The SRP English Paper I: The Problem of Vocabulary

Abstract

The SRP Syllabus, and by derivation the textbooks, offer no ‘common core’ of vocabulary apart from the lists provided in the Primary School Syllabus. The SRP Paper I shows the same lack of restraint as the textbooks in its vocabulary load and spread. It can be argued that:
(a) many of the questions can be answered even when not all the words in a text are known;
(b) part of the reading skill consists of giving unknown words and expressions an approximate meaning derived from the overall text — ‘intelligent guessing’. In fact. But when the language of the question itself reads: ‘The main factor that has encouraged the cultivation of the oil palm is ……, A, B, C, D’, one feels that the average to weak candidate is likely to be in trouble. ‘Intelligent guessing’ after all requires above all intelligence and, in any school population, intelligent pupils can only form a small percentage.