UNIVERSITY OF MALTA
THE MATRICULATION CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION
INTERMEDIATE LEVEL
FRENCH
MAY 2007
EXAMINERS’ REPORT
MATRICULATION AND SECONDARY EDUCATION CERTIFICATE
EXAMINATIONS BOARD
IM Examiners’ Report – May 2007
IM FRENCH
MAY 2007 SESSION
EXAMINERS’ REPORT
135 candidates registered for the French Intermediate examination and three were absent. Five
candidates sat only for the oral part of the examination. The following table shows the distribution
of grades.
Table 1: Distribution of Grades May 2007
Grade
A
B
C
D
E
F
Abs.
Total
No.
8
21
19
41
28
15
3
135
5.9
15.6
14.1
30.4
20.7
11.1
2.2
100
% of Total
The examination consisted of one written paper and an oral examination.
The Written examination
1. Free Composition (25 marks)
The four titles were attempted, however the most popular was the argumentative essay 1b Les
jeunes sont-ils victimes de la mode et de la publicité qui l’accompagne ? Qu’en pensez-vous ?
Most of the candidates who opted for this title did relatively well and gave valid arguments about
the influence of fashion on young people. The essay in dialogue form (1c) was also popular and
candidates compared well today’s technological world with the more relaxed lifestyle of the past.
However, marks were lost by those candidates who continued to use the present tense as
grandmother described past events or situations. Title 1a, which was only chosen by a few
candidates, required more creativity and imagination, whilst 1d was chosen by a small number of
candidates who treated the subject in a satisfactory manner.
38% of the candidates failed in the essay. The main weaknesses relate to grammar, orthography
and vocabulary. Some candidates not only do not have a clear idea of the use of the tenses, but
they cannot conjugate correctly regular verbs and common irregular verbs in the present tense!
The passé simple presents for these candidates an even bigger problem. Other candidates make
no distinction between the direct and the indirect object: je téléphone mes amis; neither between
leur as an indirect object pronoun and leur as the possessive adjective: nous leurs téléphonions.
A very common error in essays 1c and 1d was the switching from tu to vous and vice-versa, such
as in this sentence maman, s'il te plait, ne continuez pas, or in this other one which also includes
other mistakes: s'elle vous plait tante Caroline viens dans ma mere à Malte. Other mistakes are
the result of either carelessness or complete ignorance of basic grammar rules. These examples
taken from candidates' scripts illustrate this: beaucoupe des choses, toutes cette chose, cette
une autre probléme, c'est ne pas possible, vous faisent, comme ils, pour ils, touts les jeunes, tout
les monde, toute la monde. The title of essay 1a included the phrase vous ne pouvez pas le
garder, yet, there were candidates who wrote: je ne peux pas lui garder. The title of essay 1c
included grand-mère and télécommunications, yet a few candidates wrote grande-mère, while
others left out the accents of télécommunications or substituted them by incorrect ones.
Vocabulary is very limited and interference, especially with Italian, is the cause of such
orthographical errors as: invension, infance or se (for si), or the use of the verb fermer for
s'arrêter.
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IM Examiners’ Report – May 2007
2. Summary (25 marks)
24% of the candidates failed this exercise while only three obtained 80% or higher. Most
candidates respected the word limit of 110 words. Candidates lost marks for the same
reasons that were reported last year and which are being reproduced verbatim:
a) important ideas were not expressed or were misunderstood
b) the text was reproduced, sometimes incorrectly
c) some candidates found it difficult to express their ideas clearly and correctly
d) errors of syntax and of orthography.
3.
Literature (15 marks)
Question 1b was by far more popular than 1a, while questions 1c and 1d on La Fontaine's Fables
were not answered by one single candidate.
The majority of the candidates who chose 1b were well prepared for the theme of loneliness
which they tackled very well. They supported their arguments with good references to
Maupassant’s stories although very few answers included quotations. On the contrary, most of
the candidates who opted for question 1a failed to obtain a pass mark. The reason is that most of
these candidates failed to understand Marie-Claire Bancquart's statement and concentrated
solely on the pessimism in Maupassant’s stories without commenting on the black humour that
accompanies them, the sourire through which this same pessimism is expressed. It is worth
mentioning the excellent performance of a particular candidate who aptly outlined the caricatural
quality of the characters, the parody, the burlesque element and the expressive language. 15%
of the candidates failed the literature question.
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Civilisation (15 marks)
Seven candidates obtained full marks and six others only lost 0.5 marks in this exercise. This
represents over 10% of the candidates who sat for the written paper. Two candidates answered
both questions. Generally, candidates who answered question A performed better than those
who answered question B. While 99% of the candidates knew exactly the names of 3 parcs à
themes, the feast celebrated on 21st June was thought by some to be la fête de la république, or
even de l'indépendence! In this exercise, as has been stated with regard to other questions,
candidates do not read the question well. The answer to 4Aii was not a story about red and white
wines or which food goes with them! And question 4Aiii asked for the town, ville, so Champagne
or Bretagne were out of the question! So was Chardonnay, as some 2 or 3 candidates wrote!
Some answers showed that a last-minute effort was afforded to this exercise with the result that
the answers given were confused. One final remark about spelling. It is true that this exercise
tests the candidates' knowledge of French culture, this however, does not give a licence to the
candidates to throw accents about as they wish or to invent their own spelling, such as le tiquet
when they mean to write étiquette!
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IM Examiners’ Report – May 2007
The Oral Examination (20 marks)
Some improvement has been made in the Oral examination. While 10% of the candidates failed
this test, 20% obtained 16 marks (80%) or over. Candidates should use the time they have to
prepare for this test carefully. They should realise that punctuation marks serve a purpose and
their reading should be clear and well articulated. The examiner is not impressed by the
candidate who reads at a fast rate. The main difficulties that the reading passages presented to
the candidates were the nasal consonants (durant, blanc) and the -er endings (quartier,
piétonnier, visiter). With regard to the conversation exercise, many candidates lack confidence
and tend to express themselves in the shortest possible way, with much interference from English
and Italian.
Chairperson
Board of Examiners
August 2007
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