MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

FIJI YEAR 8 EXAMINATION

2017

ENGLISH

COPYRIGHT: MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, FIJI, 2017.

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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

FIJI YEAR 8 EXAMINATION – 2017

EXAMINER’S REPORT

ENGLISH

1.0 GENERAL COMMENTS

A total of 16,678 candidates sat for this examination. This report is

based on the conclusions made by the 58 markers who were involved in
the exercise. According to the reports submitted by the markers and
Panel Leaders, it was evident that the overall performance of the
students was commendable. However, there were certain sections that
needed immediate attention and constant revision.

The common weaknesses or errors identified were in the following areas:

 Language Accuracy:
 Limited use of appropriate vocabulary;
 Grammatical errors of tense, spelling, word order, using wrong
words, preposition, pronouns, degree of comparison, non-
agreement of subject and verbs and punctuations.

 Style:
 Inappropriate sentence beginnings;
 Lacking linkage of ideas and thoughts within each paragraph and
between paragraphs;
 Limited use of figurative or idiomatic expressions;
 Limited linking devices.

2.0 SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENTS

 Constant and consistent checking of students’ work after thorough

explanation was necessary after which students were to be allowed to
tackle activities based on the areas that were of great concern.
 More practice will result in perfection.
 Teaching the basics that is, phonics, blends, syllables and spelling the
word correctly.
 Reading and understanding the instructions.
 Exposing students to a wide range of comprehension passages and
assisting them on how to tackle the questions.
 More oral work/dialogue/morning talk, radio talk back, etc.
 Thoroughly teaching the learning skills – Reading, Writing or Talking
and Listening.
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COMMENTS ON SPECIFIC QUESTIONS

3.0 SECTION A – PART I: COMPREHENSION

Passage 1
Q1. This was well attempted as 85% chose the correct answer [D]
Q2. Well answered as more than 85% chose the correct answer. [D]
Q3. This was fairly done. About 75% chose the correct answer, [B]
Q4. Well attempted. 80% chose the correct choice [D]
Q5. Very well attempted as 90% got the correct answer [C]

Passage 2
Q6. Very well answered. 90% of the students chose the correct answer
[A]
Q7. Well attempted. 80% chose the correct answer. [C]
Q8. This question was well answered as 85% chose the correct answer
[D]
Q9. Well attempted. 90% chose the correct answer [C]
Q10. Well answered. Most (80%) chose [C]

4.0 PART II: GRAMMAR

Q1. About 70% of the students chose the correct answer. [B]
Agreement is an important concept that needs to be taught
well.
Q2. About 70% of the students chose the correct answer [A]
The difference between its/it’s needs to be taught well.
Q3. Well attempted as 90% chose the correct answer [C].
Q4. Well answered as 80% of the students chose the correct answer.[D]
Q5. Fairly attempted. 65% of the students chose the correct answer [A]
The concept of question tags needs a revisit. ‘Isn’t it’ is only
used when the statement uses ‘is’ after which the question
tag will use ‘isn’t it’.
Q6. This question was fairly answered [A] .
Titles are singular when used in a sentence testing Agreement.
A singular subject takes a singular verb.
Q7. This was fairly done. 70% of the students chose the correct
answer. [B]
Q8. This question was fairly done. 65% chose the correct answer.
While reported speech has always been a challenge for
students, consistent revision and writing will assist the
students.
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Students are to be taught how to rewrite reported speech

whether the speaker tag (who said the sentence/asked the
question) begins or ends the sentence/question. Teachers must
spend ample time teaching this aspect well in class.
Q9. Quite well attempted. 80% chose the correct answer. [C]
Q10. Well attempted. 90% chose the correct answer. [D]

5.0 SECTION B – DICTIONARY, LIBRARY AND MASS MEDIA

5.1 Dictionary
This question was answered well as 75% of the students were able to get
the correct answer.
It would be wise to teach students to write the full word as an answer
where parts of speech is concerned while the question uses symbols
such as adv/adj. It would assist them in lower secondary exams
where the dictionary exercise develops further into other aspects such
as pronunciation, syllables and many more for their knowledge.

5.2 Library

(1) About 65% of the students answered this correctly. Students need
to know the parts of a book. The spelling of Spine needs to be
revisited. Students in Year 8 are expected to be familiar with and
know the spellings of various terms associated with Parts of a
Book.

In your classes, do not award marks or even a half mark

because one letter is incorrect in the word. Students are to be
encouraged to use the correct spelling. Please do note that a
spelling error arises when it is not corrected in the early stages
or that students have only heard of the words and haven’t in
actual fact attempted the activities. This also raises the
importance of having library classes in reality. Hands-on
experience is mandatory if students are to score well here.

(2) This question was also poorly done. 40% of the students wrote all
kinds of incorrect answers on why Reference Books cannot be
taken out of the library.
This raises the notion of whether students are in reality having
their important library classes and are shown the various parts
of the library.
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5.3 Mass Media

Both questions on Mass Media were well answered.

