* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Download English
Esperanto grammar wikipedia , lookup
Malay grammar wikipedia , lookup
Scottish Gaelic grammar wikipedia , lookup
English clause syntax wikipedia , lookup
Old English grammar wikipedia , lookup
Ukrainian grammar wikipedia , lookup
Portuguese grammar wikipedia , lookup
Ancient Greek grammar wikipedia , lookup
Kannada grammar wikipedia , lookup
Lithuanian grammar wikipedia , lookup
Germanic strong verb wikipedia , lookup
Hungarian verbs wikipedia , lookup
Spanish grammar wikipedia , lookup
Italian grammar wikipedia , lookup
Latin syntax wikipedia , lookup
Tense–aspect–mood wikipedia , lookup
Serbo-Croatian grammar wikipedia , lookup
Chichewa tenses wikipedia , lookup
Swedish grammar wikipedia , lookup
Macedonian grammar wikipedia , lookup
Yiddish grammar wikipedia , lookup
Icelandic grammar wikipedia , lookup
Pipil grammar wikipedia , lookup
English verbs wikipedia , lookup
Polish grammar wikipedia , lookup
CPE NOVEMBER 2006 REPORT ENGLISH General Comments The English 2006 paper followed the same pattern as previous papers, but in the light of findings from previous reports, all efforts were made to ensure that there were no difficult items, especially in Section A of the paper. Section A carried 60% of the marks and was therefore designed to give the maximum number of candidates the chance to make the grade. Section B carried 40% of the marks and tested Desirable Learning Competencies and was therefore slightly more demanding as it involved a higher level of reading, writing and reasoning skills. There are some encouraging trends in the performance of our candidates on this paper. Both the pass rate and the mean mark are climbing gradually. In 2002, the pass rate was 64.9% and the mean mark 47.3. In 2006, the pass rate has reached 67.9% and the mean mark 56.1. This is illustrated in the graph below Overall % Pass & Mean for CPE English (2002 2006) Percentage 70 60 % Pass 50 Mean 40 30 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Year Progress in performance is always welcome, but it should not obscure the fact that there is still room for improvement in many parts of the paper. 1 Section A Question 1 Question 1 contained 20 multiple choice type items. It tested a miscellany of language items ranging from simple tenses to vocabulary, pronouns, quantifiers, prepositions, tag questions and common phrasal verbs. Overall, performance in this question was average. Some items proved to be well within the reach of our candidates while others were more problematic. This is discussed in greater detail in the ‘Specific Comments’ Section. Question 2 Question 2 tested reading comprehension abilities and was made up of two parts: A and B. Part A was a poster and the candidate had to answer simple questions based on the information it contained. Most required one word or short phrase answers to score full marks, only the last item, item 8 demanded two answers in which it was difficult to score with one-word answers. Part B was a longer narrative text containing more information but it was the kind of text our candidates are more used to. Here too whenever writing of short meaningful answers was required, many candidates lost marks, as for example in the last two items, 9 and 10. Yet they did well on the other 8 multiple choice type items and thus scored better in 2 B than in 2 A. Both parts tested reading with understanding of texts but of different genres. On the whole, performance on the reading comprehension tasks was satisfactory. A significant number of candidates managed to score well. However, it is felt that despite the gradual improvement being noticed, there are still too many candidates who struggle in question 2A – a question which tests reading comprehension at the most basic level. Question 3 Question 3 tested basic writing skills. As has often been the case in the past, a picture was set and in this year’s picture, many children were involved in different activities. Candidates were asked to write five sentences about ‘what the children are doing’. 2 Performance on this question varied quite widely. A significant proportion of the cohort managed to score high marks and this is encouraging. In fact, more than half of the cohort scored full or nearly full marks. Nevertheless, given the simplicity of the task, it is felt that far too many students failed to perform at a satisfactory level. More than 1 in every 10 students scored zero and that is a worrying statistic. The major weaknesses and common errors made by candidates are discussed in greater detail in the ‘Specific Comments’ Section of the Report. Section B Question 4 Question 4 tested reading with understanding but with particular emphasis on knowledge of tenses and word formation. In the past, this question tended to focus on finding the right tenses and correct verb forms only but it is worth bringing to the attention of teachers that the syllabus does not specify that this should always be the case. It would be wise to train pipils in word formation exercises of different kinds as well (formation of nouns, adverbs and adjectives) and not expect verbs and tenses only in this part of the paper. Performance on Question 4 was on the whole well below expectations. Some candidates seemed to be certain that only tenses and verbs would be tested and the slots that were not testing tenses proved to be unduly difficult. What was also obvious from the analysis of