Tricky higher-level questions ‘not contemporary enough’
June 13, 2012
Leaving Cert Irish Paper 2 – Higher and Ordinary Levels
There were some new and tricky elements in the higher-level second Irish paper yesterday, according to Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland subject representative Robbie Cronin.
With the much-maligned Stair na Gaeilge consigned to ancient history, the new-look Irish paper 2 held few surprises, and was deemed fair, although it was not without its problems.
Comprehension, which used to be a part of paper 1, has been moved to paper 2. The pieces chosen divided opinion among teachers – some found them interesting while others felt the texts needed an update.
The first comprehension piece was about an Irish American Olympian named Jim Thorpe who won two gold medals i n the 1923 Olympics.
“I just think that students could be given something a bit more contemporary,” said Teachers’ Union of Ireland representative Ruth Morrissey-Casey, a teacher in St Michael’s Community College in Kilmihil, Co Clare.
“When you look at the kind of subject matter in the ordinarylevel paper, it’s a lot more youthful and interesting than the historyladen pieces that the higher-level students have to deal with.”
Overall, the questions based on the piece were “fair”, Mr Cronin said.
The final question on the piece was a new addition to the exam, and the latter part of it was too taxing, according to teachers.
“For a maximum of 10 marks, students had to say what the text reveals about the mindset of both the American people and the mindset of the IOC [International Olympic Council],” Mr Cronin said.
“It was a very challenging question given the time constraints,” Ms Morrissey-Casey agreed.
Ordinary-level students had a good start with two “very interesting” comprehension passages. One was about sports presenter Evanne Ní Chuillin and the other was about tennis player Daithí Ó hEithir. “They were just very relevant to young people,” Ms Morrissey-Casey said. “They were relevant and accessible.”
The questions and language used were straightforward, said Clare Grealy, Irish teacher in the Institute of Education.
The prose questions, on Hurlamboc, were a departure from previous years.
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Widely divergent views on fairness of questions
June 13, 2012
Exams Daily – Leaving Cert Irish: It was a rocky start for some, a breeze for others.
The views of teachers of Leaving Cert Irish at both levels were mixed. Some thought the ordinary-level paper the more difficult. Others disagreed.
The higher-level paper was “not a good start”, according to Clare Grealy of the Institute of Education. The essay titles were, she said, “uninteresting, unimaginative and, in a several cases, unreasonable”.
However, Robbie Cronin of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland described the paper as “f air”. An essay title, “The dilemma in the health service – My solution”, split opinion.
“This type of essay required knowledge of the health service,” Ms Grealy said. “Even through English this essay would challenge students to have an insight into something that they probably have not encountered directly.”
Mr Cronin did not take issue with the health service topic. “The essays offered variety, although there was no sign of the much expected essay on the Olympics or the importance of sport,” he said.
“If students were adequately prepared and took their time with it they would have been fine,” said Teachers Union of Ireland representative Ruth Morrissey.
While there was one question on a sporting topic, it required students to imagine interviewing the president of the GAA.
“That might have thrown some students. A lot of people would have found that very challenging,” Ms Morrissey said.
One essay title, “The worthiness of this school”, raised eyebrows. “Would students be inclined to name their school?” Ms Morrissey asked. “It may somewhat undermine the premise of candidate anonymity,” Ms Grealy agreed.
“The ordinary-level students felt harder done by than those at higher level,” said Mr Cronin. However, he pointed out that the paper was topical and fair in the most part.
Ms Morrissey described the paper as “very accessible”.
“There was a wide choice of titles and the language used was such that the students were well able to interpret it,” she said,
The exam consisted of an aural exam followed by a written composition section. This was the first year for this type of paper, with the aural exam and the essay titles on the one paper.
“The aural component of the exam seemed to be okay,” said Ms Grealy. “However, students would have been distracted as they would have had an opportunity to review the essay titles before the aural commenced.”
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Teacher views on both levels mixed
June 13, 2012
Exams Daily – Leaving Cert Irish: It was a rocky start for some, a breeze for others.
The views of teachers of Leaving Cert Irish at both levels were mixed. Some thought the ordinary-level paper the more difficult. Others disagreed.
The higher-level paper was “not a good start”, according to Clare Grealy of the Institute of Education. The essay titles were, she said, “uninteresting, unimaginative and, in a several cases, unreasonable”.
However, Robbie Cronin of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland described the paper as “f air”. An essay title, “The dilemma in the health service – My solution”, split opinion.
