Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 1 Feb 1994

Vol. 438 No. 1

Written Answers. - Marking of Leaving Certificate Papers.

Enda Kenny

Question:

146 Mr. E. Kenny asked the Minister for Education the factors that are taken into account in the setting of the various leaving certificate A level language marking schemes; and the way in which correlation takes place between the different subjects to ensure that, for example, candidates taking the Irish language papers are not discriminated against in having chosen Irish as might be deduced from the 1993 A level results.

Enda Kenny

Question:

147 Mr. E. Kenny asked the Minister for Education if, in view of the results of the 1993 leaving certificate examination, she has satisfied herself with the percentage of candidates getting A levels in Irish, 3.8 per cent, particularly in view of the corresponding percentages for English, 5 per cent, French, 6.6 per cent, German, 7.7 per cent, Spanish, 13.1 per cent, and Italian, 11.6 per cent; and if so, the way in which she accounts for the fact that the Irish language results are the poorest of all the languages.

Minister for Education (Ms Bhreathnach)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 146 and 147 together.

I presume that the Deputy is referring to higher level leaving certificate results in languages and, specifically, to the percentages of candidates obtaining Grade A in those subjects.

The percentages of candidates obtaining the different grades are not determined arbitrarily: they depend on the performance of candidates in the examination in the different subjects.

The leaving certificate is offered at two levels, ordinary and higher, and the results are significantly affected by the proportion of candidates opting for a particular level.

The proportion of the whole cohort of leaving certificate students opting for a particular subject at a particular level has a major impact on the percentages of candidates obtaining the different grades. Italian, for example, was taken by only 112 candidates out of a cohort of 61,562. Of the 112, 71 per cent opted for the higher level. This is clearly an unrepresentative sample of the whole cohort.

It is important therefore that if comparisons are to be made, like should be compared with like. English as the mother tongue of the vast majority of candidates is in a category by itself and is not examined as a second language.

Irish is in a rather unique category in that although it is mother tongue for some candidates, it is a school-learned language for most. Performance in Irish should therefore, be fairly comparable to that achieved in French, which like Irish is a high participation subject.

However, the comparison has to be qualified because of the different emphases placed on the four basic language skills in the two languages. French has a strong bias in favour of the receptive skills of reading comprehension and listening comprehension, whereas Irish emphasises the productive skills of writing and speaking. The receptive skills are far more accessible and more readily mastered than the productive skills. Hence, candidates' performance in the receptive area will outshine preformance in the productive area.

It will interest the Deputy to note that a test in listening comprehension was introduced in leaving certificate Irish for the first time in 1993 although it has been part of the leaving certificate in modern languages for many years.

The inclusion of this test has already enhanced the overall performance of candidates in leaving certificate Irish. As the receptive skill of listening comprehension in Irish is developed in the schools it can be expected that there will be an increase in the proportion of candidates achieving grade A in higher level Irish.