Linguistic Universals
©Sapkota-2010(This material is copyright. The author allows a reader to use it for the studying purpose only. It doesn’t allow the copying of entire of making multiple copies. Written permission is needed for that purpose in advance)
A linguistic universal is a statement that is true for all natural languages. For example, All languages have nouns and verbs, or All spoken languages have consonants and vowels. Research in this area of linguistics is closely tied to linguistic typology, and intends to reveal information about how the human brain processes language. The field was largely pioneered by the linguist Joseph Greenberg, who from a set of some thirty languages derived a set of basic universals, mostly dealing with syntax.
Terminology
Linguists distinguish between two kinds of universals: absolute (opposite: statistical, often called tendencies) and implicational (opposite non-implicational). Absolute universals apply to every known language and are quite few in number; an example is All languages have pronouns. An implicational universal applies to languages with a particular feature that is always accompanied by another feature, such as If a language has trial grammatical number, it also has dual grammatical number, while non-implicational universals just state the existence (or non-existence) of one particular feature.
Also in contrast to absolute universals are tendencies, statements that may not be true for all languages, but nevertheless are far too common to be the result of chance. They also have implicational and non-implicational forms. An example of the latter would be The vast majority of languages have nasal consonants[1]. However, most tendencies, like their universal counterparts, are implicational. For example, With overwhelmingly greater than chance frequency, languages with normal SOV order are postpositional. Strictly speaking, a tendency is not a kind of universal, but exceptions to most statements called universals can be found. For example, Latin is an SOV language with prepositions. Often it turns out that these exceptional languages are undergoing a shift from one type of language to another. In the case of Latin, its descendant Romance languages switched to SVO, which is a much more common order among prepositional languages.
Universals may also be bidirectional or unidirectional. In a bidirectional universal two features each imply the existence of each other. For example, languages with postpositions usually have SOV order, and likewise SOV languages usually have postpositions. The implication works both ways, and thus the universal is bidirectional. By contrast, in a unidirectional universal the implication works only one way. Languages that place relative clauses before the noun they modify again usually have SOV order, so pre-nominal relative clauses imply SOV. On the other hand, worldwide SOV languages show little preference for pre-nominal relative clauses, and thus SOV implies little about the order of relative clauses. As the implication works only one way, the proposed universal is a unidirectional one.
Linguistic universals in syntax are sometimes held up as evidence for universal grammar (although epistemological arguments are more common). Other explanations for linguistic universals have been proposed, for example, that linguistic universals tend to be properties of language which aid communication. If a language were to lack one of these properties, it has been argued, it would probably soon evolve into a language having that property.
In phonology
Some linguistic universals (or tendencies) may be phonologically based. For example, the raspberry sound is never used phonemically within any human language, while there is no known spoken language without an open vowel such as /a/ or /ɑ/. All spoken languages also have some plosives.According to Roman Jakobson and Linda Waugh, numerous studies have proved that high-pitched sounds (such as /i/, as in poquito (Spanish), kitty (English), maomi (Mandarin)) frequently refer to smaller beings or objects (hypothesized to be such because smaller creatures can produce only high-pitched sounds).
In semantics
In the domain of semantics, research into linguistic universals has taken place in a number of ways. Some linguists, starting with Leibniz, have pursued the search for a hypothetic irreducible semantic core of all languages. A modern variant of this approach can be found in the Natural Semantic Metalanguage of Wierzbicka and associates. Other lines of research suggest cross-linguistic tendencies to use body part terms metaphorically as adpositions, or tendencies to have morphologically simple words for cognitively salient concepts. The human body, being a physiological universal, provides an ideal domain for research into semantic and lexical universals. In a seminal study, Cecil H. Brown (1976) proposed a number of universals in the semantics of body part terminology, including the following: in any language, there will be distinct terms for BODY, HEAD, ARM, EYES, NOSE, and MOUTH; if there is a distinct term for FOOT, there will be a distinct term for HAND; similarly, if there are terms for INDIVIDUAL TOES, then there are terms for INDIVIDUAL FINGERS. Subsequent research has shown that most of these features have to be considered cross-linguistic tendencies rather than true universals. Several languages, for example Tidore and Kuuk Thaayorre, lack a general term meaning 'body'. On the basis of such data it has been argued that the highest level in the partonomy of body part terms would be the word for 'person'.
Notes and references
Nearly five thousand languages are spoken in the world today. They seem to be quite different, but still, many of them show similar principles, such as word order. For example, in languages such as English, French, and Italian, the words of the clause take the order of first the subject, then the verb, and then the direct object.There even exist basic patterns or principles that are shared by all languages. These patterns are called universals.When the same principles are shared by several languages, we speak of language types. There are several examples for universals.
.1 Semantic universals
There are semantic categories that are shared by all cultures and refered to by all languages - these are called semantic universals. There are many examples of semantic universals. Let's discuss two of them:
One semantic universal regards our notion of color. There exist eleven basic color terms:
black, white, red, green, blue, yellow, brown, purple, pink, orange, and grey.
The pattern that all languages universally abide by, is that they do not entertain a notion of a color term outside of that range. This means, any imaginable color is conceived of as a mixture, shade, or subcategory of one of these eleven basic color terms.As a result, one way of classifying languages is by color terms. The eleven color terms are not in usage equally among the languages on Earth. Not all languages have all basic color terms. Some have two, some three, and some four. Others have five, six, or seven, and some have eight to eleven.Those with two color terms always have black and white,those with three black, white, and red,and those with more have additional basic color terms according to the order in the list given above. This is a universal pattern. The languages which have the same basic color terms in common belong to the same language type. Hence, we find seven classes of languages according to this scheme.
Another semantic universal is the case of pronouns. Think of what it is you do when you talk to someone about yourself. There is always the "I", representing you as the speaker, and the "you", meaning the addressee. You could not possibly do without that, and neither could a speaker of any other language on earth. Again, we find a universal pattern here. Whenever you do not talk about yourself as a person, but as a member of a group, you use the plural "we". English is restricted to these two classes of pronouns: singular and plural, each in the first, second, and third person. All languages that evince this structure are grouped into one language type. There are other languages that make use of even more pronouns. In some languages, it is possible to address two people with a pronoun that specifically indicates not just their being plural, but also their being 'two' people; this is then the dual pronoun.Other examples are languages that have pronouns to refer to the speaker and the addressee together, called inclusive pronouns. Exclusive pronouns refer to the speaker together with people other than the addressee. However, these are not among the European languages.
2. Phonological universals
Different languages may have very different sets of vowels. If you are familiar with a few foreign languages, you may find it difficult to believe there are universal rules governing the distribution of vowels, but they do exist. Remember our example of basic color terms: A similar pattern could be drawn on the basis of the vowel system. Languages with few vowels always have the same set of vowel types. And if a language has more vowels, it is always the same type of vowel that is added to the set. These vowels may not always sound exactly the same, but they are always created at the same location in our vocal apparatus.
3. Syntactic universals
Remember the word order of English I mentioned above. Hmhm, you say: that cannot be a universal rule, since you know other sentences from English and possibly from other languages which do not follow this order. You are right, but the order subject, verb, object (SVO) may be defined as the basic order of English sentences. In other languages there are different "basic" orders, such as Japanese (SOV) or Tongan (VSO), a Polynesian language. After an extensive study, one can define two different sets of basic orders that languages follow: First
SVO, VSO, SOV
and second
VOS, OVS, OSV.
What is the difference? In the first set the subject precedes the object, in the second set it follows the object. Since the first set is the one which applies to the basic structures of far more languages than the second one does, the universal rule is that there is an overwhelming tendency for the subject of a sentence to precede the direct object among the languages of the world.
4 Absolute universals - universal tendencies; implicational - nonimplicational universals
Of course, not all universals can be found in all languages. With so many tongues spoken, it would be hard not to find any exceptions. Most languages have not even been the subject of extensive research as of yet. However, some rules appear without exception in the languages which have been studied so far. We call these absolute universals. If there are minor exceptions to the rule, we speak of universal tendencies or relative universals. In saying this, we take for granted that exceptions may be found in future surveys among languages which have remained unexplored up to the present day.Sometimes a universal holds only if a particular condition of the language structure is fulfilled. These universals are called implicational. Universals which can be stated without a condition are called nonimplicational. In other words, whenever a rule "If ... then ..." is valid, the universal appears in the structure of the respective language.There are thus four types of universals: implicational absolute universals, implicational relative universals, nonimplicational absolute universals, and nonimplicational relative universals. The final determination of which type a universal belongs to is dependent on intensive field research
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Dell Hymes, Linguist With a Wide Net, Dies at 82/ ( Article For: Masters' in ELT)
Dell Hymes, Linguist With a Wide Net, Dies at 82/ For:Masters' in ELT
Dell H. Hymes, a prominent anthropologist, linguist and folklorist whose work mined the rich, often overlooked territory where language and culture intersect, died on Nov. 13 in Charlottesville, Va. He was 82 and lived in Charlottesville.
Dell H. Hymes
The cause was complications of Alzheimer’s disease, his son Robert said.
At his death, Professor Hymes was the Commonwealth professor of anthropology emeritus at theUniversity of Virginia, where he had taught from 1987 till his retirement in 1998.
Professor Hymes’s academic net was so wide that a single name for his field is hard to come by: he has been described variously as a sociolinguist, an anthropological linguist and a linguistic anthropologist. He himself came to call his vast, ecumenical discipline “the ethnography of communication.”
“He was an anthropologist through and through and a linguist through and through, and he didn’t see an enormous barrier between the two,” Joel F. Sherzer, emeritus professor of anthropology at the University of Texas, said in a telephone interview on Friday.
As an anthropologist, Professor Hymes pressed his colleagues not to lose sight of language.
“You’ve got the anthropologists who are archaeologists and the ones who are looking at cultural phenomena through kinship systems or through artifacts,” Deborah Tannen, aGeorgetown University linguist and the author of popular books about communication, said on Thursday. “They might study a phenomenon like potlatch without looking at, How do people talk when they’re at the potlatch?”
As a linguist, Professor Hymes pressed those colleagues not to lose sight of culture. This was a contrarian position in the late 1950s, when he began his career, but that, by all accounts, suited him just fine.
