English Textbook for P5from Imena Publishers

First edition 2017

An analysis of errors byKaty Allen-Mtui MBEDamian Ntaganzwa

Ivan Kayonga

www.EducationRwanda.orgwww.EducationEastAfrica.org

1

EnglishP.5–ImenaPublishers

IwasaskedbyaheadteacherofagovernmentprimaryschoolinGasaboDistricttolookthroughthistextbook,bothLearner’sBookandTeacher’sBooktoseeifthereareanyerrors.WhatfollowsismyreportontheerrorsintheLearner’sBookPrefaceInthePrefacethereisthesentence,‘ThebookpresentsEnglishasacruciallanguageforlearnerstoachievelearninginothersubjectsasitisamediumofinstructionfromthislevel.’Theboldtypeismine.EnglishasamediumofinstructionstartsinP4,andsotheboldpartofthatsentenceisincorrect.AttheveryendofthePrefacepage,inthelastboxofthetable,thereisreferenceto‘…otheronlineresources’.Theword‘online’isoneword,andnottwowordsasprintedonthatpage.Unit1Topic1:Onpages2weencounter‘mom’.Thisshouldhaveacapitalletter,butinanyeventitisAmerican.ItshouldbeclearwhetherthebookisteachingAmerican-English,orEnglish-English;thereisadifference.Fromthecurriculumandothermaterials,itseemsclearthatEnglish-Englishisintended.Thenonpage3wehave‘mum’.Lateronpage3wehave‘mother’.Thereshouldbeconsistency.Atthetopofpage3isthesentence,‘Shecheckedinherpockettoreachforthemoney….’Youcannot‘checktoreach’.Shecould‘reachinherpockettocheckifthemoneywasthere’.Attheendofthatfirstparagraphonpage3isthesentence,‘Tearsbegancollectinginhereyes’.InEnglishthereareco-locationsofwords;thatmeanstherearewordswhichalwaysappeartogether.Agoodexampleis‘heavysmoker’.Whilstitisnotgrammaticallyincorrecttosay‘bigsmoker’,nobodywouldsayorusethat,as‘heavysmoker’isalwaysused,andisa‘colocation’.With‘tears’wealwaysuse‘well’;so‘tearswellintheeyes/hereyeswerewellingwithtears’.Whilsttheauthor’suseof‘collecting’isnotgrammaticallyincorrect,itdoesshowthattheauthorisnotanativeEnglishspeaker.Thesecondparagraphonpage3,startswithanincompletesentence,‘Shedecidedtowalkbackhomeandcheckalongthewaytoseeifmaybe.’Laterinthatsecondparagraphweencounter‘check’again,asin‘Haveyourcheckedeverywhereforit?’.ThisisAmerican-English,andtheEnglish-Englishwordis‘tolook’or‘tosearch’.Onpage4thereisquestionnumber5,‘WhatdidLizdotosolvetheproblem?’ThisisverypuzzlingasLizdidnotsolvetheproblem!

2

Topic2:Onpage6nearthebottomis‘Couldwehaveacupoftea,please.Theyasked’.Thissentenceneedstobeproperlypunctuatedwithspeechquotations.Topic4:Thereisasentenceatthebottomofpage9,‘TheworstexperiencewaswhenIfelldownandprickedmyeye.’Theboldtypeismine,toshowthat‘prick’isnotthecorrectverbtouse.Themeaningof‘prick’istomakeasmallholeinsomethingwithasharppoint.Topic5:Onpage13isthefirstofmany,manyexamplesinthebookoftheuseof‘like’whenitshouldbe‘suchas’:‘..andaskeachotherquestionslikethefollowing’.Onpage13atthebottominnumber2thereis,‘Barnettplayedafootballmatch…..’.IncorrectEnglishyouplay‘in’afootballmatch.Topic6:Onpage14innumber3,‘I’mgoingforamatchagainst…..’isnotcorrectEnglish.Itshouldbe,‘I’mgoingtoplayinamatch….’Inthequestionsatthebottomofpage14use‘foratrip’and‘atatrip’,theseareincorrectinthecontext.Itshouldbe‘onatrip’.Onpage14istheinstruction,‘Answerthefollowingquestionsabouttothestory.’Thisisamistake,andtheword‘to’needstobeomitted.Topic7:Inthefirstactivitytherearepictureswithcaptions,andthosecaptionsseemtousethe‘goingto+verb’tensetoexpressthefuture.However,inpictures‘(b)’and‘(c)’theactionisalreadyinmotioninthepicture,andsothecaptionisincorrect.Indeed,thefirstpicture‘(a)’usesthepresentcontinuoustenseof‘going’followedbyanoun.Thetwotensesareconfused.Thismightbeintentional.However,inthequestionsatthetopofpage17itseemsthattheauthorisconfused:picture‘(d)’iscaptioned‘Iamgoingtovisitmygrandparents’,andyetonpage17question3is,‘Whereistheboywithasuitcasegoing?’Thebookdoesnotsaywhereheisgoing.Thequestionshouldbe‘Whatistheboywiththesuitcasegoingtodo?’,andtheansweris‘Heisgoingtovisithisgrandparents’.Topic8:Page18startswitha‘poem’.However,whatiswrittenthereisnotapoem.Italsolackspunctuation.Thetextcontainsanerror,whichisrepeatedlaterinthebookaswell.Itstates‘In20yearsIwillbe31yearsold’.Itshouldbeeither,‘In20yearsfromnow’or‘In20years’time’.Inthepenultimatelineofthe‘poem’itstates,‘Istillwan’tsweetpotatoes’.Thisisatypingerror,anditaffectsquestion5belowit,whichasks,‘Whatdoesn’tshewanttoeat?’Atthebottomofpage18isanothertypingerrorin,‘Thenplaygameoffortune….’.Itmustbe‘…..agame…’

