Language II
What the domain tests
Language II is a 30-mark paper in English or Hindi, other than your Language I. For most Hindi-medium candidates it is English. It tests comprehension, grammar, vocabulary and second-language pedagogy.
Core rules and concepts
- Reading: skim for gist, scan for detail; separate main idea from supporting detail; infer tone and purpose from evidence.
- Grammar: tense and aspect, subject–verb agreement, articles, prepositions, conditionals, reported speech. Use form and meaning together.
- Vocabulary: collocation, prefix/suffix, synonym/antonym in context; avoid word lists without context.
- Second-language pedagogy: comprehensible input, meaningful interaction, scaffolding, and feedback that addresses meaning before form; correction should not block communication.
- Assessment: discrete grammar items plus integrated reading and writing tasks.
Worked example
In She has been living here since 2010, the present perfect continuous (has been + -ing) shows an action that began in the past and continues now. Since marks a point in time; for marks duration. She lives here since 2010 is wrong because simple present cannot carry that past-to-present span.
Traps
Do not exchange since and for; do not use present perfect with a finished past time such as yesterday; do not infer beyond the passage; do not treat every error as carelessness-name the rule.