In case of synthesis of sentences, the above three sentences will give the

students the indication how to change one sentence to another sentence. Only an

extra question may be asked e.g. 1. She can sing 2. She can play. These two

sentences can be converted into a single sentence and a single sentence may not be

a simple sentence. ‘She can sing and play’ is a simple sentence but ‘she can sing

and she can play’ is not a simple sentence but a single sentence which is also a

compound sentence.

3.2.30 Phrase and Clause

Phrase is a union of words which gives a sense but not a complete sense. A

phrase does not have any verb, subject or predicate e.g. ‘at the eleventh hour’,

‘during the last summer vacation’ etc.

Clause is a group of words that includes a subject and a verb and forms a

sentence or a part of a sentence e.g. I know the person who came to my house. ‘I

know the person’ and ‘who came to my house’ are clauses. First one is principal

clause and the second one is subordinate clause.

105

3.2.31 Clause Analysis (Complex and Compound sentences)

Complex Sentence: First, the principal clause (main clause) is to be noted.

Then the subordinate clause along its relation with the principal clause is to

be mentioned. Conjunction is called connective.

Examples:

1. I know the man who came yesterday.

a) I know the man – principal clause

b) (Who) came yesterday – subordinate adjective clause

who – connective.

‘Who came yesterday’ is subordinate adjective clause because this

subordinate clause qualifies the noun ‘the man’ in the principal clause.

Hence the sentence is a complex sentence

Note: For analysis of a complex sentence, the above method is to be

followed.

2. That he is honest is known to all. (It is known to all that he is honest)

a) (It) is known to all – Principal clause.

b) (That) he is honest – subordinate noun clause, object to the verb

‘know’ is the principal clause. So it is a complex sentence.

Note: How can a student know the ‘noun clause’? The technique is – What do we

know? If the answer comes, it means, it is ‘object’ and the clause is subordinate

noun clause.

106

3. The sun shines when it is day.

a) The sun shines – Principal clause.

b) (When) it is day – subordinate adverb clause as it modifies the verb

‘shine’ in the principal clause. Hence it is a complex sentence.

Students should concentrate on these three sentences only to understand the

subordinate noun clause, adjective clause and adverb clause. They should also

know how noun comes, how adjective comes and how adverb comes. Once a

student understands this, he can practise other sentences also.

Compound Sentence

Example: He is slow but he is steady.

a. He is slow – principal clause

b. (but) he is steady – co-ordinate clause, connective – but.

N.B. Here, two coordinate clauses are there.

Analysis of compound sentence is not asked in the examination. Normally

complex sentence is given. From the above discussion the students will have a

clear idea about the clause analysis.

3.2.32 Subject-verb agreement (Concord)

This is a very simple chapter but it is very important. If the subject in the

sentence is singular, then the verb will be singular and if the subject is plural then

the verb will also be plural. This is the basis of this chapter. But the problem is that

sometimes students are confused whether the subject is singular or plural and

107

sometimes they cannot identify the subject. The following sentences are to be

observed minutely.

Examples:

1. The quality of oranges is not good. Here the subject is ‘the quality’ and

not ‘oranges’. Hence the verb is singular.

2. One of the students has come forward.

3. The results of the examination are yet to come.

1. Time and tide waits for none. (Here time and tide is singular.)

2. The poet and novelist is no more. (Single person)

3. The principal and the secretary of the college are present. (Two persons)

4. The principal and secretary of the college is present. (One person)

1. English as well as Bengali is taught here. (‘as well as’ is singular)

2. The ship with its crew was not found (singular)

3. The minister with his supporters was present (Here the minister is

subject and hence singular verb)

1. Happiness or sorrow is due to our own actions.

2. Neither food nor water was there.

3. No nook and corner was left unexplored.

1. Either he or I am mistaken.

2. Either you or he is mistaken.

3. Each of the girls is given a book.

4. Many a man does not know his own defects.

1. The news is not true.

2. Economics is considered a science subject.

108

3. Politics has become a daily business of life.

1. The committee has approved the appointment.

2. The committee are divided in their opinions.

1. The United States is a rich country.

2. Three strangers is a short story.

1. Ten minutes is allowed to all speakers. (a time)

2. Ten kilometers is not much distance. (a distance)

3. Fifty thousand rupees is a large sum. (an amount)

From the above examples the students can easily understand the subject-

verb agreement.

3.2.33 Punctuation

The word ‘Punctuation’ came from the Latin word ‘punctum’ which means

‘a point’. While writing, the use of points (stops) is called ‘Punctuation’.

The following are the punctuation marks:

1. Full stop (.) (Full stop is also called full point.) 2. Comma (,) 3. Colon (:)

4. Semicolon (;) 5. Colon dash (:) 6. Dash (:-) 7. Question mark or note of

Interrogation (?) 8. Note of exclamation (!) 9. Hyphen (-) 10. Inverted

commas (“___”) and 11. Apostrophe (’).

Rules of punctuation:

1. Full stop is used after Assertive sentence or Imperative sentence e.g. He is

going to college. Do it now.

109

2. Full stops are used in abbreviations like a.m., p.m. and p.a. but in other cases

full stops are not used. Only in American English, full stops are used.

3. Reena, Meena, Tina and Leena are sisters. Here comma (,) is used.

4. Commas are used in case of parenthesis and noun in apposition e.g.

a). Rabindranath Tagore, the great poet of Bengal, was awarded the Nobel

Prize. (Noun in apposition)

b). Jawaharlal Nehru, son of Motilal Nehru, was the first Prime Minister

of India. (Noun in apposition)

c). This man, to speak frankly, is not an honest man. (Parenthesis)

The first two sentences are ‘noun in apposition’. The third sentence

is parenthesis. In first two sentences, a noun is qualified. In the third

sentence, there is an expression in the middle of the sentence.

5. Before quotation, comma is used e.g. He said, “I am well.”

6. If ‘however’ or ‘therefore’ is in the middle of the sentence, then comma is

used before and after it e.g. It is your duty, however, I shall do it. I, therefore,

request you to do this.

7. If pause is longer than comma, then semicolon is used e.g. To err is human;

to forgive is divine.

8. If pause is longer than semicolon, then dash or colon-dash is used e.g.

a. Two parts of the sentence are: Subject and predicate.

b. Ram, Rahim, John – all are friends.

9. Students know the use of question mark or note of Interrogation. However,

after interrogation, question mark (?) is used and in exclamatory sentence,

110

note of Exclamation (!) is used e.g. Who are you? Alas! He is dead. What a

beautiful flower it is!

10. Apostrophe is used in possessive e.g. Ram’s book and in compound words

like Don’t, Can’t etc.

11. Hyphen is used in words like, Father-in-law, Brother-in-law etc.

3.2.34 Sentence Pattern (Structure)

Structure of the sentence is in many ways. But each sentence has a subject

and a verb. The sentence may have object, infinitive or complement. Sometimes

double objects are there in a sentence. Look at the following:

Subject = S Infinitive = Inf.

Object = O Verb = V

From the following sentences, the structure of the sentence will be clear.

1. S + V + O = I do it. He eats rice. We play cricket.

2. S + V + O + O = He teaches us English.

3. S + V + O + complement = The result made him happy.

4. S + V + O + time phrase = I met him in the evening.

5. S + V + inf. + O = My father wants to meet you.

6. S + V + that clause = I know that he is honest.

The following sentences may be noted (same pattern):

1. He enjoys flying kites. I love playing football.

2. He said that he was innocent. He believed that I was right.

3. He likes to fly kites. The teacher wants to meet me.

111

4. The more you invest the more you get. The more you read the more you

learn.

From the above sentences, the students can understand sentence pattern and

can write sentences of the same pattern.

3.2.35 Substitution of English words

Students are only to read the sentences and the single words. They are to

read again and again and to keep them in memory.

Examples:

1. That which cannot be read. _______Illegible

2. That which cannot be expressed. _______inexpressible

3. That which cannot be seen. _______ invisible

4. A place where lunatics are kept ._______lunatic asylum

5. The sound of snakes. _______hisses

6. The sound of cow. _______moos

In this way, students should keep in mind as many single words as possible.

But at least fifty words they should keep in mind.

3.2.36 Word Formation

A word can be formed by adding prefix, suffix or both prefix and suffix

with a word.

Words with ‘prefix’

1. Sleep – asleep 2. Use – abuse/misuse 3. Fool – befool 4. Joy – enjoy 5.

Tell – foretell 6. Cover – discover 7. One – none 8. Or – nor etc.

112

Words with ‘suffix’

1. Play – player 2. Train – trainee 3. Marry – marriage 4. Try – trial 5.

Learn – learned 6. Use – useless/useful etc.

Words with ‘prefix’ and ‘suffix’: 1. Happy – unhappiness 2. Manage –

mismanagement 3. Depend – Independence 4. Touch – untouchable etc.

Formation of compound words: 1. House – houserent 2. Break – breakfast

3. Head – headache 4. Pick – pickpocket etc.

Fill in the blanks with the words in brackets.

1. The work on the new road is nearing ______ (complete). Ans. Completion

2. _______ watches are renowned for their reliability. (Switzerland). Ans.

Swiss

3. Police made ______ search of the building. (system). Ans. Systematic

In this way a student can form an idea about word formation.

3.2.37 Word order (Sentence structure)

Examples: 1. to I everyday go college. This sentence is not in order. The

correct order is : I go to college everyday.

2. I saw a dead cow walking while I was in the garden. This sentence is not in

order. The correct order is : I saw a dead cow while I was walking in the

garden.

From these two sentences only, students can have an idea about word order.

113

3.2.38 Group verbs

When a verb comes along with a preposition and are used together, then it

is called a Group verb. e.g. bear with, give away, go through, look into etc.

students are to read the list of group verbs along with the sentences again and again

to keep it in memory.

3.2.39 Similar words but different in meaning (Homonyms)

Examples:

1. Access – The Prime Minister is not easy to access.

Excess – Excess of anything is bad.

2. Advice – I am in need of your advice.(Noun)

Advise – He advised me to take rest. (Verb)

3. Birth – My date of birth is fourth January, 1957.

4. Berth – He reserved a berth in the train.

He was given a berth in the cabinet.

5. Fare – Plane fare is very high.

Fair – She is both fair intelligent.

Similarly, synonyms and antonyms are there. Students should see these two

chapters also.

3.2.40 Appropriate preposition

Examples:

1. Abide by – He will abide by his advice.

2. Fill in – Fill in the gap with suitable articles.

114

3. Fill up – Fill up the bottle with water.

4. Part with – I cannot part with my friend (separation)

5. Prefer to – He prefers milk to tea.

3.2.41 Phrases and Idioms

Examples:

1. Apple of discord – Kashmir has long been the apple of discord between India

and Pakistan.

2. Bag and baggage – He left the place bag and baggage.

3. Know no bounds – On securing first division his joy knew no bounds.

4. Null-void – The court declared it null and void.

5. Slow coach – A slow coach cannot shine in life. (Idle)

Note: There are no rules and regulations in the above vocabulary chapters.

Students are to consult the good grammar books and read these chapters in leisure

time and to keep in memory.

Coming to the end of discussion about Basic English Grammar, the

researcher wants to say that some Basic Grammar is strictly followed for writing

English and there is some deviation in speaking English. For speaking, English

grammar is not necessary in some cases. Without grammar the idea can be

expressed.

English language involves three things viz. Grammar, Vocabulary and

Composition. It may be assumed that ‘Grammar’ is theory, ‘Vocabulary’ is

reagent and ‘Composition’ is practical as we do in Chemistry laboratory.

115

Grammar and vocabulary are bases and the outcome is composition i.e. the

language.

3.3 Common Errors in English

The present research work deals with teaching English in general and Basic

English grammar in particular. Common errors are based on grammar and usage.

Vocabulary i.e. words are parts of speech and hence they belong to Basic grammar.

The question of common errors arises when someone is unable to express English

correctly either in writing or in speaking. If someone is fully aware of Basic

English grammar and the correct usage, then there is no chance of mistakes. But

many people commit mistakes in writing and speaking because they do not have

the clear idea of grammar and usage. It is applicable to both teachers and students

also.

In English, there are varieties: American English and British English.

Again, British English has some dialects and one particular dialect is the Standard

English which is used in offices, courts and in educational institutions. Here we are

limited to British Standard English which is also Indian English. There are some

differences between the British English and the American English both in

vocabulary and in pronunciation but they are correct in their own places. In

American English, A.M, P.M, color, labor, center, traveler, accomodation, check

(money) etc. are correct but in British English they are wrong. So here we are

concerned with British Standard English as it is followed in India. These are

discussed in detail in chapter (3.1).

116

Thomas Elliot Berry in his introduction to The Most Common Mistakes

in English Usage (1996) says, ‘Here are the principles of usage which are

necessary for acceptable expression in educated society.’ He also says, ‘…some

questions of usage cannot be settled equivocally in terms of right or wrong. The

reasons are quite clear. In some instances specialists find that competent users of

English differ in their observance of a given practice e.g. the splitting of the

infinitive. In other instances, specialists find that a practice widely endorsed in

recent years is now disappearing e.g. the fine distinctions between the uses of shall

and will. However, despite the fact that correct usage is, in a sense, an arbitrary and

sometimes an unsettled matter, certain standards do exist; and the careful user of

English must abide by them.’ Michael Swan, in his book Practical English Usage,

says, ‘if someone makes too many mistakes in a foreign language, he or she can be

difficult to understand, so a reasonable level of correctness is important. However,

it is quite unnecessary to speak or write a language perfectly in order to

communicate effectively. Learners should aim to avoid serious mistakes…’

Correction is based on grammar and correct usage as said earlier. Here

discussion on correction is based on rules of grammar and usage on which there is

no controversy. Normally, sentences are given in the examination for correction on

the basis of set rules which are accepted by all learned people and experts in this

field.

Among the most common errors in usage are those which arise from

confusing pairs or sets of words. Speakers and writers use these words incorrectly

because they have not learnt their precise meaning. Some examples are given

below. (Thomas Elliot Berry).

117

3.3.1 Common Errors on Vocabulary

1. Able – capable

The word ‘able’ means, ’having the ability to perform a given act.’ e.g. I

am able to walk.

The word ‘capable’ means, (i) having adequate capacity to do or to make

(ii) having capacity to receive and action e.g. He is a capable leader. This book

is capable of being translated.

Wrong: This law is able to be evaded.

Right: This law is capable of being evaded.

2. All right – alright

The term ‘all right’ is correct; the word alright is non-existent in accepted

usage.

Wrong: Everything was alright.

Right: Everything was all right.

3. All together – altogether

The words ‘all together’ have the meaning of ‘everyone in or at the same

location.’ The word ‘altogether’ means ‘entirely’.

Wrong: We were altogether for the first family reunion in ten years.

Right: We were all together for the first family reunion in ten years.

4. Alumna – alumnae - alumnus – alumni

An Alumna is a female graduate and its plural is alumnae. An alumnus is

a male graduate and its plural is alumni. For both sexes, the term alumni are

used.

118

Wrong: Mary was an alumni of Oxford.

Right: Mary was an alumna of Oxford.

5. Amount – number

The word ‘amount’ means quantity, the word ‘number’ is used when the

objects can be counted.

Wrong: We had a large amount of students for rally.

Right: We had a large number of students for rally.

6. Between – among

‘Between’ is related to two and ‘among’ is related to more than two.

Wrong: Divide the chocolates among the two brothers.

Right: Divide the chocolates between the two brothers.

Right: Divide the chocolates among the students.

7. Can – may

The word ‘can’ means ability; ‘may’ means possibility or permission.

Wrong: Mother says that I can go to the party.

Right: Mother says that I may go to the party.

8. Cannot – can not

Wrong: I can not attend the meeting.

Right: I cannot attend the meeting.

The joined word is universally accepted as correct (Thomas Elliot Berry).

119

9. Data – datum

Data is plural of Latin word, datum.

Wrong: The data is sufficient.

Right: The data are sufficient.

According to Michael Swan, sometimes a mistake is made by so

many people that it becomes the normal form and can no longer be called

incorrect. This has happened with the word data. Now it is widely used

as a singular uncountable noun.

10. Farther – further

Wrong: We walked further down the street.

Right: We walked farther down the street.

Right: We considered the matter further.

11. Fewer – less

Wrong: They made less mistakes.

Right: They made fewer mistakes.

12. Lay – lie

Lay is transitive, lie is intransitive.

Wrong: He was laying in the sun.

Right: He was lying in the sun.

Right: Yesterday I lay in bed until noon.

13. May – might

Wrong: I might go to Delhi.

Right: I may go to Delhi.

120

Right: He might do the work well. (If he was given the chance)

Right: The snake might bite you. (Future)

14. Memoranda – Memorandum

Memoranda is the plural of Memorandum

Wrong: The memorandums are on the table.

Right: The memoranda are on the table.

Right: The memorandum is on the table.

15. Shall – Will

Right: I shall go. (Simple Futurity)

Right: I will go. (Certainty)

Right: The College shall remain closed tomorrow. (Certainty)

16. Each other – one another

Each other is used when two persons are involved and one another

is used when three or more persons are involved.

(i) Two persons are conversing with each other.

(ii) Four students are conversing with one another.

17. Loose – lose

Right: His shirt is loose.

Right: one day he will lose everything.

121

18. Advice – Advise

The word Advice is noun and advise is verb.

Right: He gave me a good advice.

Right: I advised him to consult a doctor.

Right: The doctor advised him to take rest.

19. Blunder – mistake.

Blunder means a big mistake.

Wrong: He committed a blunder mistake.

Right: He committed a blunder.

20. Alphabet

Wrong: There are twenty six alphabets in English.

Right: There are twenty six alphabet in English. The word alphabet is plural.

21. Modal – Model

Wrong: Can, May, Must, Ought etc. are model verbs.

Right: Can, May, Must, Ought etc. are modal verbs.

Right: The latest models of car will be on display.

Model means a particular design or type of product.

22. Centre – center

(i) University is a centre for Higher Education (British).

(ii) University is a center for Higher Education (American).

122

23. A.M, P.M – a.m, p.m

(i) The train arrived at 8 A.M/P.M (American).

(ii) The train arrived at 8 a.m/p.m (British).

Note: In India, British English is used.

3.3.2 Common Errors on the basis of Grammar

3.3.2.1 Common Errors on Adjectives and Adverbs

1. Wrong: The flower smells sweetly.

Right: The flower smells sweet.

2. Wrong: We feel warm on the subject.

Right: We feel warmly on the subject.

3. Wrong: I could not find it nowhere.

Right: I could not find it anywhere.

4. Wrong: You are too slow in speaking English.

Right: You are very slow in speaking English.

Superior, Inferior, Junior, Senior, Preferable, Prior etc. take to instead

of than.

5. Wrong: He is senior than me.

Right: He is senior to me.

6. Wrong: Death is preferable than dishonour.

Right: Death is preferable to dishonour.

123

7. Wrong: This is the most perfect specimen I have seen.

Right: This is the perfect specimen I have seen.

3.3.2.2 Common Errors on Prepositions

1. Wrong: Fill up the blanks.

Right: Fill in the blanks.

2. Wrong: Fill in the bottle with water.

Right: Fill up the bottle with water.

N.B. When the situation is horizontal, then ‘in’ is used with ‘fill’ and when the

situation is vertical, then ‘up’ is used with ‘fill’.

3. Wrong: He left the place with bag and baggage.

Right: He left the place bag and baggage.

4. Wrong: The train is running in time.

Right: The train is running on time.

5. Wrong: He reached on time.

Right: He reached in time.

6. Wrong: I paid by cash.

Right: I paid in cash.

7. Wrong: I agree with your proposal.

Right: I agree to your proposal.

3.3.2.3 Common Errors on Gender

1. Wrong: He is my cousin brother.

Right: He is my cousin.

124

2. Wrong: She is my cousin sister.

Right: She is my cousin.

N.B. The word cousin is common gender.

3. Wrong: She is the chairman of the committee.

Right: She is the chairperson of the committee.

3.3.2.4 Common Errors on Number

1. Wrong: These furnitures are beautiful.

Right: These furniture are beautiful.

2. Wrong: Have you many luggages?

Right: Have you any luggage?

3. Wrong: The Bodo, The Karbi and The Reang are people in Assam.

Right: The Bodo, The Karbi and The Reang are peoples in Assam.

N.B. A smaller group or tribe having its own identity is called a people. Here

plural is peoples.

4. Wrong: One thousand rupees are not a big amount.

Right: One thousand rupees is not a big amount.

5. Wrong: Cattles are grazing in the field.

Right: Cattle are grazing in the field.

3.3.2.5 Common Errors on Tag Question

1. Wrong: He is running fast, isn’t it?

Right: He is running fast, isn’t he?

2. Wrong: I am a writer, amn’t I?

125

Right: I am a writer, aren’t I?

3. Wrong: Close the door, can’t you?

Right: Close the door, will you? (or can you)

4. Wrong: There is a temple in the market, isn’t it?

Right: There is a temple in the market, isn’t there?

