Prescribed by the National Curriculum & Textbook Board
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Prescribed by the National Curriculum & Textbook Board as a Textbook from the academic session 2001-2002 ENGLISH FOR TODAY For Classes 11-12 Writers Dr. M Shahidullah Jahurul Islam Iffat Ara Nasreen Majid Najma Shams Editor Dr. Arifa Rahman Unit 24 written by M S Hoque NATIONAL CURRICULUM & TEXTBOOK BOARD, DHAKA PREFACE This new English textbook has been developed for classes 11 & 12 by English Language Teaching Improvement Project (ELTIP) jointly funded by the Government of Bangladesh and DFID of the UK Government. A team of writers trained in the UK under ELTIP has written the book over a period of one and a half years. The whole process of writing, trialling and evaluating the manuscript was carried out by a national and an expatriate consultants of ELTIP in cooperation with NCTB. The book is based on the principle that has guided the writing of the English For Today books from class 6 onwards —the principle of learning a language by actually practising it. This practice, which is carried out through the four language skills of speaking, listening, reading and, writing, usually in an interactive mode, underlies the communicative approach to language learning. As the focus is on the communicative functions of language, the main aim of the textbook is to provide ample opportunities for students to use English for a variety of purposes in interesting situations. The book is divided into units. Each unit, based on a theme, has several lessons that contain reading texts and a range of tasks and activities designed to enable students to ptactise the different skills, sometimes individually and sometimes in pairs or groups. Some literary texts have also been included. However, the emphasis in such cases is not just on content but on the exploitation of the texts to trigger a variety of language activities. The emphasis on the communicative approach, however, does not disregard the role of grammar. Instead of treating grammar as a set of rules to be memorised in isolation, the book has integrated grammar items into the lesson activities allowing grammar to assume a more meaningful role in the learning of English. Thus students develop their language skills by practising language activities and not merely by knowing the rules of the language. This communicative approach to learning English is familiar to the students of classes 11 & 12 who have already used the English For Today textbooks from class 6. A Teacher‘s Guide will be written to facilitate the teaching of this new book. A unit on population education has been appended to the book to raise awareness about the adverse effects of overpopulation on the socio-economic conditions of the country. It is expected that the new textbook will be an effective resource for the learning of English at this level. Professor Dr. Md. Masir Uddin Chairman National Curriculum & Textbook Board, Dhaka Syllabus ENGLISH PAPER -1 Seen Comprehension There will be a seen comprehension passage followed by a choice of questions. The comprehension questions should be equally divided between objective and more free / open. Comprehension question types should include the following: (a) Objective: (i) multiple choice (ii) true/false, (iii) filling in gaps with clues, (iv) information transfer, (v) making sentences from substitution table(s), (vi) matching phrases/ pictures, etc. Note: Questions will be set on any four of the above types (objective) every year. Each type will carry 5 marks ((54=20). There will be 5 questions carrying 1 mark each (i.e. 1 5 = 5) in one type. (b) More free: (vii) open-ended, (viii) filling in gaps without clues, (ix) summarising, (x) making notes, and (xi) re-writing in a different form. Note: Questions will be set on any four of the above types every year. There will be 5 questions carrying 1 mark each (i.e. 1 x 5 = 5) in one type. All the questions should test the students‘ ability to understand the passage as a whole, rather than their ability to copy sections from it. Although the seen comprehension passage will be taken from a set textbook, it will not encourage memorisation, because (i) the passage will be reproduced on the question paper, and (ii) the questions will not come from the textbook, but rather, will be new. Vocabulary There will be question on vocabulary contextualised in the form of doze passages the clues, and doze passages without clues. In order to provide more communicative contexts, the topics should be related to those already encountered by the students in seen and unseen comprehension. Writing: Guided There will be a number of writing tasks. The following types of exercises should be given: (i) producing sentences from substitution tables, (ii) reordering sentences, and (iii) answering