Latest news with #EnglishExam
Irish Times
4 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
State exams body defends ‘curveball' short story question in Junior Cycle English paper
The State Examinations Commission (SEC) has defended the inclusion of a question on short stories that sparked controversy in the Junior Cycle English paper on the basis that it was 'fully within the scope' of the curriculum. In Wednesday's Junior Cycle English exam at higher level, candidates were asked to respond to a question about 'any short story they had studied'. It was worth 15 marks from a total of 180 marks for the exam. [ Classroom to College: our essential newletter on the State exams for parents, guardians and students ] However, many students reported that they had not studied any short stories during their three years of the Junior Cycle and left the question blank, while parents reported that children felt upset and confused in the middle of their first ever State exam. While many teachers have covered short stories, others said they have not on the basis that they struggle to cover the full curriculum of the revised Junior Cycle English specification, which has been examined for all candidates since 2017. A question on short stories has not come up in the exam in recent years. READ MORE A SEC spokesman said it was assured that the questions was 'fully within the scope of the specification and in keeping with the aims, objectives and learning outcomes for Junior Cycle English.' The spokesman said its exam papers and draft marking schemes are developed through a 'rigorous development process' and those involved are 'experts in the subject who are also experienced teachers.' The spokesman also noted that the Junior Cycle English specification includes guidelines for teachers on the choice of texts which should be studied by students in first year, and by those in second and third year. 'The specification includes short stories among the texts which must be studied by students in both first and second/third year,' he said. In addition, he pointed to the Department of Education list of prescribed materials for the second and third year of Junior Cycle English which issued to schools in 2022 for those sitting this year's exam. This circular states that 'second and third year students MUST study texts as described' and includes 'a number of short stories' in the list of texts. In the case of novels, films and dramas to be studied for examination, teachers choose from those on the prescribed lists as set out in the circular. In the case of poetry, short stories, and non-literary texts teachers have the freedom to choose specific examples. The spokesman noted that 'commentary and correspondence on the examinations from students, parents, teachers, professional bodies, and other interested parties' will be reviewed by the subject's chief examiner in the context of preparing the marking scheme, 'The approach taken by the SEC to the development of marking schemes ensures consistency in the marking and fairness to all candidates. The marking scheme will be published, as will the marking schemes in all other subjects, after the issue of the Junior Cycle results. About 60,000 students sat the higher level Junior Cycle English paper. While some teachers described the inclusion of the question as a 'curveball', most overall said they were happy with a 'balanced' and 'fair' exam.
BreakingNews.ie
5 days ago
- Lifestyle
- BreakingNews.ie
Leaving Cert: Teacher says many students found today's English exam 'challenging'
A teacher has said many students found the questions challenging in the latest Leaving Cert exam. Students completed English paper two on Thursday afternoon. Advertisement Sue O'Sullivan Casey, from Pobalscoil Inbhear Scèine, Kenmare, Co Kerry, said the Higher Level questions on Shakespeare's King Lear challenged students to consider a variety of elements of the play. 'The questions on Shakespeare's King Lear were manageable for those who were familiar not just with the King Lear character but minor characters also,' she said. 'The first question allowed students to write about the complex villains of the play. They could have also reflected on King Lear's actions, too, and those of his daughter Cordelia. The alternative question centred on the staple themes of the play: justice and order. 'Other popular Single Text questions on Anthony Doerr's 'All the Light We Cannot See', Arthur Miller's 'The Crucible' and Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' allowed students to explore both character and theme in their chosen texts with plenty of opportunity to offer critical analysis and argument. Advertisement 'The General Vision and Viewpoint focused on aspects of human nature and the complexities within it. Students would have seen a similar style question in recent papers and should have managed this fine. The Cultural Context question, meanwhile, explored control and power and students would have been pleased to see such a question. However, the question asked students to identify the subtle ways in which divisions were explored. This may have thrown some. 'Whilst inclusion and exclusion were analysed for those students who had studied Theme or Issue. This may have proven difficult for some students if they had not explored this aspect of the texts. However, issues of power and identity would have lent themselves to this idea of inclusion/ exclusion. The Comparative questions once again only required students to base their answer on two texts for the 70-mark question. However, a great many students still answer this question based on three texts to allow for lots of opportunities to contrast and compare. Overall, those students who took their time to stop and carefully consider the keywords of the question and plan their answers would have managed well. 'Lastly, the prescribed poets that appeared on this year's paper were not overly surprising. As many predicted, the contemporary female American poet Tracy K. Smith appeared much to the relief of a great many students. The shock of the day for many students was the absence of Hopkins. Students would have been frustrated by this, as it eliminated an option that many of them would have had worked hard on. 'Another surprise was the inclusion of not one but three Irish poets; Boland, Kavanagh and Mahon. The unseen poem featured As Far as Turn Back by Pat Boran and was succinct and easy to navigate with the questions that followed testing students' ability to interpret the poet's message through their use of language. Advertisement 'Overall, the paper was fair and balanced with nothing too out of the ordinary. The student who had put in the work over the course of two years would have felt prepared and capable to meet each question diligently.' Ordinary paper Ms O'Sullivan Casey said the Ordinary Level questions were accessible and many students would have managed well. 'For students who would have studied Sive by John B. Keane, the questions asked students to consider the text's key moments, characters and relationships. It also offered some clear, manageable functional writing tasks including the text for a podcast and a debate. Quiz Quiz: Could you pass Junior Certificate Maths? Read More 'Other questions on Arthur Miller's 'The Crucible' and Colson Whitehead's 'The Underground Railroad' were challenging but not unfamiliar. Advertisement 'The Comparative Study saw students study their texts in relation to either Themes, Social Setting or Relationships and the questions today allowed those who knew their texts well to write about key moments that highlighted these modes at work. 'The Studied Poetry saw poems from Boland, Eliot, and Dickinson appear from the traditional poetry course and poems by Sinead Morrissey, Liz Lockhead and Jessica Traynor appear from the alternative poetry course. The Unseen Poetry question featured First Day by Theo Dorgan and the questions gave students an opportunity to demonstrate their ability to identify and comment on the poet's use of language. 'The paper was fair and straightforward. A student who had prepared consistently over two years would have been ready to handle the questions well.'
