Aga Khan University Examination Board

Notes from E-Marking Centre on SSC Part II English Compulsory Examination May 2012
Introduction

This document has been produced for the teachers and candidates of SSC Part II (Class X)
course in English Compulsory. It contains comments on candidate responses to the 2012
Secondary School Certificate examination, indicating the quality of the responses and
highlighting their relative strengths and weaknesses.
This document should be read along with the AKU-EB English syllabus based on the National
Curriculum (2006).
General Comments
Teachers and candidates should be aware that examiners may ask questions that address the
Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) in a manner that requires candidates to respond by
integrating knowledge, understanding and application skills they have developed by studying the
course.
Candidates need to be aware that the marks allocated to the question are related to the answer
space (where this is provided on the examination paper), is a guide to the length of the required
response. A longer response will not in itself lead to higher marks. Writing far beyond the
indicated space may reduce the time available for answering other questions.
Candidates need to be familiar with the Command Words in the Student Learning Outcomes
which contain terms commonly used in examination questions. However, candidates should also
be aware that not all questions will start with or contain one of the key words. Questions such as
‘how?’, ‘why?’ or ‘to what extent?’ may be used.
The paper comprised of total three questions. Question no. 1 is the constructed response question
containing a reading passage that is followed by subsequent questions divided in sub-parts.
Question no.2 and Question no.3 are the extended response questions where candidates are
supposed to write letter (formal or informal), essay (types mentioned according to the paper
specifications) respectively.
SSC PART II
Question 1
It is a constructed response question. Candidates are required to understand the reading passage
and accordingly answer the questions asked on various aspects of the passage. The reading
passage was an article regarding the history and usage of spices. There were four questions asked
in parts a, b, c and d.
Part a
Better responses presented the following points about the history of spices; they mentioned four
of the mentioned points: people started using spices in the 10th century, how spices were
discovered, seeds, barks and leaves were used as spices, Arabs used to be the main spice traders
and Portuguese and Spanish were among first Europeans who began the use of spices.
Average responses were not able to mention the four required points. In most cases, the
candidates missed out the following points: ‘how spices were discovered’ and that ‘Portuguese
and Spanish were among first ones who used spices.’
Weaker responses indicated that candidates had not focused the question. The question asked
about the history of spices while the responses mentioned characteristics of spices.
Part b
Better candidates showed four uses of spices: as preservatives, medicinal uses, enhance the taste
of food, add colours and gives aroma.
In most of the average responses candidates mentioned ‘spices are used as preservatives’ and
‘spices prevent the growth of harmful bacteria’ as two separate points and hence lost 1 mark.
Weaker responses did not demonstrate the comprehension of the passage or the question. They
just copied some irrelevant material from the passage.
Part c
The question was related to vocabulary. Candidates had to provide five words from the passage
which conveyed the meaning of food being delicious. Better responses correctly identified five
of the following words from the passage: lip-smacking, mouth watering, tempting, finger-
licking, appetizing and tasty.
Average responses mentioned phrases like ‘food tastes good’, instead of one word, or irrelevant
words like ‘aroma’ which did not have the same meaning as food being delicious.
Weaker responses mentioned that by adding ‘taste, colour and aroma food becomes delicious.’ It
reflected lack of comprehension of the question.
Part d
Better responses reflected good skills of summarising. Candidates used precise and simple
language. The summary contained the following points: spices are used as the main ingredient of
delicious food; spices are made of seeds, barks and dried leaves, uses of spices and history of
spices.
Average responses reflected verbosity; candidates neglected the word limit and the length of the
summary extended to around 300 words in most cases. However, the average responses also
indicated good understanding of the passage. All main points (as mentioned above) were a part
of the summary.
Weaker responses included details like ‘mutton haleem tastes delicious because of spices’ etc.
Such responses focused on paragraph one more than other parts of the text. Hence, they were
unable to produce a complete summary of the passage.
Question 2

In this question, candidates were encouraged to use their thinking and language skills and
assuming a situation, they were supposed to write formal letters showing their insight and
understanding of the stimuli.
Part a
In better responses for Question 2 a, the candidates:
• showed an awareness about the importance of discipline in organized sports;
• detailed with reference to different situations the impact of good discipline and thereby
established its importance;
• gave at least two specific suggestions for cultivating sports discipline;
• used block style with open punctuation;
• displayed coherence within paragraphs;
• used modal verbs for giving suggestions;
• used appropriate tenses and vocabulary.
• used appropriate punctuation marks.

In average responses for Question 2a, the candidates:

• mentioned the importance of good discipline in sports;
• gave at least two suggestions, however, the suggestions were written either as bullet
points or as incomplete phrases;
• did not use modal verbs (should, may, must) for giving suggestions;
• fulfilled the basic requirements of the content but lacked coherence;
• used appropriate structure and format of formal letter;
• used appropriate tenses but with some occasional errors.
• used appropriate punctuation marks.