In 1957, with the ascent of a young linguist named Noam Chomsky, the direction of linguistics changed drastically. Suddenly, the field had little interest in language as a form of social behavior, its focus for decades. Now it was about biology — about language as a window onto the workings of the mind.
The aim of linguists, Professor Chomsky argued, should be to describe an idealized speaker’s inborn predisposition for language — also known as “linguistic competence” — by means of abstract, quasi-mathematical algorithms.
Professor Hymes preferred speakers of flesh and blood. To him and like-minded scholars, the Chomskyan approach disregarded the question of how people actually use language in everyday life. With his colleague John J. Gumperz, he developed the notion of “communicative competence” as a bigger, alternative quarry for scholars of language.
“ ‘Communicative competence’ embraces the larger context of society and culture — the language the way it’s used, not just the language itself,” Roger W. Shuy, an emeritus professor of linguistics at Georgetown, said by telephone on Thursday.
Professor Hymes encouraged his disciples to study every living, breathing form of discourse they could lay their hands on, things like table talk; myths, legends and riddles; courtroom testimony, political oratory, funeral laments and leave-taking conversations. Part of his aim was to discover the ways in which these differ across cultures.
“They’re not universal,” Professor Sherzer said. “The way you take leave among the Kuna” — an indigenous people of Panama and Colombia — “is not the same as in middle-class Anglo-Saxon society.”
Dell Hathaway Hymes was born on June 7, 1927, in Portland, Ore.; by the time he was a young man, he was already deeply interested in Northwest American Indian languages. He earned a bachelor’s degree in literature and anthropology from Reed College in 1950 and a Ph.D. in linguistics from Indiana University in 1955.
Before joining the Virginia faculty, Professor Hymes taught at Harvard; the University of California, Berkeley; and the University of Pennsylvania, where he became dean of the Graduate School of Education. He was a past president of the American Anthropological Association, the Linguistic Society of America and the American Folklore Society and the inaugural editor of the journal Language in Society.
After a brief early marriage that ended in divorce, Professor Hymes married Virginia Dosch Wolff in 1954. He is survived by his wife, now known as Virginia Dosch Hymes; four children, Vicky Unruh and Robert, Alison and Kenneth Hymes; a brother, Corwin; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren .
His books include “Foundations in Sociolinguistics: An Ethnographic Approach” (University of Pennsylvania, 1974) and “Ethnography, Linguistics, Narrative Inequality: Toward an Understanding of Voice” (Taylor & Francis, 1996). He edited many anthologies, among them “Reinventing Anthropology” (Pantheon, 1972) and, with Professor Gumperz, “Directions in Sociolinguistics: the Ethnography of Communication” (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1972).
Professor Hymes was also known for his work in ethnopoetics, which studies the traditional literature, much of it oral, of indigenous peoples. Where Western scholarship had long dismissed this literature as the formless burblings of primitive peoples, Professor Hymes helped demonstrate that much of it — including American Indian stories and African legends — has sophisticated internal structure in its own right.
In the introduction to his book “‘In Vain I Tried to Tell You’: Essays in Native American Ethnopoetics” (University of Pennsylvania, 1981), Professor Hymes summarized his approach to the study of traditional texts. It could as readily describe his approach to language as a whole:
“As with ‘Beowulf’ and ‘The Tale of Genji,’ the material requires some understanding of a way of life,” he wrote. “The joy, the language, the understanding are all of a piece. They come together, because they were put together by the people who made the texts.”
Dell H. Hymes, a prominent anthropologist, linguist and folklorist whose work mined the rich, often overlooked territory where language and culture intersect, died on Nov. 13 in Charlottesville, Va. He was 82 and lived in Charlottesville.
Dell H. Hymes
The cause was complications of Alzheimer’s disease, his son Robert said.
At his death, Professor Hymes was the Commonwealth professor of anthropology emeritus at theUniversity of Virginia, where he had taught from 1987 till his retirement in 1998.
Professor Hymes’s academic net was so wide that a single name for his field is hard to come by: he has been described variously as a sociolinguist, an anthropological linguist and a linguistic anthropologist. He himself came to call his vast, ecumenical discipline “the ethnography of communication.”
“He was an anthropologist through and through and a linguist through and through, and he didn’t see an enormous barrier between the two,” Joel F. Sherzer, emeritus professor of anthropology at the University of Texas, said in a telephone interview on Friday.
As an anthropologist, Professor Hymes pressed his colleagues not to lose sight of language.
“You’ve got the anthropologists who are archaeologists and the ones who are looking at cultural phenomena through kinship systems or through artifacts,” Deborah Tannen, aGeorgetown University linguist and the author of popular books about communication, said on Thursday. “They might study a phenomenon like potlatch without looking at, How do people talk when they’re at the potlatch?”
As a linguist, Professor Hymes pressed those colleagues not to lose sight of culture. This was a contrarian position in the late 1950s, when he began his career, but that, by all accounts, suited him just fine.
In 1957, with the ascent of a young linguist named Noam Chomsky, the direction of linguistics changed drastically. Suddenly, the field had little interest in language as a form of social behavior, its focus for decades. Now it was about biology — about language as a window onto the workings of the mind.
The aim of linguists, Professor Chomsky argued, should be to describe an idealized speaker’s inborn predisposition for language — also known as “linguistic competence” — by means of abstract, quasi-mathematical algorithms.
Professor Hymes preferred speakers of flesh and blood. To him and like-minded scholars, the Chomskyan approach disregarded the question of how people actually use language in everyday life. With his colleague John J. Gumperz, he developed the notion of “communicative competence” as a bigger, alternative quarry for scholars of language.
“ ‘Communicative competence’ embraces the larger context of society and culture — the language the way it’s used, not just the language itself,” Roger W. Shuy, an emeritus professor of linguistics at Georgetown, said by telephone on Thursday.
Professor Hymes encouraged his disciples to study every living, breathing form of discourse they could lay their hands on, things like table talk; myths, legends and riddles; courtroom testimony, political oratory, funeral laments and leave-taking conversations. Part of his aim was to discover the ways in which these differ across cultures.
“They’re not universal,” Professor Sherzer said. “The way you take leave among the Kuna” — an indigenous people of Panama and Colombia — “is not the same as in middle-class Anglo-Saxon society.”
Dell Hathaway Hymes was born on June 7, 1927, in Portland, Ore.; by the time he was a young man, he was already deeply interested in Northwest American Indian languages. He earned a bachelor’s degree in literature and anthropology from Reed College in 1950 and a Ph.D. in linguistics from Indiana University in 1955.
Before joining the Virginia faculty, Professor Hymes taught at Harvard; the University of California, Berkeley; and the University of Pennsylvania, where he became dean of the Graduate School of Education. He was a past president of the American Anthropological Association, the Linguistic Society of America and the American Folklore Society and the inaugural editor of the journal Language in Society.
After a brief early marriage that ended in divorce, Professor Hymes married Virginia Dosch Wolff in 1954. He is survived by his wife, now known as Virginia Dosch Hymes; four children, Vicky Unruh and Robert, Alison and Kenneth Hymes; a brother, Corwin; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren .
His books include “Foundations in Sociolinguistics: An Ethnographic Approach” (University of Pennsylvania, 1974) and “Ethnography, Linguistics, Narrative Inequality: Toward an Understanding of Voice” (Taylor & Francis, 1996). He edited many anthologies, among them “Reinventing Anthropology” (Pantheon, 1972) and, with Professor Gumperz, “Directions in Sociolinguistics: the Ethnography of Communication” (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1972).
Professor Hymes was also known for his work in ethnopoetics, which studies the traditional literature, much of it oral, of indigenous peoples. Where Western scholarship had long dismissed this literature as the formless burblings of primitive peoples, Professor Hymes helped demonstrate that much of it — including American Indian stories and African legends — has sophisticated internal structure in its own right.
In the introduction to his book “‘In Vain I Tried to Tell You’: Essays in Native American Ethnopoetics” (University of Pennsylvania, 1981), Professor Hymes summarized his approach to the study of traditional texts. It could as readily describe his approach to language as a whole:
“As with ‘Beowulf’ and ‘The Tale of Genji,’ the material requires some understanding of a way of life,” he wrote. “The joy, the language, the understanding are all of a piece. They come together, because they were put together by the people who made the texts.”
Make Your Life as Natural and Lovely as:
This is our nature that created this design. Make yourself natural and updated, there is noneone to lead you but there is to help. you.(View from:Kalika Mandir Premises,Baglung,Nepal)
Lets' make our life as sweet as this child. Life is so interesting if you can enjoy it.Lets start to make our life as lovely as nature.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Grammar practice Sheets/XI
Grammar practice Sheets/XI
HSEB-2010(2067)
Part-I
©Sapkota-2010(This material is copyright. The author allows a reader to use it for the studying purpose only. It doesn’t allow the copying of entire of making multiple copies. Written permission is needed for that purpose in advance.)
Link English
I.WORD SELECTION/SENTENCE ARRANGEMENT
1. Put the following words in to the correct order to make suitable sentence:
i. The/ must/ bus/ he/ have/ caught. 3
ii. Angry/ she/ with/ is/ ram.
iii. Him/ made/ captain/ we.
2. (a) Rewrite these sentences, fill in the gaps with appropriate words from the brackets. 2
i. Amerada runs a _______ shop. (stationary/ stationery)
ii. Utah is _______ mid-west USA. (to/in)
iii. I'm sorry, but your handwriting is ______ (eligible/ illegible)
iv. His torn shirt, ______, he needs a new one. (however/therefore)
(b) Put the following words n the correct order to make suitable sentences:3
a. does/ her/ have / what / she / hand/ in?
b. What / do / she / not / have / i / wants.
c. Of / he /tea / her / him / up / asked / give / a / to.
3. (a) write present participle and past participle form of the following verb:2
(i) Sing (ii) run
(b) Add appropriate prefix or suffix in the following words:3
(i) Usual (ii) satisfied (iii) child
(iv) Do (v) happy (vi) loyal
4. (a) Rearrange the following words in correct order o as to make sensible sentence: 3
(i) Do / you / see / pokhara / in / like / to / what /?
(ii) he / had / visit / to / ashish / if / money / , / enough / would / Australia / go.
(iii) where / is / the / village / I / this / live.