Irish Times
6 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
Junior Cycle English exam: ‘Balanced and fair'
The first of this year's Junior Cycle exams, English, was a balanced and fair paper, but with some surprises, teachers have said. Aoife O'Driscoll, junior cycle English teacher at the , said that the paper focused on the theme of perception. 'Overall, it struck a good balance between familiarity and challenge,' she said. 'The poetry question asked students to reflect on how two poems gave them a broader understanding of the world. This is a task that many will have practiced, though it's worth noting that the expectation to discuss more than one poem is becoming more common.' READ MORE Kate Barry, a teacher at Loreto Secondary School in Cork and ASTI subject representative for English, said that students and teachers alike were happy with the paper. However, she said that a question on the moral or lesson an audience may draw from a Shakespearian play may have been tricky for some candidates. 'I would have preferred a more thematic approach, perhaps asking how the playwright ties it all up at the end, as people and life are complicated, and it isn't always easy to draw simple moral lessons from Shakespeare,' Ms Barry said. Studyclix subject expert Sue O'Sullivan Casey from Pobalscoil Inbhear Scèine, Kenmare, Co. Kerry, agreed that this may have been tricky for some candidates. 'They may have had some difficulty with this terminology,' she said. 'Another curveball was the question asking candidates to write about a short story in class. This is a new style of question for JC English and candidates may not have prepared for this going into the exam.' Ms Barry said that the ordinary level paper was 'really lovely, and it gave good opportunities to write.' There was a lot of content that students would have felt comfortable with, said Ms O'Driscoll, including an unseen piece based on Kensuke's Kingdom, a novel by the author Michael Morpurgo, whose books would be familiar to many students.
Irish Times
6 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
Leaving Cert English paper one: challenging but plenty of choice
The first of this year's Leaving Cert exams contained challenging elements, but provided enough choice for students to engage with it meaningfully, teachers have said. 'The higher level paper, which was based on the theme of 'perspectives', featured a nice balance between creative tasks and reflective or discursive tasks,' said Kate Barry, a teacher at Loreto Secondary School in Cork and ASTI subject representative for English. 'This played to the strengths of different candidates.' [ Classroom to College: our expert newsletter on the Leaving Cert for parents, guardian and students ] Gillian Chute, head of English at , an online grinds company, said that the three section B questions tend to be consistently unpredictable. 'This seemed to be the case this year, where students were asked to assume the persona of a hotel manager and write an online response on the hotel website 'in response to a disgruntled guest's highly critical review,' Ms Chute said. READ MORE Sue O'Sullivan Casey, subject expert and a teacher at Pobalscoil Inbhear Scèine, Kenmare, said that, overall, students would have been happy with the accessibility of English paper one. 'The three reading comprehensions centred on how perspectives can change either on a personal or societal level,' Ms O'Sullivan Casey said. 'Candidates would have been pleased with the variety of text types, which included an article on 'underdogs', a speech by novelist Margaret Atwood and a narrative extract from the Booker-prize winning novel, Orbital by Samantha Harvey.' In the personal essay question, one of the more challenging options asked students to 'write a personal essay in which you reflect on some of the factors that would influence your voting intentions in future elections.' Ms Barry said that she hoped the State Examinations Commission would give clear instructions to examiners that students should be assessed here on their writing, and not on their political opinions, which any individual examiner may or may not agree with. She said, however, that any of the other six essays offered a good choice. Ms Chute said that the essay genres were predictable. 'There was one discursive essay, one speech, one article, two personal essays and two short stories,' she said. Ms O'Sullivan Casey said that students would have favoured the essay on disappointments which allowed for scope to demonstrate their reflective writing skills. 'Both short stories on offer allowed students to explore character in their narrative writing and gave candidates freedom to develop plots in a number of directions,' she said. Meanwhile, Ms Chute said that the speech titled 'Truth has become a valueless currency in today's world' would have provided students with ample material to explore such as AI, social media and fake news. Ordinary level At ordinary level, Ms O'Sullivan Casey said that the paper was clear and straightforward, asking students to demonstrate their understanding of language and their writing skills. 'Candidates sitting the Ordinary Level paper would have been pleased with the accessibility of the three texts to choose from,' she said. 'An article, narrative extract and a series of quotes, lyrics and images were all on offer and the Question As were easy to navigate and manage. 'The Question B writing tasks were familiar to those candidates who had diligently prepared. A pamphlet, letter and interview were available to choose from and the tasks were clear in their requirements. 'The composition titles that appeared featured a good selection of choice for these candidates,' Ms O'Sullivan Casey concluded. Try this one: Leaving Cert English (higher level), section one, Q3 (b) You are a contributor to a podcast entitled, Eyes Wide Open, where you reflect on how your perspective on a significant issue changed as a result of an experience or an encounter. Write your reflection for the podcast in which you: identify the issue and explain your previous attitude towards it, describe the experience or encounter that changed your perspective, and consider some of the life lessons that you and others can learn from this reflection.