performance was that many pupils thought that only ONE tense would be required throughout. As a result, if the first blank needed the verb to be conjugated in the simple past tense, they assumed that all following verbs would necessarily be in the simple past tense as well. It is therefore necessary to stress that when verbs are tested in this question, the appropriate tense in the given context is what is required and that it would be wrong to assume that the same tense would be needed throughout. Whatever the reasons for students to under perform might be, the analysis of performance strongly suggests that identifying which tense to use in a given context is difficult for many of our pupils and that this area needs more work. 3 Question 5 Question 5, the Cloze Test, proved to be a very hard question for many candidates. This exercise is both a test of comprehension and a test of vocabulary. Candidates were given ten blanks to fill with single words to show that they can make sense of the text and that they have a wide enough productive lexicon to produce the appropriate word in the given context However, it has to be said that generally, the performance of candidates on this question was poor. Many candidates struggled to come up with plausible items for many of the slots. Often, any word was offered with little consideration given to whether it made sense in the context or not. This betrays both difficulties with understanding the text and the fact that many of our students have a limited vocabulary. In addition, to perform well in the Cloze Test, students should have enough familiarity with the system of English to realize that a particular blank, because of its position, demands a noun and not a verb and that the noun has to be a singular one because the verb is in the third person, present tense and singular. If a verb is needed they need to know whether the verb should be present or past or past participle and the correct form of the verb. Wrong forms and wrong spelling will be penalised here because it is Section B of the paper. Even if the form and the tense are correct, the chosen verb must make sense. Question 6 More candidates attempted the composition this year that in the recent past, which is encouraging. Nevertheless, the overall performance of candidates shows that writing a short piece of prose in English is still beyond the ability of many. This year, candidates were asked to write about the preparations for a surprise birthday party for their teacher as well as the party itself. Some concerns were raised about the fact that the scenario was set in the present tense and that the prompts were given in the past tense. However, candidates did not seem to be confused by this. Help was offered in the form of prompts so that they could produce about 150 words. It was hoped that such a scenario would be within the experience of the pupils and that this would allow them to write imaginatively. While this did happen for some, 4 the great majority still did not manage to produce a satisfactory piece of writing and this confirms that writing is an area that needs more attention. Specific Comments Question 1 The performance of candidates on this question was quite varied. The mean mark of 12.59, out of a maximum of 20, was encouraging. However, it is worth noting that only 35.8% scored 16 to 20 marks, while 26% scored 6 to 10. Given that this is the Essential Learning Competencies (ELC) part of the paper, it was legitimate to expect a greater proportion of candidates scoring higher marks. The items that proved hard were the following: 1.1 ‘We had an enjoyable day.’ The candidate had to realize that an adjective was required and that enjoying would not do, but only 55.2% got it right. 1.3 ‘She told me the green bag was hers.’ The other options made no sense, so it is rather surprising that only 65.7% scored. 1.4 ‘Please keep off the grass.’ This phrasal verb item was meant to be a little harder than the other items. There are lots of activities with phrasal verbs in the school textbooks and keep off the grass should not have proved so hard but only 31.2% scored here. 1.6 ‘This dress is too loose for you. You need a smaller size.’ This was essentially a vocabulary item, testing whether candidates understood the meaning of the word and that if a smaller size was needed, the dress had to be loose. Many candidates, however, stumbled on this item and only 43.1% got it right. 1.11 ‘His old shoes were much too tight for him.’ This item tested whether candidates would be able to select the right adverb too to modify the adjective tight. Only 54.9 % managed to do so. 5 1.17 ‘How long will you be staying in Rodrigues?’ Only 43.1% found the correct form of the verb stay. This showed ignorance of a basic rule of English by many candidates, namely that after the auxiliary be the main verb must be either in the present participle or past participle form. Obviously stayed does not make sense here. 1.20 ‘Jack went to sleep because the film was very boring.’ 