AI English Translation, Pages 201-225
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
ENGLISH INSPECTORATE
NOTES FOR TEACHERS OF ENGLISH (18).
TESTS AND EXAMINATIONS.
1. Testing is an important part of the teacher's duty, and teachers should take
great care over it. As each portion of the work is taught, the teacher should
devise tests, oral or written, to discover, as exactly as possible, how much each
student has learnt. Such tests need not be long, but they should be exact. Only
in this way can the teacher know (a) what progress each student is making and
(b) whether his own teaching is successful or not. By this means he can decide
which parts of the work have been properly understood, and which parts have
to be repeated.
2. The examinations at the end of each half-year are the most important, and
the longest, of these tests. Teachers should study examination techniques in
order to make sure that their examination papers are good. Some important
points in a good examination paper are :-
(i) The questions must be clear and exact, so that the students know without
any doubt what they have to answer. In an English paper, the language of the
questions must be correct.
(ii) The different questions must test different parts of the work which the
students have been told to learn. The paper must be balanced, so that most of
the work is briefly covered, and every student is given a chance to show what he
can do. In setting an English language paper, the teacher must make sure that
it is knowledge of the language he is testing. This is not always easy.
(iii) The questions must be arranged to fit exactly into a marking scheme, so
that each answer receives a fair proportion of the marks, according to its correctness.
A teacher should not set an examination without (a) writing the answers, to make
sure that there is no doubt about what answer is required, and (b) making a marking
scheme, so that the questions can be planned to fit it. For example, if a question
has blank spaces to be filled, and is to receive a maximum of 20 marks, then (if each
space is of equal importance) there should be 5 or 10 or 20 spaces, according to
the difficulty of the question, so that each answer may be awarded the same
number of marks. When the marking scheme has been prepared, the teacher
should decide how many marks (or half- or quarter-marks) are to be deducted for
each mistake, always remembering that even the most careless student should be
left with some marks for what he has got right.
3. Further notes on classroom tests may be found in The Teachers' Guide
by Miller and Hakim, Chapter III. If copies of this book are not available in
the school library, teachers are recommended to write and ask for a copy.
4. A number of English examination papers set for the recent half-yearly
examinations have been studied by the English Inspectorate. Some appear to
have been carefully set, others not. In some of them, mistakes in English have
been found, including some serious mistakes in grammar. Such mistakes are
most likely to occur when teachers write passages for comprehension, instead of
taking them from a book; but they are also to be found in questions consisting of
single sentences. The bad effect of such mistakes on the students is obvious.
A serious view is taken of them, and teachers are advised to take the greatest care
to avoid them. The English Inspectorate is ready to give advice about sentences
or phrases which teachers propose to use in examination questions.
The examination papers which have been studied will be filed in the
Inspectorate. In future, papers containing mistakes may be corrected and referred
back officially to the teacher who set them.
C. W. Morris
Specialist Inspector of English
7. 3. 56
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
ENGLISH INSPECTORATE.
NOTES FOR TEACHERS OF ENGLISH No. (19).
THE OXFORD ENGLISH COURSE FOR IRAQ, BOOK FOUR:
PREPARATORY WORK.
In the school year 1956—7 the new Book Four of the Oxford English Course
for Iraq will be used in the Second and Third Intermediate Classes. The new
Book Five will be used in the following year in the Third and Fourth Classes.
Therefore the work of Book Four must all be completed in both the Second and
the Third Classes in 1956—7.
It may be that the new pupils' Book Four will reach some schools late,
after the school year has begun. The teaching of English in the Second and
Third Classes must not be delayed because of this.
Each Intermediate and Secondary School will receive two copies of the
Teacher's Notes to Book Four, so that teachers of the Second and Third Classes
can prepare their plan for the year, and can study all the work thoroughly before
beginning to teach it.
Teachers of the Second and Third Classes should also have copies of both
the pupils' Book Three and Teacher's Notes to Book Three. By using them in
class before beginning the work of Book Four they can prepare their pupils to
begin on Book Four, so that the work of the year will be covered much more
quickly and easily when the books arrive.
There are two main teaching tasks to be carried out at the beginning of each
school year. They are :—
1. Revision of the chief points of the previous year's work: recalling into the
pupils' active memories the Verb Tenses and the important patterns studied in
the previous year.
2. Preparing the pupils for studying the new patterns and words in the new
Book.
The first of these tasks leads to the second; the second grows out of the
first. The pupils' Book is not essential for either of them. The teacher can
do all that is necessary with the aid of his voice and the blackboard; and by getting
the pupils to talk. The teacher needs only one copy of Book Three and the
Teacher's Notes to Books Three and Four.
Before beginning on the work of Book Four, the teacher should teach the
following, orally :—
1. Pronunciation Drill. (5 or 10 minutes). Drill the pupils in the consonant
and vowel sounds (given on pages v and vi of the Teacher's Notes to Book Two),
especially those which give most difficulty. Practice the pronunciation of words
in Book Three.
2. Spelling Drill. (5 or 10 minutes instead of Pronunciation). Drill the
pupils in the spelling of words from Book Three which give difficulty.
3. Revision: (a) Seasons, days, months, the date, adverbs and phrases of
time, degrees of comparison, some, any, much, many etc.
