English Textbooks for P4 & P5from East African Educational Publishers

and Oxford University Pressand the

New Competence Based Curriculum

An analysis by

Katy Allen-Mtui MBEDamian Ntaganzwa

Ivan Kayonga

www.EducationRwanda.orgwww.EducationEastAfrica.org

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TextbooksforP4andP5andtheNewCompetenceBasedCurriculumThetextbooksIhaveacquiredare‘SuccessEnglishforRwandanSchoolsPrimary4’fromEastAfricanEducationalPublishers,and‘ExploreEnglishforRwandaSchoolsPrimary5’fromOxfordUniversityPress.Context: page1Background: page1AnalysisofSuccessEnglishforP4 page3-24AnalysisofExploreEnglishforP5Teacher’sGuide page25-26AnalysisofExploreEnglishforP5Learner’sBook page26-53Conclusion: page54Context:Thenewcompetence-basedcurriculumcameintoeffectinJanuary2016.Notextbookswereavailabletoschoolsinsupportofthenewcurriculumforthewholeof2016.InJanuary2017textbookswereavailableforteachingP1andP4.Inearly2017textbooksforthenextphase,beingP2andP5,wereavailable.Setoutbelowaremyobservationsandcommentsontheapprovedtextbooks‘SuccessEnglishforRwandanSchools’,Pupil’sBookforPrimary4fromEastAfricanEducationalPublishers,and‘ExploreEnglishforRwandaSchools’Learner’sBookandTeacher’sGuideforPrimary5fromOxfordUniversityPress.ThelatterbookshavebeenproducedinSouthAfrica,anditappearstobe,inpart,anadaptationofabookwrittenpreviously.ThesearethetextbooksmostusedcurrentlyintheschoolsaccordingtoinformationfromdistributorsandREB.Thetextbooksare,ofcourse,requiredtofollowthecurriculum,andsomyobservationsandcommentswhilstdirectedatthetextbooksarealsoacommentaryonthecurriculum.Ihavespent22yearsworkingintheprimaryeducationsectorinTanzania,forwhichIwasawardedanMBE.IhavenowspentovertenmonthsworkingingovernmentprimaryschoolsinGasaboDistrict.Myfirstcareerwasasalawyer,andmyfirstdegreeandpost-graduatestudieswereinlaw.Ihavequalificationsandmanyyears’experienceasateacherofEnglishasaforeignlanguage.FromallofmyexperiencemycommandoftheEnglishlanguageandmyabilitytoanalyseitandtoteachitisofahighstandard.Background:ThepupilandthecurriculumThepupilswhousethesebooksforthefirstthreeorfouryears,willnothavestudiedunderthenewCompetenceBasedCurriculum(CBC)fromP1.TheywillhavemetthenewCBCin,respectively,P4,P3andP2.However,asthetextbooksforP1andP4weresolateingettingtotheschoolsin2016,itmightbemorereasonabletoassumethattheP4andP5pupilsin2017didnotexperiencetheCBCin2016.

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However,thepresentstandardofEnglishattainedbythemajorityofP4andP5pupilsiswoefullylow.Theyaremostlyunabletoformsentences.Thereappearstobelittledifferencebetweenthestandardofwrittenworkandoralwork.WhatislackingisafirmgraspofthesentencestructuresthatmakeuptheEnglishlanguage.Manyofthosesentencestructuresarethetenses.Eachtensehasitsspecificuseormeaning.Sometensesmayoverlapingeneralmeaningoruse,buteachonedoeshaveitsspecificuseormeaning.Forinstance,thetwosentences,‘IammeetingTomtomorrow’(thepresentcontinuous)and‘IamgoingtomeetTomtomorrow’(the‘goingto’tense)canseeminterchangeableinmeaning,butthespeaker,inhis/hermindatthetimeofspeaking,hasareasonwhys/hechoosesoneofthetenses.Withineachtenseisitsstructureorformation.Thisinvolvesknowinghowtoformthetenseinitspositiveform,suchas‘IammeetingTomtomorrow’.Oncethatisgraspedthenthequestionformandnegativeformneedtobegrasped,asin‘AreyoumeetingTomtomorrow?’and‘IamnotmeetingTomtomorrow’.Thegoldenruleinteachingaforeignlanguagetoyounglearnersistointroduceonethingatonetime,andtopractisethatitemuntilitisfirmlygrasped.Thatmeansthatanewgrammarstructureshouldbeintroducedwithoutanynewvocabularyitems;justonethingatonetime.TheCompetenceBasedCurriculumforEnglish,asanycurriculumforanysubject,butespeciallyforthatofaforeignlanguage,isakintoamararthonrun.However,ifthecontentistooambitiousthenitcanbeakintoaprolongedsprint.Afastpacecanonlybesustainedforalimitedperiod,beforethebreathingisaffectedandthemusclesstarttoseize.Oncethatpointisreachedthenthereisnowayofcontinuing.Inamarathon,asteadypaceiskeptoveralongdistanceandthebreathingsustains.Oncethehalf-waypointisreachedthatsuccessinitselfwillsthebodytokeepgoing,andcompletingthecourseismorethanpossible.So,acurriculumrequiresasteadyprogressionwithcontentthatispossibletograspandmaster.Ifthecontentisbeyondthelevelorabilityofthepupilsthenitisasifthepupilsarehavingtorunanenduredsprint.Oncethelevelgoesbeyondthepupils’abilitytokeepuportolearnorunderstandanypartofit,thenthelearner/runnerisbendingovergaspingforbreathandunabletorunon.Themarathon-sprintcannotbecontinuedandtherunnerhastodropout.Thereisnosuccessandnomotivationorabilitytocontinue.Theproblemthenishowtore-trainandstartagain,asrejoiningtheraceisnotanoption.TheteacherTheconcernsoftheteachermustalsobeaddressed.TheteacherswhoteachEnglishare,byverydefinition,primaryschoolteachers.ThePrimaryschoolmathsteachercanonlybeexpectedtohaveabilityinmathematicstoalevelafewgradeshigherthanthelevelsheorheisteaching.ThePrimaryEnglishteachercan,similarly,onlybeexpectedtohaveabilityinEnglishuptoacertainlevel.NoteacherinPrimarycanbeexpectedtobethetopinher/hissubject–notaprofessorofmathematicsandneitherafluentEnglishspeaker.However,fortheUpperPrimaryteacherofEnglishexpectationsdoindeedaboundthathe/shehasafluentcommandoftheEnglishlanguage.AsthisisnotthecaseforthemajorityofUpperPrimaryEnglishteachers,theseunrealisticexpectationsonlyexacerbatetheproblemsandthefailures.

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ANALYSIS:P4Thisanalysisstartswith‘SuccessEnglishforRwandanSchoolsPrimary4’fromEastAfricanEducationalPublishers.ThePupil’sBookonlyhasbeenmadeavailabletome,andthereseemstobenoTeacher’sGuideavailable.Unit1followsthecurriculum,andstartsbylookingataschoolandtalkingaboutthepupils’ownschool,andthenlooksatatimetable,andthereisabargraph.Thebargraphonpage1usesthenamesofanimalsonthehorizontalaxis.Ifitistoknowhowmanychildrenhaveseeneachanimalthenitseemsoutofcontext.Asthatsamegraphappearsonpage90itmightwellbeanerrortohaveitprintedhereonpage1.Theunitcontinueswithadialoguewhichusesthepastsimpletense,thepresentperfecttense,thepresentsimpletense,andaquestiontag.Thisisadvancedtousesomanystructurestogetherinashortpassage.Frommyexperiencethepupilsdonotunderstandthesestructuresthoroughly,andIexpectmanywillfailtounderstandtheiruseinthedialogue.TheActivityAonpage3hasaglaringerror.Thisshouldhavebeenpickedupduringthetextbookassessment.ItisincorrectEnglish.Thequestionaskedhowmanysubjectsarestudiedonaparticularday.Thereare8lessonsorperiodsoneachday,andonthatparticulardaytherearetwoconsecutiveperiodsofEnglish,andtwoconsecutiveperiodsofSocialStudies.Thereare,therefore,6subjectsstudiedonthatday.Thebookgivestheanswer,‘WestudyeightsubjectsonMonday.’Thisiswrong.ThereisasimilarmistakeinActivityBonpage4whenthequestionis,‘HowmanylessonsofSciencedoyouhaveinaweek?(three)’.Thatisincorrect.Thereare6lessonsofScienceonthetimetable.Thefacttheyappearasthree‘doublelessons’makesnodifference;thenumberoflessonsis6.Theseareveryworryingmistakesastheyshowatotallackofunderstandingofthedifferencebetween‘subject’and‘lesson’.Aquicklookatadictionarywouldclearupthislackofknowledge.ActivityBiseasierthanActivityA(asinBtheanswerisgiveninbrackets)andsoActivityBshouldappearbeforeActivityA.Towardsthebottomofpage5thereisanadvancedsentence,‘Whywouldyoulikeyourlessonsforthedaytobearrangedlikethat?’Thishasthemodalauxiliary‘would’,thepassive‘tobearranged’,andauseof‘like’thatisnotverbalbutisapreposition.Ironicallythisisfollowedonpage6to8withveryeasyexercisesusingthepresentsimple.However,onpage7therearemoremistakes.Allthechildreninthetableliketwosubjects,apartfromonechildwholikesonlyonesubject.Thereisconfusiononpage7withtheuseof‘only’.Question3asks,‘WholikesScienceandMathsonly?’whichisnotanaturaluseof‘only’.Question5isworse,‘Whichpupillikesonesubjecteach?’(whichmakesnosenseatall)andtheanswertobecompletedisgivenas‘_______likesonesubjectonly’.Thiswouldbebetterputas‘Xlikesonlyonesubject’.Againonpage7thereisanothererror,‘Whatsubjectsdoesn’tGaleteandIsarolike?’Theverbmustbeintheplural–‘Whatsubjectsdon’tGaleteandIsarolike?’

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Moreerrorsoccuronpages8and9.Onpage8thereisthesentence,‘Iwanttobeateacherafterschool.’Thisisincorrect.‘Afterschool’hasthemeaningofimmediatelyafterschoolhoursonaparticularday,orregularly.Thissentencewouldhavetobe,‘IwanttobeateacherwhenIleaveschool’.Onpage9thereisthefirstofmanyofthesameerror,‘Iwouldliketogototheuniversity’.Asthereismorethanoneuniversitythen‘the’cannotbeused.FluentEnglishis,‘Iwouldliketogotouniversity’withnodefiniteorindefiniteadjective.Thereisthenanactivitytoreadsentenceswhichuse‘who’asarelativepronoun.Therethenfollowsalotofpracticeofthepresentsimpletense,mostlybygap-fillexercisesbutalsoinspeakingactivities.Onpage13thereisanewstructureused,andIexpectthereisnoguidancetotheteacher:‘Weplaytherewhenwearenotlearning.’Theuseof‘when’asaconjunctionshouldbetaught.Thisis,infact,doneverywellonpage61inUnit4.Theintroductionof‘when’shouldnotappearhere,butwaituntilitistaughtinUnit4.Thecomparativestructureisintroduced.Itisthenusedinanexercisetofindouthowlongittakespupilstogettoschool.However,thestructureusedisnotconsistentandleadstodifficulty.Firstthequestionis‘Howlongdoyoutaketogettoschool?’whereasitwouldbeadvisabletorepeatthestructurelearnedintheP3curriculum,and,indeed,themorefluentstructureof‘Howlongdoesittakeyoutogettoschool?’Therethenfollowsaveryclumsyquestion,‘Doyouknowwhattimeotherpupilstaketogettoschool?’Again,thestructureshouldbeconsistent,as‘Doyouknowhowlongittakesotherpupilstogettoschool?’Thetableonpage15isthenusedtointroduce‘many,less,morethan’.However,thesuperlativeisintroducedwithoutitbeinginitsclearestform.Thestructurechosenis‘Pupilswhotakelessthanhalfanhourliveclosesttotheschool.’Itwouldbepreferabletohaveusedtheusualformof‘theclosest’.Therethenfollowmoreconfusedexerciseswitherrorsonpages16and17.Theinformation,whichisalsorepresentedinabargraph,showsthat11pupilstakelessthanhalfanhourtogettoschool.Allotherpupilstakelongerthanthat.Thesentencegivenas‘TRUE’is,‘Veryfewstudentstakelessthantwentyminutestogettoschool.’Firstly,thereisnoinformationaboutthis,andso,apartfromknowingthat11pupilsgettoschoolinunderhalfanhour,wecannotknowhowmanytakefewerthantwentyminutes.Secondly,youcannotuse‘less’witha‘countable’pluralnoun.Thesentencehastobe‘……takefewerthantwentyminutes’.Thisgrammaticalerrorisrepeated.InsectionDonLanguagestructures,thereisgap-fillexercisewithnofurthercontextgiven.Thecorrectformoftheverbgiveninbracketsmustbeputintothesentence.Number4is,‘They…….likeHistory.(do).Iassumethetextbookwriterislookingforthenegativeform,‘theydonotlikeHistory’.Ifapupilwrites‘Theydolikehistory’thenitisnotwrong,butwillleadtheteacherintodifficulty,ands/hemightnotknowabouttheemphaticuseof‘do’inthepositiveformofthepresentsimpletense.Theexerciseonpage19tofillgapswith‘some,much,many,few,afew,alotof’isdifficult,andIwonderifsufficientoralpracticewillbegivenbeforethiswrittenexercise.Thisseems

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tobetoomuchatonce,andIexpectthisoverloadofdifficultgrammaritemswillleadtoconfusion,andthatverylittleunderstandingandlearningwilltakeplace.AlthoughthesewereintroducedinUnit10inP3,Iexpectthatthepupilswillneedmuchmorehelpinordertounderstandtheiruse.Thereadingandreadingcomprehensionquestionspractisethepresentsimpletense,andthelevelseemstobepitchedsuitablyforP4pupils.SectionFonpage20isaword-search,andisoneofthreeusedinthebook(theothersareinUnits4and5).Aword-searchseemstohavelimitededucationaluse,andcanbeverytime-consuming.However,iftheteacherisguidedinhelpingthepupilstodothetask,thenitcanbeanexerciseaddingtotheirskillsinlogic.SectionGonpage21isheaded‘Writeon’andthisisasectionineveryunitofthebook.ThisheadingisnothelpfulforlearnersofEnglish.IntheGlossaryonpage22therearetwotypingerrorswhichshouldhavebeencorrected.Inthedefinitionof‘easy’thereis‘…donewithoutthemucheffort’,andinthedefinitionof‘graph’thereis‘….itshowshowtosetsofinformationarerelated’.Comment:MyoverallcommentisthatthisUnitisintrinsicallyboring.Mostpupilswouldrathernotbeatschool,andsowhentheyaretheretohave28Englishlessonsfocusingonschoolisnotmotivating.Themanyerrorsdonothelpthelearningprocess,andparticularlytheydonothingtosupporttheteacher.Unit2unfortunatelyisnotwithouterrors.Inthepassageonpage25itstates,‘Ivisitdifferentplacesduringtheweekends.’CorrectEnglishis‘on’or‘at’theweekends.Thereisthentheuseof‘mostly’in‘ImostlyenjoybeinginplacesIhavenevervisitedbefore.’Thisisthenmisunderstoodinquestion3,‘WhatdoesDianeenjoymost?’.‘Mostly’isanadverbmeaning,inthiscontext,‘usually’or‘generally’.ItdoesnotmeanthatDiane‘most’enjoysbeinginthoseplaces.‘Most’isalsoanadverbandithasadifferentmeaning.Thisisaseriouserrorwhichwillmisleadteachersandpupilsalike.Thenarrativeonpage26containsmoreerrors.InEnglish,mealsarenotoften‘taken’butare‘had’or‘eaten’.So,thepassagedoesnotuseveryfluentEnglishwhenitstates,‘…andtookmybreakfast……Wetooklunch….’.Itwouldbemuchbettertosay‘Ihadmybreakast’or‘Iatemybreakfast’.Theuseoftheword‘consistedof’seemstooformalinthiscontext.Thereisalways‘appropriacy’oflanguagetoconsider,andthisverbisnotappropriatehere.Itcouldbereplacedby‘itwas’or‘Ihad’.Inthenextparagraphthereisuseof‘chicken’whenthetexttellsusthatthereare100chickens.Thepluralmustbeused.Thisisnotatypingerror,asitappearsagainonpage55inUnit4.Thereisanerrorin‘halfpastnoon’.Thatstructureisrarelyused,andmostpeoplesay‘halfpasttwelve’.Iftheformerversionweretobeuseditwouldbe‘halfnoon’.Thefinalmistakeonthispageistheuseof‘them’whenithasnothingtowhichtorefer;‘Wecleanedthechickenhouse.Wefedandwateredthem’.

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Thereadingonpage27istheonlyreallyfunbitoftextinthebook,andIamsurethepupilswillenjoyit.Itisthetellingofadreamaboutacarrotandacucumber.Thereisamisuseoftheword‘the’,as‘Thelady’ismentionedwhenwehavenotreadaboutherbefore.Inthiscaseitisnotcorrecttouse‘the’,anditshouldbe‘Alady’.Theteachersandpupilshavereceivednoguidanceorinstructionontheuseandmeaningof‘the’,andthiswillconfusethemmore.Thefollowingexerciserevisestheexpressionofthefuturewiththe‘goingto…’tense.Thisisagoodactivity,andyetthegap-fillexerciseonpage29hasmistakes.Thewaythesentences,whicharetobecompleted,arewrittenforcesthepupilstowrite,‘ShemaisgiongtotraveltoByumbaonnextmonth’and,‘Ganzaisgoingtovisithiscousinonnextweekend.’Inbothsentences‘on’isincorrect,andthesentenceiscorrectif‘on’isomitted.Thiserrorwillcauseconfusion.Intheshorttextatthebottomofpage29thereisanonsensicalsentence,‘Hehasalongneckwhichmakeshimseefar.’Thereisanothersentencewhichisjudgmental,‘Heisleft-handed,buthehasverygoodhandwriting’.Theuseof‘but’impliesthatbeingleft-handedisdisadvantageousforgoodhandwriting.Theintroductionofvocabularytodescribepersonalitiesisdifficult.Iwonderhowthemeaningwillbeconveyedtothepupils.IfthereisnoguidancefortheteachersthenIexpectsomeofthemeaningsmightbelostifadirecttranslationisused.Intheshortreadingpassageonpage31thereisveryunnaturalEnglishinthesentence,‘Sheisthelastborninherfamily.’ThisphraseismuchusedinEastAfricabutitisveryrarelyusedinEnglish-English.Thenaturalconstructionwouldbe‘Sheistheyoungestinherfamily.’AsUnit1introducedthecomparativeandsuperlativestructures,thiscouldhavebeenagoodexampleoftheuseofthesuperlative.Thelastsentenceinthepassageisgrammaticallyincorrect;‘Iammoreconfidentthanher’.Itshouldbe,‘Iammoreconfidentthanshe(is)’.Thesubstitutiontableonpage32isamuddle,astheuseofpossessiveadjectivesmakesitveryhardtoworkoutwhatisintended.However,allofthecombinationscouldbecorrect;theymightbeabitconvolutedbuttheywouldbecorrect.Exercisesatthislevelshouldbecrystalclear,andleavetheteacherandpupilinnodoubtastowhatiscorrectandincorrect.AnexplanationofComparativesisgivenonpage33.Italsosetsouttheformationofthecomparativeforms.Thisisusefulfortheteacherandthepupils.However,thereisthenverylittlepracticeofthestructures.ThestructureisusedagaininlaterUnits,butitwouldbesoundpedagogytohavemorepracticeatthisstage,andsomepracticewithrealobjectsorpeopleratherthanmerelythetextbookwrittenactivity.Thegap-fillexerciseonpage33usingcomparatives,hasthreesentencesthataregrammaticallyincorrect.TheincorrectuseoftheobjectpronouninsteadofthesubjectpronounisacommonmistakeinspokenEnglish.CorrectEnglishshouldbesetoutinatextbook.Theincorrectformsetoutis‘Heistallerthanme.’Thecorrectformis‘HeistallerthanIam’.Thatsentencecanbeshortenedto,‘HeistallerthanI’,butinalearner’sbookthefull,correctformshouldbepresentedandtaught.

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Onpage35,andindeedelsewhereinthebook(page52,page96,page106,page132,andpage147)thereisanexerciseofformingwordsfromarootword.Thewordsformedfromtherootwordincludeverbformsandanounform.Forinstance,‘walk,walks,walked,walking,walker’.Thislistwouldmakemoresenseifthereweresomeheadingstoguidethepupils.Thepupilsneedtoknowthattheyarelistingthepresentsimpleand/orinfinitiveform,thepresentsimplethirdpersonsingular,thepresentcontinuousform,thepastsimpleform.Theheadingscouldbe‘timemarkers’suchas‘everyday,now,yesterday’etc.Thereoughttobeincludedthepastparticipleform,andthepupilsshouldbeawarethatthenounformisindeedanoun,andhasnothingtodowiththeverbform.However,intherootwordsgiventhereistheverb‘attract’whichdoesnothaveanounformthattallieswith‘walker’‘reader’and‘player’.Alsotheadjective‘happy’isincludedinthelistofrootwords.Thiswillleadtogreatconfusion.Somepupilswillmerelycopyfromtheexampleof‘walk,walker,walked,walking,walker’andwillproducenonsense.Withoutmoreguidancethisexercisewouldbeachallengefornativespeakersofthesameage.IntheGlossaryonpage36thereisanothermistake;‘Whatonelooksontheoutside’.Thiscaneitherbe‘whatonelookslikeontheoutside’or‘Howonelooksontheoutside.’Thisisacommonmistakewithnon-nativespeakers,andonlyoneformshouldbeintroducedatonetime.Thelatterformwouldbepreferableasitavoidstheword‘like’which,sofar,thepupilsknowonlyasaverb.Comment:MyoverallcommentisthattherearetoomanyerrorsinthisUnitforittobeahelpfullearningtool.Theseerrorsshouldhavebeennoticedbeforethebookwasapprovedforuse.Therearetoomanynewstructureswithoutsufficientpracticeintheiruse.Newwordsareintroduced,andagainandagaintheruleof‘onethingatonetime’isignored.Thepupilsmaywellnotbeabletokeepupwiththeloadofstructuresandwords.Unit3openswithattractivepicturesandphotographs.ThefirstPracticeActivityistofillinmissinglettersinthenamesofplaces.However,number2isprintedas,‘p---off-c-‘Thisgivestheimpressionthat‘postoffice’isoneword.Thisisanimportantpoint,asthereisagreattendencyforpupilsnottoleavesufficientspacebetweenwords.Thismistakewillexacerbatethatproblem.Thedialoguethatfollowsonpage39uses‘like’initsAmericanform,whichisnotcorrectEnglish.Throughoutthebookthismis-useof‘like’prevails.Inthissentence,‘Youlooklikeyouareallsettotravel’isincorrect.Itshouldbe‘asif’,andthatwouldalsoavoidanyconfusionwiththepupilswhoknow‘like’tobeaverb.Theuseof‘allset’isunnecessarytobeintroduced,and‘areready’wouldbeeasierforthepupilstounderstand.Furtheroninthedialoguethefollowingiswritten,‘Howlongisthejourneygoingtotake?....Itakeaobut2hours’.Thisisincorrect,andtheanswershouldbe,‘Ittakesabout2hours’.InsectionC‘LanguageUse’onpage40thesuperlativeformisusedtwice,buteachuseisnotaveryclearexampleofthemeaningofthesuperlativeforlearners.Thefirstuseis‘Itisthefourthlargesttown..’,andtheseconduseis,‘Thenearesttownsare….’.Theintroductiontotheuseofthesuperlativeshouldshowclearlythemeaningofonethingwhichstandsoutfromtherest.

