English Important Questions Series – 2 for CTET, all State TETs, KVS, NVS, DSSSB etc
1. Which Indian reformist supported English education? –
Raja Ram Mohan Roy
MK Gandhi
Swami Vivekananda
Swami Dayanand
Ans- Option A
Raja Ram Mohan Roy was a
great supporter of English education and translated Vedic scriptures into
English.
(GK and current affairs:
History)
2. Creating or retrieving what the student wants to say and then generating a suitable text to say it, are the stages of the _____ process.-
Listening
Writing
Speaking
Creative Thinking
Ans- Option B
Creating a retrieving
what the student wants to say and then generating a suitable text to say it,
are the stages of the writing process. As in writing a child expresses his or
her thoughts and ideas by forming simple and complex sentences.
(Child development and
Pedagogy: Learning of Language Skills)
3. Which of the following resources will help to break down communication barriers and enable children to study and learn in both language 1 and language 2-
Multilingual resources
Multimedia resources
Mote textual resources
Communicative resources
Ans- Option A
Use of multilingualism
that is the native language and English language together to increase students’
understanding will help to break down communication barriers.
( English Pedagogy:
Language Learning )
4. When children first start to speak in sentences their speech may be described as-
Multilingual
Babbling
Exceptionally soft
Telegraphic
Ans- Option B
Babbling is a stage in
child development and a state and language acquisition during which an infant
appears to be experimenting with a uttering articulate sounds, but does not yet
produce any recognisable words. Babbling begins shortly after birth and
progresses through several stages as the infant’s repertoire of sounds expands
and vocalisations become more speech – like.
(Child development and
Pedagogy: Learning of Language Skills)
5. Remediation, when students find difficulty in the use of different ‘modals’, would be to-
practice by
collaboratively completing task where structures are used integratively, in a
variety of real life situations
Be given ample practice
in using modals in a set of sentences
Frame sentences on their
own and the teacher corrects them
Learn about the
structures outside the classroom through suitable activities
Ans- Option A
Remediation, by
practicing and collaboratively completing task where structures are used
integratively in a variety of real life situations can remove the difficulty
faced by students in the use of different modals.
Examples-
1.it could
rain tomorrow.
2. May I
use your phone please.
Here, Could and May
are two modals which are explained by giving real life examples.
(Child development and
Pedagogy: Remedial Teaching)
How to improve your English Communication Skills Easily
Have a read of the below list and we are sure you will find a lot of helpful tips to improve your English!
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Be confident. People can only correct your mistakes when they hear you make them.
Surround yourself in English. Put yourself in an all English speaking environment where you can learn passively. The best way to learn is through speaking.
Practise every day. Make yourself a study plan. Decide how much time a week you are going to spend studying and stick to it. Establish a routine.
Tell your family and friends about your study plan. Get them to push you to study and also don’t let them interrupt you.
Practise the 4 core skills: reading, writing, speaking and listening. They all need to be worked on for you to improve.
Keep a notebook of new words you learn. Use them in sentences and try to say them at least 3 times when you speak.
Do a lesson at least once a day.
Memorisation of lists is one of the most common ways of learning vocabulary for a test. It’s only a good exercise for short term studying because you often do not retain the information that you have learned for a test.
Use your body clock. If you’re not a morning person, study in the afternoon.
You will find words easier to remember if you try to remember an example sentence using that word rather the word on its own.
Plan to take a test. You’ll find that you work harder when you need to study for something.
Saying that, it’s better not to study just to take a test. Think of the bigger picture. What can you do when you have a good command of English? How will the quality of your life improve?
Give yourself a long term goal. Focus on working towards it.
Give yourself short term goals too and reward yourself when you achieve each one.
Create an atmosphere in which you want to learn, not because you have to. You’ll learn more when you’re learning because you want to.
Know what works best for you. Think about what methods have been successful for you in the past and stick with them.
Figure out how you learn. It can be by memorising, reading, speaking, summarising or other methods. Find out how you study best. It can be in a quiet place by yourself or with a group.
Get help! If you don’t understand something you’ve got to ask someone. Ask your teacher, classmates or friends for help.
Review and review and review! Make sure that you take the time to review things you have studied in the past.
It’s not a good idea to study on your own for more than 30 minutes at a time. Take regular breaks, get some fresh air and stretch your legs.
