In his report on the 1896 senior grade English examination, the Intermediate Education Board's chief examiner expressed disappointment at the quality of compositions written by boys. He complained that no more than 20 out of the 300 compositions written by boys were any pleasure to read.
He deemed the spelling and handwriting "not bad" but condemned the standard of paragraphing, the disorderly sequence of thought, wandering off the point etc. The examiner was unhappy about the over-use of ornate language and overlong sentences. One boy described birds as "feathered denizens of the groves".
In the same year, the examiner responsible for the senior grade girls' English exam praised the standard of spelling and handwriting but expressed concern at the number of "fervent and emotional" essays, the use of triumphant rhetorical questions, artificial sentiment, and exaggerated and superlative language. One girl described her reaction to hearing an organ recital thus: "My pulses beat against my wrist like the waves lashing against the rocks".
From the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922 until 1995, examiners' reports were State secrets. Examiners knew what standards were but practising teachers did not. In 1995 the Chief Leaving Cert English (higher) examiner decried the inability of many candidates to write clear, grammatical English. "One thing is obvious: many students - even the very good ones, judging from their ideas and familiarity with texts - can no longer write grammatically." Examiners, the examiner claimed, suffered mental indigestion reading the high number of "stereotyped, boring essays, lacking originality and flair".
Ca plus change, we may ask? Apart from the assumption a century ago that exam candidates had few problems with grammar and that spelling was above average, the complaints about turgid compositions seem constant and, like wet Irish summers, forever with us. Of course, gender based comments are now consigned to history.
Now that a new Junior Cert English syllabus is well established and a new Leaving Cert English syllabus has been announced, it's time for the chief examiner to pay some attention to comparative and qualitative analysis. How do exam candidates of the Sixties, say, compare with those of the Nineties? Do today's teenagers read more? To what extent are compositions written nowadays influenced by the mass media and the values of a listless millennial culture? Are the young as idealistic as ever?
Practising teachers see pieces of the jigsaw but do not get the chance to see the big picture. The 1997 Leaving Cert examiner's report with accompanying samples of student's work was another big step forward in terms of understanding marking schemes and assessing standards. It's time for a fresh perspective on how the teaching of English and other subjects is nurturing the cubs of this tiger economy.
Pat Hunt:
A teacher of English at Loreto College, Bray, Co Wicklow
Education & Living
Editor: Ella Shanahan Production: Hugh Lambert and Harry Browne Main cover photograph: Paddy Whelan
Cover illustrations: Cathy Dineen
Email: education@irish-times.ie
