Moderator's Newsletter - French

December 2009

Contents:

• Moderation in 2010
• Achievement objectives within materials
• Expectations of the conversation standard
• Recording issues
• Best Practice workshops
• Subject specific website update

Moderation in 2010

In 2010 the existing standards remain in use. This will be a year for trialling the new level 1 standards, collecting sample work and moderating it etc. Moderation processes for teachers and students in schools will remain the same for 2010 with the expectation that French in the New Zealand Curriculum still provides the documentation underpinning the expected achievement objective, i.e:

• NCEA Level 1 - Up to and including level 6 of French in the New Zealand Curriculum
• NCEA Level 2 - Up to and including level 7
• NCEA Level 3 - Up to and including level 8

Moderation Workshops in 2010 will however start to address the moderation of the new level 1 standards in preparation for their introduction in 2011.

Achievement objectives within materials

Remember that the opportunity to communicate a relevant achievement objective must be inherent in any task. The language samples need to exemplify both the appropriate level and a relevant achievement objective. Student evidence needs to show that the student is able to communicate on one or more of the appropriate level objectives.

To aid in this process many teachers are including language from the objective in their task e.g. 'Give your point of view about ... and say why you feel this way' (8.2 Develop an argument or point, with reasons). Many teachers are also listing the relevant objectives within the task or guidelines to ensure students are aware of these criteria.

It is considered that an objective has been communicated when there is comprehensible language that clearly communicates on a relevant achievement objective.

Expectations of the conversation standard

A reminder that at level 2 and 3 it is not considered sufficient evidence of 'exchanging and supporting' or 'conveying and seeking' if the student simply asks one question. It is increasingly obvious that the only way to avoid this is to avoid the 'interview' type situation. Also students need to be prepared with language that enables them to maintain and sustain a conversation. Please refer to the clarifications document.

From the writing with clarifications document:

"Development" and "variety" in a conversational setting are not the same as in writing text where students have access to resources and are able to craft and redraft their work. In conversations, where there is a level of spontaneity, "development" and "variety" are slightly different to written text. Features of a conversation which contribute to development and variety are such things as:

• interaction
• referring back to things that have been already said
• clarifying
• negotiating meaning
• using appropriate colloquial expressions and language for the context.

Communication in a conversation is achieved when the meaning is successfully negotiated and where the pronunciation, intonation and pausing help the communication to be effective. Any errors do not hinder communication (Excellence) means that the meaning is ultimately clear and successfully negotiated, not that there are no errors. (Assessment Guidelines for NCEA Learning Languages, 2006).

As students are interacting spontaneously there will be more errors than in the writing or presentation standard where they have been able to check their work before presenting it. As in all standards errors only alter a grade dependant on the level to which they hinder communication; it is not dependant on the number of errors.

Native speaker fluency is not expected at any level and it is important when marking all standards to remember that Excellence should be achievable by New Zealand students who have undertaken the appropriate course of study.

Recording student evidence

In order to do justice to student evidence it is important that the moderator can hear both the student and the teacher. It is not appropriate to do these recordings while there is a lot of class noise in the background.

Please ensure that disks are clearly labelled. If tracks are labelled numerically there needs to be an accompanying sheet which accurately matches the number to the student name on the moderation cover sheet. Labelling tracks with the student's name is the most efficient method.

Best Practice Workshops

It has been wonderful to meet teachers at these workshops. The opportunity to discuss moderation issues, clarify misunderstandings and expectations, and work on student exemplars has been really beneficial. If you have not attended a workshop I urge you to do so. Moderation is no longer a closed process and this is an excellent way to ensure that everyone has a common understanding of moderation processes. This will become increasingly important as the revised standards are introduced in 2011.

Subject specific website updates

Please keep checking this page on the NZQA website for updates.

Already up:

• Level 1 and 2 writing exemplars
• Conversation and writing clarification of standards

To Come:

• Level 3 writing exemplars
• Level1, 2 and 3 conversation exemplars

By January next year:

• Level 1, 2 and 3 Speech exemplars

My thanks to all of you for your hard work with your moderation this year and on behalf of myself and the contract moderators I wish you all:

Joyeuses fêtes.

Shirley Bain

Last updated: 15 December 2009