(b) Rewrite the following sentences choosing the correct words from the pair given in the brackets:2
(i) We are sending her a letter of.............. (congratulation / congratulation )
(ii) The ................ of our school is mostly busy. (principle / principal )
(iii) Do you think the new constitution of Nepal will come into............. (After / effect) soon?
(iv) She is fond of.............. (Play / playing) badminton.
5. (a) Put the following words in correct order to make sensible sentence: 5
(i) His/ he/ to/ had/ dinner/ started/ just/ eat
(ii) Of/ he/ tea/ her/ him/ cup/ asked/ give/ a/ to
(iii) A/ she/ hospital/ hoped/ in/ doctor/ become/ to/ a
(b) Rewrite the following sentences choosing the correct words from the pair given in the brackets:
(i) I would strongly ............... you to use the dictionary.(advise/ advice)
(ii) He arranged to see her .................. in the day.(later/ latter)
(iii) That man cannot read or write he is.............. (literate/ illiterate)
(iv) She said she was.................... in playing volley ball. (Interested/ interesting)
II. Composition:- (-5)
1. Write a description of a wedding in Nepal. Write approximately 60 words.
2. Write a short essay in about 60 words comparing the hill region of Nepal with the Terai. Use comparative and superlative adjectives.
3. Write a description of your classroom in about 60 words.
4. Compare a dialogue between two friends talking about a friend getting married.
5. Compare a dialogue between two friends talking about the quality of education your college.
6. Write a letter to the editor of the rising Nepal complaining about a problem n your area.
7. Write a description of ' Your favorite Game' in about 60 words.
8. Imagine that a pen friend is the United Kingdom s coming to Nepal for a holiday to go trekking. You are sending a man to receive him/ her at the airport. Write a description of the man so that your pen friend will recognize him.
9. Compose a dialogue between two friends about the need to keep our surrounding clean.
10. Write a dialog between two friends who are talking about their future plans
11. Write a short travel magazine article on your village or town or any other place of your choice.
12. Write a short story about someone whose plans went horribly wrong.
13. Write a letter to your friend describing a difficult situation you are going through now.
14. Write a dialogue between two friends on visiting a museum.
15. Write a dialogue among the friends to decide to play a football game.
Answer- Sheet
1. Ans: (i) he must have caught the bus. ii. She is angry at ram. iii. We made him captain.
2.(a)Ans: i) stationery ii)in iii) Illegible iv) Therefore
(b) Ans: i. what does he have in her hand? ii. She wants what i do not have. iii. He asked her to give him a cup of tea.
3.a.Ans:(i) sing sang (present participle) Sung (past participle)
(ii) Run ran (present participle) run (past participle)
b.Ans: (i) usual = unusual ii) satisfied = unsatisfied
(iii) Child = children iv) do = done
(v) Happy = unhappy (vi) loyal = disloyal
4.(a)Ans: (i) what do you like to see in pokhara?
(ii) If ashish had enough money, ha would go to Australia.
(iii) This is the village where i live.
(b)Ans: (i) congratulation (ii) principal (iii) effect (iv) playing
Meaning into words
I.verb Forms
1. Write answer for the following questions using the words in the bracket. Begin each answer with the word given.
Example: when was your brother born?
My brother.......... (1992)
Answer: My brother was born in 1992.
a) What time did she get up in the morning?
She got up.......... (Seven o' clock)
b) When did you first meet Ben?
I met Ben............. (three weeks ago)
c) When did you buy your shoes?
I bought my shoes............. (January)
d) When was the bicycle invented?
The bicycle was invented............. (the nineteenth century)
e) When did they go to India?
They went.......... (The summer)
2. Add a general statement, saying, what each of the following people like to do, as
Example: Mala reads two newspapers, and watches all the current affairs program on TV. In other words, Mala likes to keep up with world events.
a. Anu does not allow talking in class, and her students have to stand up when she comes in.
b. When he's abroad, Aman sends a lot of e-mails and phone home every week.
c. Aadittya goes out every night, and has a party most weekends.
d. Shanti goes for morning walk everyday, and plays a lot of basketball.
e. Januka writes a few letters in the he morning on Saturdays and she does all her cleaning during the day time.
3. Using the information below, write a sentence
(a) Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci, paint
(b) Penicillin, alexender Fleming, discover
(c) The pyramid, ancient Egyptian, build
(d) The Singh durbar, the Rana regime, builds
(e) Muna Madan, Devkota, write
II.PREPOSITIONS
1. Fill in the blanks using the best words from the brackets.
a) There are fish swimming _______ (in/ on / at) the river.
b) There are some goats _______ (in / on / at) that field.
c) Lahan is _______ (in/ on/ at) that field.
d) there is some writing _______ (in / on / at) the wall.
e) the Maldives are ______ (in/ on / at) the Indian ocean.
3. Complete the following sentence by filling in the blanks with the best word from the blankets.
a. Rita walked _______ (though /between /across) the door.
b. The dog ran ______________ (through/ between /across) the road
c. the students fell _______ (down/between / along) the wall.
d. the river flows _______ (under /between / along) the bridge.
e. The woman cycled _______ (though / down / out of ) the hill.
4. Write answers for the following questions using the word n brackets. Begin each sentence with the words given.
Example: question: how long have you been a student?
I've been a student............ (Twelve years)
Answer: I've been a student for twelve years.
(a)How long have you had a bicycle?
I have had a bicycle.............. (Six months)
(b) When did he learn to cook rice?
He learnt to cook rice.......... (Two years)
(c) How long ago did you become a student?
I become a student............. (Twelve years)
(d) How long have they been watching her?
They have been watching her.......... (Two 'o clock)
e)When did Gautam's brother leave his village?
Gautam's brother left his village.......... (January)
4. Fill n the gaps with in, on, at, to:
(a) She was standing ............. the entrance.............. the car park.
(b) There's a newspaper shop ............... my way to office.
(c) She spent the day sunbathing........... the swimming pool.
(d) There are some cows................. that field.
5. Write a sentence each saying how often marks does different things:
(a) Have bath (morning, evening)
(b) Visit parents (Sundays)
(c) Change job(1996, 1998, 2000, 2002)
(d) Have haircut (1 March, 15 March, 1 April...........)
6. Fill in the gaps with in, on, or at:
(a) there's a ticket machine ..................... the entrance to the park.
(b) In summer, there are always flies ............. the kitchen ceiling.
(c) Have you got a blanket ............... your bed? i have only got a pillow ........... mine.
(d) There's a newspaper shop........... my way to the office.
7. Fill in the blanks with in, on, or at: 5
(a) Have you got an electric blanket .......... your bed? I've got a hot-water bottle............. mine.
(b) there's a ticket machine .................. the entrance to the park.
(c) Katmandu s situated............... Bagmati zone.
(d) In summer, there are always flies ................ the kitchen ceiling.
8. Fill n the blanks with appropriate preposition:
(a)Moonawasborn.................tuesday,15June.
(b) What will happen........... the 22nd century?
(c) We must pay our bills............. the end of June.
(d)You must take.................. your shoes before entering the temple.
(e) Do not throw rubbish out..................... the window.
9. Fill in the blanks in the following sentences using in, on, or at.
a. Have you an electric blanket ........... your bed? i have only got a hot water bottle ........... mine.
b. There's a ticket machine ............. the entrance to the park.
c. in summer, there are always flies ............. the kitchen ceiling.
d. he slept the day sunbathing ........ the swimming pool.
10. Fill in the gaps with appropriate (in, at, on or no) prepositions.
I started a new job……..last Monday,…..9 o’clock. Monday was fine, but when I went in ……….Tuesday morning I was the only one there. I waited for a bit, noone came, so………..10:30 I went home…… the afternoon I phoned up my boss, and he told me that the office is closed……Tuesdays. Well, why didn’t he tell me that…………the daybefore?
( Like wise, please go Workbook ,Unit-5,Ex-3,Page18)
III.JOBS
1. Explain what these people do: 5
Example: a secretary
A secretary writes letters and keeps record.
(a) A cashier (b) a mechanic (c) a plumber (d) a night watchman
(e) Receptionist (f) professor (g) porter (h) nurse
2. Read the following conversation careful and then construct similar conversation, using the ideas given, each time, say exactly what you do in your job: 5
Example: hospital / doctor? / Gardener
A : where do you work?
B : I work at the hospital.
A : oh, so you're a doctor, are you?
B : No, 'm a gardener. I look after the gardens around hospital.
(a) Police station / policeman?/ secretary.
(b) Library / librarian ?/ cleaner.
(c) language school / language teacher?/ sweeper.
(d) bus station / ticket collector?/ porter
(e) Airport / pilot ? / air hostess.
IV.REASONING :( POSITIVE/NEGATIVE)
1. Rewrite these sentences, using the word in the brackets, so that, they mean the same: 5
Example: Perhaps, I won't have any breakfast today.(think)
I don't think, I'll have any breakfast today.
(a) Perhaps i will go for a walk.( think)
(b) They heard the news while they were having lunch.(when)
(c) I love people admiring my clothes .( having)
(d) The college runs examination every four months.( year)
(e) You can get up whenever you like. ( any time)
2. Give a piece of advice to these people:
(a) My wife has left me.
(b) I have lost ,y bank cheque book.
(a) We can't control our 16 year old son.
(b) Can't get to sleep at night.
(c) I'm madly in love with Maya, but she doesn't look at me.
3. Make a remark on each using should (n't) have:
Example: Sarala broke a vase.
She shouldn't have lift it.
(a) The tourist's purse was stolen.
(b) Erica fainted at the party.
(c) Gordon nearly drowned.
(d) Jenny failed her math exam.
(e) Ganesh cut his foot on some glass.
4. Add a decision to these remarks: 5
(a) I'm a bit tired today. I think..........................
(b)She is getting much too thin. i don't think...............
(c)You look happy with your job......................
(d)They have had enough to eat.................
(e)Hitchhiking is terrible dangerous..................
5. Add an example to each of the remarks below saying what is happening:
Example: don't go out in your sandals; it's pouring rain.
(a) Pass me a paper handkerchief:
(b) I'm afraid you can't use that room just now:
(c) We need to have our roof repaired:
(d) You'd better hurry up and eat the ice-cream:
(e) There's no need to worry about the children:
6. Decide ‘to do’ and ‘not to do’ things and add reasons. (-5)
· Example:
· Go for a morning walk.
