Tough passages in French paper

TWO reading passages with difficult language made it a tough start to the higher level Leaving Certificate French paper taken by more than 16,000 students.

Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) subject spokeswoman Beth Cooney said language in questions about the article on driving tests was very tough and students had to change a lot of wording and grammar.

She thought the piece about a Senegalese woman living with her in-laws after her husband’s death was too literary. But she thought the diary entry and formal e-mail questions were nice and students were offered an appropriate variety of opinion topics.

The aural listening test, with different questions for higher and ordinary level students, was described as clear and well-paced, but Ms Cooney said one difficulty for higher level students may have been recognising the word os for bone in an item about an archaeologist.

Mary Costelloe of the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) also felt the higher level comprehension pieces were very tough.

She said the ordinary level exam was along the usual lines with very suitable comprehension passages and a good choice of questions in the written production section.

Ms Cooney said the ordinary level comprehension pieces were very suitable, with one possible issue in recognition of the phrase for electrical goods to be on standby. And the written production section offered plenty of choice for students.

The Junior Certificate ordinary level French exam was described by Ms Cooney as accessible and fair, with the usual choices in written production questions. She said the aural test was straightforward and pitched well for ordinary level.

She said the higher level exam contained no surprises and should have been fine for most candidates, apart from one or two testing questions.

The appearance of the Sunningdale Agreement in the North questions for both higher and ordinary level Leaving Certificate history would have pleased most students as it was tipped to be examined, according to TUI subject spokesperson Tony Forrestal. He said there was something for most students, particularly those who were familiar with the case studies, especially in the United States section at both levels.

Mr Forrestal said the higher level exam was particularly well-received, with questions about de Valera and Cosgrave’s Anglo-Irish policies, and church-state relations under Hitler and Mussolini. Another TUI history teacher Dermot Lucey said the higher level Junior Certificate history exam was very wide-ranging, meaning any student who cut corners might have been caught out.

He said the ordinary level paper was very fair, with a nice choice in the section about people in history.