Irish () is a subject of the
Junior Cycle examination in
Secondary school
A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
s in
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
. There are three levels: Higher (;
commonly known as ''Honours''), Ordinary (;
commonly known as ''Pass'') and Foundation ()
.
Syllabus
The Irish
syllabus
A syllabus (; : syllabuses or syllabi) or specification is a document that communicates information about an Academy, academic course or class and defines expectations and responsibilities. It is generally an overview or summary of the curriculum. ...
at the Junior Cycle level is aimed at developing the student's
aural
Hearing, or auditory perception, is the ability to perceive sounds through an organ, such as an ear, by detecting vibrations as periodic changes in the pressure of a surrounding medium. The academic field concerned with hearing is auditory s ...
,
written
Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...
,
speech
Speech is the use of the human voice as a medium for language. Spoken language combines vowel and consonant sounds to form units of meaning like words, which belong to a language's lexicon. There are many different intentional speech acts, suc ...
, and
literature
Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...
skills. The examination then tests the student's proficiency of these skills.
Prior to 2021, students could take the optional
Oral exam
The oral exam (also oral test or '; ' in German-speaking nations) is a practice in many schools and disciplines in which an examiner poses questions to the student in spoken form. The student has to answer the question in such a way as to demons ...
() that aided with pronunciation and speaking Irish for the
Leaving Certificate examination. The oral exam was worth 160 marks were graded out of 400 marks, compared to the students not taking the oral exam that were graded out of 240. The oral exam was worth 40% of the total exam. In 2021, the optional oral examination was replaced with mandatory classroom-based assessments as part of reforms to the junior certificate.
Students who were educated outside of Ireland until age 12, have learning difficulties, or are in
special education
Special education (also known as special-needs education, aided education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, and SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual di ...
can obtain an exemption from the subject if they attend an English-medium school.
Higher level
The Higher level examination has one written paper, which last 2 hours (120 minutes) in total and is worth 225 marks,
and an aural comprehension () examination, which lasts 30 minutes, with a maximum of 45 marks available.
There are certain rules which apply to all students. For example, a studied Novel can only be used in the novel section and students must write only one essay. Students are also required to answer all sections of the exam. Marks will be lost otherwise.
Questions
Written/Aural Paper 1 (2 hours) has two sections: Written Language (), and Comprehension ():
Written Paper 2 ( 1 hour 30 mins ) has four sections:
Prose
Prose is language that follows the natural flow or rhythm of speech, ordinary grammatical structures, or, in writing, typical conventions and formatting. Thus, prose ranges from informal speaking to formal academic writing. Prose differs most n ...
,
Poetry
Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...
and Letter writing:
Ordinary level
The Ordinary level examination has three parts, a written examination, which lasts 1 hour 30 minutes (90 minutes) and is worth 220 marks, and an aural comprehension examination, which lasts 30 minutes, with a maximum of 100 marks available and an oral examination lasting about 10 minutes
Questions
This paper has two sections, Section 1 (), which is the comprehension section, and Section 2, the written language section. Each carries 110 marks.
Section One: Comprehension
Section Two: Written Language
References
External links
Department of Education and Science - Irish Junior Cycle Syllabus(in Irish)
skoool.ie - Irish Junior Cycle Study Notes
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