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ThePracticeActivityonpage41uses‘waterbody’tomeanabodyofwater.Waterbody(oneword)meansabodyofwater.Astwoseparatewordsitmeansalivingthinginwater.Thisisusedmanytimesinthebook.Asthisisatextbookforlanguagelearners,itmightbebetterjusttouse‘lakeorriver’.Talkingaboutpopulation,onpage41Ihaveseentaught.Thequestions,e.g‘HowmanypeopleliveinByumba?’invitethegivingofthenumbers,withoutfullsentencesbeingused.TheexerciseisthenoneofsayinglargenumbersinEnglish.Theuseoftheword‘facilities’onpage41andinmanyotherinstancesinthisUnit,isanew‘jargon’word.Theword‘place’or‘publicplaces’wouldteachthepupilsbetterEnglishandwouldhavepropermeaning.Thesamemap,usedthreetimes,onpages42,43and45,istoosmalltobeabletoseeclearly,andthecolourshindertheabilitytoreadthewords.Thequestionsaskedaboutthemaparemuddled.Forexample,‘Whereisthepetrolstation?Itison……Street’where,infact,thepetrolstationisonanunmarkedstreet.Onpage46thereisreferencetoa‘groceryshop’andonpage47thereisreferenceto‘thelibrary’,andneitherofthoseplacesappearsonthemap.Thiswillcausegreatconfusion,andthisshouldhavebeenpickedupbyeditorsandthoseassessingthebook.In‘Talkingabouttransport’atthebottomofpage43thereistheuseof‘one’,‘Thefastestoneistransportbyair’.Thisisanewstructureandshouldhavesomespecialteachingtimeallottedtoit.ItisastructureusedalotinEnglish,anditneedstobeintroducedandtaught.Onpage48thereistheheading‘Gerunds’withtheexplanation,‘Agerundisawordthatendswith–ing.’Thatisaveryinaccuratesentence.‘Wing,sing,boring,bring,trifling,harrowing’,areallwordswhichendin‘-ing’butnoneofthemisagerund.Thisisaterriblewaytointroducethegerundtolearners.Ifthelearnershavesufficientgraspofthepresentcontinuoustense,thentheycanunderstandthatagerundiswhenaverbformisusedasanoun.Infact,theyhavealreadyseenandusedthegerundinsentencessuchas‘Ilikeswimming’whichwereintroducedinUnit2inPrimary2.‘Funwithwords’onpage50,wherepupilshavetode-codeanagrams,withanEnglishdefinitionastheirclue,isadifficultexercisewhichmightchallengenativespeakersofthesameage.Onpage51thereisanotherexampleofunnaturalEnglish,whichevidencesyetagainthatthebookisnotwrittenbyanativespeaker.‘Afterpreparingmyself,Itookbreakfast.’isanon-fluentsentence.English-Englishwouldbe‘Aftergettingready,Ihadbreakfast’or,‘Aftergettingready,Iatebreakfast.’Mycommentsonformingwordsfromarootwordgiven,whichisanexercisethatappearsonpage52,havebeennotedonpage8above.IntheGlossaryonpage52thereisamis-useof‘like’,‘communityfacilities–thingslike

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buildings…’Thisisincorrect,andalsoconfusingasthepupilsknow‘like’asaverb.Thecorrectformis‘suchas’.Thismistakeismademanytimesthroughoutthebook.Comment:Myoverallcomment,again,isthattherearetoomanyerrorsinthisUnitforittobeahelpfullearningtool.Theseerrorsshouldhavebeennoticedbeforethebookwasapprovedforuse.Again,therearetoomanynewstructureswithoutsufficientpracticeintheiruse.Unit4openswithanunnecessarilycomplexsentence,‘Weatheristheconditionoftheatmosphereinaplace’.Anydefinitionshouldstrivetobesimplerthantheworditisdefining.Astherearepicturesonpage53,thedefinitionisnotneeded,asthepupilscanseethemeaning.However,thepicturesupposedlydepicting‘dryweather’showsananimal’sskeletoninadrought,whichisanincorrectdepiction.Itwouldhavebeenbettertoputthecontrastingpicturesaboveandbeloweachother;sothat‘coldweather’wasbelow‘hotweather’and‘windyweather’below‘calmweather’.Alsoif‘rainyweather’hadtheadditionalterm‘wetweather’then‘dryweather’beneathitwouldbebetterunderstood.Onpage54thereareitemsofnewvocabulary,andIwonderiftheteacherswillbeabletopronouncethewords‘floods’and‘droughts’correctly?Inthe‘gap-fill’exerciseonpage55,number7containsagrammaticalerror,‘Thereisnowindorclouds.’Itisaclumsysentence.Forthelearnersitshouldbe‘Thereisnowind,andtherearenoclouds’.Inthedialogueonpage55thereistheAmericanism‘Sure’insteadof‘Yes’.AssumingthatwhatistaughtinRwandaisEnglish-English,thentheuseof‘Sure’whichappearsseveraltimesinthisbook,shouldbeexcluded.Onpage56atthetop,thereisapictureofamanwhoisverycold,andyetthecaptionis‘Todayit’scool’.Thisisincorrect,asthepicturedepictsthatitisverycold.Theactivityatthetopofpage57introducestoomanynewwordsfortheexercisetobeeffective.Theexerciseistestingthemeaningoftheweatherterms,‘sunny,cloudy,windy’etc.,andyetlearnerswillbeimpededfromthisbecauseofthenewvocabulary‘light/warm/heavyclothes,umbrellas,leaveswereblownabout’.Alsothelayoutoftheexerciseiscluttered,anditisnoteasytofollow.In‘Talkingaboutweatherinourdistrict’onpage57thereareerrors.Itstates,‘TherainyseasonlastsfromMarchtoMay.ThereisanothershorterrainyseasonfromSeptembertoDecember.’Thefirstrainyseasonis3monthslong,andtheso-called‘shorter’rainyseasonis4monthslong!Thepassagestatesthatthedistrictdoesnothavealargepopulationbecauseithasalong,dryseason.Thedryseasonstated,lastsfromJunetoSeptember.NothingisstatedaboutthemonthsofJanuaryandFebruary.Thispassageisnotclear.Inordertobeavehicleofdevelopinglanguagelearninganyreadingpassagemustbeveryclear,anditmustclearlybringoutthemeaninginordertohelpthelanguagelearning.Thequestionsonthepassageonpage58arenotclear.Number3,‘Whichrainyseasonhaslessrain?’Thatquestionhasnoanswerfromtheinformationgiveninthepassage.Question5,‘Inwhichseasonarepeoplelikelytoplantcrops?’Notonlydoesthisquestionintroducethenewword‘likely’,butthereisnoanswertobefoundinthepassage.Welearnlaterinthe

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Unitthatpeoplewouldplantcropsatthebeginningoftherainyseason.Therefore,thequestion‘inwhichseason’ismisleading.Againonpage58,thereissomeover-simplificationinthat‘runningwatermakeselectricity’andthequestion‘Whatdoesmovingwatermake?’Asthepupilsknowtheword‘can’thenthisneedstobeusedhere.Onpage59,‘PracticeActivityE’wouldstretchnativespeakersofthesameage,asthelanguageusedandtheconceptsaredifficult.Forinstance,‘Whatdofloodsdotothepeopleandanimals?.Theerrorinquestion6shouldhavebeencorrected,‘Writedownthreedisadvantagesoftwomuchwind’.SectionD‘LanguageStructure’onpages59to60hasverygooddefinitionsofthepresentcontinuoustenseandthepresentsimpletense,anditwouldhavebeenveryusefulifthesehadcomeatthebeginningofthebookaspartofrevision.Thissectioncontinueswithverygoodexplanationsandexercisesfor‘when’and‘more/less/toomuch’.Onpage64theuseoftheword‘uniform’willcauseconfusion,anditcouldeasilybereplacedby‘thesame’.Onpage65,inthe‘Anagrams’theanagramforMarch,musthaveacapitallettersothat‘charm’shouldbe‘charM’.InsectionG,‘Writeon’,theuseof‘kickoff’itnotappropriateinthepassage,‘The….rainskickoffattheendofAugust’.Thisiscolloquiallanguagethatwouldnotbeusedinsuchapassage.Lateron,inthesamepassage,theuseof‘stayson’isincorrect,‘(thehotseason)staysonuntiltherainsbegin..’ThisisnotnaturalEnglish,anditshouldbe‘Thehotseasonlastsuntiltherainsbegin…’Inthe‘Soundsandspelling’sectiononpage66,thereisanotherexercisetowritewordsthatcanbeformedfromtherootwordgiven.Thewordsgivenare,‘wind,dry,wet,cold,harvest’.ThisexercisewouldbeextremelyhardfornativespeakersofthesameageasPrimary4pupils.Inthe‘Glossary’onpage65thereisatypingerror‘thesunisshinning’,andthedefinitionof‘floods’isveryclumsilywritten:‘largeamountsofwatercoveringthegroundinplacesthatareusuallydryasaresultofveryheavyrains.’Thefinalclauseneedstobeatthebeginning,sothatthedefinitioncouldread‘Heavyrainsbringinglargeamountsofwater…..’.Evensothesentenceistoolongandcomplicated,andthedefinitioncouldbeeasilyportrayedinapicture.Comment:ThisUnitcontainssomeveryusefulexplanationsandexercisesintheLanguagestructuresonpages59to62.Therearemistakeswhichshouldhavebeencorrectedbeforethebookwasapproved.Thesemistakeswilladverselyaffectthepupils’endeavourstolearn.Unit5isconcernedwithjobsinthehomeandthecommunity.SomeofthishasbeencoveredinP2Unit6,andinP3Unit2.However,pupilsnowinP4in2017willnothavestudiedfromthenewcurriculuminP2orP3.Expectingpupils,asonpage67andpage68,tonametenjobs,andtenhouseholdchores,andeightcommunityworkactivitiesisambitious.

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Inthedialogue,‘Listeningandspeaking’onpage68,thereisblasphemyandsomenotveryfluentphrases.‘OhmyGod!Ihadforgottenallaboutit’,isnotsomethingthatwouldbeacceptedinaschoolbookinmanycountries.Therearemanyotherwaysofexpressingsurprise,suchas,‘Ohmygoodness!’or‘Ohno!’.Thenextlineofdialogueisnotfluent,‘Well,letmehurryon.Idon’twanttobelateforthisimportantduty’.‘Hurryon’isnotaknownco-locationofwordsinEnglish-English.‘hurryalong’,or‘geton’areusedphrases.Theuseof‘duty’isnotquitecorrectinthiscontext.Itwouldbemorenaturaltosay,‘Idon’twanttobelatebecausethisisimportantwork’.The‘PracticeActivityA’onpage69inwhichthepupilshavetofillinthemissingletters,istoocrampedforthepupilstobeabletoseeclearly.‘Activity5.2–Groupwork’onpage70isprobablybeyondtheabilityofnativespeakersofthesameageastheP4learners,inthatthinkingoftenjobsandbeingabletoaskandanswerquestionstodescribewhattheydo,istoomuch.Ruralchildrenespeciallywouldfinditdifficulttothinkoftenjobs.‘Talkingabouthowoftenyoudojobs’onpage73containsagrammaticalerrorwhichisrepeatedinthebook.‘Whichjobsdoyouhelpin?’Firstly,thecorrectprepositionis‘with’andnot‘in’,butmoreimportantly,thecorrectstructureis‘Withwhichjobsdoyouhelp’.Thepupilsshouldalwaysbetaughtthegrammaticallycorrectstructure,andcertainlythosestructuresaretheonlyoneswhichshouldbewritten.Lessgrammaticallycorrect,orinformal,Englishisforspeaking,andshouldnotbeintroducedatthisstage.The‘PracticeActivityE’onpage73,hasnodefiniteanswers.Theanswersaregiven,butthepupilshavetomatchtheanswerstothequestions.Almostanyanswercouldmatchanyquestion.Thisthenisamechanical,meaninglessexercise:Ngogahelpsinthehouse. twiceamonthKundwawatersflowers. onceamonthGateracollectsfirewood. twiceadaySandrahelpsinthegarden. everydayGirinkafeedsthecow. onceaweekThereadingpassageonpage74isdifficultasmanystructuresareused:thepastperfectivetense;thepastcontinuoustense;inorderto;from…..to.Therearemanynewwords,‘gathered/participate/tools/rakes/spades/drained/stagnant.Allofthiswillmakethereadingbeyondthelevelofthelearner.In‘PracticeActivityG’onpage75thereisaverycontriveddialogueusing‘will’forthesimplefuturetense.Thepupilshavenowbeenexposedtoseveralwaysofexpressingfuturetime,andeachhasitsownuseandmeaning.Thepupilsneedtostarttounderstandwheneachisused.Theexplanationonpage77,‘Weusethefuturetensetotalkaboutwhatwillhappenlater.Theword‘will’issometimesusedwiththistense’,iswoefullyinadequate.‘Will’isamodalauxiliaryanditsuseormeaningistwofold;oneistoexpressaspontaneousdecisionandtheotheristoexpressadefiniteintention.Theteachersatleastneedtobeawareofthis.Asthe‘goingto’tenseisalsousedtoexpressanintention,itisthattensethattendstobeusedmuchmorethanthefuturetenseusing‘will’.

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Inamongstthedialogueusingthefuturewith‘will’andtheexplanationaboutit,thereisasectionon‘Adverbsoffrequency’andthenon‘Thepastsimpletense’.Thisisalltoomuch,andishaphazard.Thelearnerisgoingfromonethingtoanotherwithoutadequategrounding,practiceoractivityoranything.Onpage76intheexplanationon‘Thepastsimpletense’thereisanextraordinaryparenthesis,‘Examples:buy–bought(includeswordswith‘u’)’Idonotknowwhatthatmeans.Certainly,otherverbscontaining‘u’donottakethatforminthepasttense(e.g.put,suck).Thepassageonpage79in‘GWriteon’containsnewvocabularyandstructures,whichmightmakeitbeyondthescopeofthelearners,‘neighbours/Ihappentoknow/toprotect/includes.’The‘Glossary’onpage80,againcreatesmoreproblemsthanitsolves.Ajobisdefinedasa‘pieceofwork’,whereasasjobisawork,andnotjustapieceofit.‘Householdjobs’aredefinedas,‘workdoneregularlyinandaroundthehouse,forexample,cleaning,cookingandwashinginthetimetocome’.Thelastwordsaremeaningless.Comment:ThisUnitnotonlyisconcernedwithboringsubjectmatter,butthepurposeofitisnotclearfromalanguage-learningpointofview.Thestructuresandvocabularyaremuddled,andnotoneitemseemstobegivenproperintroductionandpractice.Again,therearemistakeswhichshouldhavebeencorrectedbeforethebookwasapproved.Unit6atlasthasaninterestingsubjectmatterinwildanimals.Most,ifnotall,pupilswillbeinterestedinwildanimals,andtheywillparticularlylikethephotographsintheUnit.The‘PracticeActivityA’onpage82requirespupilstofillinmissingletters.Thetypeissocrampedthatitwillencouragepupilsnottoleaveaspacebetweenthewords.Thepupils,asnotedabove,alreadyhaveatendencytowritewithoutproperspacingbetweenwords,andthiswillnothelp.Theexerciseexpectspupilstoknowthenamesofanimalsthathavenotbeenintroducedyet.Theexercisewhichfollowsonpage82wouldbechallengingfornativespeakers,asitrequiresknowledgeof24wildanimals,inordertobeabletolisttencarnivores,tenherbivoresandfouromnivores.Thenextsectionon‘Compasspoints’hastwouncheckedsentences,‘Theygiveusdirectiontoaplace.Theygiveuslocationofaplace.’Ineachsentencetheword‘the’needstobeinsertedsothatis‘thedirection/thelocation’.Throughoutthisbookthereappearsalackofawarenessofwhentouse‘the’.The‘Pairwork’onpage86isanexerciseforabiologyclassorageographyclassbutnotforalanguageclass.Theinstructionisto‘drawaboxwiththreecolumnswiththefollowingheadings.Carnivores,herbivoresoromnivores.Writetheanimalsgivenbelowinthecorrectcolumn.….’TherearesomanyimportantstructuresoftheEnglishlanguagethathavenotyetbeenmasteredorevenintroduced,thattospendtimeonapureclassificationexerciseis

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difficulttojustify.Itisworthnotingthathippopotamusshouldbegivenitsfullname,andnotbereferredtoas‘hippo’.Section‘CLanguageuse’onpage86givesadefinitionof‘comparatives’asifitisanewtopic.Itwasgivenasadefinition/explanationonpage33inUnit2,andagainonpage48inUnit3.Thisbeginstolookasifthistextbookhasnotundergoneanyediting,orevenperhapsthatdifferentUnitshavecomefromdifferentsources.The‘Groupwork’atthebottomofpage87requiresthepupilstoexplainwhytheythinkdangerousanimalsaredangerous.Thisischallenging,andwouldstretchnativespeakersofthesameagetobeabletoexplain,anditalsorequiresaknowledgeoftheanimals.Thepupilsusingthisbookhavenothadsufficient,ifany,practiceinthestructureof‘why/because’.Thereadingpassageonpage88usesthepassivestructure‘arefound’/werebrought’,presentperfectstructure‘hasgreatlydecreased’,andnewvocabulary,‘fairly/plenty/greatly/species/tospot/although/’aswellasthenamesofmanyanimals.Allofthiswillcontributetomakingthisaverydifficulttask.Also‘rhino’isintroducedandshouldbegivenitsfullnameof‘rhinoceros’.Question7onthereadingisparticularlydifficultandIexpectnativeEnglishspeakerswouldbeunabletoanswerit,‘Rhinosandgiraffewerebroughtfromothercountries.Whydoyouthinkthishappened?’‘PracticeActivityF’onpage89isquiteextraordinary.Itreferstoamap,andyetthereisnomap.Thisisafundamentalerrorofediting.Page91practisesthepresentperfecttense.Thistensehasbeenusedquiteofteninthebooksofar,andsoitseemstobeunsoundpedagogytoexplainitsuseandmeaningonlynow.Thepresentperfecttenseisdefinedhere,andthenagainonpage129.Thisiswhatisstated:Page91,‘Thistenseshowsanactionthatendedsometimeback.Italsoshowswhatbeganandcontinuesuptonow.’Page129,‘Thistenseexpressesaneventthatstarted.Theeventcontinuesuptothepresent.Italsoshowsanactionthathasjusthappened.’(notethefirstsentenceisincomplete)Eachpagethengivesasimilarexample:page91‘Ihaveseenazebra’,page129‘IhaveseentheNile’.Thisreallyisthemostmuddledandincomprehensibleattemptatexplainingthetense.Ithighlightsthatatensecannotbeconveyedbyanexplanationalone,butneedstobeputincontextandthemeaning/useofittobe‘seen’.Theuse/meaninghereistheonefor‘generalpastexperience’.Itisnotconcernedwithspecifictime.Foreachuse/meaningthereare‘conceptquestions’whichcanbeaskedinordertochecktheunderstandingofwhythistenseisbeingused.Allofthisreallyshouldbebroughtintoplayhere.ThepupilsdeservetobeabletounderstandandusetheEnglishtenses.The‘PracticeActivityB’onpage92hasatypingmistakeinitwhichisunhelpful.Itisasubstitutiontablesetoutinthreecolumns.Itrepeatstheword‘many’ontheright-handsideofthesubstitutiontable,whichmeansthatthepupilswillmakeasentence‘TherearenomanymonkeysinVurunga’:

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Thereare no zebrasinNyungweNationalPark? animalsintheparkArethere any manymonkeysinVirunga gorillasinVolcanoesNationalPark? many Allthesemistakesshouldhavebeenflushedoutataneditingstage.The‘Determinersofquantity’areexplainedfurther,andpractisedonpage93.However,itisstated,‘Thedeterminer‘any’isusedwithnegatives.’Thisisnotatruestatement,asitisusedinquestionsaswell.Alsothedeterminer‘many’isusedwithnegatives.In‘PracticeActivityC’onpage93,thereisanotherincorrectstatement,‘Superlativesarewordsusedtocomparemorethantwothings’.Thisisincorrect;Icanstandnexttomysisterandsay,‘Iamthetallest’.The‘Readingcomprehension’onpage94isdifficultwithpassivestructures,andnewvocabulary:‘isblessed/theyattract/tourists/arefoundinplenty/economy’.Again,thereistheAmericanuseof‘like’whichshouldbe‘suchas’.Section‘GWriteon’onpage95isanexercisetorearrangethesentencesintothecorrectordertomakeastory.Thisisaverytaxingexercise,andIwonderhownativeEnglishspeakersofthesameagewouldmanage.Iexpectitwouldtakethemalongtime.Onpage96thereisanotherexercisetomakewordsfromtherootwordsgiven.Thosewordsare:‘slow,big,eat,live,see’.Thisissoconfusingtoputadjectivesandthenverbs,andmanynativeEnglishspeakerswouldnotknowwhatwasexpectedofthem.TheGlossaryonpage96createsnewproblemswithnewvocabularyandstructures.Thereisatypingerrortooin,‘ananimalthatlivesfreeandlooksforitownfood’.Thenewstructuresandvocabularyare:‘…agroupofanimalsthatissimilarto/spotted/catfamily/instrument/area/issetaside/onland.’Comment:Itishardtoseeanyprogressionoflearningwhichiswhatagoodtextbookshouldoffer.Themistakesofgrammarandofeditingcontinue.Unit7’sverytitle,‘Rights,responsibilitiesandneeds’willcausedifficulty,asthewordsareforabstractconcepts.Thissubjectmattermightbebeyondtheabilityofthepupilsinaforeignlanguage,andinanyeventitshouldbethoroughlyembeddedintheirnativelanguagefirst.JustonthefirsttwopagesofthisUnitthefollowingarenewwordsandstructures,‘youaresupposedtohave/rights/laws/education/security/health/thingsyouareexpectedtodo/responsibilities/honest/kind/respectful/being/everywhere/without’.Thisamountsto‘overload’ofnewmaterial,andnotonlywillthisdetractfromanymotivationtoreadthepassage,butitwillrenderitbeyondthelevelofthelearner.ThisisakintomaterialfornativeEnglishspeakersofthesameageasP4.

