WBBSE Madhyamik English (Second Language) case studies
WBBSE Madhyamik English (Second Language) · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The Madhyamik Examination is the West Bengal board's Class 10 school-leaving assessment, and English (Second Language) is one of its compulsory papers. For most candidates this is the first board-level English paper that counts towards a state-recognised certificate and towards eligibility for Class 11 admission in West Bengal schools, so the stakes feel different from a school test. The WBBSE Madhyamik English (Second Language) case studies are 5 cases and about 4,568 words.
1Marking reported speech when the rule and the meaning disagree
Rupam, a Madhyamik candidate, has been given 4 out of 5 in the grammar section of a school test by a trainee teacher, and the senior teacher must confirm the mark before the script is returned. The item asked for four rewrites, one mark each, plus one mark for overall accuracy in spelling and sentence correctness.
886 words, about 4 min2Inference, over-reading and a faulty vocabulary item in an unseen passage
Read the passage and answer the questions that follow. For eleven months the three street lamps on our lane had been dead, and we had learned to walk that stretch with our eyes on the ground.
896 words, about 4 min3Rewarding understatement in an unseen poem: two answers, one poem
Two candidates answer the same two questions on this unpublished poem. The banyan has swallowed half the lane; its roots wear coats of dust the sweepers miss.
955 words, about 5 min4A notice that is under the word limit and still wrong
Sohini, Class X, is asked to draft a notice for the school notice board. The instructions on the question paper are: not more than 100 words; write within a box; give the date of issue; it is to be signed by the Headmistress; only students of Classes IX and X may take part.
877 words, about 4 min5A three-mark answer on Keats: retelling versus answering “how”
In summer the grasshopper sings and in winter the cricket sings, so the poetry of earth never stops. Award the three marks to Tanmoy and Riya, with reasoning.
954 words, about 5 min