Don’t be in such a hurry to move up a level. Concentrate on the level you are at now.
Watch DVDs rather than TV. It’s better to use something that you can watch over again to catch information you might have missed the first time.
Watching TV only gives you the chance to hear something correctly first time. This is better for high level students. It can be great practice for speaking to native English speakers so you don’t have to ask them to repeat themselves!
Read graded readers. These books are especially written for your level. Read a whole novel. You can do it! You’ll feel great afterwards.
Children’s books have easier words and are a good alternative to graded readers.
Newspapers are a good place to find passive constructs. Read through an article and see if you can find the passive sentences.
Read for the general meaning first. Don’t worry about understanding every word, then go back and look up new words.
For a word you don’t understand in a sentence, look at the other words around it. They will give you a hint. Try to guess the meaning from the context.
Learn root words. They’ll help you guess the meaning of words. For example: scrib = write, min = small
When you learn a new word, think of all its other forms: Beautiful (adjective),beauty (noun), beautifully (adverb).
Learn prefixes (dis-, un-, re-) and suffixes (-ly, -ment, -ful), these will help you to figure out the meaning of words and build your vocabulary.
English, unlike Japanese or French, uses word stress. For new words, count the syllables and find where the stress is. Only one stress per word and always on a vowel. Two syllable verbs have a stress on the second syllable (beGIN). 2 syllable nouns (TEAcher) and adjectives (HAPpy) stress the first.
Use English whenever you can. It’s as simple as that!
Don’t translate into English from your own language. Think in English to improve your fluency. Talk to yourself…but not on the bus otherwise people will think you have gone crazy!
You can’t learn English from a book. Like driving a car, you can only learn through doing it.
The most natural way to learn grammar is through talking.
Keep an English diary or journal. Start by writing a few sentences a day and then get into the habit of writing more.
Why not start an online blog and share your writings with the world?
To become a better writer brainstorm as many ideas and thoughts onto paper without worrying about grammar or spelling. Then think about the structure. After that, write your piece using good grammar and spelling. Finally, read it through or give it to someone else to check for mistakes.
Keep an eye on your punctuation as it can totally change what you’re trying to say. Check out the difference in meaning between these two sentences: “A woman without her man is nothing” and “A woman: without her, man is nothing”.
Sing your heart out! Show the world your beautiful voice! Learn English songs and sing along with them to improve fluency and intonation… anyone for Karaoke?
Get a penfriend or use chat-rooms, forums and community sites. If you can’t speak to someone in English, this is the next best thing.
Shadow English CDs. Listen to a few sentences then repeat what you heard. Focus on the rhythm and intonation.
Have English radio on in your house. Even if you are not actively listening to it, you will still be training your ears.
Mirror CDs. Read out loud along with a CD. Again, this is great for intonation, pronunciation and rhythm.
Dictation. Listen to a CD or friend and write down what you hear.
Nobody likes to hear their own voice, but be brave and try it! Record your voice and listen to your pronunciation and intonation. It will help you to identify your problem areas.
Ask your helpful teacher if you can record his lesson. This is a great way to review. You can also listen to your teachers speaking speed and intonation.
Use an English/English dictionary as it will help you to keep thinking in English and not translating.
If an English/English dictionary seems scary, there are learner’s dictionaries for English students of your level.
Don’t become too reliant on your dictionary. Your dictionary should be an aid, not your main teacher. Try to guess the meaning of words rather than going straight for your dictionary.
Don’t give up! Stay positive! Sometimes you will feel that you aren’t learning quickly enough. Everyone feels like this, don’t worry about it. You’ll get there in the end.
Enjoy it! We learn more when we are having fun!
If you get nervous when speaking, take two deep breaths before you say something. You’ll speak better when you feel relaxed.
Keep yourself motivated by looking back at the textbooks and CDs you used in the past. You’ll be surprised at how easy they seem to you now! Congratulations, your level is improving!
You are never too young or too old to start learning English. Don’t make excuses not to learn. What are you waiting for?
Procrastination can stop you from being successful. To stop procrastinating, it’s important you understand if your procrastinating is to avoid studying, or if it is your bad habit.
If you haven’t gotten the results you wanted yet, it’s not because you’re bad at languages, it’s because you haven’t found your own special way of learning yet.