56.4% only got this item right, and the difference between two adjectives when used in the participle forms seems to cause problems. Interesting and interested, enjoyed and enjoying, bored and boring are examples. In 1.1 enjoyable and enjoy caused a similar problem. All practice must be underpinned by some kind of theory and candidates would certainly do better if certain basic rules of English were taught to them in interactive classroom activities. Mere blank filling exercises, if not preceded by teaching and supported by meaningful, life situation practice will not achieve much. Vocabulary problems like the difference between tight and loose, interested and interesting, bored and boring, import and export can only be solved through frequent practice in meaningful and interesting situations through pair and group activities where the learners get a chance to use language for genuine communication. An example of such an activity could be: a child or a small group does an activity and the class individually or in a small group writes down what is happening. In this situation, they would have to use the present continuous tense in a truly meaningful way. Each group leader or individual child would then read what he/she has written. Another activity could be getting the pupils to watch an event and asking them to write an eye-witness account. This would automatically make them use the past tense in a real-life situation. Cartoons with empty speech balloons can be drawn on the board and the children can be asked to fill them up with sensible texts. Here too meaningful use of language will have to be shown. Such activities are more likely to lead to memorable language acquisition and are certainly more fun than just blank filling exercises. 6 Vocabulary extension activities too can be done in an interactive way. Groups can be asked to produce sentences where opposites are used, for example tight and loose, export- import, coastal- inland, local- foreign etc. Sentences where both the present participle and past participle forms of verbs can also prove quite useful. The following could be considered as an example: The children were/are very interested because the film was/is very interesting. Question 2A The mean mark for this question was 6.84 out of a maximum of 10, a fairly reasonable score but it must be pointed out that very short answers based on understanding of the poster was expected here. 70.7% of the candidates scored 6 –10 but 22.5% scored 0-3. Almost a quarter of candidates scoring 0-3 on this question, where basic reading comprehension was being tested, is a cause for concern. It is also worth pointing out that many candidates lost marks here because for some questions they gave answers that were not found in the text. This was often the case for item 6, which asked ‘Where should garbage be thrown?’ The obvious answer from the text was garbage bins, but many candidates did themselves a disservice by going outside the text and coming up with answers like Mare Chicose or Legal dumping grounds. While these might be plausible answers, credit could not be given to them here because reading comprehension was being tested and these answers do not show whether candidates have understood the text or not. It should therefore be clear that in questions of this type, answers are expected to come from the text provided. Teachers would be therefore well advised to train their pupils accordingly when such exercises are being practised in the classroom. Question 2B The mean mark in this reading comprehension task was 14.20 out of 20, which is an encouraging performance. Items 1-8 posed little difficulty to most of the candidates and it was only items 9 and 10 which proved to be difficult for many. For item 9, 34.5% scored 0, and for item 10, 42.1% scored 0. Again, we see that whenever candidates have to express their own ideas in a complete sentence, they struggle. 7 For item 9, a significant number of candidates lost marks because they ignored the instructions and did not answer in a full sentence. Many merely answered mangoes when a full answer should have been Ameerah wanted her mother to buy mangoes for her. Pupils will benefit from being reminded in class that they should read the instructions carefully and that in this part of the reading comprehension passage full sentences are expected. Item 10 also proved to be problematic. The expected answer was Ameerah’s arm was really better because she could carry a large bag of mangoes on the arm which had been sprained. Many candidates, however, were misled by the doctor’s diagnosis and answered that Ameerah’s arm was better because the doctor said so, or because the plaster was removed. However, only partial credit was given to these answers because the most convincing answer was the fact that Ameerah could carry a heavy weight on the arm which had been injured, and not because of what the doctor said or did. Question 3 This question tested writing skills at a basic level. Candidates were expected to write 5 sentences about the picture, saying ‘what the children are doing’. The way the question was framed should have made it clear to candidates that the present continuous tense was expected to be used here. As mentioned already, the performance of candidates in this question was varied. An encouraging proportion, 56.5% scored 8-10 marks. However, it was disappointing to see that 15.6% scored zero, meaning that more than one in ten candidates could not write even a basic sentence. The main weaknesses were • Use of wrong tense Although the question asked to write sentences about ‘what the children are doing’ and invited the use of the present continuous tense, many candidates used the past continuous tense. Below are some examples: 8 ‘The girl was eating.’ ‘Sunita was reading a magazine.’ The use of the wrong tense logically entailed loss of marks. • Describing the setting The sentences were meant to be about what the children are doing and therefore sentences like ‘There are balloons in the room.’ and ‘The radio is switched on.’ could not be given credit. Not reading instructions carefully enough seemed to be the problem here. • Faulty agreement It was quite common to see verbs failing to agree with their subjects, as illustrated in the sentences below ‘The girl are watching television.’ ‘The children is listening to the radio.’ This was frequent enough to warrant a mention here and teachers might want to give this part of grammar more attention during writing lessons. • Difficulties in finding the required vocabulary. Some candidates really struggled to find the words needed to be able to write a sentence, as shown in the following example: ‘The girl is lire the journal.’ 9 This candidate was unable to come up with the verb ‘to read’ and the noun ‘newspaper’. Difficulties in finding the right words and expressing ideas in English were quite prevalent in a number of scripts. This question, in fact, tests writing at a basic level. Therefore, a sentence with a subject, the appropriate verb, properly conjugated and a complement if necessary would score full marks, assuming all grammatical elements are correct. In short, simplicity works best here. If students are trained to pay attention to the wording of the question, they should be able to identify which tense to use while writing. If they are then able to add to that the basic elements Subject–Verb–Object, performance in this question should improve. Question 4 The mean mark for this question was 5.07 out of 10, which was below expectations. This year 2 items were not verbs and it seems that some candidates had come to the exam with the impression that putting the verbs in the past tense was all that was needed. Only candidates who read a lot of English and have got a good grasp of tenses in English can hope to do well on this question. Meaningful activities and plenty of reading of stories and articles from magazines and papers and plenty of listening activities can help candidates improve, and not just on this type of test but for all language activities. 4.1 ‘When they opened/were opening/had opened’. There were three possibilities here – opened, were opening and had opened. 73.5% managed to give the right answer. 4.2 ‘... a beautiful cat ran in ahead of him.’ This was a test of word-formation, turning the noun beauty into the adjective beautiful. 62 % got it right. There were enough cases of beautiful written beautyful for it to deserve a mention here. 4.3 ‘Meanwhile the cat was jumping on the chairs and tables.’ 10 Candidates here had to find the past continuous form of the verb to jump and 69 % managed to do so. 4.4 ‘Fortunately the cat went away after a few minutes.’ This item tested the candidates’ ability to turn the adjective fortunate into the adverb fortunately. Only 43.3% managed to do this correctly. A significant number of candidates wrote the non-word, fortunated, showing that they simply thought they would add -ed to the items and be rewarded. Such a mechanical approach will not be rewarding in this exercise. 4.5 “ What is the name of your cat?” The simple present tense was required here. 54.2% only got it right. Many candidates went for was, again showing that they had decided that the past tense was needed throughout, without giving due care to the context. 4.6 ‘They thought that I had brought my cat with me”. This was the worst done item in the question. Only 10.1% managed to identify that the past perfect had brought was needed here. The use of the past perfect proved to be problematic in other parts of the paper as well and this would suggest that the teaching of this tense needs more attention in the classroom. 4.7 ‘I like cats and I have two at home.’ The simple present tense was required here. 34.5% got it right, with many candidates going for the past tense. 4.8 ‘My cats are well trained.’ The answer to this item was trained. 51.4% managed to find the right answer. 4.9 ‘Some day I will/shall take them to my friends’ house.’ The future tense will/shall take was needed here. However, only 13.3 % got it right, although Some day clearly invites the use of the future tense. The fact that so many candidates used the past tense betrays the fact that they are not paying 11 attention to which tense to use in which context, but are adopting a mechanical approach to this exercise. 4.10 ‘My cats never behave/behaved in such a way!’ The simple present or simple past were both acceptable here. 72% got it right. Question 5 As has often been the case in the past, the Cloze Test proved to be difficult to many candidates. Many of our candidates do not have a wide enough vocabulary or the reading skills to cope with the demands of this question. The mean mark was 3.44 out of 10, a performance which can only be described as disappointing. More than a quarter of the cohort (26.4%) scored zero. Over half of the candidates scored 0-3. Only regular readers of English can hope to score full marks on this question. To build up a solid vocabulary, pupils need to read English for pleasure or information regularly. Listening to stories, poems or to the radio and television regularly would also help. The reading skills tested here are vital if one is to become a proficient user of the language, and therefore, teachers should make it a priority to encourage learners to read more. In short, the more the learner is exposed to the