uslim community which is one of the major marginalized sections in the country forms 13.4% of population. And within this 13.4% of Muslim population, only 3-4% of Muslim children among the school going age go to madrasas. Madrasas have been significantly contributing to the universalization of education after Sarva Sikhsha Abhiyan (SSA) and plays an important role in socio-cultural and economic advancement of the Muslim community to prepare an increasing number of students from this underrepresented group (Muslim community) for higher education (Sachar Committee Report, 2006). The contribution of madrasas towards Muslims in particular and to the national movement of SSA and Universalization of Elementary Education (UEE) in general in no way can be negated. At the same time, madrasas have to realize that they are in the twenty first century and there are deficiencies in the entire madrasa system. Lack of opportunity for accessing education has led to poor quality of learning (Qasmi, 2005a). Therefore, outdated syllabi in madrasas and abysmal quality of education are driving Muslim youth away from the national mainstream. Madrasa learners get distanced from national mainstream and it makes Muslim youth economically unproductive as their degrees are not universally accepted (Rashid, 2018).
There is a need to strengthen the teaching of English in madrasas along with other subjects like Science, Mathematics, Social Studies, Hindi and this way create to further opportunities to students to acquire mainstream education. The syllabus of English language is very outdated as far the market needs are concerned. English language syllabus which runs in these institutions (madrasas) does not facilitate the teachers as well as the students with some functional competence of this language which is necessary in modern life. Besides, most of the teachers appointed to teach modern subjects in madrasas are untrained and inexperienced. Therefore, it seems essential that training programmes, specifically drawn up by NCERT, SCERTs and DIETS need to be mounted as early as feasible and therefore restructuring English language syllabus in madrasas needs a careful consideration. Keeping this in view, at the national level madrasas need to revise and update their syllabi and integrate contemporary knowledge with religious education. Despite various recommendations made by different commissions and reports of Government of India (such as NPE (1986), SPQEM, MOMS, NEP (2019) etc.), concrete strategies are missing for developing syllabus and teacher training procedures in English language curriculum (Nehal, 2011). The present scenario and shortcomings of syllabus of English language inside the madrasas need to be redesigned so as to give an inclusive outlook to the madrasa curriculum. Certain functional aspects of English language can be introduced with the modern teaching methods in madrasas so that they can be brought at par with other students who belong to CBSE, ICSE, any other state board (WB, UP, MP boards etc.), as they 'can have more realistic idea of what can be achieved in the given course and classroom activities can be seen to relate to learners' real-life needs' (Nunan, 1988b: 5).
Syllabus upgradation at the desired level would be one significant step for the madrasa community to play a significant role in educational and socioeconomic advancement of the community. This would finally add to the development of human indicators in terms of literacy, foundational skills of English language, etc. at the national level. In effect, the increased human development indicators as part of the augmented efforts in English language syllabus designing would make the development visible and would work as useful measures for mainstreaming madrasa education (Sachar Committee Report, 2006).
Objectives i. To analyze the need for restructuring English language syllabus at secondary school level in madrasa education. ii. To design a model English language syllabus at secondary school level for madrasa education.
III.
For this present study, diagnostic test was designed on the basis of four basic language skills i.e.
Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing (LSRW) and two other areas i.e. Grammar and Vocabulary for 205 students' samples from secondary level of madrasas of WB. The technique adopted to analyze the data of students' test papers is mean and percentile in excel. Interviews have been conducted with sixty five English teachers of madrasas of WB. Interview sessions were in Bengali language and the key points of each interview has been transcripted into English. The English textbooks of class X prescribed by WBBME has been taken for analysis.
The figure (shown below) presents the percentage of mean scores of students' performances in Reading skills, Vocabulary, Writing skills, Grammar, Speaking skills and Listening skills. students of madrasas can write. They also point out that content of writing task is not real-life based. iv. In listening and speaking skills there is no extra activity in the textbook and no ICT gadget is used for these two skills for enhancing language skills. v. Textbook need to be easy and have some activities on productive skills for mainstreaming the madrasa students with soft skills of English language, so that students can learn and use those skills in day-today life. vi. The base of English language of the students is poor. At primary level, in government schools or in madrasas, the status of teaching English is pathetic. vii. Most of the students pass the examination, although their performance in each skill is not good. Teachers commented that students take English subject only to pass the examination. They also added that in this syllabus to get pass marks is very easy but to learn something is quite unachievable. viii. GTM is followed in all madrasas where teachers translate the whole content into mother tongue (Bengali). ix. Lack of English teachers affects the education system. Besides, there is no frequent training programme for teachers. x. Memorization is very common strategy which is followed by madrasa learners. xi. Learners belong to economically and educationally poor background. Both parents and students are not serious about education. Drop-outs are also very common after VIII and X.