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The‘Listeningandspeaking’sectiononpage98hasaverymuddledquestion,‘Whichrightsarethechildrennotenjoying?’Theuseofthenegativemakesthisquestionhardtodecipher.Thepicturesbeneaththisquestion,whicharetheretoenablethelearnertoanswerthequestion,donotmakeanythinganyclearer.Thepicturesareoftwochildrenfighting,twochildrenlookingasiftheyaremakingfunofanelderlywoman,andfourchildrenplayingonandaroundapileofbricks.Thenextsectionon‘Languageuse’startswith‘Talkingaboutourrights’andstatesthefollowing:‘Thingsthatweshouldbegivenareourrights.Peoplearoundusmustensurethatweenjoytheserights.Ifthisdoesnothappen,ourliveswillbehard.Whicharetheserights?’Ihavehighlightedthenewwordsandstructures,inordertoshowjusthowdifficultthisshortpassageisforthelearners.Thenextpassageatthetopofpage99containsthefollowingnewvocabularyandstructuresinjustseventeenshortsentences:‘Goingtoschoolwill/willturnusinto/useful/ifweareeducated/treatment/sothatwe/remain/protection/fearofbeingattacked/harm/arrested/becleared/ifourrightsarerespected/Beinghappy.’Thisincludesusesofthegerundnotmetbefore,verbsnotmetbefore,andtheintroductionofconditionalclauses.‘PracticeActivityA’onpage99containsverydifficultquestionswhichnativeEnglishspeakersofthesameageasP4learnerswouldfindveryhardtoanswer.Forinstance,‘Whoshouldensurethatweenjoyourrights?Whatwillhappenifwearenotgivenourrights?Whatactivitiesgivemeacleanenvironment?’Theinformationtothefirsttwoofthosequestionsisnowhereinthepassage,andtheinformationforthethirdofthosequestionswouldbehardforalearnertoextract.‘Activity7.1–Groupwork’onpage100,‘Talkingaboutresponsibilities’isamoredifficultexercise,andwouldbechallengingfornativeEnglishspeakersofthesameage.Thenewvocabularyandstructuresare:‘Evenaswe../shouldberesponsible/lies/never/mustrespect/apologize/polite/politely/everybody/rude/badbehaviour/willmakeusloseallourfriends/keepourselvesclean’.Again,thisisoverloadofnewlanguage,whichmakesthepassagebeyondthelevelofthelearners.ThequestionsthatfollowwouldbedifficultfornativeEnglishspeakers:‘Ishouldnottakesomebody’srulerwithoutpermission.Whichresponsibilityifthis?/Whatwillhappenifwearerude?’Theactivityalsoasksforthe‘oppositeofrudeness’andthelearnersdonotknowtheword‘politeness’astheyhaveonlyjustbeenexposedto‘polite’and‘politely’.Page101is‘Talkingaboutrules’and,again,hasEnglishlanguagethatisbeyondthelevelofthelearners.Therearejusttoomanynewwordsandstructuresforlearnerstoassimilate.Thisisthebeginningofthepassage,‘Aruleisastatement.Itsayswhatmustormustnotbedone.Thereisasetofrulesineveryschool.Theyguideusonourday-to-daybehaviour.Everypupilisexpectedtoobservealltherules.Herearesomeofthem:wemustnotmakenoiseintheclassroom.Thosewhodohavetheirnamesputonalist.Allthoseonthelistarepunished.’Ihavehighlightedthenewwordsandstructures,aswellasthecarelesswriting.Forinstance,thehighlighted‘they’refersbacktothe‘setofrules’whichisasingularitem.Insteadof‘they’,‘Therules’shouldbeused.Theunderlinedsentenceislackingpunctuation,anditshouldbe‘Thosewhodo,havetheirnamesputonalist’.However,evenwiththe

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correctpunctuationitisadifficultsentence.Forlearners,thesentenceshouldbemuchclearer,andshouldbe‘Thosewhodomakeanoise,havetheirnamesputonalist’.Itisstillunsatisfactoryforlearnersatthislevel.Thatsentenceisfollowedby‘Allthoseonthelistarepunished’.Thisisanunclearsentenceas‘allthose’refersstrictlytothenamesonthelist,andnamescannotbepunished.Allinall,theconclusionisthatthispassageisunsuitableforlearnersatthislevel.ItisprobablyunsuitablefornativeEnglishspeakersofthesameage.Onpage102thepassage‘Talkingaboutbasicneeds’againhasnewstructuresandvocabulary.Examplesare:‘basicneeds/survive/alive/diseases/ifitisdirtyitcanmakeussick/andsoon/comfortableenough/wecannotdowithoutclotheseither’.Theconditionalisusedmixedwiththestructure‘canmakeus’,andtheuseof‘enough’and‘either’isadvanced.Newvocabularyandstructuresare,ofcourse,essentialiflearnersaretoprogress.However,thenumberofthenewlanguageitemsatanyonetimemustbelimitediflearnersaretounderstandandlearn.Theremustbetimeforpracticeandrevisionbeforetoomanyothernewitemsareintroduced.Again,someitemsaremerelyfor‘passiveuse’inthattheyareonlyneededtobeknownforonereadingpassage,andarenotexpectedtobeusedorthoroughlylearned;thoseitemsshouldbefewinanyonereadingpassage.WhatweseeagainandagaininthisUnit,andinothers,isthatthereistoomuchunknownlanguageforthelearnerstobeabletocope.Onpage103,Section‘DLanguagestructures’guidesthelearnerin‘must/mustnot’andin‘Conditional‘if’’.ItwouldbepedagogicallysoundifthesehadcomeatthebeginningoftheUnit,sothatthelearnerhadguidancebeforeencounteringthestructures.Evenso,the‘Conditional‘if’’introduceswhatisknownas‘thefirstconditional’.InEnglishlanguageteachingthereisthezeroconditional,thefirst,thesecondandthirdconditionals,andthenamyriadof‘mixedconditionals’.Theyarecategorizedassuchinordertomakelearningeasierforthelearner.Whilstpage104practisesthe‘firstconditional’(if+presentsimple,+futurewith‘will’),andthe‘firstconditional’isusedonpage99(‘Weshallhelpourfamilies…ifweareeducated’),theconditionalusedonpage102isa‘mixedconditional’(‘Ifitisdirty,itcanmakeussick’).Thisisnotstructuredwiththelearners’needsinmind.The‘PracticeActivityB’atthebottomofpage104isnotawellthoughtthroughexercise.Firstly,questions3and6arethesame,andthatshouldhavebeennoticedintheediting.Theexerciseistocompletetheconditional,asin‘Ifwedon’tworkhard…….’,andthepupilsaretocompleteeachsentencewiththeirownwords.However,everyquestionisaboutasimilarsituation,andsoitwillbeveryhardtofindnewwaysofcompletingeachsentence.NativespeakersofEnglishwouldrunoutofwaysoffinishingeachsentence.The‘Readingcomprehension’onpage105isnotwellwritten,andisconfusingforlearnersofEnglish.Thepassagestartswithstatingthe‘threewell-knownbasicneeds’andthenexpandsuponthem.Inthenextparagraphsitstates,‘Thereareotherrightsthatwehave’.Ihavehighlighted‘other’asitisanon-sequitur.Thepassagehasbeenaboutbasicneeds,andnotaboutrights.Thepassagecontinues,andthesearetwosentencesfromit,‘Forustoenjoyourrights,wealsohaveresponsibilities,too. Allourrightscomewithresponsibilities.’Thesearenoteasysentencesforlearnersatthislevel.Indeed,thesentencesarenot

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completelytrue,asitisquitepossibletoenjoyrightswithoutexercisinganyresponsibility.Forthemeaningtobeclearthesentenceswouldneedtobere-wriitten.Theanagramexerciseatthebottomofpage105wouldnotbeabletobedonebynativeEnglishspeakersofthesameage.‘sened/thslere/sohyent/stum’tobedecipheredtobe‘needs/shelter/honesty/must’,istoodifficult.Thebenefitoftheexerciseisdebatable.Onpage106theexercise‘Formwordsfromtheserootwords’iscertainlybeyondthelevelofnativeEnglishspeakers.Thewordsgivenare:‘honest,honesty/respect,respected/right,rights/responsible,responsibility/education,educated.’Foreachonethepupilisexpectedtowritetwoorthreeotherwords.Whatthreeotherwordscomefromtherootwords‘right,rights’,orwhattwootherwordscomefromtherootwords,‘honest,honesty’isverytaxingforanativeEnglishspeaker,andiscertainlybeyondtheleveloflanguagelearnerinP4.The‘Glossary’onpage107has‘responsibility’enteredtwice.Thefirsttimetheword‘responsibility’appears,itisnotontheleft-handsidebuthasbecomepartofthedefinition,andthisisadetailwhichaneditorshouldhavenoticed.Thenexttimetheword‘responsibility’appearsithasthedefinition,‘adutytodealortakecareofsomething’.Again,thisshouldhavebeenedited.Itshouldbe‘dealwith’,buttohaveaverbalphraseinterruptedby‘or’istooadvancedforthislevel.Comment:Themistakesandtypingerrors,coupledwiththecarelessandadvancedEnglishservetomakethisUnitunsuitableforlearnersatP4level.Unit8isconcernedwiththepasttense.Thedrawingsonpage108arelabelled,‘Ahoe/Anaxe/Machete’’.Thereshouldbeconsistencyanditshouldbe‘Amachete’insteadof‘Machete’.Thepicturesatthebottomofpage108arelabelled‘Cattle/Chicken/Sweetpotatoes’.Thishasbeenmentionedabove,but‘Chicken’isnotanuncountablenoun,thepluralis‘chickens’.Inthe‘Listeningandspeaking’onpage109,thedialoguehasinstancesofincorrectEnglish.‘It’sjustonMonday…’isnotgoodEnglish,anditshouldbe,inthiscontext,‘ItisonlyMonday…’.Lateron,theresponseto‘Youmusthaveplayedalot’of‘Notnecessarily’,isnotcorrect.TheresponsewhichIthinktheauthorisafteris‘Notreally’.Thenextsentence,‘Therewerefourinnumber’,again,isnotnaturalEnglish.Itshouldbe‘Therewerefourofthem.’Onpage110,inthesamedialogue,thereis‘makesureyousleepearlytonight.’Again,thisisnotverynatural,andshouldbe‘makesureyougettobedearlytonight.Onthisonepage(109)thepupilsareexposedtothepresentperfecttensewith‘already’,thepresentperfecttensewith‘must’,thepresentsimple,thepastsimple,andasub-clausewith‘that’,andthefuturesimplewith‘will’,andnewwords‘looktired/cousins/overnight/nojoke/mess’.Myconcernisthatthepupilshavenothadsufficientintroductionorpracticeinthosestructures;eachisdifferentandwouldneeditsownlessontimeforproperteachingandlearningtotakeplace.Ontopofthesentencestructuresisthenewvocabulary.‘PracticeActivityA’isaninformalletter.Initisthesentence,‘Ihopeyouarefineandworkinghardinschool.’Itshouldbe‘atschool’andnot‘inschool.’Thereissomeincorrectpunctuationwhichservestogiveanincompletesentence,whichwillconfusethepupils:‘WhenIarrivedatherhome.Iwassurprised.’–ofcourse,thefullstopinthemiddleshould

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notbethere.Thequestionsabouttheletteronpage111containthequestion,‘Whatwasthedayofthevisit?’Thisisclumsy,andshouldbe‘WhendidErickvisit?’or‘OnwhichdaydidErickvisit?’.Inquestionnumber4,Erick’snameisspeltincorrectlyas‘Eric’,whereasinthreepreviousplacesithasbeenspelt‘Erick’.‘Activity8.1-Groupwork’onpage111,begins,‘Inthetraditionalcommunity,thetoolsusedweresimple.Theywereheldandusedmainlyonfarms.’Thatlastsentenceisnotclear.Itmightmean‘Theywereheldbyhand…’,butthesentencereadsasifitisanon-sequitur.Newvocabularyinthepassageis,‘traditional/mainly/forks/branches/machines/common/tractors/poughs/tea-picking/simple(utensils)/wooden/gourds/containers/storing/.Therearetoomanynewwordscomparedtothenumberofotherwordsinthepassage,andsothispassagebecomesabovethelevelofthelearners.Notonlythat,butpartofitisnotclearinmeaning;‘Anaxewasusedtocutsomethingheavy.Atraditionalmachetewasusedtocutthingslikebranches.’Well,asbranchesareheavy,thenthereaderwouldthinkthatanaxewouldbeusedinordertocutbranches.Anypassageforlearnersmustmakethemeaningthoroughlyclear.Inanyevent,theword‘like’shouldbereplacedby‘suchas’.‘PracticeActivityB’onpage112,requiresthepupilstomatchthedescriptiongivenincolumnA,withoneoftheitemslistedincolumnB.However,theanswersarenotallfoundfromthepreviousreadingpassage,andtherearesomenewitems/toolsonthelistincolumnB.Fromthisexercise,wefindthattheauthordescribesa‘machete’as‘atoolusedtocutlightobjects’,andthisseemsatoddswiththesentenceinthereadingpassagethatamacheteisusedtocutthingssuchasbranches.Thenewitemintroducedis‘calabash’,andfromaprocessofeliminationwefindthat‘Peopleusetoeatfromthem,’whereasinthereadingpassageitstatedthatpeopleusedtoeatfrom‘woodenplates’.Thenextsection‘Describingtraditionalandmodernfarmingproducts’containsjust13linesoftext.However,withinthoselinestherearethesenewwords,‘crops/differencies/products/sorghum/millet/introduced/horticultural/Frenchbeans/exported/kept/breeds/Jersey,FriesianandGuernsey.’Inaddition,thereistheuseofthepresentperfectpassivetense,‘..cropshavebeenintroduced’,thepassive‘…flowersaregrown’.Thereisonesentencethatisparticularlydifficultgrammatically,‘Thelocalcattlepeoplekeptproducedonlyalittlemilk.’Thatsentencenotonlyneedssomepunctuation,but,forlanguagelearners,itcouldhaveasub-clause,suchas,‘Thelocalcattle,whichpeoplekept,producedonlyalittlemilk’.Simplerstillistoleaveoutthatsub-clauseandretainasimplesentencewhichconveysthesamemeaning,‘Thelocalcattleproducedonlyalittlemilk.’Thispassagewouldbeverydifficultforthelanguagelearnertounderstand.Indeed,thecontentandlanguageisprobablyontheborderofbeingunsuitable,inleveloflanguage,foranativeEnglishspeakerofthesameage.‘Describingtraditionalandmodernhouseholdobjects’isthenextsectiononpage113,andisadifficultpassage.Thereisagrammaticalerrorinthemiddleofthetext,‘Peoplemadepotsoutofclay.Itwasused….’The‘It’presumablyrefersto‘pots’andsoitshouldbe‘they’.Inanyevent,asthisisatextforlanguagelearnersitwouldbepreferabletobeclearandtowrite‘Pots’.Thatsentencecontinues,‘(Potswere)usedtocarrywater,storewaterandalso

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cook.’ThisiscarelessEnglishwhichleadstoanonsense.Theuseof‘cook’inthecontextimpliesthatthepotswerecooked.Whatwouldmakethemeaningclearistowrite,‘andalsoforcooking’.However,asthisisapassageforlearners,andclarityiskey,itcouldbeclarifiedbywriting‘andalsotoputonthefiretocookfood.’Thelastwordofthepassageshouldbe‘saucepans’asoneword,andnotastwowordsasprinted,‘saucepans’.Thispassagehas15sentences,andnewvocabularyasfollows,‘best-known/clay/store/three-legged/stool/woven/sisal/reeds/jewellery/horns/bones/skin/necklaces/bangles/saucepans.’Newvocabularyinthenextreadingpassageonpage114is.‘clear/user/One(aperson)/cultivate/acre/cereals/wheat’.Alsointhatpassage,theauthor’smisuseof‘like’isnowhighlighted.Oneofthesentencesreads,‘Today,weusemachinesliketractorsandploughs’.Theauthormeans,‘Weusemachinessuchastractorsandploughs’.Byusing‘like’ithasthemeaningof‘inthesamewayas’.Forexample,‘Iholdmypenlikeapencil’,whichmeans‘IholdmypeninthesamewayasIholdmypencil’.Theauthor’ssentencemeans,‘Today,weusemachinesinthesamewayasweusetractorsandploughs’–whichmeansthatthemachinesweusetodayarefordiggingandploughing.Thisisnotapedanticpoint;thisgoestotheprecisionofthelanguage,andwhyitisimportanttoteachlearnerscorrectEnglish.Theexerciseonpage115,whichisagap-fillexercisewithalistofwordsgiven,isnotgoodasinsentences2,3and5thereismorethanonecorrectanswer,asfollows:‘Thereweren’talotof/manytoolsinthepast/Today,wegrowmany/alotofcropsforexport/Wecultivatemuch/alotoflargerpiecesoflandinmodernfarming.’Itisnotknowniftheteacherismadeawareofthesecorrectanswers.AsnoTeacher’sBookseemstobeavailablethenitseemsthattheteacherisnotguidedinthis.Onpage116‘PracticeActivityB’whichisconcernedwith‘Determinersofquantity’veryworryinglycontainsincorrectEnglish,whichdemonstratesthattheauthordoesnotknowtheruleofgrammar.Thishasbeennotedabove.Theauthordoesnotknowtheuseof‘less’and‘fewer’.Thisisattheheartoftherulesconcerning‘countable’and‘uncountable’nouns.‘Uncountable’nounsuse‘less’,and‘countable’nounsuse‘fewer’.Sotheauthorhere,ashisonlyexamplesofuse,has‘Fewerpeople’and‘lesspotatoes’.Hehaschosentwocountablenouns,andsoeachshoulduse‘fewer’.Thisisanunforgiveableerror,andshouldhavebeennoticedandcorrectedintheediting,orcertainly,inthetextbookapprovalstage.Theexercisethatfollowsonpage116,inordertopractisethe‘determinersofquality’,containsasentencewhichconflictswithinformationgiveninthepreviousreadingpassage.Inthatpassagethelearnersaretoldthatthefarmersnowgrowalotofcropsforexport.Inthisexercisenumber5is‘Farmersgrew…..cropsforexport(alotof,much)’.Thisisconfusing.The‘Readingcomprehension’onpage117hasmoremistakes.Throughoutthepassagethemisuseof‘like’continues,andineachcaseitshouldbe‘suchas’.Inthesecondparagraphitstates,‘…..grewlesscrops’whichshouldbe‘…grewfewercrops.’Thereisacarelessconstruction:‘Thepeoplealsousedfewertools.Examplesarehoes,machetesandaxes.’Thesecondsentencedoesnotfollowonwellfromthefirstsentencewhichusesthecomparativeform.

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TheQuestionsbelowalsocontainmistakes.Question2,is‘Traditionalfarmersgrew….crops(less,more)’Itcannotbe‘less’andshouldbe‘fewer’.Question5lackspunctuation,‘Whatistoexport?’anditshouldbe‘Whatis‘toexport’?’Question7lacksacapitalletter,‘Dividetheitemsbelowintotraditionalandmodern.friesian,axes,hoes…..’Thebreedofcow,Friesian,musthaveacapitalletter.Thisisimportant,asthereisastrongtendencyintheschools,frombothteachersandpupils,todisregardtherulesaboutcapitalletters.Theexerciseatthetopofpage118,whichistofillinthemissinglettersofwords,givesonedashforeachlettermissinginallboxes1to7,butnotinnumber8.Thereadingpassageonpage118hassomeunnaturalEnglishandanerror.Theunnaturalsentence,‘ThenIpreparedmyself’,whichappearedonpage51,appearsagain.Itshouldbe,‘ThenIgotready’.Inthelastsentenceofthepassageitisstated,‘AsIwaitedIheardGrandmother’scowsmowingintheirshedsoutside.’Theverb‘tomow’meanstocutgrass.Thenoiseofcowsis‘tomoo’andsothewordinthesentenceshouldbe‘mooing’.Onpage119thereisanotherexercisetoformwordsfromarootwordprovided.Thisisdifficult,andwouldleadnativeEnglishspeakersintomistakesofwords,astheywouldcreatewordswhichdonotexist.NativeEnglishspeakers’knowledgeofwordsandextentofvocabularywouldnotbesufficientattheiragetocarryoutthisexercise.The‘Glossary’onpage119-120is,aswithGlossariesinotherUnits,misleading.Forinstance,‘Furniture’isstatedtobe‘thingsmadefromwood’,and‘jewellery’issaidtobe‘ornamentssuchasringsandnecklaces.’Theuseofpictureswouldbesomuchbetterhere.Comment:Themistakesandtypingerrorsabound.However,thegrammaticalmistakesareunacceptableforatextbook.ThecarelessandmisleadingEnglishjustunderlinestheneedfornativespeakerstobeinvolvedinthewriting,orattheveryleast,thecheckingofthetextbooks.NotonlyareP4learnersexposedtoaleveloflanguagethatisabovetheircognitiveability,buttheyareexposedtoseriousmistakesofgrammarandphrasing.Unit9isaseriesofgeographylessons.ItisbeyondtheabilityofnativespeakersofEnglishoftheageofP4learners.The‘Vocabulary’sectiononpage121showsamapwhichistoosmalltobereadeasily.Thecoloursonthemapalsomakeitdifficulttodepicttheblackwriting,andthatwritingisinsuchsmalltypethattherewillbepupilsunabletoreaditatall.Thepupilsaretaskedtolocatecountrieswhicharenotshownonthemap,andthentolisttheircapitalcities,andtofindfiverivers.Thisisbeyondthescopeofmanyadults–worldwide!!Theauthorshaveforgottenthattheyarewritingatextbookforlanguagelearning.The‘Languageuse’sectiononpages122to123containsaparagrapheachaboutfourcountries.Thevocabularyishard,‘northernhemisphere/overonebillion/easternpart/50statesinAmerica/WesternEurope/ofthecountriesnamedabove’.Therearealsogeographicalmistakeswhicharebeyondthescopeofthelanguagelearner,butastheauthoriswritingagreographytextitshouldbefactuallycorrect.Forinstance,‘TheislandsofZanzibarandPembaarepartofit.’ZanzibarandPembaarenottwoislands;ZanzibaristhenamegiventothetwoislandsofPembaandUnguja.Therearemoremistakesofgeographyonpage126,andseebelowin‘Describingcities’.

