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Bengali

A-Level Bengali in England is an AQA qualification, specification 7637, version 1.0 dated 3 November 2017, for teaching from September 2018 and first examined in June 2020, Ofqual qualification accreditation number 603/2580/X. Its shape belongs to none of the families that English A-Level language folklore assumes, and the qualification announces the difference in its own title: it is called A-level Bengali (Listening, Reading, Writing), and there is no speaking assessment anywhere in it. There are three written papers. Paper 1, Reading and writing, runs for two hours thirty minutes, carries 85 raw marks and is worth 42.5 per cent of the A-level: reading and responding to four stimulus texts for 35 marks, a translation from Bengali into English of a passage of at least 100 words for 10 marks, and a 40-mark essay on the individual research project, written in response to an unseen question about an unseen Bengali source. Paper 2, Writing, runs for two hours, carries 80 marks and is worth 20 per cent: two essays of approximately 300 words each on the two works studied, either one text and one film or two texts, with a choice of two questions on each work. Paper 3, Listening, reading and writing, runs for two hours thirty minutes, carries 75 marks and is worth 37.5 per cent: listening and responding for 35 marks with individual control of a studio recording, a translation from English into Bengali of a passage of at least 100 words for 10 marks, supported by a Bengali text supplying some of the vocabulary and structures needed, and a 30-mark multi-skill task of about 200 words that draws on a heard source and a written source together. The raw marks are scaled - Paper 1 doubled to 170, Paper 2 unchanged at 80, Paper 3 doubled to 150 - for a total scaled mark of 400. The subject content is four themes in two pairs, and every one of them is studied in relation to the Bengali-speaking world rather than to a single country: Bangladesh, where Bengali is the state language, the Indian state of West Bengal, where it is the state's official language, and the Bengali-speaking communities of the diaspora, prominently in Britain. Aspects of Bengali-speaking society: past and current trends covers Youth culture and The evolution of the digital world in Bengali-speaking countries; Aspects of Bengali-speaking society: past and current issues covers Social diversity and mobility in the Bengali-speaking world and Impact of migration on the Bengali-speaking world; Artistic culture in the Bengali-speaking world past and present covers Bengali festivals and traditions and Bengali cultural life; and Aspects of political life in Bengali-speaking countries past and present covers Bengali politics and Politics and young people in the Bengali-speaking world. Each of those eight sub-themes carries exactly three bullet aspects and all of them are examinable. Alongside the themes sit a prescribed grammar list that runs from the script itself to common variations in Bengali spelling, the prescribed works, and an individual research project chosen from four published research topics, all of whose bullets the student must cover. Assessment objectives are weighted 20 per cent AO1, 30 per cent AO2, 30 per cent AO3 and 20 per cent AO4; across AO1 and AO2 together no more than 10 per cent of the qualification's marks may be earned by responses in English, including the translation into English. The qualification is linear, is graded A* to E, and permits no dictionary in any paper.

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Continue reading — Chapter I Table of contents

AQA 7637 - 3.1.1.1 Sub-theme: Youth culture - Fashion and trendsAQA 7637 - 3.1 Social issues and trends: studied in relation to Bengali-speaking countries, using a range of sources including material from online mediaAQA 7637 - 3.1.1.1 Sub-theme: Youth culture - The role of celebrityAQA 7637 - 3.1.1.1 Sub-theme: Youth culture - Traditional versus modern valuesAQA 7637 - 3.1.1.2 Sub-theme: The evolution of the digital world in Bengali-speaking countries - The internet in daily lifeAQA 7637 - 3.1.1.2 Sub-theme: The evolution of the digital world in Bengali-speaking countries - The digitalisation of Bengali society+101 moreFoundationStandardAdvanced

Table of contents · 13 ChaptersT·13

Ch. Iযুবসমাজ ও ডিজিটাল জীবন: youth culture and the digital world5 texts · 0 read

Ch. IIবৈষম্য ও অভিবাসন: diversity, mobility and migration5 texts · 0 read

Ch. IIIউৎসব ও ঐতিহ্য: Bengali festivals and traditions5 texts · 0 read

Ch. IVবাঙালির সাংস্কৃতিক জীবন: music, television and cinema5 texts · 0 read

Ch. Vবাঙালি রাজনীতি: parties, elections and protest in two polities5 texts · 0 read

Ch. VIতরুণ ও রাজনীতি: politics and young people5 texts · 0 read

Ch. VIIব্যাকরণ ও অনুবাদ: the prescribed grammar and the two translations5 texts · 0 read