I think I’ll go for a walk. The weather is lovely
· Not to have any breakfast
I don’t think I’ll have any breakfast. I’m not hungry.
a. to learn to make clothes.
b. not to tell lie.
c. to have a party
d. to go out night.
e. not to have any cold drinks.
DIALOGUE WRITING
1. Answer the following questions as given in the example:5
Example:A: Do i have to sit here?
B: No, you can sit wherever you like.
C: I don't mind where you sit.
(a) What time should i come?
(b) When can i visit you?
(c) Do i have to drink coke?
(d) Should i sleep in this room?
(e) When do i have to get up?
2. Answer the following questions as given in the example:
Example: How soon can I go home?
You can go home anytime you like.
(a) How often can I come and see you?
(b) How much money can borrow?
(c) How fast can I run?
(d) How late can I stay out?
(e) How long can, I stay at your home?
3.Write conversation using the point or period given: 5
Example: I know your sister. (September)
A: how long have you known her?
B: I've known her since September.
C: (to A) when did he meet her?
A: he met her in September.
(d) I'm engaged now, you know. (July)
(e) I'm writing a novel. ( a few weeks)
V.REQUESTING OR OFFERING QUESTIONS
1.Write sentences making requests and offers for each of the situations given below. Being each sentence with the words given in brackets. 5*1=5
Example: you want to borrow a friend's bicycle.
(Would you mind ...?)
Answer: would you mind lending me your bicycle?
a) You want your friend to open a window.
(Would you mind ...?)
b) You want your friend to stop talking.
(Could you stop ..........)
c) You want your teacher to help you.
(I do not suppose ...)
d) You want to offer your friend a cup of tea.
(Would you ..........)
e) You want to leave the room.
2. What will you say in the following situation, write an indication:
i. You want your mother to wake you up in the morning. (Making a request)
ii. You want a friend to return a library book for you. ( making a request)
iii. You are staying at your uncle's home. You want to invite your friends over there.(asking for permission)
iv. Your friend looks thirsty.(making an offer)
v. Your friend hasn't seen much of your place. ( making an offer)
(Take the best use of it)
HSEB-2010(2067)
Part-I
©Sapkota-2010(This material is copyright. The author allows a reader to use it for the studying purpose only. It doesn’t allow the copying of entire of making multiple copies. Written permission is needed for that purpose in advance.)
Link English
I.WORD SELECTION/SENTENCE ARRANGEMENT
1. Put the following words in to the correct order to make suitable sentence:
i. The/ must/ bus/ he/ have/ caught. 3
ii. Angry/ she/ with/ is/ ram.
iii. Him/ made/ captain/ we.
2. (a) Rewrite these sentences, fill in the gaps with appropriate words from the brackets. 2
i. Amerada runs a _______ shop. (stationary/ stationery)
ii. Utah is _______ mid-west USA. (to/in)
iii. I'm sorry, but your handwriting is ______ (eligible/ illegible)
iv. His torn shirt, ______, he needs a new one. (however/therefore)
(b) Put the following words n the correct order to make suitable sentences:3
a. does/ her/ have / what / she / hand/ in?
b. What / do / she / not / have / i / wants.
c. Of / he /tea / her / him / up / asked / give / a / to.
3. (a) write present participle and past participle form of the following verb:2
(i) Sing (ii) run
(b) Add appropriate prefix or suffix in the following words:3
(i) Usual (ii) satisfied (iii) child
(iv) Do (v) happy (vi) loyal
4. (a) Rearrange the following words in correct order o as to make sensible sentence: 3
(i) Do / you / see / pokhara / in / like / to / what /?
(ii) he / had / visit / to / ashish / if / money / , / enough / would / Australia / go.
(iii) where / is / the / village / I / this / live.
(b) Rewrite the following sentences choosing the correct words from the pair given in the brackets:2
(i) We are sending her a letter of.............. (congratulation / congratulation )
(ii) The ................ of our school is mostly busy. (principle / principal )
(iii) Do you think the new constitution of Nepal will come into............. (After / effect) soon?
(iv) She is fond of.............. (Play / playing) badminton.
5. (a) Put the following words in correct order to make sensible sentence: 5
(i) His/ he/ to/ had/ dinner/ started/ just/ eat
(ii) Of/ he/ tea/ her/ him/ cup/ asked/ give/ a/ to
(iii) A/ she/ hospital/ hoped/ in/ doctor/ become/ to/ a
(b) Rewrite the following sentences choosing the correct words from the pair given in the brackets:
(i) I would strongly ............... you to use the dictionary.(advise/ advice)
(ii) He arranged to see her .................. in the day.(later/ latter)
(iii) That man cannot read or write he is.............. (literate/ illiterate)
(iv) She said she was.................... in playing volley ball. (Interested/ interesting)
II. Composition:- (-5)
1. Write a description of a wedding in Nepal. Write approximately 60 words.
2. Write a short essay in about 60 words comparing the hill region of Nepal with the Terai. Use comparative and superlative adjectives.
3. Write a description of your classroom in about 60 words.
4. Compare a dialogue between two friends talking about a friend getting married.
5. Compare a dialogue between two friends talking about the quality of education your college.
6. Write a letter to the editor of the rising Nepal complaining about a problem n your area.
7. Write a description of ' Your favorite Game' in about 60 words.
8. Imagine that a pen friend is the United Kingdom s coming to Nepal for a holiday to go trekking. You are sending a man to receive him/ her at the airport. Write a description of the man so that your pen friend will recognize him.
9. Compose a dialogue between two friends about the need to keep our surrounding clean.
10. Write a dialog between two friends who are talking about their future plans
11. Write a short travel magazine article on your village or town or any other place of your choice.
12. Write a short story about someone whose plans went horribly wrong.
13. Write a letter to your friend describing a difficult situation you are going through now.
14. Write a dialogue between two friends on visiting a museum.
15. Write a dialogue among the friends to decide to play a football game.
Answer- Sheet
1. Ans: (i) he must have caught the bus. ii. She is angry at ram. iii. We made him captain.
2.(a)Ans: i) stationery ii)in iii) Illegible iv) Therefore
(b) Ans: i. what does he have in her hand? ii. She wants what i do not have. iii. He asked her to give him a cup of tea.
3.a.Ans:(i) sing sang (present participle) Sung (past participle)
(ii) Run ran (present participle) run (past participle)
b.Ans: (i) usual = unusual ii) satisfied = unsatisfied
(iii) Child = children iv) do = done
(v) Happy = unhappy (vi) loyal = disloyal
4.(a)Ans: (i) what do you like to see in pokhara?
(ii) If ashish had enough money, ha would go to Australia.
(iii) This is the village where i live.
(b)Ans: (i) congratulation (ii) principal (iii) effect (iv) playing
Meaning into words
I.verb Forms
1. Write answer for the following questions using the words in the bracket. Begin each answer with the word given.
Example: when was your brother born?
My brother.......... (1992)
Answer: My brother was born in 1992.
a) What time did she get up in the morning?
She got up.......... (Seven o' clock)
b) When did you first meet Ben?
I met Ben............. (three weeks ago)
c) When did you buy your shoes?
I bought my shoes............. (January)
d) When was the bicycle invented?
The bicycle was invented............. (the nineteenth century)
e) When did they go to India?
They went.......... (The summer)
2. Add a general statement, saying, what each of the following people like to do, as
Example: Mala reads two newspapers, and watches all the current affairs program on TV. In other words, Mala likes to keep up with world events.
a. Anu does not allow talking in class, and her students have to stand up when she comes in.
b. When he's abroad, Aman sends a lot of e-mails and phone home every week.
c. Aadittya goes out every night, and has a party most weekends.
d. Shanti goes for morning walk everyday, and plays a lot of basketball.
e. Januka writes a few letters in the he morning on Saturdays and she does all her cleaning during the day time.
3. Using the information below, write a sentence
(a) Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci, paint
(b) Penicillin, alexender Fleming, discover
(c) The pyramid, ancient Egyptian, build
(d) The Singh durbar, the Rana regime, builds
(e) Muna Madan, Devkota, write
II.PREPOSITIONS
1. Fill in the blanks using the best words from the brackets.
a) There are fish swimming _______ (in/ on / at) the river.
b) There are some goats _______ (in / on / at) that field.
c) Lahan is _______ (in/ on/ at) that field.
d) there is some writing _______ (in / on / at) the wall.
e) the Maldives are ______ (in/ on / at) the Indian ocean.
3. Complete the following sentence by filling in the blanks with the best word from the blankets.
a. Rita walked _______ (though /between /across) the door.
b. The dog ran ______________ (through/ between /across) the road
c. the students fell _______ (down/between / along) the wall.
d. the river flows _______ (under /between / along) the bridge.
e. The woman cycled _______ (though / down / out of ) the hill.
4. Write answers for the following questions using the word n brackets. Begin each sentence with the words given.
Example: question: how long have you been a student?
I've been a student............ (Twelve years)
Answer: I've been a student for twelve years.
(a)How long have you had a bicycle?
I have had a bicycle.............. (Six months)
(b) When did he learn to cook rice?
He learnt to cook rice.......... (Two years)
(c) How long ago did you become a student?
I become a student............. (Twelve years)
(d) How long have they been watching her?
They have been watching her.......... (Two 'o clock)
e)When did Gautam's brother leave his village?
Gautam's brother left his village.......... (January)
4. Fill n the gaps with in, on, at, to:
(a) She was standing ............. the entrance.............. the car park.
(b) There's a newspaper shop ............... my way to office.
(c) She spent the day sunbathing........... the swimming pool.
(d) There are some cows................. that field.
5. Write a sentence each saying how often marks does different things:
(a) Have bath (morning, evening)
(b) Visit parents (Sundays)
(c) Change job(1996, 1998, 2000, 2002)
(d) Have haircut (1 March, 15 March, 1 April...........)
6. Fill in the gaps with in, on, or at:
(a) there's a ticket machine ..................... the entrance to the park.
(b) In summer, there are always flies ............. the kitchen ceiling.
(c) Have you got a blanket ............... your bed? i have only got a pillow ........... mine.
(d) There's a newspaper shop........... my way to the office.