3.3.2.6 Common Errors on Articles: (a, an, and the)

1. Wrong: He is a LP school teacher.

Right: He is an LP school teacher.

2. Wrong: The man is mortal.

Right: Man is mortal.

3. Wrong: The water is colourless.

Right: Water is colourless.

4. Wrong: The honesty is the best policy.

Right: Honesty is the best policy.

5. Wrong: He went to USA to study medicine.

Right: He went to the USA to study medicine.

6. Wrong: He is a heir of this property.

Right: He is an heir of this property.

7. Wrong: It is one of a biggest university in the world.

Right: It is one of the biggest universities in the world.

3.3.2.7 Common Errors on Tense

1. Wrong: The College will open today.

Right: The College opens today.

126

2. Wrong: I have finished the work a few moments ago.

Right: I finished the work a few moments ago.

3. Wrong: I shall go if he will come.

Right: I shall go if he comes.

4. Wrong: He will have washed his hands before he will eat.

Right: He will have washed his hands before he eats.

3.3.2.8 Common Errors on Subject-Verb-Agreement (Concord)

1. Wrong: The quality of oranges are not good.

Right: The quality of oranges is not good.

2. Wrong: One of the students have come forward.

Right: One of the students has come forward.

3. Wrong: Ten minutes are allowed to each speaker.

Right: Ten minutes is allowed to each speaker.

4. Wrong: Each boy and each girl were given a book.

Right: Each boy and each girl was given a book.

5. Wrong: The minister along with his supporters were present.

Right: The minister along with his supporters was present.

6. Wrong: The poet and novelist are present in the occasion.

Right: The poet and novelist is present in the occasion.

Right: The poet and the novelist are present in the occasion.

3.3.2.9 Common Errors on Narration (Direct and Indirect Speech)

1. Wrong: He told me that he will come here tomorrow.

Right: He told me that he would go there the next day.

127

2. Wrong: He told me to do this now.

Right: He told me that do that then.

3.3.2.10 Common Errors on Quasi-passive verb

1. Wrong: The carpet is feeling smooth.

Right: The carpet feels smooth.

2. Wrong: The flower is looked beautiful.

Right: The flower looks beautiful.

Some other sentences

1. Wrong: The Everest is the highest peak in the world.

Right: Everest is the highest peak in the world.

2. Wrong: Let us discuss about the matter.

Right: Let us discuss the matter.

3. Wrong: The population of Kolkata is greater than any city in India.

Right: The population of Kolkata is greater than that of any city in India.

4. Wrong: Where I can buy stamps?

Right: Where can I buy stamps?

5. Wrong: Look – it rains.

Right: Look – it is raining.

The above are some of the sentences which can be discussed for students’

understanding. There are also some wrong expressions which we find here and

there. During admission time in front of some private schools we find, Admission

going on. It is a wrong sentence; the correct form is Admission is going on. This

may have some impact on the pupils and the guardians. Again an expression is

128

found before the hotels, fooding and lodging. This should be food and lodging.

Again, welcome is a word written in many ways in many places like Wel Come,

Wel-Come, WellCome, Well-Come etc. Some people may think that it is a

compound word. These types of spelling are found in gates for various occasions.

Again A.M, P.M are written in many places like government offices, schools,

colleges and universities. This researcher has observed this in many places

including educational institutions. In India, British English is used and hence that

should be a.m. and p.m. This researcher also observed the plural of lakh and crore

with a final ‘s’ used by the people in Banks, Newspapers etc. When this researcher

consulted the dictionary, it was also found in the definition of crore as One

hundred LAKHS. But according to rules of number, ‘s’ should not be with the

plural of Lakh and Crore like Hundred, Thousand and Million. This researcher

contacted the Dictionary authority and the entire story is as follows:

The word Lakh and Crore appeared first in Oxford Advance Learner’s

Dictionary of Current English ed. by A. S. Hornby in its seventh edition and

continued in the subsequent editions. These two words were explained as follows:

1. Lakh – noun (Ind E) a hundred thousand.

2. Crore – noun (Ind E) ten million; one hundred LAKHS

And the explanation of hundred, thousand and millions are as follows:

1. Hundred – number, (plural verb) a, one, two, several hundred without a

final‘s’ on hundred. Hundreds (of…) can be used if there is no number or

quantity before it.

2. Thousand – Similar type of explanation was given.

129

3. Million – Similar type of explanation was given.

Here some anomalies are observed by this researcher. First, Lakh and

Crore are shown as noun whereas hundred, thousand and million are shown as

number. Second, there is final’s’ with LAKH i.e. LAKHS. We know numbers are

determiners and hence adjectives. Therefore, according to this dictionary, Lakh and

Crore are noun and hundred, thousand and million are adjective.

When contacted the dictionary authority through e-mail, the principal

editor, Diana Lea replied and admitted the anomalies and assured to correct it

when the dictionary reprints.

The researcher is happy to see that in the latest new eighth edition, the

anomalies are corrected and now the explanation of Lakh and Crore is as follows:

1. Lakh – number (plural verb) (pl. Lakh or Lakhs)(Ind E) a hundred

thousand.

2. Crore – number (plural verb) (pl. Crore or Crores) (Ind E); ten million ; one

hundred LAKH.

But this researcher thinks that still there is confusion. Lakh and Crore are

not explained like hundred, thousand and million as stated above. Lakhs (of…) or

Crores (of…) can be used if there is no number or quantity before these two words.

This is explained in case of hundred, thousand and million.

Two e-mail letters and their reply letters are annexed in the Appendices.

130

From the above, it can be said that anybody may commit any mistake in

any form if there is no any clear idea about grammar. So students are to learn

grammar so that they can avoid common mistakes in English.

3.4 Pronunciation: An Important Issue

‘Pronunciation’ is the most important and the basic issue of a language. The

particular language can be spoken properly by the speaker of that language which

is the person’s own mother tongue. A speaker who speaks a language which is not

the mother tongue of the speaker faces problems and it cannot be spoken or

pronounced correctly. The same is the problem with the people whose mother

tongue is not English. English is nowadays a world language spoken by the non-

English speakers. They try to speak English with proper pronunciation but many

people cannot do so as there is influence of mother tongue. Only a trained person

can go very near the English pronunciation.

Students who studied in English medium schools can speak English. If the

teachers are English speakers or trained in pronunciation, then only the

pronunciation may be correct. But in India, English medium schools run by

Christian Missionaries can give their students better pronunciation of English. But

in these schools also, most of the teachers are not British or American. Hence the

English spoken by the students is not cent percent original. If a child is born in

England or in America whose parents’ mother tongue is not English, then this

particular child can adopt English pronunciation properly as it is pronounced either

in England or in America respectively. It is because, when the child goes out of

home, it listens only English and that is why there is impact of English language on

131

the particular child. And a child can adopt anything very easily. There are instances

that even the illiterate persons can speak English exactly like the British or the

American because they live in these two countries for a long time.

In Barak Valley, the first English medium school was Holy Cross School,

Silchar established in the year 1966. And then the other English medium schools

were set up. But now there are many English medium schools in Barak Valley run

by the local people. Hence the situation of speaking English in these schools is not

as good as Private schools managed by Christian Missionaries. But in these

schools, high fees are taken from the guardians. Hence these schools are beyond

the reach of the common people. But the reality is that most of the teachers are

local men and women not trained in English language. Of course, there are good

teachers but many of them are not good speakers as far as pronunciation is

concerned.

To vernacular medium students, speaking English itself is a problem and

pronunciation is another major problem to them. Due to defective pronunciation,

the word may be deformed and cannot be understood. Students who studied in

vernacular medium schools pronounce English words as they listened from their

untrained teachers or in their own ways. The accent of their mother tongue affects

English pronunciation. Hindi or Urdu language speakers cannot pronounce joined

sound. Sometimes a vowel sound precedes while pronouncing a word having

joined sound or sometimes a vowel sound comes in between the joined sound e.g.

‘School’ becomes ‘Ischool’ or ‘Sakool’. Similarly, ‘Student’ becomes ‘Istudent’

132

and the like. The result is distortion of words in pronunciation. Similar is the

situation with all people speaking other languages.

Interestingly, the English speakers of the world also cannot speak other

languages with proper pronunciation because they are influenced by their mother

tongue which is English. The British came to India and ruled over this country for

two hundred years. But they could not pronounce Indian languages properly

although they stayed here for a long time. They could not even pronounce the

names of persons and places of India. Their pronunciation was influenced by their

English mother tongue and the result was distortion of words. Moreover, they were

not serious in this regard.

But Indian people are very serious in pronouncing the names and places of

other countries. On the other hand, students of English literature are taught to

pronounce the names of the literary figures and places of foreign countries.

‘Shakespeare’ remained ‘Shakespeare’ and there is no change in the

pronunciation and the spelling of the names like Marlowe, Milton, Shelley etc.

But unfortunately the famous Indian poet and Nobel Laureate Rabindranath

Thakur became Tagore to the people of the world. The title Thakur was distorted

and made a global word Tagore which has no meaning at all. But behind the title

Thakur there is a social identity. Similar is the case with some other names and

places in India. Chottopadhay became Chatterjee, Bondopadhyay became

Banarjee, Mukhopadhyay became Mukherjee, Battacharjya (Battacharya)

became Battacharjee and many more. Again, Kolkata became Calcutta,

Bordhoman became Burdwan, Guahati became Gauhati, Mumbai became

133

Bombay, Bangaluru became Banglore. Katlichorha, a place of Barak Valley

became Katlicherra in English. Elahabad is a place pronounced in Bengali, but in

Hindi it became Ilahabad and in English it is Allahabad although the place is one

and no one knows which is the original pronunciation. ‘Ahmedabad’ is

pronounced as Ahemdabad or Amdabad in Radio, TV etc. Dehli is the original

word but in English it is Delhi (pronounced as Delli). Now it is Dilli.

It is a fact that a foreigner cannot pronounce Indian names and places

properly. Chatterjee may be from Chatujjey, Mukherjee may be from

Mukhujjey as called in Bengali dialect in West Bengal. But the tragedy is that

the misspelt words and wrong and distorted pronunciation of names and

places were accepted and used by the Indians as standard pronunciation. Why

should we say Bengali instead of Bangla, Bengalee instead of Bangalee? We lost

the originality. Although late, a trend has come very recently to correct the names

of places in our country. Calcutta has become Kolkata again, Gauhati has

become Guwahati again, Bombay has become Mumbai again and Banglore has

become Bangaluru again. Madras was renamed as Chennai, a Tamil name.

One might say that it is a very trifling matter and may be ignored. But

according to the opinion of this researcher, it is a serious issue. If a student of

English literature writes Shakespeare or Marlowe without the final ‘e’, the

particular student is rebuked and even may be degraded in the examination paper.

But everyone is proud of writing and pronouncing ‘Tagore’. It is a big question to

this researcher and according to his opinion, ’Tagore’ should be brought back to

the original title Thakur and the people of the world should know this. But it is a

134

mystery how ‘Thakur’ became ‘Tagore’. One theory may be traced. The word

Thakur may be written as TACORE. Here ‘C’ looks like capital ‘G’. Then

TACORE may be TAGORE.

However, pronunciation is a tough task for both the teachers and students in

the teaching and learning of English language. For English pronunciation, the

theoritical training is not sufficient, practical training is also necessary. The best

way to pronounce is to imitate proper pronunciation of the words as we find in

BBC English or other people speaking English properly. Students may also learn

pronunciation by comparing the pronunciation of a known word with the unknown

word to be pronounced e.g. the pronunciation of ‘deaf’ can be compared with that

of the known word ‘dead’. Then the pronunciation of ‘deaf’ will be ‘def’. The

pronunciation of the word ‘tortoise’ is found in the pronunciation of ‘forties’.

Similarly, Bury is found in the pronunciation of Cherry. This technique may be

followed in the pronunciation of other words. In this way, better pronunciation can

be achieved.

But everyone should know that there are differences in pronunciation

between the British English and the American English. We, the Indians should

follow the British Pronunciation as British English is Indian English. In American

English, pronunciation is easy. e.g. opportunity, gratitude etc. are pronounced

according to the pronunciation of letters. But in British English, the first and the

second‘t’ in the middle of the above words respectively is pronounced as ‘ch’ (as

in check). ‘Schedule’ in British English is ‘Skedule’ in American English. In this

way some words differ in pronunciation.

135

In India, it has been observed that people are using English without caring

much about British English or American English. This is happening out of

ignorance about the difference between both the types of English. Moreover, the

influence of computer cannot be ignored as in computer, American English is

normally found. The result is the mixture of British and American English both in

vocabulary and in pronunciation. Anywhere-Anyplace, Handbag-Purse, Flat-

Apartment, Lawyer-Attorney, Engaged-Busy, Mad-Crazy, Petrol-Gas,

Trouser-Pant, Toilet-Bathroom, Shop-Store, Holydays-Vacation, Rubber-

(Erazer) Eraser, Analyse-Analyze, Organise-Organize, A.M. P.M. – a.m. p.m.

etc. are equally used in India. Now people have started imitating the American

pronunciation of the words as it is easier than that of British and also for American

political influence over the world. But the students must know the difference

between British English and American English both in vocabulary and in

pronunciation.

3.5 Methods of Teaching and the Teacher’s role

There are many methods of English language teaching (ELT).

1. The Grammar Translation Method 2. Direct Method 3. The Audio-

lingual Method 4. The Oral Method 5. The Bilingual Method 6. The Designer

Method 7. The Silent Method 8. The Communicative Language Teaching and

many more. And many research works have been done on these teaching methods.

Dand (1998) observes, ‘There is tremendous semantic confusion in the use of such

words as methods, strategies and techniques because they are used interchangeably

in the education literature. Basically, there are three methods of teaching:

136

transmission, inquiry and a combination of the two (or electic method). A method

is an over all procedure or process to achieve certain goals’. However, some of the

methods of teaching English are discussed below:

3.5.1 The Grammar Translation Method: The Grammar Translation Method is

the oldest method of teaching. It instructs students in grammar and provides

vocabulary with direct translation to memorise. This is the traditional way to learn

a language through a detailed study of grammar. Nowadays teachers follow other

methods like Bilingual Method. But whatever be the methods, the main teaching

depends upon the particular teacher, how he teaches and how the learners receive.

Thus teaching should not be a one way task. Both the teachers and the students are

to be involved. According to Richards and Rodgars (1986), ‘the main

characteristics of the grammar translation method are the analysis of grammar, the

memorisation of the grammar rules, the translation of sentences and emphasis on

word accuracy.’

According to Richards and Rodgars (1986:5-6), Grammar Translation is the

way of studying a language that approaches the language first through detailed

analysis of its grammar rules followed by application of this knowledge to the

task of translating sentences and texts into and out of the target language. It hence

views the language learning as consisting of little more than memorising rules and

facts in order to understand and manipulate morphology and syntax of the foreign

language.

According to Prator and Calce-Murcia (1979:3), classes are taught in the

mother tongue, much vocabulary is taught in the form of tests of isolated words.

137

Grammar provides the rules for putting words together. Little or no attention is

given to pronunciation. But according to Larsen- Freeman (2000:9:11), ‘the basic

purpose of learning a foreign language is to read its literature. Learners should be

conscious of the grammatical rules of the target language and when possible,

grammatical paradigms should be committed to memory.’

3.5.2 Direct Method: ‘Direct Method is a method of teaching foreign language,

especially a modern language through itself, without translation and without the

study of grammar. The first words are taught by pointing to the objects or pictures

or by performing actions’ (Webster’s New Dictionary). In this method, translation

in every shape or form is banished from the class room including the use of mother

tongue and of bilingual Dictionary. Grammar is taught inductively. Oral teaching

precedes any form of reading and writing.

3.5.3 Audio-lingual Method: In Audio-lingual Method, little or no grammatical

explanation is provided; grammar is taught inductively. Listening, speaking,

reading and writing (LSRW) are developed in an orderly way. Use of mother

tongue is permitted by the teacher but it is discouraged. This is called scientific

method, new key method or American method.

3.5.4 Oral or situational language teaching: It is an approach which includes

structural-situational and oral approaches. According to Pittman (1963:179), ‘Our

principal class room activity in the teaching of English structure will be the oral

practice of structures. The oral practice of controlled sentence pattern should be

given the situations designed to give the greatest amount of practice in English

speech to pupil.’ This method facilitates the inductive approach to the teaching of

grammar and vocabulary.

138

3.5.5 Bilingual Method: Bilingual Method was initiated by Dr. C.J. Dodson. This

is the easy way and majority of the teachers use this method. The teacher uses

mother tongue to explain the meaning but students are not allowed to use their

mother tongue. The intention of this method is to make the students speak English

fluently and write English accurately.

3.5.6 Communicative language teaching: Communicative language teaching is a

learner-centred approach. The learner gains knowledge on grammatical

competence as well as speaking skill such as what to say, how to say, where to say

according to the daily needs of the speaker. According to Cooper (1968): ‘to

communicate effectively a speaker must know not only how to produce any and all

grammatical utterances of language but also how to use them appropriately.’ This

is like group discussion method. In this method, learners learn a language through

using it to communicate.

3.5.7 Methods of Teaching in Barak Valley: In Barak Valley, the methods of

teaching English are Grammar Translation Method and Bilingual Method as stated

above. Teachers follow the traditional method i.e. the Grammar Translation

Method. Side by side, teachers also use the Bilingual Method to teach English. It

has been observed that the grammar translation method is prevalent up to high

school level and Bilingual Method in Higher Secondary level. However, there are

teachers in colleges who explain the things in English. Prose, poetry, drama, novel

etc. are taught in English only. But there are also teachers who believed that

students come to college without a base in English. Most of the students in Degree

first year cannot speak English and some of them even do not understand English.

139

According to them, speaking or explaining only in English is meaningless to many

students. Therefore, they like to follow the Bilingual Method of Teaching.

3.5.8 Teacher’s Role in Teaching: Whatever are the methods of teaching or the

subject of study, may be poetry, prose, drama, novel or grammar, the entire

teaching depends upon the teacher concerned. If the teacher is sincere enough, the

students will gather knowledge from his teaching. So a teacher’s role is important

in teaching-learning process. According to the National policy of education (1986),

‘The status of the teacher reflects the socio-cultural ethos of a society, it is said that

no people can rise above the level of its teachers. The government and the

community should endeavour to create condition which will help motivate and

inspire teachers on constructive and creative lines. Teachers should have the

freedom to innovate, to device appropriate methods of communication and

activities relevant to the needs and capacities of and the concerns of the

community.’ Hence the teacher is to innovate and appropriate methods as the

situation demands. According to Ahire (2012), ‘Life is a process in which change

is inevitable. In keeping with the pace of changing time, the teacher also needs to

change.’ According to Q.Z. Alam (1995) ‘English is now a service subject and

library language.’ He opines that the teaching of a foreign language should not be a

‘chalk and talk’ profession only.

On teacher’s role on teaching, Gatenby (1907) says, ‘If we can train the

teacher, made him efficient and give him confidence, he can himself remove or get

rid of most of the drawbacks.’ According to Lee (cited in Parren 1968), ‘one of the

main causes of ineffective teaching in the world today is that so many teachers

have inadequate command of English.’

140

‘At present, English teaching in India is carried on mechanically and

ritualistically, without much involvement on the part of the teachers or learners.

The entire exercise is examination-centred and degree driven because English

teaching has not made relevant to our situation. We, in post independent India, are

still living on ‘received knowledge’ partly because of our admiration for the west.

English teaching still shows the Macaulayan model of 1835 and even after more

than sixty years of political independence, we do not seem to think that our

situation, requirements and culture are to be taken into account in planning our

education and English teaching programmes. We have not even thought of the new

aims and objectives of teaching English in post independent India. Change is the

law of nature; seasons change, our habits change, fashion changes, and so thus our

attitude. The one thing that has not changed in the last one hundred and fifty years

is our syllabus. But everyone is worried about the quality of education and the

standard of English without doing anything about them. The blame-game goes on,

each one blaming the other - the centre blames the state, college blames the

schools, administrators blame teachers, parents blame children and so on.’ (N.

Krishnaswamy, 2012).

Conclusion

The present study is related to English language and its Basic grammar.

The intention of the researcher is to make the students speak English, write English

and know the Basic English grammar which is very essential for both speaking and

writing correctly. To achieve this goal, the teachers should take the initiative

without which the results will not be achieved. It may be mentioned here that a

141

baby is born without a language but with the passage of time, the baby

acquires mastery over his or her mother tongue only by listening and

speaking. Unless a student listens, he or she cannot speak. This basic thing

should be kept in mind by all concerned.

In English medium schools, speaking English is compulsory from the

nursery level. All the teachers irrespective of subject speak English because it is

imposed on them. Hence the result is achieved. If this is done in colleges, the

results will come. The under graduate students are much mature and they

understand things better than earlier. They are sure to co-operate with the teacher

and administration of the college.