3

Onpage19thereisanactivity(Activity1.8.6)whichistolinktoolstotheirprofessions.However,inthelistof‘tools’is‘pharmacist’.Thisisamistake,andindeedtheTeacher’sBookonpage12,doesnothave‘pharmacist’buthas‘dispensary’.Onpage20therearevariousmistakes:InActivity1.8.8,‘Formgroupsoffourandtellyourgroupabouthopesforthefuture.’Itshouldbe‘….aboutyourhopes……’.Examplesaregiven,andoneofthemis,‘Iwanttoseepeoplehappy’.ThisiseitherAmerican-EnglishorjustbadEnglish.Tobecorrectitcouldbe‘Iwanttoseepeoplebeinghappy’or‘Iwanttoseehappypeople’or‘Iwantpeopletobehappy’.InActivity1.8.9thereisatypingerror,‘WhenIwasborniweighed…..’Thatsecond‘I’shouldbecapital.Onpage21thereisanexerciseto‘Findtenprofessionsfromthewordsgivenbelow.’Theauthorhasmixedjobswithprofessions.Onpage22therearetypingerrorsagain:Inthefirstparagraph,‘….butmydadkeptordrivingsoslowly!’The‘or’shouldbe‘on’,asin‘kepton’.Inthesecondparagraph,‘Theveternagavegrandfatherpillstogivethegoat.’For‘veterna’itshouldbe‘veterinaryofficer’,and‘grandfather’shouldbeoneword.Onpage23inUnitTest1.5,theanswerissupposedtobe‘Shamimisgoingtobecomeanengineer’,buttohelpthepupilsreachthatanswertheclueis,‘Hehasagreatinterestinmachines’.Thatclueseemstobeunhelpfulinreachingthecorrectanswer.InthesameTest,number4is,‘Soniawantstobeasinger.Sheisgoingtolearn…….’Theanswershouldbe‘singing’,buttheTeacher’sBookonpage14givestheansweras‘singer’whichdoesnotfit.Unit2IntheintroductiontotheUnitonpage24therearethesentences,‘Wewillbeabletouseamonolingualorbilingualdictionaryasweevaluateshorttexts.ThisunitwillhelpusunderstanddictionaryuseandplanningandevaluatingwritinginKinyarwandaandFrench.’Icannotseeany‘evaluation’inthefollowingpagesoftheunit.Topic1:Onpage26in4(b)thereis‘Goplay.’ThatisAmerican-English.Onpage28thereisconfusioninthepassageabout‘Instructionsonhowtorideabicycle’.Thereisthesentence,‘Herfathertellsherthatshemustknowtherulesforridingabicyclebeforehebeginstorideone.’Again,theboldtypeismine.That‘he’shouldbe‘she’.Innumber1thereisreferenceto,‘openlaces’.ThatisprobablyAmerican-English.InEnglish-Englishitwould‘undoneshoelaces’of‘undonelaces’.

