New JC English sample papers released. Any thoughts?

evolving_doors

So this is it folks... what do the intelligencia of AH think. Much has been made of some teachers' resistance... so now its here do yees think the standard is suitable for teenagers?

https://www.examinations.ie/misc-doc/BI-EX-10094598.pdf

You have 5mins to read through the paper.

You may begin.

Realt Dearg Sec

Gebgbegb wrote: »

So this is it folks... what do the intelligencia of AH think. Much has been made of some teachers' resistance... so now its here do yees think the standard is suitable for teenagers?

https://www.examinations.ie/misc-doc/BI-EX-10094598.pdf

You have 5mins to read through the paper.

You may begin.

Piece of pi5s. Back in my day blah blah blah...

dpofloinn

In what way is this an improvement to what is already in place? This takes dumbing down to a brand new low.The most feeble minded would piss through this

Duckworth_Luas

FFS! Kavanagh didn't come up!

Fr_Dougal

What is this? A school for ants? It needs to be at least three times bigger.

I hope that sample paper is for kids that don't read good.

c_man

New JC English sample papers released. Any thoughts?

Yes, the Junior Cert's a joke and nobody in the real world actually gives a flying fuk.

ohnonotgmail

Is the Junior Cert what they used to call the Group Cert, The exam taken by kids not able for the inter cert?

mirrorwall14

I'm just going to reiterate from the T&L forum that 20% of one of those sample papers goes for Multiple choice, matching and some definitions that are ridiculously easy. That is absolutely batty. It doesn't even have a full essay in it, just an intro

mirrorwall14

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

Is the Junior Cert what they used to call the Group Cert, The exam taken by kids not able for the inter cert?

Nope. Junior cert=intercert but to be honest after reading that paper I don't think you can say it's equal to this new junior cycle!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

Is the Junior Cert what they used to call the Group Cert, The exam taken by kids not able for the inter cert?

No. The group was dropped. Junior replaces Inter.


This is some dumbing down. Can you read at all? OK, Honours in English it is so.

carefulnowted

That paper is ridiculously dumbed down, even compared to the HL papers for the last few years. It's practically first year level.

whatismyname

Would not do well in this, since I've not recently studied for this memory test.

Nodin

Gebgbegb wrote: »

So this is it folks... what do the intelligencia of AH think. Much has been made of some teachers' resistance... so now its here do yees think the standard is suitable for teenagers?

https://www.examinations.ie/misc-doc/BI-EX-10094598.pdf

You have 5mins to read through the paper.

You may begin.

Can't remember me inter, so the only thought now is that I'm old....old and grey

mirrorwall14

whatismyname wrote: »

Would not do well in this, since I've not recently studied for this memory test.

Did you read it? It's definitely not a memory test

whatismyname

mirrorwall14 wrote: »

Did you read it? It's definitely not a memory test

Not all of it is a memory test, but I read enough of it.

Badly Drunk Boy

It's Sunday evening, Glenroe is about to start, and I've no homework to do. But then this comes along?

Where (else) In The World would that happen?

Is it that dumbed down? Interpreting a text I assume they haven't seen before, comparing it to & analysing a text they *have* seen, justifying their decisions, creative writing? In the LC we had "write a story based on this image" as well so I don't see the fuss there.

In my own one, or the mock, we had some nonsense Simpsons transcript - it wasn't any of the clever parts either

There's no poetry though? Seems like a gap. Did they not have poetry before? Will there only be one paper?

Inspector Coptoor

It's a higher level paper that includes multiple choice box ticking exercises.
It's not challenging enough for Higher Level students.

Fleawuss

Gebgbegb wrote: »

So this is it folks... what do the intelligencia of AH think. Much has been made of some teachers' resistance... so now its here do yees think the standard is suitable for teenagers?

https://www.examinations.ie/misc-doc/BI-EX-10094598.pdf

You have 5mins to read through the paper.

You may begin.

It's intelligentsia.
You may stand in the corner.

evolving_doors

Fleawuss wrote: »

It's intelligentsia.
You may stand in the corner.

Yesss well done young man, I did that on purpose to see who was paying attention (pat pat pat).

But actually I was referring to the smart super-villain group in Marvel comic.

I had a go anyway and I'd say I could well bluff me a pass armed with about 4 quotes and a quick character rundown of Shakespeare.

dpofloinn

For any one interested here is sample paper 2


Sample Paper 2

Fleawuss

Gebgbegb wrote: »

Yesss well done young man, I did that on purpose to see who was paying attention (pat pat pat).

But actually I was referring to the smart super-villain group in Marvel comic.

I had a go anyway and I'd say I could well bluff me a pass armed with about 4 quotes and a quick character rundown of Shakespeare.

Of course. I believe you.

kneemos

dpofloinn wrote: »

For any one interested here is sample paper 2


Sample Paper 2

No actual way.
That's second or third class stuff.

