The Summer-Library Letter: Code-Switching and Register
The composition section offers two choices: (i) an 80-word paragraph on 'My School Library', or (ii) a letter to the principal asking for permission to use the library during the summer vacation. A candidate chooses the letter and writes: 'محترم جناب پرنسپل صاحب، سلام. میں آپ سے گزارش کرتا ہوں کہ مجھے لائبریری میں پڑھنے کی اجازت دی جائے۔ میرا امتحان قریب ہے۔ میں روزانہ دو گھنٹے آؤں گا۔ آپ کا شاگرد، علی.' The letter is 45 words, mixes Urdu and Persian, omits the date, and uses 'جناب پرنسپل صاحب' with a redundant title. The rubric allots 5 marks for format, 5 for content, 5 for language, and 5 for register. The teacher must decide whether to fail the letter for language mixing or award partial credit for communicative success. The school's Persian paper allows occasional Urdu/Hindi glosses only in vocabulary explanations, not in composition. The candidate is otherwise a strong student who ran out of time.
1. How should the teacher distribute marks across format, content, language, and register?
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Award about 10/20, not a fail.
- Format: 2/5. The letter has a salutation and closing, but no date, no subject line, and 'جناب پرنسپل صاحب' is redundant (either 'جناب مدیر' or 'مدیر صاحب').
- Content: 4/5. The request, reason, and proposed schedule are clear; the 80-word target is not met, but the message is complete.
- Language: 2/5. The letter mixes Urdu syntax and lexicon ('میں آپ سے گزارش کرتا ہوں', 'مجھے', 'میرا', 'آؤں گا') with Persian; this is more than an occasional gloss.
- Register: 2/5. 'سلام' is acceptable in some school letters, but the opening and closing are not consistently formal.
Total 10/20. The candidate communicated, so a zero would be unjust; the rubric must still penalise code-switching because the paper requires Persian composition.
2. Rewrite the opening and closing in acceptable formal Persian, keeping the candidate's request.
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Model opening: 'جناب مدیر محترم، پس از عرض سلام و احترام، خواهشمند است به این شاگرد اجازه فرمایید که در ایام تعطیلات تابستان از کتابخانه مدرسه استفاده کند.' Model closing: 'با تجدید احترام، شاگرد شما، علی.' Add 'تاریخ: ...' and 'موضوع: درخواست استفاده از کتابخانه در تعطیلات تابستان' at the top. This keeps the candidate's three content points (exam near, two hours daily, permission) but replaces Urdu verbs with Persian subjunctive and formal forms. The teacher should show the transformation, not just the corrected letter, so the student sees which words were code-switches.
3. What feedback would prevent the mixing without discouraging the student?
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Separate planning from drafting and give reusable frames. First, have the student list the three facts in Persian nouns (امتحان، کتابخانه، دو ساعت) without full sentences. Then supply two frames: 'خواهشمند است اجازه فرمایید که...' and 'با تجدید احترام...'. Mark code-switching as one category, not as many small errors, so the feedback is legible. Finally, give a 10-minute timed draft with the date and subject line required; the student ran out of time, so the issue is partly procedural. Do not tell a strong student 'your Urdu is the problem'; tell them 'the register is the problem, and it is fixable with frames'.