4

Innumber3,thereis,‘Payattentionontheroadandlookout……’Thisisincorrect,andmustbe,‘Payattentiontotheroad….’orbetteris‘Payattentionwhenyouareontheroad…….’Attheverybottomofpage28isariddle,‘Canyouthinkofthesmallestinstruction?’.IntheTeacher’sBookonpage20theanswerisgivenas‘C’.Icanonlythinkthattheauthoristryingtosaythat‘See’isaninstruction.Thisisdifficult.Itcancertainlybeanimperativeasin‘Seepage102below’,buttoteach‘see’onitsownasaninstructionisnotcorrect.Onpage29thereisanexercisetoseewhichword,inagroupoffourwords,ispronounceddifferently.Inthesecondlineonpage29therearetwotypingerrors,‘Ineveryline,thereisonewordthatispronunceddifferntly.’Theboldtypeisminetoshowtheerrors.Innumber2,itlistsfourwords,‘goose,choose,loose,rose’.TheauthorgivestheanswerintheTeacher’sBookonpage20as‘rose’beingtheonewordwhichispronounceddifferently.Thisisincorrect.‘Goose’and‘loose’arepronouncedwiththesamesound.However,‘choose’hasa‘z’sound,whereas,‘goose’and‘loose’havean‘s’sound.Also,‘loose’,anadjective,mustnotbeconfusedwith‘lose’whichistheverb,andhasa‘z’sound.Againonpage29,thereisanactivityinwhichthefirstletterofeachitem,depictedbyadrawing,istaken,andthenmessageisspeltout.Themessageis‘Besafe,notsorry’.However,thepicturewhichissupposedtogivetheinitialletter‘n’isunidentifiable.Thenintheboxattheverybottomofpage29helpisgiven:-e-A---o---r--However,whyisthereacapital‘A’inthemiddleofaword?Topic2:Onpage33theauthorisshowingwordswithdifferentnumbersofsyllables.Forawordwithonesyllablethereis‘Oh’.Itisashamethatanexclamationisused,andnotaproperword.Therearemanywordswithonesyllablesuchas‘bag,egg,fly,shirt’etc.Atthebottomofpage33theauthorisusingwordsofonesyllableinthefirstline,oftwosyllablesinthesecondline,ofthreesyllablesinthethirdline,andthenoffoursyllablesinthefourthline.However,inthatfourthlinethereis‘basssaxophones’.Thisisnota‘foursyllablewordinthefourthline’,buttwowordsofoneandthreesyllablesrespectively.Thisismisleadinganddefeatstheobjectoftheexercise.Topic3:Atthetopofpage34isthesentence,‘Theteachergaveatasktotheclassandtoldtoworkingroups.’Thisshouldbe,‘………andtoldthemtoworkingroups’.Atthetopofpage35thereisuseofjargon,whichisnothelpful,asin‘Ontaskonly.’Onthetopofpage36thereisaverycommonmistakemadebyforeignspeakersofEnglish,‘Thesecretarywillwritewhattheydiscussedaboutintheirgroup.’Theboldtypeismine.Theverbis‘todiscuss’,itisneverusedwith‘about’.Thiscanbecontrastedwith‘talkabout’.

5

InActivity2.3.5atthebottomofpage36therearemoretypingerrors,‘Makesurethateveryonecanandfitinsidetherope.Theteacherthenstartstoshortengoestherope.’Ihaveshowninboldtypethewordsthatneedtobeomitted.Topic4:Inthelastparagraphonpage37isthesentence,‘Thisbatis1.2incheslongandweighslesskg.’Itshouldbe‘…weighslessthan1kg.’Onpage38atthebeginningofActivity2.4.2thereis,‘Definethefollowingtermsasfromtheinformationtextabove.’Ihaveputtwowordsinboldtypewhichshouldbeomitted.Topic5:Onpage39inActivity2.5.3atthebottomofthepage,innumber4thetypeissquashedtogetherandthereishardlyanyspacebetweenthewords.Thisisnotgood.Innumber5,atthetopofpage40,itisstated,‘Adogisdifferentfromacatinawaythatitisbigger.’Theboldtypeismine,toshowtheincorrect,andtotallynon-fluentEnglish.Youcouldsay,‘Adogisdifferentfromacatinthatitisbigger’.Inanyeventthesentenceisnotalwaystrue.Topic6:Atthetopofpage42isthesentence,‘Oneuponatime,inlargecityinGhan,…….’Thereneedstobeaspaceafterthecomma,anditshouldbe‘…..inalargecity.....’.Onpage43thereissomebad,andlazyEnglish.Inthefirstparagraph,thereis,‘Itwasnouse.Aladdinhadhisownwayandcouldnotsettledownandwork.’Theboldtypeismine,andthosewordscarrynosenseatallinthecontext.Attheendofthestoryinthelastparagraphonpage43thereis,‘……andwiththislittlemoneyandthelittlesheearnedbyspinningcotton,shegotonfairlywell.’Theboldismine,toshowthatthisisareallyweakphrase,andcarriesnorealmeaning.Itiscertainlynotanexampleofprosewhichshouldbeinatextbook.Onpage44,question7is,‘WhycouldAladdinnotsettledowntowork?’.Theonlyinformationgivenisthatonpage42,whichstates,‘Aladdinhadhisownway..’andthatisnotsufficientinformationforastudenttobeabletoanswerthisquestion.InActivity2.6.3.onpage44wearereferredtothewordsinboldtypeonpage43,butthenwearetoldto‘lookuptheunderlinedwords….’.Thisisconfusing,astherearenounderlinedwords,butonlythoseinboldtypeonpage43.Atthebottomofpage44isariddle.AsfarasIcouldseethereisnoanswertoitgivenintheTeacher’sBook.Topic7:Atthetopofpage45thereis,‘ThefollowingisadraftHagumawrotedescribinghisrelationshipwithhisbrother.Shemadeaplanforherwriting;…..’FromthiswearenotsureifHagumaisaboyoragirl.Thesuddenuseof‘she’,whichIhaveputinboldtype,bringsthe