7. Fill in the blanks with in, on, or at: 5
(a) Have you got an electric blanket .......... your bed? I've got a hot-water bottle............. mine.
(b) there's a ticket machine .................. the entrance to the park.
(c) Katmandu s situated............... Bagmati zone.
(d) In summer, there are always flies ................ the kitchen ceiling.
8. Fill n the blanks with appropriate preposition:
(a)Moonawasborn.................tuesday,15June.
(b) What will happen........... the 22nd century?
(c) We must pay our bills............. the end of June.
(d)You must take.................. your shoes before entering the temple.
(e) Do not throw rubbish out..................... the window.
9. Fill in the blanks in the following sentences using in, on, or at.
a. Have you an electric blanket ........... your bed? i have only got a hot water bottle ........... mine.
b. There's a ticket machine ............. the entrance to the park.
c. in summer, there are always flies ............. the kitchen ceiling.
d. he slept the day sunbathing ........ the swimming pool.
10. Fill in the gaps with appropriate (in, at, on or no) prepositions.
I started a new job……..last Monday,…..9 o’clock. Monday was fine, but when I went in ……….Tuesday morning I was the only one there. I waited for a bit, noone came, so………..10:30 I went home…… the afternoon I phoned up my boss, and he told me that the office is closed……Tuesdays. Well, why didn’t he tell me that…………the daybefore?
( Like wise, please go Workbook ,Unit-5,Ex-3,Page18)
III.JOBS
1. Explain what these people do: 5
Example: a secretary
A secretary writes letters and keeps record.
(a) A cashier (b) a mechanic (c) a plumber (d) a night watchman
(e) Receptionist (f) professor (g) porter (h) nurse
2. Read the following conversation careful and then construct similar conversation, using the ideas given, each time, say exactly what you do in your job: 5
Example: hospital / doctor? / Gardener
A : where do you work?
B : I work at the hospital.
A : oh, so you're a doctor, are you?
B : No, 'm a gardener. I look after the gardens around hospital.
(a) Police station / policeman?/ secretary.
(b) Library / librarian ?/ cleaner.
(c) language school / language teacher?/ sweeper.
(d) bus station / ticket collector?/ porter
(e) Airport / pilot ? / air hostess.
IV.REASONING :( POSITIVE/NEGATIVE)
1. Rewrite these sentences, using the word in the brackets, so that, they mean the same: 5
Example: Perhaps, I won't have any breakfast today.(think)
I don't think, I'll have any breakfast today.
(a) Perhaps i will go for a walk.( think)
(b) They heard the news while they were having lunch.(when)
(c) I love people admiring my clothes .( having)
(d) The college runs examination every four months.( year)
(e) You can get up whenever you like. ( any time)
2. Give a piece of advice to these people:
(a) My wife has left me.
(b) I have lost ,y bank cheque book.
(a) We can't control our 16 year old son.
(b) Can't get to sleep at night.
(c) I'm madly in love with Maya, but she doesn't look at me.
3. Make a remark on each using should (n't) have:
Example: Sarala broke a vase.
She shouldn't have lift it.
(a) The tourist's purse was stolen.
(b) Erica fainted at the party.
(c) Gordon nearly drowned.
(d) Jenny failed her math exam.
(e) Ganesh cut his foot on some glass.
4. Add a decision to these remarks: 5
(a) I'm a bit tired today. I think..........................
(b)She is getting much too thin. i don't think...............
(c)You look happy with your job......................
(d)They have had enough to eat.................
(e)Hitchhiking is terrible dangerous..................
5. Add an example to each of the remarks below saying what is happening:
Example: don't go out in your sandals; it's pouring rain.
(a) Pass me a paper handkerchief:
(b) I'm afraid you can't use that room just now:
(c) We need to have our roof repaired:
(d) You'd better hurry up and eat the ice-cream:
(e) There's no need to worry about the children:
6. Decide ‘to do’ and ‘not to do’ things and add reasons. (-5)
· Example:
· Go for a morning walk.
I think I’ll go for a walk. The weather is lovely
· Not to have any breakfast
I don’t think I’ll have any breakfast. I’m not hungry.
a. to learn to make clothes.
b. not to tell lie.
c. to have a party
d. to go out night.
e. not to have any cold drinks.
DIALOGUE WRITING
1. Answer the following questions as given in the example:5
Example:A: Do i have to sit here?
B: No, you can sit wherever you like.
C: I don't mind where you sit.
(a) What time should i come?
(b) When can i visit you?
(c) Do i have to drink coke?
(d) Should i sleep in this room?
(e) When do i have to get up?
2. Answer the following questions as given in the example:
Example: How soon can I go home?
You can go home anytime you like.
(a) How often can I come and see you?
(b) How much money can borrow?
(c) How fast can I run?
(d) How late can I stay out?
(e) How long can, I stay at your home?
3.Write conversation using the point or period given: 5
Example: I know your sister. (September)
A: how long have you known her?
B: I've known her since September.
C: (to A) when did he meet her?
A: he met her in September.
(d) I'm engaged now, you know. (July)
(e) I'm writing a novel. ( a few weeks)
V.REQUESTING OR OFFERING QUESTIONS
1.Write sentences making requests and offers for each of the situations given below. Being each sentence with the words given in brackets. 5*1=5
Example: you want to borrow a friend's bicycle.
(Would you mind ...?)
Answer: would you mind lending me your bicycle?
a) You want your friend to open a window.
(Would you mind ...?)
b) You want your friend to stop talking.
(Could you stop ..........)
c) You want your teacher to help you.
(I do not suppose ...)
d) You want to offer your friend a cup of tea.
(Would you ..........)
e) You want to leave the room.
2. What will you say in the following situation, write an indication:
i. You want your mother to wake you up in the morning. (Making a request)
ii. You want a friend to return a library book for you. ( making a request)
iii. You are staying at your uncle's home. You want to invite your friends over there.(asking for permission)
iv. Your friend looks thirsty.(making an offer)
v. Your friend hasn't seen much of your place. ( making an offer)
(Take the best use of it)
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Multiple Intelligence/ Grade-XII
Multiple Intelligence/Research- based text.
©Sapkota-2010(This material is copyright. The author allows a reader to use it for the studying purpose only. It doesn’t allow the copying of entire of making multiple copies. Written permission is needed for that purpose in advance)
In 1983, Professor Howard Gardner came up with the concept that we all have multiple intelligence (MI). In the following I will briefly explain this concept further; highlighting how it can be incorporated into lesson plans when teaching English as a second language (ESL); how it can help students build on their strengths, while limiting their weaknesses in their grasp of the English language; and how it is useful when considering different cultures in the classroom. I will also discuss how MI explains that students all learn differently, according to which form of intelligence they are stronger in. Gardner (1983) has categorised intelligence into 8 key areas: ?Linguistic Intelligence: word smart ?Logical-Mathematical Intelligence: number/reasoning smart ?Spatial Intelligence: picture smart ?Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence: body smart ?Musical Intelligence: music smart ?Interpersonal Intelligence: people smart ?Intrapersonal Intelligence: self smart ?Naturalist Intelligence: flora and fauna smart Traditionally, teachers have only acknowledged the first two levels of intelligence and have arranged their lessons and judged their student?s intelligence accordingly. Gardner believes that students who are learning new material need to have several different points of entry in order for the material to be fully grasped. If an ESL teacher is for example, introducing new language on how to check into a hotel, and they only use linguistic skills such as speaking and blackboard work, followed up with a worksheet, they could be making the task a lot more difficult for the students to learn than if they had applied Gardner?s theory. If the lesson also included such things as: a scene from the movie ?Only You? (1995) showing a hotel check in; getting the students to make up their own scene and role play it, and / or giving them a problem solving task with missing language which they need to fill in based on what they have learnt, then the new language might have been gained more rapidly as more intelligences would have been applied. Incorporating MI into lessons and tests has the advantage of ensuring that students who are weak in some areas, for example writing and strong in others, such as music or working with visuals and space, all have the same chance to a) get a grasp of the material, and b) prove they have learnt it in the way that enhances their strengths. This will not only allow the students to learn faster but should also improve their confidence as they build on their strengths and are given the flexibility to show what these strengths are. If all lessons are taught in a traditional way, with the teacher only acknowledging linguistic and mathematical / logic intelligences, those students who are for example, musically and spatially intelligent, may not have as much success as they otherwise could have if the teacher had included these intelligences into the lesson plan. When applying MI to a curriculum or lesson, it is also important to consider the culture of the students. Spanish people are often brought up with a lot of music and dance, for example salsa. They therefore would probably have a higher intelligence in the area of music and body-kinesthetic. The Spanish may understand English easier through the use of songs, dance and studying rhythm, tones and melody, which are all related to the learning of the English language. However, cultures with backgrounds that emphasise more traditional teaching and learning methods, or who may be of an older generation, may show resistance to other forms of teaching (Costanzo & Paxton, 1999). According to the book Essentials of English Language Teaching by Julian Edge, teachers are measured most obviously by how much their students learn. It may not always be possible to find ways to include all of the intelligences into lesson plans and tests, however if the teacher is able to incorporate more variances and reach a few more intelligences than they otherwise would have, whilst allowing students to have a choice in the way they grasp English as a second language, it should make the students more successful. Furthermore, this should also make the experience more satisfying for the teacher and improve their success in the classroom as well. References: Gardner, Howard. (1993). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences New York: Basic Books. Edge, Julian (1993). Essentials of English Language Teaching London, New York: Longman Group UK Limited Armstrong, T. Multiple Intelligence http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.htm Costanzo, M. & Paxton, D. (1999). Multiple assessments for multiple intelligences. Focus on Basics, 3(A), 24-27.