Textbook analysis helps to find out which items of English language has been taught to the learners, whether the textbook is fulfilling the four basic skills of English language or not. The textbook contains prose and poetry and at the end of the each lesson, exercises have been provided to measure and strengthen language skills and practice test are given to encourage students' participation. Some key findings of textbook analysis are: i. The prescribed textbook focuses on two skills of English language, Reading and Writing. ii. It does not deal with Listening and Speaking skills.
Neither they have any activity on speaking and listening skills in the textbook nor do they practice in the classroom. iii. In reading section given questions follow both the strategy of reading skills i.e. skimming and scanning. iv. There are several items of writing skills and grammar. But the sample activities are less in number in the textbook. v. Vocabulary is quite difficult of the lessons as far as the madrasa students are concerned. Moreover, the meaning of words given in 'word nest' are also very few in the textbook.
Triangulation of data obtained through diagnostic test, teachers' interviews and textbook analysis came up with some prominent issues regarding English language teaching in madrasas of WB. These are: i. In productive skills i.e. in writing and speaking learners of madrasas are very weak. They have poor performance in both the skills as the percentage of mean score shows in the figure (Figure 1). The transcript of teachers' interviews also supports the statement that around 10% of students can write. They could not write the letter/application in correct format as the particular writing task which was asked in diagnostic test (see appendix 1). Moreover, they are confused in alphabet like, 'b' and 'd', so it seems impossible for them to write any whole task correctly. ii. The English textbook of class X of madrasas of WB contains literary prose and poem which is not easy for the students of madrasa. The language and vocabulary of the lessons is very difficult for them, and so they have less interest in learning. iii. Diagnostic test shows 61% students' performance in reading skills. But this figure relates only seen passages. Students' performance is basically dependent on rote learning and memorization which have factorized high mean scores in reading skills. iv. It is known from all the area of findings that vocabulary of the lessons in the textbook seems difficult to the madrasa students. As they are not able to comprehend all the meaning of the text they cannot perform well in skimming portion of reading skills in the diagnostic test. v. Several items of grammar are there in the textbook, but a detailed explanation of grammar instruction or sample activities is lacking. Therefore, the students who are already lacking in basics of English language face difficulty in understanding the activity and as the class becomes higher it seems quite tough to the teachers to make students understand in detail because of the burden of the syllabus. vi. The methods of this study also show neither there is any separate activity for listening and speaking skills nor they do any extra gadgets in the classroom. Not only students are unaware of using ICT gadgets for these skills but teachers also do not have proper knowledge about it. vii. GTM is commonly used in all madrasas where teachers use to translate the whole text in their mother tongue (Bengali) to make the learners understand easily and both the teachers and students are comfortable in this way of teaching.
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Moreover, teachers do not converse in English in meetings, discussions or in any talk with colleagues. viii. All the English teachers have pre-service teaching courses (B. Ed., M. Ed. or D. Ed.) as it is compulsory qualification for teachers' recruitment but there is no regular in-service training programme for teachers or any orientation or refresher course for them; once in a year or two they get a chance to go to any teaching programme. ix. The number of students in each class X of madrasas is large as compared to the number of English teachers. So, the quality of teaching and learning English is poor due to this varied studentteacher ratio. x. Though the students of madrasas do not have basic knowledge of English language, most of them pass the examination by following some strategy or depending on rote learning. The teachers commented on pass-out rate that "in this new syllabus, to pass the examination is very easy but to learn the language properly is quite difficult for the students". xi. The examination pattern is based only on writing.
Students study very selectively, memorize those and write the same in the examination. xii. Students cannot afford any extra facility from their home for learning language because most of them belong to families which are educationally and economically poor and backward. Moreover, dropouts are very common from class VIII and IX as girls get married and boys go for earning money on daily-wage basis. Beside the above, students of class X of madrasas only follow rote learning and memorize all the activities and contents of textbook, and they are not able to understand the instructions of questions. They make lots of spelling mistakes and have punctuation problems.
