Need for an Error Free Study Material

Gone are the days students took the words of their teacher for granted. Apart from classroom learning they acquire a considerable language inputs through print and electronic media. In most of the cases they come to school just to confirm what they learnt through other sources. These days students not only start to analyze before accepting the shared knowledge and information but also evaluate and justify. At this juncture I wish to bring to the notice of the teaching community and authorities concerned that some typos have crept into the English text book prescribed for class 10 by Andhra Pradesh government.

The text book and the teacher who teaches the lessons are the main source of knowledge and they are ought to be error free, since 85% of learning and language acquisition takes place through receptive skills such as reading and listening. At this juncture the printed matter in the text book and the speech of the teachers should be free from errors as they cater first hand learning source.

1. Refer to Unit -4 – Films and Theatres- Rendezvous with Ray (page no-107)

The given sentence is, “I was here on a quest to know the world and in the process know myself.” The sentence should have been “I was here on a quest to know the world and in the process of knowing myself.”

The word process means “a series of things that are done in order to achieve a particular result”. Generally the verb ‘process’ takes preposition ‘of’ and it should be ‘knowing’ instead of ‘know’. Some more examples where to make clear the use of process in a sentence are

· I will prove this to you by a process of elimination.

· She began the long process of clearing up all the reports.

· The Web facilitates an interactive process of learning.

· A legal process for dealing with defrauders a painstaking process of trial and error

· We're in the process of selling our house.

2. Refer to page 130, point no 3 under: Some important points about modals.

“The main verb will always be the V1 form after the modals.”

In this regard the text book has failed to explain what “V1 form of the verb “is and led the students and the teachers to misinterpretation of V1. If according to the text book V1 represents present form of a verb, then every verb has got two present forms: one to be used with first person, second person and third person plural and the other with third person singular alone. The text book has also failed to note which one of them is to be chosen. Further the present forms of “be” are am, is and are. It is uncommon to have noticed a sentence like ‘It can is a lion’ whereas the correct sentence is “It can be a lion.” The point of quote is only the base form of the verb can follow a modal and not its present form. There are instance where “be” is used as main verb. In the following sentence “I had been to London”, ‘been’, the past participle form of ‘be’ is used instead of ‘go’ which means a person had gone to London and returned.

It would have been better if the text book had either not mentioned rules or said the main verb will always be the base form after the modals.

3. Refer page 131-Letter to Editor.

It is a common practice to write “Thanking you” instead of “Thank you” at closing of a letter. I feel “Thanking you” is an inappropriate expression to express ones gratitude while writing a letter. The action of thanks giving is more connected to mind than physic. It is not the same as eating, playing, dancing etc. In other words a thanks giving is a mind related action word and such words are not to be expressed in progressive verb form. Moreover “Thank you” is an imperative sentence that represents “I thank you”. A few example of this kind are:

· I remember Miss Scott very well.

· I think it highly unlikely that I'll get the job.

· I think this is their house, but I'm not sure.

These are only connected to unit-4. Hope the letter will find little space in your newspaper and will be an eye opener to the authorities concerned. So the children of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana learn the right from the right.