(b) "For Study" sections in Book Three, especially pages 12,
20, 28-9, 39, 40-1, 50, 52, 54, 76, 86-7, 94, 104, 105, 116, 118, 126, 127, 128,
145-8, 158-160, 167, 179-180.
(c) Verb Forms, pages 183 to 187 in Book Three.
4. Preparation for Reading-text One of Book Four. When the above work
has been completed, the teacher may begin to introduce orally the new words and
patterns given on pages 1 to 7 of the Teacher's Notes to Book Four.
5. Supplementary Reader. Advantage should be taken of any delay in
receiving the pupils' Book Four to start them on the reading of the supplementary
reader (the story book). As far as possible, pupils should read this book by
themselves, with a minimum of help from the teacher. From time to time, the
teacher should check, by means of oral questions, that they are getting on with
the reading. Some pupils who find special difficulty may need special help; but
this help should not discourage them from making the effort to understand the
story by themselves.
6. Dictionary. In the Third Intermediate Class the pupils should begin to
learn to use an English-English Dictionary. The class will need one or two
preliminary lessons, explaining how the words are set out, what the different signs
and abbreviations mean, and how to select the right meaning when several different
meanings are given. These lessons should be given before they begin reading
the story book, so that they can use their Dictionaries with it.
Specialist Inspector of English
C. W. Morris
10. 7. 56
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
ENGLISH INSPECTORATE.
NOTES FOR TEACHERS OF ENGLISH No. (20)
THE OXFORD ENGLISH COURSE FOR IRAQ
BOOK FOUR:
CONTENTS
The following notes on this Book are based on material provided by the publisher.
The first three books of this Course have given the learner a vocabulary that includes the important structural words of the language, and a useful general purpose vocabulary. They have introduced all the important verb tenses and the commonest sentence patterns. Suggestions for oral work (in the Teacher's Notes) and oral and written exercises (in the Pupil's Book) provide material that helps pupils to use the new language as well as to understand it.
Book Four aims at (i) revising and fixing in the memory what was studied in the first three books, and (ii) extending the vocabulary. There is little new grammatical material. A small number of new patterns and phrases is introduced, for example, according to, at first, at last, by means of, by this (that) means, would rather, in turn. Much attention is given to the formation of derivatives, and to changes in stress and pronunciation, as in cultivate, cultivation; photograph, photographer; irrigate, irrigation. There are notes on prefixes and suffixes, so that the learner is helped to recognize and understand words that begin with un-, in-, im-, ir-, dis-, or end with -ly, -ment, -tion, without a dictionary. Much attention is given, too, to pairs or groups of words that are known to be confused by some Arabic-speaking learners, for example, climate and weather; rob and steal; invent, discover and find out.
In the Teacher's Notes to Book Four the methods suggested for classroom work are, in general, the same as those suggested in Book Three. New material is to be taught orally, as a preparation for meeting it in the reading-text, before the text is read. Reading is almost always silent reading. More and more of the new words are explained in footnotes (when they are not illustrated), in order to make the pupils less dependent on the teacher. (The teacher should insist that the pupils make use of these footnotes, instead of asking for "meanings" or "synonyms".) In the "For Study" sections, pupils can see how the new words and constructions are used; and they learn how to use them themselves when they are doing the exercises. Throughout the Book, there is frequent, systematic revision.
The subject-matter of the first three books was necessarily simple. For young children with only a small vocabulary, there were simple stories and short pieces of descriptive writing dealing with activities likely to hold their interest. In Book Four it becomes possible to provide reading-texts of a more advanced kind. Iraq has made fast progress in many branches of commerce and industry, and her agriculture is becoming more mechanized each year. Most pupils studying English in the Intermediate classes will probably use the new language in order to train as engineers and technicians, as members of the Civil Service, and for posts in trade and industry. It would have been easy to compile a textbook filled largely with adaptations of Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare, stories of Robin Hood, or the Arabian Nights. But such stories would not provide the kind of vocabulary needed by boys who are more likely to study technical books and reports than to make a serious study of English literature. For those who want to read fiction in English there are graded supplementary readers.
A few stories and pieces of descriptive writing, such as the account of the climbing of Everest, have been included, but many of the texts deal with such practical matters as road building, irrigation, and hydro-electric power. Iraqi children see or hear of new roads and bridges, irrigation works and power stations being constructed throughout their country. Texts on these subjects will, it is hoped, interest them. They need to learn about such activities and to be introduced to the kind of technical vocabulary required.
The Vocabulary of Book Four, therefore, includes many technical, and in some cases long, words. But excavator, radio-telephone, runway, barrage, air-conditioned and bulldozer are much easier to understand and learn than many words that occur with greater frequency. Bulldozer has only one meaning, easily
— 2 —
understood. The verb set requires many columns of explanation in any large
dictionary, but except for its use in "The sun has set" and in few common phrasal
verbs such as set out, meaning "start", it is a difficult and not an essential word.
Long and technical words are not necessarily "hard" words. It should be borne
in mind, too, that most of these technical words will form part of the learner's
passive, not active, vocabulary. They will not be among the words that the learner
will be required to use in written work.
The interests of girls have not been neglected. The texts on Elizabeth Fry
and Florence Nightingale will help to interest girls in social service. Other texts
deal with life in an English village, with a girls' school in England, and with
extracts from an English newspaper.
