- Paper 1 - Translation into English, reading comprehension and writing (research question) in Gujarati (9GU0/01)
- Written examination of 2 hours 30 minutes, 80 marks, 40 per cent of the A-Level and the largest component. Three sections, all compulsory. SECTION A, translation into English, 20 marks, 20 recommended minutes: one unseen Gujarati text, translated into English. Its content is drawn from any one of the eight sub-themes. It is marked by a points-based scheme in which one mark is given for each correct individual section of language, so the marking is granular and unforgiving of omission: a phrase left out scores nothing even if the sentence around it is elegant. This is the only writing in English in the whole qualification. SECTION B, reading, 20 marks, 45 recommended minutes: texts containing both factual and abstract content, authentic or adapted from authentic sources, including contemporary, historical, literary, fiction and non-fiction sources written for different purposes and audiences. Four questions, of multiple-choice and open-response type. The questions are set in Gujarati and must be answered in Gujarati. The specification asks for main points and detail, for inference from complex material, and for assimilation and use of information from written sources. SECTION C, writing (research question), 40 marks, 1 hour 25 recommended minutes: the student has selected ONE research subject before the examination and covered all three of its aspects in independent research. In the examination they read one unseen Gujarati text on that research subject and respond in Gujarati to a statement based on the subject, using information from the unseen text together with their own research findings, in approximately 300 to 350 words. The whole response is marked regardless of length. Three mark grids are applied at once: knowledge and understanding of society and culture via research (AO4) out of 20, understand and respond to written language (AO2) out of 10, and accuracy and range of language (AO3) out of 10. The AO4 and AO2 grids are printed side by side because they are connected: AO4 rewards what the student brings from research, AO2 rewards the use they make of the unseen text, and the specification states that more emphasis is expected on AO4 than on AO2, which is exactly why AO4 carries twice the marks. Section C alone is 20 per cent of the whole A-Level. No dictionary is permitted, and no documentation relating to the research may be taken into the examination room.
- Paper 2 - Translation into Gujarati and written response to works (9GU0/02)
- Written examination of 2 hours 40 minutes, 110 marks, 30 per cent of the A-Level. SECTION A, translation into Gujarati, 20 marks, 30 recommended minutes: an unseen English passage translated into Gujarati, its content drawn from any one of the eight sub-themes. Marked by the same points-based scheme as Paper 1 Section A, one mark for each correct individual section of language. SECTIONS B AND C, written response to works, 90 marks, 2 hours 10 minutes: two essays. Section B is the literary texts and is worth 45 marks; Section C is the films and is worth 45 marks. The student must write EITHER two essays from Section B, on two literary texts, OR one from Section B and one from Section C. A student who answers on two literary texts does not complete Section C at all. Answering on two films is not an available route, and the specification says so twice. There is a choice of two questions on each work. Approximately 300 to 350 words per essay is advised, and the whole essay is marked regardless of length. No credit is given for an essay on a literary text that is based on a film version adapted from that text; the evidence must come from the original text. Each essay is marked by three grids applied twice, once per essay: critical and analytical response (AO4) out of 20, range of grammatical structures and vocabulary (AO3) out of 15, and accuracy of language (AO3) out of 10, for 45 marks each. Questions are set in Gujarati and answered in Gujarati. No dictionary, and no documentation relating to the works, may be taken into the examination. Paper 2 carries no AO1 and no AO2 at all: its 30 per cent splits as 20 per cent AO3 and 10 per cent AO4.
