If you're worried about your French exam, you might consider putting that burning question to Sean Higgins, French teacher and former ASTI president. Sean will do his best to deal with as many questions as possible in the Exam Countdown seminar which The Irish Times will broadcast on the web next Monday, May 22nd.
Meanwhile, he has been asking his own students in St Mary's Diocesan School in Drogheda, Co Louth, and students in nearby St Joseph's CBS, about their main worries.
Their concerns are probably a fair reflection of the concerns of students around the State. If you have a particular worry or problem you can e-mail or send it to Exam Countdown and Sean will try and help you through.
The higher-level students Higgins talked to identified three main areas of concern. On reading comprehension, many of the students were worried about question 6, which must be answered in English. On the face of it, it would seem that students should be pleased not to have to answer in French, but Higgins, who is an experienced exam commentator, explains that students find it difficult to switch between the two languages.
Students also said that if they answered in French they could "lift some phrases" from the passage. "From the papers I have corrected for the mocks, this fear about question 6 is not well founded. People do reasonably well. Students should bear in mind that they confine themselves to making two points in as good an English as they can muster," says Higgins. Many students also dislike the grammar question.
In general, on answering the questions on the reading comprehension section, Higgins says students should read the questions carefully, checking whether they are being asked to quote or to paraphrase. These are two very different styles of answer, he says.
In the written production section, the most unpopular question is the obligatory first question, which is based on the subject matter of the reading comprehension. Some students are worried that an incomplete understanding of the nuances of the passage will mean that they will do badly. Again, Sean Higgins says two points are required in the answer. Be as relevant as you can, he says.
On the listening comprehension, Higgins says "a lot of students have made the point that the passages can take too long to get to the point. In some years, the speech has been too fast for Irish students . . . students also complain about background noises, which the Department occasionally puts in to give authenticity. Students just want a clear tape."
The very last section of the tape is replayed once, whereas all other sections are replayed twice. Higgins says this is suitable for students who attending school through the medium of French, for French nationals and for very fluent Irish students. "Most students are not in these categories and they would prefer to hear the tape three times."
At ordinary level, students should take note of the comments included in the most recent chief examiner's report (1997 Leaving Cert), highlighting the importance of being familiar with the layout of the paper and what exactly is required.
In the written expression, "many candidates seemed unsure of the required number of questions, resulting in their attempting all questions. Many examiners made the valid point that those who answered extra questions fared no better than the few who confined their answering to the required two questions."
The inclusion of extraneous material was a fault in some answers in the reading comprehension and in the listening comprehension. The old saw of "only answer what you're asked" applies here.
The message coming across from the chief examiner's report is for ordinary-level students to pay attention to the number of questions you are required to answer and make sure your answers are to the point.
