Course Units 2005-2006
Minutes
Board of Examiners Meeting
Wednesday 07 June 2006 at 10:40
Wilkins Building, Old Refectory
Chaired by Dr Christine Hoffmann (CH) and Adam Salisbury (AS)
Deputy Chair: Roberto D’ Onofrio
Present:
Marie-Laure Aris, Haruyo Baietti (Japanese VE), Sylvie Batlle, Anja Boeing, Sara Bragadina,
Mercedes Coca Rodríguez (Spanish VE), Jean Coles (arrived 12:00), Richard Cullen (TEFL VE,
arrived 12:00), Anna di Stefano (Italian VE), Madeleine du Vivier (arrived 12.00), Marion EngrandO’Hara (French VE), Juan Fernández, Diego Flores-Jaime, María-Teresa Forteza-Rey, Petra
García Rodríguez, Claudia Geithner, Fernando Gracia García, Paul Harvey (Academic Writing in
English VE, arrived 12:10), Dr So Hiranuma, Dr. Christine Hoffmann, Yoko Kunii Aldous, Mireille
Michel, Marc-Georges Nowicki, Catherine Plant, Jenny Rodgers, Adam Salisbury, Chizuko Seki
Zdrzalka, Jane Skirving (arrived 12:10), Ariane Smart, Cristina Testi, Ingrid Williams (German VE),
Dr Simon Williams (arrived 12:10).
Welcome and Introduction:
1.
Christine Hoffmann welcomed all, introduced the new Visiting Examiners – Haruyo Baietti and
Mercedes Coca Rodríguez – and gave an outline of the day. English tutors and Visiting Examiners
for English Course Units to arrive later.
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This year has been challenging, especially with the new Professional Purposes level –
there will be opportunities to discuss this. Christine thanked all, especially the
Coordinators.
Apologies for absence:
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None
Conduct of Examinations:
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CH: Has proved awkward with different pass marks for different students (40% for first year
students on the harmonised scheme, 35% for all other students) – especially as we have
students from so many departments;
Two students sat the Reading and Writing Examination for the wrong level this year;
Some extenuating circumstances – to be discussed afterwards;
A few problems with examinations: distance, problems on tube etc.
Late students: 8 students turned up late having got the time / date of their examination
wrong and so sat their examination in the Language Centre. They had a 30 minute penalty
imposed and signed forms to say they had not spoken to anyone else regarding the
examination that day.
Language Centre Board of Examiners Meeting: 07 June 2006
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General Comments:
4.
Visiting Examiners Comments:
Anna di Stefano (Italian VE):
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AdS’s fifth and final year as VE;
Thanks to Italian team; very professional; scrupulously prepared papers and fabulous
structure to examinations;
Projects: questioned using projects as part of the oral examination for syllabus A and B, as
project is beyond students’ linguistic competence at these levels. It is too complex and
stretches their capability. Syllabi A and B are of a very practical nature.
Suggestion: perhaps the oral examination could have general questions about the project
e.g. how long did it take to write? What sources did you use? This way the student’s true
ability will show.
Haruyo Baietti (Japanese VE):
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Really impressed; examinations were well designed and the distribution of marks is very
clear;
Projects: positive – they incorporate students’ interests and encourages interest of students
in Japanese culture; negative – students can copy/paste from internet, use Japanese
friends to check work – those that don’t, produce an erratic essay;
Reading Comprehension. – even at syllabus A, students asked to use authentic material –
at this level they cannot understand such material;
Oral Examination – those that can memorise key phrases sound impressive, if not then
they can’t answer the questions. At Imperial students are asked to talk about friends/family
etc.
Ingrid Williams (German VE):
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Thanks to German team, very pleased overall, little to query and all very easy to
understand – over last four years has all become clearer and easier;
• Examinations: had plenty of time to look at papers; clear how topics chosen relate to other
parts of exam. Number of students who took the open discussion question in the pure
writing task was very encouraging;
Unfortunately could not attend the oral examinations this year – encouraged other VE’s to
do so;
• Syllabus A and B grammar – was absolutely appropriate to touch on basic elementary
German grammar.
Marion England-O’Hara (French VE):
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Good, solid team that worked smoothly;
Well placed assessment structure;
Good results and good range of marks across the spectrum; high marks reflect the high
quality;
Projects very interesting at all levels, touching on current issues.
Mercedes Coca Rodríguez (Spanish VE):
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First year as VE – very impressed with team and support from administration team; very
good integration of academic and administrative elements.
