CBSE Class 9 English Communicative Syllabus 2022-23

COMMUNICATIVE ENGLISH
(2022 – 2023)

I. Introduction :

Acquiring a language means, above all, acquiring a means to communicate confidently and
naturally. In other words, in order to communicate effectively in real life, students need more than
mere knowledge about the language. In addition, they must be able to use the language effectively,
with confidence and fluency. Therefore, the course in English Communicative has been designed
to develop the practical language communication, skills needed for academic study and
subsequent adult life.

The course brings together a number of ideas about the nature of language and language learning.

Knowledge and Skill

One of the tenets of the communicative approach is the idea that Language is a skill to be acquired,
not merely a body of knowledge to be learnt. Acquiring a language has been compared to learning
to drive. It is not enough to have only theoretical knowledge of how an engine works: you must know
how to use the gears and (crucially) how to interact with other road users. Similarly, simply knowing
parts of speech or how to convert the active into the passive does not mean you are proficient in a
language. You must be able to put knowledge into practice in natural use. Of course, we do not
expect a novice driver to move off without preparation: the driver has rules of the highway which
he/she must learn by rote. But there is no substitute for learning by doing, albeit in the artificial
conditions of a deserted road at slow speeds. Equally in language learning there are some ‘rules
to be learnt’ but there is no substitute for learning by doing. In good teaching, this experience is
supported by carefully-graded, contextualized exercises.

Structure and Function

Language can be described in different ways. Obviously we can label an utterance according to its
grammatical structure. Another approach is to decide what function it performs. Consider the
following:

a) “Can I open the window?”

b) “Can I carry that care?”

we could say that a) and b) have the same grammatical structure: they are both interrogative. We
should also recognize that they perform different functions: a) is a ‘request’ b) is an ‘offer’.

The course aims to recognizes the use to which language is put and encourages pupils to be aware
of the relationship between structure and function.

The overall aims of the course are to:

(a) enable the learner to communicate effectively and appropriately in real-lifesituations;
(b) use English effectively for study purposes across the curriculum;
(c) develop and integrate the use of the four language skills, i.e., listening,speaking,

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 reading and writing;
(d) develop interest in and appreciation of literature;
(e) revise and reinforce structures already learnt.

To develop creativity, Students should be encouraged to think on their own and express their ideas
using their experience, knowledge and imagination, rather than being text or teacher dependent.
Students should be encouraged to monitor their progress, space out their learning, so they should
be encouraged to see language not just as a functional tool, but as an important part of personal
development and inculcation of values.

II. Objectives

READING

By the end of the course, students should be able to:

1. read silently at varying speeds depending on the purpose of reading;
2. adopt different strategies for different types of text, both literary and non-literary;
3. recognise the organization of a text;
4. identify the main points of a text;
5. understand relations between different parts of a text through lexical and
grammatical cohesion devices;
6. anticipate and predict what will come next in a text;*
7. deduce the meaning of unfamiliar lexical items in a given context;
8. consult a dictionary to obtain information on the meaning and use of lexicalitems;*
9. analyse, interpret, infer (and evaluate) the ideas in the text;
10. select and extract, from a text, information required for a specific purpose (and
record it in note form);
11. transcode information from verbal to diagrammatic form;
12. retrieve and synthesise information from a range of reference materials usingstudy
skills such as skimming and scanning;
13. interpret texts by relating them to other material on the same theme (and totheir own
experience and knowledge);
14. read extensively on their own.
WRITING
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
1. express ideas in clear and grammatically correct English, using appropriate
punctuation and cohesion devices;
2. write in a style appropriate for communicative purposes;
3. plan, organise and present ideas coherently by introducing, developing and
concluding a topic;
4. write a clear description (e.g., of a place, a person, an object or a system);

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5. write a clear account of events (e.g., a process, a narrative, a trend or a cause-effect
relationship);
6. compare and contrast ideas and arrive at conclusions;
7. present an argument, supporting it with appropriate examples;
8. use an appropriate style and format to write letters (formal and informal),biographical
sketches, dialogues, speeches, reports, articles, e-mails and diary entries;
9. monitor, check and revise written work;
10. expand notes into a piece of writing;
11. summarise or make notes from a given text; and
12. decode information from one text type to another (e.g., diary entry to letter,
advertisement to report, diagram to verbal form).
(* Objectives which will not be tested in a formal examination)

