Evaluation and Comparative Analysis of SSC and O Level English Language Syllabuses and Texts
5.22 Grade Descriptions /Assessment Objectives
At the SSC level the highest grade A is awarded for marks above 80. In EDEXCEL GCE O Level grades are awarded according to the performance of students in each subject. In EDEXCEL GCE O Level there is no fixed grade boundary, rather it changes every year. Grades are A*, A, B, C, D, E, N and U. In Cambridge O Level, the grades are A*, A, B, C, D, E and U. Here U stands for Ungraded in the subject, which means the candidate has failed to meet the minimum scores to pass in the paper. The grade awarded depends in practice on the extent to which the candidate has met the assessment objectives overall. Shortcomings in some aspects of the examination may be balanced by better performances in others. Only writing skill assessment objectives are included here.
Table 5.7
Marks Distribution according to Assessment Objectives in EDEXCEL
Section B (Directed writing)
Read and understand a variety of texts, selecting and ordering information, ideasandopinions
fromthetexts provided.
Covered all THREE bullet points as mentioned in the instruction sheet
Offered a wide range of relevant points, such as those listed in the instruction sheet
Paid strong regard to climatic conditions/ situations presented well-focused suggestions
Supported their points strongly with apt and well- chosen examples
10 marks
Adapt forms and types of writing for specific purposes and audiences using
appropriate styles.
Style and structure very successful and highly appropriate to the piece of writing (eg attention- grabbing first sentence)
Successful and consistent adoption of apt tone
Choice of register and vocabulary extremely well- adapted to audience (peers), communicating effectively and lucidly
Engages audience with sympathy, flair and assured language control
An excellent, perceptive awareness of format
20 marks
Write clearly, using a range of vocabulary and sentence structures,with accurate spelling, paragraphing, grammar and punctuation.
Control of the full range of punctuation marks is precise, enabling intended emphasis and effects to be conveyed (eg by the deployment of semi-colons, pairs of commas or dashes to indicate apposition or interpolation)
Grammatical structuring is ambitious and assured, with sophisticated control of expression and meaning
Spelling of a wide and ambitious vocabulary is consistently accurate
5 marks
Source: EDEXCEL English Language Syllabus
Section C (Creative Writing)
Adapt forms and types of writing for specific purposes and
audiences using appropriate styles.
General Characteristics : Purpose and Audience, Communicative Effectiveness, Organisation
The writing achieves precision and clarity in presenting
compelling and fully developed ideas
There is strong, consistent fulfilment of the writing task,
sharply focused on thewriter’s purpose
The writing has an extensive vocabulary and mature control in the construction of varied sentence forms
Organisation of material is assured, with sophisticated control of text structure,
skilfully sustained paragraphing and the effective application of a wide range of markers of textual cohesion
25 marks
Write clearly, using a range of vocabulary and sentence structures,
with accuratespelling, paragraphing,grammar and punctuation.
Control of the full range of punctuation marks is precise, enabling intended emphasis and effects to be conveyed (eg by the deployment of semi-colons, pairs of commas or dashes to indicate apposition or interpolation)
Grammatical structuring is ambitious and assured, with sophisticated control of expression and meaning
Spelling of a wide and ambitious vocabulary is consistently accurate
10 marks
Source: EDEXCEL English Language Syllabus.
However, in Cambridge system, the grades are like SSC level. Grades and marks are fixed. The followings are the assessment objectives for both directed and creative writing:
1. Communicate appropriately, with a clear awareness of purpose, audience and register;
2. Communicate clearly and develop ideas coherently, at word level, sentence level and whole text level;
3. Use accurate spelling, punctuation and grammar;
4. Communicate creatively, using varied range of vocabulary, sentence structures and linguistic devices.
In SSC syllabus, communicative competence is given the highest priority.
Assessment objectives are not clearly stated in the syllabus of SSC level. The absence of assessment objectives creates difficulty in checking directed writing and creative writing.
Some of the SSC level teachers who check the scripts of Board examinations expressed their dissatisfaction over the comments of the board authority while distributing scripts.
