ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

Subject Code-184
Classes-IX-X (2025-26)

1. Background

At the secondary stage of English language learning the textual materials and other
resources should represent a wide range of learning experience. Literature has always
played a significant role in learning language. However, it is felt that pupils should be
apprised with contemporary issues, read authentic literature and experiences of people to
reflect and build their personality traits.

While there is a trend for inclusion of a wider range of contemporary and authentic texts,
accessible and culturally appropriate pieces of literature should play a pivotal role at the
secondary stage of education. The English class is meant for reading literature from different
perspectives and to engage in activities for developing communicative competence,
creativity and enrichment of language skills It should not be seen as a place merely to read
poems and stories in, but an area of activities to develop the learner’s imagination as a major
aim of language study, and to equip the learner with communicative skills to perform various
language functionsthrough speech and writing.

2. Objectives:
Objectives of the course are to enable learners to:
• build greater confidence and proficiency in oral and written communication
• develop the ability and knowledge required in order to engage in independent reflection
and inquiry
• make appropriate usage of English language both written and oral
• communicate in various social settings and express agreement and disagreement with
logic.
• equip learners with essential language skills to question and to articulate their point of
view and arrive at conclusion through discussion and debate.
• build competence in the different aspects of the Language
• develop sensitivity to, and appreciation of world literature representing varieties of
English and cultures embedded in lt.
• enable the learner to access knowledge and information through reference skills
(consulting a dictionary / thesaurus, library, internet, etc.)
• develop curiosity and creativity through extensive reading of literature from different time
periods.

1
• facilitate self-learning to enable them to become independent learners
• review, organise and edit their own work and work done by peers
• give a brief oral description of events / incidents of topical interest and for real life
situations.
• retell the contents of authentic audio texts (weather reports, public announcements,
simple advertisements, short interviews, etc.)
• participate in conversations, discussions, etc., on topics of mutual interest in non-
classroom situations
• narrate a story which has been depicted pictorially or in any other non-verbal mode
• respond, in writing, to business letters, official communications email etc.
• read and identify the main points / significant details of texts like scripts of audio-
video interviews, discussions, debates, etc.
• write without prior preparation on a given topic and be able to defend or explain the
stand taken / views expressed in the form of article, speech, or a debate
• write a summary of short lectures on familiar topics by making / taking notes
• write an assessment of different points of views expressed in a discussion / debate
• read poems effectively (with proper rhythm and intonation) and understands literary
devices.
• transcode information from a graph / chart to a description / report and write a
dialogue, short story or report
• develop appreciation for Indian languages (multilingualism), and Indian Literature.

3. Language Items
In addition to consolidating the grammatical items practised earlier, the courses at the
secondary level seek to reinforce the following explicitly:
• sequence of tenses
• reported speech in extended texts
• modal auxiliaries (those not covered at upper primary)
• non-finites (infinitives, gerunds, participles)
• conditional clauses
• complex and compound sentences
• phrasal verbs and prepositional phrases
• cohesive devices
• punctuation (semicolon, colon, dash, hyphen, parenthesis or use of brackets and
exclamation mark)

2
 4. Methods and Techniques
The methodology is based on a multi-skill, activity-based, learner-centered approach. Care is
taken to fulfill the functional (communicative), literary (aesthetic) and cultural (sociological)
needs of the learner. In this situation, the teacher is the facilitator of learning, She/he presents
language items, create situations which motivates the child to use English for the purposes of
communication and expression. Aural-oral teaching and testing is an integral feature of the
teaching-learning process. The electronic and print media could be used extensively. A few
suggested activities are:

• Role play
• Simulating real life situations
• Dramatising and miming
• Problem solving and decision making
• Interpreting information given in tabular form and schedule
• Using newspaper clippings as a resource for comprehending and analysing issues.
• Borrowing situations and registers from the world around the learners, from books and
from other disciplines
• Using language games, riddles, puzzles and jokes
• Interpreting pictures / sketches / cartoons
• Debating and discussing
• Narrating and discussing stories, anecdotes, etc.
• Reciting poems
• Working in pairs and groups
• Using media inputs - computer, television, video cassettes, tapes, software packages

ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

SYLLABUS CLASS – IX (2025-26)