As for English grammar, it has been observed that grammar is not taught

seriously in all the colleges of Barak Valley although it is prescribed in the

syllabus. So it is the duty of all the teachers of English Department to teach

grammar and there should also be an arrangement for a separate class for spoken

English. We should remember that the students were taught English in High

Schools by the teachers who were not trained or experts in English. Hence their

knowledge of English may not be up to the mark. So the students may have

weakness in this subject. Thus, there should be revision of some chapters which

may not be prescribed in the syllabus. However, it depends upon the quality of the

students. It may not always be necessary. A class in the morning and a class in

the afternoon differ because the students may be hungry and exhausted. A

teacher must keep this in mind. Whatever be the method or methods, a

successful teacher will apply his or her own method or way of teaching which suits

the students best.

142

Chapter 4

CURRICULUM AND SYLLABUS

Introduction

‘Curriculum’ means the subjects that are included in a course of study or taught

in a school, college etc. (Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary of Current

English). Syllabus means a list of the topics, books etc. that students should study

in a particular subject at school or college (Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary

of Current English). In a curriculum, subjects are selected. If it is Science, then

normally physics, chemistry, Mathematics, Biology etc. are studied. If it is Arts,

then History, Political Science, Economics, Philosophy, Education etc. are taught.

In a syllabus, books and topics are selected and given for study. Hence the entire

course of study depends upon curriculum and syllabus. Therefore, the curriculum

or syllabus makers carefully select subjects and topics so that the proper education

can be imparted and the students acquire knowledge out of it. Sometimes the

syllabus is defective and as a result students suffer in the long run. Sometimes it is

found that a syllabus is vast and cannot be finished within the stipulated time and

sometimes the syllabus is very small and not suitable for the students. Hence the

researcher has tried to dissect and display the existing syllabus of Assam

University particularly General English for Degree pass course students which is

compulsory for them. It is because the undertaken field of research is Barak Valley

and the colleges of Barak Valley are under Assam University, Silchar. The

following are the existing syllabi of Assam University General English papers

carrying 100 marks for Arts, Science and Commerce.

143

4.1 Assam University Syllabus for Arts

TDC Syllabus for General English

(For B.A. Students)

First Semester

Engg (Arts) -101

Full Marks-50 Pass Marks -17

Objective : To familiarize the students with some of the selected areas of English

Grammar which are known to cause difficulty to learners, to help them overcome

some common mistakes and also to teach them the skill of appreciation of English

poetry through the study of the prescribed texts, and develop the skill of written

communication.

Unit- I : Grammar Marks: 25

Articles, prepositions, verbs, tenses, subject-verb agreement (concord),voice,

direct/indirect speech, tag questions, sentence structure ( simple, complex,

compound), synthesis and splitting up of sentence.

Unit –II : Short Stories Marks :15

Stories to be studied :

1. O Henry : ‘ A Service of Love’

2. Ruskin Bond : ‘The Thief’

3. Hemingway : ‘ A Day’s Wait’

Unit III: Poetry Marks:10

Poems to be studied:

144

1. Shakespeare: ‘ The Marriage of true Minds’

2. Donne: ‘Death’

3. Milton: ‘ On his Blindness’

Scheme of Examination :

Unit I :

Correction of sentences 1x5=5

Use of correct tense 1x5=5

Construction and transformation of sentences 1x5=5

Voice change and use of preposition and tag question 1x5=5

Narration 5

Unit II:

A. One essay type question carrying ten (10) marks 10x1=10

B. One short question carrying five (5) marks 05x1=5

Unit III:

A. One essay type question carrying ten(10) marks 10x1=10

Text prescribed : Unit I.

Bijram K. Das, Functional Grammar and Spoken and Written Communication

( Orient Longman)

Unit II & III

Brookside Musings, ( A Selection of Poems and Short Stories) Orient Longman

Private Limited, Kolkata, 2008.

145

Second Semester

ENGG (ARTS) 201

Full Marks -50 Pass Marks -17

Objective : To familiarize the students with some of the selected areas of English

grammar which are known to cause difficulties to learners, to help them avoid

some common mistakes and also to teach them the skill of appreciation of English

prose and poetry through the study of the prescribed texts, and develop the skills of

written communication.

Unit I : Marks : 25

Reading Comprehension & Written Communication

Unit II : Short Stories Marks : 10

Stories to be studied:

1. R.K. Laxman, ‘ The Gold Frame’

2. W.S. Maugham ‘ The Verger’

Unit III : Poetry Marks:15

Poems to be studied:

1. Wordsworth : ‘Three Years She Grew in Sun and Shower’

2. Keats : ‘To Autumn’

3. Eliot : ‘Journey of the Magi’

4. Dickinson : ‘Because I Could not Stop for Death’

Scheme of Examination:

Unit I :

Reading Comprehension Marks 15

146

Paragraph/Report Writing Marks 10

Unit II :

A. One essay type question carrying ten (10) marks 10x1=10

Unit III:

a. One essay type question carrying ten (10) Marks 10x1=10

b. One explanation from asterisked text carrying five (5) marks 05x1=5

Text prescribed : Unit I

Bikram K. Das, Functional Grammar and Spoken and Written Communication

(Orient Longman)

Unit II & III

Brookside Musings, ( A Selection of Poems and Short Stories) Orient Longman

Private Limited.

4.2 Assam University Syllabus for Science

TDC Syllabus for General English

(For B.Sc. & BCA Students)

First Semester

Engg (Science ) -101

Full Marks-50 Pass Marks -17

Objective : To familiarize the students with some of the selected areas of English

Grammar which are known to cause difficulty to learners, to help them overcome

some common mistakes and also to teach them the skill of appreciation of English

147

prose and poetry through the study of the prescribed texts, and develop the skills of

written communication.

Unit- I : Grammar Marks: 25

Article, prepositions, verbs, tense, subject-verb agreement (concord),voice,

direct/indirect speech, tag questions, simple, complex, compound, synthesis and

splitting up of sentence.

Unit –II : Marks :15

Selected Pieces:

1. Verrier Elwin, : ‘A Pilgrimage to Tawang’

2. Stephen Hawking : ‘ Our Picture of the Universe’

3. Jawaharlal Nehru : ‘ Letter to My Daughter’

4. Marcel Junod : ‘The First Atom Bomb’

Scheme of Examination:

Unit I:

Correction of Sentences 1x5=5 marks

Use of correct of tense 1x5= 5 marks

Construction and transformation of sentences 1x5= 5 marks

Voice change and use of preposition and tag question 1x5= 5 marks

Reported speech Marks : 5

Unit II:

A. Two essay type questions carrying ten (10) marks each 20

B. One short question carrying five (5) marks 5

Text prescribed:

148

Unit I:

Bikram K. Das Functional Grammar and spoken and Written Communication

( Orient Longman)

Unit II:

Prose for Our Times ( Orient Longman)

Second Semester

Engg (Science) -201

Full Marks -50 Pass Marks-17

Objective : To familiarize the students with some of the selected areas of English

grammar which are known to cause difficulties to learners, to help them avoid

some common mistakes and also to teach them the skill of appreciation of English

prose and poetry through the study of the prescribed texts, and develop the skills of

written communication.

Unit I: Marks :25

Reading Comprehension & Written Communication

Unit II: Marks :25

Selected Pieces:

1. Gerald Durrel : ‘Vanishing Animals’

2. Jim Corbett : ‘Kunwar Singh’

3. Romain Rolland : ‘Vivekananda: The Great Journey to the West’

Scheme of Examination:

Unit I:

Reading Compression Marks :15

Paragraph/Report Writing Marks : 10

149

Unit II:

A. Two essay type questions carrying ten (10) marks each. 2x10-20

B. One short question carrying fie (5) marks 1x05=05

Text prescribed:

Unit 1:

Bikram K. Das, Functional Grammar and Spoken and Written Communication

( Orient Longman)

Unit II:

Prose for our Times (Orient Lognman)

4.3 Assam University Syllabus for Commerce

TDC Syllabus for General English

(For Commerce Students)

First Semester

Engg -101

Full Marks-50 Pass Marks -17

Objective : To familiarize the students with some of the selected areas of English

Grammar which are known to cause difficulty to learners, to help them overcome

some common mistakes and also to teach them the skill of appreciation of English

prose and poetry through the study of the prescribed texts, and develop the skills of

written communication.

Unit- I : Grammar Marks: 25

Article, prepositions, verbs, tense, subject-verb agreement ( concord),voice,

direct/indirect speech, tag questions, simple, complex, compound sentences,

synthesis and splitting up of sentence.

150

Unit II : Marks: 25

Selected Pieces:

1. Lynn Doyle : ‘ Banking Without Blarney’

2. N.C. Chaudhuri : ‘Money and the Englishman.

3. Marcel Junod : ‘ The First Atom Bomb’

Scheme of Examination:

Unit I :

Correction of sentences 1x5=5

Use of correct tense 1x5=5

Construction and transformation of sentences 1x5=5

Voice change and use of preposition and tag question 1x5=5

Reported speech

Unit II : 5

A. Two essay type questions carrying ten (10) marks each 20

B. One short questions carrying five (5) marks 5

Text prescribed

Unit I:

Bikram K.Das, Functional Grammar and Spoken and Written Communication

(Orient Longman)

Unit II:

Prose for One times ( Orient Longman)

151

Second Semester

Engg-201

Full Marks -50 Pass Marks -17

Objective : To familiarize the students with some for the selected areas of English

Grammar which are known to cause difficulties to learns, to help them avoid some

common mistakes and also to teach them the skill of appreciation of English prose

and poetry through the study of the prescribed texts, and develop the skill of

written communication.

Unit I: Marks 35

Reading Comprehension & Written Communication

Unit II: Marks 15

Selected Pieces :

1. General Durrell : ‘Vanishing Animals’

2. Jawaharlal Nehru : ‘ What is Culture?’

Scheme of Examination

Unit I:

Reading comprehension Marks : 15

Paragraph/Report writing Marks : 10

Business Correspondence Marks : 10

Unit II:

A. One essay type question carrying ten (10) marks 10

B. One short question carrying five (5) marks 5

Text prescribed

152

Unit I:

Bikram K. Das, Functional Grammar and spoken and Written Communication

(Orient Longman)

Unit II:

Prose for our times ( Orient Longman).

4.4 Discussion on the Syllabus

Each of the above syllabi shows that Assam University, Silchar follows the

semester system in Degree courses. In Arts Stream, prose, poetry and grammar are

prescribed in first semester. In Grammar, 25 marks, in prose ( short stories) 15

marks and in poetry 10 marks are allotted . In second semester, prose, poetry and

composition are prescribed. Composition includes reading comprehension and

paragraph/ report writing carrying only 25 marks and prose ( short stories) carrying

10 marks but poetry section carries 15 marks . Total 50 marks for each semester.

Here, it is seen that there is general English only in First year and there is no

English subject in second or third year pass course. It is also seen that drama or

novel is not prescribed in the syllabus. Although the degree students are mature

students yet there is no scope for them to study drama or novel in the existing

syllabus of this university.

A similar type of syllabus is given for Science and Commerce students where

poetry section is not included and also there is no general English subject in second

and third year science and commerce. For Commerce students, one extra topic

named Business correspondence carrying 10 marks is prescribed.

153

On grammar and composition 50% of the total marks are allotted. Only one

grammar book, namely, “Functional Grammar and Spoken and Written

Communication”, by Bikram K. Das (Orient Longman) has been prescribed. It

seems that only one book is not sufficient for the purpose and hence two or three

more books on grammar and composition are necessary for better understanding of

the chapters by the students. ‘Prose for our times’ the text book for science and

commerce prescribed by Assam University is actually compiled by the Board of

studies of Mizoram University. It is expected that the Board of studies (English),

Assam University will compile a text book for Assam University under graduate

students. Moreover, a very few questions are given in the exercise. In each topic

there are only two or three questions whereas more questions are necessary to

understand the topics.

Brookside Musings, the text book for Arts although compiled and edited by the

Department of English, Assam University, Silchar has no question in the exercise.

So questions are to be included in the exercise for students’ better understanding of

the topics. Only short stories are prescribed, no essays are there in the syllabus for

Arts. However, both the text books for Arts, Science and Commerce are good

selection and hence the members of the board deserve lots of thanks for it.

The general English is limited to first year only. But this is to be extended to

second year also so that Drama and Novel can be accommodated in the syllabus.

The present syllabus is to be changed and communicative English may be

prescribed in which there will be a part for spoken English. It has been observed

that majority of the students at the under graduate level or even at the post graduate

154

level cannot speak English which is essential nowadays. It is also observed that

even after passing the university examinations and getting employments in their

respective fields, they feel very uncomfortable when they are required to speak

English. Even in colleges, many teachers prefer to teach in local dialect as they do

not feel easy to speak English. As a result, students are the losers as they do not

listen English inside the class room. No one can deny the status of English today.

Moreover, the medium of instruction is only English in Assam University and

there is no alternative to it. Hence it is an important issue and all concerned must

think about it.

It may be remembered that Assam University had a syllabus earlier to this

syllabus where English was compulsory in second year also and there were drama

and essays in that syllabus. Of course, for science and commerce, this subject was

restricted to first year only. So the earlier syllabus was a better one, logical and

thus suitable for the degree pass course students. Hence that type of syllabus is to

be reintroduced.

Moreover, semester system is a problem for undergraduate students of Assam

University. The system is no doubt good but other factors are creating problems.

There is Higher Secondary section in all the colleges under Assam University.

When the final examination of Higher Secondary Council starts, there is no scope

for degree students for classes as all the teachers are engaged in the examination

process. More than one month time of degree students is spoilt during H.S. I and

H.S. II final examinations. Moreover, two long vacations are there along with other

holidays. So the degree students are not getting more than three months time.

155

Again forms are submitted to the Controller of Examinations earlier. After

submission of forms, a situation is created where students are reluctant to attend

classes. As a result, many students fail in the examinations and there are many

back papers which are to be cleared by the students later on. Students also lose

academic days for frequent examinations under Assam University. So one can

realise how many days the students are getting actually for the preparation of the

course which is prescribed for them.

The semester system is suitable for P.G. students where ratio of students and

teachers is reasonable. But in colleges, ratio of students and teachers is not upto the

mark otherwise the entire examination could be entrusted to the colleges and the

controller of examinations would declare only the results portion. So these are

some of the problems related to the examinations and time constraint of the under

graduate students under Assam University, Silchar which came to the mind of the

researcher for his long teaching experience. Hence the learned persons involved in

the academic and the examination affairs should ponder over the matter for the

interest of the under graduate students of this University.

There are many universities in India and each university has its own syllabus

and they are of different standards. Various experiments were done on syllabus but

till today a national syllabus could not be introduced and that type of syllabus

would be of one standard which is necessary for common assessment of students in

the examinations.

There is another problem which is the national problem also. The present

UGC norms for appointment of a teacher in the college or university is 55% marks

156

in master’s degree with a NET or SLET or PhD and Honours in degree level is not

necessary. Earlier, Honours was must in the relevant subject and the same subject

in P.G. level. So there was the attraction and necessity to take Honours at degree

level. Since it is not necessary nowadays, students are not interested to take

Honours in a subject. Moreover, students get admission in P.G. course without

having Honours. So this is also an important issue for all concerned.

Conclusion

This age is an age of specialisation. In our country, specialisation comes after

graduation. This should start very early as in some other countries of the world.

Upto school final examination, there are common and compulsory subjects. A

student may not like Mathematics but he or she is to take it or a student may not

like social science but he or she is to take it as it is a compulsory subject. So

specialisation should be started earlier at least from class IX or even earlier. If a

student wants to study literature he was to be given the scope earlier so that he may

be a specialised in this field. If one is willing to study science then that one should

start it early in academic life. After a long time study of a subject, a person can be

a master of that subject or branch.

157

Chapter 5

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Introduction

This chapter deals with the description of research methodology used for

the present study. It includes the participants along with samples and research

methods used for data collection. The participants comprise the students of Degree

classes (Arts, Commerce and Science) of Barak Valley districts namely, Cachar,

Karimganj and Hailakandi along with the teachers of the concerned colleges. The

study is based on data collected from field survey through questionnaires,

interviews with the students and teachers and class room observations which are

the primary sources and books, journals, syllabus review etc. are the secondary

sources. The study was conducted during the academic years 2013 and 2014.

5.1 Importance of the study

The importance of the present study lies in the fact that it is the first ever

study on teaching English with special emphasis on Basic English grammar in

Barak Valley district of Assam and there is no previous study on this topic.

Nowadays everyone understands the importance of English study and Barak

Valley area is not an exception. All the colleges of Barak Valley are under Assam

University, Silchar and the medium of instruction is only English. Students do not

speak English and majority of the students cannot speak English. Half of the

158

syllabus in General English is based on grammar in the first semester. Even then

many students fail in this subject every year. This indicates the problems regarding

the teaching-learning process in the colleges of this area. This study intends to

address the following issues related to the study of English mainly the Basic

English Grammar.

1. What are the problems in speaking English faced by the students of the

colleges of Barak Valley?

2. What are the problems which stand as barrier in teaching and learning

English grammar?

3. Is there any pedagogical implication required regarding English grammar?

4. What are the better methods of teaching English specially its Basic

grammar?

5.2 Subjects of the study

The researcher approached the Principals and the Heads of the department

of English of ten colleges of Barak Valley districts in order to conduct a study. The

colleges under survey were:

1. G.C. College, Silchar, Cachar.

2. Women College, Silchar, Cachar.

3. M.C.D. College, Silchar, Cachar.

4. Karimganj College, Karimganj.

5. R.S. Girls’ college, Karimganj.

159

6. Nilambazar College, Karimganj.

7. S.S. College, Hailakandi.

8. Women College, Hailakandi.

9. A.L.C. College, Algapur, Hailakandi.

10. M.H.C. Science College, Algapur, Hailakandi.

There are three districts in Barak Valley namely, Cachar, Karimganj and

Hailakandi. Three colleges are taken from Cachar, three colleges are from

Karimganj and four colleges are from Hailakandi of which only one science

college of Barak Valley is included (Sl. No. 10). One college from urban area of

each district, one from rural area and one ladies’ college from each district are

taken along with the science college at Algapur in Hailakandi district. The above

categories are made so that all the sections of the students of Barak Valley are

included in this research study.

The subjects of the study were students as well as teachers of English

departments of the chosen colleges. Total population of the students was 400 (four

hundred). There were thirty students from Arts section from each college, twenty

from Science where science section was available and twenty from commerce

section where commerce was available. Only ten questionnaires were supplied to

M.H.C. Science College, Algapur to make the total population of students 400 for

easy calculation of Percentage.

160

Table 5.2.1: The General population of the students

Sl.

No.

Name of the Colleges of Barak

Valley

Total No. of students

Arts Science Commerce

1. G.C. College, Silchar, Cachar. 30 20 20

2. Women College, Silchar, Cachar. 30 - -

3. M.C.D. College, Silchar, Cachar. 30 - -

4. Karimganj College, Karimganj. 30 20 20

5. R.S. Girls’ college, Karimganj. 30 - -

6. Nilambazar College, Karimganj. 30 - -

7. S.S. College, Hailakandi. 30 20 20

8. Women College, Hailakandi. 30 - -

9. A.L.C. College, Algapur,

Hailakandi.30 - -

10. M.H.C. Science College, Algapur,

Hailakandi10 - -

Total 280 60 60

Grand Total 400

Total number of teachers’ population was twenty five. These twenty five

teachers were available during data collection. Eleven teachers were from

Cachar district, seven teachers were from Karimganj district and seven

teachers were also from Hailakandi district.

161

Table 5.2.2: Teachers’ population

Sl No. Name of the District No. of Teachers

1. Cachar 11

2. Karimganj 7

3. Hailakandi 7

Total 25

5.3 Limitation of the study

The dissertation is confined to the study of English language with special

emphasis on Basic English grammar. The Research was conducted in ten

colleges of Barak Valley as mentioned earlier. Only the students of third semester

were selected as the target group. The third semester students were taken because

they have passed the Degree first and second semesters and they have gathered

experience of learning English in these classes. Moreover, they have gathered the

experience how their teachers taught them and how much they have learnt.

5.4 Research Design

The study intended to investigate the situation of English among the under

graduate students of Barak Valley. Besides this, the researcher analysed the Basic

English Grammar which are necessary for speaking as well as writing English

correctly and also which are generally set in the examinations. Some techniques

and guidelines are given and the opinion of the researcher is also mentioned in

162

order to help the teachers as well as students so that they can concentrate on the

problematic areas of English grammar which are necessary for them.

The survey was conducted during the academic years 2013 and 2014 in ten

colleges of Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi districts. Of the ten colleges, three

are from urban areas, three are from rural areas, three are ladies colleges and one

Science College. (M.H.C. Science College,Algapur, Hailakandi) were taken so that

they can represent the students of the entire Barak Valley as mentioned in (5.2)

above.