©Sapkota-2010(This material is copyright. The author allows a reader to use it for the studying purpose only. It doesn’t allow the copying of entire of making multiple copies. Written permission is needed for that purpose in advance)
In 1983, Professor Howard Gardner came up with the concept that we all have multiple intelligence (MI). In the following I will briefly explain this concept further; highlighting how it can be incorporated into lesson plans when teaching English as a second language (ESL); how it can help students build on their strengths, while limiting their weaknesses in their grasp of the English language; and how it is useful when considering different cultures in the classroom. I will also discuss how MI explains that students all learn differently, according to which form of intelligence they are stronger in. Gardner (1983) has categorised intelligence into 8 key areas: ?Linguistic Intelligence: word smart ?Logical-Mathematical Intelligence: number/reasoning smart ?Spatial Intelligence: picture smart ?Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence: body smart ?Musical Intelligence: music smart ?Interpersonal Intelligence: people smart ?Intrapersonal Intelligence: self smart ?Naturalist Intelligence: flora and fauna smart Traditionally, teachers have only acknowledged the first two levels of intelligence and have arranged their lessons and judged their student?s intelligence accordingly. Gardner believes that students who are learning new material need to have several different points of entry in order for the material to be fully grasped. If an ESL teacher is for example, introducing new language on how to check into a hotel, and they only use linguistic skills such as speaking and blackboard work, followed up with a worksheet, they could be making the task a lot more difficult for the students to learn than if they had applied Gardner?s theory. If the lesson also included such things as: a scene from the movie ?Only You? (1995) showing a hotel check in; getting the students to make up their own scene and role play it, and / or giving them a problem solving task with missing language which they need to fill in based on what they have learnt, then the new language might have been gained more rapidly as more intelligences would have been applied. Incorporating MI into lessons and tests has the advantage of ensuring that students who are weak in some areas, for example writing and strong in others, such as music or working with visuals and space, all have the same chance to a) get a grasp of the material, and b) prove they have learnt it in the way that enhances their strengths. This will not only allow the students to learn faster but should also improve their confidence as they build on their strengths and are given the flexibility to show what these strengths are. If all lessons are taught in a traditional way, with the teacher only acknowledging linguistic and mathematical / logic intelligences, those students who are for example, musically and spatially intelligent, may not have as much success as they otherwise could have if the teacher had included these intelligences into the lesson plan. When applying MI to a curriculum or lesson, it is also important to consider the culture of the students. Spanish people are often brought up with a lot of music and dance, for example salsa. They therefore would probably have a higher intelligence in the area of music and body-kinesthetic. The Spanish may understand English easier through the use of songs, dance and studying rhythm, tones and melody, which are all related to the learning of the English language. However, cultures with backgrounds that emphasise more traditional teaching and learning methods, or who may be of an older generation, may show resistance to other forms of teaching (Costanzo & Paxton, 1999). According to the book Essentials of English Language Teaching by Julian Edge, teachers are measured most obviously by how much their students learn. It may not always be possible to find ways to include all of the intelligences into lesson plans and tests, however if the teacher is able to incorporate more variances and reach a few more intelligences than they otherwise would have, whilst allowing students to have a choice in the way they grasp English as a second language, it should make the students more successful. Furthermore, this should also make the experience more satisfying for the teacher and improve their success in the classroom as well. References: Gardner, Howard. (1993). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences New York: Basic Books. Edge, Julian (1993). Essentials of English Language Teaching London, New York: Longman Group UK Limited Armstrong, T. Multiple Intelligence http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.htm Costanzo, M. & Paxton, D. (1999). Multiple assessments for multiple intelligences. Focus on Basics, 3(A), 24-27.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
English as Means of Communication
Importance of the English Language Education By: Ashok Sapkota Department of English education Kathmandu Sikshya Campus Kathmandu, Nepal Language is a system of communication, medium of thought, and a vehicle for expression of thoughts, a social institution, a matter of political controversy and a catalyst for nation building. All human beings normally speak at least one language and it is hard to imagine much significant, social, intellectual or artistic activity taking place in its absence. Language makes human species-specific property and not possessed by other living beings. The English language is taken as an international language and lingua franca in the world today. In the minds of many people, there is no longer an issue. They argue that English has already become a world language, by virtue of the political and economic progress made by English-speaking nations in the past 200 years and is likely to remain so, gradually consolidating its position…Surveys of range of use carried by UNESCO and other world organizations reinforce the general statistical impression. English is used as an official or semi-official language in over 60 countries, and has a prominent place in a further 20. It is either dominant or well established in all six-continent. It is the main language of books, newspapers, airports and air-traffic control, international business and academic conferences, science, technology, medicine, diplomacy, sports, international competitions, pop music, and advertising. Over two-thirds of the world's scientists write in English. Three-quarters of world's mail is written in English. Of all information in the world's electronic retrieval systems, 80% is stored in English. People communicate on the internet largely in English. English radio programs are received by over 150 million in 120 countries. Over 50 million children study English as an additional language at primary level; over 80 million study it at secondary level (this figures exclude Kachru (1985, pp.12-15) suggests the division of English speaking people into three concentric circles. The classification is widely used and many people help to think about English around the globe. In the first inner circle Kachru puts countries like Since the first world/ third world development gap appears to be widening, this function of English will probably continue to grow. Improvements in the technology of travel brought commerce and tourism to a point where a single common language was needed, and the world chose English. Advances in electronics produced global networks for sound world's news: in repressed societies British, American and Australian news in English was relied upon its accuracy. Politically English became the international language of protest and economic development (p.1121). Regarding the importance of the English language in … the best evidence of Nepalese young generation's passionate longing for English can be seen in the enrollment around two thousand students in M.A. in English and almost the same number of students in M.Ed. in English, in the current session of 2006/7 at Thus, the number and interest of the people to study the English language either as formal education or in the form of informal education is increasing day by day. In case of Nepal Crystal, (1997, p.361) writes out of country population having 20,093,000; the first language speakers of English were 5,927,000. So, the need of the English language education is growing per day. It is taken as a basic means of communication and instruction in this global world. It has become an inevitable source for native and non-native speakers. |
Monday, February 22, 2010
GRAMMAR PRACTICE-SHEETS
GRAMMAR PRACTICE-SHEETS
HSEB -Grade-XII
2066(2010)
PART-I
HSEB -Grade-XII
2066(2010)
PART-I
©Sapkota-2010(This material is copyright. The author allows a reader to use it for the studying purpose only. It doesn’t allow the copying of entire of making multiple copies. Written permission is needed for that purpose in advance)
1. Read the following passage and answer the questions below: 5×3=15
Coronary heart disease is the most common cause of death in the developed countries. With the risein general living standards, containments of infectious diseases, good hygiene, and better nutritions, less people are
dying. However factors such as stress, obesity, sedentary life style associated with affluence and mechanization have given way to hypertension, diabetes, and coronary heart diseases. The heart is a muscular fist-sized organ which pulsates 60 to 80 times per minute pumping 3600 gallons of blood a day to keep the body alive, for doing this, the heart muscles require enormous amounts of energy. The heart muscles derive energy from oxygen dissolved in the blood, which flows through the coronary arteries. Every day the heart and its circulatory system battle to maintain an uninhibited supply of blood along the arteries. The blockage is mainly due to cholesterol; a fatty substance in eggs, liver, kidney, foods like prawns, and also produced in the body by the liver from saturated fats present in the food. A certain amount of cholesterol is needed to make the cell wall work, to produce steroid hormones and vitamin D.
Proper lifestyle must be adopted to reverse the risk of heart attacks.
Eating enough fruits and vegetable cutting down on alcohol and salt, increasing the intake of fatty acids like olive oil, and rapeseed oil, avoiding saturated fats like butter, hard cheese, ghee, can main a huge difference.
1. Read the following passage and answer the questions below: 5×3=15
Coronary heart disease is the most common cause of death in the developed countries. With the risein general living standards, containments of infectious diseases, good hygiene, and better nutritions, less people are
dying. However factors such as stress, obesity, sedentary life style associated with affluence and mechanization have given way to hypertension, diabetes, and coronary heart diseases. The heart is a muscular fist-sized organ which pulsates 60 to 80 times per minute pumping 3600 gallons of blood a day to keep the body alive, for doing this, the heart muscles require enormous amounts of energy. The heart muscles derive energy from oxygen dissolved in the blood, which flows through the coronary arteries. Every day the heart and its circulatory system battle to maintain an uninhibited supply of blood along the arteries. The blockage is mainly due to cholesterol; a fatty substance in eggs, liver, kidney, foods like prawns, and also produced in the body by the liver from saturated fats present in the food. A certain amount of cholesterol is needed to make the cell wall work, to produce steroid hormones and vitamin D.
Proper lifestyle must be adopted to reverse the risk of heart attacks.
Eating enough fruits and vegetable cutting down on alcohol and salt, increasing the intake of fatty acids like olive oil, and rapeseed oil, avoiding saturated fats like butter, hard cheese, ghee, can main a huge difference.
Questions:
(a) Why are: lesser umber of people dying in the modern world?
(b) What are the different diseases associated with affluence and mechanization?
{c) What does high cholesterol in blood indicate?
(d) What measures should we adopt to minimize heart attacks?
(e) Summarize the passage in about 50 words
B. Seen Passages
1. Read the following passage and answer the questions below: 5×3=15
The Queen was said, last night, to be 'appalled' at claims that some of Price Charles' personal phone calls home from Australia had been tapped and recorded.
The publishers of a West German Magazine aimed at middle-aged housewives said that they might publish the transcripts of the royal conversations on Monday.
There are said to he tapes of four phone, conversations between the Prince and Lady Diana, and one between him and the Queen in which he is alleged to have been rude about Australians in general and their Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser in particular.
The tapes were offered to the Germans by a British journalist, Mr. Simon Regan, who was in Australia to do research for a book. While he was there, ho carne into contact with an anti-British republican group, who brought the recordings to his hotel in Sydney.
'The tapes feel into my lap', said Mr. Regan: 'I heard four of the five tapes and I am convinced they are genuine because they contained aspects of Prince Charles' and Lady Diana's life which no-one else could have known about.'
Questions:
(i) What "appalled" the Queen? Why?
(ii) Why would the West German Magazine publish the story about the royal conversation?
(iii) In what two ways might the tapes be embarrassing to the British Royal Family?
(iv) Why do you think the republican group tapped the conversations?
(v) What did Mr. Regan mean by 'the tapes foil into my lap'?
2. Read the following passage and answer the questions below:
The development of the space shuttle has dramatically reduced the cost of sending loads into space. The shuttle takes off from Earth like a rocket, and lands again like an aircraft: It can transport not only its own but also passengers, and has a huge cargo-hold which is capable of carrying late satellites or a space laboratory.
