A teacher of Spanish has appealed to the State Examinations Commission (SEC) to return to the practice of indicating what marks are being allocated for each question in Junior Cycle exam papers.
he issue has been raised by teachers in a number of subjects, as the new-style Junior Cycle exam papers are rolled out.
Association of Secondary Teachers’ Ireland (ASTI) subject representative David McArdle, said while the 2022 paper was “very well received by teachers and students, I would ask that, going forward, the marks for questions are shown”. Instead of marks the space allocated in the exam booklet for each answer is to be taken as an indication of the length of the response required
Mr McArdle, of De La Salle College, Dundalk Co Louth described it as a “very straightforward paper”.
He said in the listening comprehension, Q4 and Q7 were the trickier questions because of greater speed, “but even though they were quick, they were easy to understand”. However, he thought weaker students may have had difficulty with some of the vocabulary for Q7, about a robbery.
In the comprehension section, texts included a feature on a wheelchair basketball player who participated in the 2016 Paralympics, holidaying in Majorca and a city cycling scheme in Madrid.
Mr McArdle said in a difference from the sample paper, there were seven reading comprehensions, rather than six, but he didn’t think it should have caused an issue for students.
In the written expression section, Mr McArdle said the email question was “very accessible as only the present tense was asked”.
