CARIBBEAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL REPORT ON CANDIDATES’ WORK IN THE CARIBBEAN ADVANCED PROFICIENCY EXAMINATION MAY/JUNE 2014 FRENCH Copyright © 2014 Caribbean Examinations Council St Michael Barbados All rights reserved. 2 GENERAL COMMENTS This was the first year that the revised syllabus was used. Overall, candidate performance in both Units 1 and 2 was good, with Unit1 candidates performing better than those who did Unit 2. In spite of reported problems procuring the literature texts, schools prepared students well for all the books; fewer questions were omitted than in the past, especially in Paper 01. Again, a number of candidates earned full marks for some papers. However, certain problems still exist. Some candidates seemed unprepared, had little grasp of essential grammar and did not have the right approach or strategies to handle the questions. Detailed comments highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of candidates are given below. DETAILED COMMENTS UNIT 1 Paper 01 – Listening Comprehension Candidates were required to respond to questions in English based on five short selections (Section A) and an extended interview (Section B), in French. The topics covered Modules 1 and 3 in Section A, and Module 2 in Section B. Candidates were expected to have developed their listening skills through practice and exposure to vocabulary related to the modules. Performance ranged from poor to excellent, with the majority of candidates scoring within the good to very good range, and approximately less than 30 per cent receiving low grades. Section A – Short selections Selection 1 The topic of this selection was Family (Module 1). Parts (a) (i) and (ii) were generally well answered and posed few problems except in cases where candidates mixed up nationality and country, writing ‘France’ as the nationality instead of ‘French’. In some cases, candidates identified the birthplace and nationality incorrectly. One candidate expressed the answers correctly as follows: (i) Rougui Dia is of French nationality. (ii) Rougui has Senegalese roots/Rougui’s family is from Senegal. For Part (b), many candidates only gave a partial answer which distorted the meaning. For example, instead of writing that she replaced her mother in the kitchen, some candidates wrote that she ‘helped’ her mother in the kitchen. A complete answer which received full marks was: She replaced her mother/took her mother’s place in the kitchen in order to prepare an African meal for her seven siblings. 3 For Part (c), there were many candidates who misunderstood m’ont félicitée, stating that her brothers were happy, excited, surprised. However, some candidates gave the correct answer: They congratulated her. An exemplary answer for Part (d) was: She realized that cooking wasn’t a tedious task. Many candidates were able to express this idea even though they worded it differently. Some said the opposite, in fact, that cooking was hard or that it was not for her. Part (e) was generally well done and a good answer recorded was: She abandoned the idea of becoming a fashion designer to get into cooking. Some candidates distorted this answer by stating that ‘she abandoned cooking in order to become a fashion designer’, and scored no marks. Generally, Part (f) was well answered although many candidates only received a partial mark since they did not state her age. An exemplary answer was: At 31 years, Rougui is one of the top female chefs in a well-known restaurant in Paris. However, a few candidates thought she owned the restaurant. Some misunderstood parisien. Selection 2 The topic of this selection was Music (Module 1). Some candidates found it challenging. For Part (a), most candidates were unfamiliar with the place mentioned in the passage. Only a few candidates gave the correct answer, It is located in the Midi-Pyrenees. Some wrote that it was ‘in the middle of Paris’ or ‘in the region of the pyramids’; and some confused perhaps by the reference to ‘Sonny Rollins’, wrote that Marciac was in ‘New Orleans’. In Part (b), many candidates were able to identify the size of the population of Marciac as being small, however, many struggled with the number of inhabitants and wrote 2 000, 100 000, or 1 600. A correct response provided by one candidate was: It is a small village with a population of 1 200. Part (c) posed a bit of a challenge to candidates. Many stressed the importance of the jazz festival (Jazz in Marciac), indicating that the festival was one of the most important festivals, rather than stating that the place itself (Marciac) had become one of the most important venues because of the festival. An exemplary response was: It became one of the most important rendez-vous in the world due to the event “Jazz in Marciac”. In Part (d), many candidates understood that Jean-Louis Guilhaumon was responsible for this event, however, most did not understand that he had encouraged the villagers to embrace the festival. A few candidates gave answers which scored full marks, for example, It came about 4 because of the energy of Jean-Louis Guilhaumon. He rallied and gathered everyone for the festival. A few candidates provided erroneous responses to Part (e). Having heard …visiteurs par an, some wrote that he had come ‘to visit his parents’. However, it was very well handled on the whole. Many wrote, correctly, He came to Marciac as an English teacher. Selection 3 The topic of this selection was Conservation of the Environment (Module 3). Although a few candidates did not answer Part (a) correctly, putting answers such as ‘the reshuffling of the