6

confusion.Fromtheparagraphattheendofpage45,whereituses‘she/her’itseemsthatHagumais,indeed,agirl.Onpage46,thereisthefollowingtext,fromHaguma’sstory,‘….Whowilleatonthebiggerplate,whowillholdthetelevisionremote…….HealwayssaysthatI’mapaintohim.’Ihaveputinboldtype,thewordswhichareincorrectinEnglish.Youeat‘from’aplate,andnot‘on’aplate.Thereisatelevision‘remotecontrol’,and‘remote’isanewslangform.Thereisanexpression‘tobeapain’andthatmeansyouareanuisance.However,youcannotbe‘apain’tosomeone.UnitTestsonpage48,attheverybottomofthepageis,‘Theyarenotalwayswaterproof.’‘Waterproof’isoneword,andnottwowords.Unit3Topic3:Onpage56therearedifferentsentencesaboutwhatpeoplelikereading.Number2states,‘Shelikesreadingaboutthecountry.’Thisisanoddchoice,andIwonderiftheauthorhasused‘thecountry’correctly.What‘thecountry’meansisthe‘countryside’asopposedtothingsintownsandcities.Onpage57inActivity3.3.5atthebottomofthepageisstates,‘Ilikereadingaboutfamilymatters’.IhavetosaythatIhavenoideawhatismeantby‘familymatters’.Topic5:Onpage61,inActivity3.5.1number5states,‘Ireadbecauseitteachesmeaboutmakingsocialsolutions.’Ihavenoideawhatthismeans.IthasnomeaninginEnglish.Onpage61inActivity3.5.2.thereisaninstructionto‘Makeapaperofhowyouimaginethecharacterlooks.’Againthisisincorrectandlackssense.Iamnotsurewhattheauthormeansby‘Makeapaper’.Thenextpartofthesentenceisincorrect.Itwouldbebettertosaythatyoucan‘imaginewhatyourcharacterlookslike’or‘howyouimaginethecharactertolook’.InActivity3.5.3atthebottomofpage61,innumber5itstates,‘Useeventsyouhavereadaboutinyourstory.’Thisisanambiguoussentence.Itwouldbemuchclearertoput,‘Inyourstory,useeventsyouhavereadabout.’Onpage62inActivity3.5.4thereisapoem.Thebeginningofitis,‘Iliketobeginwithreadingatoughriddle.‘CausesolvingthemmakesmyheadwriggleButwhenI’mreadingtoretireMyfriend’saghoststorybythefire.’First,wehavethesingular‘toughriddle’followedby‘them’whichisnotcorrect.However,thepoemusesdifficultEnglishandyetthereisnorealbenefitfromstrugglingtounderstandtheconcepts.Itnotaverygoodpoem!

7

Topic6:Onpage63inActivity3.6.3theparagraphstartswith,‘ThebookthatIreadwascalled‘AGoodNightfortheGhosts’MaryPopeOsborne.’Theremustbea‘by’beforethenameoftheauthor.Topic8:InActivity3.8.4wearetoldwearelookingatan‘index’.However,whatisprintedisalistofcontents.Anindexinabookmustbeinalphabeticalorder,andthisonpage69isnot.Alsoanindexwillgivethevariouspagesonwhicheachlisteditemsappears.Whatwehaveonpage69isalistoftopicsthateachcoverconsecutivepages.UnitTestsonpage71,hasanincompleteormuddledsentence,‘Thehare,ontheotherhand,wasquickashedid.’ThatisthenfollowedbyasentenceusingAmerican-English,‘Hegotupveryearly……..beforethetortoisehadevengottenoutofbed.’English-Englishisjusttouse‘got’.FurtheroninthestoryisnotherAmerican-Englishword,‘Youaresuchaslowpoke,Tortoise.’TheEnglish-Englishwordis‘slowcoach’.Thestoryofthehareandthetortoisecoversoneandahalfpages.Onpage73thereisanexercise,‘Youwereaskedtomakethestorylonger.Createatableofcontentsforthelongerstory.’Thisdoesnotseemtoconveythecorrectconceptofatableofcontents.Notmanynovelsorstorieshaveatableofcontents.InUnitTest3.3onpage73thereistheinstruction,‘Thenamesofdifferentreadingmaterialshavebeengiven.Eachofthemwillgiveatleasttworeasonswhypeopleread.’Thislastsentenceinboldtypedoesnotmakesense.WhatIthinkitmeansis,‘Foreachofthem,giveatleasttworeasonswhypeoplereadthem.’Unit4Topic3:InActivity4.2.6thereisatypingerror,atthebottomofthepage,‘Talkyourmapwithyourpartner……..’Itmustbe‘Talkaboutyourmap…….’Topic4:InActivity4.4.1onpage82therearetwosimilarsentences,‘EachoneofthephysicalfeaturesisveryimportanttothepeopleofRwandaandRwandaasacountry.’‘Lakesandriversarewaterresources…..Theyareequallyimportanttoanimals.’IneachcaseIwouldthinkthat‘importantfor’isthemeaningthatisintended.Inthelastparagraphonpage82thereisabadlypunctuatedsentence,‘Forestsprovideairforhumanstobreathebecausetheyreleaseoutoxygenwhichhumansbreatheinandtakeincarbondioxidewhichhumansbreatheout.’Firstly,‘releaseout’isatautology,astheactofreleasingdenotesanescapeandsotheword‘out’isnotneeded.Secondly,thisshouldbetwosentences,andmadeclearerinmeaning,forexample,‘Forestsprovideairforhumanstobreathe.Thisisbecauseforestsreleaseoxygenwhichhumansbreathein,andforeststakeincarbondioxidewhichhumansbreatheout.’