In the written exercises provision is made for first attempts at composition.
This is guided composition. Pupils first write answers to a series of questions
and, after discussing the answers, put them together to make a few paragraphs.
It is not useful at this stage for pupils to attempt free composition.
Before the year's work begins, the teacher should make a plan, estimating
how many lesson periods are to be given to the material connected with each
reading-text. The proportion of the year's lesson periods given to each piece of
work should depend, not on the length of the reading-text, but on the amount of new
material, or important revision which has to be dealt with. Once it has been
decided, this plan should be carried out, with only slight alterations, if any, so that
all the work of Book Four is properly completed during the year, and the pupils
are ready to go on to the next Book in the following school year.
C. W. Morris
Specialist Inspector of English.
11.7.56
ENGLISH BOOKLIST 1956_ 1957.
PRIMARY
Fifth Year
1- Oxford English Course for Iraq Book1.
2- Teacher's Notes to Book 1.( for teachers only)
3- Progressive Writing Book1.
4- " " " BookII
5- Crosswords for Beginners 1.
Sixth Year
1- Oxford English Course for Iraq, BookII
2- Teacher's Notes to BookII( for teachers only)
3- Progressive Writing Book III
4- Progressive Crosswords 1. (Revised).
INTERMEDIATE
First Year
1- Oxford English Course for Iraq. bookIII(All)
2- Teacher's Notes to BookIII(for teachers only)
3- The golden Earth.
4- Crosswords for Beginners Book II.
5- Progressive Writing BookIV.
Second Year
1- Oxford English Course for Iraq, Book IV(All)
2- Teacher's Notes to Book IV( for teachers only)
3- Stories from Near East.
Third Year
1- Oxford English course for Iraq, Book IV(All)
2- Teacher's Notes to Book IV( for teachers only)
3- Emil and the ⟦D22222222⟧ Detectives.
4- English - Reader's Dictionary
SECONDARY
Fourth Year
1- Oxford Alternative Book V(All)
2- Teacher's Notesto BookV( for teachers only)
3- Oliver Twist. tales Retold.
4- English-Reader's Dictionary
Fifth Year
1- Hill. Comprehension&Precis Pieces.
2- Louis Pasteur(Lives of Achievement).
3- The Stories of Shakespear's Plays,1 Tales Retold.
⟦line⟧
Directorate of Education of Baghdad Province / Center
Number / 576
Records
Date / 12 / 10 / 1955
250
27 / 11
Administrations of Official, Private, and Foreign Secondary,
Intermediate, and Primary Schools ⟦line⟧
We attach herewith one copy of the list of English books ⟦line⟧
prescribed for the current academic year (1955 - 1956 AD) and a second copy of ⟦line⟧
the instructions
The Teaching of English in Iraq
Aims and Methods
Hoping that English language teachers (male and female) will review them to act accordingly
with all care and attention ⟦line⟧
⟦signature⟧
Director of Education of Baghdad Province
Center
Attachments / 1 List
1 Instructions
A copy to: -
General Inspectorate / Specialist Inspection for English Language - Mr.
Selim Hakim - for your kind information
Provincial Inspectors / with the two copies of instructions and the list of books, please review
Records Clerk
Khaled / M / 18
« English Books Prescribed for Primary, Intermediate, and Secondary Schools for the 1955 - 1956 Academic Year »
PRIMARY | Primary Education
Fifth Year:
1. Oxford English Course for Western Asia (or IRAQ), Book One.
(Teachers' Notes for Book One).
2. Progressive Writing Books, One and Two.
3. Crosswords for Beginners, Book One.
Sixth Year:
1. Oxford English Course for Western Asia (or IRAQ) Book Two.
(Teachers' Notes for Book Two).
2. Progressive Crosswords for Iraq, Book One.
3. Progressive Writing Books, Three.
INTERMEDIATE | Intermediate Education
First Year:
1. Oxford English Course for Iraq, Book Three (All)
(Teacher should have Teachers' Notes)
2. The Golden Earth, etc.
3. Crosswords for Beginners, Book Two.
Second Year:
1. Oxford English Course for Iraq, Book Three (All)
(Teacher should have Teachers' Notes)
2. Stories from the Near East.
Third Year:
1. Oxford Alternative Book Four (All)
2. Children of the New Forest.
3. Dictionary.
SECONDARY | Secondary Education
Fourth Year:
1. Oxford Alternative Book Five (All).
2. Lorna Doone.
3. Dictionary.
Fifth Year:
1. Hill : Comprehension & Precis Pieces.
2. Don Quixote, Trans. Hornby. O. U. P.
3. The Country of the Blind, etc.
4. Dictionary.
Note: The Books Underlined will not be used again.
947
11/10
Directorate of Education of Baghdad Province / Center:
Number /: 7446
Records:
Date /: 16 / 11 / 1955
Principals of Official, Private, and Foreign Secondary and Intermediate Schools
Reference to the letter of the General Inspectorate of Education No. 1692 dated ⟦line⟧
9 / 10 / 1955 .
We attach herewith (5) five copies of Instructions (No. 13) concerning the teachers
of the English language in your school, requesting that one copy be handed to each of them to act accordingly
and to confirm receipt to us in due course .