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Onpage123thepresentperfectpassivetenseisusedaspartofrelativeclause.ThisisprobablyabovethereadinglevelofmanynativeEnglishspeakersofthisage,‘Doyouhaverelativeswhohavebeentoothercountries?’Thedialoguein‘PracticeActivityB’onpages123to124,statesthatAhmendandMuniraareinParis.However,thedialoguecontinuesasiftheyarenotinFrance.Forinstance,‘MycousinlivesinFrance/IhaveseenapictureoftheEiffelTower.Whatisthat?’In‘Describingrivers’onpages124to125,therearemoremistakes.Thefirstsentenceis,‘Thereisanumberofbigrivers…’‘Anumber’hereisusedasa‘determiner’andtheverbfollowingshouldagreewiththenoun,‘rivers’.Thesentenceshouldbe,‘Thereareanumberofbigrivers….’Wearetoldthatthetableonpage125givesinformationabout‘thelargestrivers’intheworld,butinthattableinformationisonlygivenaboutthelengthsoftheriversandtheirimportance.Thefirstquestiononpage125is,‘Whichisthelargestriverintheworld?’Thisquestioncannotbeansweredfromtheinformationinthetable.‘Describingcities’onpage126containsamistakeingeographywhichisfundamental,andshouldhavebeencorrectedintheeditingstage,andshouldnothavepassedthetextbookapprovalstage.Inthetextandinthetableonpage126,itshows,andstatesthatGlasgowandBelfastareinthecountryofEngland!GlasgowisinScotland,andBelfastisinNorthernIreland.Thosethreecountries(England,ScotlandandNorthernIreland)arepartoftheUnitedKingdom.Theauthorshouldnotwriteaboutgeographyifs/heisunqualifiedtodoso.In‘Describingbuildings’onpage126,thefirstsentenceis,‘Therearestructuresaroundtheworldthatarequiteunique.’Theuseof‘quiteunique’isatautology;ifsomethingisuniquethenthatisanabsolutewhichcannotbemodified.‘Languagestructures’onpage128repeatssomemisleadinginformationwhichhasappearedearlierinthebook.Itstates,‘Weusesuperlativestocomparemorethantwothings.’Thatisincorrect.Thesuperlativeisnotcomparingbutfindinganabsolute.Therecouldbeonlytwothingsinvolvedormany.Itcancorrectlybesaid,lookingattwothings,‘Theoneontherightisthetallest’.Onpage129adefinitionofthe‘PresentPerfectTense’isgiven.Thisisdifferentfromtheonewesawonpage91inUnit6.Hereisstates,‘Thistenseexpressesaneventthatstarted.Theeventcontinuesuptothepresent.Italsoshowsanactionthathasjustended.’Thedefinitionsgivenarenotclear.However,twoexamplesaregiven,‘IhaveseentheNile/ShehasgonetoLondon.’.Thoseexamplesareof,firstly,‘indefinitepast’andthen‘unfinishedpast’.So,thedefinitionmissestheimportantconceptsofthemeaning/useofthistense,andseemstohavestatedtheminthewrongorder,ortheexamplesaresetoutinthewrongorder.Itappearsfromthelayoutthatthefirstdefinitionappliestothefirstexamplegiven,andthesecondpartofthedefinitiontothesecondexamplegiven–whereasitistheotherwayround.‘IhaveseentheNile’isanexampleofgeneral,indefinitepast.Somethingthathappenedinthepast,andwedonotknowwhen,and‘when’isnotimportant.So,thedefinitionorexplanationtosay‘…anactionthathasjustended’isincorrect.

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‘ShehasgonetoLondon’isanunfinishedactivity.‘Gone’tellsusthatshehasnotyetreturned,andso,inthatsense,theactivityhassome‘present’connection.Thenextpartofpage129ismisleadingandtotallyincorrect,andwillconfuseteacherandpupilunnecessarily.Itstates,Examples:

• IhaveseentheNile• ShehasgonetoLondon.

‘Has’isusedwithsingularsubjects.Lookatthefirstexampleabove.‘Have’isusedwithpluralsubjectsasinthesecondexampleabove.Itisalsousedwith‘I’,‘they’‘we’and‘you’.Notonlyaretheexamplesthewrongwayround,buttheconvolutedexplanationof‘have’and‘has’isutterlyconfusing.Thesituationissimplyput‘Have’isusedforallsubjectsexceptthe3rdpersonsingular.The3rdpersonsingular(she,he,it)uses‘Has’.Indeed,ifthepupilsdonotknowthepresenttenseoftheverb‘tohave’bynow,thentheyarenotreadytolearnthepresentperfecttense.The‘Readingcomprehension’onpage130isaboutcities,riversandbuildings.Therearemanynamesofplaces,riversandbuildingswithwhichitisquiteunnecessarytoburdenpupilsinanEnglishclass.Anactivityonpage131istodrawamapofAfrica.Again,thishasnothingtodowithlanguagelearning.The‘Writeon’sectioncontainsthisinstruction,‘Imaginethatyoutravelledoutsideyourcountry.Writeashortstoryonyourtravel.Usetheseguidelines…..’‘Travel’shouldbe‘travels’butisanadvancedwordforthislevel.Theguidelinesinclude,‘Whatdidyougotodothere?’Thisisapoorlyconstructedquestion,andespeciallysoforlanguagelearners.Itisreallyasking‘whydidyougothere?’.Page132hasanotherexerciseonformingwordsfromrootwordslisted.Again,thisisbeyondthelevelofmanynativeEnglishspeakersofthesameage.The‘Glossary’containsalongsentencewithnopunctuation,andonewithatypingerror:‘City-ThemostimportantandusuallythelargestcityinacountryandwherethegovernmentoperatesfromforexampleKigali,NairobiandBeijing’‘Map-Representationontheearth’ssurfaceorpartofit…’Comment:ThisUnitisageographyunitwhichwouldbebeyondtheabilityofnativeEnglishspeakersofthesameageasP4learners.Unit10isonclimatechange.TheUnitopenswithsomeveryinterestingdrawingsandphotographs.Thiswillattracttheattentionofthelearners.Inthe‘Groupwork’onpage135thelearnersareinstructed,‘Inagrouptalkabouttheeffectsofcuttingdownoftrees.Whathappenswhenpeopledependonfirewoodforcooking?’Thefirstsentenceisincorrect,andshouldread‘….theeffectsofcuttingdowntrees’or‘…theeffectsofthecuttingdownoftrees’.Thepupilsadditionallyhaveto,‘Discusshowfloodsarebroughtaboutbythecuttingdownoftrees’.

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Thisisverydifficult,andrequiresnotonlyahighleveloflanguageusebutalsosomeknowledgeofscience/geography.IwoulddoubttheabilityofP4pupilstocarryoutthisdiscussioninKinyarwanda,letaloneinEnglish.NativeEnglishspeakingchildrenofthesameageasP4wouldfindthistaskchallenging,andmanywouldnotbeabletoparticipate.The‘Listeningandspeaking’isawrittendialoguewithsomequestionsattheend.Withinthedialogueis‘Italwaysrainedupthosehills.Whydidwatermovesofastthistime?’Therearemistakeshere,anditshouldread,‘Italwaysrainedupinthosehills.Whydidthewatermovesofastthistime?’‘Languageuse’onpages135to136comprisesatextwithquestionsonit.ThisisbeyondthelanguagelevelandcontentlevelofnativeEnglishspeakingchildrenofthesameageasP4learners.Thisisreallyasciencelevel.ThelanguageusednowhasnoregardtothetaskofteachingchildrenEnglish.Thetextisafactualtaskonascientifictopic.ThequestionsonthetextwouldprobablynotbeabletobeansweredbymanynativespeakingEnglishchildrenofthesameageasP4,‘WhatishappeningtotheiceintheArctic?/Whyaresealevelsrising?/Theresultofhighersealevelis……../Whathashappenedtorain?’‘Activity10.2–Groupwork’onpage137containsthispieceattheend,‘Treesreducetheharmfulgasesintheatmosphere.Thegasescomefromvehicles,burningofrubbishandfactories.Withouttrees,thegaseswillmakeworldtemperaturerise.’Firstly,withouttheproperpunctuationitreadsasifthegasescomefromtheburningoffactories.Therefore,acommaisneededafter‘burningofrubbish’.Secondly,thepassageisextremelyhardtounderstand.Whyorhowdotreesreducetheharmfulgases?Whywillthegasesmaketheworldtemperaturerise?Thisshowsthatthiscontentisnotsuitableforpupilsofthisage,andespeciallynotlearnersofEnglishasaforeignlanguage.Withouttheexplanationsthepassageismeaningless.Coupledwithcontainingsuchdifficultlanguageandconcepts,thelearnerswilllearnnothingfromit.‘Describingourresponsibilities’onpage139isaverydifficultpassage.‘Itisclearthatclimatechangehasnegativeeffects.Itismakinglifeharderandharderforus.Isthereanythingwecandoaboutit?Yes,thereis.Whatareourresponsibilitiesinthefightagainstclimatechange?Sincerainfallhasreduced,wemustn’twastewater…..’‘Negativeeffects’isaconceptthatwillbehardforlearnerstounderstand.‘..makinglifeharderandharderforus’isauseofthecomparativeformthatthepupilsdonotknow.‘…thefightagainst’isaphrasethepupilswillnotknow,andisanabstractconcept,whichwillmakeitdifficultforpupilsofthisagetounderstand.‘Sincerainfallhasreduced..’isaconfusingandambiguoususeof‘since’.‘Since’isbestusedasatemporalphrase.So,thebeginningofthesentencewouldmean,‘inthetimethattherainfallhasreduced’.Whatwouldbebetterhereis‘Asaresultof’.Towardstheendofthepassagethereis‘Wemustlookforothersourcesoffuel.’Itwouldbehelpfultosuggestsomeofthoseothersources.However,thisisalreadybeyondthescopeofthelearners;ability.

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The‘Languagestructures’onpage142goesbacktolookatthepresentcontinuoustense,withanexerciseinusingthetense.Thisisnowbacktotheleveloflanguageabilityfortheselearners.Atthetopofpage144isanexplanationof‘mustandmustn’t’.Thisstressesthenecessityofsomething.However,theuseof‘must’alsocarriesasenseof‘importance’tothespeaker.Whilst‘haveto’isnotbeingtaught,themeaningof‘haveto’shouldbeborneinmindwhengivingtheexplanationoftheuseof‘must’.‘Haveto’denotesoutsidepressureorinfluencetodosomething,whereas‘must’denotesthepersonalimportancetothespeaker.The‘Writeon’activityonpage146isbeyondtheabilityoftheP4languagelearner.Itisagap-fillexercisewiththewordstousesetoutinabox.ManynativeEnglishspeakingchildrenofthesameageasP4learnerswouldnotbeabletocompletethisexercisesuccessfully.ConclusionThenumberofmistakesinthisbookmakeitveryunreliableasasourceoflearning.TheerrorsofEnglishgrammararethemostserious.Alltheerrorsshouldhavebeencorrectedintheeditingstage.TheerrorsofEnglishgrammarshouldnothavegoneunnoticedinthetextbookapprovalprocess.Theoverloadofinformation,vocabularyandnewstructuresisthemostworryingaspectofthebook.Thelanguagestructuresarenotgivensufficient,ifany,attention.Eachseparatestructureneedstobetaughtandpracticedsothatitsmeaninganduseisunderstood.ThisisthewaythelearnerswillprogressinEnglish.Thetopic-based,over-prescribedcurriculumhasitsparttoplayintheseshortcomings.

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ANALYSIS:P5TheTeacher’sGuideThebook,onthecover,isstatedtobe‘PropertyoftheGovernmentofRwanda’.Inordertobecomesuchpropertyitissupposedthatitshouldhavebeensubjecttosomescrunity.Frommyanalysisitseemsthatanysuchscrutinywasnotasthoroughasitperhapsshouldhavebeen.Myfirstcommentisthatitisnoteasytofindwhereyouare.IntheLearner’sBook,eachpagehasa‘header’tellingthereaderwhichUnits/heisin.TheTeacher’sGuideshouldhavesucha‘header’sothattheteachercaneasilyfindhis/herpage.Introduction–languagelevelandsomemisguidedassumptionsTheintroductionis17pageslong.Ithassomeveryusefulcontent.Iwonder,though,howmanyteachersofP5aresufficientlyfluentinEnglishtobeabletoreadsuchdensetext,orattheveryleastwillbeabletofindthetimetostruggletoreadit.Theauthorsseemtoassumethateachschoolisverywell-resourced,andthisisnotthecaseforthemajorityofschools.Forinstance,onpage9inthesectionon‘Managingthesocialdynamicsoftheclassroom’itisstated:‘Someteachersliketobreakuplargeclassesforthefirstfewweeks,workingonlywithasmallgroupoflearnersatatimetobeginwith.Thisisahelpfultechniquebecauseitallowsyoutounderstandhoweachlearnerlearnsbest’.Thisisnotpossibleinthemajorityofprimaryschools.Teachershaveover45pupilsineachclass,severalclassesinthemorningandthenagainintheafternoon.Itisfarfromclearhowthissuggestioncouldworkinpractice.Thenonpage11,inthesection‘Inclusiveeducation’itisstated:‘Specialeducationneedscanbeemotional,physical,sensoryandintellectuallearningchallenges.Teachersnowneedtoconsiderthesespecialneedswhiledevelopinglessonplansandteachingstrategies.Remedialeducationspecialistswillbeabletoassistyourschoolinmakingdecisions,basedonprofessionalassessmentsofthelearnersconcerned’.Aresuchremedialeducationspecialistsavailabletoeachschoolandteacher?Onpage7,IfindthementionofBloom’staxonomyunnecessaryandmisguided.Itiscontroversialandwithsomecriticism,andtheverybasisofthehierarchicalstructureisopentodebate.Myviewisthatprimaryschoolteachersdonotneedtoknowaboutthis.Afterall,agoodtextbookshouldbedoingthatsortofcategorizingofwork,andtheteachersshouldbeabletousethetextbooksastheirultimateguide.Intermsoflanguage,therearesomeinstancesofunnecessarilyconfusingterms.Onpage7itstatesthatthepupilsareto‘presentorals’.Theword‘oral’isanadjective,andsototrytomakeitintoanounisincorrect.LanguageinaTeacher’sGuideshouldbesimplifiedandnotmademorecomplicated.Whatthisoddphrasemeansisthatthepupilsareto‘speaktotheclass’or‘preparespokenwork’.Again,onpage15thereismentionofthepupilsparticipatinginappropriate‘extra-murals’suchasdiscussion.Thisiseitherincorrectorisjargon.Amuralisawallpainting.Icanguessthatwhatismeantis‘activitiesoutsidetheclassroom’.

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ThereareatleastthreeexamplesintheTeacher’sGuidewheretheanswersgiventoquestionsposedintheLearner’sBookarenotcorrect.Inoneexample,thequestionsintheLearner’sbookarefroma.toe.IntheTeacher’sGuidetheanswersarefroma.tof.–againthissuggestsamendmentfromanotherbook.Thisisofgreatimportance,asnotallteachersofEnglishtoP5willbesufficientlyfluentastoabletoworkoutthecorrectanswers.UNITANALYSISUnit1pages1-14Learner’sBook–PastandfutureeventsThisisrevisionofthepastandfuturetenses.However,ofgreatconcernistheverymisleading,and,infact,totallyerroneousexplanationofthepresenttenseonpage3oftheLearner’sBook.Itstates,‘Iftheactionishappeningnow,itiscalledthepresenttense’,andgivesanexample,‘Today,thebirdsitsinthetree.’Ifsomethingishappeningnowthenthetenseusedisthepresentcontinuoustense,andthesentencewouldbe,‘Today,thebirdissittinginthetree.’.Thepresentsimpletense,oftenhasverylittletodowithpresenttime,anditisatenseusedforthingswhichthespeaker,atthetimeofspeaking,seesasfact.Itisnotenoughforatextbooktocallatense‘thepresenttense’or‘thepasttense’or‘thefuturetense’.Ineachofthosecategorieswehavethe‘simple’form,the‘continuous’form,the‘active’formandthe‘passive’form.InP5thelearnersneedtobeguidedthoroughlyintherealmeaning,useandformofeachverb.Themistakeisexacerbatedinthetableatthebottomofpage3,which,undertheheadingof‘Thisishappeningnow’has,‘Iwalktoschool./Iam11.’‘Activity4Listeningandspeaking’onpage4isencouragingpupilstousethepastsimpletense.However,oneofthesuggestionsgiventohelpthepupilsis,‘Somethingyouhavedonewithyourfamily.’Thisisthepresentperfecttense,andwouldencourageusingthattense,andnotthepastsimpletense.‘1.5Noteonreadingandwriting’givesanexampleofaninformalletter.WesawaninformalletterinUnit8inP4.ThisletterforP5onpage5containsthesentence,‘NomatterwhatIdid,Icouldnotclosethebutton.’‘NomatterwhatIdid’isasubordinatingconjunctionandwillbenewtothepupils,andwillneedsomepre-teachingbeforetheyreadtheletter.‘Toclose’abuttonisnotproperEnglish.Whentalkingaboutbuttonstheverbs‘todoup’and‘toundo’arealwaysused.Inthisletter,itshouldbe‘Icouldnotdoupthebutton.’Theletterendswiththecomplexstructureofthepresentperfectcontinuoustense‘…whatyouhavebeendoing.’Eachtenseneedstobetaughtsothatitsformationorstructureisknown,and,moreimportantly,sothatthepupilsknowwhatitmeansandwhenandhowitshouldbeused.ThisfundamentalpartofteachingtheEnglishlanguageseemstobemissingfromallthetexbooksIhaveanalysed,andthatisbecausethecurriculumpayslittleregardtothisaspect.‘Activity13:Usenewwords’onpage10isamatchingactivity,inthatthepupilshavetomatchwordsinalistwithothersgiveninabox.Fromtheinstructiontofinda‘matchingword’thatimpliesthatthereisonethathasthesamemeaning.However,theoutcomeoftheexerciseisthatthefollowingwordsare‘matched’,‘aeroplane/jet;family/relatives;

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university/college;job/career;plan/idea;marriage/wedding.’Thisisamisleadingexerciseasthesepairsofwordsarenotinterchangeable.Onpage11‘1.13Writing’thereisaninstructionto‘Positionyourpaperlengthways(thelongsidemustbeatthetopandbottom)’.Whatisdescribedis‘sideways’andnot‘lengthways’.‘Lengthways’demandsthatthelongsidesareattheside,andtheshortsidesaretopandbottom.Alsothissectioncontainsanexampleofa‘mindmap’.Thisistohelpthepupilstoplanapieceofwritingonwatchingalivefootballmatch.The‘picture’showsafootballinthecentre,with5colouredlinescomingoutfromitindifferentdirections.Eachofthoselinespointstoaquestion(What?Where?When?Who?How?)withsomenotesbeneaththem.Thismightbethefirsttimethelearnershaveseenanythinglikethis,anditwillneedcarefulexplanation.Also,the‘picture’iscrampedandthetypesosmallthatitwillnotbeeasyforthepupilstouse,andespeciallysoiftheyaresharingbooks.‘1.14Writing’setsoutasamplepieceofwritingshowingwhatJoewouldliketohappeninthefuture.ToexpressJoe’sfuturehopes,thefollowingverbsareused:‘Iwouldliketo/Iamgoingtowatch/Iwillgo/Iwillbethere/Iwantto/Imight.’Eachofthesestructureswouldneedspecialteachingastotheirintrinsicmeaninganduse.Theyarenotjustusedrandomly‘anyoldhow’!Theusedependsonthespeaker’slevelofintention,thelevelofpossibilityoftheeventhappening,amongotherthings.Withthisinmind,theopeningsentencesofthepassagearenotwhataspeakerofEnglishwouldsay,‘IwouldliketowatchRayonSportsplayfootballagainstIsonga.IamgoingtowatchthematchatAmahoroinKigali.Iwillgoonthe8thofMarch.’Thefirstsentenceusing‘would’denotesalevelofpossibilitywithoutcertainty.However,inthenextsentencewefindthatJoeisgoingtothematch,andsothereiscertaintyandnodoubt.Theuseofthe‘goingto’tenseinthesecondsentenceiscorrectlyusedforanarrangementandanintention.However,thenextsentencewouldbemorefluentinthepresentsimpletense,‘Igoonthe8thofMarch’,asitisafirm‘timetabled’event.Thesentence,‘Iwanttogowatchfootballbecauseitismyfavouritesport’shouldstart,‘Iwanttogotowatch…’.Withoutthat‘to’itisAmericanEnglish.ThelastsentenceinthepassageusesunnaturalEnglish,‘Imighttravelinthebus,ormyunclewilltakeus.’Unlessthereisaspecialbus(whichisnotmentioned,andsowecanassumethereisnot)theusualEnglishwouldbe,‘Imightgobybus….’.‘Activity16:Prepareareadingpassage’isagainapassageusingwaysofexpressingfuturetime.Thepassageusesamixtureofthe‘goingto’tense,andthefuturewith‘will’.Thereisanotherawkwardphrasein,‘WewilluseabusortaxitogettoRubavu’,asnaturalEnglishwouldbe,‘Wearegoingtogobybusortaxi…..’Fromthispassagethepupilswouldbenonethewiseraboutwhenorwhytouse‘goingto’asopposedto‘will’.Whatthepupilsneedistheclearexplanationofthemeaning/useofeachtense,andthentheycanassessforthemselveswhichonetouse.Unit2pages15-28Learner’sBook–Thelanguageofstudysubjects

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In‘2.2Reading’onpage16,thereisoneofverymanyreferencesto‘useyourdictionary’.Imostschools,especiallyruralones,therearenodictionariesforthepupilstouse.Withothersuchexpectationsexpressedinthisbook,whichwillbereferredtoastheyarise,itbecomesclearthatthisbookwasprobablyoriginallywrittenforanotherreadership,andwasadaptedforuseinRwanda.In‘2.3Usinglanguage’itstatesthat‘Commandverbsareusedinimperatives.Commandverbstelluswhatwemustdo’.Iamnotsureitisusefultotalkabout‘commandverbs’.Mostverbscanbeusedintheirinfinitiveform,tobecomeimperatives(oracommand).Itseemsunnecessarytotalkabout‘commandverbs’asifthereisaspecialcategory.‘2.4Usinglanguage’onpage17seekstoteachthemeaningoffivenewverbswhichareusedinschoolwork,ormoreparticularlyexaminations,‘define/contrast/compare/explain/list.’Thelayoutisquitecramped,andthetextisdense.NativespeakersofEnglishthesameageasP5wouldfindthisdifficulttounderstandandretain.Theexercisethatfollowsatthebottomofpage17,iscertainlybeyondtheleveloftheselanguagelearners.Theyaretousedictionariesorencyclopaedia(whicharenotavailableinthevastmajorityofschools)toanswerthefollowing,‘Definethewordvertebrate/Giveonecontrastbetweenadogandacat/Comparearhinocerosandanelephant/Explainwhyyouthinkalionhassharpteeth/Listfiveanimalsyouhaveseeninyourlife.’The‘Activity6:Findquestionwords’onpage19isahelpfulexercise.Thepupilsaretonotethequestionwordsusedineachoffivequestions.However,‘2.7Reading’isnotaveryhelpfulexercise.Itattemptstosetoutrulesforgroupworktobesuccessful.Itmakes‘Groups’anacronymforvariousinstructions.Thelanguageusedishardandmightwellbenewtothelearners,forexample,‘Bekindtooneanother/task/Makesureyoudoyourpart.’Onpages20to21thepupilshavetostudyatablewhichhascolumnsheaded‘Person/Definition/Tasksassigned’.Notonlyisthetablefilledwithtypethatistoosmalltoreadeasily,butthelanguageisquitehard,andthecontentisactuallyverydull.SomeofthelanguagewhichIexpectwillbeabovethelevelofmanyP5learnersis,‘Makesurethegroupisusingthetimewell/Reportbackwhatthegrouphasdone/makesurethematerialsarecorrectlyusedandwelllookedafter/Packawayanymaterialsoncethegroupisfinishedwiththem.’Ihavehighlightedwordswhichmaywellcausedifficulty.‘2.8Listeningandspeaking’onpage21isbeyondthelevelofmanyP5languagelearners.Theyaretobeputintogroupsandareto‘findinformation’ononeoffourtopics,‘mammals/sport/weather/reptiles.’Thepupilshaveto‘describethetopic’(e.g.whatmammalsare),and‘givetwoexamplesfromthetopic.’Withoutreferencematerialsthiswillbeverydifficult.Inanyevent,somenativechildspeakersofEnglishatthisagewouldfindthisdifficult.‘2.9Readingandwriting’continuestobeabovethelevelofmanyP5learners.Intheexplanation,beneaththeheading,thefollowinglanguageisused,‘Differenttopicsmayneeddifferentwritingstyles.Alistofinstructionsneedstobecommanding.Adialoguewithyour