Use resources which match your level. Don’t use texts/listening exercises which are too difficult or too easy. Use materials which challenge you but don’t frustrate you.
Don’t worry about making your accent perfect. It’s an important part of your cultural identity to keep your accent. Native English speakers enjoy hearing English spoken with an accent.
There are many types of English: British, American, South African and so on. None of these are wrong or not as important. English is English.
Instead, be aware of the differences in American and British English and use your words accordingly. For example: Elevator (US) / Lift (British).
Carry cue cards with you. These are small cards which you can write new words on. You can pull them out and look at them whenever you a free minute.
Use post-it notes and stick them around your home. You can use them to label things. Stick one on your pet dog!
You can’t ignore phrasal verbs (two words verbs), there are hundreds of them in English and they’re widely used. The more you focus on their meaning, the more you’ll be able to guess the meaning of new ones. You’ll start to recognise their patterns.
Use your intuition. Go with your gut feeling, you’ll be surprised how often your first guess is the right guess. Like we said before, be confident.
Gather your thoughts. Take a second to think about what you’re going to say. You know the grammar, but maybe you don’t use it correctly when you speak.
Meet new people. Make the effort to mix with English speakers in your town. You could join a club or go to bars where foreigners hang out. Buy one a drink, they love that!
Be the person to start conversations in English. Try to keep the conversations moving and use listening words (‘really?’ / ‘go on…’/ ‘what happened then?’) Don’t wait for others to speak to you. Get in there!
Debate. Discuss topics in a group. Each person should choose a viewpoint (even if you don’t agree with it) and debate it within the group. Make sure you get your point across. Learn to listen actively. Active listening will help in the classroom and it will help you get more out of, and contribute more to, group study sessions. Focus on the person who is talking. Concentrate on the speaker with your ears and eyes.
It’s not enough to only learn English words. You can teach a parrot English words but that doesn’t mean it can speak English! You still need to have an understanding of grammar.
Verb tenses are used by English speakers to talk about the timing of actions. You might not have the same expressions in your own language. It’s important that you know these tenses and when to use them.
English has many irregular verbs. You should drill yourself on them.
Keep it up! If you take a break from speaking English, you will find that your level decreases and all your hard work has been wasted.
Don’t be put off by a bad test score. Sometimes students have the ability to pass an English test, but can’t communicate well with English speakers. If you can speak freely in English, you should be proud of yourself.
Remember that as long as you have tried your hardest, you have succeeded!
Learn English with a friend. You’ll have someone you can practice with and you can motivate each other to study.
Remember, the way we write English is not the same as how it’s pronounced. For example ‘Ough’ has over 6 pronunciations. Familiarise yourself the Phonetic Alphabet. It will help you correctly pronounce words in the dictionary.
Get used to the ‘schwa’ sound [É™] — an unstressed and toneless neutral vowel sound. ‘Schwa’ is the most common vowel sound in English. For example, the ‘a‘ inabout and the ‘u‘ in supply.
Keep in mind that it takes longer to improve when our level is high. Usually the fastest progress is made when we are beginners. Don’t think that you’re suddenly not learning anymore, it’s just a less noticeable progress.
Make sure that your English matches the occasion. It’s OK to use slang with friends but not in a business meeting. Decide in which situation it’s appropriate to use the words and phrases you have learned.
Textbook English is often different from the way we casually speak. To learn casual ‘slang’ watch movies.
Idioms can be difficult to memorise, but they are great fun to use and they’ll make your English more colourful.
When talking we usually link words together so that two words can sound like one. Simply put, we link words ending with a consonant sound to words beginning with a vowel sound (consonant > vowel). We link words ending with a vowel sound to words beginning with a vowel sound (vowel > vowel). Practice these to improve your listening and pronunciation.
Think about your strong and weak points. Write down which areas you want to improve on and work on improving them. Of course, don’t ignore your strong points. Congratulate yourself on how well you’ve done!
Unlearn your mistakes. You probably make the same grammar mistakes over and over again. Use English tests results as a study tool. Go over your mistakes and choose one or two that you want to focus on. Use your favourite grammar book to check rules.
Use the correct article (a/an, the). Be aware that there is more to this rule than a/an= non specific, the=specific. For example: A university (not an university because it begins with a consonant sound). An hour (not a hour because the ‘h’ is often silent).