The findings are elicited and validated from the triangulation of data obtained through quantitative method (diagnostic test), qualitative method (teachers' interview) and document analysis (textbook). The data came up with some critical issues of context-oriented English language teaching in madrasas. Students' performance is basically dependent on rote learning and memorization. Besides, other issues related to teaching methodology are directly concerned with difficulty level of the textbook content, rote method of learning, dictating question-answer, lack of requisite training programme etc. Moreover, madrasa learners do not get opportunity to learn functional aspects of English language.
Teachers and students in madrasa work under difficult constraints and challenges. They deal with different sets of challenges that are critical to bring things at par with ELT issues practiced in mainstream settings. Compared with mainstream education, madrasas need more introspection and deeper probe. Thus, it is high time for exploring possibilities in terms of an alternative route to the curriculum that can have degree of fit between the needs and aims of learning of madrasa learners and can address the teacher's need to work out a madrasa-friendly syllabus on English language teaching and also to bridge the gap between the existing status of madrasa learners and their concern for gainful employability. An alternate route to the redesigning of English syllabus is being proposed as part of the recommendations.
In a pluralistic and multilingual society the place of English as a link language cannot be ignored. The study depicted the teaching-learning situation of English language and its 'degree of fit' in madrasa education system. The English syllabus prescribed for madrasas does not fulfill the requirements of higher studies, job market and even in daily usage of English language, so they become 'unappreciated, neglected and rejected outside the classroom and in every move of their life' (Salma, 2017). Hence, this leads to re-look at the syllabus of English of class X and redesign it with modern teaching method.
The objective of this syllabus is to improve their performance in every skill of English language so that they will be able to talk/convey/write their ideas and information appropriately. This syllabus is divided into six sections according to language skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing, Grammar and Vocabulary. Each section divided into three levels (Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced) and every level has separate objective to categorize and demarcate the exact learning level expected from learners.
At the end of the lesson students would be able to: i. Listen and write the words.
ii. Listen to understand and respond. Course content i. Single-word dictation.
ii. True and false. Sample activities i. Listen to the teacher and write down the words: (a) Mango, (b) Elephant, (c) Winter, (d) Bench, (e) Nose. i. Listen to these statements, understand and mark True/False: a. The colour of your dress is white. b. There is no playground in this madrasa. c. The colour of the blackboard is pink.
At the end of the lesson students would be able to: i. Speak out the object shown in picture.
ii. Speak a sentence with a given word. Course content i. Naming objects.
ii. Saying sentence. Sample activities i. Speak out the objects given in the picture: (picture sheet will be distributed to the students and teacher will ask them to name those objects aloud)
i. Look at the word on the blackboard and speak a sentence on it (teacher will write words on the blackboard and ask the students to speak out a sentence using that word): (a) Pen, (b) Apple, (c) Dress, (d) Tree.
At the end of the lesson students would be able to: i. Read a text and comprehend it.
ii We had to hurry to fix the kite if we wanted to send it up before the wind fell. We rushed into the lighthouse to get some paper. We knew there was no more red paper. We took the first thing that came handy-an old letter lying on the bookcase in the sitting room. We patched the kite up with the letter, a sheet on each side and dried it by the fire (Bliss, Class X, P. 42).
At the end of the lesson students would be able to: i. Enable them to take the dictation of a passage properly.
ii. Enable them to identify the main idea after listening a story/event. Course content i. Dictation ii. Listen for main idea. Sample activities i. Dictation: (teacher will read aloud the following passage for dictation) Most people think that the cat is an unintelligent animal, fond of ease and caring little for anything but mice and milk. But a cat has really more character than most human beings, and gets a great deal more satisfaction out of life (Bliss, Class X, WBBSE, P. 53).
ii. Identify the main idea of the story: (teacher will tell the story to the students and after listening they will identify the main idea) My sister has been sitting at the table for fifteen minutes and waiting for me to make her breakfast, but I can't do it. My sister has never prepared breakfast for herself and I do not like it. (https://www.tolearnenglish.com/ forum/lire.php?num=6&msg=69037&titre=Present+tense%2Fstory) iv. Underline the Past tense of verb in the following paragraph: I woke up around 8:30 am in the morning yesterday. It was not the first time for me to be late for the class Anyway, I brushed my teeth and put on my clothes immediately and went to catch my bus. As soon I reached there, I was shocked to see that the bus had already left taking all the passengers from the bus stop. I sat on the bench and I was very worried. I had been waiting there for the next bus for an hour, but there was no sign of it. (https://www.tolearnenglish.com/forum/lire.php?num=6&msg =68843&titre=Past+tense%2Fmy+story)
v. Underline the Future tense of verb in the following paragraph: On Saturday, Mimi will be one year old. Mimi's parents are going to have a birthday party. Many people will be at the party. She will have so much fun! Mimi's aunt is going to bake a cake. It will be a chocolate cake. Mimi will love her cake! All of Mimi's relatives will bring presents. Then, everyone will eat cake and ice cream. (https://www.lingq.com/lesson/ simple-future-story-1-626229/) vi. Tick out the correct form of verbs and give reasons: a. Akhter (rise/ rises/ rising/ rose) at 6 a.m. daily. Explanation: b. She (has been/ is/ was/ had) living in Kolkata since her birth.