⟦signature⟧
Director of Education of Baghdad Province
Center
Attachments - Five copies of instructions
A copy to :-
General Inspectorate of Education / Specialized Inspection for English Language, Mr. Salim Hakim
For your kind information ⟦line⟧
Records Clerk / for follow-up
Khalid / M / 5
NOTES FOR TEACHERS OF ENGLISH (13)
The First and Second Intermediate Classes
THE OXFORD ENGLISH COURSE FOR IRAQ BOOK THREE
1. This new Book is being used for the first time in the
School year 1955-6. It is the new textbook for the First Inter-
mediate Class; but in 1955-6 only, it is being used in the Second
Intermediate Class also. It is hoped that after 1955-6, a new
Book Four will be used in the Second Intermediate Class. There-
fore, it is necessary for the whole of this Book Three to be
completed in the First Intermediate Class. It follows imme-
diately upon Book Two, the textbook of the Sixth Primary Class.
2. The pupils' Book is for the use of the pupils. The impor-
tant book for the teacher is the Teacher's Notes. Every teacher
of English in the First and Second Intermediate Classes should
have a copy. Please go on asking until you get one. The
Ministry of Education has sufficient copies for all teachers of the
First and Second Intermediate Classes.
3. Before beginning to prepare your lessons on Book Three,
you should carefully study the Teacher's Notes to Book Two.
(If you have been teaching the First Intermediate Class in 1954-5
you should know them well. There should be a copy in every
school library). In the Teacher's Notes to Book Two, you should
study especially pages (v) to (x) and the General Introduction
(pages 1 to 3), and the Word Lists and the Index (pages 160 to
178), so that you will know what words and sentence patterns
your pupils have been taught — though they may not remember
them all.
4. After studying the Teacher's Notes to Book Two, you
should carefully read the General Introduction to the Teacher's
Notes to Book Three (pages v to x). This will help you a great
deal in using the book in your teaching.
5. The most important sections in the General Introduction
are those about:—
(a) the "For Study" Sections (page v)
(b) planning the year's work (page vi)
(c) planning each lesson (page vii)
(d) revision (Important Teaching Notes 1, page viii)
(e) teaching new material orally before reading (Note 2)
(f) question and answer work (Notes 3 and 4)
(g) guided composition (page ix)
(h) making experiments in your teaching (page ix)
(i) using the Word Lists and Index in the Teacher's
Notes (page x).
6. Preparing the Lesson. When you have studied the
General Introduction, you will understand the plan and purpose
of Book Three. In order that this plan may be fully realised,
it is essential that, however experienced you are as a teacher,
you should use the Teacher's Notes in preparing and teaching
2
each lesson. The Teacher's Notes contain a lot of material to
be taught which is not found in the pupils' book. The purpose
of the pupils' book is to provide reading, study and exercise
material for the pupils. It does NOT contain all the work for
the year, because a great deal of the work must be introduced
orally by the teacher, according to the suggestions set out in
the Teacher's Notes. If the pupils' book is well used, it will
give the pupils plenty of practice in speaking, reading and
writing the new material; but before the pupils can use their
book, the teacher must teach them the new material.
If you will please do this, your pupils will have a better
knowledge of English, and — more important — will be able
to speak and write it better, than if you go on with the old way
of teaching them a book instead of teaching them English.
Please keep always in mind:
TEACHING BEFORE READING.
7. Notice that at the end of the Teacher's Notes there are
useful Word Lists as follows: General, Proper Names and
grammatical terms; and an Index. All those should be used.
8. Revision of the previous year's work. Reading-texts One
and Two in the pupils' book, and the exercises, (pages 1 to 14)
contain revision of some of the most important work done in
Book Two. As your pupils work through these pages, you
will find out what they remember of the previous year's work.
No doubt you will have to recall much of it to their memories.
They must know this work thoroughly before they go on with
Book Three. The first important new material presented in
Book Three is in Reading-text Three: Relative Pronouns and
Relative Clauses.
9. The use of Arabic. The reading-texts should never be
translated into Arabic, either by the pupils or by the teacher.
In several places, the Teacher's Notes say: "Translate this word
into Arabic", or "Explain in Arabic". When the Notes say
this, you should do it; but you should not use Arabic otherwise,
and your pupils should not speak or write Arabic during an
English lesson. (The same rules for a restricted use of Arabic
apply to the reading of the Supplementary Readers; their pur-
pose is that the pupils should keep trying until they understand
them in English).
10. Written work. The exercises provide almost all the
written work required in the First and Second Intermediate
Classes. They should usually be prepared orally first, but when
the pupils write them they should do so without further help.
They should not be copied from the blackboard. Their purpose
is to make the pupils exercise their brains and use what they
have learned. Copying is not a useful exercise at the Inter-
mediate stage. Pupils should be given an opportunity of correct-
ing their mistakes after they have written the exercises. Some
exercises may be used as a test of what the pupils have learned.
As stated on page vii of the Teacher's Notes, Dictation may
occasionally be given to test the pupils' ability to understand
spoken English and to spell the words they know: Dictation
should deal with familiar material, and should be given at a
reasonable speed, that is, not too slowly.