- Paper 3 - Listening, reading and writing in Gujarati (9GU0/03)
- Written examination of 2 hours 15 minutes, 60 marks, 30 per cent of the A-Level. Two sections, both compulsory. SECTION A, listening comprehension, 30 marks, 45 recommended minutes: a recording featuring male and female Gujarati speakers, covering different registers and types, including authentic communication involving one or more speakers and material from online media, at a speed appropriate to the level. Four questions, made up of multiple-choice and open-response questions, including questions testing summary skills. Recordings are issued on CD or as MP3 files downloaded securely by the centre, and the student has INDIVIDUAL CONTROL of the recording and may stop, revisit and replay sections as they wish. That single provision changes what the section tests: it is not a test of instant comprehension but of method. Section A draws on vocabulary and structures across ALL eight sub-themes. SECTION B, the listening, reading and writing question, 30 marks, 1 hour 30 recommended minutes: one unseen listening source and one unseen written source, both on the SAME sub-theme. The student summarises the different points of view in each source, then answers an open-response question that requires them to evaluate the viewpoints in both sources, state which they agree with and why, and draw conclusions. The mark grids for the extended response are understand and respond to spoken language (AO1) out of 6, understand and respond to written language (AO2) out of 6, and accuracy and range of language (AO3) out of 10; the AO1 and AO2 grids are printed side by side because the task requires the two sources to be weighed against each other. The recommended length of the extended response is 200 to 250 words. The whole paper is set in Gujarati and answered in Gujarati, and no dictionary is permitted. Paper 3 carries the entire AO1 weighting of the qualification, 20 per cent, plus 5 per cent AO2 and 5 per cent AO3.
- The four themes, the research subjects, the works, the grammar list and the rules that catch people out
- FOUR THEMES, each broken into TWO sub-themes AND a research subject, each of those divided into aspects. THEME 1, changes in Gujarati society, set in the Gujarat state: changing family structures (differing and changing attitudes towards marriage, relationships and the family; non-traditional relationships; friction between generations within the family) and the world of work (traditional and modern approaches to occupations; employment opportunities for young people; the causes and consequences of unemployment), with the research subject women's place in society (developing women's social standing; access to education; the achievements of Gujarati women and their contribution to society). THEME 2, media and culture, set in the Gujarat state AND other areas of India where Gujarati is spoken, covering political culture through the media, artistic culture through festivals and traditions, and political and intellectual culture through the research subject: the media (the effect of the internet on young people's lives; the reliability of information found on the internet; the effect of newspapers on politics) and change in popular culture (festivals, celebrations and Gujarati film music), with the research subject the influence of Mahatma Gandhi on Indian society (his effect on ways of thinking and outlook; his influence on ways of living; his legacy). THEME 3, aspects of contemporary Gujarati society, set in the Gujarat state: internal migration (the rural-versus-urban cultural divide; trained versus untrained workers; the isolation of people who migrate) and the science of living things and their surroundings (changing attitudes to environmental problems; the protection of natural resources; the effect of industrialisation and urbanisation on the environment), with the research subject tourism (medical tourism; state-promoted tourism; the economic advantages and disadvantages of tourism). THEME 4, the political aspects of Gujarat, set in the Gujarat state: Gujarat state, a land of opportunities (the development of the textile industry; the export of well-known Gujarati products; investment in transport infrastructure) and the political aspects of Gujarat state (government initiative for the development of Gujarat; new forms of political leadership; the role of young people in politics), with the research subject law and order in Gujarat state (reforms and challenges in law and order; the importance of law and order for trade and industry; how changes in the law affect women). THE SCOPING RULE, stated twice in the specification and then a third time in the guidance to teachers: research chosen from Themes 1, 3 or 4 must focus on the GUJARAT STATE ONLY; research chosen from Theme 2 may draw on the Gujarat state and/or other areas of India where Gujarati is spoken; and teachers must ensure that students focus their independent research on Gujarati-speaking areas of INDIA only. A British Gujarati-speaking candidate will assume otherwise, so it bears repeating: the very large Gujarati-speaking population of Britain, East Africa and North America is real, is relevant to a student's own life, and is OUTSIDE the research scope of this qualification. THE CROSS-PAPER RULE: the independent research