planet’, most of them scored full marks on this question. An example of a candidate’s correct response was, Two great concerns that threaten the planet are pollution and global warming. There were many options for Part (b) and most candidates scored full marks. One such candidate stated, To save energy, one can use energy wisely and discover other forms of renewable energy sources. In addition, one can use other forms of transportation such as walking or using a bicycle instead of a vehicle. A few also understood rouler moins vite et préférer le train. However, some candidates gave answers from their general knowledge such as ‘Iron once per week’; and ‘car pool’. Others stated that one of the ways to save energy was to ‘save/economize energy’, but this was a part of the question. There were many options for Part (c) and most candidates scored full marks. One such candidate wrote, Clean your house without polluting the environment, choose foods that are good for your health and the environment and save water. However, there were some candidates who simply wrote ‘clean your house’, or ‘recycle water’ and so missed the full meaning of the passage. In other instances, they relied on previous knowledge to provide information that was not included in the listening passage. Selection 4 The topic of this selection was Deforestation and Climate Change (Module 3). Part (a) (i) was well answered. Most candidates were able to provide the correct response, He was the minister of ecology. However, some candidates misunderstood and wrote ‘minister of agriculture’. Part (a) (ii) was generally well answered. An exemplary answer was: He said, “The forest is in danger”. Part (b) was generally well answered. One exemplary answer was: The role of major forests in the fight against climatic change. While some candidates understood the link between the 5 role of the forests and the fight against climate change, others did not, and mentioned only one or the other. Part (c) was generally well answered, but some candidates gave incorrect regions such as Asia and the Caribbean. A good answer was: Two regions mentioned are Indonesia and the Amazon. The other region mentioned in the passage was the Congo. Part (d) was difficult for some candidates, perhaps because the required response was similar to that of Part (b). The following answer was given full marks: The issue was considered urgent because the forests play a major role in climate regulation. While many candidates made this link, others gave only one or the other. Selection 5 The topic of this selection was Nature Reserves (Module 3). This selection was generally well done. Candidates were asked to tick the four correct answers which best expressed the information stated in the passage. Many candidates scored most of the marks or full marks. Unfortunately, others lost marks because they did not follow instructions. It should be noted that there are severe penalties for ticking more than the number of responses stipulated. Section B – Expanded Interview Selection 6 The topic of this selection was Youth Unemployment (Module 2). Part (a) was answered quite well. An example of a good answer is: She has (co-) published an article entitled “Young People in (the economic) Crisis”. A few candidates, however, misinterpreted the phrase Les jeunes dans la crise, which was taken as les gens dans la crise. One candidate referred to ‘young people in Greece.’ Part (b) was challenging. A few candidates were able to give the correct answer, Generally they are more qualified than older people. However, many candidates gave answers which were not even in the passage. Perhaps they were using prior knowledge of the topic. As a result, they provided responses such as ‘They have more vision’, ‘They are more physically capable’ or ‘young people are more mobile’. Part (c) was generally not well answered. Most candidates picked out words but did not fully understand. In addition, many of them did not know the expression, près de la moitié… and wrote ‘more than half’, ‘many’, and ‘most’. Nevertheless, a few candidates were able to state the answer correctly, for example, Almost half of the young people under 25 that work are temporary workers. 6 There were many candidates who did not attempt to answer Part (d). Many of the ones who did gave incomplete or partial answers. Others misunderstood the number and wrote 45 per cent instead of 80 per cent. Some candidates were familiar with the vocabulary but misinterpreted the information. Others seemed to misunderstand vulnérables, interpreting it as something positive. A few candidates scored full marks, including one who wrote, Young people with little or no qualifications (degrees) make up 80 per cent of those in a precarious, uncertain, unstable situation. There were a few candidates who did not attempt to answer Part (e). Many of the ones who did, scored partial marks due to incomplete or partial answers. However, a good number of candidates scored full marks. One such candidate wrote, 45,000 young people leave school before completing their final year to receive a diploma while 80 000 who do write the exams fail and do not receive diplomas. The answer to Part (f) was widely known. Many candidates received full marks. An exemplary answer is: It is not a new phenomenon, neither is it exclusive to France. For Part (g), most candidates were able to score at least partial marks. Candidates received full marks for writing all four European countries mentioned: Spain, Sweden, Greece and the United Kingdom. Although the question specified European countries, there were responses such