Before the space shuttle was created, it was necessary to plan trips into space several years in advance. However, for the rest of the century it should be possible to make space flights every week or so. Any scientist or engineer needing travel onto orbit will simply take the next shuttle flight; slay as tong ", necessary, and then return at his or her convenience.
It is difficult to imagine the immense opportunities created try the shuttle. One of the great advantages of having a reusable space vehicle is that it can take one load after another into orbit: Very large space stations could not be launched in their complete form directly front eat, but they could be built piece by piece in space. The space shuttle is likely to be used as a general 'workhorse' for the rest of the century, and lie building of such stations in orbit should become common place.
Once these huge orbiting space stations are completed, they are likely to become the platforms farm which hundreds of robot space ships could be launched cheaply and easily to explore the solar system and to start mining operation on the Moon, The technology needed for this is already developed and available. And because of commercial and military pressures to dt3velopc;ta space technology, it is likely that governments will be increasingly willing to start extensive programmes of space engineering, exploration and research.
Questions
(a) What is space shuttle and how does it work?
(I)) How has the shuttle made space travel easy?
(c) What are the main advantages of reusable; space shuttle?
(d) How can the space platforms be used?
(e) For what purposes are tile, space stations likely to he used by the
governments?
3. Read this paragraph and answer the questions given below. 10
'Soon after t started teaching Maths, I discovered that it was far harder work than I'd expected it to be. I'd imagined I would have plenty of time to myself (after all, I was officially working far fewer hours than I had been in my previous job) - but instead I found myself working late every evening just to prepare for the next day's classes. But it was also a lot more satisfying than rd imagined it would be…………..'
Why does the writer think:
(i) That teaching would he an easier job.
(ii) That he would have lots of spare time to himself.
(iii) That teaching turned out to be a harder job.
(iv) That teaching job was more satisfying.
(v) Summarize the passage in one Sentence.
[Q.N. 14. (Book Unit -12, (12.7), Page No. 119). 2057]
3. Grammar and Language Use
A. SEEM STRUCTURE
1. Rewrite the following sentences using 'seem'. (5)
(i) You see someone climbing through a window.
(ii) When you touch your writing desk, you notice it's sticky.
(iii) The postman always delivers a lot of letters with foreign stamps to his house.
iv) You only see his children during the school holidays.
v) He usually carries a walking stick when he goes out
2. Rewrite these sentences about Shanti using seem.
(a) She's very friendly.
(b) She isn't very rich.
(c) She's happily married.
(d) She doesn't spend much time out of doors.
(e) She watches television a lot.
3. Rewrite these sentences about Rekha using seem:
(a) She's very friendly.
(b) She isn't very rich.
(c) She watches television a lot.
(d) She's happily married.
(e) She doesn't spend much time out of doors.
4. Change each of the following sentences using seem:
(i) Mr. Panth is very friendly.
(ii) He isn't very rich.
(iii) He's happily married.
(iv) He watches television a lot.
(v) He has lived a very interesting life
B. LOOK(S)/LOOK LIKE/ AS THOUGH/ AS IF
1. Continue the following remarks with look sound, smell, feel or taste (Whichever is appropriate) +like.
Example: Surely he's not a manual worker.
Answer: He looks a businessman to man.
(a) I've got something in my shoe.
(b) I wonder who wrote that music.
(c) Are you sure this is tea?
(d) He's got a foreign accent
2. Make senternces from the following hints using 'look, look like or look as if/look as though.'
(a) drunkard.
(b) terribly complicated.
(c) a honeymoon couple.
(d) they have come out of swimming pool.
(e) she has never seen a mountain.
3. Talk about the people below in the same way as given in the example:
Example: You see a man lying on the ground in a pool of blood.
He looks as if he is seriously wounded.
(a) You see a girl standing on the seashore, starting into the water.
(b) You see someone climbing through a window.
(c) You see a man lying underneath a car,
(d). You see a woman whose clothes are soaked, and she is sneezing.
(e) You see a boy and a girl sitting together in a restaurant
C. USED TO
1. Rewrite the following sentences using 'used to+ing'. 5
(a) Suman enjoys eating fruits.
(b) Saraita reads horror stories at least five hours a day.
(c) The Buddhists pray for peace everyday.
(d) Street children beg money from tourists.
(e) Children make noise.
C. MAKING QUESTIONS:
i) Have you ever…….?
ii) How Long…?
1. For each of the situation below, ask question with 'How Long' and answer it using the words in the brackets. 5
(a) They talked on the phone. (20 minutes)
(b) He mowed the lawn. (ten minutes)
(c) 1 wrote all my letters. (lunch time)
(d) I read the whole of 'War and Peace': (two weeks)
(e) She did some piano practice. (bed time)
2. Rewrite these sentences, beginning with the words given so that they mean the same. 5
Example:
When did you last have a holiday?
How long is it ……. ?
How long is it since you last had a holiday?
a. Having lessons is far more interesting than doing tests.
Doing tests isn't ………………..
b. John said, "I"ll come if I have enough time."
c. John said that …………….
d. He did all the shopping in an hour.
e. It took ………..
f. I was impressed by his speech.
g. I found ………….
h. People who don't say 'thank you' really get on my nerves.
i. If there's one thing …………………
C. DIALOGUE WRITING
1. Read the example and make similar construction using appropriate expression: 3× 2 = 6
Example: Politics
A. What do you think of politics?
B. Oh, I find politics really depressing.
C. Yes, politics depresses me, too.
D. Yes, I agree. I get terribly depressed when people talk about politics.
(i) People who speak several languages.
(ii) People who talk about themselves.
Grade-XII, Handouts
Section:A Heritage of Words: Summary and Exercises
Section:Poem 1. Grandmother
Ray Young Bear
Summary
Ray Young Bear is an American–Indian poet and a novelist. His many poems deal on the theme of his own culture and create his identity through the presentation of his own tribe’s character. In the poem ‘Grandmother’, he presents his grandmother as a person living in his memory. He draws a clear picture of his loving and inspiring grandmother by using many images.
The poem begins with the poet’s claim; he can identify his grandmother even if he sees her shape from a mile away. He has become so familiar with the shape that distance does not matter. Grandmother has a “purple scarf and a plastic shopping bag”, which make it easier for the poet to identify her. He further thinks that his grandmother’s touch on his head is sufficient to identify her. Her hands have the smell of root, by which the poet can identify her. Similarly, if the poet hears the voice of grandmother, he can identify her. Moreover, her voice enters him and remains there permanently just like the fire that remains in ashes even after there is no flame.
The poet feels very nostalgic towards his grand mother. His grandmother used to love so much that her memory imprinted in his mind. Her absence created a nostalgic (slight sadness) feeling in him. Though his grandmother does not exist in physical world, she resides permanently in the poet’s memory. Any happening, whether it is related to the sense of smell, hearing, see or sound refreshes his memory. The poet implies that the memory of nearest and dearest ones remains for ever. If it is related to ancestry, it remains permanently and compels anyone to remember whether one wants or not. As grandmother is the past that symbolizes history of ancestors, it becomes excessively difficult for him to forget. The poet reflects about dominating condition of Mesquaki tribe by white population. He provides the painful awareness to the identity loss or the search for the identity.
Model Answers
1. What image do you find in this poem written by a member of the Sauk and fox Indian tribe of North America? To what sense do they appeal?
Ans:The poem “grandmother” by ray young bear presents the feeling of a poet who does not have his grandmother at present time. In presenting the memory of his grandmother. The poet has used numerous image. Appeals to our different sense organ-sense of smell. Sense of touch. Sense of hearing and the sense of sight.
The images in the poems are her shape the purple scarf. The plastic shopping bag warm and damp hands the smell of root a voice coming from rock and a sleeping fire. These image appeals to our different sense organs. Many of the images appeals to the sense of sight. Her shape the purple scarf. The plastic shopping bag and a sleeping fire appeal to the sense. A voice coming from rock appeals to the sense of hearing. Warm and damp hands appeal to the sense of touch. The image smell of root appeals to the sense of smell. Indeed the poem is full of images appealing to all the sense organs except the sense of taste.
2. How does the speaker feel towards his grandmother? In what words or a line does he makes his felling clear?
Ans: “Grandmother” by Ray young bear presents the feeling of a poet whose mind is full of grandmother’s memory. The grandmother used to love him so much in the past that her memory is printed in almost all his sense organs. Because of the memory. He feels nostalgic towards his grandmother. Whatever he does is stitched with the color of his grandmother.
The poet states his nostalgic feeling throughout the poem. The beginning itself is important to under stand the felling towards his grandmother. She resides permanently in eyes of the poet. As a result the poet can know her wisely ever if he sees her shape from a mile away. His nostalgic feeling is expressed in other lines too. His claim of identifying his grandmother with the help of other sense organs also suggests that he is nostalgic towards his grandmother. Of all his assertion, the one expressed towards the last is very important. In the last few lines he says that the words of grandmother remain inside him permanently. The grandmother was the sources of inspiration to him. She was the one who used to love him very much. Because of her memory the poet feels nostalgia reminds him of his grandmother frequently.
Questions for further practice:
· Write a short summary of the poem ‘Grandmother’.
· How does a speaker feel towards Grand mother?
· What are the things that Ray Young Bear remembers about his grandmother?
· What activities of his grand mother does the poet recollect in this poem?
· What is the main idea of the poem’ Grandmother’?
2. The Lamentation of the Old Pensioner W.B. Yeats
Summary
W.B. Yeats (1865-1939) is an Irish poet and dramatist. He was a leader of the Irish Renaissance and one of the foremost writers of the 20th century. Yeats is the greatest versatile poet of the century. Yeats was at heart a dreamer, a visionary fascinated by folk-lore, and the superstitions of the Irish peasantry. He was a symbolist poet. His best known collections from the latter period are: ‘The Tower’ (1928), including the poems ‘Sailing to Byzantium ’and ‘Leda and Swan’ and ‘The Winding Stair’ (1929). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for the literature in 1923.
This poem “The Lamentation of the Old Pensioner” (1939)’ is a revised version of Yeats earlier poem ‘The old Pensioner’ (1890). This poem presents the poet’s past memories of his youth which became more painful when he looks at his present state and contrasts his time of youth with his state in the old age.