LISTENING
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
1. adopt different strategies according to the purpose of listening (e.g., for pleasure,
for general interest, for specific information);
2. use linguistic and non-linguistic features of the context as clues to understanding and
interpreting what is heard (e.g., cohesion devices, key words, intonation, gesture,
background noises);
3. listen to a talk or conversation and understand the topic and main points;
4. listen for information required for a specific purpose, e.g., in radio broadcast,
commentaries, airport and railway station announcements;
5. distinguish main points from supporting details, and relevant from irrelevant information;
6. understand and interpret messages conveyed in person or by telephone;
7. understand and respond appropriately to directive language, e.g., instruction, advice,
requests and warning;
8. understand and interpret spontaneous spoken discourse in familiar social situations.

SPEAKING
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
1. speak intelligibly using appropriate word stress, sentence stress and intonationpatterns;
2. adopt different strategies to convey ideas effectively according to purpose, topicand
audience (including the appropriate use of polite expressions);
3. narrate incidents and events, real or imaginary in a logical sequence;
4. present oral reports or summaries; make announcements clearly and confidently;
5. express and argue a point of view clearly and effectively;
6. take active part in group discussions, showing ability to express agreement or
disagreement, to summarise ideas, to elicit the views of others, and to present own ideas;
7. express and respond to personal feelings, opinions and attitudes;
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8. convey messages effectively in person or by telephone;
9. frame questions so as to elicit the desired response, and respond appropriately to
questions;
10. participate in spontaneous spoken discourse in familiar social situations.

GRAMMAR
By the end of the course, students should be able to use the following accurately and
appropriately in context:

1. Verbs :-
• present/past forms
• simple/continuous forms
• perfect forms
• future time reference
• modals
• active and passive voice
• subject-verb concord
• non-finite verb forms (infinitives and participles)

2. Sentence Structure :-
• connectors
• types of sentences
• affirmative/interrogative sentences negation
• exclamations
• types of phrases and clauses
- finite and non-finite subordinate clauses
- noun clauses and phrases
- adjective clauses and phrases
- adverb clauses and phrases
• indirect speech
• comparison
• nominalisation

3. Other Areas :-
• determiners
• pronouns
• prepositions

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 LITERATURE
By the end of the course, students should be able to understand, interpret, evaluate and
respond to the following features in a literary text:
1 Character as revealed through
• appearance and distinguishing features
• socio-economic background
• action/events
• expression of feelings
• speech and dialogues
2 Plot/Story/Theme emerging through main events
• progression of events and links between them
• sequence of events denoting theme
3 Setting, as seen through time and place, socio-economic and cultural background,people,
beliefs and attitudes.
4 Form
• rhyme
• rhythm
• simile
• metaphor
• pun
• repetition

III. Role of the Teacher

Unlike a teacher-centred classroom, where the teacher plays a dominant role, speaks most of the
time, and interacts with the class as a whole, for the success of this course teachers will need to
adopt a variety of roles.

Littlewood1 sets out these roles as follows:

As a general overseer of his/ her students’ learning, the teacher must aim to coordinate the activities
so that they form a coherent progression, leading towards greater communicative ability.

As a classroom manager, he/ she is responsible for grouping activities into ‘lessons’ and for ensuring
that these are satisfactorily organized at a practical level.

In many activities, he/ she may perform the familiar role of language instructor: he/ she will present
new language, exercise direct control over the learner’s performance, evaluate and correct it, and
so on.

1
Littlewood, WT (1981) Communicative Language Teaching, Cambridge University Press.
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 In others, he/ she will not intervene after initiating the proceedings, but will let learning take place
through independent activity or pair and group work.
When such an activity is in progress he may act as a consultant or adviser, helping where necessary.
He/ She may also move about the classroom in order to monitor the strengths and weaknesses of
the learners, as basis for planning future learning activities.
He/She will sometimes wish to participate in an activity as co-communicator with the learners. In
this role, he/ she can simulate and present new language without taking the main initiative for
learning away from the learners themselves.

