A higher-level German paper that was essentially in line with the pattern of previous years received broad approval from students, according to teachers. Clodagh Mackle, who teaches at Holy Faith Secondary School in Clontarf, noted that her pupils found this paper to be much more approachable than the preliminary exam paper they had gotten.
Deborah Ewing, a German tutor at St Mary’s Knockbeg College in Carlow, stated that the German Leaving Cert paper typically has a lot of content and is quite lengthy. Ewing, who is also a subject matter specialist for Studyclix.ie, stated that the paper was very relevant and accessible, yet maintained the style of prior exams. She also highlighted that pupils often find themselves in a race against time.
The same day that the UEFA European Championship was held, the German exam was conducted. Despite this, Mackle pointed out that the topic of football was not included, demonstrating the unpredictability of exam content.
Mackle noted that the paper had journalism and media literacy inquiries, but most students preferred the letter question. The exam also featured a question regarding the KulturPass, a present given to Germans when they turn 18 that allows them to spend €200 on cultural activities. This question required students to employ conditional tense.
Ewing remarked that the first reading comprehension question was relevant to the Leaving Cert age group, although it did contain some challenging vocabulary, which surely tested well-prepared students. The second comprehension focused on the pertinent topic of smartphones. The grammar section was also regarded as well-balanced, including verbs and providing the relative pronoun as an alternative.
Mackle confirmed that the listening comprehension portion was approachable, with dialogues about issues like noisy neighbours, a Russian author residing in Germany, a cluttered residence, and several news topics.
Ewing thought the ordinary level paper was predictable, accessible, and straightforward.
“The scholar who invested genuine effort would have been justly rewarded,” she declared. “The linguistic portion [question included] common prepositions and compound terms. The Ausserung (commentary) and correspondence were connected to the spoken word. As a whole, the students felt content.”
Prior, the students had partaken in a spoken word examination, contributing to 20 per cent of their total scores.
“During the Easter break, it is the Department of Education that conducts this oral examination. As a result, it may seem as though the Leaving Cert students are resuming their studies without having any time off,” Ms. Mackle pointed out.
“Changes are anticipated in the German Leaving Cert course, and I strongly encourage all educators of modern foreign languages to thoroughly review the draft of the junior cycle foreign languages specification so they can form an informed viewpoint. There are 39 educational outcomes, and 22 queries, compared to fewer in the other three languages including French, Spanish, and Italian. This doesn’t fare well for the likely alterations in the higher German course,” she warned.