as ‘Vietnam’, ‘the United States’, ‘Africa’, ‘Wyoming’. In addition, a few candidates wrote ‘Switzerland’ instead of ‘Sweden’. Part (h) was generally well done and most candidates attempted and answered it correctly, stating that 5 million young people are unemployed in the EU. However, a few candidates wrote the incorrect figure, for example, ‘5 thousand’ and ‘7 million’. Part (i) was well answered. Some candidates scored full marks but others did not know the meaning of apprentissage and were unable to state the name of the system which was implemented, writing, for example, ‘a system of negotiations’. Many were able to state which country implemented it, but some wrote ‘Holland’ instead of ‘Germany’. An exemplary answer was: Germany introduced an apprenticeship system. There were some candidates who were unable to answer Part (j) correctly and some who received partial marks. Many did not understand the word formation. Candidates were expected to refer to projects on a European scale, the co-operation of young people and the need for training. Recommendations  Candidates must read questions correctly to ensure that the best possible answers are given and that they follow instructions carefully. They should read over their responses to ensure that there is no ambiguity in their responses. 7  Students must be given more opportunities to practise their listening and must review as much vocabulary pertaining to the topics as possible, in and outside of class time. They should read more widely on each topic and review the names of countries and basic vocabulary such as numbers.  While previous knowledge about a particular topic can be useful, candidates should refrain from writing information that is not provided in the listening passage.  Candidates should pay particular attention to the questions themselves and try to identify the information that corresponds to the question. Paper 02 – Reading and Writing Section A – Reading Comprehension Candidates were required to respond to questions on two passages. Passage 1 was based on Module 1 (L’individu, la famille et la vie journalière) and candidates were required, for the first time, to respond in French to questions asked in French. Passage 2 was based on Module 3 (L’environnement) and required candidates to respond, for the first time, in English to questions asked in English. They were also required to find synonyms in the passage for five words/phrases as directed in the questions. Both passages were in French. General Comments This year, candidates seemed to have found answering the questions on Passage 1 in French a very difficult exercise. Many tried to use their own words as required by the rubrics, but some simply lifted the answers straight from Passages 1 and 2, thereby losing marks. They ignored the warning that they would be penalized for disregarding the instructions. Candidates also did not read the questions carefully and some needed more practice in identifying where to find answers in the passage, noting that answers are often in chronological order. In many cases, answers for Parts (b) and (c) were mixed up, that is, answers intended for Part (b) were in Part (c) and vice versa. Also, Part (d) was being used to answer Part (c). In general, questions to Passage 1 were not handled very well. In contrast, answers to the questions on Passage 2 were fairly good. Partial comprehension was seen in answers given by some candidates. With snippets of the answers or even whole sections of the passage identified as the answer, the marks, in some cases, were finally negated by very poor expression in English, that is, writing the opposite of what was really meant. Candidates must bear in mind that Reading Comprehension carries with it a certain amount of analysis as well as logical and coherent thought. There should be clear, acceptable expression 8 in both French and English for answers to be well communicated to the examiners who have to read and correct the answers given. Detailed Comments Passage 1 – L’obésité, un gros problème de santé publique en Guadeloupe For Part (a), most candidates were able to identify the key answers to the question, particularly the ideas of overweight and obesity. Some, however, did not mention the statistics involved. An example of a correct answer is as follows: Le surpoids, autrement connu comme l’obésité, est un énorme problème à la Guadeloupe. En effet, une personne sur deux, soit 54.6% de la population, a des problèmes de surpoids. Most candidates gained full marks for Part (b). Some of them omitted the second part of the question which required them to state how the organization would have tried to resolve the problem. A correct answer could have been : L’Agence Régionale de Santé (ARS) essayera de résoudre cette situation à travers une énorme campagne de communication … Part (c) was only partially answered in many cases as candidates failed to address the time frame required in the answer. Many did not identify the year 2011. A candidate’s correct answer was: La campagne qui signalait les effets que produit la consommation de l’alcool *dans l’année 2011 a déjà utilisé les mêmes moyens pour attirer l’attention des citoyens. Some candidates responded well to Part (d) and were able to identify most of the ways to be used for advertising the campaign. Some candidates were not specific when mentioning the different ways of attracting the attention of the public to the problem of obesity in Guadeloupe. Five elements were mentioned in the passage, but some candidates mentioned only two or three, thereby lessening their chance of obtaining full marks. A candidate’s correct answer was as follows: L’éducation du public *envers les problèmes liés à l’obésité se répandra à travers des moyens de communication, spots télé et radio, en plus de panneaux de publicité placés le long des routes *guadeloupéens. Des supports de *communications mobiles (les bus) seront aussi inclus. While many candidates correctly answered both questions in Part (e), several of them confused the words ‘consequences’ and ‘examples’, and in many cases mentioned only the examples which they substituted for consequences. The section on considérations esthétiques was often omitted. *An asterisk indicates an incorrect form, spelling or structure. 