8

AttheendofthatActivityonpage83thereisatypingerror,‘Visitorswhocometovisitthesenationalparksandalsobuythingsfromthepeoplenearby.’Theword‘and’whichIhaveputinboldtypeisnotneeded.InActivity4.4.2onpage83innumber1thereisanothererror,‘Writedownthewordswritteninbold.Useadictionarytofindandthenwritedownthe…….’.Theword‘them’isneededafter‘…..tofind….’Onpage84inActivity4.4.3thereisanothertypingerror,‘GroupBfindlocationonthephysicalfeaturesonthemap.’Thisshouldbe‘GroupBfindsthelocationofthephysicalfeaturesonthemap.’Topic5:Onpage85inthefirstparagraph,inthepenultimatesentence,thereisrepetitionoftheword‘antelopes’.InActivity4.5.4onpage86thereisuseoftheword‘quotes’whenwhatismeantis‘quotations’.Onpage87thepupilsaretoldtotracethemapofRwandashownonthatpage.Theyaretheninstructedto‘writethenamesofthefollowingfeaturesonthemap…..’Themapfitsintoaboxmeasuring4.5cmx3cmandsoisnotbigenoughfortheexercise.Unit5Topic2:InActivity5.2.1onpage92thereareseveraldrawingswithmeasurementsgiven.Oneisofatablewiththelengthandwidthgiven.Anotherisofafrontofahousewiththelengthandheightgiven.Onpage93thepupilsareexpectedtoanswer,‘Whatistheheightofthetable?’and‘Whatistheareaofthehouse?’Thenthereisspacefortheanswer,‘Theareaofthehouseis____by______’Thereisinsufficientinformationgiventobeabletoanswerthesequestions.Thequestionabouttheareaofthehouseisparticularlymisleading.Allthatapupilcancalculateistheareaofthefrontwallofthehouse,aswehavebeengivenitslengthandheight.Withoutbeinggiventhedepthorwidthofthehousewecannotcalculatetheareaofthehouse.Thisisworryinglymisleadingandincorrect.Topic3:Onthetopofpage96is,‘….andrewritetheminyourcopy.’Doestheauthormean‘copybook’?Evenifso,thatwordisold-fashioned.InActivity5.4.1onpage97innumber2informationaboutthepopulationinvarioustownsisgiven.InActivity5.4.2.onpage98isthequestion,‘IsRwamaganabiggerthanHuye?’Therehasbeennoinformationgivenonthesizeoftowns.Therefore,whattheauthormeansis‘IsthepopulationofRwamaganabiggerthanthatofHuye?’ThebadEnglishused,givesincorrectinformation.

