Olympic effort required but second Irish test ‘ fair’ to all
June 13, 2012
Leaving Cert Irish Paper 2
The theme of the Olympics once again featured prominently in the Leaving Cert Irish higher level exam, as students got to grips with a “fair” paper 2.
Many teachers felt the unseen comprehension text on the life of Irish- American 1912 Olympic gold medallist Jim Thorpe was both interesting and manageable.
This year, candidates coped with changes to the paper – including the introduction of a new question concerning grammar, opinion and the genre of literature.
Robbie Cronin, from the ASTI and Marian College, Ballsbridge, Dublin, felt the opinion piece “was too demanding” for a maximum of 10 marks.
In it, students were asked to say what the text – about the Olympian’s sporting prowess to his final days in penury – revealed about the mindset of the American people and the International Olympic Committee.
ASTI’s Noelle Moran from St Jarlath’s College, Tuam, Co Galway, agreed: “It is a lot to be asking the student’s opinion on something, it is not testing the knowledge of the piece”.
The TUI’s Ruth MorrisseyCasey, a teacher at St Michael’s Community School, Kilmihil, Co Clare, said the second comprehension question featuring journalist Alex Hijman’ visit to Salvador was “harder” with references to oppression, poverty, history and religion.
She said students may have found some words including ‘ aingil choimhdeachta’, meaning ‘ guardian angel’, difficult.
Clare Grealy, of the Institute of Education, Dublin, said the grammar question for both comprehension texts dealt with points most students were familiar with.
Inviting
Teachers felt some of the questions had been anticipated, including the question relating to the story ‘ Hurlamaboc’.
Deeming it a “good paper” overall, Ms Grealy said the poem ‘ An tEarrach Thiar’ was one of the easier ones students encountered on the syllabus.
“The question on images and sounds was particularly inviting,” she said.
Ms Grealy described ordinary level as a “very fair” paper, with the questions and language in the comprehension section featuring stories about RTE sports journalist Evanne Ni Chuilinn and young tennis player Daithi O hEithir far easier than previous years.
The prose featured six short questions rather than following the traditional format of a more general summary type question and Ms Grealy felt it may have proved “helpful” as it gave students a clear structure for their answer.
Ms Moran’s main complaint was that both the prose and poetry questions were “very wordy” for the level.
www.independent.ie