3
At the Intermediate stage, pupils should not be asked to write
Free Composition. But they may make the first steps towards
free composition by writing one sentence at a time, under the
guidance of the teacher, on some simple, concrete theme within
their experience or reading. The object is to make sure that
what they write is correct, but not copied. One carefully
written sentence at the end of each lesson is enough. It pro-
vides a change from the main study of the lesson, and in ten
lessons a short guided composition can be written by the whole
class in this way. If each sentence has been discussed with the
class, and examples written on the blackboard (but cleaned off
before the pupils begin to write), then few mistakes will be
made, and these can be quickly pointed out by the teacher and
corrected by the pupils. Each sentence will be constructed
nearly alike by the whole class, but good pupils will make
individual variations within the common pattern. The best
pupils may be encouraged to add sentences of their own on the
theme; but only within their knowledge of the language, and
after rehearsing them orally with the teacher. Mistakes should
never be allowed to go uncorrected. If a pupil repeatedly makes
the same mistake, he should be given some exercises to do
which will fix the correct pattern in his mind. This is teaching.
11. Backward pupils. If you have a few pupils in a class
who are far behind the majority, and cannot keep up with the
work suggested above, then you should devise some very simple
exercises for them to do while the others are working with you.
With such pupils, you might even have to resort to copying, in
order to help them to remember the sentence-patterns. It is no
use pretending that such pupils can make the same progress
as the majority; but it is your duty to teach them as much as
they can learn.
C.W. MORRIS
Specialist Inspector of English
28/5/55
⟦illegible⟧
NOTES FOR TEACHERS OF ENGLISH (13)
The First and Second Intermediate Classes
THE OXFORD ENGLISH COURSE FOR IRAQ BOOK THREE
1. This new Book is being used for the first time in the School year 1955-6. It is the new textbook for the First Intermediate Class; but in 1955-6 only, it is being used in the Second Intermediate Class also. It is hoped that after 1955-6, a new Book Four will be used in the Second Intermediate Class. Therefore, it is necessary for the whole of this Book Three to be completed in the First Intermediate Class. It follows immediately upon Book Two, the textbook of the Sixth Primary Class.
2. The pupils' Book is for the use of the pupils. The important book for the teacher is the Teacher's Notes. Every teacher of English in the First and Second Intermediate Classes should have a copy. Please go on asking until you get one. The Ministry of Education has sufficient copies for all teachers of the First and Second Intermediate Classes.
3. Before beginning to prepare your lessons on Book Three, you should carefully study the Teacher's Notes to Book Two. (If you have been teaching the First Intermediate Class in 1954-5 you should know them well. There should be a copy in every school library). In the Teacher's Notes to Book Two, you should study especially pages (v) to (x) and the General Introduction (pages 1 to 3), and the Word Lists and the Index (pages 160 to 178), so that you will know what words and sentence patterns your pupils have been taught — though they may not remember them all.
4. After studying the Teacher's Notes to Book Two, you should carefully read the General Introduction to the Teacher's Notes to Book Three (pages v to x). This will help you a great deal in using the book in your teaching.
5. The most important sections in the General Introduction are those about:—
(a) the "For Study" Sections (page v)
(b) planning the year's work (page vi)
(c) planning each lesson (page vii)
(d) revision (Important Teaching Notes 1, page viii)
(e) teaching new material orally before reading (Note 2)
(f) question and answer work (Notes 3 and 4)
(g) guided composition (page ix)
(h) making experiments in your teaching (page ix)
(i) using the Word Lists and Index in the Teacher's Notes (page x).
6. Preparing the Lesson. When you have studied the General Introduction, you will understand the plan and purpose of Book Three. In order that this plan may be fully realised, it is essential that, however experienced you are as a teacher, you should use the Teacher's Notes in preparing and teaching
Nouri Ali
2
each lesson. The Teacher's Notes contain a lot of material to
be taught which is not found in the pupils' book. The purpose
of the pupils' book is to provide reading, study and exercise
material for the pupils. It does NOT contain all the work for
the year, because a great deal of the work must be introduced
orally by the teacher, according to the suggestions set out in
the Teacher's Notes. If the pupils' book is well used, it will
give the pupils plenty of practice in speaking, reading and
writing the new material; but before the pupils can use their
book, the teacher must teach them the new material.
If you will please do this, your pupils will have a better
knowledge of English, and — more important — will be able
to speak and write it better, than if you go on with the old way
of teaching them a book instead of teaching them English.
Please keep always in mind:
TEACHING BEFORE READING.
7. Notice that at the end of the Teacher's Notes there are
useful Word Lists as follows: General, Proper Names and
grammatical terms; and an Index. All those should be used.
8. Revision of the previous year's work. Reading-texts One
and Two in the pupils' book, and the exercises, (pages 1 to 14)
contain revision of some of the most important work done in
Book Two. As your pupils work through these pages, you
will find out what they remember of the previous year's work.
No doubt you will have to recall much of it to their memories.
They must know this work thoroughly before they go on with
Book Three. The first important new material presented in
Book Three is in Reading-text Three: Relative Pronouns and
Relative Clauses.
9. The use of Arabic. The reading-texts should never be
translated into Arabic, either by the pupils or by the teacher.
