External Evaluation of the European Baccalaureate (Annexes)

Coursework
assessment
Oral
examination
Synoptic
assessment
General Comments
Syllabus
None though 40 marks out of
subject total for class marks and
class examinations
Two examinations, twenty minutes
each, content not specified in
specification but candidates given
unseen question with 20 minutes
preparation time.
Syllabus claims that Year 7
examinations will also test
‘knowledge gained in previous
years.’ The papers themselves do
not ‘police’ this requirement
155
Section B - Comparative Study of
three texts
Section C – Poetry : (i) Unseen
Poem; (ii) A general question on one
of the prescribed poets
None
None
The syllabus for European Schools outlines the aims, methods and assessment for years 1-7.
Years 5-7 which prepare students for oral and written Baccalaureate examinations are given
3 pages in this syllabus under the headings of Oral Work, Reading, Writing, and Knowledge
about Language.
The approach is different and more comprehensive in the Irish school system. A detailed
syllabus outlines the aims, objectives, learning outcomes, assessment for the Junior cycle of
years 1-3. It outlines the intended focus of attention in the three interrelated elements that
constitute the course: personal literacy, social literacy and cultural literacy. The
interdependence of these elements is the essential foundation for the teaching of English in
the Junior cycle.
A second syllabus then builds on the aims of the Junior syllabus and outlines a more
sophisticated range of skills and concepts. This is a 20 page comprehensive document
providing opportunities for the development of the higher-order thinking skills of analysis,
inference, synthesis and evaluation. Itemised lists of skills related to specific categories of
language use are presented as the expected learning outcomes. Developing students’
interest in literature is also central to Leaving Certificate English. A range of resources from
different periods and cultures is included and students are encouraged to approach them in a
comparative manner.
The course for these two years is organised around two general domains: comprehending
and composing. The concept of shaping is central to these two domains. In their
comprehending tasks students learn how language shapes experience through style, genre
and context. In their composing tasks students are afforded the opportunity of using language
to shape experience for themselves. The principle of integrating the teaching of language and
literature, already central to the Junior syllabus, is of great moment here as well.
To give a more structured sense of development to the course, these two domains are
encountered in the context of specific areas of language use and through the study of certain