Examinations: Impressed how well examinations are run, clear how different skills are
assessed and a good range of marks; lots of fails at syllabus A – 15-20% of this level;
Language Centre Board of Examiners Meeting: 07 June 2006
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In response to previous comments concerning the use of Projects in the Oral Examination:
at low levels it is acceptable but could also ask questions on other aspects such as family,
student life etc. If student is weak on the Project they would still have other questions in
the examination;
Higher levels – to what extent are we assessing general knowledge? We need to integrate
content and language;
Looking forward to next year and would like to attend some oral examinations.
Richard Cullen (TEFL VE)
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Satisfied with course and how it is run; fair rigorous marking;
Good organisation, range of tasks and assessment – oral examination very good;
Observed Teaching Practice during the year;
Saw a very good spread of marks.
Paul Harvey (Academic Writing in English VE)
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Good, solid, interesting and worthwhile course;
Following discussion with examiners agreed with proposals to change the weighting and
nature of coursework (particularly the Researched Essay) for next year.
Coordinators Comments:
Roberto D’Onofrio (Italian):
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Thanks to team and to AdS;
More students than before – has been reflected in the marks;
Majority of students on courses from syllabus C upwards seem to be non-English – future
trend?
So Hiranuma (Japanese):
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New tutor on team this year – Chizuko – has done an excellent job;
Have made minor adjustments to materials – which has been an improvement;
VE’s comments re: authentic materials at low levels – students’ vocabulary is limited but we
have provided translation.
CH: we will discuss with Coordinators, as need to check we do not over challenge students.
Anja Boeing (German):
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Appear to have same numbers as last year;
Small adjustments to syllabi; coursebooks will be evaluated;
Thanks to the team which worked well with smooth collaboration.
Fernando Gracia García (Spanish):
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Thanks to team and to VE – very pleased with the work, was a success.
Mireille Michel (French):
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Huge thanks to team who have been flexible and rigorous, especially with one tutor on
maternity leave during Term 2;
Marion Engrand-O’Hara has written paper on Intercultural Communication Skills, which is
relevant to intermediate levels – will leave a copy in Quiet Room.
Marion has also mentioned how Plagiarism detection software is used at Holloway;
Language Centre Board of Examiners Meeting: 07 June 2006
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Regarding Projects in Oral Examinations – French team did set series of more general
questions, such as: what is Project about? Why did you choose this topic? What
interested you the most about it?
Madeleine Du Vivier (TEFL):
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Strong year, especially second year students;
Two candidates withdrew during the course, but overall good.
Simon Williams (Academic Writing in English):
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Thanks to team;
Three aspects requiring further study: plagiarism, underlength scripts and individual
progress.
Confirmation of Course Unit Results
AS explained result codes including the new code ‘H’ (Referred Assessment):
A – Absent (Absent from all examinations and has not completed coursework);
T – Incomplete: No Examination – absent from at least one examination but has completed at least
50% of the coursework;
U – Incomplete: No Coursework – has sat all examinations but has not completed coursework;
H – Referred Assessment – for students enrolled as first years in 2005-2006 who Hve a pass mark
of 40% and gain a mark between 35-39%;
X – Awaiting result.
Syllabus A
French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish 0.5 Course Units:
LANG0F01: Results approved;
LANG0G01: Comments:
Extenuating Circumstances for Lowri DAVID (category 3 – maximum). Result is not borderline so
not changed;
Results approved;
LANG0I01: Results approved;
LANG0J01: Results approved;
LANG0S01: Comments:
Overall mark amended by VE for Penny MARTIN, Pari SHAH and Imran ALEEM
Extenuating Circumstances for Tina MASHALAAHI (category 1/2 – less severe/severe). Result is
22% (F), not borderline and cannot be changed.
Results approved.
Syllabus B
French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish 0.5 and 1 Course Units
LANG0F02: Results approved
LANG0G02: Results approved;
LANG0I02: Results approved;
LANG0J02: Results approved;
LANG0S02: Results approved.
LANG1F12: Comments:
Extenuating circumstances for Charlotte MAO (category 1 – less severe). Result is 44% (D) so no
amendment made;
Results approved;
LANG1G12: Results approved;
LANG1I12: Results approved;
LANG1J12: Results approved;
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LANG1S12: Results approved.
Syllabus C
French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish 0.5 and 1 Course Units
LANG0F03: Results approved;
LANG0G03: Results approved;
LANG0I03: Results approved;
LANG0J03: Results approved;
LANG0S03: Results approved;
LANG1F13: Results approved;
LANG1G13: Results approved;
LANG1I13: Results approved;
LANG1J13: Comments:
Elena CINCI entered herself for the wrong Reading and Writing Examination (LANG1J12 instead
of LANG1J13) – in such cases the usual policy is to discount the mark for reading and writing
examination and total the other marks out of 65; however doing so in this case would raise her
result from 31% (F) to 32% (F) so agreed to leave her result as it is;
Results approved;
1S13: Results approved.
