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EXAMINATION SPECIFICATIONS
English Language and Literature
Code No. 184
CLASS-IX
From the Academic Year 2012 - 13
Division of Syllabus for Term I (April-September) Total Weightage Assigned
Summative Assessment I 30%
Section Marks
Reading 15
Writing 15
Grammar 15
Literature 25
Long Reading Text 10
Listening and Speaking 10
Formative Assessment 20%
TOTAL 90 marks 50%
Division of Syllabus for Term II (October -March) Total Weightage Assigned
Summative Assessment II 30%
Section Marks
Reading 15
Writing 15
Grammar 15
Literature 25
Long Reading Text 10
Listening and Speaking 10
Formative Assessment 20%
TOTAL 90 marks 50%

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Note:
1. The total weightage assigned to Summative Assessment (SA I & II) is 60%. The total weightag assigned to
Formative Assessment (FA1, 2, 3, & 4) is 40%. Out of the 40% assigned to Formative Assessment, 10%
weightage is assigned to conversation skills (5% each in Term I&II) and 10% weightage to the Reading
Project (at least 1 Book is to be read in each term and the Project will carry a weightage of 5% in each term)
2. The Summative Assessment I and Summative Assessment II are for ninety marks each. Ten marks of
listening and speaking test will be added to the 80 marks SummativeAssessment paper ie 80+10=90
marks in each semester. The weighatge assigned to Summative Assessment I is 30% and the weightage
assigned to Summative Assessment II is 30%.
SECTION A: READING 15 Marks
30 periods
Qs 1-3 This section will have three unseen passages of a total length of 600 words. The arrangement within the
reading section is as follows:
Q 1&2: Five Multiple Choice Questions on each passage carrying 5 marks 1 mark for each questions.
Q 3: Five Supply Type Questions carrying 5 marks on each passage.
Out of the 15 marks, 3 marks will be for vocabulary. The questions will test inference, evaluation and
analysis. The passages may be extracts from poetry/ factual/ literary/ discursive texts.
At least one passage will be an extract from a poem.
SECTION B: WRITING 15 Marks
40 periods
Q 4 Letter Writing: One out of two letters (formal/informal/email) in not more than 120-150 words based
on verbal stimulus and context provided.
Types of letter:
Informal - personal, such as to family and friends etc.
Formal - letters to the editor / the principal of a school etc.
Email - formal or informal 6 Marks
Q 5 Writing an article, speech or debate based on a visual or verbal stimulus in not more than 120 words (One
out of two). 6 Marks
Q 6 Writing a short composition in the form of story or report for a school magazine of minimum 80 words
(One out of two). 3 Marks

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SECTION C: GRAMMAR 15 Marks
45 Periods
This section will assess Grammar items in context for 15 marks.
v This section will carry five questions of three marks each
v Out of five questions two questions (question 7 and 8) carrying 6 marks will have MCQs of three marks
each .The test types for MCQs include:
Q. 7. Gap filling
Q. 8. Sentence completion/Dialogue completion
Questions 9, 10 and 11(carrying 3 marks each ie total 9 marks) will be based on response supplied by
students. (Supply Type Questions)
These test types which will not be tested as MCQs include
Q. 9. Sentence reordering
Q. 10. Editing / Omission
Q. 11 Sentence transformation (including combining sentences)
The Grammar syllabus will include the following areas in class IX:
1. Tenses
2. Modals (have to/had to, must, should, need, ought to and their negative forms)
3. Use of passive voice
4. Subject - verb concord
5. Reporting
(i). Commands and requests
(ii). Statements
(iii). Questions
6. Clauses:
(i) Noun clauses
(ii) Adverb clauses of condition and time
(iii) Relative clauses
7. Determiners, and
8. Prepositions
Note: No separate marks are allotted for any of the grammar items listed above.