In several places, the Teacher's Notes say: "Translate this word
into Arabic", or "Explain in Arabic". When the Notes say
this, you should do it; but you should not use Arabic otherwise,
and your pupils should not speak or write Arabic during an
English lesson. (The same rules for a restricted use of Arabic
apply to the reading of the Supplementary Readers; their pur-
pose is that the pupils should keep trying until they understand
them in English).
10. Written work. The exercises provide almost all the
written work required in the First and Second Intermediate
Classes. They should usually be prepared orally first, but when
the pupils write them they should do so without further help.
They should not be copied from the blackboard. Their purpose
is to make the pupils exercise their brains and use what they
have learned. Copying is not a useful exercise at the Inter-
mediate stage. Pupils should be given an opportunity of correct-
ing their mistakes after they have written the exercises. Some
exercises may be used as a test of what the pupils have learned.
As stated on page vii of the Teacher's Notes, Dictation may
occasionally be given to test the pupils' ability to understand
spoken English and to spell the words they know: Dictation
should deal with familiar material, and should be given at a
reasonable speed, that is, not too slowly.
3
At the Intermediate stage, pupils should not be asked to write
Free Composition. But they may make the first steps towards
free composition by writing one sentence at a time, under the
guidance of the teacher, on some simple, concrete theme within
their experience or reading. The object is to make sure that
what they write is correct, but not copied. One carefully
written sentence at the end of each lesson is enough. It pro-
vides a change from the main study of the lesson, and in ten
lessons a short guided composition can be written by the whole
class in this way. If each sentence has been discussed with the
class, and examples written on the blackboard (but cleaned off
before the pupils begin to write), then few mistakes will be
made, and these can be quickly pointed out by the teacher and
corrected by the pupils. Each sentence will be constructed
nearly alike by the whole class, but good pupils will make
individual variations within the common pattern. The best
pupils may be encouraged to add sentences of their own on the
theme; but only within their knowledge of the language, and
after rehearsing them orally with the teacher. Mistakes should
never be allowed to go uncorrected. If a pupil repeatedly makes
the same mistake, he should be given some exercises to do
which will fix the correct pattern in his mind. This is teaching.
11. Backward pupils. If you have a few pupils in a class
who are far behind the majority, and cannot keep up with the
work suggested above, then you should devise some very simple
exercises for them to do while the others are working with you.
With such pupils, you might even have to resort to copying, in
order to help them to remember the sentence-patterns. It is no
use pretending that such pupils can make the same progress
as the majority; but it is your duty to teach them as much as
they can learn.
C.W. MORRIS
Specialist Inspector of English
28/5/55
NOTES FOR TEACHERS OF ENGLISH (13)
The First and Second Intermediate Classes
THE OXFORD ENGLISH COURSE FOR IRAQ BOOK THREE
1. This new Book is being used for the first time in the School year 1955-6. It is the new textbook for the First Intermediate Class; but in 1955-6 only, it is being used in the Second Intermediate Class also. It is hoped that after 1955-6, a new Book Four will be used in the Second Intermediate Class. Therefore, it is necessary for the whole of this Book Three to be completed in the First Intermediate Class. It follows immediately upon Book Two, the textbook of the Sixth Primary Class.
2. The pupils' Book is for the use of the pupils. The important book for the teacher is the Teacher's Notes. Every teacher of English in the First and Second Intermediate Classes should have a copy. Please go on asking until you get one. The Ministry of Education has sufficient copies for all teachers of the First and Second Intermediate Classes.
3. Before beginning to prepare your lessons on Book Three, you should carefully study the Teacher's Notes to Book Two. (If you have been teaching the First Intermediate Class in 1954-5 you should know them well. There should be a copy in every school library). In the Teacher's Notes to Book Two, you should study especially pages (v) to (x) and the General Introduction (pages 1 to 3), and the Word Lists and the Index (pages 160 to 178), so that you will know what words and sentence patterns your pupils have been taught — though they may not remember them all.
4. After studying the Teacher's Notes to Book Two, you should carefully read the General Introduction to the Teacher's Notes to Book Three (pages v to x). This will help you a great deal in using the book in your teaching.
5. The most important sections in the General Introduction are those about:—
(a) the "For Study" Sections (page v)
(b) planning the year's work (page vi)
(c) planning each lesson (page vii)
(d) revision (Important Teaching Notes 1, page viii)
(e) teaching new material orally before reading (Note 2)
(f) question and answer work (Notes 3 and 4)
(g) guided composition (page ix)
(h) making experiments in your teaching (page ix)
(i) using the Word Lists and Index in the Teacher's Notes (page x).
6. Preparing the Lesson. When you have studied the General Introduction, you will understand the plan and purpose of Book Three. In order that this plan may be fully realised, it is essential that, however experienced you are as a teacher, you should use the Teacher's Notes in preparing and teaching
2
each lesson. The Teacher's Notes contain a lot of material to
be taught which is not found in the pupils' book. The purpose
of the pupils' book is to provide reading, study and exercise
material for the pupils. It does NOT contain all the work for
the year, because a great deal of the work must be introduced
orally by the teacher, according to the suggestions set out in
the Teacher's Notes. If the pupils' book is well used, it will
give the pupils plenty of practice in speaking, reading and
writing the new material; but before the pupils can use their
book, the teacher must teach them the new material.