9

InActivity5.4.5onpage99isanotherpoem.Thishaslittleeducationalorlanguagemerit,andhasaverypeculiaruseofthewords‘bind’and‘reduced’.Unit6Topic2:Thereisanotherpoemonpage109.Inthesecondverseitusesthewords‘socialiser’and‘attender’.ThesewordsdonotexistinEnglish-English.Whilstthereispoeticlicence,itisnothelpfultousenon-existentwordsinalanguagetextbook.Topic4:InActivity6.4.1thereisatongue-twister,‘SoIhadashipshipshipsShippingshipsthatshipships’ThisusesAmerican-Englishinitsuseof‘had’.Inanother,clearer,sentenceanexamplewouldbe,‘IhadJamescookthechicken’.InEnglish-Englishitwouldbe,‘ImadeJamescookthechicken’or‘IorderedJamestocookthechicken’oreven‘IemployedJamestocookthechicken’.Topic5:InActivity6.5.2onpage118itiswritten,‘Ingroupsoffour,askandanswerabouttheplacesyouhavevisited.’ThisisclumsyEnglish.Youcan‘askabout’butyoucannot‘answerabout’.InUnitTest6.1onpage119thereisapictureofa‘sailboat’.Again,thisisAmerican-English.English-Englishis‘sailingboat’.However,intheTeacher’sBookonpage77thereisadifferentpictureofadifferentboat,andsotheanswergivenismisleading.UnitTest6.3onpage121hasariddle.AsfarasIcouldseethereisnoanswertothisgivenintheTeacher’sBook.Unit7Topic1:Activity7.1.5onpage124states,‘Inthewordsearchbelow…..’.Whatappearsbelowisacrosswordpuzzle,andnotawordsearch.Topic2:InActivity7.2.1onpage125itiswritten,‘Foodisclassifiedintofourmajorgroups.Theseincludecarbohydrates,proteins,fatsandvitamins.’Theword‘include’whichIhaveputintoboldtype,isincorrect.Thosefourthingsarethefourmajorgroups.Therefore,inplaceof‘include’mustbe‘are’.Furtherinthatsameparagraphis,‘Abalanceddietinvolveseatingmealsthatcontainsallofthefoodgroups.’‘Meals’ispluralandsotheverbmustbe‘contain’.Topic3:InActivity7.3.1onpage128thereis,‘Ourteacherhastaughtusabouteatinghealthy’.Thisisabadmistake.Theadverb‘healthily’mustbeused.

10

Onpage129inActivity7.3.2question2asks,‘WhatdoesEthanthinkofhisdietrequirements?’However,fromthecontextitshouldbe‘WhatdoesEthanthinkarehisdietrequirements?’InActivity7.3.4onpage129itiswritten,‘Theneachgroupwillwritewhichbadfoodhabitwasthemostdifficulttochange.Youhadtomakeinordertoeathealthy.’Theuseoftheadjective‘healthy’whentheadverb‘healthily’isneeded,isrepeated.However,thatsecondsentenceisincomplete.Topic4:Thetopicopensonpage130with,‘Whatdoyoudotokeepgoodhygiene?’ThisisnotfluentEnglish.Youcannot‘keep’hygiene.Youcan‘achieve’goodhygiene,oryoucan‘maintain’goodhygiene.InActivity7.4.1onpage130,innumber4,itstates,‘Itakeabatheveryday.’This,again,isAmerican-English.English-Englishis‘tohave’abath.Inanyeventtheaccompanyingpictureisofsomeonehavingashower.InActivity7.4.4onpage131,itstates,‘Readthepoemgivenbelow.Ingroupsoffour,thinkofdifferentactivitiesroundthepoem.’Theuseof‘round’doesnotmakesense.Topic5:InActivity7.5.1onpage132thereis,‘Youshouldvisitadoctor.’Again,thisisAmerican-English.English-Englishis,‘Youshouldgotoseeadoctor’.Inthatsamedialoguethedoctorsays,“SorryMagezi,youwillbefine.”ThatisnotfluentEnglish,as‘sorry’wouldprecedesomethingnegativeorregretful.Furtheronagaininthatdialogueisanawkwardsplitinfinitive,‘Youshouldalsoknowthatyouneedtoalwayskeepgoodhygienestandardsandeatahealthydiet.’Itwouldbebettertoput‘….youneedalwaystokeep…..’.InActivity7.5.5onpage133,itiswritten,‘Considerapatientwhoisillwithcough,typhoidormalaria.’Tobecorrectitmustbe‘acough’.UnitTest7.1onpage133raisesadifficultitem.Therearepicturesofthefivemaintypesoffood,andtheyaregivenas‘fruits,vegetables,meat,legumes,cereals.’Thereisinconsistency,andIwouldprefertosee‘fruit’initsuncountableform,andthatwouldbeconsistentwith‘meat’initsuncountableform.InUnitTest7.3onpage134thereisacluegivenforthecrosswordwhichis,‘Adairyproductobtained’Thisisincomplete-obtainedfromwhat,orfromwhere?InUnitTest7.4onpage135theriddleincludesthis,‘Onewasadoctorandtheotheronewasatransporter.Theyhadgonetocourttotalkabouttheadoptionforlong,butnodecisionwaseverreached.Thetransporterhadtogoforatripveryfarbut…..’Theboldtypeismine.A‘transporter’isusuallyavehicleandnotaperson.Itisveryunusualtoseeitusedasajobdescriptioninthisway.Thesentenceaboutgoingtocourtdoesnotmakesense;youdonot