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friendisrelaxedandinformal.Alettertostopanimalpoachingneedstobepersuasive.’Onlythewords‘topics’and‘persuasive’aredefinedinthe‘dictionary’atthefootofthepage.Ihavehighlightedotherdifficultwords.The‘Activity9:Readinstructions’isanextraordinaryexampletochoose.Theauthorscouldhavechosensomethingaboutwhicheverypupilwouldknow,sothatthevocabularyusedisallfamiliartothepupils,andthenthetaskofnoticinghowtosetoutinstructionscanbeconcentratedon.However,theauthorshavechosensomethingwithnewvocabulary,andsothetaskinhandisdetractedfrombytheallthenewwords.Theinstructionsarefor‘Howtomakeavolcanoinasandpit’.Thenewwordsinclude,‘sandpit/plastic/vinegar/bicarbonateofsoda/bakingsoda/foodcolouring/hole/drops/erupt.’Thenexttaskisforpupilsto‘writedowntherulesforwritinginstructions’.NativechildspeakersofEnglish,thesameageasP5,wouldfindthisverydifficult,andIexpectwouldnotbeabletodoitwell.‘Activity11:Readatextandanswerquestions’setsoutthequestionsbeforethepupilsreadthepassage.Oneofthequestionsis,‘Whatwerethestepstheyneededtodofortheexperiment?’ThisisnotgoodEnglish.‘Steps’arenot‘done’buttheyare‘taken’.Butevenif‘take’isinsertedinsteadof‘do’,thequestionisstillnotverygoodEnglish.Whatthequestionreallymeansis,‘Whatstepsdidtheyfollowduringtheexperiment?’Theninthepassageabouttheexperimentisthefollowingsentence,‘Today’simportantrulewastonotlightamatchuntiltheteachertoldusto.’Thisisappallinglyconstructed,andassuchwillnothelplearnerswithitsmeaning.AsP4Englishhadanemphasison‘must’and‘mustnot’itwouldbegoodpedagogytorecyclethatlanguageinthissentence.Somethingsuchas,‘Itwasimportantthatwemustonlylightamatchwhentheteachertellsustolightit’,or‘Today’srulewasthatwemustnotlightamatchuntiltheteachertoldustolightit’mightsuffice.Anothersentenceis,‘Beforelong,mycandlewasout’.ThisisnotnaturalEnglish,anditshouldbe‘…mycandlewentout’.Allinall,itseemspedagogicallyunsoundtouseatopicwithsomuchnewlanguage.Thenewlanguageis,‘experiment/candle/air/matches/metallid/lit/oxygen.’Thisopportunitytoteachabitofscienceisnotpedagogicallysound,astheEnglishlanguagedevelopmentofthepupilsishinderedbyit.‘2.10Readingandwriting’onpages24and25,includesanewspaperreportwithquestionsonit.Thereportisaboutasportingeventwonbypupilsofaprimaryschool.Thereportmentions‘sprintsevent’and‘shotputevent’.The‘sprint’couldeasilyhavebeenreplacedby‘running’and‘shotput’willnotbeknownorunderstoodbythemajorityofP5pupils.Withinthereportisthesentence,‘Itwasthefirsttimetheschoolwontheevent.’Thisisnotcorrectinthecontext.Itshouldbe‘Itwasthefirsttimetheschoolhadwontheevent’.Thesentence,asitisinthereport,carriesthemeaningthattherewasanothertimethattheschoolwontheevent.Thepupilsarethentowriteanewspaperreportoftheirown,onaschoolfootballmatch,awinnerofaninterschools’sciencequiz,oronaschoolplay.FormanyP5pupils,theywillnothavebeeninvolvedinanysuchactivities.Thepupilsareaskedtowriteadraftnewspaperreport,andthentoevaluatetheirworkwiththeuseofthetableonpage26.Oneofthecheck-listsinthattableis,‘Haveyousetupyourreportcorrectly,includingtheheadline,

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reporter’sname,placeanddate.’‘Setup’isnotquitetherightword,itshouldbe‘setout’or‘laidout’.HavingseenclassesofP5pupilsatseveralschools,Idoubttheirabilitytocarryoutthistaskwell.Thenextstage,onpage26,isforpupilstoassesseachother’swork.Thisseemsambitioustoexpectotherlearnerstobeabletoadviseonmistakesmadeetc.The‘Peerassessment’notessuggestthatonepupilshould‘answerthefollowing’onhis/herfriend’swork,‘Iliked…..because…/Nexttime,Ithinkyoucould……/Mybestpartwas…….’Theinstructionto‘answerthefollowing’doesnotfit,asthethreesuggestionsarenotquestions.Itshouldsaythatthepupilsshouldusethefollowingsentences.Also,thelastsentenceisnotcorrect.Thepupilwhoisreadinghis/herfriend’swork,cannotsay‘mybestpartwas…..’,itshouldbe‘yourbestpartwas…..’‘2.11Usinglanguage’onpage27hasadifficultactivity.Thepupilsaretofilltheblanksinfivesentencesusingsevenwordswhichappearinabox.Thefirstsentence,withtheinsertedwordshighlighted,is‘Theteachersayssheishappy.’Thisisnotaverynaturalsentence,astheuseof‘the’isnotfluent.Itmightbe‘my/our/your’butnot‘the’.Itishardtothinkofasituationinwhichthiswouldbeanaturalsentence.Thethirdsentence,againwiththeinsertedwordhighlighted,‘IhavetogotosportonWednesdayafternoon.’Thesentenceis,again,unnaturalas‘togotosport’isnotcorrect.Perhapsitshouldbe‘togotoplaysport’,buteventhatisunnatural.However,thestructureof‘haveto’hasnotbeenintroduced,andthisshouldhaveitsownteachingtime,withtimetopractisetheuse,andtounderstandwhenitisused.Intheexplanationboxforthissection,onpage27,‘functionwords’areintroducedasoneswhichhelp‘toconnectimportantinformation’and‘tomakethesentencemakesense.’Itthengivesexamplestobe‘but/that/you/so/is’.Itishardtounderstandwhattheauthorsmeanby‘functionwords’.Theexerciseatthebottomofpage27isforthepupilstocompletesentencesusing‘functionwords’withoutgivingthewordstobeused.Thesentences,withthe‘functionwords’insertedandhighlighted,are:‘Iwenttoschool/IthinkScienceandElementaryTechnologyis/arefun/Geographyisaboutmaps/MarcellepaintsinArtbutshelikesdrawingmore.’Someofthese‘functionwords’areverbs,anditisverydoubtfulpedagogytotrytoclassifythemassomethingelse.Thepupilsneedtounderstandtheverbtenses,andtheiruseandmeanings.Theydonotneedtoseepartofaverb,forexample‘is’,classifiedassomethingelse,whentheyneedtoknowthatitisthepresentsimpletenseoftheverb‘tobe’.The‘Revision’onpage28isthateachpupilistoprepareatalk,ofoneortwominutes,togivetotheclass.Thetopicis‘WhatIenjoyaboutschool’.Thereareguidelinessetouttohelpthepupils.Oneoftheseis‘tothinkofactivitiesyouenjoydoingintheclassroom’(e.g.reading,writing,groupwork)andthentosay‘whydoyouenjoydoingthoseactivities’.Thisisverydifficult,andsomenativeEnglishspeakersofthisagewouldfindthisdifficult.Anotherguidelinestates,‘Whatschoolactivitiesdoyouenjoyoutsideoftheclassroom?’Thisisnotsoundgrammar,as‘outsideof’istautology.‘Outside’itselfconveysthefullmeaningandthe‘of’isredundant,anditisincorrecttoincludeit.Unit3pages29-41Learner’sBook–Reading

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ThisUnitisambitious,andwouldbeachallengefornativeEnglishspeakersofthesameageasP5learners.‘Activity1:Talkaboutreading’askspupilstoread‘quotes’setoutinaboxbelow.Thisisgrammaticallyincorrect;thenounis‘quotations’.AnytextbookshouldteachgrammaticallycorrectEnglish,andnotsloppyEnglishfoundspokenonthestreets.Thepupilsarethentaskedto‘Discusswhatyouthinkeachquotemeans.’Thisisverychallengingexercise,andwouldtaxnativeEnglishspeakersofthisage.EveniftheP5learnerscanthinkwhateachquotationmightmean,IdoubttheyhavesufficientEnglishtobeabletoexpressthemselves.TheTeacher’sGuidegivesnohelpatalltotheteacheraboutthemeaningofthequotations.Itisverylikelythatmanyteacherswillnotbeawareofthemeaning.Examplesfromthequotationsare,‘…themorethatyoulearn,themoreplacesyou’llgo/Readinggivesussomeplacetogowhenwehavetostaywhereweare.’‘3.2Reading’onpage30,listsdifferentreasonsforreading.Inthelisttherearesomestructuresandphrasesthatthelearnersmightfinddifficult,‘tobeentertained/tokeepup-to-datewithwhatishappeningintheworld/tosparkyourimagination.’AgainthereisnohelptotheteacherintheGuide.‘Activity2:Exploredifferenttexttypes’isaveryhardtask.ManynativespeakersofthesameageasP5learnerswouldnotbeabletocompletethistasksuccessfully.Thetaskgivesalistofprinteditemsinonecolumn(e.g.menu/recipe/comicstrip/website/newsletter/map/pamphlet/advert)andthepupilsaretomatchthosewiththedefinitionsgiveninthecolumnontheright.Theword‘advert’isashortenedformofthenoun,anditshouldbegiveninfullas‘advertisement.’Thedefinitionsare,forexample,‘asetofdrawingsthattellastory/asmallleafletgivingyouinformation/apictureshowinganareaoflandorsea/adigitalpagelinkedtotheinternet/anoticeencouragingyoutobuysomethingtogosomewhere.’Firstly,tobeabletoattemptthisexerciserequiresaknowledgeofthetextitemslisted.ItishighlydoubtfulthatmostofRwanda’sP5pupilswillhaveseenamenu,acomicstrip,apamphletorwebsitepage.Eveniftheymighthaveseentheseitems,itisthendoubtfulthattheywouldknowtheEnglishwordsforthem.Secondly,thematchingisahardexercisetodo;itrequiresalotofreadingcoupledwithretentionofwhatyouhaveread.Ontopofthisthefontissmall,andwillcausedifficultyifpupilshavetosharebooks.Thisisoneofthefirstindications,ofmany,thatthisbookiswrittenwithchildreninwell-equippedurbanschoolsinmind.Thisisbroughtoutagainatthetopofpage31whereitisstated,‘Forhomework,collectasmanydifferenttexttypesasyoucanfind.Bringthemtoschool.Youwilladdthemtotheclassroomdisplay.’Manyprimarypupilscomefromhomeswherenobooksexist,apartfromperhapstheBibleandhymnbook.Manyteachersdonothavetheirownbooks,andevennewspapersarenotconspicuousintheareaswhereIvisitschools.‘Activity3:Readaboutdifferenttopics’hastopicsinabox,whicharethedifferentsubjectmattersaboutwhichpeopleliketoread.Thefirstexerciseistoputthosetopicsinalistinalphabeticalorder.Thiswouldbeagoodexercise,weretherefarfeweritems.Thereare19differenttopics.Manypupilswillnotbeusedtoputtingthingsinalphabeticalorderandthiscouldtakethemalongtime.Oncetheyhavegonewrongwith19itemsitwillbedifficultto

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markandtocorrect.Iftherewereafewitems,thenpupilscouldenjoytheexerciseandseetheirerrors.Thenextexerciseistofillinthegaps,usingthetopicitemsfromthebox,insevensentences.ThisisdifficultandwouldposeachallengefornativeEnglishchildrenofthesameageasP5.Someexamples,withthetopicwordhighlighted,are:‘Grandmotherlikestoknitanddraw,shebuysbooksaboutartsandcrafts/Grandfatherlikesworkinginhisgarden,hereadsbooksaboutplants/Solangelovestravelling.Shelikesbooksaboutdifferentplaces.’‘Activity4:Explorereasonsforreading’onpage32continueswithdifferenttexttypesinonecolumnandthereason(s)forreadingtheminanothercolumn,andthetwoaretobematchedcorrectly.Thisis,again,difficultforthelearnerlevel.Thereisalsoatypingerror,as‘busses’doesnothavedouble‘s’.Thepupilsthenhavetocompletesentencesintheirownwords,andthisisprobablysomethingthepupilscandomechanicallybyrepeatingthetopicwordintheanswer,asitwillbedifficultforthemtoexpressthemselvesmorefluently.‘Patriciaisreadingarecipebookbecauseshe…./Thelearnersarereadingatextbookbecausethey…../Lucasisreadingabookcalled‘BigAnimalsinAfrica’becausehe…….’EtcThefollowingexerciseistomatchthreecaptionswhentherearefivepictures.Thepupilsthenhavetowritecaptionsfortheremainingtwopictures.Onepictureisofagirlreadingaletter,andtheotherisofagirlsittingreadingabookwithanexpressionlessface.TheTeacher’sGuidesuggestsacaptionforthelattertobe,‘Garukaneverknewherbookwouldbesoscary.’Thisdoesnotmatchthepictureatall.Iexpectthiswillconfuseteachers.Inanyeventthephrase‘soscary’isadvancedforthislearnerlevel.‘Activity5:Talkaboutreadingmaterials’instructspupilstoworkingroupstodiscussthedifferenttypeoftextstheyhavecollected.Onesentencereads,‘LookbackatUnit2toremindyourselveshowtoworkinagroup.’Thisisnotthefirsttimethe‘reflexive’pronoun(highlighted)hasappearedinanEnglishtextbook.However,Iamnotawareofanyteachingnotetoteachthisnewstructure.Itisastructurethatneedsteaching,and,indeed,itisastructureoftenmisusedbynativeEnglishspeakers.‘3.4Writing’isonpage34,andrequiresthepupilstoreadabookoftheirchoiceandthenwriteareviewofit.ThiscouldbeanexercisefornativeEnglishspeakersofthisage,butitisbeyondtheabilityofP5learners.Firstly,manyschoolshavenobooksforthepupilstoread.Perhapstheywilladaptbyusingstoriesinsteadofbooks,butevensothereareoftennotenoughbooksforeachpupiltohavehis/herowncopy.Iexpectthatthisactivitywillbemissedoutbymanyteachers.‘3.5Reading’onpage35,looksat‘skimming’and‘scanning’andisgoodforpupilstoknowabout.However,itisadvancedfortheirlanguagelevel,andmightevenbeadvancedfortheircognitiveleveloflearning.‘Activity7:Skimandscan’givesthepupilspracticeindoingeach.Thereisashortstorywritteninthefirstperson,inwhichMrsMugabo,JosephandAlbertappear.Thestoryteller’snameismentionedonce.Thepupilsaretoscanthestorytofindthenameofthemaincharacter.ThisisdifficultandIexpectnativeEnglishspeaking

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childrenwouldfindthishard.Thefinaltaskistowritedownwhatthestoryisabout.Thisistheartofsummarizingorwritingaprecis.Itisanadvancedskill,andnativeEnglishspeakingchildrenofthisagewouldfindthishardtodo.‘3.6Reading’onpage36isaveryusefulsection,andissoimportantthatIfeelitshouldbetaughtinthemother-tongueKinyarwandainordertoensurethatallpupilsreallydounderstandit.ItisaboutusingaTableofContentsandanIndexinbooks.Asthisisinaforeignlanguageitmaywellbeabovethelanguageabilityofthelearners.ThisispartlybecausetherehavealreadybeenmanynewwordsinthisUnitandthissectionintroducesyetmorenewwords.Thequestionswhichtheteacherasksthepupils,sothattheycanshowtheirunderstandingofusingthetablesofcontentsandtheindex,arechallenging.NativeEnglishspeakingchildrenofthisagewouldfindthisdifficult.ItwillbebeyondthelevelofmanyP5learners.ItwouldbeachallengingandworthwhileexerciseinKinyarwanda.Forinstance,theContentsPageforChapter2onTheFiveSensesshows,‘Smellandtaste/Listenup/Sightandseeing/Touch.’Thepupilsareaskedtolistthefivesenses,andtheTeacher’sGuidegivestheansweras‘smell,taste,hearing,sight,sound’.Itwilltakeanadvancedpupiltobeabletoconvert‘Listenup’into‘hearing’.Anotherquestionis,‘Thinkofasynonymforspit.Whatpagewouldwefindinformationaboutthis?’MostnativeEnglishspeakingchildrenofthisagewouldnotknowwhatasynonymis,andwouldnotbeabletofindonefor‘spit’.Thequestionrequiresthelearnerstoknowthemeaningof‘synonym’andtoknowtheword‘saliva’.ThisisadvancedEnglish,andbeyondtheabilityofnativeEnglishchildrenofthesameageasP5.Thereisafurtherquestion,‘Whydoauthorsincludecontentspagesandindexesinbooks?’ThisisnotansweredintheTeacher’sGuide,andIexpectteacherandpupilmightstruggleforthecorrectEnglishtoanswerthequestion.Theanswerreallyrequiresthestructure‘sothat’or‘inorderto/that/for’andthesestructureshavenotbeenspecificallytaught.Theansweris‘Theyincludecontentspagesandindexessothatreaderscanfindtheirwayaroundthebook’.Simplified,itcouldbe,‘Theyincludecontentspagesandindexesbecausetheywantreaderstoknowwheretofindinformation.’EventhelatterisacomplexstructureforP5learners.Allofthisisnewvocabularyontopofimportantnewconcepts.Itisoverloadingthelearners.“3.7Usinglanguage’atthebottomofpage37looksatadverbsoffrequency.Theexamplesgivenare,‘Ialwaysbrushmyteethinthemorningandevening/Ineverread.’Anyexampleshouldshowimmediatelythefullmeaningofthewordorphrase.Theexamplefor‘always’isgood.However,theexamplefor‘never’isterrible.Notonlydoesitgivethewrongmessageaboutreading,butitdoesnotgettotheheartofthemeaningoftheword.Anexamplesuchas‘Inevereatstones’of‘Inevercarrytwentybagstoschool’wouldgivethepupilsthemeaningof‘never’.‘Activity10:Designaquestionnaire’onpage39isnotparticularlysuitableformanypupilsinRwanda.Thepupilshavetodesignaquestionnaireaboutthereadinghabitsofpupilsintheclass,andwhattopicstheyliketoreadabout.Asmanyschools,andhomes,lackreadingmaterials,andtheonlybookstowhichpupilsareexposedaretextbooks,thisexercisewillhaveverylimitedscopeandpossiblyevenlessinterest.