If you will please do this, your pupils will have a better
knowledge of English, and — more important — will be able
to speak and write it better, than if you go on with the old way
of teaching them a book instead of teaching them English.
Please keep always in mind:
TEACHING BEFORE READING.
7. Notice that at the end of the Teacher's Notes there are
useful Word Lists as follows: General, Proper Names and
grammatical terms; and an Index. All those should be used.
8. Revision of the previous year's work. Reading-texts One
and Two in the pupils' book, and the exercises, (pages 1 to 14)
contain revision of some of the most important work done in
Book Two. As your pupils work through these pages, you
will find out what they remember of the previous year's work.
No doubt you will have to recall much of it to their memories.
They must know this work thoroughly before they go on with
Book Three. The first important new material presented in
Book Three is in Reading-text Three: Relative Pronouns and
Relative Clauses.
9. The use of Arabic. The reading-texts should never be
translated into Arabic, either by the pupils or by the teacher.
In several places, the Teacher's Notes say: "Translate this word
into Arabic", or "Explain in Arabic". When the Notes say
this, you should do it; but you should not use Arabic otherwise,
and your pupils should not speak or write Arabic during an
English lesson. (The same rules for a restricted use of Arabic
apply to the reading of the Supplementary Readers; their pur-
pose is that the pupils should keep trying until they understand
them in English).
10. Written work. The exercises provide almost all the
written work required in the First and Second Intermediate
Classes. They should usually be prepared orally first, but when
the pupils write them they should do so without further help.
They should not be copied from the blackboard. Their purpose
is to make the pupils exercise their brains and use what they
have learned. Copying is not a useful exercise at the Inter-
mediate stage. Pupils should be given an opportunity of correct-
ing their mistakes after they have written the exercises. Some
exercises may be used as a test of what the pupils have learned.
As stated on page vii of the Teacher's Notes, Dictation may
occasionally be given to test the pupils' ability to understand
spoken English and to spell the words they know: Dictation
should deal with familiar material, and should be given at a
reasonable speed, that is, not too slowly.
3
At the Intermediate stage, pupils should not be asked to write
Free Composition. But they may make the first steps towards
free composition by writing one sentence at a time, under the
guidance of the teacher, on some simple, concrete theme within
their experience or reading. The object is to make sure that
what they write is correct, but not copied. One carefully
written sentence at the end of each lesson is enough. It pro-
vides a change from the main study of the lesson, and in ten
lessons a short guided composition can be written by the whole
class in this way. If each sentence has been discussed with the
class, and examples written on the blackboard (but cleaned off
before the pupils begin to write), then few mistakes will be
made, and these can be quickly pointed out by the teacher and
corrected by the pupils. Each sentence will be constructed
nearly alike by the whole class, but good pupils will make
individual variations within the common pattern. The best
pupils may be encouraged to add sentences of their own on the
theme; but only within their knowledge of the language, and
after rehearsing them orally with the teacher. Mistakes should
never be allowed to go uncorrected. If a pupil repeatedly makes
the same mistake, he should be given some exercises to do
which will fix the correct pattern in his mind. This is teaching.
11. Backward pupils. If you have a few pupils in a class
who are far behind the majority, and cannot keep up with the
work suggested above, then you should devise some very simple
exercises for them to do while the others are working with you.
With such pupils, you might even have to resort to copying, in
order to help them to remember the sentence-patterns. It is no
use pretending that such pupils can make the same progress
as the majority; but it is your duty to teach them as much as
they can learn.
C.W. MORRIS
Specialist Inspector of English
28/5/55
ENGLISH BOOKLIST, 1955-1956
INTERMEDIATE
First Year:
1- Oxford English Course for Iraq, Book Three ( All)
(Teacher Should have Teacher's Notes)
2- The Golden Earth
3- Crosswords for Beginners, Book Two
Second Year:
1- Oxford English Course for Iraq, Book Three ( All)
( Teacher should have Teachers' Notes)
2- Stories from the Near East
Third Year:
1- Oxford Alternative Book Four ( All)
2- Children of the New Forest
3- Dictionary
SECONDARY:
Fourth Year:
1- Oxford Alternative Book Five ( All)
2- Lorna Doone
3- Dictionary
Fifth Year:
1- Hill : ⟦...⟧ & ⟦...⟧ ⟦...⟧
2- Don Quixote
3- Country of the Blind
4- Dictionary
⟦line⟧
Note:
The Books Underlined will note be used again
B.M./20
PRIMARY
Fifth Year:
Oxford English Course for Western Asia, Book One.
( Teachers' Notes for Book One).
Progressive Writing Books, One and Two.
Crosswords for Beginners, Book One.
Sixth Year:
Oxford English Course for Western Asia ( or IRAQ)
Book One.
( Teachers' Notes for Book Two).
Progessive Crosswords for Iraq, Book One.
Progressive writing Books, Three.
B.M./⟦illegible⟧0
858 / 4 / ⟦illegible⟧
1210
Directorate of Education of Baghdad Province
The Center
Number
Date 11 / 9 / 1955
To all Directorates of Secondary and Intermediate Schools associated with this Directorate
Subject / English Books
Listed below are the names of the English textbooks scheduled to be taught in the 55/956
academic year.
