The higher-level Spanish examination presented to students was generally deemed fair and approachable, though some had issues grappling with demanding lexicon, according to teachers’ accounts. Daire Kelly, a Spanish representative for ASTI, stated that top-tier students were able to fully demonstrate their comprehension, and there was ample opportunity for all students to perform their very best.
He stated: “On the whole, the exam was equitable, and there were no surprises. The themes for the essays were not only familiar to most students but were also wide-ranging. Some centred on culture, others on residing in a foreign country, and one dwelt on sport. The latter was particularly welcomed by students as they found comfort in this theme.”
Maria Fenton, a Spanish tutor from the Institute of Education, concurred, acknowledging students’ affinity for the sports-centric question. She mentioned that students often prepare dialogues about personal hobbies for the oral component, so the inclusion of music and sports questions provided familiar ground.
A broad-ranging prompt reading ‘sport is important for everyone’ brought relief to many students. This provided them the freedom to discuss varying topics such as health values or friendships, enabling them to exhibit their fluency in the language at their own comfort level, according to Fenton.
However, she also noted that the paper challenged some students with specific vocabulary and idiomatic expressions. She used the example of requiring knowledge of the term ‘multa’ to answer one part of the paper correctly, which tested the depth of students’ Spanish vocabulary.
Discussing the dialogue query, which posed more of a challenge than usual, Kelly referred to his one experience losing a suitcase during a flight in Havana. He discovered that the paper’s concentration on this unusual situation, combined with a slightly more difficult lexicon, presented certain difficulties.
Balloting the final composition between a diary entry or note, Fenton mentioned, offered candidates a solid and applicable choice that allowed them to highlight their strong points. Furthermore, she noted that the topic of a diary on returning home after a year in Salamanca permitted them significant freedom to choose their tone and points of discussion.
The language employed in the note was less lenient, however, the requests made would be recognisable. Despite having several complex grammar manoeuvers, the paper fundamentally provides a just assessment of a student’s skill level.
The auditory comprehension was particularly tricky, as per Mr Kelly’s assessment. It was complex, but none found it biased.
Concerning the ordinary level paper, Mr Kelly noted there weren’t any unexpected elements and students found it comprehensible, particularly the reading portion. One tiny hiccup was the necessity of an answer in Spanish for one reading comprehension, which was slightly more complex than in preceding years.
Here’s an exercise to work on:
For the following Spanish phrases from the higher-level Leaving Cert Spanish, write their contextual meaning in English:
(a) … la migración masiva de irlandeses a mediados del siglo diecinueve.
(b) … decidieron adaptar sus habilidades y formar un equipo masculino …
(c) … han alcanzado un nivel que les permite competir …