'Predictable and fair' papers

JUNIOR CERT FRENCH: HIGHER AND ORDINARY LEVEL:"PREDICTABLE AND fair'' was how one French teacher described yesterday's higher and ordinary level Junior Cert French papers.

But TUI representative and French teacher Ann Weafer said the higher level paper might have challenged some students.

"Some of the questions were based on a word and if the student didn't know that word they could not have answered the question.

In the fifth passage in the reading comprehension, which is about mobile phones, the question asks when a student, Erwan, uses his mobile phone. The answer is when his class is cancelled or 'annulé.' If the student didn't know 'annulé' they wouldn't have been able to answer it," said Weafer.

The aural section did not cause any huge upset for students, according to Ms Weafer, and was clear with long gaps and no great problems.

Students were equally as happy with the ordinary level paper.

"I didn't see any problems with it. The reading comprehension and written expression were fair and presented areas that should have been prepared by students," she said.

ASTI representative and French teacher Noelle O'Donoghue McCaul described the papers as very fair and well laid out covering topics that were interesting to students.

The one section in the ordinary level paper that might have caused a problem for students was in the sixth section of the reading comprehension.

"One of the question asked students what a newspaper competition was asking students to design. If you look at the picture it looks like a deck of cards whereas the answer was a cartoon strip. But both options were given and students might have gone for the deck of cards," said Ms O'Donoghue McCaul.