Leaving Cert English: Students asked to write blog posts

Teachers have broadly welcomed Leaving Cert English paper one as a fair and thorough test of exam candidates.

While many higher level students may have been have been hoping for a text about 1916, it did not appear - though it did on the ordinary level exam,

"It didn't have any major surprises and most students would have been happy with it," said Lorraine Tuffy, English teacher with StudyClix.ie"For the first time ever within a Leaving Cert paper, students were asked to write a blog post, a sign that examiners are moving with the times.

"Higher level students were asked to write a blog post for an online campaign that opposed public expenditure on space exploration while ordinary level students were asked to imagine they were tourists and to write a travel blog based on their experiences and views on Ireland. "

Liz Farrell, an English teacher at Coláiste Eoin, Hacketstown, Co Carlow, the exam offered up good comprehension options for students.

“A speech by Obama and an extract from Sarah Baume’s novel Spill, Simmer, Falter, Wither - were both well received,” said Ms Farrell, who is also a representative for the Teachers’ Union of Ireland .

“The ordinary paper had a lot of visuals which will have allowed for a lot more creativity and imagination. On both exams, the essay titles were very fair, with a lot of students liking the higher level option to write about the useless clutter in our lives.”

Jim Lusby, an English teacher at the Institute of Education, said the ordinary level exam was a “friendly, accessible paper” which most candidates will have enjoyed tackling.

“An interesting choice this year was confining the texts offered for comprehension to a single genre of writing, the diary,” he said.

“Since the diary is personal and can take many forms, such as the blog and the video, the genre has particular relevance to contemporary students.

“Topics covered in the set tasks included travel, history, writing and personal experience, making it a wide-ranging, but accessible examination.”