ISC Class 12 Syllabus 2028 Indian Languages

ISC
INDIAN SCHOOL CERTIFICATE
EXAMINATION

YEAR 2028

INDIAN LANGUAGES
Bifurcation of Prescribed Texts in selected
Indian Languages

Developed by:
Research, Development and Curriculum Division (RDCD)
CISCE

January 2026
____________________________________________________________________________________________

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School Certificate Examinations. This publication and no part thereof may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed or
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Examinations.

Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE)

MISSION STATEMENT

The Council for the Indian School Certificate
Examinations is committed to serving the nation's
children, through high quality educational
endeavours, empowering them to contribute towards
a humane, just and pluralistic society, promoting
introspective living, by creating exciting learning
opportunities, with a commitment to excellence.

ETHOS OF CISCE

Trust and fair play.
Minimum monitoring.
Allowing schools to evolve their own niche.
Catering to the needs of the children.
Giving freedom to experiment with new ideas
and practices.
Diversity and plurality - the basic strength for
evolution of ideas.
Schools to motivate pupils towards the
cultivation of:
Excellence - The Indian and Global
experience.
Values - Spiritual and cultural - to be the bedrock
of the educational experience.
Schools to have an 'Indian Ethos', strong roots in
the national psyche and be sensitive to national
aspirations.

Indian Languages

Aims:
1. To enable students to use the language to communicate thoughts, ideas and information.
2. To develop the ability to use the language innovatively and creatively for interpreting and
summarising information gained through various learning experiences.
3. To develop the habit of clear articulate expression, using accepted syntactical forms and
structures in the language.
4. To expose students to a deeper knowledge and appreciation of all categories of literary works
in the language.

CLASSES XI & XII
There will be two papers in the subject:
Paper I - Theory: 3 hours…… 80 Marks
Paper II - Project Work ……. 20 Marks

PAPER I (THEORY): 80 Marks

There will be one paper of three hours duration, which will consist of two sections:
Section A: Language (40 marks)
Section B: Prescribed Textbooks (40 marks)
SECTION A
LANGUAGE – 40 Marks
This section will consist of three questions, all of which will be compulsory.
1. Composition: One composition of 400 words approximately, in the language, to be written out
of a choice of 6 topics set within the experience and mental maturity of the age-group of the
candidates.

2. Comprehension: An unseen passage of about 300 words to be set with questions and/or
summary (with heading to test the ability to summarise and/or to expand an idea given in the
passage).

3. Grammar: Functional grammar - correction of sentences and using words/idioms in sentences,
viz. correct structure with proper agreement of the subject and verb according to the number,
gender, case, tense and voice.

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SECTION B
PRESCRIBED TEXTBOOKS – 40 Marks
Candidates will be required to answer four questions from any three of the prescribed textbooks.

NOTE: The study of the prescribed texts has been bifurcated for the following selected Indian
Languages for the Examination Year 2028:
Hindi, Malayalam, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali (Bangla), Gujarati, Kannada, Nepali, Odia,
Urdu and Bhutia.
Please note that the ISC (Class XII) Examination paper will be set ONLY on the portion of the
syllabus that is prescribed for Class XII. The Class XI Examination is to be conducted on the
portion of the syllabus that is prescribed for Class XI.

For list of Prescribed Textbooks, see Appendix I.

PAPER II (PROJECT WORK): 20 Marks
In addition to the syllabus prescribed above for Classes XI and XII, candidates are also required to
be assessed in Project Work. Details of the same are given below:

PROJECT WORK FOR CLASS XI

Project Work in Class XI comprises of assessment of candidates in Listening, Speaking and Writing
skills. These are to be assessed internally by the School, during course work and shown in the student’s
report and school record.
Candidates are to be assessed in three projects, one each on Listening, Speaking and Writing Skills.
Details of Projects in Listening, Speaking and Writing Skills are given below:
Listening Skills
An unseen passage of about 500 words or a poem (of appropriate length) may be read aloud, twice, the
first time at normal reading speed and the next time at a slower speed. The passage/poem may be taken
from any book, newspaper, magazine, journal and so on but not from an ICSE or ISC textbook. A
suitable audio clip may also be used.
Students may make brief notes during the readings/playing of the audio clip, followed by answering
objective type questions based on the passage/poem/audio clip, on the paper provided.
Speaking Skills
Students are to be assessed through an individual presentation, e.g. extempore speaking, declamation,
recitation, debate, of about three minutes followed by a discussion with the subject teacher, for another
two or three minutes.
List of suggested assignments for Project Work:
1. Narrating an experience
2. Giving directions or instructions on how to make or operate something
3. Providing a description
4. Giving a report
5. Expressing an opinion or a theme-based conversation
6. Giving a speech on a selected topic
7. Reading out, after correcting, a grammatically incorrect passage/s of suitable length (150- 200 words)
based on the prescribed grammar syllabus.