For fluency, try image training. Before you go to that restaurant think through what the waiter is likely to say to you. Think of what phrases you are going to use.
Much communication comes through body language and gesture. These can be different between cultures and countries. For example, the two-fingered “V” for victory symbol is fine palms-out. If you make it with you palm facing toward you, you’ll offend a British person. It means…well, you ask a British person and find out for yourself!
The easiest one — Sleep! You’ll learn more after a good night’s sleep. You’ll be able to concentrate more.
If you studying abroad, mix with people from other countries not only people from your own country. It’s not a good idea for you to live in a shared house with people from your own country. Enjoy a more cultural experience by spending time with other nationalities.
Have you thought about getting a job or doing an internship abroad?
Get yourself a qualified teacher. Who wants to learn wrong things?
Nobody can learn all of the English language. No need to worry about trying. A useful shortcut to learning is that in English we have lots of words that have the same pronunciation, but a different spelling and meaning. For example, ‘come here’ has the same pronunciation as, ‘I can hear the birds’. You might find it easier to build vocabulary by knowing the different meanings.
Once you have a basic level of English explore the different ways you can say the same thing. This makes your English more interesting to the listener and it shouldn’t be too difficult for you because you already know the basics. For example, how many ways can we say, ‘Goodbye‘ in English?
When you are on your English course, be prepared for your class. Do your homework as soon as possible and hand it in on time. Review your notes and your last lesson a few minutes before the class. Doing this will refresh your memory and you’ll be warmed up for lesson.
Don’t get distracted in class. Focus on the lesson, don’t stare out of the window. Don’t be late, arrive a few minutes before the start of the lesson. Don’t sit next to people who won’t speak to you in English. Switch off your phone. Be organised, remember to take your textbook, notebook and pen.
Find a comfortable, peaceful place for quiet study. You need somewhere where you can focus 100.
Q. Which Indian reformist supported English education? –
Raja Ram Mohan Roy
MK Gandhi
Swami Vivekananda
Swami Dayanand
Ans- Option A
Raja Ram Mohan Roy was a great supporter of English education and translated Vedic scriptures into English.
(GK and current affairs: History)
Q. Creating or retrieving what the student wants to say and then generating a suitable text to say it, are the stages of the _____ process.-
Listening
Writing
Speaking
Creative Thinking
Ans- Option B
Creating a retrieving what the student wants to say and then generating a suitable text to say it, are the stages of the writing process. As in writing a child expresses his or her thoughts and ideas by forming simple and complex sentences.
(Child development and Pedagogy: Learning of Language Skills)
Q. Which of the following resources will help to break down communication barriers and enable children to study and learn in both language 1 and language 2-
Multilingual resources
Multimedia resources
Mote textual resources
Communicative resources
Ans- Option A
Use of multilingualism that is the native language and English language together to increase students’ understanding will help to break down communication barriers.
( English Pedagogy: Language Learning )
Q. When children first start to speak in sentences their speech may be described as-
Multilingual
Babbling
Exceptionally soft
Telegraphic
Ans- Option B
Babbling is a stage in child development and a state and language acquisition during which an infant appears to be experimenting with a uttering articulate sounds, but does not yet produce any recognisable words. Babbling begins shortly after birth and progresses through several stages as the infant’s repertoire of sounds expands and vocalisations become more speech – like.
(Child development and Pedagogy: Learning of Language Skills)
Q. Remediation, when students find difficulty in the use of different ‘modals’, would be to-
practice by collaboratively completing task where structures are used integratively, in a variety of real life situations
Be given ample practice in using modals in a set of sentences
Frame sentences on their own and the teacher corrects them
Learn about the structures outside the classroom through suitable activities
Ans- Option A
Remediation, by practicing and collaboratively completing task where structures are used integratively in a variety of real life situations can remove the difficulty faced by students in the use of different modals.
Examples-
1.it could rain tomorrow.
2. May I use your phone please.
Here, Could and May are two modals which are explained by giving real life examples.
(Child development and Pedagogy: Remedial Teaching)
English Important Questions Series – 1 for CTET, all State TETs, KVS, NVS, DSSSB etc
1. A teacher asks students of class III to describe their best friend. She writes the students’ responses on the blackboard. At last she states that all these describing words on the blackboard are adjectives. This is-
Immersion method
Incidental method
Inductive method
Deductive method
Ans- Option C
In the inductive method, first the simple examples are present and then a theory or a concept has formed.