11

gotocourt‘totalkaboutadoption’.Also‘forlong’hasnomeaning.Isitsupposedtobe‘foralongtime’?Inthenextsentence,itshouldbe‘…..hadtogoonatripveryfaraway….’Unit8Topic1:Onpage137,andelsewhereinthisUnit,thereiswrittenmanytimes,‘intraditionalRwanda’.Thisdoesnotreallymakesense.InActivity8.1.1onpage137itstates‘Theyalsomadewoodcarvingssuchassculptures,doors,gourds,knifehandlesandmusicalinstruments.’Theinclusionof‘gourds’isincorrect.Agourd,byverydefinition,isafruit,anditisnotsomethingmadeofwood.Topic2:InActivity8.2.1onpage139a‘basket’issaidtohavetheuse‘totransportvaluablefood….’Thisisnotaverygooduseoftheword‘transport’,and‘carry’wouldbebetter.Topic3:Activity8.3.1onpage140states,‘Listentotheteacher,readashorttext……’Thecommaneedstobeomitted.InActivity8.3.3itiswritten,‘Namethemandsayfromwhichrawmaterialstheyhavebeenmadefrom.Makesureyoudon’twritetoolsmadefromonerawmaterialonly.’Thesecond‘from’isnotneededandshouldbeomitted.Thesecondsentenceisambiguous.Whatitmeansis‘Don’tuseonerawmaterialasthesourceforallthetoolsyouwrite.’InActivity8.3.4,onpage141thereisaquestion,‘Whatrawmaterialisusedformakingjewellery?’Theanswerisgiven,anditisalistofmanyrawmaterials.Therefore,thequestionneedstobe‘Whatrawmaterialsareused…….?’InActivity8.3.6onpage141itstates,‘Youhavelearntaboutandresearchedaboutdifferentobjects……’Youdonot‘researchabout’.Youcan‘researchinto’orjust‘research’.Unit9IntheKeyUnitCompetencyonpage147,itstates,‘….hasimprovedtheproductionoffoodcropsandlivesofpeople’slives.’Thisneedstobecorrected.Topic1:Onpage148itstatesthat,‘Gardenknivesareusedforcuttingtwine,openingplantliesandharvesting.’FromfurtheronintheTopicweseethatthisismeanttobe‘plantties’.However,adding‘harvesting’ontheendappearstobeanon-sequitur.Itshouldbeclearerwhattheuseofknivesisforharvesting.InActivity9.1.3onpage149itiswrittenatthebottomofthepage,‘Howdoescomparingthetoolsofthepastwiththetoolsofthepresenthelp?’Themeaningofthisisnotclear.Howdoesithelpwith‘what’needsbestated.

12

Topic3:InActivity9.3.1onpage151thereisthesentence,‘Thecropsgrownaremajorlycashcrops.’Thisisanincorrectuseof‘majorly’,whichisasub-modifierand,assuch,isusedbeforeanadjectiveoranotheradverbtomodifyitsmeaning.Whatismeanthereis‘Themajorityofcropsgrownarecashcrops’or‘Thecropsgrownaremainlycashcrops’.InActivity9.3.3onpage152thepupilsareinvitedtolookatapictureand,‘ThendiscusswhatyouseeaboutmodernagricultureinRwanda.’Thisdoesnotmakesense.Topic4:InActivity9.4.2,onpage155,innumber6thequestionis‘WhichcountriesdoesRwandaexportbothteaandcoffee?’Itneedstobe,‘Towhichcountries…….?’Topic5:InActivity9.5.1onpage156,therearereferencestotimewhicharenotcorrect.Forexample,innumber2itstates,‘In10years,Rwandawillexportmorecoffee.’Tomakesensethismustbe‘In10years’time’or‘Within10years’or‘In10yearsfromnow’dependingonwhatmeaningisintended.Thismistakeisrepeatedinnumbers4and6.InUnitTest9.2onpage157itiswritten,‘Listanumberofthingsthatyouthinkwillchangeinagriculturetotheagricultureofthefuture.’Thisdoesnotmakesense.InUnitTest9.3onpage158,andinUnitTest9.4onpage159thereismentionof‘plowing’.Thisisincorrect.Itmustbe‘ploughing’.Unit10Topic1:Itisworthnotingthatthemapoftheworldonpage161doesnotevenlabelorshowRwanda.Ifyoulookcarefullyyouwillfindanumber‘25’written,andtheninthekeyatthefootofthemapyoucanfindthatnumber25isRwanda.Perhapsthemapshouldbeadouble-pagespread?InActivity10.1.7onpage163itiswritten,‘Havetheclasssplitintotwogroups….’ThisisAmerican-English.InEnglish-Englishisshouldbe‘Splittheclassintotwogroups….’Thisisamucheasierconstruction,anditiscorrectEnglish-English.Topic2:InActivity10.2.2onpage165,innumber3thepupilsmust‘LookatthemapandlabelthefollowingcountriesonamapusingthetextfromActivity10.2.1’ThepupilswillnotbeabledotheexercisecorrectlywithoutreferringalsotoActivity10.1.1.InActivity10.2.3onpage165,referenceismadetwicetothe‘…..maponpage169’.Thereisnomaponpage169,anditshouldbepage161.InActivity10.2.4onpage166theinstructionis,‘Usethewordsintheboxbelowtoanswerthefollowingquestionsusingbelow,above,northern,southern,in,on,between,eastern,western,west,east,southandnorthforeachanswer.’Firstly,thereisnoboxbelow,andthe