questions in a paragraph. Note: There will be no alternative questions in all the three types. Distribution of Marks (a) Seen comprehension: 40 Marks Objective questions 20 More free/open questions 20 (b) Vocabulary 20 Marks Cloze test with clues 10 Cloze test without clues 10 (c) Guided writing 40 Marks Total = 100 Marks PAPER-2 Unseen Comprehension There will be an unseen comprehension passage followed by a choice of question. The comprehension passage will be of a different type than that used in the seen comprehension (i.e. paper—I). Comprehension question types should include the following: (a) Objective: (i) multiple choice. (ii) true/false, (iii) filling in gaps with clues, (iv) information transfer, (v) making sentences from substitution table(s), (vi) matching phrases / pictures, etc. Note: Questions will be set on any four of the above types every year. There will be 5 questions carrying 1 mark each (i.e. 1 x 5 = 5) in one type. (b) More free: (vii) open-ended, (viii) filling in gaps without clues, (ix) summarising, (x) making notes, and (xi) re-writing in a different form. Note: Questions will be set on any four of the above types every year. There will be 5 questions carrying 1 mark each (i. e 1 x 5 = 5) in one type. Grammar There will be questions on grammatical items contextualised in the form of cloze passages with clues (50%), and cloze passages without clues (50%). In order to provide more communicative contexts, the topics should be related to those already encountered by the students in the seen and unseen comprehension. There will not be any questions on explicit grammatical knowledge. Neither will explicit grammatical terms be used in the paper. Rather, questions will test the use of grammatical items within specific, meaningful contexts. Writing : More free The following types of exercises should be given: (i) answering questions about themselves, (ii) continuing a passage, (iii) writing from a model (provided in the paper), (iv) writing creatively from their own experience and / or imagination. Note 1 : There will be no alternative questions in any of these types. Distribution of Marks (a) Unseen comprehension: 40 Marks Objective questions 20 More free/open questions 20 (b) Grammar 20 Marks cloze test with clues 10 cloze test without clues 10 (c) Semi-guided to free writing 40 Marks Total =100 Marks Prescribed Book: English For Today, For Classes 11-12 Published by: National Curriculum & Textbook Board, Dhaka. CONTENTS Page No. Preface i Syllabus iii Book Map xii Unit One: Families Home and Abroad Lesson Title Page 1 Our Family 1 2 A Myanmar family 4 3 A Kenyan family 6 4 Mr Fraser‘s family 8 5 Changing trends 10 Unit Two: English Around Us 1 The language of newspapers and advertisements 14 2 We write and speak differently 16 3 Understanding instructions 19 4 Write it formally and informally 21 5 Words, words, words 23 6 British or American 25 7 English in literature 28 8 Daffodils 30 Unit Three: Learning English 1 Learning a language 33 2 Why learn English 34 3 How to learn English 36 4 Different learners, different ways 37 5 Dealing with grammar 39 6 Integrated skills development 40 7 How well do I know my dictionary? 42 Unit Four: Pastimes Lesson Title Page 1 Things we enjoy doing 45 2 Some unusual pastimes 47 3 Through the lens 50 4 Plants for pleasure 52 5 Under the banyan tree 54 Unit Five: Personality Types 1 What is he like! 57 2 Introverts and extroverts 59 3 Strange personalities 61 4 People I live with 64 5 How assertive are you 66 6 Jerry 69 Unit Six: Our Environment 1 The environment and the ecosystem 71 2 How the environment is polluted 72 3 The world is getting warmer 73 4 Let‘s not be cruel to them 76 5 Beware of pollution 78 6 Forests should stay 79 7 How to manage waste 81 Unit Seven: Disasters We Live With 1 A furious force 83 2 Grass fires 85 3 The parched earth 87 4 Erosion 89 5 The shake and the quake 91 6 ‗Under the greenwood tree‘ 92 Unit Eight: Towards Social Awareness Lesson Title Page 1 Caring and sharing 95 2 Waste not, want not 97 3 Isn‘t it too loud! 98 4 Think of others too 101 5 Getting along with 103 6 Rules, conventions and us 105 7 How can I contribute? 108 Unit Nine: Getting Educated 1 Why we need education 110 2 Options open to us 111 3 Problems we face 113 4 Towards higher education 114 5 Higher education abroad-I 116 6 Higher education abroad-II 117 7 What is life? 120 8 True education 122 Unit Ten: Entertainment 1 Getting the best out of TV 124 2 Fostering good will through sports 125 3 Film buff 127 4 Entertainment through the ages 129 5 The sound of music 131 Unit Eleven: Cultures Around the World 1 Cultural patterns 133 2 Changing dress patterns 135 3 Food habits and ways of eating 136 4 Food habits in some other countries 138 Lesson Title Page 5 Changing norms of behavior 140 6 Visiting Bangladesh