Ch. VIIIশ্রবণ ও উত্তর: Paper 3 and the sound of Bengali5 texts · 0 read

Ch. IXপঠন ও উত্তর: Paper 1 and reading Bengali under the clock5 texts · 0 read

Ch. Xমৌখিক পরীক্ষা নেই: spoken Bengali in a written qualification5 texts · 0 read

Ch. XIনির্ধারিত সাহিত্যকর্ম: the prescribed texts and Paper 25 texts · 0 read

Ch. XIIনির্ধারিত চলচ্চিত্র: the prescribed films and how to write about them5 texts · 0 read

Ch. XIIIস্বতন্ত্র গবেষণা প্রকল্প: the research topic and the 40-mark essay5 texts · 0 read

Instrument · 01Recommended study order

Instrument · 02Exam structure

Paper 1 - Reading and writing (7637/1): Written exam of 2 hours 30 minutes, 85 raw marks scaled by two to 170, 42.5 per cent of the A-level and therefore the largest single component. Three parts, all compulsory. Reading and responding, 35 marks: four stimulus texts adapted from authentic sources including online sources, which may be contemporary or historical, non-fiction or literary fiction, and whose content is drawn from the specification's themes and sub-themes - except for literary texts, whose content may legitimately fall outside them. Questions target main points, gist and detail, require inference, and include abstract material such as opinions, views, emotional reactions and personal experiences; they are set in Bengali and are answered either non-verbally or in Bengali. One of them is a summary question, for which the student must write in full sentences and use their own words as far as possible, and for which the content mark (AO2) and the language mark (AO3, out of 5) are awarded independently. Translation into English, 10 marks: an unseen passage of at least 100 words whose content is based on the themes and sub-themes. Individual research project, 40 marks: the student reads an unseen Bengali source on one of the four published research topics and answers an unseen question on it in Bengali, in approximately 300 words, using information from the source together with the knowledge gained from their own research; the mark is composed of AO2 out of 10, AO3 out of 10 and AO4 out of 20, and the AO4 mark is explicitly reserved for evidence drawn from the student's own research, that is, evidence beyond what the provided source already supplies. No dictionary, no notes and no research materials in the exam room.
Paper 2 - Writing (7637/2): Written exam of 2 hours, 80 marks with no scaling, 20 per cent of the A-level. The student writes one essay in Bengali on each of the two works studied - either one book and one film, or two books, taken from the lists printed in the specification - with a choice of two questions on each work. Answering on two films is not an available route, because the specification permits only one text and one film or two texts. Approximately 300 words per essay is advised; everything written is marked, there is no word limit, and a student who writes about the recommended length has access to the full range of marks. Each essay is marked out of 40 by two independent grids: AO3 for quality of language out of 20, and AO4 for the critical and analytical response out of 20. Every question requires a critical appreciation of the concepts and issues covered in the work and a critical and analytical response to features such as form and technique of presentation - the specification's own examples are the effect of narrative voice in a prose text and camera work in a film. No access to the books or films during the exam, and no dictionary.
Paper 3 - Listening, reading and writing (7637/3): Written exam of 2 hours 30 minutes, 75 raw marks scaled by two to 150, 37.5 per cent of the A-level. Three parts. Listening and responding, 35 marks: studio-recorded spoken passages from a range of contexts and sources covering different registers and types, with content based on the specification's themes and sub-themes, at least one passage involving more than one speaker. Recordings are provided to schools and colleges and each student has individual control of the recording, which turns the section from a test of instant comprehension into a test of method. Questions target main points, gist and detail, require inference and include abstract material; they are set in Bengali and answered non-verbally or in Bengali, and in the questions that are not the summary the student should give only the information the question asks for. One question is a summary in Bengali, written in full sentences and in the student's own words as far as possible, with the content mark (AO1) and the language mark (AO3, out of 5) awarded independently. Translation into Bengali, 10 marks: an unseen passage of at least 100 words from English into Bengali, with content based on the themes and sub-themes - and, distinctively, the student is provided with a supporting text in Bengali supplying some of the vocabulary and structures the translation will need. Multi-skill task, 30 marks: a listening passage and a written source are set on the themes, and the student listens, reads and then answers an unseen essay question in approximately 200 words, referring to the information in both sources; the response requires analysis, evaluation, personal reaction and the drawing of a conclusion, and is marked by AO1 out of 10, AO2 out of 10 and AO3 out of 10.