Syllabus D
French, German, Italian and Spanish 0.5 Course Units and French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish
1 Course Units
LANG0F04: Comments:
Amendment: Kai CHU amended by VE before Board Meeting – result now 70% (A);
Debbie Shamash entered herself for wrong Reading and Writing Examination (LANG0F02 instead
of LANG0F04) – the mark for her Reading and Writing Examination will therefore be discounted
and the other marks totalled out of 65 to give and overall result of 43% (D);
AS – there will be a new registration system (Portico) in place next academic year which should
prevent this from happening;
Results approved;
LANG0G04: Results approved;
LANG0I04: Results approved;
LANG0S04: Results approved;
LANG1F14: Results approved;
LANG1G14: Results approved;
LANG1I14: Results approved;
LANG1J14: Results approved;
LANG1S14: Results approved.
Business and Current Affairs
French, German and Spanish 0.5 Course Units and French, German, Italian and Spanish 1 Course Units
LANG0F0B: Comments:
Mark for Rachel Morris – Project and Oral marks amended by VE before Board Meeting – result
now 70% (A);
Results approved;
LANG0G0B: Results approved;
LANG0S0B: Results approved:
LANG1FDB: Results approved;
LANG1GDB: Results approved:
LANG1IDB: Results approved;
LANG1SDB: Results approved.
Current Affairs and Culture (Social, Historical and Political)
French, German, Japanese and Spanish 0.5 Course Units and French, German, Italian, Japanese and
Spanish 1 Course Units
Language Centre Board of Examiners Meeting: 07 June 2006
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LCFR6006: Results approved;
LCGE6006: Results approved;
LCJA6006: Results approved;
LCSP6006: Results approved;
LANG1FBC: Results approved;
LANG1GBC: Results approved;
LANG1IBC: Results approved;
LANG1JBC: Results approved;
LANG1SBC: Results approved.
Professional Purposes II
French, German and Spanish 0.5 Course Units and French, German, Japanese and Spanish 1 Course Units
LCFR6007: Results approved;
LCGE6007: Results approved;
LCSP6007: Results approved;
LCFR6067: Results approved;
LCGE6067: Results approved;
LCJA6067: Results approved;
LCSP6067: Results approved.
French for Art Historians
LANG0FA1: Results approved.
TEFL
Teaching English as a Foreign Language 1 Course Unit
Comments:
Amendment (by VE) – Belinda Boakye received a mark of 54 for Teaching Practice (TP) – RC
would like to raise this to 56 so that she receives overall mark of 60 (B);
LANG1001: Results approved.
0EAW
Academic Writing in English for Non-native speakers 0.5 Course Unit
Comments:
Amendments (by VE):
Stephanie Foerch – increase mark for Take Home Essay to 12.6/20 so that she receives 70% (A)
overall.
Bei Lin Tu falls into ‘H’ category – should offer additional task, so that receives a pass mark.
LANG0EAW: Results approved.
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Confirmation of SSM Results
Syllabus A
French, Italian, Japanese and Spanish SSMs
All results approved.
Syllabus B
French, Japanese and Spanish SSMs
All results approved.
Syllabus C
French, German, Italian and Spanish SSMs
Language Centre Board of Examiners Meeting: 07 June 2006
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All results approved.
Syllabus D
French, Italian and Spanish SSMs
All results approved.
Business and Current Affairs
French and German SSMs
LANGMF0B: Comments:
Rebecca Gaunt did not take oral examination;
LANGMG0B: Billy Phan – overall result amended and raised from 69.35 to 70% (A);
All results approved.
Business and Current Affairs Higher
French and Japanese SSMs
All results approved.
Dates for 2005 - 2006
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Board of Examiners Meeting: Wednesday 6th June 2007 (Provisional);
Any Other Business
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CH:
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Thanks to everybody, especially the Visiting Examiners;
it is the last year for A.dS, I.W and P.H – thank you for helping us to see matters in a
different light.
Student attendance
MG.N: what happens if students fail to attend 70% of classes?
C.H: we would follow formal procedures (send letters to Departments and bar them from sitting the
reading and Writing Examination. Departments are also kept informed of attendance through
tutors completing student reports forms for departments each term.
H.B: At Imperial if Chinese students do not attend they are still allowed to sit examination and
pass.
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