language, both in print and verbally, the better the language learning process will be. The cloze test can be started as early as Standard IV. For example, after the teaching of a tense, a short text can be taken from the textbook and some verbs in that tense removed to be found by the learners. The same can be done for nouns, adjectives or adverbs. If the activity proves to be too difficult, the first letters of the words can be given or the words are given in a list of words containing more than needed. Group work is very useful in training learners for the cloze test. In the group discussion, the learners can learn a lot from their peers and they will also develop a more critical approach to their reading. Statements like ‘can you see it’s a noun that’s needed here and not a verb?’ or ‘we need the past tense/ the verb must end in s because it is present tense, third person, singular’. Such discussions will draw the 12 attention of the learners to the grammar of the language and will be more interesting and fun for the children. When all the groups have completed the activity, it can be corrected on the board with the groups writing their choices for each blank on the board for the whole class to see and discuss before the best answers are accepted. Questions like ‘why did you choose this word and not another?’ will make learners express themselves, show their knowledge and develop their critical thinking. So, this is an activity that has to be started early and graded and selected with care. Success must be the main objective. If the tests are too hard, learners soon give up. But if they do well, they will want more of it. Question 6 The composition question is still a cause for worry. The mean mark of 7.06 out of 20 is well below what might have been expected. 28.2 % of the candidates scored 0 and often in these cases the question was not even attempted. Only 32.5 % of the candidates scored 11 – 20 and about 44 % scored 0-5. These trends are worrying and solutions need to be found. This year, candidates had to write a short piece of continuous text to describe a party held at school and they were given prompts to help them. Writing a short, continuous text in a foreign language is a demanding task that cannot be taught only in the CPE class. It is a task making use of skills acquired over the years, starting as early as the pre-school years with language games like picture matching, word matching, word-picture matching, sequencing of images, picking out the odd one out, discriminating between what is relevant and what is not and so on. Participating in story telling and reading to encourage prediction is another useful activity for writing. Other useful activities are changing the end of a story, creating a group big book, writing sentences with words from stories heard or read, turning nonsentences into sentences to show understanding of sentence structure. Experienced teachers will easily be able to add to this short list. Examiners were expecting • A well-balanced narrative, covering all aspects of the given scenario. 13 • A well sequenced piece of writing, where the ideas flow in a natural way, with appropriate linking words where relevant • Use of appropriate tenses with the appropriate verb forms • Accurate and relevant vocabulary However, many candidates lost marks for various reasons. Some blatantly ignored the instructions given in the question and set the birthday party outside of school, outside lunch time and in some cases the birthday being celebrated was not that of the teacher. Not giving balanced answers was also common. Many candidates focused on one aspect of the scenario only and did not pay enough attention to the other aspects of the question and this was penalised. One aspect which was particularly noticeable was that many candidates struggled with the usage of verbs. They either failed to use the proper tense, and even when they managed to identify which tense was needed, they were unable to provide the right verb form. Below are examples of some compositions, with comments from examiners, to illustrate what examiners give credit to and what is penalised. Composition 1 It was a Thursday morning. The sun was shining brightly in the blue sky. As it was our favorite teacher’s birthday, we decided to organise a surprise birthday party for her. During lunch time when she went down with other children, me, Adilah, Kaushal and Kaarthika decorated the classroom. I had brought two litres of soft drinks and a small chocolate cake, Adilah had brought some decorative things, Kaushal had brought the birthday cake and Kaarthika had brought some glasses, balloons and flowers. We put the balloons on the wall and the flowers on the table of our teacher. We put all the cakes and soft drinks on a table in front of the class. The class was well decorated. Fifteen minutes later our teacher came in the class. She was surprised. As soon as she entered the class, we all sang “Happy birthday to you”. She was very delighted. She heartily thanked us and cut the birthday cake. Then we served soft drinks and a piece of cake to the children. We all enjoyed the party. Later we danced “Mambo” and a hindu song. Our teacher was very happy. She had a huge grin on her face. “Wow, what a nice day!" 14 This is a good composition. It is well balanced and all the aspects of the scenario are dealt with and relevant details are provided. Plenty is said about the preparations before the party but plenty