In weaker responses for Question 2a, the candidates:

• mentioned details or an event which were remotely connected to the lack of discipline,
however, they failed to connect the details or event with the essay prompt;
• did not display the correct use of tenses or subject-verb agreement;
• displayed many errors of spelling.

Part b:
The prompt required the candidates to name a book that they think is required reading for
everyone. They were asked to write a letter to school authorities to make that book a part of the
curriculum. In better responses for Question 2b, the candidates:

• mentioned a book; either fiction or non-fiction, and enlisted reasons to make that book a
part of the curriculum;
• used appropriate format of a letter;
• mentioned personal experience of reading that book elaborating its impact;
• organized the information in paragraphs;
• used appropriate tenses and vocabulary;
 • used appropriate punctuation marks.

In average responses for Question 2b, the candidates:

• mentioned a book and elaborated its details, however, they failed to focus on the
impact of the book or any reasons to make it a part of the curriculum;
• used appropriate structure and format of a letter;
• used appropriate tenses and vocabulary.
• used appropriate punctuation marks.

In weaker responses for Question 2 b, the candidates:

• mentioned guide books and key books to be made a part of the curriculum, hence, they
lost marks;
• were not able to detail the impact of the book or reasons of why such books should be a
part of the curriculum;
• did not use appropriate tenses or language structures.
• had many errors of spelling.

Question 3

The candidates were directed to write an essay on any of the three choices given.
The requirement of the prompt was to write an essay about an important family tradition, which
is special to the candidate and to discuss the preparations and how that event is celebrated.
Part a
The question required the candidates to write about a family tradition in detail.

In better responses for Question 3a the candidates:

• mentioned a family tradition and described its preparations;

• elaborated on how they celebrate and why that event is special;
• used appropriate organization in the essay, information was divided into paragraphs;
• used clear and lucid language which was relevant to the prompt;
• used appropriate tenses and subject-verb agreement;
• used punctuation marks appropriately.

In average responses for Question 3 a, the candidates:

• mentioned a family tradition and described its preparations;

• lacked organizational skills: information was randomly presented;
• used appropriate sentence structure with some errors.
• used punctuation marks appropriately.
In weaker responses for Question 3 a, the candidates:

• mentioned a family tradition and described the importance of that tradition;

• did not mention about the preparations or how the tradition is celebrated;
• displayed serious and persistent errors of grammar (tenses, subject-verb agreement etc);
• lacked focus, information was incomplete and did not meet the requirement of the
prompt.

Part b

The prompt presented a statement about the physical and emotional changes that a person goes
through in his / her teenage years. The candidates were asked to ‘discuss’ the given statement by
giving three examples.

In better responses for question 3 b, the candidates:

• presented three convincing and related examples about the statement;

• presented examples and arguments from real-life situations (personal or observations)
• used cohesive markers for achieving coherence;
• organized the information in paragraphs with a clear introduction, body and conclusion;
• used appropriate tenses, subject-verb agreement;
• used punctuations where required;
• used attractive adjectives to describe teenage life.

In average responses for question 3 b, the candidates:

• presented three examples related to teenage life which were loosely connected to the
statement;
• were not able to distinguish between ‘bad habits’ like wrong and excessive use of mobile
phones from the ‘physical and emotional changes’ which appear challenging in the life of
the teenagers;
• used effective adjectives to describe teenage life;
• presented appropriate structure of an essay;
• used appropriate tenses and language structures.

In weaker responses for question 3c, the candidates:

• demonstrated a complete lack of focus, most of the scripts were describing the teenage
life without focusing on the ‘physical and emotional changes’ as given in the prompt;
• demonstrated lack of knowledge of sentence structures: tenses and subject-verb
agreement;
• wrote many run on sentences without coherence.
Part c

In this question candidates were required to describe a situation where they were treated
unfairly. They had to write the details of the event and what they learned from that incident.

In better responses for question 3 c, the candidates:

• mentioned an event which was relevant to the prompt;

• described the details of the event (what happened and who was involved);
• mentioned clearly what they learned from the event;
• used appropriate language structures: tenses and subject-verb agreement;
• used relevant vocabulary: adjectives or adverbs describing the situation;
• organized the information in paragraphs with a clear introduction, body and conclusion;

In average responses for question 3 c, the candidates:

• mentioned about an event which was relevant to the prompt;

• described the situation but did not mention what they learned from the event;
• used appropriate tenses and subject-verb agreement;
• described the feelings at experiencing the turbulent situation in detail;
• organized the information in paragraphs: however, the introduction was too long and out
of proportion.

In weaker responses for question 3 c, the candidates:

• mentioned about an event which was relevant to the prompt;

• did not describe the details of the event, instead focused more on feelings and causes;
• were unaware of the appropriate language structures;
• had numerous spelling mistakes.