“This type of essay required knowledge of the health service,” Ms Grealy said. “Even through English this essay would challenge students to have an insight into something that they probably have not encountered directly.”
Mr Cronin did not take issue with the health service topic. “The essays offered variety, although there was no sign of the much expected essay on the Olympics or the importance of sport,” he said.
“If students were adequately prepared and took their time with it they would have been fine,” said Teachers Union of Ireland representative Ruth Morrissey.
While there was one question on a sporting topic, it required students to imagine interviewing the president of the GAA.
“That might have thrown some students. A lot of people would have found that very challenging,” Ms Morrissey said.
One essay title, “The worthiness of this school”, raised eyebrows. “Would students be inclined to name their school?” Ms Morrissey asked. “It may somewhat undermine the premise of candidate anonymity,” Ms Grealy agreed.
“The ordinary-level students felt harder done by than those at higher level,” said Mr Cronin. However, he pointed out that the paper was topical and fair in the most part.
Ms Morrissey described the paper as “very accessible”.
“There was a wide choice of titles and the language used was such that the students were well able to interpret it,” she said,
The exam consisted of an aural exam followed by a written composition section. This was the first year for this type of paper, with the aural exam and the essay titles on the one paper.
“The aural component of the exam seemed to be okay,” said Ms Grealy. “However, students would have been distracted as they would have had an opportunity to review the essay titles before the aural commenced.”
www.irishtimes.com
Being a true Belieber pays off academically
June 8, 2012
Junior Cert Irish: For once, the hours spent mooning over teen idol Justin Bieber weren’t a waste of time.
Being a true Belieber paid off academically as the singer played a starring role in yesterday’s Junior Cert higher level Irish paper 1.
The exam was well received by students discussing it on social networks. The higher level exam featured comprehension pieces about Bieber and Raidió Rí Rá, a teen radio station that runs throughout Seachtain na Gaeilge.
“The pieces were topical but the questions were challenging,” said ASTI representative Robbie Cronin, a teacher in Marian College, Ballsbridge. He added that there should have been a glossary of terms for some of the more unusual words. “Féirín means present, for example, but the word most people would have for present is bronntanas,” he said.
Topical essay choices were good, according to Cronin.
Unfortunately, a minor error managed to slip past the exam proofreaders. “There was a question in the grammar section which was already answered,” said Cronin. “There was no gap for them to put in the answer. It wasn’t worth many marks but it shouldn’t really be happening.”
The listening comprehension threw up a few issues.
Some of the questions asked were “tough, bordering on unfair and unexpected”, Cronin said. “Students were asked to write down the title of the Réamhfhaisnéis na hAimsire [weather forecast] announcement. My students were surprised by this and couldn’t answer it.”
The new-look ordinary level paper was well received generally, although again it was challenging in parts. Comprehension passages about Jedward and Giovanni Trappatoni were topical but some of the vocabulary used was difficult for the level, according to Bláithín Ní Liatháin, who teaches in Kylemore College, Ballyfermot.
www.irishtimes.com
Irish language bodies welcome report
June 7, 2012
IRISH LANGUAGE organisations have welcomed the contents of an Oireachtas report which recommends that funding for the sector should not be subject to competitive tender.
The focus of the report, published yesterday by the Committee on Environment, Transport, Culture and the Gaeltacht, was a funding model proposed by Foras na Gaeilge which would see an end to the existing grant-in-aid system to 19 Irish language promotion organisations that receive their core funding from the body.
Under the proposed model, the organisations would have to compete on a three-yearly basis for funds to implement schemes planned by Foras.
Critics say the new approach would result in a commercialisation of a sector that is community-based and would endanger the work and services offered by grassroots Irish language organisations.
Kevin De Barra, acting director of Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge, described the report as “a positive step for the Irish language voluntary sector”. He said the organisations and Foras now needed to “co-operate together to undertake comprehensive research on the current work of the Irish language voluntary sector.
“All parties must work to come up with the best possible way forward for the sector, so that services can be provided to the public in the most efficient and effective manner.”
Donnchadh Ó hAodha, president of Conradh na Gaeilge, said: “Conradh na Gaeilge and Aontas Phobal na Gaeilge are recommending a system of partnerships to ensure the public gets value for money and a more efficient service by encouraging organisations to work together, not to compete against one another.
“It is a great boost to have the support of the Joint Committee on Environment, Transport, Culture and the Gaeltacht for this recommendation.”
Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge and Conradh na Gaeilge have now called on Foras and the Ministers of the North-South Ministerial Council to incorporate the recommendations in any future discussions on a how the Irish language sector should be funded.
http://www.irishtimes.com/
School’s girl power still going strong at 85
May 29, 2012
The country’s last remaining all-Irish girls’ boarding school has celebrated its 85th aniversary.
Colaiste Ide outside Dingle, Co Kerry, is also the only seven-day boarding school where all teaching is done through the medium of Irish.
Over the weekend, former GAA commentator and chairman of the board of directors at the school, Miceal O Muircheartaigh, joined in the celebrations that included the blessing of a new extension that replaces prefab classrooms.
The school was open three years before Micheal was born in Dun Sion on the other side of Dingle town.
There are now 142 full-time students at the school, which is one of the biggest employers in the Dingle area.
Apart from a teaching staff of 14, the school also employs an additional 40 people who make up the supervisors, kitchen and maintenance staff.
The school building is housed in the former Burnham Manor, which was the residence of Lord Ventry, the local landlord.
The Sisters of Mercy opened the house as a preparatory college for teachers in 1927 and it became a secondary boarding school for girls in 1961. The last nuns left the school in 1996.
Aine Ni Chearbhaill became principal in 2008 and is herself a past-pupil of the school and its former home economics teacher.
“I did my Leaving Cert here in 1996 which was also the last year there were nuns in the school,” she told the Irish Independent.
“After that numbers dropped and there was a question mark over its viability without the nuns.
“Then a group of parents set up Cairde Cholaiste Ide and they launched a strong campaign to ensure it stayed open. Since then, thankfully, numbers have been on the rise,” she added.
www.irishtimes.com
13 iarratas ar phacáiste tacaíochta teanga Roinn na Gaeltachta
May 23, 2012
Eagla ar Choláiste Ráithín go mbeidh a rás rite go luath
May 2, 2012
Waiting for a new school
April 30, 2012
A chara, – Today, April 30th, the Minister for Education, Ruairí Quinn, opens a fantastic, brand new, secondary school facility in Wicklow town, for which we congratulate all concerned.
But, perhaps, he can take a few moments and ponder with Wicklow VEC the plight of its poor relation, Coláiste Ráithín in Bray. Coláiste Ráithín was to have a new school built at the same time as Wicklow town’s, but now (17 years after a new school building was first sanctioned), with its proposed site in Nama, Coláiste Ráithín is still waiting (like Godot), with no sign of any solution, at all, in sight.
Is this, we wonder, the first case of being NAA-MAD while minding our own business? We will go on! – Is mise,
PAUL MOORE,
Spokesperson,
Cairde Ráithín/Parents’ Committee,
Coláiste Ráithín,
Bothar Florans,
Bré, Chill Mhantáin.
IRISH TIMES
Babaí steps to promote Irish language
April 27, 2012
EXPECTANT AND new mothers are being recruited for the Government’s new Irish language support programme.
Flyers will be distributed in maternity wards in west coast hospitals, advertising the benefits of rearing your child through Irish.
Announcing details of the family-oriented programme, which is part of the Government’s 20-year strategy for Irish, Minister of State for the Gaeltacht Dinny McGinley acknowledged the “deontas”, or system of grants administered over decades to keep the language alive had “failed”.
“We used to have the Gaeltacht grants for houses and doors and windows, which might have helped the infrastructure and quality of life, but did nothing for the native tongue,” he said.
“If we are going to increase the number of daily speakers, we need to give families more practical support, not money.”
The HSE is facilitating the new awareness campaign, focusing initially on maternity services in Galway city, Castlebar, Co Mayo, and Letterkenny, Co Donegal.
New parents who wish to raise their children through the medium of Irish will be offered a “support pack”, which includes a CD and book “suitable for children”, and told about a dedicated website.
Teenagers are also to be enlisted under the plan to reverse the downward trend of Irish use, evident in various censuses, Mr McGinley said. Fluent speakers between 15 and 17 are to be offered special training courses to enable them to work as assistants in Irish-language summer colleges.
Speaking in Inverin, Co Galway, yesterday, Mr McGinley also announced that new language initiative will be developed in 19 Gaeltacht areas, beginning with six of them. This will be conducted by community-based organisations in association with Údarás na Gaeltachta and the department.
Sinn Féin Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh has asked why plans were not being initiated for all 19 areas, and has also expressed concern about the fact that the procedure will be overseen by Mr McGinley’s department.
www.irishtimes.com