Sections Weightage

A Reading Skills 20 Marks

B Writing Skills and Grammar 20 Marks
C Language through Literature 40 Marks

3
 Section A
Reading Skills

I. Reading Comprehension through Unseen Passage 20 Marks

1. Discursive passage of 400-450 words. 10 marks

2. Case-based factual passage (with visual input- statistical data/chart etc.) of 200-250 words.
10 marks
(Total length of two passages to be 600-700 words)

Multiple Choice Questions / Objective Type Questions/Very Short Answer Questions will be
asked to assess comprehension, interpretation, analysis, inference, evaluation and
vocabulary.
Section B
Writing Skills and Grammar

II. Grammar 10 Marks

 Determiners
 Tenses
 Modals
 Subject – verb concord
 Reported speech
o Commands and requests
o Statements
o Questions

3. The courses at the secondary level seek to cement high professional grasp of
grammatical items and levels of accuracy. Accurate use of spelling, punctuation and
grammar will be assessed through Gap Filling/ Editing/Transformation exercises. Ten
out of twelve questions will be attempted.

III. Writing Skills 10 marks

4. Writing a Descriptive Paragraph (word limit 100-120 words), describing a person /

event/ situation, based on visual or verbal cue/s. One out of two questions to be answered.
5 marks

5. Writing a Story (on a given cue/title)/Diary Entry, in 100-120 words. One out of two
questions is to be answered. 5 marks

4
 Section C
Language through Literature 40 Marks

IV. Reference to the Context 5+5 = 10 Marks

6. One extract out of two, from Drama / Prose.

7. One extract out of two, from poetry.

Multiple Choice Questions / Objective Type Questions will be asked to assess interpretation,
analysis, inference, evaluation, appreciation and vocabulary.

V. Short & Long Answer Questions

a. Four out of Five Short Answer Type Questions to be answered in 40-50 words from the book
BEEHIVE to assess interpretation, analysis, inference and evaluation. 4x3=12 marks

b. Two out of Three Short Answer Type Questions to be answered in 40-50 words from the book
MOMENTS to assess interpretation, analysis, inference and evaluation. 3x2=6 marks

c. One out of two Long Answer Type Questions from BEEHIVE to be answered in about 100-
120 words to assess creativity, imagination and extrapolation beyond the text and across the
text. This can also be a passage-based question taken from a situation/plot from the text.
6 marks
d. One out of two Long Answer Type Questions from MOMENTS, on theme or plot involving
interpretation, extrapolation beyond the text and inference or character sketch to be
answered in about 100-120 words. 6 marks

Prescribed Books: Published by NCERT, New Delhi

1.BEEHIVE

Prose

1. The Fun They Had 6. My Childhood

2. The Sound of Music 7. Reach for The Top
3. The Little Girl 8. Kathmandu
4. A Truly Beautiful Mind 9. If I were You
5. The Snake and the Mirror
Poems

1. The Road Not taken 5. A Legend of the Northland

2. Wind 6. No Men are Foreign
3. Rain on The Roof 7. On Killing a Tree
4. The Lake Isle of Innisfree 8. A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal
5
 2. MOMENTS

1. The Lost Child 5. The Happy Prince

2. The adventures of Toto 6. The Last Leaf
3. Iswaran the Storyteller 7. A House is not a Home
4. In the kingdom of fools 8. The Beggar

3. WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS – I (WORKBOOK FOR CLASS IX) – Units 1 to 6 and Units
8,10 & 11
NOTE: Teachers are suggested 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 express their
ideas and defend their views.

Besides measuring learning outcome, texts serve the dual purpose of diagnosing mistakes
and areas of non-learning. To make evaluation a true index of learners’ knowledge, each
language skill is to be assessed through a judicious mixture of different types of questions.

INTERNAL ASSESSMENT
Listening and Speaking
Assessment of Listening and Speaking Skills will be for 05 marks.

It is recommended that listening and speaking skills should be regularly practiced.

Art-integrated projects based on activities like Role Play, Skit, Dramatization etc. must be
used. Please refer to the Circular no. Acad-33/2020 dated 14th May 2020 at the
http://cbseacademic.nic.in/web_material/Circulars/2020/33_Circular_2020.pdf for details.

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

6
 ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
CLASS – IX (2025-26)
Marks-80
Sections Competencies Total
marks

Reading Conceptual understanding, decoding, analyzing, inferring, 20

Comprehension interpreting and vocabulary

Writing Skills and Creative expression of an opinion, reasoning, justifying,

Grammar illustrating, appropriate style and tone, using appropriate
format and fluency. 20
Applying conventions, using integrated structures with
accuracy and fluency
Language Recalling, reasoning, appreciating, applying literary
through conventions, illustrating and justifying. Extract relevant
Literature information, identifying the central theme and sub-theme, 40
understanding the writers’ message and writing fluently.