5.5 Description of the Questionnaire

The data were collected with the help of questionnaires, interviews and

class room observations. Two sets of questionnaires, one for the student

respondents and the other for the teacher respondents were prepared. The students’

questionnaire contains sixty five questions covering Basic grammar from various

angles and on language. The questions on grammar are normally included in the

syllabi which are necessary for basic knowledge of English language and also

which are set in the examinations. The teachers’ questionnaire contains only

seventeen questions mainly based on students and syllabus. The researcher

personally visited the colleges under survey taking permission from the principals

of the respective colleges, met the students in the classroom and teachers in their

common room and distributed the questionnaires among the respondents and

collected the questionnaires from them.

Out of sixty five questions of the students’ questionnaire, question numbers

7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 are based on English language, numbers 63 and 64 are about

163

the teachers and the other questions are based on English grammar and vocabulary.

Question Nos. 5,9,10,11,39,63 and 64 were to be answered only by giving tick ()

mark against the chosen answer. Other questions were to be answered in one

sentence or in one word. The questions on grammar and vocabulary were based on

the definition of ‘grammar’, consonants, semi vowels, definition of the word,

subject and predicate, determiners (including articles), syllables, parts of speech,

antecedents, complements, objects, strong verbs, weak verbs, defective verbs,

quasi-passive verbs, participles, correlatives, gender, number, mood, modal verbs,

case, transformation of sentences, tag question, tense , voice change, narration

(direct and indirect speech), clause, prefix, suffix, word-order, phrase, idiom and

group verbs, substitution into a single word, formation of sentences and correction.

Question number 65 is the last question and has thirty three incorrect sentences

covering various angles of grammar which were to be corrected by the students in

a very short way.

On the other hand, the teachers’ questionnaire was based on teachers’

opinion about their students, syllabus etc. Only the opinions of the teachers were

sought to find out the present situation of English in Barak Valley. Questions are:

1. Whether the teachers teach English grammar. 2. Whether the teachers prefer to

teach English grammar 3. Whether the teachers complete the grammar prescribed

in the syllabus or not. 4. Whether students are aware of Basic English grammar. 5.

Assam University General English is confined to first year only, whether it should

be in second and third year also. 6. Most of the students in Barak Valley cannot

speak English, why? 7. Whether the teachers deliver the lectures in English or in

164

Bengali or Bilingual. 8. When the teachers speak English inside the class, students

understand it or not. 9. Teachers’ opinion about grammar whether it is an

interesting subject or a dry subject. 10. Whether the students request the teachers to

explain the subject in Sylheti Bengali, a local dialect. 11. Whether the teachers are

in favour of a separate class for spoken English. 12. The students are getting

sufficient time in the present semester system or not. 13. Teachers’ opinion about

the students whether they are interested in learning English or not. 14. Whether the

students have base in English. 15. Whether General English should be included in

second year or third year. 16. Any student is zero-based at the under graduate level

or not. 17. There are some anomalies in the Oxford Dictionary about ‘Lakh’ and

‘Crore’ and the teachers’ opinion was sought.

The researcher also interviewed students and teachers during his visit to the

colleges under survey and collected some information (data) from them about the

actual situation of teaching and learning in Barak Valley. The researcher also

observed the class room situation while he met the students in the class room.

The interview with the students was in the form of informal discussion after

collecting the questionnaires from them. The questions during the interview were:

(i) whether they understand English when their teachers speak in English. (ii) The

students who had vernacular medium background were asked whether they can

speak English. (iii) Whether the student can write English correctly. (iv) Students

were asked whether they are fully aware of Basic English Grammar.

The interview with the teachers was also in the form of informal discussion.

The researcher held informal discussion with them when they were in the teachers’

165

common room. The informal discussion was on the basis of classes, syllabus and

problems they face while teaching English in general and grammar in particular.

Though any specific question was not asked but the content of the interview was

not very different from the teachers’ questionnaire.

5.6 Data Analysis and Interpretation

After the data collection, the researcher has analysed both the students’ and

the teachers’ questionnaires. And the results found from them are presented

separately in the tabular form to show the statistical analysis of the data. The

responses are mentioned in Percentage. It has already been mentioned in the very

beginning of this chapter that the data collection was based on students’

questionnaire, teachers’ questionnaire and informal interviews with students and

teachers and class room observation. The students were tested by supplying

questionnaire to them and the teachers’ opinions were sought by supplying

questionnaire to them. Also data were collected from informal interviews with the

students asking some questions mentioned in the above paragraph (5.5).

The administration of tests actually enabled the researcher to collect data

from the problematic areas that the students of under graduate level in Barak

Valley districts while learning English language in general and Basic English

grammar in particular. It supplied the authentic information about the teaching-

learning situation of English in Barak Valley districts of Assam. The teachers’

questionnaire enabled the researcher to collect data related to the teachers’

opinions about the students, syllabus, semester system and the continuation of

Higher Secondary classes in the colleges. The researcher also collected some

166

information from the informal interviews with students which is related to

students’ understanding English language, speaking English by the students having

vernacular medium background and the students’ knowledge of Basic English

Grammar. The above mentioned process of data collection actually helped the

researcher to arrive at the real status of English language both speaking and

grammar among the under graduate students of Barak Valley in Assam.

5.6.1 Data Analysis of Students’ Questionnaire

In the students’ questionnaire, the first question was about the meaning of

grammar. According to the Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary of Current

English (ed. A.S. Hornby), grammar means, ‘the rules in a language for changing

the form of words and joining them into sentence’. As per Cambridge School

Dictionary (ed. Melissa Good, Cambridge university Press), grammar means, ‘the

way you combine words and change their form and position in a sentence or the

rules or study of this’. According to Chambers (20th Century) Dictionary (ed. EM

Kirkpatrick, W&R Chambers limited 1983), grammar means, ‘the science of

language, from the point of view of pronunciation, inflexion, syntax and historic

development’.

Q. 1. Grammar means…………... . Students were to write a few words only. Out

of 400 students, only 8 students responded to the definition of grammar. One wrote

‘When we learn something about tense voice change etc’. Another wrote,

‘Structure of sentence’. Third one wrote, ‘Grammar means knowing of English’.

Forth one wrote, ‘Properly knowing the English’, Fifth one wrote ‘Grammar is the

father of English’. Sixth one wrote, ‘Formation of language’. Seventh student

167

wrote, ‘Grammar teaches us read or write correctly’. Eighth student wrote, ‘Basic

concept of language’. 392 students did not write anything. They left the question

blank. Second and sixth defined grammar as ‘structure of sentence’ and ‘formation

of language’ respectively which may be considered correct. But it is very clear that

the students could not maintain grammar in their expressions except one or two.

Table 5.6.1.1: Percentage responses about the meaning of grammar

Total students’

populationResponded

Not Responded

or Wrongcorrect

400 8 392 2

P.C. 2% 98% 0.5%

Q.2. How many consonants are there in English? Every student must know the

consonants. In this basic and easy question, 368 students replied correctly. 32

students did not respond or gave wrong answer. It is the only question that majority

of the students answered correctly.

Table 5.6.1.2: Percentage responses on consonants

Total students’

populationResponded

Not Responded

or Wrongcorrect

400 368 32 368

P.C. 92% 8% 92%

168

Q. 3. This question is on semi-vowels. W and Y are called semi-vowels but they

function as consonants. Students are to write only W and Y. On this question, 160

students answered correctly. 240 students did not answer or gave wrong answer.

Table 5.6.1.3: Percentage responses on Semi-vowels

Total students’

populationResponded

Not Responded

or Wrongcorrect

400 160 240 160

P.C. 40% 60% 40%

Q. 4. This question is on syllables. Any of the units into which a word is divided is

called …. Students are to write the word ‘syllable’. Not a single student responded

to this question.

Table 5.6.1.4: Percentage responses on Semi-vowels

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

Q. 5. Normally it is defined by many that two or more letters combined to form a

word if it gives a meaning. But in English, |a|, |i| and |o| are not only letters but also

words. |A| is adjective, |I| is pronoun and |O| is interjection. They are parts of

speech. So the above definition of the word is not perfect. Hence the perfect

definition of the word is – when one or more letters are combined and give a

meaning, then it is called a word. The former definition is given in the

questionnaire. Students were to write the definition given is perfect or not. But not

a single student responded.

169

Table 5.6.1.5: Percentage responses on definition of word

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

Q. 6. How many letters are necessary to form a word? On this question, 62

students wrote, one letter is necessary to form a word. Here the students are found

contradictory. In the above question no one responded but here some students

wrote correctly.

Table 5.6.1.6: Percentage responses on definition of word

Total students’

populationResponded

Not Responded

or Wrongcorrect

400 62 338 62

P.C. 15.5% 84.5% 15.5%

Q. 7. Basically English is a language divided by two countries namely, England

and America. In this question, students were asked to write England and America.

280 students responded correctly. 120 students did not respond.

Table 5.6.1.7: Percentage responses about English language

Total students’

populationResponded

Not Responded

or Wrongcorrect

400 280 120 280

P.C. 70% 30% 70%

Q. 8. In the middle ages, there were four dialects namely, East Midland, Southern,

Northumbrian and Kentish. The East Midland dialect came to be known as King’s

170

or Queen’s language and in course of time it became the standard language. (Dr.

R.L. Varshney, A Hand Book of Viva-Voce, Student Store, Bareilly, year not

mentioned). ‘…The English spoken in London and the East Midlands was

gradually adopted as the official variety of English. And time went by; this dialect

became the standard language.’ (Michael Swan, 2006, Practical English Usage,

OUP, p-288). The question was – which dialect is the Standard English? On this

question, no response came.

Table 5.6.1.8: Percentage responses on dialect

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

Q. 9. Which English is used in India? Options were given in the questionnaire –

British or American. British came to India and ruled over this country for 200

years. Hence British English is used in India. On this question, 108 students ticked

in the right box.

Table 5.6.1.9: Percentage about English in India

Total students’

populationResponded

Not Responded

or Wrongcorrect

400 108 292 108

P.C. 27% 73% 27%

Q. 10. In computer, normally American English is found. Hence students are

confused about the spelling of words e.g. color, centre, program, traveler etc. In

computer, which English is found? This was the question in the questionnaire.

Options were given to the students. 120 students ticked in the right box. 280

171

students ticked in the wrong box. It seemed that the students answered on the

assumption because all of them ticked in either of the boxes.

Table 5.6.1.10: Percentage about English in computer

Total students’

populationResponded

Not Responded

or Wrongcorrect

400 120 280 120

P.C. 30% 70% 30%

Q. 11. A.M, P.M. and a.m., p.m. are two types of English. Which set is to be used

in India? Options were given. A.M, P.M. are American English. In India, British

English is used and hence the right answer is a.m., p.m. No student responded to

this question.

Table 5.6.1.11: Percentage responses on A.M, P.M. or a.m., p.m

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

Q. 12. The words labour, traveller, theatre, accommodation, Cheque were

given in the questionnaire. Students were asked to give the American spelling of

the above words. The answer is labor, traveler, theater, accomodation, check. No

student responded to this question. They do not have any idea about the difference

between the spelling of American and British words.

Table 5.6.1.12: Percentage responses on American Words

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

172

Q. 13. A sentence has two parts: (i) Subject and (ii) Predicate. This is a very basic

and simple question. Students were to write only Subject and Predicate. But many

students are unaware of it. Only 161 students answered correctly.

Table 5.6.1.13: Percentage responses about Subject and Predicate

Total students’

populationResponded

Not Responded

or Wrongcorrect

400 161 239 161

P.C. 40.25% 59.75% 40.25%

Q. 14. This question is on determiners. Few, a few, the few, little, a little, the

little, some, any, many, a, an, the etc. are determiners. Students were asked to

give some examples of determiners. 210 students answered correctly. The rest did

not respond.

Table 5.6.1.14: Percentage about Subject and Predicate

Total students’

populationResponded

Not Responded

or Wrongcorrect

400 210 190 210

P.C. 52.5% 47.5% 52.5%

Q. 15. Which part of speech determiners belong to? This was the question.

Determiners normally sit before the nouns and qualify them e.g. a few people

attended the meeting. Hence they are adjectives. No one responded to this

question.

173

Table 5.6.1.15: Percentage responses on Determiners

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

Q. 16. What is noun? Noun is the name of anything. The question was: Noun

means …. It is very unfortunate that only 137 students gave the answer correctly.

The rest 263 students did not respond.

Table 5.6.1.16: Percentage responses about Noun

Total students’

populationResponded

Not Responded

or Wrongcorrect

400 137 263 137

P.C. 34.25% 63.75% 34.25%

Q. 17. This question was on pronoun. Pronoun means a word which is used

instead of a noun. Pro + noun = pronoun. Students were asked to give the meaning

of ‘pro’. This prefix means ‘related’ or instead of.41 students responded correctly.

359 students did not respond.

Table 5.6.1.17: Percentage responses about pronoun

Total students’

populationResponded

Not Responded

or Wrongcorrect

400 41 359 41

P.C. 10.25% 89.75% 10.25%

174

Q. 18. This question is on the definition of verb. The definition was given in the

questionnaire. The word which expresses action is called ……. . Students were to

write only verb. 63 students answered correctly. 237 students did not respond. All

the students must know what is verb.

Table 5.6.1.18: Percentage responses about verb

Total students’

populationResponded

Not Responded

or Wrongcorrect

400 63 337 63

P.C. 15.75% 84.25% 15.75%

Q. 19. The definition of adjective was given in the questionnaire. A word that

describes a person or a thing is called …….. . Students were to write the word

adjective only. All students must know what is adjective. But not a single student

responded to this question.

Table 5.6.1.19: Percentage responses on adjective

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

Q. 20. The definition of adverb was given in the questionnaire. A word that adds

information to a verb, adjective or any other adverb is called ………. Students

were to write the word adverb only. No student answered.

Table 5.6.1.20: Percentage responses on adverb

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

175

Q. 21. Preposition = pre + position. What does ‘pre’ mean? ‘Pre’ means before.

It means something sits before something. Preposition is a word which sits before a

noun or pronoun and forms its relation with other word or words in the sentence.

Degree students are much matured and hence the question was asked indirectly.

However, 21 students responded correctly. 379 students did not touch this

question.

Table 5.6.1.21: Percentage responses about preposition

Total students’

populationResponded

Not Responded

or Wrongcorrect

400 21 379 21

P.C. 05.25% 94.75% 05.25%

Q. 22. Definition of conjunction was also asked indirectly. Conjunction = Con +

junction. Students were asked if they had any idea about the prefix ‘con’. ‘Con’

means playing a trick. It is, of course, an uncommon question. Even then 19

students could write correctly.

Table 5.6.1.22: Percentage responses about conjunction

Total students’

populationResponded

Not Responded

or Wrongcorrect

400 19 381 19

P.C. 4.75% 95.25% 4.75%

176

Q.23. The definition of interjection was given to students. A short sound or word

spoken suddenly to express an emotion is called …….. Students were to write the

word Interjection only. All students must know it. But not a single student

attempted this question.

Table 5.6.1.23: Percentage responses on Interjection

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

Q. 24. Students were asked to give the examples of proper noun, Common noun,

material noun and abstract noun. Students were to write one word only for each. 41

students gave examples of the first three. But no one could give the examples of

collective noun and abstract noun.

Table 5.6.1.24: Percentage responses about kinds of noun

Total students’

populationResponded

Not Responded

or Wrong

Correct

partially

400 41 359 41

P.C. 10.25% 89.75% 10.25%

Q. 25. This is the book which I bought yesterday. Students were asked to write the

word which is antecedent. Antecedent means a thing or an event that exists or

comes before another and may have influenced it. (OALD ed. A.S. Hornby). Here

the word Book is the antecedent of the relative pronoun which. Normally this is

taught at high school level. But no one answered it.

177

Table 5.6.1.25: Percentage responses on antecedent

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

Q. 26. A verb which has an object is called ………… . This is the definition of

Transitive verb. Every student must know it. But not a single student responded.

Table 5.6.1.26: Percentage responses on Transitive Verb

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

Q. 27. A verb which does not have any object is called …………. This is the

definition of Intransitive verb. Similar is the case as in Sl. No. 26. Not a single

student responded.

Table 5.6.1.27: Percentage responses on Intransitive Verb

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

Q.28. (I) Sugar tastes sweet. (II) I consider him honest. .……… Which words are

complements here? When the verb requires a word to make the sense complete in a

sentence is called Complement. Sweet and Honest are complements here. On this

question, no response came.

Table 5.6.1.28: Percentage responses on Complement

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

178

Q.29. Students were asked to give examples of: (i) Retained object (ii) Cognate

object and (iii) Reflexive object. In passive voice, in a sentence where double

objects are there, one object does not change. This is called retained object e.g. We

are taught English by the teacher. He runs a race. Here English is retained object

and race is cognate object. I did it myself. Myself is Reflexive object. No one gave

the answers.

Table 5.6.1.29: Percentage responses on Objects

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

Q.30. Verbs are of various types: (i) Strong Verb (ii) Weak Verb (iii) Defective

Verb and (iv) Quasi-passive Verb. Students were asked to give an example of each.

A verb while forming past tense changes its vowel in its middle position is called

strong verb e.g. Break – Broke, Do – Did etc. But a verb which takes ed, d or t

while forming past tense is called weak verb e.g. Walk – Walked, Bend – Bent etc.

But Quasi-passive verb looks like passive voice but it is not passive voice e.g. He

is gone, you are arrived, the flower looks beautiful, the carpet feels soft. Can,

Must, Shall, Will, May etc. are defective verbs because they do not take ‘s’ in the

third person singular number, they cannot be used as infinitive and they cannot

take ‘ing’ when they are in the sentence. Not a single student responded to this

question.

Table 5.6.1.30: Percentage responses on Verbs

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

179

Q.31. Students were asked to give the past form of the verbs cost, cut, put, shut,

split and welcome. All the verbs are same in past form except welcome and its

past form is welcomed (not welcame). 61 students attempted this question but

they could not give the past form of welcome.

Table 5.6.1.31: Percentage responses about past form of verbs

Total students’

populationResponded

Not Responded

or Wrongcorrect

400 61 329 61

P.C. 15.25% 84.75% 15.25%

Q.32. Present Participle is a verb having ‘ing’ with it. It is a verb and adjective at

the same time e.g. She is a crying child. A rolling stone gathers no moss. Here

crying and rolling are present participles. Students were asked to give an example

of Present Participle. But no one responded.

Table 5.6.1.32: Percentage responses on present participle

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

Q.33. Conjunctions which are used in pairs are called correlatives e.g. either …

or, neither… nor, so… that etc. Students were asked to give three examples of

correlative. But no one answered.

Table 5.6.1.33: Percentage responses on correlatives

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

180

Q.34. Students were asked to give the feminine gender of lad, monk, servant,

horse, goat and peacock. The research is on Degree level students and hence these

nouns were given. Lass, nun, maid, mare, she goat and peahen are feminine

forms. But not a single student attempted this question.

Table 5.6.1.34: Percentage responses on feminine gender

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

Q.35. In this question, students were asked to give some words which are both

singular and plural e.g. hundred, thousand, lakh, crore, dozen etc. But not a

single student answered.

Table 5.6.1.35: Percentage responses about number

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

Q.36. Students were asked to give some words which are always plural e.g.

furniture, cattle, scissors, spectacles, trousers etc. but not a single student

answered.

Table 5.6.1.36: Percentage responses about number

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

Q.37. This question is also based on number. Students were asked to give the

plural form of half, foot, mouse, syllabus, crisis, basis, memorandum. Halves,

feet, mice, syllabi (syllabuses), crises, bases, memoranda are plurals. 23 students

answered the first three words correctly and the rest did not respond.

181

Table 5.6.1.37: Percentage responses about plural forms

Total students’

populationResponded

Not Responded

or Wrongcorrect

400 23 377 23 partially

P.C. 5.75% 94.25% 5.75%

Q.38. The word ‘people’ is always plural. But there is a case where people can be

used as singular. Bodo, Karbi, Reang etc. are smaller tribes in Assam. So one tribe

of this kind is called a people e.g. Bodo is a people in Assam. In this case, Bodo,

Karbi, Reang etc. are peoples in Assam. Students were asked to give an example.

No one responded.

Table 5.6.1.38: Percentage responses on ‘people’ as singular

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

Q.39. The English speak English. The English speaks English. The English are a

brave nation. The dictionary meaning of ‘the English’ is people of England. When

‘the English’ is used as a nation, it is singular. So these sentences are correct.

Students were asked to write whether these sentences are right or wrong. 83

students answered correctly. 317 students did not respond.

Table 5.6.1.39: Percentage responses about plural forms

Total students’

populationResponded

Not Responded

or Wrongcorrect

400 83 317 83

P.C. 20.75% 79.25% 20.75%

182

Q. 40. In this question, students were asked to give examples of: (i) Present

subjunctive (ii) Past subjunctive (iii) Gerund and (iv) Verbal noun. These are

explained in chapter 3 (b). May god bless you – Present subjunctive. If I were a

bird I could fly – Past subjunctive. Riding is a good exercise – Gerund. The riding

of horse is a good exercise – Verbal noun. Not a single student responded.

Table 5.6.1.40: Percentage responses about subjunctives, gerund etc.

