Composition in the Primary School — 2

Abstract

This subject on the time-table seems to pose a great problem to the teachers of English in the upper primary classes. Pupils seem to do quite good work when they are given exercises in English based on the current work, but are unable to write a short composition using the various structures and language items they have learnt. Very often the language exercises are merely filling in the blanks and these do not really gauge the ability of the pupils’ spoken or written English. Another reason which is more relevant to the problem of writing compositions is that the pupils have not been given sufficient practice in using the language in a variety of situations. This hampers the flow of ideas as well as the correct use of the language. For example, the pupils learn the use of the past tense and write unrelated sentences in the past tense, but have difficulty narrating an incident or a story in the past tense. Regular practice in the form of short discussions, relating incidents and news items and narrating stories using pictures, preferably those in a series, will help to improve the pupils’ use of the language. This will also help them to understand how and when certain structures are used.