PSTET Paper 1: Language I (Punjabi) - PSTET Paper 1

Language I (Punjabi) tests Gurmukhi reading and writing, grammar, vocabulary, comprehension, and the pedagogy of teaching Punjabi as a first language in primary classes.

Script and orthography

Gurmukhi is written left to right and has no upper or lower case. Vowels are shown by matras attached to consonants: ਕੰਨਾ (ਾ), ਸਿਹਾਰੀ (ਿ), ਬਿਹਾਰੀ (ੀ), ਔਂਕੜ (ੁ), ਦੁਲੈਂਕੜ (ੂ), ਲਾਵਾਂ (ੇ), ਦੁਲਾਵਾਂ (ੈ), ਹੋੜਾ (ੋ), ਕਨੌੜਾ (ੌ); mukta has no matra. Nasalisation uses ਟਿੱਪੀ or ਬਿੰਦੀ; addak (ੱ) doubles a consonant. Matra errors change meaning, so dictation and matra matching are diagnostic.

Grammar

Nouns carry gender (ਲਿੰਗ), number (ਵਚਨ), and case (ਕਾਰਕ); postpositions follow the noun or pronoun. Verbs agree in person, gender, and number, and tense is marked as present, past, or future. Vocabulary work includes synonyms, antonyms, and muhavare.

Pedagogy

Build oral language before writing; use phonics for Gurmukhi, shared reading, word walls, and process writing. Comprehension questions should move from literal to inferential to evaluative.

Worked example: Correct ਮੁੰਡਾ ਸਕੂਲ ਜਾਂਦੀ ਹੈ to ਮੁੰਡਾ ਸਕੂਲ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਹੈ. ਮੁੰਡਾ is masculine singular, so the verb takes the masculine singular ending -ਾ; the feminine form would be ਕੁੜੀ ਸਕੂਲ ਜਾਂਦੀ ਹੈ.

Traps: writing a matra after the whole word instead of on its consonant; mixing ਟਿੱਪੀ and ਬਿੰਦੀ; translating English idioms literally; teaching grammar only as labels; ignoring oral reading fluency.