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

Q. 41. In this question, students were asked to give some examples of modal verbs.

Shall, should, will, would, can, could, may, might, ought, need, dare etc. are modal

verbs. They are also called defective verbs as stated in Q. 30. above. But not a

single student responded to this question.

Table 5.6.1.41: Percentage responses about Modal verbs

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

Q. 42. Students were asked to give an example of Infinitive (one sentence only).

When ‘to’ is used before a verb, it becomes infinitive e.g. to go, to come, to do etc.

Students were to write one sentence only e.g. I like to swim. But not a single

student answered this.

Table 5.6.1.42: Percentage responses about infinitive

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

183

Q. 43. Ram comes here. Here ‘Ram’ is Nominative case. But Ram, come here.

Here, ‘Ram’ is addressed and thus Ram is ‘Vocative case’. I see a picture. Here

picture is Objective case. This was the question. Students were to write the names

of the case. But not a single student answered this.

Table 5.6.1.43: Percentage responses about case`

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

Q.44. Students were asked to give the negative form of: I do it. When auxiliary

verb is not there in the sentence, then ‘do’ is used. But if ‘do’ is already there as

principal verb, then another do will come. Many students do not understand this

and hence this sentence was given. The correct answer is I do not do it. Only 21

students answered correctly. Some students wrote ‘I do not it’.

Table 5.6.1.44: Percentage responses about ‘I do it’ as negative

Total students’

populationResponded

Not Responded

or Wrongcorrect

400 21 379 21

P.C. 5.25% 94.75% 5.25%

Q. 45. (i) Man is mortal. (ii) Water is colourless. (iii) Every mother loves her

children. Students were asked to give the negative form of these sentences without

changing the meaning. This type of question normally comes in the examination.

38 students attempted but none could give the answer of the three sentences.

184

Table 5.6.1.45: Percentage responses about negative transformation

Total students’

populationResponded

Not Responded

or Wrongcorrect

400 38 362 38

P.C. 9.5% 90.5% 9.5%

Q. 46. (i) Everyone is proud of him. (ii) Nobody can do it. Students were asked to

give the interrogative form of these sentences without changing the meaning. The

answers are (i) Who is not proud of him? (ii) Can anybody do it? Not a single

student responded.

Table 5.6.1.46: Percentage responses about transformation to Interrogative

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

Q.47. Students were asked to give the tag question of the following sentences. 38

students attempted but maximum two answers were correct.

(i) I am writing a letter ………………? (Ans: aren’t I)

(ii) Let’s go to the market…………..? (Ans: shall we)

(iii) Have some more rice……………? (Ans: will you)

(iv) Somebody has called…………..? (Ans: haven’t they)

(v) Wait for a while…………………? (Ans: will you/can you)

185

Table 5.6.1.47: Percentage responses about tag question

Total students’

populationResponded

Not Responded

or Wrongcorrect

400 38 362 38

P.C. 9.5% 90.5% 9.5%

Q.48. (i) He is __ L.P. School teacher (ii) I am __ heir of this property (iii) __

kindness is a virtue (iv) __ man is mortal (v) __ water of this area is full of iron.

(vi) __ cow is __ useful animal. Students were asked to use articles where

necessary. 179 students answered but maximum three were correct out of six.

Table 5.6.1.48: Percentage responses about articles

Total students’

populationResponded

Not Responded

or Wrong

Correct

partially

400 179 221 179

P.C. 44.75% 55.25% 44.75%

Q.49. This question is on tense. Ten sentences were given covering present, past

and future tense. These are normally set in the examinations. This chapter is

considered as one of the most important chapters in English grammar. 267 students

attempted but maximum three or four sentences were correct.

Table 5.6.1.49: Percentage responses about tense

Total students’

populationResponded

Not Responded

or Wrong

Correct

partially

400 267 133 267

P.C. 66.75% 33.25% 66.75%

186

Q.50. Students were asked to give some verbs which normally do not take

continuous form e.g. see, feel, think, want, hope, understand, appear, because

there is no continuous process in these verbs. But when they are used in continuous

form, the meaning changes e.g. I am hoping (less hope). I am seeing a doctor

tomorrow (future tense). I am thinking of going to England (an idea). 76 students

answered but only two verbs were mentioned.

Table 5.6.1.50: Percentage responses about verbs not taking continuous forms

Total students’

populationResponded

Not Responded

or Wrong

Correct

partially

400 76 324 76

P.C. 19% 81% 19%

Q. 51. The question was on voice change which is always asked in the

examination. (i) Who has done this? (ii) Fate cannot be avoided. (iii) Sugar is

sweet (iv) I saw him cross the road. (v) I told him to go (vi) Do it now. Students

were asked to change voice form. 83 students attempted but not more than two

answers were correct.

Table 5.6.1.51: Percentage responses on voice change

Total students’

populationResponded

Not Responded

or Wrong

Correct

partially

400 83 317 83

P.C. 20.75% 79.25% 20.75%

187

Q.52. Students were asked to change the form of narration of the four sentences.

i) The man said to me, “I saw a tiger yesterday.”

ii) The teacher said, “What is your name?”

iii) He said,”Friends, listen to me.”

iv) The man said, “How clever I am!”

This is a very common question and this type of sentences is given in the

examinations. Students must know this. Only 77 students attempted but two or

three answers were correct.

Table 5.6.1.52: Percentage responses on narration

Total students’

populationResponded

Not Responded

or Wrong

Correct

partially

400 77 323 77

P.C. 19.25% 80.75% 19.25%

Q.53. (i) Tagore, the great poet of Bengal, was awarded the novel prize (ii)

Reena, I think, is a good singer. The first sentence belongs to Noun in apposition

because the ‘great poet of Bengal’ is in apposition to ‘Tagore’. The second

sentence belongs to Parenthesis. An expression is added inside the sentence to

give extra information. This is parenthesis. In this question, students were asked to

identify the sentences. Not a single student responded.

Table 5.6.1.53: Percentage responses about noun in apposition and parenthesis

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

188

Q.54. The earth moves round the sun. Students were asked to write the phrase

portion from this sentence. ‘Moves round the sun’ is phrase. No students

attempted this question.

Table 5.6.1.54: Percentage responses on phrase

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

Q.55. He was the last man to go there. This is a simple sentence. Students were

asked to make it both complex and compound sentences. He was the last man who

went there (Complex). He was the last man and he went there (compound) are the

answers. But not a single student touched it.

Table 5.6.1.55: Percentage responses on sentence

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

Q.56. Raju is very good. He cannot harm anybody. Students were asked to

combine the sentences into a Simple sentence. ‘Raju is too good to harm anybody’

is a simple sentence. This simple sentence has only one finite verb. No one

answered this question.

Table 5.6.1.56: Percentage responses on simple sentence

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

189

Q.57. This question is on clause analysis. Students were to identify the type of

subordinate clause from the following complex sentences:

(i) I know the man who will help you. Subordinate ………………… clause.

(ii) That he is honest is known to all. Subordinate …………..…… clause.

(iii) The sun shines when it is day. Subordinate ……………… clause.

Here, first one is adjective clause because the noun man is qualified here.

Second sentence is noun clause as it is object to the verb know in the principal

clause. Third sentence is adverb clause because the verb shine is modified here.

(Clause analysis chapter 3.2.31). No one answered this question.

Table 5.6.1.57: Percentage responses on clause analysis

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

Q.58. This question is on word formation which belongs to vocabulary. (i)

Fortune – make another word using prefix. (ii) Use - make another word using

suffix. (iii) Break - make another word using both prefix and suffix. Misfortune,

Useless/Useful, Unbreakable are the answers. Not a single student attempted this

question.

Table 5.6.1.58: Percentage responses on word formation

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

190

Q.59. This question is on word order which belongs to structure of the sentence.

Larger is motor car a bus than. In this sentence, words are not in order. Students

were asked to place the words in the proper order. A motor car is larger than bus

- is the answer. Students must know the sentence structure. Detailed discussion is

in chapter 3.2. No one answered this question.

Table 5.6.1.59: Percentage responses on word order

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

Q.60. Phrase, idiom and group verbs are : (i) Apple of discord (ii) Bad blood

(iii) Null and void (iv) In no time (v) Look after (vi) Give up (vii) Set out.

Students were asked to make sentences with the above. There is no rule involved in

it. Only 32 students attempted but one or two sentences were correct.

Table 5.6.1.60: Percentage responses on phrase, idiom and group verbs

Total students’

populationResponded

Not Responded

or Wrong

Correct

partially

400 32 368 32

P.C. 8% 92% 8%

Q.61. This question also belongs to vocabulary. Students were asked to substitute

the following sentences into a single word.

i) That which cannot be heard: ________

ii) That which cannot be seen: ________

iii) The sound of elephant: ________

191

iv) The sound of snake: ________

v) The sound of cow: ________

vi) One who is all powerful: ________

vii) One who pays rent to a land lord: ________

viii) One who looks into the bright side of things: ________

Students were to write the words only. Not a single student attempted this

question.

Table 5.6.1.61: Percentage responses on substitution into single word

Out of 400 hundred students, no one responded p.c. = 0

Q.62. This question is on sentence structure. Students were asked to write

sentences to the following:

Subject = S, Verb = V, Object = O, Infinitive = Inf.

i) S +V+O

ii) S +V+O+O

iii) S +V+O+ complement

iv) S +V + that clause

v) S +V + Inf.

44 students answered but one or two sentences were correct.

192

Table 5.6.1.62: Percentage responses on sentence structure

Total students’

populationResponded

Not Responded

or Wrong

Correct

partially

400 44 356 44

P.C. 11% 89% 11%

Q. 63. This question was about the teachers. Students were asked whether their

teachers teach English grammar prescribed for study. 216 students said, ‘Yes’. 123

students said ‘No’. The rest 61 students did not respond.

Table 5.6.1.63: Percentage responses about teachers

Total students’

populationSaid, ‘Yes’ Said, ‘No’ Not Responded

400 216 123 61

P.C. 54% 37% 15.25%

Q.64. This question was also about the teachers. Students were asked whether

their teachers complete the grammar prescribed in degree syllabus. 164 students

said, ‘Yes’. 122 students said, ‘No’ and 114 students did not respond. It means that

the syllabus is not completed in many colleges.

Table 5.6.1.64: Percentage responses about teachers

Total students’

populationSaid, ‘Yes’ Said, ‘No’ Not Responded

400 164 122 114

P.C. 41% 30.5% 28.5%

193

Q.65. This question was on correction of sentences. This question is the last

question in the students’ questionnaire. Total 33 grammatically wrong sentences

were given for correction covering almost all the chapters of Grammar under

research. This is a way to test the students’ knowledge of Basic English grammar.

86 students attempted this question but five or six sentences were correct.

Table 5.6.1.65: Percentage responses on sentence structure

Total students’

populationResponded

Not Responded

or Wrong

Correct

partially

400 86 314 86

P.C. 21.5% 78.5% 21.5%

66. Lastly, the researcher calculated the marks obtained by the students during the

test. It has been observed that no student could score more than 40% marks.

Table 5.6.1.66: Marks obtained by the students

Sl No. Marks No. of Students

1. 0 – 10 40%

2. 11 – 20 30%

3. 21 – 30 20%

4. 31 – 40 15%

5. 41 – 50 0 %

6. 51 – 60 0 %

7. 61 – 70 0 %

8. 71 – 80 0 %

9. 81 – 90 0 %

10. 91 – 100 0 %

194

5.6.2 Data analysis of interview with students

Q 1. During the interview with students, the researcher asked them whether they

understand English when the teachers speak in English. This question was not in

the students’ questionnaire. Those who understand English were asked to raise

their hands. Thus the number was taken. In that way it was counted. Total 344

students said ‘Yes’ and the rest 56 students said ‘No’.

Table 5.6.2.1: Percentage responses on understanding English

Total students’ population Said, ‘Yes’ Said, ‘No’

400 344 56

P.C. 86% 14%

Q 2. The researcher asked the vernacular medium students whether they can

speak English. 62 students said ‘Yes’ 34 students said, they try but face

problems in speaking. 304 students said ‘No’.

Table 5.6.2.2: Percentage responses on speaking English

Total students’

populationYes Try to speak No

400 62 34 304

P.C. 15.5% 8.5% 76%

195

Q 3. Students are also asked whether they can write English correctly. 84

students replied, they can somehow manage to write. 316 students said ‘No’.

They depend on memorising the answers from note books or the answers given

by their private tutors.

Table 5.6.2.3: Percentage responses on writing English

Total students’

populationCan write somehow Cannot write

400 84 316

P.C. 21% 79%

5.6.3 Class room observation

During the data collection from the class room, the researcher observed that

the students were in a very difficult situation and it seemed that grammar was a

hard subject to them. It was observed that students were discussing among them

while answering the questions. The researcher understood that many students did

not understand the language in the questionnaire although it was simple.

Sometimes this situation was observed by the researcher in general English class

with the first semester students while delivering lecture in English.

The researcher interacted the students for about forty to fifty minutes in

different colleges under survey. But a different picture was found. The researcher

became very cordial with them and addressed them ‘sons and daughters’. The

entire class became silent and the students were very attentive to listen and tried to

understand grammar which was explained to them by the researcher. Their

196

response was good. They did not feel bore rather they enjoyed the class taken by

the researcher.

The researcher encouraged the students to speak English which might be

right or wrong initially. They should start speaking like a child with mistakes. If

they continue speaking, one day they will learn it. Some students were made to

speak English and they tried their best to speak. Although they could not speak

well, the researcher realised that they gained courage to speak English. While

leaving the class, all the students thanked the researcher and requested him to visit

again.

The researcher observed that if a teacher proves himself or herself a well

wisher of the students, then the students are sure to attend the class and achieve

something from the class. During the last thirty years of teaching in the college, the

researcher realised this and has been trying to help the students to learn English

specially the Basic English grammar inside the class.

5.6.4 Data analysis of Teachers’ Questionnaire

The researcher personally met the teachers of the concerned colleges and

supplied the Teachers’ Questionnaire to them. The researcher discussed many

things about this research and the students’ problems and requested them to kindly

respond to the questions meant for them. The teachers who were available during

the visit were supplied the questionnaires only and the researcher collected the

questionnaires personally from them. All the teachers responded very eagerly and

encouraged the researcher for this kind of research. There were seventeen

197

questions for the teachers. Total number of teachers was twenty five. This number

was limited for easy calculation of percentage.

Q.1. The first question was whether the teachers teach English grammar in Degree

first semester as grammar is prescribed in the General English syllabus by Assam

University, Silchar. Out of 25 teachers, 18 teachers said, ‘Yes’. 7 teachers said

‘No’.

Table 5.6.4.1: Percentage responses about teaching Grammar

Total Teachers’ population Yes No

25 18 7

P.C. 72% 28%

Q.2. In this question, teachers were asked whether they prefer to teach grammar.

On this question, 6 teachers said, ‘Yes’ and 19 teachers said ‘No’.

Table 5.6.4.2: Percentage responses about preference to teach Grammar

Total Teachers’ population Yes No

25 6 19

P.C. 24% 76%

Q.3. Teachers were asked whether all the chapters of grammar prescribed were

taught in detail and finished in time. 13 teachers said, ‘Yes’. 12 teachers said, ‘No’.

198

Table 5.6.4.3: Percentage responses about the completion of syllabus

Total Teachers’ population Yes No

25 13 12

P.C. 52% 48%

Q.4. Teachers were asked whether they find degree first semester students aware

of Basic grammar. English grammar started from Middle School level and

continued up to degree first semester. Student must have basic knowledge of

English grammar. Only 5 teachers said ‘Yes’. 20 teachers said, ‘No’.

Table 5.6.4.4: Percentage responses about students’ knowledge of grammar

Total Teachers’ population Yes No

25 5 20

P.C. 20% 80%

Q.5. Assam University prescribed General English in first year only. The

opinion of the teachers was sought whether General English should be in second

year or third year. In this syllabus, drama or novel was not accommodated. 17

teachers said ‘Yes’. According to them, General English should be extended to

second year also. 8 teachers said, ‘Not necessary’.

Table 5.6.4.5: Percentage responses about English in 2nd or 3rd year

Total Teachers’ population Yes Not necessary

25 17 8

P.C. 68% 32%

199

Q.6. Most of the students in Barak Valley cannot speak English even at the

degree level. Teachers were asked what could be the reason. It is a fact that

students having vernacular medium background cannot speak English. On this

issue, various opinions were given by the teachers. 6 teachers said ‘students are

afraid of speaking’. 2 teachers said ‘tongue tied’. 13 teachers said, ‘Lack of

speaking environment.’ 2 teachers said, ‘Lack of knowledge of grammar and

sentence construction.’ 2 teachers said, ‘students come from vernacular

medium schools.’

Table 5.6.4.6: Percentage responses of about students speaking English

Sl

No.Opinions Number P.C

1. Students are afraid of speaking’ 6 24%

2. Tongue tied 2 8%

3. Lack of speaking environment 13 52%

4.Lack of knowledge of grammar and sentence

construction

2 8%

5. Students come from vernacular medium schools 2 8%

Total 25 100%

Q.7. Teachers were asked whether they deliver their lectures in English or in

Bengali or Bilingual. Language of Barak Valley is Bengali. Majority of the

speakers are Bengalee and other speakers also speak this language. Naturally this

200

language has some influence even in the colleges. 16 teachers said, they teach in

‘English’. 9 teachers said, ‘Bilingual’.

Table 5.6.4.7: Percentage responses about teachers’ speaking language

Total Teachers’ population English Bilingual

25 16 9

P.C. 64% 36%

Q.8. Teachers were asked whether the students feel uncomfortable when they

speak English or they do not understand English. 6 teachers said, ‘Students feel

uncomfortable’. 13 teachers said, ‘Students understand English when they

speak simple English’. 6 teachers said, ‘Students understand English’.

Table 5.6.4.8: Percentage responses of opinion on English speaking

Total Teachers’

population

Feel

uncomfortable

Understand

Simple English

Understand

English

25 6 13 6

P.C. 24% 52% 24%

Q.9. Teachers were asked to give their opinions about grammar whether it is a

dry subject or not. All the teachers said, ‘It is not a dry subject’.

Table 5.6.4.9: Percentage responses about grammar

Total Teachers’

population

Dry Subject of

Teaching

Not a Dry Subject of

Teaching

25 0 25

P.C. 0% 100%

201

Q.10. Teachers were asked whether their students request them to speak in

Sylheti dialect. Many students come to degree level and they do not understand

English in the beginning because they never listened English inside the class. 6

teachers said that sometimes students request them to speak in Sylheti dialect. 19

teachers said, ‘No’.

Table 5.6.4.10: Percentage responses about teachers speaking local dialect

Total Teachers’ population English Bilingual

25 6 19

P.C. 24% 76%

The researcher has the experience that some students requested him to

speak ‘Bengali’ inside the class.

Q.11. In this question, teachers were asked whether there should be a separate

class for spoken English. All the teachers under survey were of the same opinion

that there should be a separate class for spoken English. In the spoken English

class, the emphasis is given only on speaking English. It is necessary because this

type of class improves the speaking skill of the students.

Table 5.6.4.11: Percentage responses on spoken English class

Total Teachers’ population English Bilingual

25 25 0

P.C. 100% 0%

202

Q.12. Opinions of the teachers were sought whether students are not getting

sufficient time in the present semester system. According to the teachers, students

get maximum three months time in the odd semesters and maximum two months

time in the even semesters. There are long vacations, holidays and higher

secondary examinations. Various elections also kill the time of the students.

Table 5.6.4.12: Percentage responses on semester system

Total Teachers’ population Sufficient time No

25 0 25

P.C. 0% 100%

Q.13. Teachers were requested to give their free and frank opinion about their

students’ interest in learning English inside the class. 19 teachers said, ‘students’

are interested to learn English’. 6 teachers did not give their opinion.

Table 5.6.4.13: Percentage responses on students’ interest in learning

Total Teachers’

population

students’ interest

in learning English

Not

interestedSilent

25 19 6

P.C. 76% 24%

Q.14. In Dibrugarh University, grammar is not prescribed in General English in

degree classes as they think that students come to degree level with some base in

grammar. Teachers were asked whether their students have a base in English. All

the teachers said, a few students have some base in English.

203

Table 5.6.4.14: Percentage responses about students’ base in English

Total Teachers’

population

A few students’ have

base in English

All students’ have

base in English

25 25 0

P.C. 100% 0%

Q.15. Teachers were asked whether grammar should be included in the degree

syllabus or not. All the teachers under survey said, ’It is essential’. This is the last

chance to learn and update the knowledge of grammar of degree students.

Table 5.6.4.15: Percentage responses on inclusion of grammar at degree level

Total Teachers’

population

A few students’ have

base in English

All students’ have

base in English

25 25 Nil

P.C. 100% 0%

Q.16. Teachers were asked whether there is any student zero-based in grammar at

the degree level. Sometimes, it is found that some students cannot score marks in

grammar portion in the examination. 9 teachers informed through their

questionnaire that students come to degree level with a little base in English but no

zero-based students were found in the class. 16 teachers said a few students have

base in grammar. Majority of the teachers were of the opinion that there are a few

students who have base on grammar. After a long study of grammar, all the

students have gathered some knowledge on English grammar.