IV. Classroom Procedures

The main type of classroom organization recommended are individual work, pair work, small group
work and whole class work. It has been the experience of teachers that students adapt themselves
very quickly to the new classroom arrangements, and the interesting nature of the activities
themselves produce discipline. The following sections give practical advice on organization of
different types of classroom activities.

Individual Work
When an activity is designed for individual work, students will be working mainly on their own. First,
ask students to read the instructions (or read them yourself to the students). Make sure that
students understand what they are expected to do, if necessary by giving an example or (preferably)
asking one of the students to give an example. Then set them to do the activity.

While students do the activity, the teacher can move around the classroom, making sure that
everything is going smoothly and giving individual help where it is needed. Do not interfere too much;
remember that too much interruption and correction may discourage students.

Students will work at different speeds, so they will not all finish at the same time. The easiest
solutions to this is to ask students who have finished to compare their answers with their neighbours.
Call the class together again when the majority of them have finished activity, even if some are still
working on it. The activity can then be checked by asking students to give their answers. The
teacher needn’t act as the ‘judge’, but instead can ask other students whether they agree. This
checking procedure keeps all students involved, and gives the slower ones a chance to catch up.

Pair Work

As with individual work, you first need to make sure that students understand the instructions. Once
the activity is clear, you will then have to arrange the class in pairs. Usually it is easiest if a student
pairs up with the person sitting at the same desk. (You may have to move one or two if they are on
their own.)

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 Sometimes it will be necessary to have three working together, but this should not seriously affect
their work.

If your class is very crowded, with most students sitting three to a desk, one row may turn to face
those behind to form three pairs.

Once students have settled down to work, circulate round the classroom, observing and listening to
them, and giving help to those who need it. As with individual work, resist the temptation to interfere
too much!

You many find it useful to set a time limit for fair work activity. This can help to focus the students’
attention and provide a challenge, as well as simplifying management of the class. If you wish to
do this, tell them the time limit before they begin, and be prepared to extend or reduce it you find
you have misjudged the time required.

In many pair work tasks, checking can be carried out in the same way as for individual work by the
teacher eliciting answers from the students. Sometimes, though, it may be better for one or more
pairs of students to report back their conclusions to the rest of the class, possibly with class
discussion.

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 Group work

Usually, group work, involves four students but a times it may extend to five or six or even more.
Four, however, is a more convenient number or most classroom situations.

The general procedure for group work is the same as for pair work, that is:

- instructions for the whole class

- organization of the groups

- group activity while the teacher circulates

- feedback and checking for the whole class

The major difference is that the organization of the groups needs more care. It is fairly simple to
form groups of four by asking students to turn and face those behind.

However, you may feel that some changes are required to achieve a balance in some of the groups.
In this case, move only a few students from one group to another. When the groups move over to
the feedback and checking stage, you may make it more interesting by asking a student to chair the
inter-group discussion.

Whole Class Work

Whole class work, of course, is necessary for maters such as formal instruction (e.g. the format of
formal and informal letters), for “warm-up” activities, for class discussion, for “class review” sessions
at the close of pair work or group work. During the whole class work, the teacher is in her traditional
role.

V. Handling Pair Work and Small Group Work (PW/SGW)

Introducing and Demonstrating

After a brief explanation of what is to be done, always demonstrate the activity. You have these
options:
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 - The teacher takes both (for all) parts.

- The teacher takes one part, while one or more students take the other parts.

- Two or more students take different parts.

In selecting students to help demonstrate an activity, always select those who will demonstrate it
well. Also, choose students from different parts of the classroom (particularly from the back), so that
they will have to speak loudly in order to be heard. (Don’t choose students sitting side-by-side, or
they will speak so softly to each other that nobody else will hear!) Don’t allow this phase to take too
much time – two or three minutes is usually enough.

Organising

This has largely been covered in the Section B.3. above. A few additional points:

- There is no need to move chairs and desks, and only a very few students will need to move
places. For the most part, students simply face in a different directions in order to form pairs
and small groups.

- The teacher is responsible for deciding who is to work with whom. (Don’t leave it to students
to decide, or the result will be confusion.)

- You may also prefer to allocate roles yourself, e.g. “When pairs, the one nearest the window
is A, the other is B.”

- If you have not used PW/SGW before, expect a little, noise and excitement at first! But
students quickly get used to the new procedures and soon settle down with minimum noise
and fuss.

