Question 1

What are examiners looking for in answers in the Leaving Cert English exams?

Accepted Answer

Every year, the State Examinations Commission publishes an outline of how Leaving Cert English exam answers are awarded grades. This includes criteria which explain how 'the tasks set for candidates in both Paper 1 and Paper 2' are assessed. For both Ordinary and Higher levels, it specifies 4 criteria which can be remembered using the initials of their key words, PCLM:

1: (P) Clarity of Purpose, 30% of the marks available for the task:
A student's answer must show 'a clear and purposeful engagement'.

The article from the SEC gives more detail on these 4 criteria in Appendix A. Clarity of Purpose can mean the answer has any of the following:

relevance, focus, originality, freshness, evidence of critical literacy 
(where appropriate), clear aim, understanding of genre

A  summary of this criterion would say that answers and essays must remain focussed on what is asked. At all points in the answer/ essay, the reader should have a clear idea of how what he/ she is reading is relevant.

Critical literacy refers to the ability to speak or write critically about some subject, in particular, to be able to uncover implicit meanings.  A student can demonstrate critical literacy effectively by using the terms established in the critical observation of that subject. In the case of English studies, this will be evident in the language used in identifying, for example, genres of fiction (gothic novel, historical fiction...). In poetry, it would include the language used to analyse a text (stanza, end-rhyme, assonance...) in the critical process of bringing to light formal patterns and clarifying implicit meanings.

2: (C) Coherence of Delivery,  30% of the marks available for the task
This is described in the Appendix as follows:

Ability to sustain the response over the entire answer:
Where appropriate: continuity of argument, sequencing, management 
of ideas, choice of reference, use of examples, engagement with texts, 
control of register and shape, creative modelling

What examiners are looking for here is evidence that the student is able to 'sustain the response in an appropriate manner over the entire answer'.  If something is coherent, it is well planned, so that it is clear and sensible, and all its parts go together. In a coherent answer to a leaving cert question, all of its parts - from words to paragraphs to the whole - are clear, and can be understood to make sense together.

Just as each sentence should be coherent, there should also be overall coherence. In the latter, your awareness of the structure of your answer - moving clearly from introduction, through distinct topics, to conclusion - is vital.

Answering questions in Section I (Comprehending) in Paper 1, and all sections in Paper 2, if a student's writing is coherent, the points made will make sense in the paragraphs they are in; they will follow one another logically. The paragraphs, in turn, will be coherent within the whole.

Answers that are coherent overall will have the following: 
- an introduction with a clear thesis statement 
- transitional words/ phrases within a paragraph that signpost the direction of the argument form point to point; Firstly...Secondly...; On the other hand...; As a result...
- clear transitions between paragraphs using topic sentences. Discussion of a topic could have a number of points within it. The  topic itself, and why it is of interest, should be clearly stated as an introductory sentence in the first paragraph discussing it 
- answers on literary texts in Paper 2, should refer to and, if possible, quote from the text in support of the points being made.

Writing the essay in Section II of Paper 1, will also demand structural coherence; in most, the same introduction-discussion-conclusion structure. Even the narrative option, which asks students to write a short piece of fiction, will likely have this structure, although, as creative writing,  it is open to variation.

3: (L) Efficiency of Language Use,  30% of the marks available for the task:
The examiner will be focussed on to what extent you can 'manage and control language appropriate to the task'. The appendix of the SEC guide elaborates:

vocabulary, syntax, sentence patterns, punctuation appropriate to the 
register, use of lively interesting phrasing, energy, style, fluency appropriate 
to the task

An answer will need to be written according to what kind of language is appropriate  to the task at hand. The English syllabus identifies five categories of language use  that it asks students to be aware of. These can be memorised using the acronym, IPANA:

I: The language of INFORMATION: impersonal style, no “I”
P: The language of PERSUASION: “I” or “We”; a personal style can be used
A: The language of ARGUMENT: impersonal style, “I”
N: NARRATIVE Language: use of an objective (no "I") or subjective ('I") narrator
A: AESTHETIC use of language: draws attention to itself as an art form; used in
 poetry, fiction, drama, descriptive prose

Which of these  styles of language use will be 'appropriate' will depend on whether you are answering a question or writing an essay, and whether the question asks you to include in your answer how you feel about something.

If you are answering a question in Paper 2, you want to remove yourself personally from your answers because your feelings about the text are not of value unless you are specifically asked  for them. You will use language that is informative (I) and argumentative (A). If, in Paper 1, however, you have chosen to a write a personal essay in Section II (Composing),  you will need to use any of the following: P, N, and A (aesthetic).

4: (M) Accuracy of Mechanics, 10% of the marks available for accuracy in spelling and
     grammar.

Question 2

What are the five kinds of language use that students need to know for LC English?

Accepted Answer

An answer will need to be written according to what kind of language is appropriate  to the task at hand. The English syllabus identifies five categories of language use that it asks students to be aware of. These can be memorised using the acronym IPANA:

I: The language of INFORMATION: impersonal style, no “I”
     P: The language of PERSUASION: “I” or “We”; a personal style can be used
     A: The language of ARGUMENT: impersonal style, “I”
     N: NARRATIVE Language: use of an objective (no "I") or subjective ('I") narrator
     A: AESTHETIC use of language: draws attention to itself as an art form; used in
           poetry, fiction, drama, descriptive prose

Which of these styles of language use will be 'appropriate' will depend on  the 'task' or question asked. If you are answering a question in Paper 2, you want to remove yourself personally from your answers because your  feelings about the text are not of value unless you are specifically asked for them. You will use language that is informative (I) and argumentative (A).

If, in Paper 1, however, you have chosen to a write a personal essay in Section  II (Composing), then you want to use any of the following: P, N, and A (aesthetic).

Frequently Asked Questions Papers 1 and 2, Higher Level

Frequently Asked Questions
Papers 1 and 2, Higher Level