The Backwards Man

All about perspective

If that was a Maths paper it would be incredibly difficult

seamus

It's a Junior cert paper. I have no recollection of how difficult the JC may or may not have been except to say that a much bigger fuss was made about it than needed to be.

It's a two-hour paper, an A student will complete it in 30-45 minutes. I don't see the issue here. The JC should be a relatively straightforward exam because it doesn't have any real meaning.

For those bitching about the multiple choice, it's actually an incredibly clever way of easing students in and relaxing them. It still requires some brains to kick in, but because it's multiple choice it's easy to know if you're wrong or right.

Many students are perfectly capable to do the material but have difficulty with the exam process. My recollection of English exams was that the first question often required you to straight out write a 3 page essay (or essay answer) from your imagination. Incredibly difficult thing to do at the start of an exam, and loads of people end up just staring at the paper in despair for 15 or 20 minutes until they get their **** together.

If you design the paper in such a way that a student can launch into it straight away, then they'll be more confident when the harder stuff appears.

Lollipops23

I did my JC in 2003 and still remember the Eng paper being a walk in the park. If this is a true representation of the newer cycle, it's fair to say it has been dumbed down.

Translations in the footnotes of the Shakespeare extract? Really? For a play they've been studying all year? Nah, that's ridiculous.

suicide_circus

Just be glad they still include Shakespeare.

Question 1: Match the hadhtag to the appropriate selfie...

Question 2: Write a topical status update in 140 character or less

Question 3: How many "likes" do you need per month to validate your self worth?


Although the last one is more of a maths question..

conorhal

Meanwhile in Seoul a special police unit has been formed to raid illegal grind schools at which students study well into the night....

I don't condone either extremity, but it's easy to see why Asia is going to eat old Europe alive in the coming decades.

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

ohnonotgmail

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

we should be grateful that the question wasn't in txtspk.

Lollipops23

Lollipops23 wrote: »

I did my JC in 2003 and still remember the Eng paper being a walk in the park. If this is a true representation of the newer cycle, it's fair to say it has been dumbed down.

Translations in the footnotes of the Shakespeare extract? Really? For a play they've been studying all year? Nah, that's ridiculous.

I think the translations are for the unseen text...

pmasterson95

The funny thing is students will still find this too hard and fail

Realt Dearg Sec

To those saying it's easier than back in their day, could someone please explain to me how that is the case? English exams are exactly as hard as the people marking the test decide that it will be. So while you might say "learn a few Shakespeare quotes, rattle off about the theme of death in the play, should be grand". Well...yes, if the examiners decide that they are going to accept that kind of sh1te as an answer, then for sure, it'll be easy. No easier or more difficult than any other incarnation of the exam, since that approach is pretty much applicable no matter how you structure the thing.

If, on the other hand, the examiners decided that they are actually going to value things like independent thinking, providing a cogent response to the question that is not rote-learned and demonstrates analytical skill, argumentative capacity, and imaginative engagement with the text, then it really doesn't matter how easy the test looks, if you can't do those things, you're not going to ace it.

Now, you might well respond that this is not the way things are done in Irish secondary schools, and I'd agree with you, but the problem then doesn't lie with the structure of the test, it lies with what is actually being taught and learned in schools. As a university English lecturer of long experience, the answer there is "very little".

And as long as students are encouraged to approach exams in terms of what they need to be able to rattle off to get an A in English, they will be learning precisely nothing from the subject that is of any value to the society or to themselves as thinking members of it. As far as I'm concerned they should make the whole JC exam multiple choice, then set fire to the paper, and flush it down the jacks. Kids shouldn't be thinking in terms of exams at that stage, certainly not in English. They should just be learning, properly, how to write, how to think about texts, how to form an argument, and how to read. The last one, by far, is the most important. We are producing thousands and thousands of students every year who can't do any of that stuff.

And our generation was no better or worse than the one coming up, so we needn't be patting ourselves on the back about how much tougher we had it. What's on the exam is the least of our worries.

/rant

Inspector Coptoor

I think attention spans are getting shorter and shorter among students.
You have to try to ch age the stimulus very often to keep the junior years in secondary school engaged.
I'm lucky that I teach a practical subject so this is a bit easier but technology, and the almost limitless access to it, is making our students have lower attention spans with less ability to sit still and read a chapter of a book in one go.
I remember reading a book for 4-5 hours non stop when I was a teenager.
It doesn't seem to happens much anymore unless the kid is a bit introverted

AllGunsBlazing

I always thought the group and inter were mostly there to prepare students for the leaving cert. To go three years before taking an important exam seems a long gap. Sure I remember going slightly off the rails in 4th year simply because there was no big end of term exam for me to focus on.

Eugene Norman

Lollipops23 wrote: »

I did my JC in 2003 and still remember the Eng paper being a walk in the park. If this is a true representation of the newer cycle, it's fair to say it has been dumbed down.

Translations in the footnotes of the Shakespeare extract? Really? For a play they've been studying all year? Nah, that's ridiculous.

Isn't this a Shakespeare extract never seen before?