204

Table 5.6.4.16: Percentage responses about zero-based students

Total Teachers’

populationZero-base A little base

A few have base

in English

25 Nil 9 16

P.C. 0% 36% 64%

Q. 17. Hundred, Thousand and Million are both singular and plural. But in Oxford

Advance Learners Dictionary, plural of Lakh is shown as LAKHS. Teachers were

asked whether ’s’ is necessary in the plural of Lakh and Crore. All the teachers

said, there should not be ’s’ in the plural of Lakh and crore like Hundred,

Thousand and Million. (Detailed discussion in chapter 3.3)

Table 5.6.4.17: Percentage responses about plural of Lakh and Crore

Total Teachers’

populationPlural with ‘S’ Plural without ‘S’

25 Nil 25

P.C. 0% 100%

Conclusion

The researcher has tried his best to collect data from ten colleges of the

three districts of Barak Valley namely Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi. Data

were collected with the help of Students’ Questionnaire, Teachers’ Questionnaire,

Interview with students and teachers and Class Room Observation. Much care has

been taken to analyse and interpret the data collected from the field of study for the

purpose of Findings and Suggestions.

205

Chapter 6

FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS

Introduction

This is the most important chapter of this research work. In this chapter, the

researcher presents the findings of the study in detail. The findings are presented

under the following headings: 1. Findings from students’ questionnaire 2. Findings

from interview with students and class room observation 3. Findings from

teachers’ questionnaire 4. Findings from the use of English in Barak Valley. At the

end of this chapter, some suggestions are put forward.

6.1 Findings from students’ questionnaire

The researcher supplied the questionnaires to the students and he was

personally present in the class room. Although it was told that the questionnaire

was mainly for the research purpose and their names and responses would be kept

confidential and it would not be disclosed to any one in any way. However, if they

did not like to mention their names, they could do so. It was found that no student

wrote the name in the answer sheet. It was also observed that many of the students

were reluctant to return the questionnaires. The researcher gathered a bitter

experience when he left the room after supplying the questionnaire and telling

them that they should submit the questionnaires to him after completing their task.

Only a very few submitted the questionnaires. But then the researcher met them

again, convinced them and then only the questionnaires were returned. After that,

the researcher did not leave the room and collected all the questionnaires after their

responses. After gathering some bitter experiences, the researcher supplied more

206

sheets of questionnaire to the students than the requisite number. In that way the

target number was achieved.

During data collection, the researcher found that students were facing

problems in answering the questions and discussing with each other. It seems

that grammar was a hard subject to them. When they were asked whether

they understood the language of the questions, all of them replied that they

understood it. The researcher realised that the students were not aware of

many questions in the questionnaire although the questions were based on

basic grammar and normally set in the examination papers. This situation

was observed in all the colleges under survey irrespective of Arts, Science or

Commerce. A slight difference was observed in case of science students as

they attempted some more questions than the arts or commerce students but

no notable difference was observed. Many students gave the wrong answers

although they were told to answer those questions which they know and to

leave the questions which they do not know. Students were given sufficient time

but many questions remained untouched.

After analysing the students’ questionnaire, it has been found that the

students are very weak in English grammar. No difference was found between

urban and rural students regarding grammar. No difference was also found

between students having English medium background and students having

vernacular medium background regarding grammar. As for speaking English

a gulf of difference was observed between the students having English medium

background and the students having vernacular medium background. Students who

had English medium background could speak English comfortably but the

207

vernacular medium background students were not able to speak English although a

few of them tried but could not speak well. Some students expressed in local

Sylheti, a Bengali dialect that they are very eager to speak English but they

cannot. In urban colleges, many students were found who had English medium

background and who could speak English with their classmates but instead of

speaking English they speak in local dialect i.e. the Sylheti dialect which is very

popular and used by the common people in Barak Valley. However, majority of the

under graduate students in this valley can understand English when their teachers

deliver lectures in the classes in English. It was informed by the students when

they were asked if they understand English deliberations of their teachers in the

class. The researcher has also found some cases where a few students in Degree

first semester told him that they did not understand English and thus they faced

problems in understanding the subject matter. However, in other semesters, no one

reported their inability to understand English. But the reality is that most of the

teachers in the colleges of Barak Valley use bi-lingual method or speak only

local Sylheti dialect in the classes. They believe that the content of the subject

is more important than the language and the students understand better in

local Sylheti dialect. It may be a fact but both the students and teachers face

problems when they are required to speak English where there is no

alternative to English language. Using bilingual method or speaking in Sylheti

dialect is found in the subjects other than English. But there are exceptions in

English classes also where a few teachers do this.

During the data collection, the researcher found that there is no English

speaking environment in the colleges of Barak Valley although the medium of

208

instruction is only English at under graduate level in the colleges under Assam

University, Silchar. Although there is restriction in writing in the examination

papers, there is no restriction in speaking during the college hours. Students must

write in the examination papers only in English but both the teachers and students

are at liberty to speak in any language they like and hence they prefer the Sylheti

dialect when they speak during the college hours. The speakers of other

languages also speak or try to speak in Sylheti dialect as it is the medium of

communication in Barak Valley.

In the students’ questionnaire the first question was on the definition of

grammar. Only 5% students could give the definition of grammar correctly

although only 8% attempted this question. But it is found that these 5% students

also could not answer in correct English. They could not maintain grammar.

Students were asked the total number of consonants. Here also it is found that 8%

students could not answer this simple question. 40% students were aware of semi

vowels. So it is clear that majority of the students do not know semi vowels. The

definition of syllable was given but not a single student could identify it. All the

students have the idea that a group of letters which gives a full meaning is the

definition of word. But in English three letters, viz |a|, |i| and |o| are not only letters

but also words. ‘A’ is adjective, ‘I’ is pronoun and ‘O’ is interjection. The perfect

definition should be, ‘one or more letters can form a word if it gives a meaning’.

But all the students under survey were not aware of it. To make the definition of

the word clear, it was asked how many letters are necessary to form a word. It is

surprising to note that 15.5% students answered that only one letter can form a

word. While the students did not know the perfect definition of the word, how

209

could they say that one letter is necessary to form a word? They must have

answered from assumption.

Before going to the detail about grammar, students were asked some

questions on English language. Basically English is a language divided by two

countries namely, England and America. 70% students were found to tick the right

box meant for the answer. But the researcher is not sure whether this good number

of students know it or not because all the students ticked in either of the two boxes

given in answer portion of the questionnaire. Students were asked about the

particular dialect which is standard English but not a single student is aware of it.

In India, British English is used as official language but students do not know this.

In computer, we find American English and it can be converted into British

English. But students are confused when they find the red marks below the words

like colour, centre, traveller, accommodation etc. It was found that no student is

aware of the difference between the British English and the American English.

Students were also found to use A.M and P.M instead of a.m. and p.m. Students

were asked to write the American spelling of some words like labour, theatre,

traveller but they do not have any idea.

A sentence has two parts namely, subject and predicate. But it has been

found that only 40.25% students know this basic thing. On determiners, only

52.5% could give the examples of some determiners. Determiners are adjectives

but not a single student could answer this. ‘Noun’ means name. But only 34.25%

wrote correctly. Majority of the students could not give the definition of the noun.

Pronoun = pro + noun. Undergraduate students are much matured and hence they

were asked to give the meaning of the prefix ‘pro’. But 10.25% students attempted

210

correctly. Definition of verb was given to identify it. But only 15.75% students

could identify. Similarly, definitions of ‘adjective’ and ‘adverb’ are also given to

identify. But all the students failed to identify. Preposition can be written as pre +

position. The meaning of the prefix ‘Pro’ was asked but here 5.25% students wrote

correctly. Similarly, the meaning of ‘con’, the prefix of conjunction was asked but

4.75% students could give the answer. Students were asked to give only one

example of each of pronoun, common noun, material noun, collective noun &

abstract noun. But only 10.25% students could give the examples of the first three.

No one could give the examples of Collective noun and Abstract noun.

Undergraduate students must know it.

It is astonishing to find that the students even at degree level are not aware

of transitive verb, intransitive verb, complements, antecedent, retained object,

cognate objects, reflexive object, strong verb, weak verb, defective verb, quasi-

passive verb, present participle, correlatives. They are also not aware of present

subjunctive, past subjunctive, gerund and verbal noun, model verbs, infinitive,

case, parenthesis and noun in apposition. All these chapters are normally taught at

school level. Students were asked only to give the examples of each of the above.

But not a single student could give the examples.

Students are asked to give the past forms of some verbs like cost, cut, put,

shut, split, and welcome. Only 15.25% answered. But no one could give the past

form of ‘welcome’ They were also asked to give the feminine gender of Lad,

Monk, Servant, Horse etc. but no one could answer. Similarly, students were asked

to give the plural form of some words as half, foot, mouse, syllabus, crisis, and

memorandum. Only 5.75% students answered. Students were to give some words

211

which are both singular and plural but no one could answer. There is a word

‘people’ which is used as singular also but no student answered. An easy sentence,

‘I do it’ was given to make it negative. Only 5.25% students could answer. Many

students wrote, ‘I do not it’. It appears that many students do not have the idea of

‘do’ as principal verb and ‘do’ as auxiliary verb. Three sentences were given to

make negative without changing the meaning. Only 9.5% students attempted, but

none could give the answers of all the three sentences correctly. Some wrote one

sentence and some wrote maximum two sentences. Two sentences were given to

give the interrogative form without changing the meaning. But not a single student

answered.

‘Tag question’ is a chapter prescribed in the syllabi from school level

onward. Five sentences were given which are very often set in the final

examinations. Only 9.5% students attempted but maximum two answers were

correct. ‘Article’ is an easy chapter and six sentences were given with blanks to fill

in with articles |a|, |an| and |the|. 44.75% students attempted but maximum three

were correct. ‘Tense’ is an important chapter. Ten sentences were given with verbs

in the brackets and students were to give the correct tense of the verb. 66.75%

students attempted but maximum four sentences were correct. There are some

verbs which do not take continuous form. But only 19% students could mention

some verbs of that type. Six sentences were given to change the voice form.

21.75% students answered but maximum two answers were correct. Students could

not identify the ‘phrase portion’ from a sentence. Out of four sentences for

‘narration’ (Direct and indirect speech), 19.25% students were able to give the

correct answers of maximum two sentences.

212

On simple, complex and compound sentences, students do not have clear

idea. Not a single student could give the complex and compound forms of a simple

sentence. No one could combine the two sentences into a simple sentence. Students

could not identify the subordinate noun clause, adjective clause and adverb clause

from the three sentences given. To form words with the help of prefix, suffix and

both prefix and suffix, all the students failed to answer correctly. Students were

found not aware of word-order of sentence. Only 8% students were found to make

sentences with phrase, idiom and group verb. To substitute into single word, there

were eight expressions but no one touched it. Formation of sentences with subject,

verb, object, complements, infinitive etc. were asked but only 11% students wrote

maximum two sentences correctly.

At the end of the questionnaire, students were asked whether their teachers

teach grammar prescribed in the syllabus. Here divided opinions were found. 54%

students said that their teachers taught grammar, 37% students informed that their

teachers did not teach grammar. 15.25% students did not give their opinion about

the teachers regarding teaching of grammar in the class. Again students were asked

whether their teachers complete the syllabus on grammar. 41% students informed

that their teachers completed the syllabus but 30.5% students replied in the

negative. 28.5% did not respond to this question. Thus, it has been found that in

many colleges, grammar is not taught and although taught in some colleges,

the entire portion of grammar is not completed.

Lastly, an overall test on grammar, vocabulary and language was taken

giving 33 sentences for correction. It is a way to test students’ ability on English

language whether they can write correctly or not. Only 21.5% attempted but not

213

more than six sentences were correctly answered. If the students were aware of the

language, they could write the sentences correctly. But here majority of the

students’ inability to write correct sentence has been found.

There were 65 questions in the questionnaire for students. Only 15%

students scored 31% to 40% marks and no one could secure more than 40% marks.

It has been found that teachers at undergraduate level did not teach grammar

seriously and the students also did not learn grammar seriously. It means that

students did not learn grammar at school level also because many of the chapters

on English grammar are prescribed in the school syllabus. Thus it remains a

question whether the teachers in schools teach English grammar with utmost care

or not. The situation of undergraduate students regarding English language in

general and grammar in particular shows a gloomy picture and it needs to be

seriously dealt with for improvement.

6.2 Findings from interview and class room observation

During the interview with students, 86% of the students informed that they

understand English when the teachers speak inside the class and only 14% students

informed that they do not understand their teachers when they speak English in the

class. Only English medium students can understand and speak English.

The students who studied in vernacular medium schools earlier cannot

speak English. 8.5% of them said that they try to speak but face difficulty in

speaking as they were not habituated to speak English. They never listened English

from the teachers while they were in schools. Only after coming to under graduate

level they are required to listen and speak English. Hence they face difficulties.

214

The third semester degree students informed that although they faced

problems in first semester regarding understanding and speaking English but now

they can understand English but could not speak English comfortably.

21% students under survey informed that they can somehow manage to

write English correctly but it is a hard task for them. 79% students frankly told that

they cannot write English correctly and they depend on note books and private

tutors.

Regarding grammar, 80% students told that they are not fully aware of

English grammar. 20% students said that they know some chapters like article,

tense, voice, narration etc. but they are not fully clear about these chapters.

From the class room observation, the researcher found that the students

were listening very attentively what was explained to them by him. They tried to

understand grammar and the technique of speaking English and their response was

also good.

6.3 Findings from Teachers’ Questionnaire

Teachers were given some questions to give their opinion. It has been

found that majority of the teachers teach English grammar prescribed in the

syllabus. 72% teachers informed that they teach grammar which are only

prescribed in the syllabus. They cannot teach Basic English Grammar in detail

because of the lack of time. But 28% teachers said that they do not teach grammar.

Teachers were asked whether they prefer to teach grammar. Only 24%

teachers informed that they prefer to teach grammar. It has been found that

majority of the teachers do not like to teach grammar. In a close discussion with

215

the researcher, some teachers expressed that they are not fully aware of grammar

and hence they do not teach it. It has also been found that there are teachers who

teach grammar in the class only because it is prescribed in the syllabus but they are

not fully equipped with grammar. During the interview with teachers, it has been

found that there are teachers who do not know some basic rules of grammar. The

researcher realised that a very few teachers know grammar and thus show interest

in teaching grammar.

Regarding the completion of syllabus on grammar, 52% teachers informed

that they complete the syllabus. But 48% teachers said that syllabus on grammar is

not completed.

Teachers were asked whether their students are aware of Basic Grammar.

80% of the teachers informed that a few students are aware of grammar but 20%

teachers said that students are not aware of grammar.

In Assam University, General English is limited only to first year degree

classes. 68% teachers told that English should be extended to second year or third

year to accommodate drama, novel etc. 32% teachers said that is not necessary.

Barak valley students cannot speak English at the undergraduate level also.

Divided opinions have been found in this regard. 24% teachers said that students

are afraid of speaking. 8% said, ‘tongue tied’. 52% teachers said that due to lack of

speaking environment student cannot speak English. 8% teachers told that students

cannot speak English because of the lack of basic knowledge of grammar and

sentence construction. Only 8% teachers opined that the students who came from

vernacular medium schools cannot speak English. During data collection it has

216

been found that there is no English speaking environment in the Colleges of Barak

Valley. Without ‘listening and speaking’, students cannot speak any language.

About speaking English by the teachers inside the class, 64% teachers

informed that they speak only English inside the class but 36% teachers said that

they use ‘Bilingual method’. 24% teachers said that the students feel

uncomfortable when they deliver lecture in English. 52% teachers informed that

the students understand simple English. Only 24% teachers said that students

understand their lectures when they speak English.

Majority of the teachers do not like to teach grammar. Whether it is a dry

subject? Here all the teachers said that it is not a dry subject.

It has been found that sometimes students request the teachers to speak in

local Sylheti dialect because they face difficulty to understand English. 24%

teachers informed that sometimes students request them to speak in Bengali and by

Bengali they mean ‘Sylheti dialect’. But 76% teachers said that they did not face

this situation.

For speaking English, it is necessary to arrange for separate class

exclusively for spoken English. To this question, 100% teachers gave their opinion

emphatically that there must be a separate class for spoken English. The researcher

also feels that it is necessary to improve the students’ speaking skill.

About the semester system, 100% teachers said that students are not getting

sufficient time in the present semester system under Assam University. According

to them, syllabus cannot be completed before the submission of forms for the final

examination. It happens particularly in the even semesters. All the teachers opined

that there should be one final examination in a year.

217

On students’ interest in learning English, 76% teachers told that students

are interested to learn English. 24% teachers did not give their opinion. It has been

found that all the students want to speak English but they cannot. They also want

that they should write English correctly but they face difficulty in writing English

correctly. Of course, learning a language is a long term process.

All the teachers informed that there is no zero-based student at degree level.

According to them, students have some base at this level.

In some Universities, grammar is not included in the degree syllabus. 100%

teachers gave their opinion that English grammar should be included in degree

syllabus because majority of the students come to colleges with a weak base in

English. According to them, English grammar can be taught at this level with some

additional discussions.

In Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary (OUP), there were some

anomalies concerning the words ‘Lakh and Crore’. These two words first appeared

in the 7th Edition of this dictionary. The definition of ‘crore’ was given as ‘one

hundred LAKHS’. The words ‘lakh and crore’ were shown as nouns where as the

words hundred, thousand and million are shown as ‘number. We know that all the

above words are numbers. Numbers are determiners and hence adjectives. But

these words sometimes function as noun and sometimes function as adjectives.

These words do not take ‘s’ in their plural form but they take ‘s’ in their plural

form only when there is no number before them. 100% teachers agree with the

researcher. The researcher contacted the dictionary authority and they admitted the

anomalies and corrected these in the latest New Eighth Edition of the Oxford

Advance Learner’s Dictionary.

218

6.4 Findings from the use of English in Barak Valley

Finally, it has been found that a new kind of English is being evolved in

India. It has been found that Indian English is a mixture of British and American

English and sometimes it is neither British nor American. It is found in Barak

Valley also. This is happening due to ignorance. The abbreviation PhD is Ph.D. in

American English but Ph.D is also used which is neither British nor American.

MA, BA, CA, etc. are used as M.A., B.A., C.A. which are American English and

a.m., p.m. etc. are written as A.M. and P.M. which are also American English. In

vocabulary, it has been found that colour and centre are written by many as color

and center. The pronunciation of gratitude, schedule etc. are pronounced exactly

like American English. The pronunciation of gratitude is according to the

pronunciation of letters in American English and the second ‘t’ is not pronounced

as ‘ch’. Similarly, the pronunciation of schedule is skedule in American English

which are being used by many people while speaking English. Lakhs and Crores

are used but ‘s’ should not be in their plural if there is no number before these two

words exactly like hundred, thousand and million. People do not say two

hundreds but they say two lakhs or two crores which are actually wrong.

It has also been found that Indian people use some American words equally

with British words without knowing which one is British and which one is

American. These are found in Barak Valley also. For example,

British American British American

Anaesthesia Anesthesia Lawyer Attorney

Analyse Analyze Lorry, Van Truck

219

6.5 Suggestions

On the basis of the above findings, the following suggestions can be put

forward.

1. For speaking English, the teachers are to encourage the students to listen English

inside the class or they should listen radio, Television etc. Unless they listen, they

cannot learn speaking. Side by side, they should start speaking with their friends or

with teachers inside the class and outside the class without caring much about the

mistakes. They should remember that they are to speak which might be right or

wrong initially.

2. The college authority should encourage the students as the medium of

instruction in college is only English and there is no alternative to it. English

medium students speak English because it is imposed on them.

British American British American

Angry Mad Mad Crazy

Any where Any place Organise Organize

Catalogue Catalog Realise Realize

Engaged Busy Rubber *Eraser, Erazer

Film Movie Shop Store

Flat Apartment Storeyed Storied

Gynaecology Gynecology Toilet Bathroom

Handbag Purse Torch Flash light

Holidays Vacation Trouser Pant

Jug Pitcher Tyre Tire

* Eraser is neither British nor American.

220

3. For writing English, the teachers should encourage the students that they must

write. After preparing a lesson, they should practise writing the answers to the

questions. Sir Francis Bacon says, ‘ Reading maketh a full man, Conference a

ready man and Writing an exact man’. For writing correct English, they should

read good writings and books and journals.

4. Teachers should give an example to their students that a child was born without

a language but after listening sounds from the mother, the child starts making

sounds and gradually by listening from the mother and the other dear ones, the

particular child learns speaking his mother tongue. Degree students are much

mature to understand this fact.

5. Teachers should give emphasis on ‘listening and speaking skill’. They should

also give emphasis on reading and writing. Thus these four skills listening,

speaking, reading and writing (LSRW) are very important for a student to learn a

language perfectly.