Themes, grammar, works, the research project and the rules that catch people out: Four themes, each with two sub-themes, each sub-theme with three bullet aspects, all studied in relation to Bengali-speaking countries and all using a range of sources including material from online media. Aspects of Bengali-speaking society: past and current trends contains Youth culture (fashion and trends; the role of celebrity; traditional versus modern values) and The evolution of the digital world in Bengali-speaking countries (the internet in daily life; social media - benefits and dangers; the digitalisation of Bengali society). Aspects of Bengali-speaking society: past and current issues contains Social diversity and mobility in the Bengali-speaking world (people on the margins of Bengali society; socio-economic issues and inequality; universal literacy and mass education) and Impact of migration on the Bengali-speaking world (reasons for migration; advantages and disadvantages for Bengali society; changing attitudes to migration and settlement). Artistic culture in the Bengali-speaking world past and present contains Bengali festivals and traditions (roots and origins; regional diversity; social and economic importance) and Bengali cultural life (music; television; cinema). Aspects of political life in Bengali-speaking countries past and present contains Bengali politics (political parties; the electoral system; demonstrations and strikes) and Politics and young people in the Bengali-speaking world (young people and their engagement with politics; priorities for youth politics; values and ideals). Because Bengali is the language of two different polities, the political sub-theme in particular has to be answered about a named one: Bangladesh is a sovereign parliamentary republic with its own legislature, election commission and party system, and West Bengal is a state within the Indian Union with a state assembly, its own party system and elections conducted under Indian institutions. Section 3.3 sets out the grammar, and it begins with the script itself - all single and conjunct letter forms - and ends, unusually and importantly, with a section headed Common variations in Bengali spelling, covering Hindu and Muslim distinctions in kinship terms and other words, East and West Bengal variations in standard Bengali, and the Bengali calendar. The works list prints three texts - Rabindranath Tagore's Golpo Guccho, Kazi Nazrul Islam's Sanchita and Syed Waliullah's Laalshalu - and two films, Shakur Majid's Londoni Konya of 1998 and Morshedul Islam's Amaar Bondhu Rashed of 2011. Prescribed lists are set by the board and can be revised between issues of a specification, so every candidate must confirm the list current for their own exam series. The research project is chosen from four published topics - The role of women in Bengali society, Child labour in Bengali society, Tourism in Bengali-speaking countries and Emergence of Bangladesh - and the student must cover all three bullet points of the topic chosen. Research must be the student's own even where classmates have chosen the same topic; sources may be visual, audio or written but must include online sources. Teachers may suggest sources, advise on research technique and set deadlines or milestones, but must not design material specifically for the project, download or hand over specific sources or copied extracts, or give oral or written feedback on the student's notes or preparatory work. Assessment objectives: AO1, understand and respond in writing to spoken language, 20 per cent; AO2, understand and respond in writing to written language, 30 per cent; AO3, manipulate the language accurately in written form using a range of lexis and structure, 30 per cent; AO4, show knowledge and understanding of, and respond critically and analytically to, aspects of the culture and society of Bengali-speaking countries and communities, 20 per cent. Across AO1 and AO2 together, no more than 10 per cent of the qualification's marks may be used for responses in English, including translation into English. The qualification is linear, all exams are taken in one series at the end of the course, materials are available in English only, grading runs A* to E, and no dictionary is permitted anywhere.
How these notes write Bengali - script, spelling and numerals: Bengali is written in the Bengali-Assamese script, and a set of decisions about how to store and write it has been made once here and applied everywhere, because inconsistency in this script is invisible on the page and fatal to a search, a comparison or a rendered figure. Every Bengali string in these notes is stored in Unicode Normalisation Form C. That has one consequence worth stating explicitly, because it surprises people: the three nukta letters, the retroflex flap, its aspirated partner and the semivowel - the letters that look like a base consonant with a dot beneath it - are Unicode composition exclusions, so their canonical form is base consonant plus the nukta sign, two code points, not one. The two-part vowel signs behave the other way round and do compose into a single code point under Normalisation Form C. Conjuncts are written with the hasanta, and no zero-width joiner or non-joiner appears anywhere in these notes, so what you copy from a page here is what a mark scheme would recognise. Sentences end with the daṛi rather than a full stop. Numerals follow one rule: a Bengali sentence uses Bengali digits, English explanatory prose uses Western digits, and the two are never mixed inside one string. On spelling, section 3.3.12 of the specification is itself an admission that Bengali spelling and vocabulary vary, and these notes follow the modern standard colloquial register, chalit bhasha, as codified in Dhaka by the Bangla Academy and in Kolkata by the Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi, noting the differences between the two where they matter rather than pretending they do not exist. Where a kinship term or an everyday word differs between communities or between the two sides of the historic Bengal border, both forms are given and labelled, because knowing both is specification content and because a reading text can use either.

Instrument · 03Official sources