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The final consideration for
oral assessment is whether linguistic progression can be assured or measured.
It is in theory possible to accomplish many speaking tasks, while keeping
to the simplest of vocabulary and structures. In advanced language programmes,
departments will want to ensure that students are encouraged to take risks,
to extend their language skills, to use more and more complex structures,
and to broaden their vocabulary. This consideration should be built into
assessment criteria and explicitly communicated to the students.
In first year, it might be
argued, the aim is to reassure students, to focus upon fluency and confidence-building
in oral expression, and on accuracy in all basic grammar points . Simple
language would be acceptable in first year, as long as it was grammatically
accurate. Then in second year, assessment criteria would insist more on
the use of increasingly complex structures, wider vocabulary and so on.
Simple language which may have gained a 2/i classification in first year,
will now only receive a 2/ii as progress would been expected. (Clearly,
this is something that would need to be shared explicitly with students.)
For a French oral, the marking
guidelines for such a second-year assessment might look something like
this:
| First class
70% or more |
Upper second
60%-69% |
Lower second
50%-59% |
Third
40%-49% |
Fail
39% or less |
| Accuracy
of language (30%) |
| 24 |
22 |
21 |
20 |
19 |
18 |
17 |
16 |
15 |
14 |
13 |
12 |
11 |
10 |
8 |
- A fail should be awarded
if there is little grammatical awareness, if the majority of verb
endings and gender / agreements are incorrect, if there are frequent
serious errors, if poor syntax is frequently an impediment to
meaning, if students frequently make mistakes such as failing
to make standard contractions with articles, confusing à /
a, ou / où.
- The student(s) should
not receive a mark of more than 17 if they make frequent
errors in the following categories: verb forms / agreements, direct
and indirect object pronouns, qui / que, negatives, gender
/ agreements, imperfect / perfect or passé simple confusion,
possessive adjectives.
- The student(s) should
also not receive a mark of more than 17 if they make few
errors but in unambitious language.
- The student(s) can
receive a mark of more than 17 if they have mastered the
basic areas of grammar above, but experience some difficulties
in more complex areas, such as choice between definite and partitive
article, complex relative pronouns (lequel, etc), subjunctive,
c'est/il est, passive, two-verb constructions with prepositions
(but not basic ones like essayer de faire).
- The student(s) can
receive a mark of more than 20 if they can communicate
in complex language with few or only minor errors. These errors
will be rather due of a genuine misunderstanding of a complex
grammar point rather than careless slips.
|
| Range and
complexity of language and vocab (30%) |
| 24 |
22 |
21 |
20 |
19 |
18 |
17 |
16 |
15 |
14 |
13 |
12 |
11 |
10 |
8 |
- A fail should be
awarded if the student makes mistakes with only the simplest of
sentence constructions and uses only very limited vocabulary (frequent
anglicisms), and if the meaning if frequently obscured by poor
syntax.
- The student(s) should
not receive a mark of more than 17 if nearly all their
sentence patterns are simple with little subordination, if they
employ only a limited range of tenses and verb forms, if they
rely largely on simple conjunctions and structures (c'est,
il y a, parce que, etc). This should also be the case if the
vocabulary employed is limited or inadequate, with words frequently
employed incorrectly.
- The student(s) can
receive a mark of more than 17 if they often employ more
complex linguistic structures, together with a full range of tenses,
possibly constructions requiring the subjunctive, the passive,
if there is a variety of subordinate clauses, adverbs and adverbial
locutions, etc. Vocabulary will be varied and interesting, with
some awareness of idiom.
- The student(s) can
receive a mark of more than 20 if they can confidently
use a variety of complex sentence patterns and articulate language.
Vocabulary will be idiomatic, rich, appropriate and sometimes
unexpected.
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