Total 80

For the details of Internal Assessment of 20 marks, please refer to thecircular no.
Acad-11/2019, dated March 06, 2019.

7
 ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
CLASS-X (2025-26)

SECTION - WISE WEIGHTAGE

Sections Weightage

A Reading Skills 20 Marks

B Writing Skills with Grammar 20 Marks
C Language through Literature 40 Marks

Section A
Reading Skills

I. Reading Comprehension through Unseen Passage 20 Marks

1. Discursive passage of 400-450 words. 10 marks

2. Case-based factual passage (with visual input- statistical data, chart etc.) of 200-250 words.
10 marks

(Total length of two passages to be 600-700 words)

Multiple Choice Questions / Objective Type Questions, and Short Answer Questions (to be
answered in 30-40 words) will be asked to assess comprehension, interpretation, analysis,
inference, evaluation and vocabulary.

Section B
Writing Skills and Grammar
II Grammar 10 Marks

 Determiners
 Tenses
 Modals
 Subject – verb concord
 Reported speech
o Commands and requests
o Statements
o Questions

8
 3. The courses at the secondary level seek to cement high professional grasp of
grammatical items and levels of accuracy. Accurate use of spelling, punctuation and
grammar in context will be assessed through Gap Filling/ Editing/Transformation exercises.
Ten out of 12 questions will have to be attempted.

III. Writing Skills 10 marks

4. Writing a Formal Letter based on a given situation, in 100-120 words. One out of two
questions is to be answered. 5 marks

5. Writing an Analytical Paragraph in 100-120 words on a given Map/ Chart/ Graph/Cue/s.

One out of two questions is to be answered. 5 marks

Section C 40 Marks
Language through Literature
IV. Reference to the Context 5+5=10 Marks

6. One extract out of two from Drama / Prose.

7. One extract out of two from poetry.

Multiple Choice Questions / Objective Type Questions Very Short Answer Questions (one
word/ One sentence), Short Answer Questions (to be answered in 30-40 words) will be
asked to assess inference, analysis, interpretation, evaluation and vocabulary.

V. Short & Very Long Answer Questions 30 Marks

8. Four out of Five Short Answer Type Questions to be answered in 40-50 words from the
bookFIRST FLIGHT to assess interpretation, analysis, inference and evaluation.
4x3=12 marks
9. Two out of Three Short Answer Type Questions to be answered in 40-50 words each
from FOOTPRINTS WITHOUT FEET to assess interpretation, analysis, inference and
evaluation. 2x3=6 marks
10. One out of two Long Answer Type Questions from FIRST FLIGHT to be answered in
about 100-120 words each to assess creativity, imagination and extrapolation beyond the
text andacross the text. This can be a passage-based question taken from a situation/plot
from the text. 6 marks
11. One out of two Long Answer Type Questions from FOOTPRINTS WITHOUT FEET, on
theme or plot involving interpretation, extrapolation beyond the text and inference or
character sketch to be answered in about 100-120 words. 6 marks

9
 Prescribed Books: Published by NCERT, New Delhi

1. FIRST FLIGHT
A. Prose

1. A Letter to God
2. Nelson Mandela - Long Walk to Freedom
3. Stories About Flying
4. From the Diary of Anne Frank
5. Glimpses of India
6. Mijbil the Otter
7. Madam Rides the Bus
8. The Sermon at Benares
9. The Proposal (Play)

B. Poems
1. Dust of Snow
2. Fire and Ice
3. A Tiger in the Zoo
4. How to Tell Wild Animals
5. The Ball Poem
6. Amanda!
7. The Trees
8. Fog
9. The Tale of Custard the Dragon
10. For Anne Gregory

2. FOOTPRINTS WITHOUT FEET

1. A Triumph of Surgery
2. The Thief's Story
3. The Midnight Visitor
4. A Question of Trust
5. Footprints Without Feet
6. The Making of a Scientist
7. The Necklace
8. Bholi
9. The Book that Saved the Earth

3. WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS – II (WORKBOOK FOR CLASS X) – Units 1 to 4 and

Units 7 to 11

10
Note: Teachers are suggested to:

(i) encourage interaction among peers, students and teachers through activities such as
role play, discussions, group work etc.

