CBSE Class 9 English Syllabus 2026-27

ENGLISH Class IX (2026-27)

Introduction

At the secondary stage, language learning strengthens the learners' abilities to use language meaningfully for comprehension, expression, interpretation, and critical engagement with texts. Pedagogical processes emphasise dialogic reading, reflective writing, listening, and speaking activities, and contextual use of language through discussion, interpretation, and creative expression. Assessment focuses on understanding, interpretation, communicative clarity, articulation of ideas, and the ability to analyse and respond to texts in multiple modes, rather than only on recall- based written responses.

As per NCF-SE 2023, language education at the Secondary Stage must specifically aim to achieve:

1. Oracy and literacy: Oracy and literacy are fundamental to school education.

Attaining oracy means students develop fluency in expression and understanding of spoken language.

• Literacy means that all students demonstrate fluent and critical reading,

writing, and comprehension capacities in the language.

1. Effective communication skills: Students may develop their language capacities to think critically, identify real-world problems, analyse them, make rational arguments, work out solutions and communicate well in a variety of situations for effective democratic, social, and cultural participation.

1. Literary and creative capacities: Language teaching in schools must aim at building capacities in students towards an appreciation of the literary aspects of language. It may also allow for an exploration of — how to be creative and imaginative in their spoken and written expressions across cultures.

1. Appreciation and engagement in culture: Learning a language is learning a culture. Thus, language plays an important role in the immersion and participation in culture. Students must be allowed to understand and appreciate the rich linguistic cultures of India.

1. Linkages with the Indian Knowledge System: Along with the development of skills and competence, other aspects such as emotional intelligence, social feeling, national pride, connections of art, social concerns, and natural science are addressed through content, context and pedagogy with the focus on fundamentals of literature and life (critical thinking), such as emotion, perception, feeling, sound, language, thought, memory, metaphor, aesthetics, environment, self, society, culture, civilisation, etc.

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Language Learning Approach

Experiential, activity and discussion-based approaches are recommended to promote the culture of self-learning and reduce dependence on the teacher. The teaching of language will be enhanced through innovative and experiential methods. Thus, the teaching of language will also be based on the experiential-learning pedagogy. The shift requires that students' contexts and experiences become part of the pedagogical processes.

Experiential learning includes any type of activity that comprises learning by doing, i.e., experimenting, exploring, sharing personal narratives, observing, cooperative learning, and above all, self-learning and self-assessment. Students need to have mastery in the 21st century skills, such as effective communication, critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, etc.

There are diverse learning situations and contexts in India. Language education plays a crucial role in keeping students rooted to their country, as it allows individuals to connect with their culture, heritage and society.

Learning Standards

Learning standards enable teachers to plan their content, pedagogy, and assessment towards achieving specific competencies. These must be seen as enabling guidelines for teachers and school leaders, not as constraining demands on them. By the end of the secondary stage, we would expect every student must have gained the whole range of skills and competencies. It is at this stage that using the language of students turns out to be more productive. Students use language to interpret, understand, address issues, and gain knowledge that will help them to become autonomous learners.

As per NCF-SE 2023, students will develop linguistic proficiency for academic use in R1 and R2 by the end of the secondary stage ensuring that a higher level of familiarity, understanding, and interpretation of literature is achieved.

Curricular Goals and Competencies-Secondary Stage

Curricular Goals (CGs) are specific statements derived from the broader Aims of Education that give clear direction to curriculum development and implementation. Competencies are the specific, observable, and systematically assessable learning achievements that students must attain by the end of the stage. 2

Language R1

Curricular Goal (CG) Competency (C) CG-1: Uses language for C-1.1: Uses language appropriate to social effective communication through context, expresses agreement and disagreement writing various forms (essays, with reasons, and arrives at conclusions through letters, articles, discussions, discussion and debate. interviews, public speeches) and C-1.2: Writes in different styles (narrative, for new media (email, audio, and descriptive, expository, persuasive) from their visual material). own experiences and experiences of others. C-1.3: Writes for real-life situations (invitations, speeches, condolence messages, notices, creative slogans, advertisements) and for school newsletter/magazine/journal. C-1.4: Scripts to inform and communicate ideas effectively with the use of technology. CG-2: Develops an appreciation C-2.1: Describes characteristics of works of of the aesthetics in different literature from different time periods (such as genres (humour, suspense, early, medieval, contemporary). tragedy) through analysis of C-2.2: Analyses a literary text by close reading, style (narrative, descriptive, critiquing form and style, and interpreting expository, persuasive) and possible meanings. employs these elements in their C-2.3: Composes literary texts by using writing. appropriate literary devices. CG-3: Uses language to develop C-3.1: Analyses and evaluates the different audio reasoning and argumentation and written material. skills by engaging with a variety C-3.2: Argues with proper rationale by carefully of audio and written material. evaluating premises. CG-4: Appreciates literary and C-4.1: Recognises the multilingual nature of cultural heritage in and related to Indian society and richness of its literary work the language and the richness of through reading texts and watching content of Indian languages. different genres. C-4.2: Appreciates the richness of culture and heritage in the different works of regional language literature and their connections. C-4.3: Shows an understanding of the role of language in the formation of our identities and culture. C-4.4: Demonstrates a basic knowledge of the commonalities among some of the major Indian languages, such as their common phonetic and scientifically arranged alphabets and scripts, common grammatical structures, origins and 3

Curricular Goal (CG) Competency (C) sources of vocabularies from Sanskrit and other classical languages. C-4.5: Demonstrates a basic knowledge of which languages are spoken in which geographical areas, a sense of the nature and structure of tribal languages, and becomes familiar with a few useful words and phrases and works of literature from a few Indian languages from across the country.

Language R2

Curricular Goal (CG) Competency (C) CG-1: Uses language for C-1.1: Uses language appropriate to social effective communication through context, expresses agreement and disagreement various oral activities with reasons, and arrives at conclusions through (discussions, interviews, public discussion and debate. speeches) and writing activities C-1.2: Writes in different styles (narrative, (essays, letters, articles), descriptive, expository, persuasive) from their including new media (email, own experiences and experiences of others. audio, and visual material). C-1.3: Writes for real-life situations (invitations, speeches, condolence messages, notices, creative slogans, advertisements) and for school newsletter/magazine/journal. C-1.4: Scripts to inform and communicate ideas effectively with the use of technology. CG-2: Uses language to develop C-2.1: Analyses and evaluates different audio reasoning and argumentation and written material. skills by engaging with a variety C-2.2: Argues with proper rationale by carefully of audio and written material. evaluating premises. CG-3: Develops an appreciation C-3.1: Describes characteristics of works of of the aesthetics in different literature from different time periods (such as genres (humour, suspense, early, medieval, contemporary). tragedy) through an analysis of C-3.2: Analyses a literary text by close reading, style (narrative, descriptive, critiquing form and style, and interpreting expository, persuasive) and possible meanings. employs these elements in their C-3.3: Composes literary texts using appropriate writing. literary devices. 4