Managing

While students are actually doing the PW/SGW activity, the teacher has an important role to play.
It is vital to move round the class, listening in on PW / SGW and helping / advising where
necessary. Be careful, of course, not to “take over” the activity by intervening too strongly.
(students need the English practice, not you!) Sometimes it is advisable to just ‘hover’ at a
distance while moving round the class, simply checking that students are actually doing the
activity. Make sure that you distribute your attention evenly over the course of a term; and give
particular help and attention to weaker students.

Concluding

At the close of a PW/SGW activity, bring the whole class together. You may wish to ask a pair
or group to demonstrate at the front of the class. (Ask weaker pairs or groups to demonstrate,
too. This can be a powerful confident-builder). Alternatively, you may find a brief class discussion
profitable, in which students exchange experiences that have arisen from the activity itself, e.g.
a problem they have encountered, a good idea someone came up with, something they did not
understand. Be careful not to allow this conclusion phase to take too much time – 5 minute is
plenty.

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 Many teachers view with alarm the prospect of pairwork and small group work with a large number
of students. The following are concerns commonly expressed together with the responses of
experienced teachers:

VI. Some questions and answers about Pair Work and Small Group Work

For many teachers, the prospect of PW/SGW with large numbers of students in a class is viewed
with alarm. To help such teachers, the following are concerns expressed, followed by responses
that have been given by other teachers.

Teachers’ concerns about PW/SGW

- It is difficult for the teacher to check whether all students are doing the activity, and (if so)
whether they are producing correct and suitable English.
- More proficient pupils are held back by weaker pupils.
- Noise levels are high.
- It is not right for the teacher to withdraw from a position of “central control”
- PW/SGW will be rejected by other teachers, parents and by the students themselves as a
waste of time and frivolous.

Responses to these Concerns

- In traditional teacher-led classes, often individual students are not actively participating, but
the teacher remains unaware of this, if a sufficient students seem to be ‘following the
lesson’.
- Noise is a necessary element of good language learning – as it is in a Music lesson. It is
not so much noise itself that some teachers are concerned about, but the amount of noise.
There is no easy answer to this question, since a lot depends on the individual teacher’s
relationship with the class. Certainly a clear introduction to and demonstration of the task
will ensure that PW/SGW gets off to a good start, with no fuss and confusion. And the
challenge of the task itself should ensure that students are busily engaged in English. It is
for the teacher to make it quite clear to the class what amount of noise is acceptable, and
to make sure that noise is kept to that level. If noise levels do get too high for comfcort, the
“noisy approach” (i.e. the teacher shouting to get less noise) is unlikely to work for any more
than a short while. Instead, try the “quiet approach”, i.e. train your students to recognize
that when your hand is raised, they must raise theirs and be more quiet. On occasions, you
may have to speak to particularly noisy and excited groups. Please do not let the prospect
of some degree of noise put you off PW/SGW. If students are to learn to use English, then
they must communicate with each other, not just you. And if they are to communicate, then
there will be a certain amount of positive, beneficial noise. Welcome it as a sign that your
students are growing in confidence and fluency in English.

- It is perfectly true that in PW/SGW the teacher cannot judge whether all students are
producing correct and suitable English. (Of course, this is equally true of a teacher-led
classroom where one student is speaking (to you), and all the others are silent.) But we
need to accept that making mistakes in language is not only normal, but is actually
necessary if a learner is to make progress. Advice on what to do about students’ mistakes
when speaking in PW/SGW is given in Section C.6.

- P/SGW encourages all students, even the shy ones, to participate actively. Because they
feel they are not “on show” in front of the whole class, they feel to experiment with the
language, trying out newly-acquired forms.
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 - Much research in psycholinguistics in recent years has indicated that peer interaction of
this kind in language classes is frequently highly successful. Not all students, even those
in the same class, have precisely the same stock of knowledge and understanding of the
language. Students can pool ideas and often perform a task better together than they can
alone. As they become more familiar with PW/SGW, they learn to handle activities in a
mature manner, sensitively correcting each other’s work. In fact research shows that
appropriate error correction in well graded activities is just as likely to occur between
students as by the teacher in a teacher-led mode.

