UNIVERSITY OF MALTA SECONDARY EDUCATION CERTIFICATE SEC SPANISH May 2008 EXAMINERS’ REPORT MATRICULTION AND SECONDARY EDUCATION CERTIFICATE EXAMINATIONS BOARD SEC Examiners’ Report – May 2008 SEC SPANISH MAY 2008 SESSION EXAMINERS’ REPORT 1.0 Summary of Results The tables below show a summary of the distribution of grades for Paper IIA and Paper IIB for the May 2008 Session. Table 1 Distribution of Grades Paper IIA May 2008 Grade Total IIA % of Total 1 25 11.0 2 27 11.8 3 47 20.6 4 59 25.9 5 28 12.3 U 28 12.3 Abs 14 6.1 Total 228 100 Table 2 Distribution of Grades Paper IIB May 2008 Grade Total IIB % of Total 4 11 10.8 5 28 27.5 6 16 15.7 7 15 14.7 U 18 17.6 Abs 14 13.7 Total 102 100 2.0 General Comments A look at the results obtained by 228 candidates who sat for the 2008 Spanish SEC Paper IIA shows that 81.1% were awarded grades between 1 and 5. There were 102 candidates who sat for IIB where 38.3% achieved grades 4 to 5 2.1. 14 (6.1 %) out of 228 paper IIA candidates were absent for all the components of this examination. This in marked contrast with 14 (13.7%) of the 102 IIB candidates who stayed away. 2.2. The examiners tried to present examination papers which were student-centred and studentfriendly. In fact, this was the guiding principle during the whole process from start to finish, that is, from the setting and marking of the papers and then finally the awarding of grades. Moreover, well detailed marking schemes were prepared with the setting of the examination papers. 3. 0. Report on Candidates’ Performance 3.1. Paper 1, Part 1 – Listening Comprehension. 3 different passages were set for 3 different sessions. The format was similar to that of the last years where each question was allotted 1 mark. There were 5 multiple choice questions and another 5 True/ False questions. In general, the level obtained by the candidates was very good, showing that the candidates understood the passage. It could be that some candidates found the passage Un gaucho argentino da la vuelta al mundo a caballo slightly difficult. This was a sample listening comprehension extracted from the DELE (Diploma del Español Lengua Extranjera) beginners level examination of the Instituto Cervantes. 3.2. Paper 1, Part 2 – Multiple Choice Grammar Overall in this exercise, candidates fared better than in the last two years. 3.3. Paper 1, Part 2 - Cloze Test The text chosen was not that difficult and its content was about Botín-El Restaurante más antiguo del mundo. Candidates had to fill in using prepositions, adjectives, nouns and some verbs in the present indicative and the past tense. There were 10 blanks to fill in and each answer carried 1 mark. Although most of the vocabulary used was well within their reach, some candidates found the second blank a bit difficult. Its answer should have been abrió sus puertas. 2 SEC Examiners’ Report – May 2008 3.4. Paper 1, Part 2 – Cultural Component Most candidates fared very good in this multiple choice exercise. There were 10 questions, 5 related to the culture of Spain and another 5 to that of Latin America. These objective type questions assure reliability and validity. The idea is to help candidates reason out the answers with the least recourse to memorized matter. Hopefully this will have a positive washback effect on both teachers and students. The highest mark in this exercise was 10 while the lowest mark was 2. 3.5. Paper IIA / Paper IIB – Exercise A. Reading Comprehension On the whole, candidates were prepared for the reading comprehension though some need more training to answer questions which require them to express themselves in reasonably correct Spanish. Candidates should be prepared to avoid copying answers directly from the text. They should be encouraged to answer using their own words. Full answers should be given whenever possible. Most candidates of Paper IIA managed to find the word diario which also means periódico. With regards to the reading comprehension of Paper IIB, some candidates thought that Los trenes son para el verano was one of the names of the three trains asked for in question 3, because the other three trains were also written in italics (Tren de la Cultura, Tren de Cervantes, Tren de la Diversión). Taking in consideration question 6, some candidates did not realize that los más pequeños in the text was referring to los niños pequeños and therefore did not answer the question correctly because they chose one of the other trains instead of el tren de la diversión. 3.6. Paper IIA & IIB - Exercise B. Composition The most popular composition for Paper IIA and Paper IIB was Hoy es su primer día de trabajo como guía turístico/a … Escriba un informe/reportaje sobre Malta. Some candidates who opted for the letter (Paper IIA) did not address the problems to the mayor in a coherent way. The same can be argued for the e-mail to the manager of the agency (Paper IIB). Others did not adhere to the conventions of letter writing layout (formal) and e-mail writing. Some creative and original ideas prevailed in the composition Un día en la vida de un gato/pájaro. Very few candidates chose this title. 3.6.1 General comments In general, candidates showed that they are well versed in the skills required to produce the composition. Limited vocabulary was noted throughout in both Paper A and B candidates. In fact this is one of the main reasons for the unsatisfactory development of the tasks. Nevertheless, as usual, some candidates memorized some descriptions for compositions. This was evident because some sentences were identical within a series of candidates showing lack of imagination and creativity. Other candidates did not plan their language essay before presenting the final version. Therefore, some paragraphs had mixture of ideas and even sentences in isolation. Other candidates still find it difficult to conjugate simple verbs even in the present tense of the indicative. Some of those who opted for compositions which required the use of the past tense showed that they do not distinguish the different uses of the Pretérito Perfecto, Pretérito Imperfecto and Pretérito Indefinido. The latter should be addressed seriously. Other aspects which have to be dealt with are the rules of accentuation, correct use of prepositions, adjectival endings and differences between ser, estar and haber. An important cause of errors in foreign language learning is interference from another language that the learner is already familiar with. Within this context, there are various languages which interfere with the production of written Spanish. The predominant language of interference is Italian. Its influence is evident in lexical, syntactic, morphological and orthographical aspects 3.7. Paper II A/ Paper IIB Exercise C – Guided Conversation It is important that students get familiar to such daily life situations in the classroom to learn the basic communicative skills. Moreover, it is advisable that candidates read the whole dialogue before trying to fill in the blanks so as to be able to get a general idea of the situation. Some Paper IIA students found the guided dialogue above their reach, they did not decipher the meaning of congelada and 3 SEC Examiners’ Report – May 2008 sosa. With regards to Paper IIB the text was easier and shorter. The candidates could work out the guided dialogues (Paper IIA & B) without the use of the past tense. 3.8 Conclusion Students have limited opportunities of listening or exposure to the target language. As a result of their limited experience of the target language, they make mistakes. It is evident that students of Spanish read very little, resulting in vocabulary deficiency. There seems to be a good command of listening, reading and speaking skills but results would certainly be better if writing skills were improved. Chairperson Board of Examiners September 2008 4