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Thestorytobereadbytheteachertotheclassinthe‘Listeningandwriting’activityonpage39,isaboutavisittoazoo.Azooisaplaceaboutwhichveryfew,ifany,pupilswillhaveanyconcept.Alsoitisjustanotherwordwithwhichthepupilshavetocope.Thereisanerrorinthestory,onpage71oftheTeacher’sGuide,whichwillnothelptheteachers,‘Thecrocodileswererestinginthesunorthepond.’Perhapsthatismeanttobe‘bythepond’?Inthestorythreenewwordsarehighlightedandtheteacherisinstructedto‘discussthemeaningsofthewords’Thewordsare,‘excited/scared/worried’.Thesearenoteasytoshowthemeaningof,andIexpectteacherswilljusttranslate.‘3.10Reading’isaboutashoppingtrip,andincludesthesentence,‘Itisarecipeforatastyorangesaucetoputoverham.’Thisisunnecessarynewvocabularyforthepupils,whenthereisalreadysomuchtooverloadtheminthisUnit.Unit4pages42-57Learner’sBook–TheenvironmentTheaimofthisUnitistolearnvocabularyaboutanimals,theuseofprepositions,andtoknowthedifferencebetweentheactiveandpassivevoice.Thepassivevoicehasalreadybeenusedinatleasttwoplaces,onpages30and36(‘whensomethingismeant…./Thetopicsarewritten…).IntheP4book,analysedabove,thepassivevoicewasusedalot.IntheTeacher’sGuideonpage73,itliststheteachingmaterialsneeded‘examplesofwallmapsandmapbooks/picturesofdifferentanimals/anumberofdifferentposters,non-fictionbooksaboutlandforms,encyclopaedias/examplesofpostcards’,anditislikelythatmanyschoolswillnothavethese.Inthefirstactivity,theteacherreadsastoryfrompage75intheTeacher’sGuide.Theteacheristoldto‘Discussthemeaningofthewordsinbold’.Thosewordsare,‘disturbing/trumpeting/hopscotch/roaring’.Thosewordswillbedifficultfortheteachertoteachor‘discuss’,andsomeguidanceshouldhavebeenprovided.Idoubtthepurposeofthepupilsknowingtheword‘hopscotch’.‘4.3Reading’onpage44,asksthepupilstoreadeach‘point’.Thisreferstothebulletpointswhichlistinformationonpage44.Thiswordwouldneedtobeexplained.Inpart2ofthisactivityisthequestion,‘Theword‘compass’canalsohavemorethanonemeaning.Lookatthepicturesalongside.Doyouknowwhateachofthesecompassesisusedfor?’Infact,theword‘compass’isquitedistinctfrom‘apairofcompasses’,andsothetwoitemsdonotsharethesamename.‘Activity4:Readamap’onpage45hasacolourfulmapofazoo.Invariouscolouredboxesthenamesofanimalsarewritten.Oneboxhas‘Bunnies,Chickens’.Thisshouldbe‘rabbits’andnot‘bunnies’ifthepupilsaregoingtolearnproperEnglish.Themapalsousestheterm‘Restrooms’whichisAmerican-English.‘4.4Speaking’onpage46states,‘Eachcolourshowsthecagesofanimalsfromaparticularcontinent.Doyouknowthenamesofthesevencontinents?’Onthemaptherearesixcolours,(brown,yellow,orange,purple,blueandgreen)andintheTeacher’sGuideonlysixcontinentsarenamed.Thecontinentnotrepresentedonthemap,andnotnamedinthe

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Teacher’sGuideisNorthAmerica.Thisisnowageographylesson,andnotalanguagelesson,andtheteachersofEnglishmaywellfindthisdifficult.‘4.5Usinglanguage’onpage47concentratesontheuseofprepositionsofplace.However,‘Activity6:Useprepositions’hasaboxcontaining27prepositions,andtheyaretobeusedtofillinthegapsin8sentencesonpage48.TheTeacher’sGuidegivestheanswersonpage78ofthatGuide.However,someoftheanswersareincorrect,andsomeofthesentenceshavemorethanonecorrectanswer.Forinstance,sentence‘e’,‘Thefisheagleflewacrossthewater-hole’Thisisnotcorrect.Theprepositionshouldbe‘over’or‘above’.‘Across’meansfromonesidetotheother,andsoifyouareabovesomethingyoucannotgoacrossit.Sentence‘c’,‘ThesunisabovetheAfricangrasslands’,couldbe‘thesunisovertheAfricangrasslands’.Sentence‘f’,‘Thegiraffeiseatingtheleavesonthetree’,isincorrect.Thishasthemeaningthattheleavesareonthetree,whereastheprepositionactuallydescribestheplaceofeatingandnottheplaceoftheleaves.So,‘thegiraffeiseatingtheleavesfromthetree’or,‘thegiraffeiseatingtheleavesoffthetree’wouldbecorrect.Sentence‘g’,‘Themonkeysareontopofthesafaricar’,couldalsobe‘themonkeysareonthesafaricar’.Inordertobeagoodexerciseforlanguagelearners,themeaningmustbeabsolutelyclear,andsotheremustbeonlyonecorrectanswer.Thisisnotthecasewiththisexercise.Alsotogiveachoiceof27prepositionsfor8sentencesistoomany.Manypupilswilljustguess,andthatwillmakeassessmentandmarkingverydifficult.Idoubtthatmanyteacherswillbeequippedtoexplainwhysomeofthepupils’answersarenotcorrect,and,inlinewiththeabove,pupilsmaywellhavethecorrectanswerbutitwouldbemarkedasincorrectaccordingtotheinformationgivenintheTeacher’sGuide.Inanyevent,thisexercisewouldnotbeeasyfornativeEnglishspeakingchildrenofthesameageasP5.Somewouldmakemistakes.‘4.6Reading,Activity7:Understandphysicalfeatures’onpage48isacarelesspieceofwriting.‘Physicalfeaturesareimportant.Someactasboundariesbetweentwocountries.Others,likerivers,arenecessaryforliving….Hiking,trailrunningandbirdwatchingarepossiblebecauseofmountains.Waterfallslookprettyandthereforebringtourists.Theycanalsobeusedtomakeelectricity.’Therearemanyincorrectstatementsinthispassage.Riversarenotnecessaryforliving;waterisnecessaryforlivingbutmanypeoplelivewithoutariver.Hiking,trailrunningandbirdwatching(which,noteisalloneword)areactivitieswhicharepossiblewithoutmountains;hillswouldhelptheenjoyment,butallcanbedoneonplainsandflats.Notallwaterfallslook‘pretty’,forinstancetheVictoriaFallsandNiagaraFallsareimpressive,spectacular,marvellousandawesomebutnot‘pretty’.Notallwaterfallscanbeusedtomakeelectricity.Thisbegsthequestionwhethertheteacheristeachinggeographyorlanguage.ThisisatextbookforEnglish,andthegeographyshouldnot‘wagthetail’oftheEnglishteacher.Thetableonpage49hasphysicalfeatureslistedontheleft,anddefinitionswrittenontheright,andthepupilsaretomatchthefeaturewiththedefinition.Thereisnopre-teachingforthisexerciseprovidedintheTeacher’sGuide.Ifthepupilsdonotknowthevocabularyofthe‘physicalfeatures’thentheycannotpossiblycompletetheexercisesuccessfully.Iftheydoknowthevocabularyfromtheirgeographystudies(whicharenowinEnglish)thenthis

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exerciseisnotneeded.However,evenmanynativeEnglishspeakingchildrenofthesameageasP5wouldnotbeabletocompletethisexercisesuccessfully.Themaponpage49isnotveryclear.Thereislightbluefontontopofgreenshadedcolour,anditisverydifficulttoreadthewords.Thenamesoflakesareinlightbluefontandsomearewrittenoverthebluecolourofthelake,andagainaredifficulttoread.‘Activity8:IdentifyphysicalfeaturesofRwanda’isageographylesson,withverylittle,ifany,languagein-put.Question‘h’requiresknowledgefromelsewhere,asnothingiswritteninthisbookwiththeinformationneededtoanswerthatquestion,‘Whatmakesthismountainrange(Virunga)differentfromanormalmountainrange?.Question4onpage51requiresthepupisto‘Talkaboutwhyeachofthephysicalfeaturesmaybeuseful.Reportbacktotherestoftheclass’.IntheTeacher’sGuideonpage79alltheguidancegivenis,‘Answersmayvary.Usesofphysicalfeatureswillrangefromwatersources,totouristattractions,useoflandforsustainableliving,hydroelectricpower,etc.’Thisisbeyondthecognitiveability,andindeedlanguageability,ofmanynativeEnglishspeakingchildrenofthesameageasP5.‘4.7Writing’onpage51requiresthepupilstocreateposters.Theyaretold,‘Youwillhavetodosomeresearch.Useanencyclopaedia,abookortheInternettohelpyou.’Thisisunrealisticformany,manyprimaryschoolsinRwanda.‘Activity10:Readafloraandfaunamap’onpages52to53isadifficultexercise.Forinstance,oneofthequestionsis,‘WhatphysicalfeatureattractstheplantsandbirdstotheareasouthofKigali?’TheTeacher’sGuideprovidestheanswer,‘Itisaswampyareaandthereforewet.LakeCyohoha-Northisalsointhatarea.’Ithinkthatfromboththemaponpage49andtheoneprovidedonpage52thepupilswillbeunlikelytoanswerthatquestion.‘4.10Usinglanguage’onpage54givesexamplesoftheactiveandpassivevoice.IflearningaboutthepassivevoiceisoneoftheaimsofthisUnit,thenthisexplanationwithexampleswouldhavebeenmuchmoreusefulcomingatthebeginningoftheUnit.Inanycase,thesectionstartswiththemostunnaturalexample,‘ThechildrenjumpedintoLakeKivu.…LakeKivuwasjumpedintobythechildren,’Thefirstexamplesetoutintheboxesatthefootofpage54ismisleading,andgrammaticallyincorrect.ThefirstexampleoftheActiveVoiceisinthepresentsimpleactivevoice,andyetthecorrespondingexampleofthePassiveVoiceisinthepastsimplepassivevoice,‘Mohammedwritesapostcard/apostcardwaswrittenbyMohammed’.Thiserrorshouldnothaveslippedthenoticeoftheeditororofthetextbookapprovalpanel.Itisimperativethattheexampleofagrammarstructureiscorrectandclear.Thisoneisnot.Theexercisesthatfollowarenotpedagogicallysound.Thefirstexerciserequirestheactivevoicetobechangedintothepassivevoice.Itmixespresentsimpletenseswithpastsimpletenses.Anyteachingofnewlanguageshoulddealwithonethingatonetime.Thismaybetoomuchatonceforthepupils.

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Thesecondexerciseisforpupilstocorrectsentenceswhichareincorrect.ItisdoubtfulthatreadingincorrectEnglishisahelpfuldeviceforpupilsatthislevel.Thethirdexercisecomprisessentencesinwhichthewordsareinthewrongorder.Thepupilshavetoputthewordsinthecorrectorder.Thisisnotonlydifficultandtime-consuming,butthelearningtakingplacemaybeminimal.Itwouldbepedagogicallysoundiftheteacherswereguidedtogetpupilstocarryoutsomeactions,andthenthepupilscouldretellwhathappenedusingthepassivevoice.Thelearnerswouldthen‘see’themeaningofthestructure.‘Activity13:Labelamap’onpage55,isbasedonastoryreadtothepupilsbytheteacher,usingpage80oftheTeacher’sGuide.Theteacherisinstructedto,‘Discussthemeaningofthewordsinbold.’Therearenowordsinbold.Thepupilsaretodrawamap,notethephysicalfeaturesmentionedinthestory,andnotethosefeaturescorrectlyontheirmap.Isthisfurtheringthepupils’learningofEnglish?‘4.11Writing’onpage56isabouthowtowriteapostcard.Thepictureofthepostcardonpage56isnotclearasthefontissmall,andthelabellingaffectsthereadingevenfurther.Oneofthelabelsis,‘Youdon’thavetousefullsentences’andyetthatlabelsafullsentence,whereasthetwoopeningnon-fullsentencesarenotlabelled.Alsotheword‘travelling’isusedtwiceintheintroductiononpage56,butthesecondtimeitisuseditonlyhasone‘l’.The‘Revision’onpage52,givesadifficultexerciseofmatchinghalfasentenceincolumnAwiththerestofthesentenceincolumnB.ThiscouldnotbedonesuccessfullybymanynativeEnglishspeakingchildrenofthesameageasP5.Forinstance,‘Forestsareusefulbecause….’Desertsareusefulbecause….’Theanswersrespectively,are,‘theyprovidetreesthatcanbeusedforwood/theyprovidebigspacesforarmiestotesttheiraeroplanes’.ThisUnitisrecommendedtofill25lessons,whichis16.7hours.Inthattime,itmaybeworthnoting,thatthepupilswillhavecomeacrossthefollowingnewwordsandstructures,‘identifying/labelling/physicalfeatures/amazing/landforms/gamereserve/normally/cross/disturbing/peace/water-hole/trumpeting/squirting/toroll/mud/flamingoes/hopscotch/skipping/shallow/roaring/hadhadenough/shade/acaciatree/swingingcompetitions/forpoorcrocodile/riddles/feathers/babychicks/bumpy/notafriendlyguy/howaboutthat?/rhyme/point/lifeskill/symbols/key/compass/cardinalpoints/north/south/east/west/intermediate/alongside/acollection/penguins/polarbears/alligator/llamas/McCaws/bunnies/pettingzoo/tiger/pandabear/seals/yak/camel/emus/koalabears/kangaroo/café/restrooms/particular/continent/pathways/passage/walkway/parade/avenue/pigs’pen/further/headto/fisheagle/landscapes/plains/forest/waterfalls/boundaries/hiking/trailrunning/valley/desert/swamp/ocean/araisedarea/mound/height/formation/alargebase/crater/lava/gas/ash/undergrowth/sandy/vegetation/neighbouring/mountainrange/tocomment/useful/attention/research/irrigation/hydro-electricpower/famous/specific/flora/fauna/blackmamba/cranes/storks/orchids/bushviper/hornbills/eucalyptus/catfish/minnows/bamboo/spottedhyena/postcard/poach/hunter/rightbelow/dam/scenic/canoeing/heron/snipe/space/informal.’Thisiswithouttheuseofprepositionsandthepassivevoice.

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Unit5pages58-71Learner’sBook–MeasurementTheinitialpartofthisUnitisconcernedwithmathematicalterminologysuchasnumbers/counting/adding/subtracting/dividing/multiplying.InthemathematicslessonsinP5thepupilsaredealingwithintegers/conversionoffractions/equivalentfractions/decimals/parallellines/perpendicularlines/lowestcommonmultipliers/correspondinganglesetc.Therefore,theEnglishtaughtinthisunitwillnotassistthepupilswiththeirP5mathematicsstudies.ThelanguageinthisunitwaseitherneededinP3English,inordertopreparethepupilsformathematicstobetaughtinEnglsihinP4,or,was,preferably,neededintheirmathematicslessonsfromP3onwards.‘5.1Listeningandspeaking’onpage58comprisesagoodexerciseincounting,countingintwos(e.g.2,4,6,8),threes,fivesandtens,andcountingbackwards.Theteacherinlargeclassesmaywellhavedifficultyinmonitoringthecorrectnessofthecounting,whichistobedoneasaclass,ingroupsandinpairs.Theremightwellbesometeacherswhocannot‘countbackwardsfrom36’,andwhocannot‘countinthreesupto69’.ItwouldhavebeenadvisablefortheTeacher’sGuidetocontaintheanswers.Newwords,‘tosolve’and‘function’appearonpage59.‘Activity2:Matchwordsandsymbols’hasthesuggestion‘Youmayuseyourdictionaryandthesaurustohelpyou.’Thisisunrealisticinthemajorityofgovernmentprimaryschools.‘Activity3:Spellnumberwords’onpage60setsoutthreecolumnsofnumberswritteninwords.TheTeacher’sGuideonpage85states,‘Getthelearnerstoworkinpairsandreadthewordsinthetextboxes.’Therearenotextboxes.Thewordsaremerelywritteninthreecolumns.“Activity5:Answermathematicalquestions’onpage61,isworkthatshouldhavebeendoneatthebeginningofP4inmathematics.Theexercisecomprises,‘3times2equals?/whatis25minus10?’etc.This,however,bringsaboutapointthatoughttobenoted.‘3times2’inEnglishmeansthreelotsoftwo:IIIIII.TheKinyarwandadirecttranslationsmeanstwolotsofthree:IIIIII.Whilsttheansweristhesame,itisworthnotingthedifference,butitissomethingaboutwhichmathematicsteachersshouldbeawaremorethantheteachersofEnglish.‘5.4Usinglanguage’givesadefinitionofanadjectivewithsomeexamples.PupilshavebeenusingadjectivessinceP1whentheystartedlearningcolours,possessiveadjectivesetc.Itisoddtoberevisingadjectivesatthisstage.Theactivityonpage61isfortheteachertoshowvariouspictures,andeachgrouptothinkofasmanyadjectivesaspossiblewithwhichtodescribeeachpicture.Thisisunlikelytobeverysuccessfulwithoutsomepriorrevision.Inanyeventwithavarietyoftextbookshavingbeenusedineachschool,andwithnosinglecoursefortheteachingofEnglish,itisdoubtfuliftheteacherhasalistoftheadjectiveswhichhavebeentaughttothepupilsovertheyears.Thepupilswillprobablybelimitedinthisactivitybythelackofadjectivestheyknow.Alsotheexerciseismerelytowritedowntheadjectives,andnottousetheminsentences.Withoutusingtheadjectivesinsentences,theteacherwillnotknowifthemeaningoftheadjectiveisunderstood.Theexercisecouldwellhavenolearningpurposeatall.

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‘Activity7:Fillinthemissingadjectives’onpage62isintwoparts.Thefirstpartrequiresthepupilstofillinadjectivesusinganyoneofthoseprovided.Thesecondpartrequiresthepupiltothinkofhis/herownadjectiveforthesentences.Thereisdifficultywiththis,inthatmanyteacherswillnotbeabletochecktheaccuracyoftheanswers.Forinstance,‘LakeKivuisa….placetovisit’-whatifpupilsuse‘large/big/sunny’–aretheycorrect?‘Elephantsare…..animals’–whatifpupilsuse‘slow’–isthatfactuallycorrect?‘5.5Usinglanguage’onpages62to63looksatcomparativesandsuperlatives.Page63providesagoodandclearguidetotheformationofcomparativesandsuperlatives.However,thepupilshavelookedatthesestructuresquiteextensivelyinP4,andtheseclearguidelineswouldhavebeenhelpfulinP4.’5.6Usinglanguage.Activity9:Findthemeasurementwords’Thereisaword-searchchartonpage65andthepupilshavetofind15words.Theyarenottoldwhichwords,butthattheyare‘measurementwords’.Thiswillbetime-consuming,andwillprobablynotbewelldoneasthepupilsdonotknowforwhichwordstheyarelooking.Thefinaltaskistotake10ofthewordsfoundintheword-searchgridandtowriteasentencewitheachword.Therefore,thepupilsmustwritetensentences,andtheteacherisinstructedtotaketheworkintobemarkedtocheckthecorrectuseofeachword.Thisisadifficultexercise,andmightnotbedonesuccessfullybysomenativeEnglishspeakingchildrenofthesameageasP5.Thewordsare,‘large/length/width/wide/height/high/long/tiny/small/little/big/huge/area/tall/short.’Itisdifficulttodifferentiatebetween‘tiny/small’,‘small/little’,‘huge/big’,‘high/tall’,‘long/length’,‘wide/width’,‘high/height’forlanguagelearners.Itisdoubtfulwhethertheirownsentenceswillbeasufficienttestoftheirunderstandingofthemeaningofthewords.Itwouldbemorehelpfultohaveatextwhichshowsthecorrectuseandmeaning.‘5.7Speaking’onpage65setsoutsomeinitialquestions,forwhichtherearenoanswers,andtheyaredifficultforthislearnerlevel,andwouldbedifficultfornativeEnglishspeakingchildrenofthesameageasP5.‘Whatinstrumentsdoweusetomeasurethings?/Whatunitsdoweuseinmeasurement?’Thesearedifficultquestions,andthelearnersmightnothaveenoughvocabularytobeabletoanswerthem.Thereisnoguidegiventotheteacherastowhattheanswersmightbe.In‘Activity10:Measuringyourclassmates’eachpupilistomeasureanotherpupil.Asmostpupilswillonlyhaverulersavailabletothem,thisexerciseisgoingtobeproblematic.Astheaimistotalkusingthecomparativeandsuperlativeforms,thiscouldbedonebysightandapproximationratherthanbymeasuring.In‘Activity11:Measureobjects’onpage66thepupilsaretomeasureobjectsand,inexercise5,theyaretoputtheirownadjectivesinsentencesinthecomparativeorsuperlativeforms.TherearenoanswersgivenintheTeacher’sGuide.Onesentenceis,‘Theclassroomdooris……thanme.’Thissentenceisgrammaticallyincorrect,asitshouldusebe‘Theclassroomdooris…thanIam.’Alsothissentencemightcauseproblems,asitcouldinvitethedifficultywiththedifferencebetween‘tall’and‘high’.‘Activity12:Labelamap’onpage67isanexercisetoredrawamapfromthetextbook,andto‘fillinthemeasurementsforthefollowing….’Allthemeasurementsaregiveninatextbox

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above.Thisisnotanexercisethathelpstodevelopthelearners’English,butisanexercisethatmightbegiveninageographyclass.‘Activity13:DescribethegeographyofRwanda’onpages67to68asksquestions,andtheanswerstosomeofthosequestionsarenotgiveninthistextbook.Thetextbookstatesthatthepupilscanuse‘books,encyclopaedias,anatlasormapstohelpyou.’Thisisunrealisticinmanygovernmentprimaryschools.Oneofthequestionsis‘WhichisthetallestbuildinginRwanda?’,andtherewillbemanylearnerswhodonotknowofthebuilding,and,indeed,whohavenotbeentoKigali.AsthisisabookfromwhichtolearnEnglish,itwouldhelpiftherewasapictureandthelearnerscouldworkouttheanswer,and‘see’themeaningofthelanguage.Infact,thereisapictureonpage71,andthiswouldhavebeenmuchbetterusedhere.‘5.9Listeningandspeaking’onpages68to69isbasedonanothermap,whichisappallinglylabelled.Forinstance,itshowsMountKilimanjarosittingintheseawithanarrowpointingtowhereitactuallyisinTanzania.Thisisveryconfusing,andmaywellnotbecleartolearnersofthisage.Questionsareasked,andquestion2is,‘Identifythelakes.HowmanylakescanyouseeinAsiaandNorthAmerica?’TheanswerprovidedintheTeacher’sGuideis,‘ThemapshowstwolakesinAsia,LakeBaikalandtheCaspianSea.’ThatanswerisnotcompleteasitdoesnotmentionthelakeshownforNorthAmerica.However,theexampleisunfortunateasitinvolvestheCaspianSea,whichiscalleda‘sea’,butwhichis,infact,alake.Somepupilsmayaskaboutthis,andtheEnglishteacherwillbeill-equippedtoanswer.Question5is,‘Arethereanybuildingsonthemap?Wherearethebuildings?Whichisthetallestintheworld?’.TheanswerintheTeacher’sGuideis,‘OneWorldTradeCentreMakkahRoyalClockTowerandBurjKhalifa.’Thisdoesnotprovidetheanswertothelastquestion.Also,theOneWorldTradeCenterisinAmerica,andsothe‘center’adoptstheAmericanspellingandnottheEnglishspelling.Forthatreason,itisabadexampletohavechosen.TheoverridingpointisthatthisisanEnglishlesson,andnotageographylesson,andsoonlyexamplesshouldbegivenwhichassistthelanguagelearning.‘Activity15:Listentoinformation’onpage69containsatableofinformation.Theinstructionssay‘Thenamesoftheplacesareintheboxontheright.’Thetableitselfispositionedbelowthatsentence,andwithinthetablethenamesofplacesareinthecolumnontheleft.Thesentencewill,therefore,confusethepupils.Thisshouldhavebeencorrectedbytheeditor.Onpage70‘5.10Writing’states,‘YouaregoingtocompareplacesinRwandatothoseintherestoftheworld’.In‘Activity16:Writeaparagraph’itstates,‘Choosethreeofthesefeaturestocompare:rivers,seas,lakes,cities,buildings.’TheTeacher’sGuideoffersnothingfurther.Theseinstructionsarenotclear.Theexamplegiveninstep3isofmorehelp,asitshowsthecomparisonofthehighestmountainintheworldtothehighestmountaininRwanda.‘5.11Revisiononpage71’,startswiththefollowingexercise,‘1.Answerthefollowinginwriting.A.Countfrom12to25’ascountingisnormallyanoral,oratleast,silentexercise,andisnotaninstructiontowrite.TheanswergivenintheTeacher’sGuideis‘12,13,14,15’etc.Thishasnolanguagecontentwhatsoever,andisanexerciseinwritingnumbers.

