Why passing KCSE English exam is hard

The 2016 KCSE examination results have become synonymous with scarcity of the “A” grade. Even though we had been warned not to expect stupid “A”s in 2016, we were not prepared for the acute drought that hit many schools.

More shocking, none of the 141 candidates who scored an average of “A” grade managed the perfect aggregate of 84 points. The devil in the detail was English! It is now common knowledge that no student in the country scored a straight A in English.

In fact, many top schools did not register a single A- and in some cases not a single B+ either. Schools that have in the past consistently scored a subject mean of 10 points and above in English had to be contend with a mean of between 6 and 8 points in the in last year’s exam.

So what makes English more challenging to teach, learn and examine compared to the other subjects? Could it be the complexity of the syllabus? The English syllabus integrates English language and literature and covers very many broad areas and skills.

One of the main skills covered by the English syllabus is functional and creative writing which accounts for 40 percent of the KCSE English mark. By the end of the course, a high school student is expected to have mastered the format and language of at least twenty-five different types of functional writing topics.

The student is also expected to have mastered the art of creative writing. The KCSE examination expects an “A” student in English to demonstrate the ability to communicate not only information and meaning but feelings, tastes, points of view, youth and culture using a wide range of effective vocabulary, original approach, vivid and sustained account.

The candidate is further expected to write two compositions based on literature set books. The challenge here is that students are expected to master the plot, character analysis, thematic concerns and aspects of style employed in the three set books they are expected to handle! This is not a walk in the park.

When the English syllabus was revised in 2006, a lot of emphasis shifted to the teaching of listening and speaking skills.

Topics such as stress in words and sentences, English consonant and vowel sounds, intonation, etiquette in language, appearance and grooming, negotiation skills, the art of speech and debate were introduced into the syllabus. Initially this area was meant to have been examined orally as it is done in French and German.

The plan was abandoned soon after the new syllabus was launched, I guess due to logistical challenges.

This means that there are many students who fail the exam not so much because they do not have the right answers but because they are unable to transcribe them correctly.

In the area of literary appreciation, students are expected to master the art of poetry analysis and demonstrate mastery of oral literature, covering topics such as oral narratives, oral poetry, riddles and proverbs.

Throw in grammar, reading comprehension and a comprehension based on a third set book and you begin to understand why preparing for a high school exam in English is almost like a career!

It is not therefore surprising that very few students, even those whom English is their first language score over 80 percent in English.

Sometimes KCSE examiners set questions that are way beyond the grasp of the average high school student. Other times, especially in the area of compositions based on the set books, the questions are vague making it difficult for student to interpret them. Teachers of English will tell you that many students joining Form one have serious linguistic challenges.

They lack basic literacy skills and can hardly communicate in English. I remember once trying to explain the plot of Romeo and Juliet to a Form 3 class.

In a school in which the average student could hardly communicate in English, a text in Shakespearean English was as good as Greek. I soon realised that for them to understand the plot I had to conduct the lesson in mother tongue!

As I related the love affair between Romeo and Juliet in a language they could understand, faces brightened and questions came flying thick and fast.

Had the exam been set in mother tongue, I am sure the outcome would have been very different.

For as long as the challenges outlined above persist, the Grade “A” drought in English will persist. But then again there is more to the teaching and learning of English than acquiring an “A”.

Though I have earned a living in the last 20 years teaching English, I did not score Grade A or A- in the subject.