Boland brings smiles all around

EAVAN BOLAND’S appearance in the poetry section of the higher level English Paper 2 brought smiles in most Leaving Certificate exam centres yesterday.

However, Michael Doherty of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) said the question about the language in her work was quite taxing, but most students who were well prepared should have managed it. He said there was plenty to write about in the question on Robert Frost and some nice questions on WB Yeats and Emily Dickinson.

The overall response to the paper was positive, Mr Doherty said, although the question about the justice and revenge themes in Hamlet was challenging. This was balanced by a straightforward question about Catherine Earnshaw in Wuthering Heights and nice questions in the comparative study section.

Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) English spokesman Alan Thompson said it was good that Boland, the poet who most students prepared for, was examined, but agreed the question was the most difficult in the section.

He said most higher level students should be pleased with the combination of the first paper on Wednesday and yesterday’s exam, which he said had a student-friendly comparative study section. However, he said some students would have found the figurative language of the unseen poem a bit difficult, even though the related questions were fair.

Mr Doherty said students who hadprepared well for the ordinary level Paper 2 for Leaving Certificate English should have no major complaints. He said the questions about the novel How Many Miles to Babylon? and in the comparative study section were very straightforward.

The appearance of Patrick Kavanagh’s A Christmas Childhood should have proved popular, he said.

The second ordinary level exam was described as “lovely” by Mr Thompson, who felt it contained no tricky questions. He said the comparative study and poetry questions were very fair and students were given a chance to show off their knowledge.

For Junior Certificate students, yesterday was all about Irish. Bláithín Ní Liatháin of the TUI said the ordinary level listening exam should have caused no major problems, with the hardest part being a Donegal dialect which was not too clear. She said the comprehension passages on the GAA and Trócaire were nice, although some questions required a deal of delving. The texts on boxer Katie Taylor and golfer Rory McIlroy were also welcomed.

She thought the use of a blog instead of an email in a writing exercise may have been difficult for weaker students, although the paper offered some help with vocabulary.

Robbie Cronin of the ASTI thought the questions in the ordinary level listening test were appropriate and the reading comprehension pieces were topical, although he noticed a misspelling of Sierra Leone in the article about Trócaire.

He said the article on Rory McIlroy and one of the related questions were too difficult but the written section of the paper was very good, covering topics of holidays, shopping, a cycle trip and a lottery win.

Mr Cronin thought too much information was provided in an article about seafood in the morning exam for higher level students. But, he said, the questions were answerable and most questions on the comprehension passage about a stolen zoo penguin were fine.

He felt a lot of students were unhappy about the grammar section, particularly one asking them to identify a singular noun in a sentence.

Ms Ní Liatháin said some questions for higher level students on the listening test were long and in a difficult format, while the two writing questions were fine.

However, she also felt the grammar section was awkward and one question asked students to change the tense of verbs underlined, when they were, in fact, in bold.

But Ms Ní Liatháin said there was a good range of genres in the composition section and interesting topics such as pets, favourite bands and young people’s lives.

She said the extract from a novel, featuring a discussion between a mother and daughter, in the first question of the afternoon’s higher level exam was very topical. Ms Ní Liatháin thought the comparison question about poems was okay and the choice of two letters should have posed no problems for those with fluent Irish.

Mr Cronin said the mother/daughter extract was one of the most interesting comprehension passages to feature for many years and the questions that followed were fair. He also liked the modern feel of the unseen poems but suggested wording in a glossary might have confused students more than it helped them.

With a broad choice of poetry themes and a good choice of letters, however, he felt it was a great paper overall.

Ms Ní Liatháin said the Junior Certificate Irish foundation level paper was fine although a Donegal dialect in one listening passage might have been a bit strong.

Leaving Certificate engineering exams were taken by more than 5,000 students and ASTI’s Eamon Dennehy said the higher level exam was along similar lines to other years, with many questions testing students well by asking them to apply their knowledge. He said the ordinary level paper was nicely laid out and appeared quite fair for students.