( Child development and pedagogy: Learning and its Methods )
2. Teaching learning material (TLM) should be used by teachers as it-
Is not very expensive
Motivates learners to further prepare such material at home
Supplements teaching-learning process
Prepare students mentally to sit in the class
Ans- Option C
Teaching learning material supplements teaching learning process as they refer to a spectrum of educational materials that teachers use in the classroom to support specific learning objects, as set out in lesson plans. These can be games, videos, flash cards, project supplies and more. Using TLM can greatly assist students in the learning process.
( Child Development and Pedagogy: Teaching Aids )
3. Which of the following is the most important about storytelling-
It broadens their knowledge about various authors
It enhances graded pattern and structure
It promotes whole language approach
it is an effective way of learning vocabulary
Ans- Option D
Children like to listen to stories; in doing so they come across new words which enrich their vocabulary.
( Child development and pedagogy: Learning and its Methods )
4. Who gave the concept of LAD (language acquisition device)-
Naom Chomsky
Jean Piaget
Lev Vygotsky
Lawrence Kohlberg
Ans- Option A
The Language Acquisition Device (LAD) is a hypothetical module of the human mind posited to account for children’s innate predisposition for language acquisition. First proposed by Noam Chomsky in the 1960s, the LAD concept is an instinctive mental capacity which enables an infant to acquire and produce language.
( English: Pedagogy of Language Development )
5. The English curriculum is concerned with-
Learning of language
Learning through language
Both option A and B
Neither option A nor option B
Ans- Option C
The English curriculum is connected with both learning of language and learning through language as children acquire language through a subconscious process during which they are unaware of grammatical rules. This is similar to the way they acquire their first language. In order to acquire language the learner needs a source of natural communication with emphasis on the text of the communication and not on the form.
( Child Development and Pedagogy: Language Acquisition and Language Learning )
6. The period of infancy is from-
Birth to 2 years
Birth to 3 years
2 to 3 year
Birth to 1 year
Ans- Option A
The term infant is typically applied to young children between age of birth to 1 year.
STAGES OF LIFE-
Infancy (birth to 18 months)
Early childhood (2 to 3 years)
Preschool (3 to 5 years)
School age (6 to 11 years)
Adolescence (12 to 18 years)
Early adulthood (19 to 40 years)
Middle adulthood (40 to 65 years)
Maturity (65 years till death)
( Child Development and Pedagogy: Development of Children )
7. Deficiency in the ability to write associated with impaired handwriting is a symptom of-
Dyscalculia
Dysgraphia
Dysphasia
Aphasia
Ans- Option B
Dysgraphia is a specific learning disability that affects written expression. It can appear as poor handwriting, difficulty in spelling and writing in straight lines.
( Child Development and Pedagogy: Learning Disorders and Remedial Teaching )
8. Writing is a______ and not a______.
Product, process
Product, formation
Process, product
Process, formation
Ans- Option C
According to Donald Murray “teach writing as a process, not a product.”
Means children should acquire writing skills as a process because writing is the process of exploration of what we know and what we feel about what we know through language. It is the process of using language to learn about our world, to evaluate what we learn about our world and to communicate what we learn about our world.
( Child Development and Pedagogy: Language Learning )
9. Educators use YouTube to teach visual learners with videos, podcasts for auditory learners and interactive games for tactile learners in a language class. Here, multimedia caters to individual-
Linguistic differences
Learning styles
Authentic second language
Learning disabilities
Ans- Option B
Multimedia is used to cater mainly three different learning styles: 1.Auditory learners 2.Visual learners and 3. kinesthetic tactile learners.
( Child Development and Pedagogy: Language Acquisition and Language Learning )
10. ” Language is one of the most important characteristic forms of human behaviour.” It is the statement of-
Gleason
Maclver and Page
Mahatma Gandhi
Dr. R.K. Agarwal
Ans- Option A
( Child Development and Pedagogy: Language Acquisition )
English: Reading Comprehension for CTET, all State TETs, KVS, NVS, DSSSB etc
Directions- Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow by choosing the correct / most appropriate options –
Today, I, Rabindranath
Tagore complete eighty years of my life. As I look back on the vast stretch of
years that lie behind me and see in clear the history of my early development,
I am struck by the change that has taken place both in my own attitude and in
the psychology of my countrymen – a change that carries within it a cause of profound
tragedy.