- If a good student is paired with a less able one, the former is likely to assume the role of a
‘teacher’. This experience is often fruitful for both. The less able student has a ‘personal
tutor’, and the good student also improves: having to explain something in simple terms is
often an excellent learning experience in itself.

- If a task is well-constructed and the students appropriately prepared, the activity is often
‘peer pressure’ to induce reluctant group members to participate.

- PW/SGW is an attempt to encourage students to accept some of the responsibility for

learning themselves. The only truly successful students are the ones who can do this. If the
technique is handled well, it will soon become evident that the teacher is working just as
hard as she/he does in a teacher-led mode. PW/SGW is one of a number of different
techniques which a teacher can employ to accommodate students with different learning
styles and for activities with different goals.

COMMUNICATIVE ENGLISH (Code NO. 101)

CLASS – IX (2022-23)
SECTION-WISE WEIGHTAGE

Section Total Weightage

A Reading Skills 20
B Writing Skills 25
C Grammar 10
D Literature Textbook 25
TOTAL 80

SECTION A: READING 20 Marks 50 Periods

 The section will have two unseen passages with the maximum word limit of 750 words.
The passages can be of any two types out of the following: literary / factual / discursive.
Please refer to the Main Course Book.
Objective Type Questions (including Multiple Choice Questions), and Very Short Answer
type Questions will be asked to test inference, evaluation, analysis and vocabulary in
context.

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 SECTION B: WRITING SKILLS 25 Marks 60 Periods

This section will have a variety of short and long writing tasks.
 Notice Writing for school assembly/ Resident Welfare Association/ School Events/ Classroom
information etc. in maximum 50 words 3 Marks
 Dialogue Writing in maximum 100 words 5 Marks
 Informal Letter maximum 120 words 7 Marks
 Paragraph on one out of two themes based on verbal or visual cues from Main Course Book in
maximum 150 words 10 Marks

SECTION C: GRAMMAR 10 Marks

Grammar items will be taught and assessed over a period of time. There will be no division of
syllabus for Grammar.
1. Tenses
2. Modals
3. Subject – verb concord
4. Reporting
(i) Commands and requests
(ii) Statements
(iii) Questions
5. Clauses:
(i) Noun clauses
(ii) Adverb clauses
(iii) Relative clauses
6. Determiners

The above items may be tested through test types as given below:
 Gap filling with one or two words to test Prepositions, Articles, Conjunctions and Tenses.
3 marks
 Editing or Omission 4 marks
 Sentences Reordering or Sentence Transformation in context. 3 marks

SECTION D: LITERATURE TEXTBOOK 25 Marks 60 Periods

 Two out of three extracts from prose/poetry for reference to the context. Very Short Answer
Questions will be asked to assess global comprehension and interpretation. 7 marks
(Prose: 4 Marks Poetry: 3 Marks)
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  Five Short Answer type Questions out of six from the Literature Reader to test local and
global comprehension of theme and ideas (30-40 words each) 5 x2 = 10 Marks
 One out of two Long Answer type Questions to assess how the values inherent in the text
have been brought out. Creativity, imagination and extrapolation beyond the text and across
the texts will be assessed. This can also be a passage-based question taken from a
situation/plot from the texts. (150 words). 8 marks
Prescribed Books: Interact in English Series by CBSE (Available on www.cbseacademic.nic.in)
• Main Course Book (Revised Edition)
• Literature Reader (Revised Edition)
• Workbook (Revised Edition)

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-talk time and keep it to the minimum,
iii. take up questions for discussion to encourage pupils to participate and to marshaltheir
ideas and express and defend their views.

Assessment of Listening and Speaking Skills: 50 Periods

Guidelines for the Assessment of Listening and Speaking Skills are given at Annexure I.

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 Question Paper Design (2022-23)
English Communicative (CODE NO. 101)
CLASS IX
TIME: 3 Hours Max. Marks: 80

S.No Competencies % Weightage

1 Demonstrative Knowledge + Understanding
(Knowledge based simple recall questions, to know
specific facts, terms, concepts, principles or theories,
identify, define, or recite, information,
Upto 30%
Comprehension – to be familiar with meaning and to
understand conceptually, interpret, compare,
contrast, explain, paraphrase information)
2 Conceptual Application (Use abstract information in
concrete situation, to apply knowledge to new
situations; use given content to interpret a situation, Upto 35%
provide an example or solve a problem)

3 Formulation Analysis, Evaluation and Creativity

Analysis & Synthesis- classify, compare, contrast, or
differentiate between different pieces of information; Upto 35%
organize and/or integrate unique pieces of information
from a variety of sources.
Total 100%

For the details of Internal Assessment of 20 marks, please refer to the circular no.