is also said about what went on during the party. There are a few errors, but none serious enough to hamper communication. The use of complex tenses shows a degree of sophistication in the candidate’s ability to write. The vocabulary is natural and appropriate for the given task. The sequencing is also fine – the ideas flow in the right order and linking words are used when needed. In short, without being too special, this composition scores well because it covers all aspects of the scenario, has very few errors and is well organised. Composition 2 It was early in the morning. I was going to make a party for my favourite teacher. When it was lunch time me and my friends Cédrine and Marina, were preparing and decorating the class whereas my other friends Mitch and Anthony were trying to late my teacher. As soon as the teacher entered the class, we all sing “happy birthday”. Tom and Johny come with the birthday cake that my father bought in the nearby shop. Her eyes was full with joy. She kissed every children in the class and then comes marina with her beautiful pink dress who dance and sing. My teacher’s eyes were full of tears and she says: “What an enjoyable day”. Everybody were dancing and also my teacher. This is an average piece of work. It scores fairly reasonably because all aspects of the story are there and details are provided in a relevant way. There has been an effort on the part of the candidate to write something where the ideas flow in a sequence. However, communication is often clumsy. The second sentence, ‘I was going to make a party for my favourite teacher’ sounds distinctly un-English. Parts of this work are also difficult to read because of the regular occurrence of grammatical mistakes – Tom and Johny come with the birthday cake, instead of came. Her eyes was full of joy, instead of were, every children instead of every child. In addition, tenses are used inconsistently – sometimes the present tense is used and sometimes the past tense. 15 This piece of work suffers from a number of linguistic problems, but manages to get a decent number of marks because there is a clear attempt at responding to the scenario and at providing relevant details. Composition 3 It was a Monday. The weather was fine. We have organised a party for our teacher Mr Ravi. We have told our friends to bring something for the party. I had bring some cakes that my mother had prepared in the morning. And other friends had bring fizzy drinks, cakes, ballons to decorate the classroom. During the long recess the teacher had gone in the yard to talk with other teachers. We all started to decorate the classroom. My teacher don’t know anything what preparations we are doing. When the ring bell to enter in the classroom. He saw all the pupils are sitting in their places. And a cake is on his table where he sit. He asked the pupils what is this. All the pupils told this is your birthday cake. My teacher feel very happy. My teacher cut the cakes and shared among all the children. And other friends had bring gifts for him. That day we can’t forget. This is a below average piece of work. Communication is more problematic than in composition 2. Quite clearly, this candidate struggled to express his ideas in clear English. The essential elements of the story are there and there is some sequencing to the flow of ideas. However, the number of grammatical problems makes it difficult to read and spoils the coherence. This candidate particularly struggled with the use of the past perfect tense. There are also regular swaps between the use of the past tense and that of the present tense: We all started to decorate the classroom. My teacher don't know anything what preparations we are doing. These problems with tense disrupt the order of sequence for the reader. The work in not well balanced either, as a lot is said about preparations for the party but very little about the party itself. Linking is almost inexistent, but for the noticeable exception when. This piece of work has too many grammatical problems to be fluent and coherent and the fact that it touches only on some aspects of the scenario meant it did not score very highly. 16 Composition 4 Today is Monday we decide to organise a surprise birthday party for my teacher at school “I go to buy some sweat?” I say “OK, me I go to buy ballon?” Paul says. “OK, me I go to buy gases fizzy?” Pierre says. “OH, is teacher brithbay?” Mary says. “Yes, why?” Rita says. “Because teacher is arriving at school?” Mary say Other pupils prepare the class. Run fast ‘Why’? Because teacher is arriving. They ran very fast. When they finish preparing the class, They celerble the birthday. Other teachers is coming to tell my teacher “Happy birthday” and they broken egg on his head. I am very happy to my teacher. Although there is an attempt to respond to the scenario, this piece of work can only be described as poor. There are grammatical problems in many areas – agreement, tenses and verb forms. Spelling is also very poor celerble for celebrate, sweat for sweet, brithbay for birthday, to name just a few. While the use of direct speech in a narrative could be beneficial, here it is overused and this gives the piece of work an undesirable conversational tone. In addition the sentence types are repetitive, and there is no fluency or coherence at all. This candidate simply did not have the linguistic proficiency to communicate in English, which was a pity as the imagination was there. 17