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SECTION D: TEXT BOOKS 25 Marks
95 periods
Beehive and Moments (NCERT)
Q12. and Q13. Two extracts for reference to context (based on prose or play). These extracts would require
effort on the part of the students to supply the responses.
Up to one mark in each extract will be for vocabulary. At least one question will be used for testing local and global
comprehension and one question will be on interpretation.
The extracts will carry 4 marks each. 3+3=6 Marks
Q 14 One out of two reference to context stanzas (based on poetry) followed by 3 questions to test local and
global comprehension of the set text.These passages would require effort on the part of students to
supply the responses. 3 Marks
Q15. Five out of six short answer type questions based on Beehive and Moments (three each) to test local
and global comprehension of theme and ideas (30-40 words each)- 2 marks each. 2x5=10 Marks
Q16. One out of two long answer type questions extrapolative in nature from Beehive and Moments.
(Upto 80 words) (One from each). 6 Marks
Novel/Long Reading Text 5+5=10 Marks
Q 17 Types of Questions:
Global questions on theme and plot involving interpretation and inference 5 Marks
Q 18 One out of two character sketches in 100 words 5Marks
Prescribed Books
1. Beehive - Textbook for Class IX Published by NCERT
2. Moments - Supplementary Reader for Class IX Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi
Novel/Long Reading Text
3. Gulliver's Travel - 2005 (unabridged edition) Jonathan Swift
4. Three Men in a Boat - 1889 (unabridged edition) Jerome K. Jerome
NOTE: Teachers are advised to:
i. encourage classroom interaction among peers, students and teachers through activities such as role play,
group work etc,
ii. reduce teacher-talking time and keep it to the minimum,

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iii. take up questions for discussion to encourage pupils to participate and to marshal their ideas and express
and defend their views, and
iv. use the scale of assessment for conversation skills to test the students for continuous assessment.
Besides measuring attainment, texts serve the dual purpose of diagnosing mistakes and areas of non-learning. To
make evaluation a true index of learners' attainment, each language skill is to be assessed through a judicious mixture
of different types of questions. In addition to the summative tests, formative assessment is essential to measure the
level of attainment in the four language skills and the learners' communicative competence. Formative assessment
should be done through 'in class' activities throughout the year.
Reading Section:
Reading for comprehension, critical evaluation, inference and analysis is a skill to be tested formatively as well as
summatively.
Writing Section:
All types of short and extended writing tasks will be dealt with in both I and II Term Summative as well as in
Formative Assessment.
Grammar:
Grammar items mentioned in the syllabus will be taught and assessed formatively over a period of time. There will
be no division of syllabus for Grammar in the summative assessments for the two terms.

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Syllabus for the Two Terms
S.No. Text Books First Term Second Term
(April - September) (October - March)
FA 1 10 FA2 10 SA I 30 FA3 10 FA4 10 SA II 30
TEXT BOOK (Beehive)
PROSE
1. The fun they had 3 3
2. The Sound of Music 3 3
3. The little girl 3 3
4. A Truly Beautiful mind 3 3
5. The Snake and the Mirror 3 3
6. My Childhood 3 3
7. Packing 3 3
8. Reach for the Top 3 3
9. The Bond of Love 3 3
10. Kathmandu 3 3
11. If I were You 3 3
POETRY
1. The Road not Taken 3 3
2. Wind 3 3
3. Rain on the Roof 3 3
4. The Lake Isle of Innisfree 3 3
5. A Legend of the 3 3
Northland
6. No Men are Foreign 3 3

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7. The Duck and the 3 3
Kangaroo
8. On Killing a Tree 3 3
9. The Snake Trying 3 3
10. A Slumber did 3 3
My Spirit Seal
Supplementary Reader
(Moments)
1. The Lost Child 3 3
2. The Adventure of Toto 3 3
3. Ishwaran the Story Teller 3 3
4. In the Kingdom of Fools 3 3
5. The Happy Prince 3 3
6. Weathering the Storm in 3 3
Ersama
7. The Last Leaf 3 3
8. A House is Not a Home 3 3
9. The Accidental Tourist 3 3
10. The Beggar 3 3
Long Reading Text
Guliver's Travels (in Four Parts) Part I & II Part III & IV
Three Men in a Boat Chapters 1-10 Chapters 11-19
Note:
1. Formative Assessment is assessment 'for' learning. Thus schools may adapt the above break-up as per
their convenience.
2. All activities related to Formative Assessment such as language games, quizzes, projects, role plays,
dramatisation, script writing etc must be done as ' in school' activities. In case, a field survey or visit is taken
up, it must be under the direct supervision of the teacher.