13

instructionhasnotbeenedited.Thewordstobeusedintheexerciseshouldbedifferentiatedfromthetextoftheinstruction,perhapsbybeinginboldtype.Itisalsoambiguous,inthatitcouldmeanthatyouhavetouseallthewordsgivenforeachanswer.InActivity10.2.5onpage166,attheenditstates,‘Continuetopractice.’InEnglish-Englishthatverbhasan‘s’andsoitshouldbe‘Continuetopractise’.Topic3:InActivity10.3.2onpage169thereisasubstitutiontable,withtheinstruction,‘Makeasmanysentencesareyoucanfromthefollowingtable.’Itshouldsaythatthesentencesmustbecorrect.Fromthetableitispossibletoconstructthefollowing,incorrectsentences,‘TherearedesertinGreenland’,‘ThereismountainsintheNetherlands’or‘ThereissnowinRwanda’.Topic4:InActivity10.4.1onpage170thereisatypingerror;AmbselishouldbeAmboseli.InthesameActivityonpage171asentencehasbeenincorrectlysplitintotwosentences,‘Kenyaexportsseveralproductstoothercountries.Includingtea,coffee,tobaccoandcereals.’Thisshouldbeonesentence.InActivity10.4.2onpage171,andinotherActivitiesinthisUnit,thereare‘touristsites’.Thisisincorrect,andshouldbe‘touristsights’.Innumber6onpage171itiswritten,‘DomoreresearchaboutKenya…’Theuseof‘about’isincorrect.Itcouldbe‘researchinto…’or‘researchon…’butnot‘about’.InActivity10.4.4onpage172itiswritten,‘Ingroupsoffourdoaresearchabout…..’.Again,theuseof‘about’isincorrect.Also‘research’is,inthiscontext,isanuncountablenoun,andsoyoucannotuse‘aresearch’.InthatsameActivityonpage172isthesentence,‘Findunusualfactsaboutthecountry,suchasitsfestivals,leadersandotherdetails.’Theuseof‘unusual’seemstobeincorrect.Certainlyfactsaboutleadersofcountriescannotbesaidtobe‘unusual’.InActivity10.4.6atthebottomofpage172itiswritten,‘AliceandherfamilywantedtogoforapicnictoanationalparkinRwanda.Buttheydidn’tknowmuchaboutnationalparks.’Thisshouldbeonesentence,as‘but’isaconjunction.InActivity10.4.8onpage174,itiswritten,‘ThecustomofKwitaIzinaornamingceremonyofnewborngorillababieshasbeenheldeveryyearsince2005.The11KwitaIzinawasheldon5September2015…..’Thesesentenceshavemistakes.‘Namingceremony’shouldbe,‘thenamingceremony’.‘The11KwitaIzina’shouldbe,‘The11thKwitaIzina’.Alsothedateshouldbe,‘…on5thSeptember2015….’UnitTest10.2,onpage175,isacrosswordpuzzle.Itstates,‘Thecluesofthenumberoflettersneededforeachansweraregivenintheboxbesidethequestion.’Thisisincorrect,asonpage176thenumberoflettersisgiveninbrackets,andnotinboxes.

14

CONCLUSIONItdoesneedtobemadecleartotextbookwritersandpublishersthatthecurriculumforEnglishusesEnglish-English.IassumethattobethecaseasthenewCompetenceBasedCurriculumiswritteninEnglish-English.TherearetoomanydifferencesbetweenAmerican-EnglishandEnglish-Englishforfreeuseofbothtobeacceptable.Onthewhole,American-Englishgivesrisetomoredifficultlanguagestructures.Aforeignlanguagetextbookneedstobeeditedmorecarefullythanotherbooks.Theteacherswhowillbeusingthebooks,andcertainlythepupilswhowillbeusingthem,areinthemajorityofcases,notequippedtobeabletoknowthatthereisamistake,norabletocorrectthemistake.Foratextbooktohaveerrorsthatfilla13-pagereportisunacceptable. August2017

Support to Primary Education Rwanda

in partnership with Education East Africa

www.EducationEastAfrica.org

Katy@EducationEastAfrica.org

RwandaKaty Allen 250 782 369 540

Emmy Nyirigira 250 732 442 040

PO Box 2962, Kigali, Rwanda

Great Britain

0300 323 9944

PO Box 434, Apartment 2, Deal, CT14 4BU

Great Britain

Rwanda No 134/RGB/NGO/LP/09/2017

UK Registered Charity No. 1041672

© Support to Primary Education

Rwanda 2017

© Education East Africa 2017