6. To write correctly, grammar is very essential. Hence teachers should advise their

students that they should learn grammar perfectly and the students also should

revise their knowledge of Basic grammar.

7. To learn grammar, students should start from the alphabet as grammar starts

from alphabet. |A|, |I| and |O| are three letters which are also words and thus parts

of speech . They must give emphasis on the chapters like parts of speech, use of

capital letters and small letters, determiners including articles, number, gender,

gerund, verbal noun, subjunctives, quasi-passive verb, tense, voice change,

narration (direct and indirect speech), subject-verb agreement (concord), clauses,

parenthesis and noun in apposition, appropriate preposition, phrase, idioms, group

221

verbs, correlatives, transformation of sentences (affirmative, negative,

interrogative, simple, complex and compound sentences). Tag questions, degree of

comparison, sentence structure, vocabulary etc. These chapters are essential for

writing correct English.

8. Teachers must speak English with the students atleast inside the class and

encourage the students also to speak.

9. Class room teaching depends upon a teacher. A teacher must realise the quality

of the students and accordingly teach them. Science students are a bit better than

the arts or commerce students and they understand better than others.

10. Teachers should innovate own method of teaching which they think fit for

students. Of course, they should know the various methods of teaching.

11. Teachers may make humour when they see that there is ‘drowsiness’ among

some of the students in the class. Students attend the class with interest when they

find that the class is interesting and enjoyable.

12. A teacher should never discourage a student if he or she commits any simple

mistake. The teacher should always be optimistic and encouraging and be a well

wisher of the students. He should not rebuke any student for a simple mistake.

13. A teacher of English must give an introduction to English before teaching

grammar. He should inform the students about the difference between the British

English and the American English. British English is used in India. In computer,

normally we find American English. However, it can be converted into British

English. Again, in British English there are dialects and the East midland dialect is

the standard English and is used officially. Nowadays, English is East midland

dialect and the language spoken in London.

222

14. Abbreviations with full stops are more reasonable and it should be included in

British English also like a.m., p.m., p.a. etc. The mixture of some American words

in the use of English in India cannot be checked and hence it should be accepted as

correct.

15. Teachers should give emphasis on communicative English so that students can

communicate in English easily.

16. While teaching grammar, teachers should give examples from practical life

situation. For examples, some verbs like see, think, feel, want, appear, understand,

know, hope, etc. do not take continuous form because there is no continuous

process of action in these verbs. A person mixes hot water with cold water to make

it warm for the purpose of taking bath. But before pouring water on the body, the

person tests this water and for testing, only a ‘touch’ is sufficient and no

continuous touching is necessary. So this situation is related to the verb ‘feel’. In

the narration (direct and indirect speech) chapter, the teacher can say that

‘narration’ is nothing but giving an information to somebody after taking it form

somebody else. In other words, sending any message verbally from one person to

another is called ‘narration’. Again when ‘Fill up’ is used, the situation will be

vertical and when ‘Fill in’ is used, the situation will be horizontal e.g. Fill up the

bottle with water (vertical situation), fill in the blank (horizontal situation). ‘Fill up

the post with suitable candidate’ is also a vertical situation. Only dead body is

horizontal as it cannot stand up. In the above way, the students can understand

grammar easily and also can remember it easily.

17. Grammar should be taught explaining the words involved in grammar.

For example, noun=name=nam(e)=nam. So this sound ‘nam’ is available in

223

many languages like Bengali, Assamese, Hindi, Urdu etc. Preposition =

pre+position. ‘Pre’ means ‘before’. So it means, ‘something sits before

something’ which is preposition. Similarly, Pronoun= pro + noun, Conjunction

= con + junction etc.

18. While teaching ‘tense, the teacher may give some hints for each tense to

identify it. For example, indefinite tense can be identified in three ways (i) any of

the words like today, everyday, generally, normally, usually is present in the

sentence (ii) If the sentence indicates habit. (iii) If the sentence belongs to

universal truth. If the word ‘now’ is there, then it is in present continuous tense. If

‘since and for ‘are there in the sentence, the sentence belongs to present perfect

continuous tense. If ‘while or when’ are in the sentence, then it is in past

continuous tense. ‘Before and after’ are related to past tense if one verb is past

tense and future perfect if one verb is in present indefinite tense. These things are

discussed in the third chapter of this thesis in detail.

19. Assam University degree pass course General English syllabus is to be

changed as early as possible as it has been running for many years (Detailed in

Chapter 4). General English should be extended to second year also to

accommodate drama, novel etc. 100% teachers under survey were of the same

opinion.

20. There should be only one final examination in one year instead of semester

system to save the valuable time of the Degree students as frequent

examinations kill the academic days. 100% teachers under survey gave this

opinion. This has been elaborately explained in Chapter 4.

224

21. Teachers should advise their students to purchase grammar books written by

subject experts. Some grammar books are there which have not been written by the

subject teachers of English (Detailed in Chapter 2). Students do not know and

hence the teachers should recommend the standard grammar books which are

suitable for them.

22. Government should take initiative to form an academic body with the

experts to assess the standard of the grammar books before publishing these

books by the publishers. Atleast, without any review by an expert, grammar

books should not be allowed to be published.

23. H. S. classes should be dropped immediately from the colleges. There are

H.S. I and H.S. II final examinations and hence they kill the valuable time of

the degree students. The UGC also recommended the dropping of H. S. classes

from the colleges. But the Assam State Govt. has imposed H.S. classes on the

colleges.

24. The under graduate course should be a specialised one. Arts or Science classes

should be started from class IX onward. If a student opts for English, the entire

syllabus should be covered by English only. Similarly, other subjects to be studied

by the students should be specialised ones exactly like integrated courses after

Higher Secondary.

25. The syllabus and curriculum makers should be very careful in making syllabus

and curriculum in various stages of the academic life. The future of the country

depends upon its human resource and this resource is to be empowered so that the

country itself becomes powerful in future. To achieve this goal, every individual is

225

to be given the chance to grow and develop himself or herself as a powerful citizen

of the country: And the entire thing depends upon proper education.

Conclusion

The above findings show that there are many problems in teaching and

learning of English language in the colleges of Barak Valley which need to be

solved for better interest of the students as well as teachers. And the above

suggestions will give a clear direction to solve these problems to an extent.

226

Chapter 7

CONCLUSION

Nowadays everyone understands the necessity of English language. Hence

much emphasis has been given on learning and teaching this language. Therefore,

learning English or teaching English has become an important subject of research.

Thus many research works have been done on this subject till today and works will

be going on and there will be no end of research on it. Opinions were given and

opinions will also be given in future how to learn English and how to teach

English. But no one would be able to give the final instruction regarding teaching

and learning English. Hence there are researchers researching on this subject from

various angles. With the passage of time many new things will come out of

research and the teachers as well as students will be benefitted. But the fact is that

both the teachers and students will play the vital role in the process of teaching and

learning English.

This research work deals with the study of the present situation of English

language among the under graduate students in Barak Valley districts of Assam

namely, Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi with special emphasis on Basic

English Grammar. Normally, general English remains a compulsory subject at

under graduate level and this is the last chance for the students to study this

subject. Along with prose and poetry, grammar is also prescribed in the syllabus

(as in Assam University, Silchar). And this is also the last chance to study

227

grammar. Hence the researcher has undertaken the task to study the condition of

English among the undergraduate students of Barak Valley.

The researcher tried his best and studied the situation of English among the

under graduate students of Barak Valley districts namely, Cachar, Karimganj and

Hailakandi. He gave much emphasis on Basic English grammar. He also tried his

best to collect the data from the ten colleges located in different parts of this valley.

All the teachers and students under survey cooperated and that is why the actual

situation of teaching and learning could be studied very smoothly. The data

collected have been analysed and interpreted very carefully. The findings of the

study are presented in detail and also suggestions are put forward for the interest of

the students and teachers.

The status of English both speaking and the knowledge of Basic grammar

among the under graduate students in Barak Valley has been found in a very

miserable condition. Students having vernacular medium background cannot speak

English and both the vernacular medium and the English medium background

students are equally very weak in Basic grammar. It has been found that many

students failed in this subject. But the researcher is very optimistic to find the

students of Barak Valley very curious to learn speaking and writing English

correctly for which they realised the need of learning Basic English Grammar. The

only remedy to learn English speaking is that the colleges in Barak Valley must

create an English speaking environment where all the students are required to

listen English and speak English. As for grammar, all the teachers and students of

the colleges should develop their interest in teaching and learning English

228

grammar respectively and thus contribute to the progress of teaching and learning

process.

7.1 Scope for Future Research on Teaching and Learning English

There is further scope of the research in the following fields:

1. “Teaching English in Middle schools of Cachar or Karimganj or

Hailakandi” may be a subject of research and one can undertake a research

study on this topic.

2. “Teaching English in High schools of Cachar or Karimganj or Hailakandi”

is also a subject of research.

3. “Teaching English in Higher secondary schools of Cachar or Karimganj or

Hailakandi” may also be a subject of research.

4. “Teaching English in vernacular medium schools in Cachar or Karimganj

or Hailakandi” is also subject of study.

5. “Teaching English grammar in English medium schools of Barak Valley”

is also a good subject for research study.

6. British English and American English – a comparative study in vocabulary

and pronunciation.

7. Dialects and standard English : A critical study.

8. “Dialects and the presence of English words in Sylheti dialect (in

Karimganj district)” may also be a subject of research. For this study, a

survey is necessary, and the researcher should meet the common people,

teachers and the students who speak this dialect.

229

9. A research work may be done on “Teaching English Grammar” at any level

in any district.

10. A research can be undertaken on some teachers of English at any level as

there are works available at the International level but there is no work

found in Barak Valley.

11. A research can be done on two or three chapters of grammar e.g. tense,

voice and narration and the like. The topic will be, “Teaching tense, voice

and narration, among the high school students” of Karimganj or Hailakandi

or any other districts of Assam or other states in India.

12. One may undertake a research study exclusively on common errors in

English which may be a good topic for research. The topic may be like

“Common Errors in English: A Study”.

13. “Status of English in tribal areas of North East of India : A study.” It may

also be a good topic for research.

Finally, this researcher concludes saying that any scholar may

undertake a research study on any topic taking the guidelines from this

present topic of research in Barak Valley districts of Assam which will help

the teachers and students of Barak Valley as well other places of this state

or the country. Hence there will be many research works in future on the

topics as stated above and the like and also many theses will be written. But

the benefit will come only when these theses are published so that the

teachers and students get it in their hands.

230

BLIOGRAPHY

Aarts, Bas. (2011). Oxford Modern English Grammar. London: Oxford University

Press.

Adams, Valerie. (1973). An introduction to modern English word-formation.

London: Longman.

Ahuja, Ram. (2001). Research Methods. Jaipur: Rawat Publications.

Azar, B. S. & Hagen, S.A. (2006). Basic English grammar. (3rd ed.). White

Plains. NY: Pearson Education.

Azar, B. S. (1992). Fundamentals of English grammar. (2nd ed.). New York:

Pearson ESL.

Azar, B. S. (2000). Understanding and using English grammar. (3rd ed.). White

Plains. NY: Pearson Education.

Bannot, T. R. & Martin, H. (2011). Scholar Junior and Senior English Grammar.

New Delhi: Scholar Publishing House.

Bauer, Laurie. (1983). English word-formation. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press.

Beason, L. & M. Lester. (1997). Now I get it: A commonsense guide to grammar

and usage. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

Biber, D., S. Johansson, G. Leech, S. Conrad, and E. Finegan. (1999). Longman

grammar of spoken and written English. New York: Longman.

231

Biber, Douglas, Leech, Geoffrey, Conrad, Susan. (2002). Longman student

grammar of spoken and written English. New York: Pearson Education

Limited.

Bogdan, R. & Biklen, S. K. (1982). Qualitative research for education: An

Introduction to theory and methods. 2nd ed. New York: Pearson Education

Limited.

Books, N. (1964). Language and Language learning: Theory and practice. New

York : Harcourt Brace.

Borg. S. (1998). Teachers’ pedagogical systems and grammar teaching: A

qualitative study. TESOL Quaterly, 31(1), 9-38.

Brown, H. D. (1997). Principles of Language learning and teaching. New Jersey:

Prentice Hall.

Bryant, Margaret & Momozawa, Chikara. (1976). Modern English Syntax.

Seibido.

Bryant, Margaret. (1945). A functional English grammar. Lexington,

Massachusetts: D.C. Heath and company.

Carter, Ronald, McCarthy, Michael. (2006). Cambridge Grammar of English: A

Comprehensive Guide. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Celce- Murcea, M. & Hilles, S. (1988). Techniques and resources in teaching

grammar. New York: Oxford University Press.

Celce-Murcia, M. (1991). Grammar pedagogy in second and foreign language

teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 25, 459-480.

232

Celce-Murcia, Marianne & Larsen-Freeman, Diane. (1999). The Grammar Book:

An ESL/EFL teacher's course, (2nd ed). Heinle & Heinle.

Chalker, Sylvia & Weiner, Edmund (eds.). The Oxford Dictionary of English

Grammar. London: Oxford University Press.

Chamber’s 20th Century Dictionary. (1983). London: W. R. Chambers Ltd.

Choudhury D. & Battacharjee, S. (2003). An Approach to English Grammar &

Composition. Guwahati: Bani Prakashani.

Clark, C. M. & P. Peterson. (1986). Handbook of Research on Teaching. New

York: Macmillan.

Cobbett, William. (1883). A Grammar of English Language. New York and

Chicago: A. S. Barnes and Company.

Cobbett, William. (2003, originally 1818). A Grammar of the English Language

(Oxford Language Classics). London: Oxford University Press.

Cook, Vivian. (2011). Second Language Learning and Language Teaching.

London: Hodder Education.

Crystal, Daird. (2004). Making sense of Grammar. Hardlow : personal Education.

Curme, George O. (1925). College English Grammar. Richmond: Johnson

Publishing company.

Curme, George O. (1978; original 1931, 1935). A Grammar of the English

Language: Volumes I (Parts of Speech) & II (Syntax). Verbatim Books.

Das, Bikram K. (2013). Functional Grammar and Spoken and Written

Communication in English. Kolkata: Orient Blackswan Private Limited.

233

David, A. (2008). Teaching English in Secondary Schools. New Delhi:

Commonwealth Publishers.

Declerck, Renaat. (1990). A Comprehensive Descriptive Grammar of English.

Tokyo: Kaitakusha.

Dekeyser, Xavier, Devriendt, Betty; Tops, Guy A. J. & Guekens, Steven;

(2004). Foundations of English Grammar For University Students and

Advanced Learners. Leuven, Belgium: Uitgeverij Acco,

Dey S. C. (2008). Middle School Grammar. Published from Kolkata by Tapash

Chakraborty, Rabindra Sadan, Bguiati, Kolkata.

Dey Sarkar P. K, (2010). A Text Book of Higher English Grammar and

Composition. Kolkata: Book Syndicate.

Elliott Berry, Thomas. (1996). The Most Common Mistakes in English. New Delhi:

Tata Mc Graw Publication.

Ellis, Rod (1994). The study of second language Acquisition. London: Oxford

University Press.

Farrell T.C.S. (2004). Reflecting on classroom communication in Asia. Singapore:

Longman.

Francis, G., E. Manning, & S. Hunston. (1997). Collins COBUILD Verbs:

Patterns and practice. London: Collins ELT.

Fries, Charles Carpenter. (1952). The structure of English; an introduction to the

construction of English sentences. New York: Harcourt, Brace.

234

Gatenby, E.V. (1967). English as a Foreign Language. London: Longman, Green

& Co. Ltd.

Greenbaum, Sidney (1990). A Student's Grammar of the English Language.

Addison Wesley Publishing Company.

Greenbaum, Sidney (1996). Oxford English Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University

Press.

Gupta, Nilanjana (2000). English for All. Macmillan India Ltd.

Halliday, M. A. K. & Matthiessen, Christian M. I. M. (2004). An Introduction to

Functional Grammar, (3rd ed). London: Hodder Arnold.

Halliday, M. A. K. (1994). Spoken and written language. Deakin University Press.

Hawatt, A.P.R. (1984). A History of English Teaching London. London: Oxford

University Press.

Hinkel, E. (ed.) (2002). New perspectives on grammar teaching in second

language classrooms. Ahwah, NJ: L. Erlbaum.

Hornby, A. S. (2010). Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary. London: Oxford

University Press.

Huddleston, Rodney D. & Pullum, Geoffrey K. (2005). A student's introduction to

English grammar. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Huddleston, Rodney D. & Pullum, Geoffrey K. (eds.). (2002). The Cambridge

Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press.

235

Huddleston, Rodney D. (1976). An introduction to English transformational

syntax. London: Longman.

Huddleston, Rodney D. (1984) Introduction to the Grammar of English.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Huddleston, Rodney D. (1988). English Grammar: An outline. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.

Huddleston, Rodney D. (2009). The Sentence in Written English: A Syntactic Study

Based on an Analysis of Scientific Texts. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press.

Jadhav, B. S. (2011). Teaching English. Hyderbad: Orient Black Swan.

Jespersen, Otto. (1909–1949). A modern English grammar on historical

principles (Vols. 1-7). Heidelberg: C. Winter.

Jespersen, Otto. (1937). Analytic Syntax. Copenhagen: Levin & Munksgaard.

Jespersen, Otto. (1933). Essentials of English Grammar: 25th impression, 1987.

London: Routledge.

Jesperson, Otto. (1992). Philosophy of Grammar. Chicago and London: University

of Chicago Press.

Jesperson, Otto. (1997). Growth and Structure of the English Language. London:

Oxford University Press.

Johnson K. E. (1999). Understanding language teaching: Reasoning in action.

Boston: Heinle & Heinle.

Jonson, Ben. (1756). The English grammar. London: D. Midwinter.

236

Karim, M. A. (2010). Basic English Grammar and Composition. Silchar: Quality

Books Publishing.

Kealey, J. & D. Inness. (1997). Shenanigames: Grammar-focused ESL-EFL

activities and games. Brattleboro, VT: Pro Lingua.

Kolln, Martha J. & Funk, Robert W. (2008). Understanding English Grammar (8th

ed.). London: Longman.

Kolln, Martha J. (2006). Rhetorical Grammar: Grammatical Choices, Rhetorical

Effects, 5th edition. London: Longman.

Kothari, C. R. (2004). Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques. New

Delhi: New Age International.

Leech, Geoffrey N. (1971). Meaning and the English verb. London: Longman.

Marchand, Hans. (1969). The categories and types of present-day English word-

formation (2nd ed.). München: C. H. Beck.

Mc. Donaugh J. & McDonough, S. (1997). Research methods for English

language teachers. London: Arnold.

McCawley, James D. (1998). The syntactic phenomena of English (2nd

ed.). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Miles, M. B. & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis. London: Sage

Publication.

Morenberg, Max (2002). Doing Grammar, (3rd ed.). New York: Oxford

University Press. .

237

Murphy Raymond (1996). Essential English Grammar. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

Onions, C. T. (1st ed.). (1904). An advanced English syntax based on the

principles and requirements of the Grammatical society. London: Keegan

Paul, Trench, Trubner & co.

Palmer, F. R. (1974). The English verb. London: Longman.

Palmer, F. R. (1979). Modality and the English modals. London: Longman.

Pennington, M. C. (Ed.). (1995). New ways in teaching grammar. Alexandria, VA:

TESOL.

Plag, Ingo. (2003). Word-formation in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press.

Potter, Someon. (1996). Our Language. Penguine Books.

Quirk, Randolph. (1985). A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language.

Harlow: Longman.

Quirk, Randolph; Greenbaum, Sidney; Leech, Geoffrey; & Svartvik, Jan. (1972). A

Grammar of Contemporary English. Harlow: Longman.

Sarwood Smith, M., & Rutherford, W. (1988). Grammar and second language

teaching. New York: New bury House.

Scheurweghs, Gustave. (1959). Present-day English syntax: A survey of sentence

patterns. London: Longmans.

Schibsbye, Knud. (1970). A Modern English Grammar. (2nd ed.). London: Oxford

University Press.

238

Sinclair, John (Ed.). (1991). Collins COBUILD – English Grammar. London:

Collins.

Sledd, James. (1959). A short introduction to English grammar. Chicago: Scott,

Foresman.

Strang, Barbara M. H. (1968). Modern English structure. (2nd ed.). London:

Arnold.

Swan, M. (2006). Practical English usage. New York: Oxford University Press.

Thomson, A. J. (Audrey Jean); Martinet, A. V. (Agnes V.) (1986). A practical

English grammar. (4th ed.). London: Oxford University Press.

Ur, P. (1988). Grammar practice activities: A practical guide for teachers. New

York: Cambridge University Press.

Visser, F. Th. (2003). An historical syntax of the English language. Brill.

Walker E. Elsworth S, 1993. Grammar Practise for Intermediate Students. Orient

Longman.

White, G. (1998). Listening. New York: Oxford University Press.

Whitney, William Dwight. (1877). Essentials of English Grammar. Boston: Ginn

& Heath.

