Leaving Certificate French:"Visually unattractive"was how one teacher described yesterday's higher level written paper, as students were yet again treated to a text-heavy, black and white offering with only one image.
"This is an academic paper and there has never been much emphasis placed on its appearance," said Terenure College French teacher Peter McDonough, who said that the dreary presentation belied a rather lively content, that featured teen-friendly topics such as fashion and reality TV.
The listening comprehension was regarded as "pacy" by some students, who were put off by a rapid question 4 featuring French traders discussing the aftermath of a fire.
Corinne Gavinda of the Institute of Education in Dublin said that, notwithstanding the poor presentation, it was a "lovely paper". "There was plenty of choice for students and the comprehension topics were engaging.
"The nicest bit was the productive writing section in which students were asked to write about local pride."
Máire Ní Chiarba of the ASTI also praised the content of the paper which she felt had a lightness of touch and an appeal for young readers. "I was very happy with this exam. It was cleverly thought out and tested all aspects of the syllabus," said Miss Ni Chiarba, who is a member of the NCCA subject committee for French.
More than half of all Leaving Cert students take French, with the majority taking the subject at higher level.
Almost 17,000 Leaving Cert French students are female, compared to less than 12,000 male students of the language.
The ordinary level paper was true to form - it has followed the same format for many years and yesterday was no exception.
"The comprehension on traffic was very straightforward and there were no surprises in the productive writing section either," said Corinne Gavinda.
The listening comprehension was described as broadly accessible, although some sections were too fast for weaker students.
Over the past few years the presentation of both the ordinary and higher level French exams has been criticised for being dated and visually unstimulating.
The subject has not been modernised for more than a decade, but the NCCA subject committee is working on a revised syllabus.