must not relate to or make reference to one of the literary works or films studied for Paper 2, and teachers must ensure that students do not intend to use any Paper 2 work in their research. The research must gather evidence independently from at least two authentic sources in Gujarati; authentic sources include newspaper and magazine articles, online written sources, journals, literary texts, films, television, radio, online audio-visual material and interviews. Independent research means research carried out without the help or instruction of others, including teachers; teachers may give guidance on method and on the content of the research subjects as printed in the specification, but they must not teach the content of the research subjects or provide sources. THE WORKS. Appendix 1 prints three literary texts - Saat Pagalaan Aakashmaan, a novel by Kundanika Kapadia of 1985; Jai Ho, essays by Jay Vasavada of 2012; and Amasna Tara, short stories by Kishansinh Chavda of 1950 - and three films - Kevi Rite Jaish, directed by Abhishek Jain, 2012; Bhavni Bhavai, directed by Ketan Mehta, 1980; and Hutututu: Aavi Ramat Ni Rutu, directed by Shital Shah, 2016. 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 examination series. THE GRAMMAR LIST, Appendix 2, is organised as nouns, adjectives, numerals, adverbs, quantifiers and intensifiers, pronouns, verbs, participles, prepositions, conjunctions, and a closing group covering negation, word order, time expressions, cleft sentences, comparative constructions, concession and indirect speech. Its examples are explicitly indicative and not an exhaustive specification. ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES: AO1, understand and respond in writing to spoken language drawn from a variety of sources, 20 per cent; AO2, understand and respond in writing to written language drawn from a variety of sources, 30 per cent; AO3, manipulate the language accurately, in written forms, using a range of lexis and structure, 30 per cent; AO4, show knowledge and understanding of, and respond critically and analytically to, different aspects of the culture and society of the countries where the language is spoken, 20 per cent. Per paper: Paper 1 is AO2 25, AO3 5, AO4 10; Paper 2 is AO3 20, AO4 10; Paper 3 is AO1 20, AO2 5, AO3 5.
- Two silences in the specification, and the conventions these notes follow
- The specification leaves two things unsaid that a Gujarati course cannot avoid, so both are answered openly here rather than glossed over. FIRST, WHOSE GUJARAT. The specification says the Gujarat state throughout, and for Theme 2 adds other areas of India where Gujarati is spoken. It never names those other areas, and it never mentions the Gujarati-speaking populations outside India at all. These notes therefore keep three things distinct and name which one every claim describes: the Gujarat state, which is where Themes 1, 3 and 4 and all their research live; Gujarati-speaking areas elsewhere in India, principally the union territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and the large Gujarati-speaking populations of cities such as Mumbai, which Theme 2 admits; and the Gujarati-speaking diaspora in Britain, East Africa, North America and elsewhere, which is real and important and outside the assessed scope. Saying so is not pedantry: a candidate in Leicester or Wembley who researches British Gujarati community life has researched the wrong thing, however good the work. SECOND, WHAT IS CONTESTED. Themes 3 and 4 reach into environmental policy, industrialisation, migration, law and order, and political leadership in a state whose recent history includes events that remain the subject of live legal, political and historiographical dispute. These notes handle such material the way an examiner rewards it: dated institutional facts stated flatly, every interpretation attributed to whoever makes it, live debates named as debates rather than settled, no invented statistics anywhere - the publishing body is named instead of a number being supplied - and no named individual live legal case. The analytical weight is kept where the marks are, on the language and on how to research and argue. Where these notes offer a judgement of their own it is marked as a judgement. THE CONVENTIONS. Every Gujarati string in these notes is written from scratch in correct, standard, modern written Gujarati and stored in Unicode Normalisation Form C. Gujarati has no precomposed nukta letters and no two-part vowel signs, so unlike Bengali or Gurmukhi its NFC form holds no surprises; the check is still run, because stored figures are byte-exact. No zero-width joiner or non-joiner appears anywhere. Sentences end with the dand, which despite writing Gujarati is a Devanagari-block character shared across the Indic scripts. Numerals follow one rule: a Gujarati sentence uses Gujarati digits, English explanatory prose uses Western digits, and the two are never welded together. Transliteration into roman letters is given wherever it helps you produce a word rather than merely recognise it, marking long vowels, nasalisation, the retroflex series and the aspirates, so that a word met in these notes can be said aloud as well as written. Spelling follows the modern standard written Gujarati that the specification's own grammar list uses.