Wren P. C and Martin H. (2001). High School English Grammar and

Composition. New Delhi: S. Chand & Co.

Zandvoort, R. W. (1972). A Handbook of English Grammar. (2nd ed.). London:

Longmans.

239

APPENDICES

Appendices contain the following:

Appendix - I: Questionnaire for Students

Appendix - II: Questionnaire for Teachers

Appendix - III: First page of Published Papers

Appendix - IV: Letters to and Replies from the Editor,

Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, OUP

Note: In Appendices, everything is appended as it is and hence no

change in any form was made only to show the originality

of the materials.

240

APPENDIX - I

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS

Questions : Answers portion :1. Grammar means : ...........................................................2. How many consonants are there in English ? : ..........................................................3. Which are semi vowels? : ...........................................................4. Any of the units into which a word is divided is called : ........................................................5. A word is a group of letters which gives a full meaning.

-Do you think this definition of the word is perfect?Give a tick () : Yes or No

6. In English minimum how many letters are necessaryto form a word? : ...........................................................

7. Basically, English is a language divided by twocountries namely: : (a) ............... & (b) ...................

8. Which dialect is standard English ? : ............................................................9. Which English is used in India ? : (a) British or (b) American10. In Computer we find English - : (a) British or (b) American11. Which set is to be used in India? : (a) A.M., P.M. or (b) a.m., p.m.12. Can you give the American spelling of the words? : (i) Labour ......... (ii) Theatre: ............

(iii) Traveller: ......................................(iv) Accommodation: ..........................(v) Cheque: .........................................

13. A sentence has two parts : (a) ................. and (b) ........................14. Give some examples of the determiners. : ............................................................15. Which ‘parts of speech’ determiners belong to ? : ............................................................16. Noun means : ............................................................17. Pronoun = Pro + noun. What does ‘Pro’ mean ? : ............................................................18. The word which expresses action is called : ............................................................19. A word that describes a person or a thing is called : ...........................................................20. A word that adds information to a verb, adjective or

any other adverb is called : ............................................................21. Preposition =Pre+position. What does ‘Pre’ mean? : ............................................................22. Conjunction = Con + junction. Do you have any

idea about the prefix ‘Con’? : .............................................................23. A short sound or word spoken suddenly to

express an emotion is called : .............................................................24. Give an example of each of the following

(one word only) : (a) Proper noun ......................................(b) Common noun ..................................(c) Material noun ...................................

(d) Abstract noun ..................................(e) Collective noun ...............................

25. This is the book which I bought yesterday.Which word in this sentence is ‘antecedent’ ? : .............................................................

26. A verb which has an object is called _ _ _ : .............................................................27. A verb which does not have any object is called : .............................................................

241

28. (i) Sugar tastes sweet, (ii) I consider him honest.- Which words are complements here : (i) .................... (ii) .........................

29. Give an example of (one sentence for each) : (i) Retained object : .............................(ii) Cognate object : .............................

&(iii) reflexive object. .............................30. Give examples of (a) Strong verbs : ..............................................................

(b) Weak verbs : ..............................................................(c) Defective verbs : ..............................................................(d) Quasi passive verb (one sentence) :...............................................................

31. Give the past tense of : Cost ...... Cut ....... Put ..............Shut ....... Split ........ welcome......

32. Give an example of present participle.(one word or one sentence) : ..............................................................

33. Give some examples of correlatives. (at least three) : .............................................................34. Give the feminine gender of : (i) Lad .... (ii) Monk .... (iii) Servant ....

(iv) Horse … (v) Goat ... (vi) Peacock ...35. Write some words which are both singular and plural.: ...........................................................36. Write some words which are always plural. : .............................................................37. Give the plural of : (i) half ... (ii) foot .... (iii) mouse ......

(iv) syllabus ... (v) crisis .... (vi) Basis ..(vii) memorandum ..........

38. Write a sentence where ‘People’ is used as singular. : .............................................................39. (i) The English speak English

(ii) The English speaks English.(iii) The English are a brave nation.- Do you think these sentences are correct or not? : Yes or No

40. Give a sentence (i) Present subjunctive - : .............................................................(ii) Past subjunctive - : .............................................................(ii) Gerund - : .............................................................(iv) Verbal noun - : ..............................................................

41. Give some examples of modal verbs. : .............................................................42. Give an example of infinitive. (only one sentence) : .............................................................43. Ram comes here. : ‘Ram’ is Nominative Case.

(i) Ram, come here. : ‘Ram’ is ................... Case(ii) I see a picture. : ‘Picture’ is ............... Case.

44. I do it. (make it negative) : .............................................................45. Give the Negative form without changing the meaning.

(i) Man is mortal. : ..............................................................(ii) Water is Colourless. : ..............................................................(iii) Every mother loves her children. : ..................................................

46. Write the Interrogative form without changing the meaning.(i) Every one is proud of him. : ..................................................(ii) Nobody can do it. : ..............................................................

47. Use question tag :: (i) I am writing a letter, .................. ?(ii) Lets go to the market, ................ ?

242

(iii) Have some rice, ....................... ?(iv) Some body has called ............... ?(v) Wait for a while, ....................... ?

48. Use articles where necessary : (i) He is ....... L.P. school teacher.(ii) I am .......... heir of his property.(iii) ........ cow is a useful animal.(iv) ..........man is mortal.(v) ... water of this area is full of iron.(vi) ......... kindness is a virtue.

49. Give the tense of the verbs given in brackets

(i) The college (open) today. : ...........................................................(ii) Don’t disturb her, she (write) a letter. : ...........................................................(iii) He (want) some money now. : ..........................................................(iv) Recently the price of petrol (go) up. : ...........................................................(v) I (know) him since 2010. : ...........................................................(vi) He (kill) in the last war. : ...........................................................(vii) He (be) ill for seven days. : ...........................................................(viii) I wish I (be) dead. : ...........................................................(ix) He arrived when the drama (start) : ...........................................................(x) He will have washed his hands before he (eat).: .......................................................

50. Write some verbs which do not take continuous forms : ......................................................51. Change the voice form :

(i) Who has done this ? : ..........................................................(ii) Fate cannot be avoided. : ..........................................................(iii) Sugar is sweet. : ..........................................................(iv) I saw him cross the road. : ..........................................................(v) I told him to go. : ..........................................................(vi) Do it now. : ..........................................................

52. Change the form of narration :(i) The man said to me, “I saw a tiger yesterday.” : ..........................................................(ii) The teacher said, “What is your name?” : ..........................................................(iii) He said, “Friend, listen to me.” : ..........................................................(iv) The man said, “How elever I am!” : ..........................................................

53. (i) Reena, I think, is a good singer.(ii) Tagore, the great poet of Bengal, was awarded (i) : ....................................................

the Novel Prize. -Which one is ‘parenthesis’ (ii) : ...................................................and which one is ‘noun in apposition’?

54. Which part of the following sentence is phrase?The Earth moves round the sun. : ...........................................................

55. He was the last man to go there.(Make it complex & Compound) : ..........................................................

: ..........................................................56. Raju is very good. He can not harm any body.

[Combine the sentences into a simple sentence] : ............................................................57. (i) I know the man who will help you.

243

- Who will help you : Subordinate ....................... clause.(ii) That he is honest is known to all.

- That he is honest : Subordinate ....................... clause.(iii) The sun shines when it is day.

- When it is day : Subordinate ....................... clause.

58. (i) Fortune.- Make another word using ‘prefix’ : ..........................................................(ii) Use. - Make another word using ‘sufffix’ : ..........................................................(iii) Break - Make another word using both prefix & suffix. : .....................................................

59. Larger is motor car a bus than. : ...........................................................(place the words in proper places)

60. Make sentences of each of the following :(i) Apple of discord : ...........................................................(ii) Bad blood : ............................................................(iii) Null and void : ............................................................(iv) In no time : ............................................................(v) Look after : ............................................................(vi) Give up : .............................................................(vii) Set out : ............................................................(viii) In lieu of : .............................................................

61. Substitute into a single word :(a) That which cannot be heard : .............................................................(b) That which cannot be seen : .............................................................(c) The sound of elephant : .............................................................(d) The sound of snake : .............................................................(e) The sound of cow : .............................................................(f) One who is all powerful : .............................................................(g) One who pays rent to a landlord : .............................................................(h) One who looks to the bright side of things : ............................................................

62. Subject = S, Verb = V, Object = O,Infininitive = Inf. (Make sentences)

(i) S + V + O : .............................................................(ii) S + V + O + O : ............................................................(iii) S + V + O + Complement : .............................................................(iv) S + V + that clouse : .............................................................(v) S + V + Inf. + O : .............................................................

63. Do your teachers teach grammar prescribed for your study ? Yes or No64. Do they complete the grammar prescribed in your Degree syllabus ? Yes or No65. Correct the following :i. There are twenty six alphabets in English. : .............................................................ii. One should do his duty. : ............................................................iii. The flower smells sweetly. : ............................................................iv. We feel warm on the subject. : ............................................................v. He prefers milk than tea. : ............................................................vi. The population of Kolkata is greater than any city in India. : ..................................................vii. This is the most perfect specimen I have seen. : .............................................................viii. I can’t see no wit in her. : ............................................................ix. I cannot by no means allow you to go. : ............................................................

244

x. We cannot abundon our hardly won freedom. : ............................................................xi. The Bodo, Karbi, Reang etc. are people in Assam. : ...........................................................xii. He is running fast, isn’t it? : ............................................................xiii. I am a writer, amn’t I ? : ............................................................xiv. Close the door, can’t you ? : ............................................................xv. The water is colourles. : ............................................................xvi. He will reach by 6 O’clock train. : ............................................................xvii. He went to USA to study. : ............................................................xviii. I have finished the work a few moments ago. : ............................................................xix. The train is running in time. : ............................................................xx. His brother died by Cholera. : ............................................................xxi. I agree with your proposal. : ............................................................xxii. He and I am doing the work. : ............................................................xxiii. One of the students have come forward. : ............................................................xxiv. Ten minutes time are allowed to each speaker. : .............................................................xxv. The minister along with his supporters were present. : .........................................................xxvi. Fill up the blanks : ............................................................xxvii. Price of vegitables are on the rise. : ............................................................xxviii. He left the place with bag and beggage. : ............................................................xxix. The carpet is feeling smooth. : ............................................................xxx. The Everest is the highest peak in the world. : .............................................................xxxi. Let us discuss about the matter. : .............................................................xxxii. Have you many luggages ? : .............................................................

xxxiii. He has five lakhs rupees. : .............................................................

245

APPENDIX - II

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS

Questions : (Kindly respond) Answers portion :

1. Do you teach English grammar inB.A. - 1st semester. : ..........................................

2. Do you prefer teaching grammar to othersubjects like prose, poetry etc. : ..........................................

3. All the chapters of grammar prescribed aretaught in detail and finished in time. : ...........................................

4. Do you find Degree first semester studentsaware of Basic English grammar? : ............................................

5. Assam University prescribed General Englishin First year only. Do you think this subjectshould be in 2nd year or third year also? : ............................................

6. Most of the students in Barak Valley cannot

speak English even at the Degree level. -What could be the reason? : ............................................

7. Do you deliver your lecture in English or inBengali or Bi- Lingual? : .............................................

8. Do you think your students feel uncomfortablewhen you speak English or they do not understand English? : ........................................

9. Grammar is a dry subject. Do you agree? : ..............................................10. Whether your students request you to speak

or explain in local dialect or not. : ..............................................11. Do you think there should be a separate class

for spoken English? : ..............................................12. Do you think students are not getting sufficient

time to learn English in the present semester system? : ......................................13. Will you please give your free and frank opinion

about your students and their interest in learningEnglish inside the Class? : ...............................................

14. In Dibrugarh University, grammar is notprescribed in general English in Degree classes as

they think that students must have come to Degreelevel with a base in English. Do you think studentscome to degree level with a base in English? : ...............................................

15. Do you think English grammar is not to be includedin the Degree Class like D.U.? : ................................................

246

16. Do you find some students almost zero based inGrammar even at the Degree level? : .................................................

17. Hundred, Thousand and Million are both singularand plural. But in Oxford Advance Learners .......................................Dictionary plural of lakh is shown as 'Lakhs' ........................................moreover, Lakh and Crore are written as noun while .........................................hundred, thousand & million are written as numbers ..........................................in that Dictionary. Numbers are determiners and ..........................................

hence adjectives. This anomaly is found in the ..........................................dictionary. Will you please give your opinion? ...........................................

247

APPENDIX - III(First Page of Published Papers)

PAPER 1Intellection: A bi-annual interdisciplinary research journal, Vol.II, No.II, July-December, 2014

ISSN: 2319-8192

Learning English in India : Some Crucial AcquisitionalIssues

M. A. Karim*

Abstract : English has occupied a unique position in the international arena which no onecan deny. It plays a pivotal role in the field of communication. English is the nationallanguage of the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Australia, Canada, NewZealand and South Africa. In India also, like other countries, English has become acommon official language side by side with other Indian languages. It plays the role of alink language among the different language speakers in India. Thus English made itsstrong position in the midst of multi-lingual Indian nation. Hence its importance is great.So it is the compulsory subject of study in all educational institutions. Meanwhile, Englishhas become the medium of instruction both at higher level and at lower level. Now-a- daysEnglish is introduced in primary level also. This language is also used in the interviewsand competitive examinations as a common language. English is comparatively an easylanguage and its grammar is also easier than other languages. But there is a wrong notionamong the people that it is a hard subject and the students are also not the exceptions.Some students are afraid of English particularly its grammar and hence they go for privatetuition with the intention to pass the examinations or to get good marks in this subject.Although they pass or get good marks in it, they do not learn it properly and remain weakin English for the rest of their life. Therefore, every student needs to learn English verysincerely. Hence the purpose of this topic is to deal with English language with specialemphasis on the introduction to English so that the learners get some preliminaryinformation about English.Key words: Alphabet, grammar and composition, British English, American English,Dialect, East-midland dialect, lakh and crore.

Introduction

Language is the system of communication in speech and writing which is used by people ofa particular country or region (Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary). Language is a socialphenomenon. It is the medium through which human beings transmit their ideas to eachother. There are innumerable languages in the world and English is one of these languages.But it is the only language spread all over the world. This language originated from theIndo-European group “the largest and well defined genetic family which includes most ofthe languages of Europe, past and present and extends across Iran to northern half of theIndian sub-continent” (Bright: ed 1992, vol-II). According to Western philiologists, Greekand Latin were the oldest languages indicating that there was a parent language from which

*Ph.D Scholar (Part time), Assam University and Vice Principal, S.S.College, Hailakandi

249

APPENDIX - IV

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, OALD, OUP

Letter 1

From: Abdul Karim [mailto:ma_karim56@yahoo.com]

Sent: 03 October 2011 15:30

To: Enquiry, OUP

Subject: confusion about the words 'Crore' and 'Lakh' appeared only in the Seventh

Edition.

To,

The Chief EditorOxford Advance Learner's Dictionaryof Current EnglishA S Hornby

Sir,

With due reverence ,I like to put before you a question regarding the words,

'Crore' and 'Lakh' in pages 366 and 859 respectively.

In your dictionary, the meaning of 'Crore' has been given ----noun,(Ind E),ten

million ,one hundred LAKHS.

Sir, my problem is with the final 's' in the plural.

In India,'Lakh' and 'Crore' are also numbers like Hundred , Thousand and

Million.

In India the sequence is ---- Hundred , Thousand ,Lakh and Crore

Hence,my question is ----If the plural of Hundred , Thousand and Million is

without a final 's', then the plural of Lakh and Crore should also be without a final

's'. Lakh may be Lac.

Please look into the matter and kindly remove my confusion.

Sincerly

M A KarimAssociate Professor and HeadDepartment of EnglishS S College, HailakandiAssam, INDIA

250

Reply 1

From: ELT Enquiry <elt.enquiry@oup.com>

To: "ma_karim56@yahoo.com" <ma_karim56@yahoo.com>

Sent: Tuesday, 11 October 2011 3:02 PM

Subject: confusion about the words 'Crore' and 'Lakh' appeared only in the

Seventh Edition.

Dear Mr Karim

Thank you for your enquiry concerning the plural of ‘lakh’ and ‘crore’ in the

Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (actually now in its 8th edition). The Indian

English subcorpus of the Oxford English Corpus, which we use to analyse how

words are actually used, shows that, for both words, plural forms both with and

without an ‘s’ are in common use. However, in both cases, the plural form without

an ‘s’ is more frequent. When the dictionary reprints, we will add information

about the plurals at each entry (pl.lakh or lakhs) and we will use the uninflected

plural lakh in the definition of crore.

With many thanks for taking the trouble to write to us,

Yours sincerely,

Diana Lea

Principal Editor

ELT Dictionaries

Oxford University Press

251

Letter 2

From: Abdul Karim [mailto:ma_karim56@yahoo.com]

Sent: 18 October 2011 14:05

To: ELT Enquiry

Subject: Last query about the words 'Crore' and 'Lakh' appeared FIRST in the

Seventh Edition.

Dear madam,

Thanks a lot for responding to my queries relating to the words 'LAKH'and

'CRORE'.

Please take the trouble once again as one side remains untouched .

I wrote in my earlier mail that like 'Hundred', 'Thousand' and 'Million','Lakh' and

'Crore are numbers in India.

We know , numbers are 'Determiners' and hence 'Adjectives'.But in this

Dictionary, the words Lakh and Crore are shown as 'Nouns'.Kindly look into the

matter.

With regards,

Yours sincerely,

M A KarimAssociate Professor and HeadDept of EnglishS S CollegeAssam, IndiaPin-788151 Mobile -09435377344

252

Reply 2

From: ELT Enquiry <elt.enquiry@oup.com>

To: "ma_karim56@yahoo.com" <ma_karim56@yahoo.com>

Sent: Tuesday, 18 October 2011 8:07 PM

Subject: RE: Last query about the words 'Crore' and 'Lakh' appeared FIRST in the

Seventh Edition.

Dear Mr Karim

Thank you for your further email concerning lakh and crore in the Oxford

Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Again, you are right. These words are like other

numbers such as hundred in that they sometimes function as determiners and

sometimes as nouns. To bring them into line with the treatment of similar numbers

in the dictionary, when the dictionary reprints, we will change the word-class

designation to number and also indicate that they take a plural verb.

Yours sincerely

Diana LeaPrincipal EditorELT DictionariesOxford University Press

253

Letter 3

From: Abdul Karim [mailto:ma_karim56@yahoo.com]Sent: 17 November 2014 06:05To: ELT EnquirySubject: Enquiry relating to a.m., p.m. and p.a.

ToDiana LeaPrincipal EditorELT DictionariesOxford University Press

Dear Madam,

I express my gratitude to you for the revised explanation of the

words, LAKH and CRORE in the New 8th Edition of OALD (Pl. refer letters

dated 11th and 18th October, 2011).

Again I am in need of your guidance as I am doing some research

on Basic English Grammar and Usage for Indian Students.

In abbreviations, in British English, full stops are not used e.g. BA, MA

etc. But in case of a.m. (ante meridiem), p.m. (post meridiem) and p.a. (per

annum), full stops are used in OALD. In American English, we find A.M., P.M.

etc.

Kindly look into the matter and enlighten me for which I will be

grateful to you.

Yours sincerely,

M A KarimAssociate Professor & Vice PrincipalS S College, Hailakandi, Assam, IndiaPin - 788151

254

Reply 3

From: ELT Enquiry <elt.enquiry@oup.com>To: "ma_karim56@yahoo.com" <ma_karim56@yahoo.com>Sent: 8 Dec 2014

Dear Professor Karim

Thank you for your enquiry relating to the use of full points in abbreviations. What

you say is absolutely correct. In British English, full points are not usually used

- in upper-case acronyms (BA, MA, USA, etc.)

- in contractions (where letters are missed out in the middle of a word but the

last letter of the word is given – Mr, Dr, Mrs, Revd, etc.)

However, they are used (usually)

- in true abbreviations (where the whole end of the word is omitted, including

the last letter (Rev. or vol. for ‘volume’ – or, indeed, ‘etc.’ for ‘et cetera’)

- in lower-case acronyms (a.m., p.m., p.a.). However, there is increasingly a

tendency to omit the full points even in some lower-case acronyms such as ‘mph’,

especially in scientific contexts; plc (public limited company) never has full points.

I think that a.m., p.m. and p.a., however, will always keep their full points in order

to avoid confusion with the words ‘am’ and ‘pa’.

American English, on the other hand, makes much more use of full points

so it puts them in upper-case and lower-case acronyms: B.A., M.A., U.S.A; a.m.,

p.m. (or A.M. and P.M. – either lower- or upper-case is acceptable in American

English). American English also puts full points in both abbreviations and

contractions (Rev., Dr., Mr., Mrs.).

I hope this answers your question satisfactorily and I wish you all the best

for your research.

Yours sincerely

Diana LeaManaging EditorELT Dictionaries and Reference GrammarOxford University Press

*****