Explanation: c. Last Monday, while we (was watching/ have been watching/ were watching) the television, the electricity went off. Explanation:
At the end of the lesson students would be able to: i. Learn synonyms and antonyms of words. Course content i. Synonyms ii. Antonyms Sample activities i. Give synonyms of the following words: Tell-__________, Good-_________, Large-________ ii. Give antonyms of the following words: Good-________, Day-_________, Happy-__________ Advanced Level
At the end of the lesson students would be able to: i. Follow one-step direction in a familiar context to complete a simple task.
(listen to audio-clip for the task) ii. Follow simple instructions for filling up forms, applications etc. The Headmaster (1) (2) Date: 11.08.2018 K.C.K. High Madrasa Bhagwangola Sub: Application for School Leaving Certificate. (3) Sir, (4) (5) I inform you that I had been a student of your madrasa for six years and passed 10 th in 2010. Now, I want to get admission in Bhagwangola High School in class XI and for that I need school leaving certificate from you. Therefore, kindly issue me the certificate so that I can continue my education.
Thank you, Yours sincerely, (6) Umme Salma (7) (1)-The name, designation and address of the person to whom you are addressing the letter. ( 2 Hints for body of the letter: at 2 p.m., want to state that, unable to stay, for my illness, a humble request, for remaining periods, for those periods, grant my.
iii. Write a letter to the Headmaster/Headmistress complaining against 'no books in the library' of your madrasa.
i. In writing a newspaper report the following points must be kept in mind:
Cyclone Hits Coastal West Bengal (1) -By a Staff Reporter (1)there must be heading, (2)-write 'by a staff reporter' either at the top right hand corner below the heading or at the right hand corner below the report, (3)-place and date must be mentioned, (4)-there must be a lead paragraph, (5)-additional important information, (6)-other details. Note : Past and present forms of verbs are generally used.
ii. Write a newspaper report within 100 words on a boat capsize. Use the following hints:
Placeâ?"?dateâ?"?number of people in the boatâ?"?causeâ?"? casualtiesâ?"?rescue operationâ?"?steps taken by the government.
At the end of the lesson students would be able to: i. Join sentences to make complex/compound sentence (with which/ when/that/because/as/and/but etc.). ii. Transform sentences into interrogative/assertive. iii. Make simple WH questions (affirm./neg.). iv. Change voice and narration.
Choose the correct alternative to complete the following sentence:-
Sample activities | |
ii. Choose the correct alternative to complete the following sentence: | |
1. In the summer season, the Big Half Moon, an island, is always- | |
a. Boring | |
b. Sultry | |
c. Dull | |
d. Lovely | |
2. The last summer before when Dick and Mimi came they were crazy | |
about- | |
a. Big half moon | |
b. Kites | |
c. Island | |
d. Harbour | |
3. The size of the kite, made by them, was- | |
a. small one | |
b. medium one | |
c. extra small | |
d. big | |
Writing Skills | |
Objectives | At the end of the lesson students would be able to: |
i. Re-order the jumbled words to make sentences. | |
ii. Write complete sentences. | |
Course content | i. Making sentences. |
ii. Completing sentences. | |
Sample activities | i. Re-order the following into meaningful sentences: |
a. to-am-Kolkata-going-I. | |
b. dress-I-new-have-a. | |
c. your-lessons-study-you-should. | |
ii. Complete the following sentences: | |
When I feel hungry I eat _______. My favourite food is _________ because | |
Course content Sample activities | ___________________. i. Reading comprehension Some foods I can make by myself are ________________________. ii. Scanning i. Read the following: (https://www.education.com/worksheet/article/sentence-writing-2/) |
Grammar | |
Objective | At the end of the lesson students would be able to use: |
i. Parts of Speech (noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, preposition, | |
conjunction) | |
Course content | i. Parts of Speech |
Writing Skills | ||||||
Objectives | At the end of the lesson students would be able to: | |||||
i. Write a formal letter/application in proper format and in a meaningful | ||||||
way. | ||||||
ii. Write a newspaper report. | ||||||
Course content | i. Letter writing (formal) | |||||
ii. Report writing. | ||||||
Sample activities | A. | Letter Writing | ||||