There are some assessments criteria in the instructions supplied by the board authority that lack sufficient guidelines. About paragraph writing the instruction sheet goes, “A coherent, relevant and good expression on the topic answering the given questions should be awarded full marks.” About composition the instruction sheet goes, “A composition within 250 words on topic should be credited full marks. Otherwise awarding marks depends on the personal judgment of the examiner.” About story writing it goes, “a story with a suitable title following the outlines should be awarded 80% marks.” The term 'communicative competence' is wrongly interpreted and the authority asks teachers verbally to award marks even ignoring grammatical and spelling mistakes. The teachers of SSC level complain that there is a huge gap between the syllabus, textbook, and the way evaluation is being done. The question papers are prepared often violating the
instructions of the syllabus. Some of the teachers held their opinion that memorising is still in vogue, though the syllabus suggests that there is no scope for memorising in CLT system. The question setters—in most cases they are the senior teachers teaching English for a long time—are using the traditional system, and a close look at the question papers of different boards reveal that similar kind of compositions, letters, surface in the question papers quite frequently, and both the teachers and students are busy preparing suggestions before the examination. An analysis of the question papers of SSC level Board Examinations and O level Examinations offers an opposite picture. It has been detected that in many occasions the same tasks surface in the SSC question papers in different Boards of Bangladesh. ‘Paragraph writing’ on the topic ‘Traffic Jam’ surfaced in the question paper for at least four times since 2009 (Dhaka Board 2011, Rajshahi Board 2011, Sylhet Board 2010, Barishal Board 2009), while another topic ‘Load Shedding’
seemed very popular to the question setters (Barishal Board 2011, Dinajpur Board 2011, Rajshahi Board 2008, 2010, Cumilla Board 2007, Jessore Board 2007, Sylhet Board 2007). Composition writing on the topic “The Duties of Students’ was selected at the SSC examinations frequently over the last couple of years (Dinajpur Board 2011, Jessore Board 2009, Dhaka Board 2009, Chittagong Board 2010, Cumilla Board 2011), while
‘Population Problem in Bangladesh’ was also selected in a number of occasions (Dhaka Board 2009, 2011, Rajshahi Board 2008, 2010, Cumilla Board 2008, Jessore Board 2007, 2011). The provision of having similar topics in the examinations is so common in Bangladesh that even tasks on story writing are repeated quite frequently. Here are the first few lines of a well known story that was selected in several occasions: “There were two friends. They lived in a certain village…………..One day they were passing through a deep forest………..Suddenly a bear came in front of them. Both of them were afraid…”
(Sylhet Board 2011, Rajshahi Board 2008, Barishal Board 2010, Dinajpur Board 2011).
At the SSC level, ‘passages’ and ‘extracts’, for reading skills test, are selected from the text book , which means that these are known passages to the students, and hence they can easily answer the questions. Since passages are selected from the text, repetition is a common scenario. A passage that starts with “The memorial at Savar….” (Unit 14, lesson 1) has been selected in a number of occasions (Dinajpur Board 2010, Rajshahi Board 2004, 2008, Jessore Board 2004, Cumilla Board 2006, 2008 Chittagong Board 2006, Sylhet Board 2009). Report writing is there in the syllabus but the question setters never opt for it. A flawed evaluation and testing system is largely responsible for which the
syllabus and the textbook appear to be ineffective, think many of the SSC level teachers.
An analysis of the question papers of the previous few years showed that the tradition of using same topics and selecting same tasks is absent at the O level.
The scripts of O level examinations are sent to the respective universities, and panel teachers selected by the authority of the university, check the scripts. The university often arranges training through the British Council where the teachers get ideas how copies should be marked, and they try to follow it in the school examination. Whether the O level examiners or SSC level teachers are more lenient is a different issue, but no SSC level teacher said that he/she has attended any workshop that completely focuses on the techniques of checking scripts. On the other hand, the O level English language teachers attended such workshop where they were offered some O level scripts to mark. Such workshop is usually conducted by a head examiner, who himself/herself checks the scripts and finally they compare those scripts and analyse that whose marking was exact, and who did over or under marking. The teachers are asked to mark the copies of school examination in the same way.