6.0 USAGE

This particular section was very poorly attempted. Students were not
able to write a sentence beginning with ‘If’- they rewrote the question and
added ‘if’ to it! The ones who managed to write it correctly were the high
achievers since they will have it coming naturally to them.

The importance of sentence rewriting needs no emphasis- it is

common knowledge for every teacher. Reported and Direct Speech
also need revision even though it has been tested in previous years as
well.
It is highly hoped that revision has and will also include looking at
past year papers which also have Detailed Solutions to explain both
the correct and incorrect options!
A lot of work needs to be done in rewriting.

7.0 LITERATURE

Teachers are to teach students to write sentence answers and

express their opinions where necessary in place of word answers.

7.1 Novel

This section was well attempted.

a. About 80% answered this question correctly on who ‘I’ was.

b. This question was well done. Most of the students were able to
identify why the place was called ‘Safety Bay’.
c. This question was quite well answered on why it was necessary to
blow the ship.
d. This question was well attempted on what was decided after the
explosion.

7.2 Short Stories

This section was well attempted by the students.

Most of the students did exceptionally well in answering all the questions
on Short Stories. However, questions that were worth 2 or 3 marks
needed factual answers with examples from the stories. Writing the
title correctly was highly important.
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Some students attempted only the first part of this question and totally
ignored the second part of the question. It is vital that both parts of the
question are answered since Literature can be a scoring section.

7.3 Poetry

This section was also done well by the students.

More than 75% of the students were able to correctly identify the title of
the poem: Students’ Plea
Please take note of the apostrophe after the letter ‘s’ in Students. That
cost half the mark for students.
The questions based on the list of poems was done well.

7.4 Drama

This was a fairly well answered question. Teachers need to expose

students to extract questions in the class so that answering it in a major
exam is a lot easier especially when drama is a well –loved genre in
class.
It is hoped that the drama is read and explained well in the class by
the teacher. While students could take turns reading the parts, the
teacher must take the onus of explaining it especially for the sake of
those who may find difficulties understanding it.

(a) Matching was well done.

(b) Explaining a quality of the character –question needs
improvement. Only the name of the character was mentioned by
most students. C. What students learnt after the reading was also
well done.

8.0 SECTION B – PART IV: LETTER WRITING

This section was done well. Approximately 80% of the students passed
this section of the paper. Students wrote their letter using the block
format and teachers are commended for teaching them well.

A few exceptions were seen where punctuation was still being used in
the four parts of the address and the use of ‘Re’ was mostly only
evident in high scorers’ scripts.
Planning can be in the form of the four parts in the question(i-iv) –
students need not waste their time writing half the letter.
When marking in the classroom, teachers must show the breakdown
of the various sections rather than place a blanket mark out of 15 in
the margin.
Mechanics/Style errors need to be circled and correlated against the
Marking Scheme so that students are aware where to improve.
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9.0 PART V: COMPOSITION

Most students did extremely well in this section while the remaining ones
could have done well had they been practising on it as a weekly activity
in class or as homework.

9.1 Plan

85% of the students were able to write their plan. Students followed their
plan when writing their composition thus making it focused and
organised. Teachers need to continue to guide students in this area so
that they can write even better plans in future.

9.2 Introduction

This part of the essay was fairly done. About 50% of the students did not
attempt this part of the essay but went straight in writing the content
of the essay especially those who were writing on the importance of
having balanced diet.

9.3 Content

Topic 1: “The importance of having a balanced diet”. Approximately

25% chose this topic and wrote on the importance of daily exercise. Yet
others only wrote what a balanced diet was and used personal examples.
Students are to be taught that this is a formal essay and certain rules
need to followed and that it has a certain structure. Above all,
relevant examples must be used to support ideas.

Topic 2: This question provided a narrative line but students missed out
on providing a suitable title. But those who chose this topic expressed
themselves well and creatively drew from past experience and books they
had read.

If students are exposed to using appropriate vocabulary and idiomatic

expressions, that will add colour and marks to their writing. Learning
how to construct figures of speech in their Literature Classes serve as
an advantage when it comes to creative writing. Therefore, teachers
must provide appropriate examples in class that students can draw
from and emulate. Students must be taught how to use proper linking
devices for cohesion within the sentences and a good flow of ideas and
events in their writing.

Topic 3: Approximately 80% chose this option on the picture

composition and attempted it very well- one could see the different
festival experiences coming to light in their writing. That also probably
made their writing easier.
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10.0 CONCLUSION

While analyzing the entire paper, evidence showed that there is always
room for improvement. Teachers need to take extra time and effort to
improve children’s learning through a variety of strategies and
techniques and cater for all the different learning abilities in their
classroom. The transition into lower secondary (Years 9 and 10) to do
even better as a consequence of a great Upper Primary foundation will be
easier for the students you have taught. What greater satisfaction does
one need than this? That onus is on you.

THE END