1- Western Asia Book III
2- Goldin Earth
3- Crossword for Beginner Part II
1- Western Asia Book III
2- Strises from the near east
1- Alternative Book IV
2- Childrin of three new forest
3- The general Basic English dictionary
1- Alternative Book V
2- Lorna doon
3- The General Basic English Dictionary
1- Comperhension and Precis pieces
2- The country of the Bliend
⟦Don Quixote⟧
4- The general Basic English dictionary
Furthermore, please note that the teaching of Plane Geometry has been cancelled in the three intermediate grades
and replaced by the books mentioned below:-
1) Principles of Plane Geometry Part I - for the first grade
2) " " " Part II - for the second grade
3) " " " Part III - for the third grade
⟦signature⟧
Director of Education of Baghdad Province
The Center
A copy to:-
Books and Stationery Storekeeper
7 / 9 / ⟦illegible⟧
Republic of Iraq
Directorate of Education for Baghdad District
Secondary Personnel
Number /: 22144
Date /: 11/4/1958
To -: All school administrations in the district
Subject/ Curriculum Amendments: ⟦line⟧
We provide you below with a copy of the letter from the General Directorate of Technical Affairs 45294 on
10/26/958. Please review it and act accordingly.
A copy to -
Director of Education for Baghdad District
General Directorate of Technical Affairs / Curricula, Books, and Illustration Aids
Education Inspectorate in the District / in sufficient copies
Secondary Book Warehouse Observation
Northern Book Warehouse Observation
Southern Book Warehouse Observation
Records Observation
Secondary Personnel Observation
Primary Personnel Observation
Copy of the Letter
⟦line⟧
1- With reference to your letter No. 11122 on 10/15/958 regarding instructions for
curriculum and textbook amendments, the following shall be followed regarding the points inquired about.
A- The hour deleted from the subject of Grammar in both the fifth and sixth
primary grades shall be replaced by an hour for (Expression) until further notice.
2- Regarding the History book prescribed for the sixth primary grade, teaching is limited
to the non-deleted items from the book until further notice.
3- The booklet of curriculum and book amendments that was recently distributed to the Directorates of Education
in the districts has stipulated what must be done at the present time regarding
the subject of Duties for the sixth primary grade after the prescribed book was cancelled.
B- Further to our letter No. 44210 on 10/21/958 regarding the use of the book
(Criticism and Rhetoric) prescribed for preparatory classes, fourth-grade students shall study in it
topics related to the science of meanings (Semantics).
And fifth-grade students shall study topics related to the sciences of Bayan and Badi' (Eloquence and Embellishment)
alongside the prescribed books.
Signature
Director General
⟦illegible⟧ Please inform the specialized school of the matter
Abdullah ⟦illegible⟧ 11/9/958
Al-Numaimi / 2
Republic of Iraq
⟦line⟧
Number: 45271
Date: 27 / 8 / 1958
Directorate of Education for Baghdad Province
Books and Stationery Warehouse
For Southern Primary Education
To /
Administrations of Official and Private Primary Schools
Subject / Moral Duties for the Sixth Grade
⟦line⟧
Please visit the Books and Stationery Warehouse for Primary Education - Southern to receive -
your needs of the book (Moral Duties for the Sixth Primary Grade) for teaching the subjects
according to the curriculum that was previously distributed to you, as quickly as possible.
Ghanim Hamdoun
For the Director of Education for Baghdad Province
Copy to / -
Directorate of Education / Directorate of Supplies - for your kind information and with reference to your
telephone call.
Primary Department Accountant
Books and Stationery Warehouse
Mr. Ahmed
Please take the necessary action and inform Mr. Yusuf Telko of this
book
⟦signature⟧
4/1/1959
Aziz / 23rd of it /
4/12
Number 40
Republic of Iraq
Directorate of Education for Baghdad District
Secondary Books Warehouse
Number /: 44858
Date /: 12/25/58
To /
All Secondary School Administrations
Subject / Arrival of a book
The book (( ⟦A tale of two cities⟧ )) has arrived
scheduled to be taught in the fifth preparatory classes. Schools that are in need
of it should visit the secondary warehouse of this directorate and receive what they need.
⟦signature⟧
Director of Education for Baghdad District
A copy to /
Accountant of this Directorate / Secondary /
Superintendent of the Secondary Books Warehouse /
Mr. Ahmed
Please request a sufficient number of the book for the fifth preparatory class with an additional copy
⟦signature⟧
12/29/58
Mahdi / M / 18
⟦circular stamp with illegible text⟧
Republic of Iraq
Directorate of Education for Baghdad District
Secondary Book Store
Number: 847 / 42
Date: 20 / 12 / 958
To -
Administrations of all Secondary and Intermediate Schools
The second batch of the book "Geography of Iraq" has arrived
at the store of this Directorate (Secondary), which is scheduled to be taught in the first
intermediate grades. Schools in need of it should visit the aforementioned
store and receive their requirements - A.
⟦signature⟧
Director of Education for the District
Baghdad
A copy to -
Accountant of this Secondary Directorate
Supervisor of the Secondary Book Store
Mr. Ahmed
Please take the necessary measures to secure the books needed by the school from the Education Store
⟦signature⟧
29 / 12 / 958
⟦circular stamp with number 7⟧
Al-Nuaimi / 19