i. Identify the different parts of formal letter given below: | ||||||
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Reading Skills | ||||||
Objective | At the end of the lesson students would be able to: | |||||
i. Answer questions in their own words. | ||||||
Course content | i. Intensive reading | |||||
Sample activities | i. Answer the following question in your own words (from the text of | |||||
Reading skills of Beginner's level): | ||||||
a. Describe the harbour in summer season. listening_part5.htm) ___________________________________________ | examenglish.com/KET/ket_ | |||||
Star Language School b. Write down the theme of the text. First Floor: Library You can borrow ___________________________________________ | reading | books | and | |||
____________for | 2 | weeks. | ||||
You cannot borrow ________________. | ||||||
Second | Computer | Room | ||||
Floor: | The booking form is on the ________________. | |||||
____________________ | ||||||
Basement: | ||||||
Saturday | Visit a __________________ in Warwick. | |||||
Trip: |
a. Boring | |
b. Sultry | |
c. Dull | |
d. Lovely | |
4. The last summer before when Dick and Mimi came they were crazy about - | |
a. Big half moon | |
b. Kites | |
c. Island | |
d. Harbour | |
5. On returning back to their favourite island, Claude and the narrator used to make plenty of | |
a. masks | |
b. kites | |
c. envelopes | |
d. Puppets | |
6. The size of the kite, made by them, was | |
a. small one | |
b. medium one | |
c. extra small | |
d. big | |
7. Claude and the narrator while making it, covered with | |
a. lovely green paper | |
b. lovely golden paper | |
c. lovely red paper | |
d. lovely silver paper | |
8. Claude and the narrator pasted | |
a. silver tinsel stars all over it | |
b. gold tinsel stars all over it | |
c. green tinsel stars all over it | |
d. blue tinsel stars all over it | |
9. The theme of this paragraph is - | |
a. About a lovely big half moon | |
b. About an island | |
c. About the value of relationships | |
d. About a kite. | |
II. | Answer the following questions: |
11. Describe the harbour in summer season. |
i. Joining sentences (make complex/compound) ii. Transformation of sentences iii. 'Wh' question iv. Voice and narration change. Sample activities i. Joining sentences: a. Amin is an intelligent boy. (Change the sentence into complex and compound sentence) ii. Make interrogative/assertive: a. This is an English book. (Make it interrogative). b. Isn't he a good person? (Make it assertive). iii. Make 'Wh-' questions:
a. The pen is red. iv. Change the mode of voice and narration: a. I buy a pen. (Change into passive voice) b. Umme says to me, "Are you going to Agra?" (Change the mode of narration) v. Join the following pairs of sentences using when, before, after or although .
a. We reached home. We found that my younger sister had fallen asleep. b. I had sung in the competition last year. I was invited to sing in several concerts. c. We came out of the cinema hall last Tuesday. We found that someone had punctured the tyres of several cycles. It is always lovely on the Big Half Moon in summer. When it is fine, the harbour is blue and calm, with little wind and ripples. Every summer, we had some hobby. The last summer before Dick and Mimi came, we were crazy about kites. A boy on the mainland showed Claude how to make them. Back on the island we made plenty of kites. Claude would go around to the other side of the island and we would play shipwrecked mariners signalling to each other with kites. We had a kite that was big and covered with lovely red paper. We pasted gold tinsel stars all over it and had written our names full on itâ?"? Claude Leete and Philippa Leete, Big Half Moon lighthouse.
One day there was a grand wind for kite-flying. I'm not sure how it happened, but as I was bringing the kite from the house, I tripped and fell over the rocks. My elbow went clear through the kite, making a big hole. We had to hurry to fix the kite if we wanted to send it up before the wind fell. We rushed into the lighthouse to get some paper. We knew there was no more red paper. We took the first thing that came handy-an old letter lying on the bookcase in the sitting room. We patched the kite up with the letter, a sheet on each side and dried it by the fire. We started out, and up went the kite like a bird. The wind was glorious and it soared. All at once-snap! And there was Claude, standing with a bit of cord in his hand, looking foolish. Our kite had sailed away over to the mainland.