(ii) reduce teacher-talking time and keep it to the minimum,

(iii) take up questions for discussion to encourage pupils to participate and to marshal their
ideas and express and defend their views, and

(iv) follow the Speaking and Listening activities given in the NCERT books.

Besides measuring learning outcome, texts serve the dual purpose of diagnosing mistakes and
areas of non-learning. To make evaluation a true index of learners’ knowledge, each language
skills to be assessed through a judicious mixture of differenttypes of questions.

INTERNAL ASSESSMENT

Listening and Speaking Competencies

Assessment of Listening and Speaking Skills will be for 05 marks.

It is recommended that listening and speaking skills should be regularly practiced.

Art-integrated projects based on activities like Role Play, Skit, Dramatization etc. must be
used. Please refer to the Circular no. Acad-33/2020 dated 14th May 2020 at the
http://cbseacademic.nic.in/web_material/Circulars/2020/33_Circular_2020.pdf for details

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

11
 ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
CLASS – X (2025-26)
Marks 80

Sections Competencies Total marks

Conceptual understanding, decoding, analyzing,

Reading inferring, interpreting and vocabulary 20
Comprehension

Creative expression of an opinion, reasoning,

Writing Skills and justifying, illustrating, appropriate style and
Grammar tone, using appropriate format and fluency. 20
Applying conventions, using integrated
structures with accuracy and fluency

Recalling, reasoning, appreciating, applying

Language through literary conventions illustrating and justifying etc.
Literature Extract relevant information, identifying the 40
central theme and sub-theme, understanding
the writers’ message and writing fluently.

Total 80

For the details of Internal Assessment of 20 marks, please refer to thecircular no.
Acad-11/2019, dated March 06, 2019.

12
 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 theirown material for
assessing the listening and speaking skills.
ii. Parameters for Assessment: The listening and speaking skills are to be assessedon 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)

SUGGESTIVE RUBRIC

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Interactio
n  Contributions are  Contributions are  Develops interaction  Interaction is  Initiates &
mainly unrelated often unrelated to adequately, makes adequately logically
to those of other those of the other however minimal initiated develops simple
speakers speaker effort to initiate and developed conversation on
 Shows hardly any  Generally conversation  Takes turn but familiar topics
initiative in the passive in the  Needs constant needs some  Takes turns
development of development of prompting to take prompting appropriately
conversation conversation turns
 Very limited
interaction
13
  Noticeably/ long  Usually fluent;  Is willing to speak at  Speaks without  Speaks fluently
Fluency & pauses; rate of produces simple length, however noticeable effort, almost with no
Coherence speech is slow speech fluently, repetition is with a little repetition &
 Frequent but loses noticeable repetition minimal
repetition and/or coherence in  Hesitates and/or self  Demonstrates hesitation
self- correction complex corrects; hesitation to find Develops topic
this is all right in communication occasionally loses words or use fully & coherently
informal  Often hesitates coherence correct
conversation and/or resorts to  Topics developed, grammatical
 Links only basic slow speech but usually not structures and/or
sentences;  Topics partly logically concluded self- correction
breakdown of developed; not  Topics not fully
coherence always concluded developed to
evident. logically merit.

 Frequent  Frequently  Largely correct  Mostly correct  Pronounces

Pronunciation inaccurate unintelligible pronunciation & pronunciation& correctly &
pronunciation articulation clear articulation clear articulation articulates clearly
 Communication  Frequent except occasional  Is clearly  Is always
is severely phonological errors errors understood most comprehensible
affected  Major of the time; very  uses appropriate
communication few phonological intonation
problems errors
Vocabulary &  Demonstrates  Is able to  Is able to  Is able to  Is able to
Grammar almost no communicate on communicate on communicate on communicate on
flexibility, and some of the most of the topics, most of the most of the topics
mostly struggles topics, with with limited topics with using a wide range
for appropriate limited vocabulary. appropriate of appropriate
words vocabulary. A few grammatical vocabulary vocabulary, using
 Many  Frequent errors, errors  Minor errors that new words and
Grammatical but self-corrects do not hamper expressions
errors impacting communication  No grammatical
communication errors

iii. Schedule:
 The practice of listening and speaking skills should be done throughout the academicyear.
 The final assessment of the skills is to be done as per the convenience and schedule of the school.
14