IRISH PAPER II: LEAVING CERT ORDINARY LEVEL:A LEADING Irish expert has described yesterday's Irish Paper II ordinary level as one of the most straightforward in years. Eamonn Maguire, Irish Times Study Guide expert, said the exam was one of the easiest in years.
“Some traditionalists may claim that this is the beginning of the ‘dumbing down’ of the Irish exams, but I believe that it may help to get students back doing Irish again as there has been a significant decreases in numbers,” he said.
There were 26,2421 students sitting yesterday’s ordinary-level paper and they were pleased with the designated prose as well as the poetry questions with Jack and Bímse Buan ar Buairt Gach Lá appearing in the named poetry section.
Clare Grealy, an Irish teacher with the Institute of Education, said students seemed happy with the paper . She said most students would have probably opted for Jack in poetry.
“Talking to students after the exam, they seemed very happy with it. In relation to poetry, Faoiseamh a Gheobhadsa the compulsory poem, was very student-friendly. The other poetry questions were straightforward and reflect the questions of recent mock examination papers,” she said.
Ms Grealy says that some students may have been surprised with the prose section and that Lig Sinn i gCathú did not feature in a 35 mark question, as this was something students may have expected. However, the popular Clare sa Speir featured. She said the paper reflected the style of recent mock exams.
ASTI representative Robbie Cronin in Marian College, Ballsbridge, Dublin, said the paper did not give students too many surprises dealing with traditional topics, but he said the question “Do you think the title of this poem is suitable?” appearing in both options in question two in poetry was unusual.
He said another question in the same section gave students a large choice on the theme of love.
“Students were asked to write about a theme which included love of a place, romantic love and unrequited love, which was quite a large choice within one theme. I think some students might have seen the distinguishing in the love theme and ran away from it,” said Mr Cronin.
“Generally, I think Paper II was well received, with nothing that was too challenging. The questions were student-friendly.”