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Unit6pages72-85Learner’sBook–TransportTheaimsofthisunitaretobeableto:‘Identifyandcomparedifferentmeansoftransport/sortthemeansoftransportintoair,landandwatertransport/readandwriteatextabouttheusesoftransport/talkabouttheplacesyouhavevisitedinRwanda.’Thisisanotherexampleofthetopictakingimportanceoverthelanguagelearning.‘Activity1:Matchthewordstothepictures’onpage72,showsaboxwith14wordsinit.Eachwordisatypeoftransport.TheTeacher’sGuidetellstheteachertoreadallthewordsoutloud,andthentoletthepupilsreadthem,‘Eachlearnermustreadallthewordsatleastonce.’Thisispedagogicallyunsound,inthatlearnersarereadingwordsthemeaningofwhichtheydonotknow.Thishasnolanguagebenefitatall.Inthenextexercisetheymatchthosewordstopictures,andsoonlyheredoesmeaningstarttobeattachedtothewords.Thepicturesarenotallclear,especiallypictureKwhichisa‘speedboatormotorboat’butthebackgroundissodarkthatnowatercanbemadeout.Anotherpictureshowsadonkeywithacartbehindit.TheTeacher’sGuidejustsaysthatthisisa‘cart’.Asthelearners,andpossiblytheteacher,mightnotbefamiliarwithadonkey,theTeacher’sGuideshouldnameboththedonkeyandthecart.‘6.4Listeningandspeaking’requeststhepupilsto‘collectdataabouthowlearnersgettoschool.’Thiswillbealimitedandboringactivityinmanyschools,asmostlearnerswalktoschool.‘Activity5:Talkaboutthepurposeoftransport’isanopportunityforlearnerssousesomedifferentsentencestructures,andyettheTeacher’sGuideissilentaboutanylanguagepurposeofthisexercise.Forinstance,question1.e.‘Whataresomeofthepurposesfortravellinginyourdistrict?Howmanycanyourgroupthinkof?’Thisshouldprovidepracticeoftheinfinitiveofpurpose,‘sothat’,and‘inorderto’,andyetnoguidanceisgiven.(travellingbybusinordertogettowork/usingamotorbiketogettoaplacequickly/usingaboatsothatyoucancrosstheriver,etc.).‘Activity6:Discussairpollution’onpages77to78introducesnewvocabulary,andposessomedifficultquestions.ThereisnohelpintheTeacher’sGuidetoassistteacherswiththosedifficultquestions.‘Whydoyouthinkitisimportanttoprotecttheenvironment?/Nametwootherwayshumansdamagetheenvironment?’‘Activity8:Roleplayastory’onpage79requiresthelearnerstotaketheroleofoneofthecharactersinthetextwhichtheteacherreadtotheclass.Thetextmerelytellsofeachcharacter,howtheytraveltoschool,andwhetheritiscomfortable.Icannotseemuchscopeforaroleplay.Thelanguagetobeused,ifany,wouldbelimited.‘Activity9:Practisereading’onpages79to80,usesastructurewhichmightbenewtothelearnersandwhichshouldhavespecificteachingtime,‘Therearetrainswhichcangoasfastas300kmperhour.’Ihavehighlightedthestructure,anditwouldneedteachingwithsomepracticegivensothatthemeaningisunderstood.Thepassagealsouses‘Over800people..’andthismightbeanewmeaningof‘over’whichshouldbetaughtandexplained.‘6.6Usinglanguage’,onpage80,providesfurtherpracticeofthecomparativeandsuperlativeforms,andisgoodrevision.

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‘Activity11:Readabouttheusesoftransport’,onpage81,hasashortpassage.However,therearenewwords,andonesentenceofsloppywriting,‘Peoplelikefishermenneedwatertransport.’Thiswouldbehelpedbypunctuation,butitwouldbegreatlyhelpedbyomittingtheinformaluseof‘like’andreplacingitwith‘suchas’.Thesentencewouldread,‘People,suchasfishermen,needwatertransport.’Learnersneedasmuchhelpaspossibleintheirlanguagelearning,andtextbookwritershavedutyofcaretowriteclearlyandcorrectly.Thenewwordsinthepassageare,‘dock/cargo/cropdusteraeroplanes/pesticide/substance/bacteria.’‘Activity12:Writesentences’isamatchingexercise,tomatchdifferentmeansoftransportwiththeiruse.Thisisahardexercise.Itisnothelpedbyincluding‘postofficebicycle’which‘helpsthepostalworkertodeliverthepost.’Thelearnerswillhavenoconceptofpostofficeworkersdeliveringpost.‘Post’isanewword.Inthecolumnontherightisthewording,‘helpspeopletotravelfromlondontoparis.’TheremustbecapitallettersforeachofLondonandParis,andthisshouldhavebeencorrectedbytheeditor.‘Activity13:Writeabouttheusesoftransport’onpages82to83,setsoutanexample‘mindmap’toassistthelearnersinpreparingtheirwriting.Thelearnersaretochoosethreemeansoftransportandtowriteabouttheusesofeachone.Thebookstates,‘Eachtypeoftransportshouldbeabranchofyourmindmap.Theneachsub-topicbranchshouldhaveinformationaboutthedifferentuses.’ThisisdifficultlanguagewhichwouldnotbeunderstoodeasilybymanynativeEnglishspeakingchildrenofthesameageasP5.‘Activity14:Talkabouttravelling’onpage84requeststhelearnerstoworkinpairsandtotalkaboutwheretheyhavebeeninRwanda.Thisprovidesgoodpracticeofthepresentperfecttense,butonlyifthelearnersareencouragedtousefullsentences.‘Activity15:Takepartinadialogue’onpage84isambitious.Thelearnersare‘toputtogetheradialogueinpairs…YourdialogueshouldbeaboutyourfavouriteplaceyouhavevisitedinRwanda.’ManynativeEnglishspeakingchildrenofthesameageasP5wouldfindthisdifficulttomakeintoadialogue.ThenewlanguageinthisUnitis‘beep/allaboard/transport/means/tosort/motorboat/canoe/helicopter/truck/ambulance/dream/spacerocket/popular/data/tallytable/purpose/pollution/impacts/aclub/breathe/sick/as…as/overseas/tunnel/speeding/over800/topause/expression/dock/cropduster/tospray/pesticide/substance/bacteria/cargo/oil/stuck/evaluate’Unit7pages86-99Learner’sBook–HygieneandhealthTheaimofthisUnitisto‘Learnaboutlivingahealthylifeandstayingwell/Findoutaboutthefivefoodgroups/Understandwhynutrientsareimportantinourdiets/Readaboutandroleplayavisittothedoctor/Designaninformationbrochure/Learnmanynewwordsandlanguageconcepts.’Againwehavethebiologylessonwaggingthetailofthelanguagelesson.Whathappensisthatthemassofsubject-specificwordsoverloadsthelearnerwiththeresultthatanydevelopmentintheimportantstructuresofthelanguageisimpeded.Theonlylanguagestructurethatisspecificallymentionedisthe‘firstconditional’.

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TheUnitopenswithsixquotations(referredtoa‘quotes’inthebook).Eachquotationisasinglesentence.Withinthosesixsentences,newwordsare‘wealth/medicine/neglects/wastes/rest/exercise(meaningactivitywithphysicaleffort).Thesearetoomanynewwordsfortheactivitytobebeneficial.ThethoughtbecomesstrongerthatthisUnitmaywellhavebeenadaptedfromabook,orsectionsfromseveralbooks,writtenfordifferentreaders.ItiscertainlynotculturallyalignedtothelearnersinRwanda.Itmentionssun-bathingandgettingburntbythesun,whichisnotaconceptforblackAfricans,anditmentionsfoodthatwillbeunknownbythemajorityofRwandalearners,suchaspeanutbutter,sausage,tinnedpeas,tinnedcorn,bacon.‘Activity2:Understandthefivefoodgroups’onpage87isanactivityat,orslightlyabove,thelevelofnativeEnglishspeakingchildrenofthesameageasP5,andis,therefore,abovethelevelofthelanguagelearnerbecauseofthevocabularyused.Thetextbookdividesfoodintofivegroups,‘fruits/vegetables/grains/dairy/protein.’Thisinitselfseemsanoddwaytogroup,as‘protein’ispartofthegroupofnutrients.Indeed,dairyproductscontainprotein.So,notonlyistheUnitabovethelevelofthelanguagelearner,butitismisleadingandmuddlingintheinformationitisproviding.Additionally,thebookliststhosefivefoodgroupsusing‘fruits’butinthediagrambelowisthelabel‘fruit’.Thishighlightsdifficultywithcountableanduncountablenouns,andthereshouldbesomeexplanationfortheteacher,buttheTeacher’sGuideissilent.Thesubject-contentoverridesandignoresthelanguagecontent.Thetextonpage87states,‘Theplatebelowshowsthefivefoodgroups’.Firstly,itisnotclearthatthecircleswithcolouredpictureswithinaresupposedtobeplates,and,secondly,therearetwocircles/plates.Thepupilsarethentowritedownthenamesofeachfoodwhichisshownonthe‘plates’.Thisincludes‘tinnedpeaches,popcorn,pasta,sausage,peanutbutter,tinnedpeas,tinnedcorn,yoghurt’whicharefoodsnotveryfamiliartomanyofthecountry’sP5pupils.Thisisunnecessaryvocabulary,andisaddingnothingtothelearners’abilitytoread,writeorspeakEnglish.Onequestionfollows,‘Lookatthediagramontheright(whichshowsthefivefoodgroups).Whichtwofoodgroupsshouldyoueatmost?’Thepupils,andevennativeEnglishspeakingchildrenofthesameageasP5,wouldnotbeabletoanswerthiswithoutpriorknowledgeandinformation.TheTeacher’sGuidegivestheanswer,‘vegetablesandcarbohydrates(grains).’Thisignorestheneedforprotein.Anotherquestionis,‘Whichgroupwouldatinoftunafishfitinto?’ThisagainisnotintheculturalcontextofthemajorityofP5learners.Thenthepupilsareinstructedto,‘Redrawtwopicturesoftheplatesshownabove.Usethecorrectcolours.’Forthisthepupilsneedgreen,blue,red,purpleandpinkcrayons.ForthemajorityofP5pupilsthesearenotavailable.Thereisthenapictureoftwogirlswithdifferentfoodsontheirplates.Thepupilsaretonamethefoodsandputtheminthecorrectcategory.Eggshavebeenshowninthe‘protein’category,butonegirlhereiseatingafriedegg.Whateverproteinthereisinaneggis

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negatedbythefatofthecookingmethod.Afriedeggisnotahealthyfood.Again,thisismisleadinginformation.‘7.3Reading’onpage89,isbeyondthelevelofnativeEnglishspeakingchildrenofthesameageasP5,asthevocabularyandtheconceptsarebeyondtheircognitivelevel.Thisis,therefore,unsuitableforlanguagelearnersinP5.Thesectionisaboutsixnutrients,withanexplanationofthe‘functionorjob’ofeachone.Thenewwords,apartfromthenutrientsthemselves,are‘muscles/glow/VitaminC/cutsandscratches/calcium/butter/saladdressing.’Atthetopofpage90thepupilsareaskedto,‘Listallthenutrientsthatyouwillfindinatomatoandcheesesandwich,withbreadthathasbeenbuttered.’ThisisbeyondtheP5learnerinlanguage,knowledge,andculturalsuitability,andoneistemptedtoask,‘Whatisthepointofthis?’Again,itaddstomysuspicionthatthisbookwashastilyadaptedfromanotherbookwhichwasnotdesignedforEastAfricanuse.‘7.4Writing’onpage90asksthelearnerstowritedownwhattheyeatfor‘breakfast/lunch/supper/snack’andIwonderiftheauthors,orthetextbookapprovalpeople,areawarethatmanypupilsdonothaveregularmeals,andsomehaveonemealaday.AlsotheAmericanphraseisused,asin‘SometimesIsnackon…..’Thepupilsthenhavetoplacethefoodstheyhavelistedintheirmealsintocategories.Question5askes,‘Werethereanyfoodsthatyouweren’tabletoplaceinafoodgroup?Whatwerethey?’Iftherearesuchfoods,IwonderhowwellequippedtheP5Englishteacherisgoingtobetohelpwithcategorizingthem?‘7.5Readingandtalking.Activity5:Sequenceevents’onpage91containsashortpassagetoreadwhichisalistofthingstodo.Thepupilsmustputtheminthecorrectorder.Withinthatlistis,‘PutsuncreamonatthebeachonSunday/GoforajogintheparkonSaturday.’Again,theculturallysuitabilityisquestionable.‘Activity7:Learnandusenewwords’onpage92addstothevocabularyoverload.First,thelearnersaretounscrambleanagrams,withonlytheuseofanexplanation,andallthewordsarenewtothem.NativeEnglishspeakingchildrenofthesameageasP5learnerswouldfindthisverydifficult.Forexample,‘gazer(ascrapeofyourskin)/vtimo(tobesick)/rsha(anareaofredskin,usuallywithspots)/agyllre(anallergicreactiontosomethingthatleavesyoufeelingunwell).’Thenativechildspeakerwouldstruggle,andtheP5learnerhastheadditionalburdenofnewlanguageintheexplanations,suchas‘tobesick’,‘anallergicreaction’,andtheuseof‘toleave’havingthemeaningof‘causetoremain.’Othernewwordsintroducedinthissectionare‘thermometer/syringe/plaster/bandage’Thepupilsaregiveneachnewwordwithapictureofthatword,buttheythenhavetomatchthattoadefinitionofthatobject.Thisisextremelydifficultif,tostartwith,youdon’tknowtheuseoftheitem.Thedefinitionsfor‘thermometer’and‘syringe’,andthenfor‘plaster’and‘bandage’willeasilybemuddledbylearnerswhodonotknowwhatthesethingsare.‘7.6Usinglanguage’onpage93isthefirstpieceofusefullanguageworkinthisUnit.Itcontainsanexplanationwithexamplesofthe‘firstconditional’.However,theexamplesandpracticesentencesarebasedonthe‘hygieneandhealth’material.Thisbreaksthegoldenruleinlanguageteachingof‘onethingatonetime’.So,insteadofconcentratingonthe‘first

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conditional’thelearnerishavingtograpplewithnewvocabularyandnewconceptsatthesametime.Thiswilllessentheabilitytounderstandtheuseandmeaningofthe‘firstconditional’.Theleanrshavetowritesentencechoosingthebestoptiontousetocompletethesentence.Forexample,‘Iwillgetsunburnt……ifIamwearingahat/ifIstayundertheumbrella/ifIlieinthesuntoolong’TheconceptofsunburnwillbealientothemajorityofP5learners,theuseof‘umbrella’inthiscontextisnew,andthestructure‘toolong’inthismeaning/usehasnotbeenthoroughlytaughtbefore.‘Iwillgetasoretummy….IfIeatabalanceddiet/ifIeattoomanysweets/ifIdrinkverycoldwater.’Thevocabularyof‘soretummy’isnew,anddrinkingverycoldwatercanleaveyoufeelingunwell.TheanswergivenintheTeacher’sBooksis‘ifIeattoomanysweets.’‘…….,youwillgetholesinyourteeth,..ifyoubrushyourteeth/ifyoueatcarrots/ifyouonlydrinkfizzydrinks.’Manylearnerswillneverhavebeentothedentistandsotheconceptofholesandfillingsisalien.Theword‘fizzy’isnew.Thenthelearnershavetocompletethesentence,‘Iwillpickupgermsif…..’Inordertocompletethis,thelearnershavetounderstand‘pickupgerms’whichisnewvocabulary.Theintentionofthelearnerslearningtousethe‘firstconditional’hasbeenseverelyimpededbytheuseoftheunfamiliarcontextandvocabulary.TheUnitcontinueswithmorenewwords,andthenin‘7.8Usinglanguage’onpages95to96,anexplanationofthemodalverb‘should’and‘shouldnot.’However,fromtheoutsetthelatterisintroducedas‘shouldn’t’whichisincorrect,aslearnersmustalwaysseeandlearnthefullformbeforeanyshortformisintroduced.Thissectionismis-placed,asthebooksofarhasused‘should’inmany,manyplaces.Thisexplanationofitsusewouldhavebeenbeneficialmanyunitsbefore.In‘7.11Revision’onpage99thepupilsareintroducedtoyetmorenewwords,mostofwhichlackculturalmeaningforthelearner,‘toast/lambchop/mincepatty/icecream/veg’.Inthe25periodsallocatedtothisUnit,thelearnerhasbeenbombardedwiththefollowingnewlanguage,‘hygiene/nutrients/diets/informative/concepts/wealth/medicine/wastes/exercise/balanceddiet/grains/proteins/dairy/tunafish/peanutbutter/tinnedpeas/tinnedpeaches/tinnedcorn/sausage/muscles/glow/butter/saladdressings/VitaminC/cuts/scratches/calcium/carbohydrates/fatsandoils/minerals/seeds/fizzy/sandwich/buttered/snack/suncream/sunburn/jog/pharmacy/dentist/filling/gums/breath/checkup/graze/vomit/cough/rash/burn/allergy/diarrhea/thermometer/syringe/plaster/bandage/symptoms/tube/soretummy/tonsils/swollen/prescription/antibiotics/appointment/cigarettes/X-rays/knots/visuals/bulletsornumbers/toast/bacon/lambchop/gravy/mincepatty/icecream/veg/abath.’IthinkthereshouldbeseriousquestionsaboutwhetherthisisthemostbeneficiallanguagetobeteachingP5learners.MuchofitisoutsidethevocabularyofnativeEnglishspeakingchildrenofthesameageasP5learners.

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Unit8pages100-112Learner’sBook–CraftsinRwandaTheaimsofthisunitareto:‘LearnaboutcraftsmadeinRwandalongagoandtoday/Talkaboutthetoolsusedbycraftsmenandcraftswomen/Describethematerialsusedtomakedifferentproducts/UnderstandwhycraftsareusefulandtheirroleinRwanda/LabelamapshowingwherecraftscanbefoundinRwanda/Practiseusingthepassivevoice.’ThislooksmoreakintoageneralknowledgebookfornativeEnglishspeakersthanalanguagelearningtextbook.Theonlylanguagestructurespecificallybroughtoutisthepassivevoice.ThepassivevoicehasalreadybeenspecificallymentionedinUnit4.‘8.1Reading’hasmanynewwords,andendswiththissentence,‘Creatingcraftstogetherisapeacefulwaytofixsomeofthemistakesmadeinthepast.’Thatsentencehasnoclearmeaning.ItisnonsensicaltonativeEnglishspeakers,andsowillbebafflingtoteachersandlearnersalike.TheTeacher’sGuideonpage112,hastheheading‘8.2Introduction’andstates,‘Readthroughthelistofactivities.’IntheLearner’sBooktheheadingis‘8.2Speaking’andthereisnolistofactivities,butinsteadashortnarrativepassage.Thisagainmakesmethinkthatthisisanadaptationofanotherbook,whichhasnotbeenthoroughlyadaptedforuseinRwanda.InthisSpeakingsectionisthesentence,‘Somecraftshavebeendoneforthousandsofyears.’ThisisconfusingasinthepreviousReadingitstates,‘Artsandcraftsdescribedifferentthingsmakebyhand.’Wehave‘crafts’whichare‘made’andthen‘crafts’whichare‘done’.Thesearetwodifferentmeanings.TheTeacher’sGuidestatesthat,’Craftmeansanyactivitydonewithyourhands….’Sowehave‘crafts’asactivitiesandasproducts.Thisshouldbeexplained,butitisnot.TheTeacher’sGuidealsostates,‘Discuss……howthecraftobjectsareaffectedbythenaturalresourcesorlandformsfoundinthearea?’ThisisbeyondthecapabilityofnativeEnglishspeakingchildrenofthesameageasP5.ThiscouldbeatopiconanO’levelpaper.In‘Activity1:Talkaboutdifferentcrafts’,thereisthesentence,’Theirpicturesshoweduswhattheirliveswerelike.’Thisisanewuseormeaningof‘like’andthiswillneedtobespecificallytaught,andyetnomentionofthisismadeintheTeacher’sGuide.WhattheTeacher’sGuidedoessuggestisthattheteachersees‘ifthelearnerscannameanyothercrafts–traditionalormodern(pottery,glassblowing,mosaic,quilting,knitting,crochet,rugmaking,flowerarranging,leatherwork,beadwork,basketmaking,scrapbooking,….origami,calligraphy….)’ThisisnowbeyondthelevelofnativeEnglishspeakingchildrenofthesameageasP5.IwonderhowmanyteachersofP5Englishknowwhathalfofthesecraftsare.ThiscanonlybeabookoriginallywrittenfornativeEnglishspeakersandbadlyadaptedforuseforP5inRwanda.Ifitisnotanadaptationofanotherbook,thenIquestiontheauthorsunderstandingoflanguagelearning,ofthecognitivelevelofchildlearners,oroftheRwandancontext.‘8.3Reading’onpage103openswith,‘Craftersneeddifferentmaterialsandtoolstomaketheirproducts.Manycraftersuseobjectsfoundinnature.Thesearecalledrawmaterials.Someexamplesofrawmaterialsarewood,bones,shellsandstone.Glass,metalandclean

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litterarefoundmaterials.’ThisisveryhardforP5learners,astherearenotonlynewwordsbutdifficultlanguagesuchas‘cleanlitter’and‘foundmaterials.’‘Activity2:Learnnewwords’onpage103givesninenewwordsforwhichthelearnersaretofindthemeaningintheirdictionaries.Thenthefournamesofrawmaterialslisted,andthefivetoolslisted,havetobematchedwiththeeightpicturesonpage104..Thisisveryhard,particularlyasthereisnopictureofoneofthetoolslisted.Oneofthepicturesshowsseveralunknowntools,whichtheTeacher’sGuidesaysare‘potterytools.’Theactivitycontinueswiththepupilshavingtoputarawmaterialwithatoolandshowtheproductorcraftitemwhichmightresult.Thisisverydifficultasitrequiressoundknowledgeofhowcraftitemsaremade.ThisentireactivitywouldbebeyondtheabilityofnativeEnglishspeakingchildrenofthesameageasP5.ForP5learnerstheeducationalvalueofthishastobequestioned.TheaimseemstobetoteachP5learnersaboutcrafts,andevenwithouttheoverloadofnewvocabulary,thisshouldnotbetheaimintheirEnglishlessons.ThemainaimoftheirEnglishlessonsshouldbetogivethelearnerspracticeandconfidenceintheuseandmeaningoftheEnglishsentencepatternsandstructures,whichformthe‘backbone’oftheEnglishlanguage.Ifthisisdonethoroughly,sequentiallyandprogressivelythenthoselearnerswouldbeequippedtounderstandtextswritteninEnglishatalevelsuitabletotheirstageofcognitivedevelopment.‘Activity3:Matchrawmaterials,toolsandproducts’onpage105isanexercisethatcouldbedonemechanicallywithoutunderstandingthemeaning.Theexerciseistomatchthefirstpartofsentences,withtheirsecondparts.Acarefuluseofmatchingkeywordswillenablethisexercisetobedonewithoutanymeaningbeingunderstood.‘Activity4:Readaboutthetraditionalusesofcrafts’onpage106usesseveralstructureswhicharedifficult,andshouldbethesubjectofspecificteaching.‘Peoplewearjewellerytodressthemselvesup.’Thisinvolvesthe‘infinitiveofpurpose’witha‘phrasalormulti-wordverb’aswellastheuseofthe‘reflexivepronoun.Itisaverycomplexsentence.‘Somemasksareusedinreligiousritualsandothersaregivenasgifts.’Thissentencehastwoexamplesofthepassivevoice,acomplexconceptin‘religiousrituals’andthestructure‘aregivenasgifts’whichisanewuseof‘as’.‘Themoneyhelpsfamiliesbuywhattheyneed’Thisisashortenedformofthestructure‘help+infinitive’–helptobuy.Asthisisalanguagelearningbookthefullformoftheinfinitiveshouldbeused.Thisis,orshouldbe,alanguagelearningbook,and,assuch,theauthorshaveadutytomakesurethatthelanguagestructuresarepresentedproperlyandtaught.‘8.5Writing‘atthebottomofpage107isagoodexerciseinproperlyguidedwriting.‘Activity7:Writeinstructions’onpage108isstepbystepguidetomakingaclaypot.However,thosestepsareinthewrongorderandpupilshavetoputthemintothecorrectorder.Thisisextremelydifficult,notonlybecauseitintroducesnewwords,butbecausethereaderhasnoexperienceinmakingaclaypot.ThisiswellbeyondthelevelofP5learners.Infact,Iwoulddefythepeoplewhoapprovedthistextbooktobeabletocompletethetaskcorrectlyinundertenminutes.TheTeacher’sGuidedoesnotgivethecorrectanswer,asit