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Writing Skills (Language/Literature)
A piece of written work of about 600 – 800 words must be produced on any aspect of Language or the
portion of the Literature syllabus covered in Class XI.
List of suggested assignments for Project Work:
1. Product/process description
2. Description of an event
3. An autobiographical experience
4. Review of a book/serial/play/performance
5. Summary or paraphrase of a chosen text from the syllabus
6. Selecting another story/poem on a theme studied in the syllabus and writing a summary of it
7. Giving an alternative title to a story or poem studied in the syllabus and justifying the same

EVALUATION
Internal Evaluation by the Teacher (20 Marks):
Assessment Description Marks
Criteria
Listening Skills Response to questions based on 6
(Aural) listening comprehension
Speaking Skills Content, Fluency, Vocabulary, 6
(Oral) Sentence structure, Confidence level
Writing Skills Process, Content, Presentation, 8
Originality
TOTAL 20

PROJECT WORK FOR CLASS XII
Project Work in Class XII comprises assessment of candidates in three projects, one each on
Listening, Speaking and Writing Skills.
Listening and Speaking skills are to be assessed internally, by the School in Class XII.
Writing Skills are to be assessed externally by the Visiting Examiner, appointed locally and
approved by the CISCE.
Details of assignments for Project Work are given below:
Listening Skills (to be internally assessed by the subject teacher)
An unseen passage of about 500 words or a poem (of appropriate length) may be read aloud, twice,
the first time at normal reading speed and the next time at a slower speed. The passage/poem may
be taken from any book, newspaper, magazine, journal and so on but not from an ICSE or ISC
textbook. A suitable audio clip may also be used.
Students may make brief notes during the readings/playing of the audio clip, followed by answering
objective type questions based on the passage/poem/audio clip, on the paper provided.

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Speaking Skills (to be internally assessed by the subject teacher)
Students are to be assessed through an individual presentation, e.g. extempore speaking,
declamation, recitation, debate, of about three minutes followed by a discussion with the subject
teacher, for another two or three minutes.
List of suggested assignments for Project Work:
1. Narrating an experience
2. Giving directions or instructions on how to make or operate something
3. Providing a description
4. Giving a report
5. Expressing an opinion or a theme-based conversation
6. Giving a speech on a selected topic
7. Reading out, after correcting, a grammatically incorrect passage/s of suitable length (150 - 200
words) based on the grammar syllabus prescribed for Classes XI and XII.
Writing Skills (Literature): to be assessed externally by the Visiting Examiner
Candidates will be required to undertake one written assignment of 1000-1500 words on a text/texts
studied in the Literature syllabus.
The objective is to produce original, creative and insightful perspectives on a literary text or set of
texts which may be from the short stories/ poems/ drama/ novel from the syllabus.
The text/texts analysed in the Class XI Project Work must not be repeated in Class XII.
List of suggested assignments for Project Work:
1. Writing a short story based on a poem.
2. Writing a poem based on a story.
3. Analysing the relevance of a selected story/couplets in the present-day context.
4. Imagining an alternate outcome or ending or extension of the chosen text and its impact on the
plot/setting/characters/mood and tone.
5. Providing an alternate title to a given text and giving a justification for the same.
6. Imagining oneself as one of the main characters of the story/novel/drama and describing what
one would like to change in the story/novel/drama, giving reasons for the same.
7. Analysing the theme of the story/poem/novel and expressing one’s opinion on the same.
8. Summarising / paraphrasing of the chosen text.
9. Preparing a script for dramatization, based on the short story/poem chosen.
10. Comparing and contrasting two characters/themes from different short stories/poems of the
prescribed texts.
11. Appreciation of literary qualities of the chosen text.
12. Analysing the background (historical, cultural, literary context) and relevance of the works of
the writer/poet chosen.
13. Critical analysis of a news story published in four different newspapers.
14. Writing an article for a newspaper (news writing of an event).

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EVALUATION
*Marks (out of a total of 20) should be distributed as given below:

1. Internal Evaluation by Teacher*
Listening Skills (Aural) 5 Marks
Speaking Skills (Oral) 5 Marks

2. External Evaluation by the Visiting Examiner of Writing 10 Marks
Skills**

TOTAL 20 Marks
*Internal Evaluation by the Teacher (10 Marks)
Assessment Description Marks
Criteria
Listening Response to questions based on listening comprehension 5
Skills
(Aural)
Speaking Content, Fluency, Vocabulary, Sentence structure, 5
Skills (Oral) Confidence

TOTAL 10

**Evaluation by the Visiting Examiner (10 Marks)

Assessment Criteria and Description Marks
1. Process 2
(Identification of the topic, planning and preparing a written
outline)
2. Presentation 2
(Overall formatting: headings, sub-headings, paragraphing,
writing within the word limit and providing a separate title
page)
3. Content 4
(Use a range of literary aspects in order to present an organized
and well-structured complete assignment with proper
introduction, main body and conclusion)

4. Originality 2
TOTAL 10

NOTE: No question paper for Project Work will be set by the CISCE.

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