Acad-11/2019, dated March 06,2019.

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 Annexure I

Guidelines for Assessment of Listening and Speaking Skills (ALS)

ALS is a component of the Subject Enrichment Activity under Internal Assessment. ALS must be seen as an
integrated component of all four language skills rather than a compartment of two. Suggested activities,
therefore, take into consideration an integration of the four language skills but during assessment, emphasis
will be given to speaking and listening, since reading and writing are already being assessed in the written
exam.
Assessment of Listening and Speaking Skills: (5 Marks)
i. Activities:
● Subject teachers must refer to books prescribed in the syllabus.
● In addition to the above, teachers may plan their own activities and create their own material for
assessing the listening and speaking skills.
ii. Parameters for Assessment: The listening and speaking skills are to be assessed on the following
parameters:
a. Interactive competence (Initiation & turn taking, relevance to the topic)
b. Fluency (cohesion, coherence and speed of delivery)
c. Pronunciation
d. Language (grammar and vocabulary)

A suggestive rubric is given below:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Interaction
 Contributions are  Contributions  Develops  Interaction is  Can initiate &
mainly unrelated are often interaction adequately logically develop
to those of other unrelated to adequately, initiated simple
speakers those of the makes and develop conversation on
 Shows hardly any other speaker however  Can take turn familiar topics
initiative in the  Generally minimal effort but needs  Can take turns
development of passive in the to initiate little appropriately
conversation development of conversation prompting
 Very limited conversation  Needs
interaction constant
prompting to
take turns
 Insufficient  Frequently  Largely correct  Mostly correct  Can pronounce
Pronunciation accuracy in unintelligible pronunciation & pronunciation correctly &
pronunciation; articulation clear & clear articulate clearly
many  Frequent articulation articulation  Is always
grammatical phonological except  Can be clearly comprehensible
errors errors occasional understood ; uses
 Communication  Major errors most of the appropriate
is severely communication  Some time; very few intonation
affected problems expressions phonological
cause stress errors
without
compromising
with
understanding
of spoken
discourse.

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 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Fluency &
Coher  Noticeably/ long  Usually fluent;  Is willing to  Speaks without  Speaks fluently
ence pauses; rate of produces simple speak at noticeable almost with no
Speech is slow speech fluently, length, effort, with a repetition &
 Frequent but loses however little repetition minimal
repetition and/or coherence in repetition is  Demonstrates hesitation
self- correction complex noticeable hesitation to  Develops topic
 Links only basic communication  Hesitates find words or fully &
sentences;  Often hesitates and/or self use correct coherently
breakdown of and/or resorts to corrects; grammatical
coherence slow speech occasionally structures
evident  Topics partly loses and/or self-
developed; not coherence correction
always  Topics mainly  Topics not fully
concluded developed, but developed to
logically usually not merit
logically
concluded
Vocabulary &  Demonstrates  Communicates  Communicate  Can express  Can express
almost no with limited s with limited with some with some
Grammar flexibility, and flexibility and flexibility flexibility and flexibility and
mostly struggles appropriacy on and appropriacy on appropriacy on a
for appropriate some of the appropriacy most of the variety of topics
words topics on most of the topics such as family,
 Uses very basic  Complex forms topics  Demonstrates hobbies, work,
vocabulary to and sentence  Sometimes ability to use travel and current
express view- structures are uses complex complex forms events
points. rare; exhibits forms and and sentence  Frequently uses
limited sentence structures most complex forms
vocabulary to structures; has of the time; and sentence
express new limited expresses with structures; has
ideas vocabulary to adequate enough
describe/ vocabulary vocabulary to
express new express himself/
points herself
iii. Schedule:
 The practice of listening and speaking skills should be done throughout the academic year.
 The final assessment of the skills is to be done as per the convenience and schedule of the school.

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