Our direct contact with
the larger world of men was linked up with the contemporary history of the
English people whom we came to know in those earlier days. It was mainly
through their mighty literature that we formed our ideas with regard to these
newcomers to our Indian shores. In those days the type of learning that was
served out to us was neither plentiful nor diverse, nor was the spirit of
scientific enquiry very much in evidence. Thus their scope being strictly
limited, the educated of those days had recourse to English language and
literature. Their days and nights were eloquent with the stately declamations
of Burke, with Macaulay’s long-rolling sentences; discussions centered upon
Shakespeare’s drama and Byron’s poetry and above all upon the large-hearted
liberalism of the nineteenth-century English politics.
At the time though
tentative attempts were being made to gain our national independence, at heart
we had not lost faith in the generosity of the English race. This belief was so
firmly rooted in the sentiments of our leaders as to lead them to hope that the
victor would of his own grace pave the path of freedom for the vanquished. This
belief was based upon the fact that England at the time provided a shelter to
all those who had to flee from persecution in their own country. Political
martyrs who had suffered for the honour of their people were accorded
unreserved welcome at the hands of the English.
I was impressed by this evidence of liberal humanity in the character of the English and thus I was led to set them on the pedestal of my highest respect. This generosity in their national character had not yet been vitiated by imperialist pride. About this time, as a boy in England, I had the opportunity of listening to the speeches of John Bright, both in and outside Parliament. The large-hearted, radical liberalism of those speeches, overflowing all narrow national bounds, had made so deep an impression on my mind that something of it lingers even today, even in these days of graceless disillusionment.
From the first paragraph, give a synonym for ‘deep’:
A. Perspective
B. Profound
C. tragedy
D. Psychology
Ans- Option B
The word ‘profound’ is
similar in meaning to ‘deep’.
( General English:
Synonyms / Antonyms )
What helped the Indians to conceive of a notion of the Englishmen?
A. Their advanced
weaponry
B. Their literature
C. Their orders
D. Their administration
Ans- Option B
As mentioned in the
second paragraph, English literature helped Indians to shape their ideas about
the Englishmen by that it helped the Indians to conceive of a notion of the
Englishman.
Who could read and gain from English literature?
A. The educated Indians
B. All the Indians
C. Only writers such as
Rabindranath Tagore
D. None of the above
Ans- Option A
As stated in the second
paragraph, only the educated Indians could understand English literature.
From the third paragraph, give an antonym for ‘victorious’-
A. Victor
B. Vanquished
C. Belief
D. Persecution
Ans- Option B
Here, the antonym for
victorious is vanquished.
Victor means champion or
Hero.
Belief means faith or
trust.
Persecution means abuse,
oppression or cruelty.
( General English:
Synonyms / Antonyms )
Whose speeches did Tagore listen to, as a boy-
A. Shakespeare
B. Byron
C. John Bright
D. Macaulay
Ans- Option C
As a boy Tagore listened
to the speeches of John bright. These large – hearted radical liberalism of
those speeches, overflowed all narrow National bounds, had made so deep
impression on his mind that something of it lingered even in the days of
graceless disillusionment.
Which of the following word is the antonym of ‘eloquent’ –
A. Inarticulate
B. Fluent
C. Expressive
D. Glib
Ans- Option A
Fluent, expressive and
glib are the synonyms of eloquent. So the antonym of eloquent is inarticulate.
English: Reading Comprehension- 1 for CTET, all State TETs, KVS, NVS, DSSSB etc
Directions- Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow by choosing the correct / most appropriate option –
Philosophy of Education
is a label applied to the study of the purpose, process, nature and ideals of
education. It can be considered a branch of both philosophy and education.
Education can be defined as the teaching and learning of specific skills, and
the imparting of knowledge, judgment and wisdom, and is something broader than
the societal institution of education we often speak of.
Many educationalists
consider it a weak and woolly field, too far removed from the practical
applications of the real world to be useful. But philosophers dating back to
Plato and the Ancient Greeks have given the area much thought and emphasis, and
there is little doubt that their work has helped shape the practice of
education over the millennia.
