For years now, students offering English Language as a subject at the GCE Advanced Level examination have been facing great hardship.
Some years back it was the battle of the university faculties, in Peradeniya and Colombo, that was influencing A/Level students’ exam results. Now it is the ego of a few “English faculty know-alls” who think that even the Queen Mother should think, talk, read and write English the way they do. This attitude is destroying the language creativity of our students.
The number of failures in English Language and the meagre number of As, Bs and C passes in the subject clearly indicate that something is amiss.
Subjectivity is in the nature of the subject English Language, and you cannot lay down clear guidelines for examiners.
Some sadistic examiners butcher the helpless students’ answer scripts, even if they write better English than the examiners.
In a subject where there cannot be one correct answer, these examiners look for the answer they have in mind and in the process kill the students’ initiative, creativity and originality.
Fortunately for students adventurous enough to offer English Language as an A/Level subject, the Department of Examinations introduced the “Z” score system a few years back. This helps to a great extent to even out the averages scored in different subjects. In fact, without the “Z” score system, students taking English would be at a huge disadvantage.
However, even with the “Z” score system, there are problems in offering English as a subject, such as the extreme elusiveness of an A pass. There are only one or two As obtained every year. This is a distinct disadvantage if the student is aspiring to study in a foreign university that insists on 3 A passes, whatever the subjects.
If, year after year, there continues to be a wide disparity in grades obtained in different subjects at the same examination, then clearly there is a problem. The authorities must look into this matter carefully and resolve the problem without delay, if they are to prevent students from completely dropping English language as an A/Level subject.
We hope the Minister of Education will treat this as a matter of high priority.
Manel Perera,
Wellawatte |
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