In the first two lines of the first stanza, the poet talks about his present situation and compares his life with the broken tree. In the rest of the other four lines of the first stanza, he talks about his past. He says that when he was young man, he was powerful and the people used to talk to him either about love or politics. But now nobody cares him. He is no more powerful and young enough to attract the youths. He splits on the face of the time because the time has transfigured him into this miserable condition. Thus, the poet compares present situation with that of past psychologically.
In the second stanza of the poem, the poet draws the contrastive picture of youth and old age. The poet says that the lads (youths) are playing in the field but cruelly they don’t notice the presence of the old man. Some times they behave like rascals which expose the extreme of human cruelty. These youths do not care the old man (the poet). The old man says that his companions are against the time that has transfigured him into the old age.
In the last stanza of the poem, the poet remembers the romantic circumstances of his youth. When he was young, many beautiful girls used to propose him. Many girls used to enjoy talking to him. But now he has become old and either girls or women turn their face towards him. He again compares himself with the broken tree. All the romantic experiences of his past are limited into his memory now. At present, he can’t enjoy as he used to when he was young. Thus, the poet is furious (angry) against the time that changed him into an old man.
Thus, this poem is all about an old retired man (pensioner) who laments on the loss of his youth and its charm. In his retired life the old man is unhappy because he is unnoticed in the society. So, he beautifully as well as symbolically compares his life with a broken tree. Altogether there are three stanzas in the poem. We can find the use of refrain. The poet ends the poem cursing or splitting on the face of the time that is responsible for his present miserable condition.
Questions for further practice:
· Why does the poet show his anger against time?
· Mention any three things the old man laments about why is he sad about them?
· What is the speaker lamenting on?
· How and why does the old pensioner lament?
· Explain the significance of the refrain in the poem ‘The lamentation of the old Pensioner’?
· Write an essay on ‘Youth and Age’
(For further practice go through the textbook questions ‘The Heritage of the Words’- page no. 26)
Model Answers
1. What does the poem add to our knowledge of the old man (his character, attitude, circumstance)?
“The lamentation of Old pensioner” describes the situation of any old person who used to have very romantic life in the past. The speaker is an old man whose past was very romantic. Thought comparison and contrast of past and present, the poem describes various aspects of and old man-his character, attitude, and circumstance. The presentation is realistic and has universal appeal.
Old age means approach to death. When one reaches to this stage, no one takes care. The person does not get proper shelter even from the relatives. So his situation is very pathetic. In such situation, he remembers romantic days. He fined a great difference in between his present and past, which creates anger in him. The happenings in the surrounding like boy’s enjoyment and women’s negligence. When the speaker finds him being neglected, he can’t bear it and gets furious with the factor responsible for it. Eventually he spits at its face.
The presentation of setting along with exposition. Retrospection and climax hints that a person becomes hot tempered at old age. When his wishes are not met, he gets angry. The circumstances are not becomes just like a scarecrow at this age.
Section:Poem 1. Grandmother
Ray Young Bear
Summary
Ray Young Bear is an American–Indian poet and a novelist. His many poems deal on the theme of his own culture and create his identity through the presentation of his own tribe’s character. In the poem ‘Grandmother’, he presents his grandmother as a person living in his memory. He draws a clear picture of his loving and inspiring grandmother by using many images.
The poem begins with the poet’s claim; he can identify his grandmother even if he sees her shape from a mile away. He has become so familiar with the shape that distance does not matter. Grandmother has a “purple scarf and a plastic shopping bag”, which make it easier for the poet to identify her. He further thinks that his grandmother’s touch on his head is sufficient to identify her. Her hands have the smell of root, by which the poet can identify her. Similarly, if the poet hears the voice of grandmother, he can identify her. Moreover, her voice enters him and remains there permanently just like the fire that remains in ashes even after there is no flame.
The poet feels very nostalgic towards his grand mother. His grandmother used to love so much that her memory imprinted in his mind. Her absence created a nostalgic (slight sadness) feeling in him. Though his grandmother does not exist in physical world, she resides permanently in the poet’s memory. Any happening, whether it is related to the sense of smell, hearing, see or sound refreshes his memory. The poet implies that the memory of nearest and dearest ones remains for ever. If it is related to ancestry, it remains permanently and compels anyone to remember whether one wants or not. As grandmother is the past that symbolizes history of ancestors, it becomes excessively difficult for him to forget. The poet reflects about dominating condition of Mesquaki tribe by white population. He provides the painful awareness to the identity loss or the search for the identity.
Model Answers
1. What image do you find in this poem written by a member of the Sauk and fox Indian tribe of North America? To what sense do they appeal?
Ans:The poem “grandmother” by ray young bear presents the feeling of a poet who does not have his grandmother at present time. In presenting the memory of his grandmother. The poet has used numerous image. Appeals to our different sense organ-sense of smell. Sense of touch. Sense of hearing and the sense of sight.
The images in the poems are her shape the purple scarf. The plastic shopping bag warm and damp hands the smell of root a voice coming from rock and a sleeping fire. These image appeals to our different sense organs. Many of the images appeals to the sense of sight. Her shape the purple scarf. The plastic shopping bag and a sleeping fire appeal to the sense. A voice coming from rock appeals to the sense of hearing. Warm and damp hands appeal to the sense of touch. The image smell of root appeals to the sense of smell. Indeed the poem is full of images appealing to all the sense organs except the sense of taste.
2. How does the speaker feel towards his grandmother? In what words or a line does he makes his felling clear?
Ans: “Grandmother” by Ray young bear presents the feeling of a poet whose mind is full of grandmother’s memory. The grandmother used to love him so much in the past that her memory is printed in almost all his sense organs. Because of the memory. He feels nostalgic towards his grandmother. Whatever he does is stitched with the color of his grandmother.
The poet states his nostalgic feeling throughout the poem. The beginning itself is important to under stand the felling towards his grandmother. She resides permanently in eyes of the poet. As a result the poet can know her wisely ever if he sees her shape from a mile away. His nostalgic feeling is expressed in other lines too. His claim of identifying his grandmother with the help of other sense organs also suggests that he is nostalgic towards his grandmother. Of all his assertion, the one expressed towards the last is very important. In the last few lines he says that the words of grandmother remain inside him permanently. The grandmother was the sources of inspiration to him. She was the one who used to love him very much. Because of her memory the poet feels nostalgia reminds him of his grandmother frequently.
Questions for further practice:
· Write a short summary of the poem ‘Grandmother’.
· How does a speaker feel towards Grand mother?
· What are the things that Ray Young Bear remembers about his grandmother?
· What activities of his grand mother does the poet recollect in this poem?
· What is the main idea of the poem’ Grandmother’?
2. The Lamentation of the Old Pensioner W.B. Yeats
Summary
W.B. Yeats (1865-1939) is an Irish poet and dramatist. He was a leader of the Irish Renaissance and one of the foremost writers of the 20th century. Yeats is the greatest versatile poet of the century. Yeats was at heart a dreamer, a visionary fascinated by folk-lore, and the superstitions of the Irish peasantry. He was a symbolist poet. His best known collections from the latter period are: ‘The Tower’ (1928), including the poems ‘Sailing to Byzantium ’and ‘Leda and Swan’ and ‘The Winding Stair’ (1929). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for the literature in 1923.
This poem “The Lamentation of the Old Pensioner” (1939)’ is a revised version of Yeats earlier poem ‘The old Pensioner’ (1890). This poem presents the poet’s past memories of his youth which became more painful when he looks at his present state and contrasts his time of youth with his state in the old age.
In the first two lines of the first stanza, the poet talks about his present situation and compares his life with the broken tree. In the rest of the other four lines of the first stanza, he talks about his past. He says that when he was young man, he was powerful and the people used to talk to him either about love or politics. But now nobody cares him. He is no more powerful and young enough to attract the youths. He splits on the face of the time because the time has transfigured him into this miserable condition. Thus, the poet compares present situation with that of past psychologically.
In the second stanza of the poem, the poet draws the contrastive picture of youth and old age. The poet says that the lads (youths) are playing in the field but cruelly they don’t notice the presence of the old man. Some times they behave like rascals which expose the extreme of human cruelty. These youths do not care the old man (the poet). The old man says that his companions are against the time that has transfigured him into the old age.
In the last stanza of the poem, the poet remembers the romantic circumstances of his youth. When he was young, many beautiful girls used to propose him. Many girls used to enjoy talking to him. But now he has become old and either girls or women turn their face towards him. He again compares himself with the broken tree. All the romantic experiences of his past are limited into his memory now. At present, he can’t enjoy as he used to when he was young. Thus, the poet is furious (angry) against the time that changed him into an old man.
Thus, this poem is all about an old retired man (pensioner) who laments on the loss of his youth and its charm. In his retired life the old man is unhappy because he is unnoticed in the society. So, he beautifully as well as symbolically compares his life with a broken tree. Altogether there are three stanzas in the poem. We can find the use of refrain. The poet ends the poem cursing or splitting on the face of the time that is responsible for his present miserable condition.
Questions for further practice:
· Why does the poet show his anger against time?
· Mention any three things the old man laments about why is he sad about them?
· What is the speaker lamenting on?
· How and why does the old pensioner lament?
· Explain the significance of the refrain in the poem ‘The lamentation of the old Pensioner’?
· Write an essay on ‘Youth and Age’
(For further practice go through the textbook questions ‘The Heritage of the Words’- page no. 26)
Model Answers
1. What does the poem add to our knowledge of the old man (his character, attitude, circumstance)?
“The lamentation of Old pensioner” describes the situation of any old person who used to have very romantic life in the past. The speaker is an old man whose past was very romantic. Thought comparison and contrast of past and present, the poem describes various aspects of and old man-his character, attitude, and circumstance. The presentation is realistic and has universal appeal.
Old age means approach to death. When one reaches to this stage, no one takes care. The person does not get proper shelter even from the relatives. So his situation is very pathetic. In such situation, he remembers romantic days. He fined a great difference in between his present and past, which creates anger in him. The happenings in the surrounding like boy’s enjoyment and women’s negligence. When the speaker finds him being neglected, he can’t bear it and gets furious with the factor responsible for it. Eventually he spits at its face.
The presentation of setting along with exposition. Retrospection and climax hints that a person becomes hot tempered at old age. When his wishes are not met, he gets angry. The circumstances are not becomes just like a scarecrow at this age.
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