Plato is the earliest
important educational thinker, and education is an essential element in
“The Republic” (his most important work on philosophy and political
theory, written around 360 B.C.). In it, he advocates some rather extreme
methods: removing children from their mothers’ care and raising them as wards of
the state, and differentiating children suitable to the various castes, the
highest receiving the most education, so that they could act as guardians of
the city and care for the less able. He believed that education should be
holistic, including facts, skills, physical discipline, music and art. Plato
believed that talent and intelligence is not distributed genetically and thus
is to be found in children born to all classes, although his proposed system of
selective public education for an educated minority of the population does not
really follow a democratic model.
Aristotle considered
human nature, habit and reason to be equally important forces to be cultivated
in education, the ultimate aim of which should be to produce good and virtuous
citizens. He proposed that teachers lead their students systematically, and
that repetition be used as a key tool to develop good habits, unlike Socrates’
emphasis on questioning his listeners to bring out their own ideas. He
emphasized the balancing of the theoretical and practical aspects of subjects
taught, among which he explicitly mentions reading, writing, mathematics,
music, physical education, literature, history, and a wide range of sciences,
as well as play, which he also considered important.
During the Medieval period,
the idea of Perennialism was first formulated by St. Thomas Aquinas in his work
“De Magistro”. Perennialism holds that one should teach those
things
to be of
everlasting importance to all people everywhere, namely principles and
reasoning, not just facts (which are apt to change over time), and that one
should teach first about people, not machines or techniques. It was originally
religious in nature, and it was only much later that a theory of secular
perennialism developed.
During the Renaissance, the
French skeptic Michel de Montaigne (1533 – 1592) was one of the first to
critically look at education. Unusually for his time, Montaigne was willing to
question the conventional wisdom of the period, calling into question the whole
edifice of the educational system, and the implicit assumption that
university-educated philosophers were necessarily wiser than uneducated farm
workers, for example.
What is the difference between the approaches of Socrates and Aristotle?
A. Aristotle felt the
need for repetition to develop good habits in students; Socrates felt that
students need to be constantly questioned
B. Aristotle felt the
need for rote-learning; Socrates emphasized on dialogic learning
C. There was no
difference
D. Aristotle emphasized
on the importance of paying attention to human nature; Socrates emphasized upon
science
Ans – Option A
Their approaches were
different and this difference is quite explicitly explained in the fourth
paragraph.
Why do educationists consider philosophy a ‘weak and woolly’ field?
A.It is not practically
applicable
B. Its theoretical
concepts are easily understood
C. It is irrelevant for
education
D. None of the above
Ans- Option A
As educationists believe
that philosophical abstractions are not suitable for practical application.
What do you understand by the term ‘Perennialism’, in the context of the given comprehension passage?
A. It refers to
something which is of ceaseless importance
B. It refers to
something which is quite unnecessary
C. It refers to
something which is abstract and theoretical
D. It refers to
something which existed in the past and no longer exists now
Ans- Option A
As the term comes from
the root word ‘perennial’ – which means ceaseless.
Plato’s beliefs about education were democratic?
A. He believed that only
the rich have the right to acquire education
B. Yes
C. He believed that only
a select few are meant to attend schools
D. He believed that all
pupils are not talented
Ans- Option B
Plato’s beliefs were
democratic but not his suggested practices.
Why did Aquinas propose a model of education which did not lay much emphasis on facts?
A. Facts are not
important
B. Facts do not lead to
holistic education
C.Facts change with the
changing times
D. Facts are frozen in
time
Ans- Option C
Facts do change with the
changing times, hence, they are not of the utmost importance when aiming for
holistic education
Which one of the following words is similar in meaning to ‘acquired’ as used in the passage? –
A. Implicit
B. Cultivated
C. Emphasized
D. Formulated
Ans- Option B
*According to the
present context the word acquired means cultivated here.
*Implicit means implied,
indirect, understood, hinted etc.
*Emphasised means focus
on, give special importance or value, highlighted etc.
*Formulated means create
or prepare methodically.
( General English:
Synonyms / Antonyms )
The antonym of the word ‘holistic’ is-
A. Comprehensive
B. Integrated
C. Atomistic
D. Formal
Ans- Option C
The antonym of the word
holistic is atomistic which means incomplete. Comprehensive, integrated are the
synonyms of holistic. Formal means proper or official.
( General English:
Synonyms / Antonyms )
Pick out the word from the passage that means ‘a large impressive building’.-