The Concord Dispute in an Eleven-Word Sentence
In a 40-minute grammar lesson, 22 AS learners analyse an 11-word sentence from their prescribed Thimbukushu reader. The sentence contains a noun that belongs to class 6 (ma- plural) after the verb, a subject noun from class 1, and a verb form in which the element 'gha' appears immediately before the root. Three learners offer competing analyses: (1) 'gha' is the subject concord because it comes before the verb root; (2) 'gha' is the object concord because the class 6 noun follows the verb; (3) the verb is passive because the subject noun is not the one doing the action. The teacher has one 1987 reference grammar and a 2019 orthography booklet, but no internet. Seven learners speak a home variety that uses a different concord shape in this construction. The teacher must decide what to present as the standard for the examination and how to treat the home variety without confusing the class.
1. Adjudicate between the three analyses. State which evidence is decisive, which is irrelevant, and give a substitution test the class can run.
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The decisive evidence is the agreement chain, not the position of 'gha' alone. In Bantu verb structure, the subject concord comes first, then tense/aspect, then the object concord before the root. So 'immediately before the root' does not prove subject concord; object concord also occupies that zone. The class must identify which noun controls the first concord and which noun controls the pre-root element.
Analysis (1) is therefore based on an unreliable rule. Analysis (2) is plausible only if the class 6 noun is the object and the pre-root element agrees with class 6. Analysis (3) is the weakest: passive is marked by a verb extension and a characteristic final vowel, and the subject still controls concord. The absence of an obvious agent is not sufficient evidence of passive voice.
Substitution test: replace the class 6 noun with a pronoun of the same class and see whether the pre-root element remains; then replace the class 1 subject with another class 1 noun and see whether the first concord changes. If the first element changes with the subject and the pre-root element changes with the object, the analysis is settled.
2. Design a six-sentence diagnostic exercise that would reveal whether learners can distinguish subject concord, object concord, and passive. For each sentence, say what misconception it tests.
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Class 1 subject + class 6 object + active verb. Tests whether learners mark the first element as subject concord rather than treating every pre-root morpheme alike.
Class 6 subject + class 1 object + active verb. Tests whether learners rely on noun class instead of position; the first concord must agree with the class 6 subject.
Class 1 subject + no object + active verb. Tests whether learners invent an object concord when none is present.
Class 1 subject + class 6 object + passive extension. Tests whether learners can identify passive morphologically while still locating subject concord.
Class 6 subject + class 1 object + passive extension. Tests whether learners confuse the object noun with the agent of a passive.
A sentence with a home-variety concord shape. Tests whether learners can describe a variant systematically rather than labelling it 'wrong'.
For each item, ask learners to underline the subject concord, circle the object concord, and write 'passive' or 'active' with the evidence. The diagnostic is not scored for speed; the teacher reads the annotations, not just the answers.
3. How should the teacher handle the home variety used by seven learners?
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The teacher should separate description from prescription. In analysis, the home variety is systematic and worth describing: learners can compare its concord shape with the prescribed form and identify the environments in which each occurs. This is valuable metalinguistic work and prevents shame.
For the examination, the teacher must be explicit about which code is required. The 2019 orthography booklet and the marking guide establish the written standard; learners need to know that the standard is a convention for assessment, not a judgement that their home speech is inferior. A contrastive chart-'home form / school form / context'-makes the boundary visible.
In oral work, the home variety should be accepted unless it impedes communication. In written grammar answers, learners should use the prescribed form and, where relevant, note the variant. The teacher should avoid presenting the 1987 grammar as infallible; it is a reference, not a scriptural text. If the textbook and the home variety conflict, the teacher names the conflict and teaches the examination convention without mocking the home form.