9 There was a case where a candidate went to great lengths to explain what le diabète and l’hypertension were instead of re-writing these same words as the examples. Here is an example of an answer which gained maximum marks: Le surpoids porte non seulement sur des considérations esthétiques mais aussi des complications sérieuses sur la santé et le bien-être de la personne obèse. Cela augmente aussi la fréquence de certaines maladies particulières, comme par exemple, l’hypertension, le diabète, et l’insuffisance dans les reins. From the passage, other examples of consequences included des problèmes liés à l’accouchement et à la maternité. It was good to see that candidates performed fairly well on Part (f), answering the why and the how required for the answer. This candidate’s answer gained full marks: Ce problème s’aggrave car les Guadeloupéens mangent de moins en moins bien; ils augmentent la consommation de produits raffinés et préfèrent la restauration rapide, en plus de l’arrêt de presque toute activité physique, ce qui fait qu’ils deviennent de plus en plus gros. La campagne espère convaincre d’arrêter ces nouvelles attitudes alimentaires pour que le public recommence à manger correctement et aussi *d’encourager les Guadeloupéens à changer leurs *négatives attitudes envers l’activité physique. Part (g) was the best answered question in this section. Candidates found it easy to identify the three languages: le français, le créole et l’anglais. Recommendations  Far too many candidates were lifting complete sentences from the passage to answer the questions. Not enough effort was being made to use different vocabulary. As a result, candidates lost marks when this could have been avoided. Teachers are being encouraged to remind their students that the questions on Passage 1 must be answered in their own words. On the other hand, there are going to be words that will not require any explanation or definition, or words and phrases that are technical; candidates must therefore use their discretion when answering. For instance, it is unnecessary to write la langue officielle de l’Angleterre instead of l’anglais. *An asterisk indicates an incorrect form, spelling or structure. 10  Candidates should read questions several times and underline crucial words which indicate what details are required. Teachers are encouraged to remind their students to write unambiguous answers.  Closer attention should be paid to ensuring that questions with several parts are fully answered, for example, Part (b) required candidates to respond to the questions on “quelle organisation va essayer de résoudre ce problème et comment?”  Candidates should always check their answers to ensure that they have completed all tasks and that they have correctly identified the right information from the passage to be used in their answers. They should also note the number of marks allotted for each question.  Candidates must not include extraneous information when answering questions. Previous knowledge may be helpful, but this must not interfere with the passage under consideration. All information for answers must be relevant.  Questions are to be numbered correctly. In some instances, candidates, in answering the various parts of Question 1 or 2, changed the letters to numbers. This must not be done. Passage 2  Projet de reboisement de Sainte-Suzanne en Haïti Part (a) (i) was generally very well answered with many candidates providing clear and accurate information. However, the verb nuit was often misinterpreted as night, thus rendering some answers illogical. An acceptable answer was: In the commune of Sainte- Suzanne, deforestation affects the communities as a whole with respect to their development. For Part (b) (ii), far too many candidates made the error of translating l’un des meilleurs cafés au pays as ‘the best coffee in the world’. An answer such as the following gained full marks: In the past, the mountainous lands of Sainte-Suzanne allowed for the production of one of the best coffees in the country. For Part (b), stronger candidates performed very well, but vocabulary proved to be a problem and prevented many of them from providing correct answers. One frequent error was ‘The price of coffee rose’, and some answers were distorted as a result of the translation of étranger as ‘strange’ and moyen as ‘average’, for example, ‘the strange control of average of production…’ A good answer to this question was: The situation changed during the 1990s as a result of the fall of the price in coffee, along with foreign control over the means of production [which] speeded up the process of degradation of the environment. Part (c) proved to be very challenging. The problems that surfaced were as a result of lack of vocabulary, incorrect translation of words and poor expression in English. Phrases offered included ‘cultures of café’, ‘culture of subsistence’, ‘badly adapted to the sun of the mountains’.