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puts9stepsinorder,whereastheexercisecomprisestensteps!TheTeacher’sGuidealsostatesthatyoudecorateyourpotbeforeyoudryit.This,surely,dependswhetheryouaredecoratingitbyknifecuts,orbypaintingit.Someoftheclaypotsshowninthepictureonpage102appeartohavebeendecoratedwithpaint.‘8.6Usinglanguage’looksatthepresentcontinuouspassivetense.TheTeacher’sGuidedoesnotassisttheteacherwiththeformationofthetense.TheteacherandP5pupilsneedtoknowtherulesoftheformationorstructureofthetense.Itisthepresentsimpleoftheverb‘tobe’plus‘being’plusthepastparticiple.Withoutknowingthisthelearnerswillnotbeabletoformthetense.Here,theyseethepositiveformofthetense.Intimethequestionformandnegativeformneedstobetaught.‘8.7Listening’onpage110isanexercisebasedonapassagetheteacherwillreadfrompage116oftheTeacher’sGuide.Therearenewwordsandstructuresinthepassagetowhichnoteachingattentionisgiven,‘rightnearthefalls’isanewuseof‘right’(asin,‘exactlyordirectly).‘Wetravelledrightacrossthecountry’isanotheruseormeaningof‘right’(asin,tothefurthestextent).Thereissloppygrammar,‘LikeinHuye,manybeautifulcraftsare…..’‘Like’shouldbereplacedby‘As’or‘Thesameas’.‘8.8Revision’onpage112includesareflectionongroupwork.ThisisbeyondthelevelofnativeEnglishspeakingchildrenofthesameage,astheywouldlackthevocabularyandthoughtprocessestoanswerthequestionswithanyrealmeaning.‘WhatIlikedmostaboutmygroupwas……/WhatIlikedleastaboutmygroupwas…../Mygroupdidn’tworkwellbecause……/ThethingsthatIdidthathelpedthegroupwere……/ThetypesofpeoplethatIliketoworkwithare……..’.ThenewwordsandstructuresintroducedinthisUnitare,‘craftsmen/craftswomen/artandcrafts/handcrafts/crafting/tribes/tofixsomeofthemistakesmadeinthepast/ancient/embroidery/knitting/inventions/carved/cave/whattheirliveswerelike/religious/nature/metals/hammers/clubs/crafters/cleanlitter/foundmaterials/needles/scissors/chisels/clay/dung/reedsorsisal/potteryknife/paintbrush/chop/moulded/details/bark/masks/softened/trimming/decoration/ritual/todressthemselvesup/givenasgifts/woven/aluminium/patterns/coiltechnique/fibres/symbolizes/edges/flatten/base/wedge/knead/airbubbles/threaded/hand-crafted.’Itisdifficulttoknowif,afterthe25periodsor16.6hoursofstudyingthisUnit,thepupilswillhaveprogressedintheirlanguagelearning.Thereisarisk,thatwithsuchoverloadofvocabulary,andintroductionofnewstructureswhicharenottaught,thatlanguageabilitycanregress,asconfusionsetsin.Alsothemotivationtolearnreducesconsiderablywhenthereisno,orextremelylittle,chanceofsuccess.Unit9pages113-125Learner’sBook–TraditionalandmodernagricultureinRwandaTheaimsofthisUnitareto,‘Matchpictureswithnewfarmingwords/Listentoatextanddescribefarminginthepast/Writeatextaboutagricultureinthepast/Interpretatable

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showingRwanda’sexports/Readatextaboutmodernagriculture/Writesentencesusingthepast,presentandfuturetenses.’Fromreadingthoseaims,wesee,yetagain,thatthelanguageitems,whichactuallyaresomewhatelementaryforP5levelandhavebeenrevisedmanytimes,aresubsidiarytothedesiretoteachthepupilsaboutfarming,andexports.Notonlythat,butthetopicofpastfarmingmethodsandtoolsused,andexportswasinP4,inUnit8.Seeaboveformycommentsonthat.‘Activity1:Matchthepicturewiththedescription’onpage114,isdifficultbecausethelearnershavetomatchanewword,andapictureofthatnewword,withadescription.So,forinstance,thereisapictureofahoeandnexttothatistheword‘weeding’andthepupilshavetofindthedescription‘Removeweedsfromthefields.Weedsarewildplantsthatgrowwheretheyarenotwanted.’Iamdoubtfulofthepedagogicalbenefitofthismethodoftryingtolearnnewwords.ThereissomeAmericangrammarin,‘Gatherthecropsofftheplants.’English-Englishisto‘gatherthecropsfromtheplants.’‘Activity2:Namethetools’onpage116,ismatchingofapicturetoaname.ThreeofthesetoolsappearedinUnit8inP4.However,herethepictureofthe‘long-handledhoe’andofthe‘short-handledhoe’lookfairlysimilarinlength.‘Activity3:Learnaboutfarmingtools’onpage117isa‘mindmap’andthefontisverysmall.Therearenoteswrittenbeloweachitemwhichuseincompletesentences.Thelearnersthenhavetoanswerquestionsbygatheringtheirinformationfromthe‘mindmap’.Thequestionsarehard,‘ThemindmapsaysthatNdutiyeusesmanuretofertilizehiscrops.Whatisfertilizing?Useyourdictionarytohelpyou./Thereedbasketisusedatthesametimeasanothertool.Whichtoolisusedwithareedbasket?’Firstly,manypupilsdonothaveaccesstodictionaries,andthisvocabularyisbeyondtheneedsofP5pupils.TheanswergiventothesecondquestionisgivenintheTeacher’sGuideonpage121,as‘thehand-heldhoe.’However,asevidencedbythepicturesonpages114and115,ploughingisaseparateactivityfromsowing,andsothetoolsofthehand-heldhoeandthereedbasketarenotusedatthesametime.Thepupilsaretheninstructed‘Workingroups.Pretendyouarefarmers.Actoutthedifferentfarmingprocesses,usingthefarmingtools.Presentyourroleplaytotheclass.’Icannotseeanylanguagecontentinthat.Infact,itseemstobeaninvitationto‘mime’actions.Notonlyisthisaverydullactivitybutitservesnopurposeinalanguagelesson.‘9.4Listeningandspeaking’onpage118isbasedonapassagereadbytheteacherfromtheTeacher’sGuideonpage122.Thepassageisintense,andrequiresaknowledgeofhistory,andalsoofthemeaningof‘centuries’and‘AD’.ItrequiresknowledgeoftheWorldWarsandtheirplaceinthehistoricaltime-line.Thereisalsonoguidegiventotheteachersastohowtopronounce‘1800s’or‘10thcentury’–itcannotbeassumedthattheteacherwillknowthis.Itisworthwritingoutthepassageinfull,andIhavehighlightedthenewwordsandstructures.Itisimportanttorememberthatthelearnersonlyhearthis,anddonothavetheadvantageofseeingit.

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‘Betweenthe7thand10thcenturiesAD,thefirstfarmersarrivedinRwanda.Thesefarmerssettledandbegantocultivatetheland.Theyweresubsistencefarmers.Betweenthe14thand15thcenturiesAD,thenextgroupoffarmersarrived.Thesefarmerswereherders.Theykeptcattle.Themorecattleapersonhad,therichertheywere.Inthelate1800s,theGermansarrivedinRwanda.Theybroughtwiththemcropssuchascoffee.AfterWorldWar1,BelgiumtookcontrolofRwanda.Theymadefarmersgrowmorecrops,likesweetpotatoes,coffee,cassava,andIrishpotatoes.TheBelgiansalsowantedmeat.Thechiefsandsub-chiefshadtoselltheircattleatthemarkets.AfterWorldWar11,cropssuchastea,sugarcaneandricewereplanted.’Thenewstructuresof‘themore…thericher’,andthenewmeaningof‘made’andthestructureof‘hadto’needtobetaughtandpractised.ThispassageisbeyondthelevelofnativeEnglishspeakingchildrenofthesameageasP5.Itisbeyondtheirlevelasareading,andasalisteningexerciseitisstillbeyondtheirlevel.Thepassageitselfishardenough,buttherethenfollowcomprehensionquestionsin‘Activity5:Talkaboutfarminginthepast’whichareatO’levelstandardfornativeEnglishspeakingchildren:Whywerecattleimportanttoearlyfarmers?/Whatdoyouthinkthefarmersneededtodotokeeptheircattlealive?/Whydidtheearlyfarmersstartsellingtheircattle?/Whatcropsdoyouthinkthefirstfarmersgrew?/Howdoyouthinkfarmerschangedtheirfarmstomakethemcoffeefarms?’Evenifthelanguageabilityisnotindoubt,thisremainscognitivelychallengingtothisageofchildren.‘9.5Writing’and‘9.6Readingandspeaking’onpages119to120introducesomenewstructureswithoutanynotesintheTeacher’sGuidetoteachthem,‘Howdoyoufeelabout…..’/Iworkhardtomakesure….’/..isnotgoodforgrowingcrops/…startmyfarmbygivingme.’Alsothereisanincompletecomparative,whichisnotadvisableforthisleveloflearner,‘Myharvestismuchbetter.’(thanwhat?)‘9.7Usinglanguage’onplage121looksagainatthepastsimpletense.However,itsetsoutapurelymechanicalexercisewhichrequiresnounderstandingofanyuseofmeaning.Itistochangesentencesinthepasttensetobeinthepresenttense,andtochangeothersinthepresenttenseintothepasttense.Thisrequiresaknowledge(oraguess)atthepastformoftheverb,butcanbedonewithoutunderstandingthemeaningofthesentences.In‘9.8Reading’onpages121to122,thepupilsaretowritetheirowntrueandfalsesentencesbasedonthe‘Listening’passagefrom‘9.4Activity4’.Thispresentsproblemswithevaluationofthework,asitmaynotbeclearthatasentencewasintentionallyfalse.Thepresentperfecttenseinthepassiveformisusedhere,‘Some....havebeenwrittenforyou’.Thistensehasnotbeentaughtorstudied.‘Activity10:LearnaboutRwanda’sexports’onpages122to123introducesyetmoretechnicalvocabulary.Thepupilsaretoworkfromatablewhichshowscertainitemswhichareexported,andtotheright-handsideofthoseitemsissetoutalistofthecountriesintowhichthoseitemsareexported.Theanswerstothequestionsdonotdemandanylanguagework,buttheydodemandanunderstandingofthetable.Theanswerscanbegivenbynamingcertaincountriesorcrops.

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‘9.9Usinglanguage’onpage123looksatthefuturetense.However,itseemstosuggestthat‘will’isusedexclusivelytoexpressfuturetime.Someoftheexamplesgivenarenotnaturalusesofthefutureusing‘will’.However,in‘9.10Readingandwriting’itstates,‘Peoplecanpredictwhattheythinkwillhappen’.Thisshouldhavebeen9.9,asitisindeedoneofthetwomainusesormeaningsof‘will’.Thereadingpassagein‘Activity12:Readasstoryandwritesentences’onpage124,givesgoodexamplesofthecorrectusesofthefuturewith‘will’.Thenewlanguageinthe25periodsofthisUnitis,‘subsistence/commercial/processes/harvesting/sowing/weeding/grazing/furrows/manure/fertilizer/undergrowth/prune/century/AD/late1800s/WorldWar/takecontrolof/theymadethemgrowmorecrops/sub-chiefs/Howdoyoufeel?/tomakesure/rear/forgrowing/bygiving/tolay/tinore/pyrethrum/bedbugs/lice/ticks/export/Astimegoesby/plantations/allthetime/irrigationsystems.’Unit10pages126-139Learner’sBook–GeographyoftheworldTheaimsofthisUnitareto,‘Locatecontinents,countriesandcapitalcitiesonaworldmap/Describethepositionofcountriesintheworld/DescribethegeographyofacountrycalledSouthAfrica/ProduceatravelprogrammeaboutSouthAfrica/Createandanswertrueandfalsequestions/Makeabrochureaboutacountry.’Thereisnospecificlanguagestructurethatisnoted.TheP5learnershaveyettolearnmanysentencepatternsandstructures,andalreadytheireducationisgiventhroughthemediumofEnglish,and25periodsareassignedto,essentially,geographylessons.InthecurriculumforthisUnit,theonlylanguageitemsmentionedare‘Youcan/thereis,are/prepositionsofplace:in,on,westof.’AllofthesehavebeencoveredinotherUnits,andinearlieryearsofstudy.Ifthelearnersdonotknowthesestructuresbynow,thenthereissomethingawry.’10.1Reading’onpage126containsanextra-ordinarysentence,‘Islandsaresmallpiecesoflandintheocean,seasandlakes.’Australiaisanisland!Thisismisleadinginformationforthelearners.‘Activity1:Useadictionary’onpage127,isanexercisewithgeography-specificwordsinColumnAontheleft,andMeaningsinColumnBontheright.TheMeaningsarenotnexttotheircorrespondingword,andsothelearnershavetomatchthemtothecorrectwords.Theyareadvisedtousedictionaries,andyetverymanyP5learnersdonothaveaccesstodictionaries.Thesewordsaresosubject-specificthattheyshouldnotbeinalanguagecourse.‘Activity2:Identifycontinents’onpage127,containsanagramsofthesevencontinents,andthelearnershavetodecipherthem.Thishasnoreallanguagebenefitasthesesevenwordsarerealnames,andsotospendtimedecipheringthemhaslimited,ifany,educationalbenefit.‘Activity3:Locatecountriesandcapitalcities’onpages128and129,isanexerciseinfillinginrealnamesinatable,withtheuseoftheworldmapreproducedonpage128.Aswiththemaponpage68oftheLearner’sbook,someofthearrowsmakeitconfusingtoseewhereplacesare.Thisexercisehasnolanguagecontent.

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‘Activity4:Playagame’onpage130,andpage130intheTeacher’sGuide,againhasnolanguagecontent.Theteacherreadsoutaplace,thepupilsfinditontheworldmapanddecidewhetheritisacontinent,countryorcapitalcity.‘Activity5:Talkabouttheworldmap’beginswiththefollowing,‘Talkaboutthesequestionsinyourgroup.Whichcountrieshaveyouvisitedintheworld?/Whichcapitalcitieshaveyouvisitedintheworld?’Theauthorsseemtohavelittleregardforthemany,manyprimaryschoolchildreninRwandawhocometoschoolinplasticsandals,donothaveregularmeals,andwhoseparentsliveinpoverty.TheyprobablyhavenotbeentoKigali,letalonetravelledabroad.QuestionssuchasthesecouldbenotedintheTeacher’sGuideasadditionalexercisesifhis/herpupilsareinadifferentsocialbracket.Theotherquestionsinthissectionaregeographyquestions,andtheanswerstheydemandaretonamecountries,citiesandcontinentsetc.ThereisnorequirementforthelearnerstosayasentenceinEnglish.’10.3Readingandwriting’onpage131,isconcernedwithtrueandfalsesentences.Alloftheseareinthepresentsimpletense,andnearlyallofthoseusetheverb‘tobe’.ThisisnotsufficientlanguagepracticeforP5Englishlearners.‘Activity7:Fillinthemissingprepositions’onpage132,usesprepositionslearnedinP1andP2,‘nearto/on/below/above/under’.Theexercisethenusestheseinthemostunnaturalway,forexample,‘RussiaisaboveChina/TheUnitedStatesofAmericaisunderCanada.’Thislanguageisneverusedinthisway,andespeciallyasthisUnitisconcernedwithgeographythecorrecttermsshouldbeused,‘RussiaisnorthofChina’etc.However,thereareonlyfivesentencesin‘Activity7’1ato1e.TheTeacher’sGuideonpage131givesanswersfor‘atof’.Asaresult,theanswerto1eintheLearner’sBookistheanswer‘f’intheTeacher’sGuide.Thisisveryconfusingfortheteachers,andisamistakewhichshouldhavebeenpickedupbytheeditor.Thismightfurthersuggestthatthisbookisahastyadaptationofanotherbook.‘Activity8:Fillinamap’onpage132openswithsomeunnecessarynewwords,‘Youaredetective.Adetectiveisapersonwhousescluestosolveaproblemoracrime.Solvetheproblemofthemissingcountriesontheworldmap.’Theteacherthenreadssomedescriptionsandthepupilsaretopointtowherethatplaceisontheworldmaponpage128.Forexample,‘ThiscountryisinAsia.Itisalandlockedcountry.ThiscountryisnorthofChina.ItisbetweenChinaandRussia….’TheanswerisMongolia,althoughthelearnersarenotexpectedtonamethecountry.Withmanypupilsinaclass,andafewpupilssharingeachbook,Iamnotsurehowthesuccessofthisexerciseisgoingtobemonitored.Theonlylanguagehereistheuseof‘north/west/south/east’andtheuseofthepresentsimpleoftheverb‘tobe’.Afteranactivity,allinthepresentsimpletense,aboutgeographicalfeaturesofSouthAfrica,thereis‘Activity11:DescribeSouthAfrica’andthelearnersreadthe‘brochure’reproducedonpage135.Theinitialinstructiontothelearnersis,‘Taketurnstoreadsomethingonthebrochure.Makesurethateveryoneunderstandswhatisread.’Theuseof‘isread’isnotimmediatelyclear.Asthebookhasalreadyusedthepresentperfectpassivevoice,thatis

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thestructurewhichwouldbetheclearestonehere,‘Makesurethateveryoneunderstandswhathasbeenread.’Theexerciseofreadingthatbrochureleadsintotheexerciseonpage136,using‘youcan’.Thisisthemodalverb,expressinginthiscontext,ability.Forexample,‘WhatcanyoudoontheoceansandbeachesofSouthAfrica?’‘Activity12:Produceatravelprogramme’onpage136willgiverisetotheuseofthepresentsimpletense.’10.8Writing.Activity13:Designasimpletravelbrochure’requiresthelearnerstoreadnotesaboutthreedifferentcountries,France,EgyptandChina.Theythenchooseoneofthesecountriesasthesubjectoftheirtravelbrochure.However,manynewwordsareintroduced,whichseemunnecessary.Inthe25periodsoftheUnitthefollowingnewlanguagehasappeared,‘island/hemisphere/PrimeMeridian/Equator/border/imaginary/eastern/western/northern/southern/government/laws/completelysurroundedby/government…torunthecountry/landlocked/neighbouring/detective/clues/crime/coastline/rainbow/miningindustry/valuablemetals/platinum/gold/surfing/whalewatching/props/flag/famousartists/artgallery/FrenchAlps/snow-skiing/cyclerace/pyramids/impressive/officiallanguage/experiences/naturaldisasters/typhoons/earthquakes/tsunamis/giantpanda.’ConclusionInconclusion,itisdifficulttoknowwhattosayaboutthisbookforP5English.AnAmericanexpressionspringstomind:“Youcannotbeserious?”ThebookcouldbeageneralknowledgebookfornativeEnglishchildren,andyet,eventhen,partsofitmightbebeyondthelanguagelevelandcognitiveabilityofnativeEnglishspeakersofthesameageasP5.TheauthorshavehadlittleregardfortheculturalcontextofRwanda,norfortheimportanceofteachingthesentencepatternsandstructures.Themistakesinthebooksshouldhavebeencorrectedattheeditingstage,andshouldhavebeenallowedtobeinthefinalversionforthepupils.

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CONCLUSIONItisdifficulttoknowif,aftertwoyearsofstudyinginP4andP5,thepupilswillhaveprogressedintheirlanguagelearning.Thereisarisk,thatwithsuchoverloadofvocabulary,andintroductionofnewstructureswhicharenottaught,thatlanguageabilitycanregress,asconfusionsetsin.Alsothemotivationtolearnreducesconsiderablywhenthereisno,orextremelylittle,chanceofsuccess.

Eachtenseneedstobetaughtsothatitsformationorstructureisknown,and,moreimportantly,sothatthepupilsknowwhatitmeansandwhenandhowitshouldbeused.ThisfundamentalpartofteachingtheEnglishlanguageseemstobemissingfromallthetexbooksIhaveanalysed,andthatisbecausethecurriculumpayslittleregardtothisaspectoflanguagelearning.

Eachunitattemptstoprovideanddeveloppracticeinthelanguageforthelearners.However,ratherthanfollowtheruleofonethingatonetime,therearetoomanynewitemsoflanguageornewstructuresintroducedateverystage.Theyareintroduced,butnotacknowledgedandnottaught.Thisresultsinoverloadforthelearners,andresultsinfew,ifany,structuresbeingmastered.

Withoutthestructureofthelanguage,thelearnerwillnotmasterthelanguage.Evenifallthenewvocabularyislearned,withoutanyfirmstructureonwhichtohangit,thelearnerwillnotbeabletomakeherself/himselfunderstood,norwills/hebeabletounderstandthemeaningofwhatisreadorheard.

Learnersofanyagethriveonsuccess.Iftheycanmasterthestructuresandthesentencepatterns,thentheycanspeakEnglishwithmeaning.Theywillenjoythisachievement,andthatsuccesswillmotivateeachlearnertolearnmoreinordertobesuccessfulagain.Successcanonlycomeifthelearnerreallyunderstandsthemeaning,andthatmeaninghastobeseentobeunderstood,byusingpictures,realobjects,situationsandactions.

TheTeacher’sGuidefortheP5book,islackingfullsupportfortheteachers,and,particularlythereisnohelpfortheteachersintheuseormeaningoftenses,andtheirformation.Inaddition,thelanguageusedintheTeacher’sGuideisadvanced,containsmistakes,andis,overall,notusedwiththelevelofthemajorityofPrimaryEnglishteachersinmind.

Inthesetwoyears,learnershavealltheirschoolingthroughthemediumofEnglish.Ihavesatinclasses,andIhaveseenhowmuchKinyarwandahastobeusedsothatthelearnerscangetsomeeducation.ItisevidentthattheirEnglishlanguagetrainingisnotsufficient.Itisalsoevidentthatthecontenttheyareexpectedtolearnistooambitious,andratherthanfurtheringtheireducationitisimpedingit.

Thecurriculumplaystheoverridingpartinthis.Thecurriculumistopic-based.It,therefore,concentratesontopic-specificvocabularyattheexpenseofworkingthroughthesentencepatternsandstructuresoftheEnglishlanguage.Thereisnosequentialdevelopmentofthelearningofthosestructures.Asthepupilsmovefromtopictotopicthereis,also,verylittlerevisingofvocabulary.The‘proofofthepuddingisintheeating’.ThemajorityofP4andP5learnersarestrugglingwithevenelementaryEnglish.

June2017

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