Scholarship First Language Speakers – Decision for 2008 (SC2007/005)
As advised by the Minister of Education in a media release on 19 June, all students are eligible to receive a monetary award for Scholarship languages (Chinese, French, German, Japanese & Spanish), including those who enter the Scholarship examination in their first or native language. This decision will apply from 2008.
Some of you will be aware that NZALT has met with Richard Steel from NZQA. NZQA were not consulted about the final decision that was announced by the government and has taken steps to minimize the effect on our ‘regular’ students…
Adele Scott has arranged to discuss this at meeting with Minister Steve Maharey (most likely this weekend) so she would appreciate INPUT into key points…
The summary of all entries must be sent BY the end of FRIDAY 24th AUGUST using the following format:
number of people who have made submissions
summary of key points (and numbers who made them)
perceived impact of the decision
other comments made – any positive ones?
Please make a comment so I can send a submission that is representative from the Spanish teachers.
Cheers
Maria Lamberto
5 respuestas hasta el momento ↓
Marilyn Wilkie // 23 Agosto, 2007 a 7:20 pm |
While I have no objection to native language speakers being involved in Scholarship exams, I do think :
a) there needs to be a separate section for 1st language speakers or those with considerable amounts of immersion or exposure (eg who have spent a year on exchanges), and
b) (urgent) that the whole scholarship exam needs to be reworked so that there is a significant element of translation between the languages, that is, both Spanish to English and English to Spanish. This would return the exam to being a test of intellect and scholarship and hard work over five years, and understanding across languages, rather than a simple test of fluency.
Has anyone done any research on how many of the recent scholarship winners have in fact been native speakers? Our experience in this town/area is that all winners (since NCEA) have been 1st or almost 1st lang speakers. We have had at least three candidates that we entered that would have passed the old EST exam easily, (one in Spanish, three in French – all dux material kids) but failed to pass NCEA Scholarship. It was a travesty.
The impact on us has simply been that we no longer encourage students to enter Scholarship, unless they have complete immersion experiences.
The whole exam format requires urgent revision, and we need to return to rewarding students for their intellect instead of for their advantages. The EST exam was much more elegantly crafted.
A positive comment is that at least the topics and level of language in the 2006 scholarship exam were pitched right. But I still think the two basic tasks are not enough of an exam – you need to be testing a whole range of skills.
The exam is just not worth the trouble, and does not provide an interesting goal or challenge for our intellectually able students.
Jan Hepworth // 24 Agosto, 2007 a 1:01 am |
My instant reaction is that there is no way that non native speakers stand a chance against those who have Spanish as their first language. How could those who only learn the language for five years reach the same level as those who have spoken it for their entire lives? The skills are entirely different. Look at the number of students who are good candidates in a foreign language class but are not necessarily stand out in the English classroom. However, as I said, this is my initial reaction and I would be interested to read others.
In response to the above comment. I have had two Scholarship awards in the past neither of whom had ever been to a Spanish speaking country nor did their parents speak Spanish.
S. O'Leary // 24 Agosto, 2007 a 3:20 am |
While preparing NCEA exams through the workshops set up by the Ministry before the introduction of the standards based system, native speakers were excluded from exemplars by a wholehearted majority because of their clear advantage of fluency.
It seems inappropriate to have our highest standard of language proficiency open to native speakers, operating at the same level as our students, many of whom have not had five years of Spanish, but three or less.
Our students are encouraged to attempt three of these demanding examinations in an attempt to mitigate their university costs to some degree. By permiting native speakers to attempt these exams we basically award them one free exam of the three they need to qualify for financial assistance, while penalizing New Zealand students.
My question is, why would we want to assess the language proficiency of native speakers? At present, the scholarship examination is just that and it seems pointless to test native speakers of a language for their fluency and language skills.
If there are substantial changes to the exam and translation is required into and from a native language then would be the time to consider the inclusion of this group of students for consideration of their skills.
Bastian Tsui // 24 Agosto, 2007 a 11:30 pm |
I believe that there should be a scholarship exam written for Native Speakers, just like what CIE have in their A-level examinations.
I agree with the comments above that there will be no way for non-native speakers to get the scholarship if Native speakers are allowed to sit the exams. In addition, I object to the idea of students answering in English as again it will disadvantage those students who are not native speakers of BOTH ENGLISH AND SPANISH.
Cristina Robinson // 5 Septiembre, 2007 a 6:55 am |
La historia de la creación de Scholarship se remonta ya a algunos años atrás cuando la creación de NCEA despertó el clamor del profesorado nacional. Este aducía que este nuevo sistema de calificaciones beneficiaría a algunos pero que perjudicaría enormemente a los estudiantes más capaces. Su justificación estaba basada en que el nuevo sistema no ofrecía el suficiente desafío para estudiar y tratar de superarse.
Fue entonces que se buscó un modo para que justamente el estudio y la capacidad de estos alumnos fuera premiada. Es así como nace el concepto de instaurar Scholarship.
Pasaron varios años más en que los especialistas de todas las disciplinas trabajaron para crear un sistema de examen que reflejara las exigencias requeridas. Estos exámenes tenían como objetivos premiar a estudiantes excepcionales, tal como lo dice la definición que encontramos en el sitio de NZQA, *
Tal como lo explicitan las autoridades **, desde 1998 hasta el 2005 se hicieron consultas y modificaciones para perfeccionarlos. En cuanto a los exámenes relacionados con las lenguas modernas (y en general a todas las otras asignaturas) el nivel de conocimiento del alumnado al que se hacia referencia era y es el de Nivel 3 o Año 13. Con esto se especificaba, que se premiaba no a alumnos que hubieran estudiado más años sino a aquellos que hubieran estudiado más y mejor. Por eso mismo en el caso de las lenguas el marco de referencia siempre fueron las estructuras gramaticales y de vocabulario idénticas a las del último año de estudio.
Toda esta historia e información sirven para demostrar la falacia de este nuevo cambio, en el cual se mide a hablantes nativos con la misma vara que a los no nativos. Los primeros se enfrentarán con un examen diseñado explícitamente para los segundos, con un lenguaje limitado, y con un glosario explicativo en el caso de que se incluyan palabras que no estén contenidas dentro del vocabulario prescrito. Si esto no es una anomalía no sabría como explicarla y me recuerda un chiste en el que en una prueba de velocidad para subir a un árbol se examinan al mismo tiempo a un mono, un elefante y a una culebra.
Otra irracionalidad de esta nueva propuesta es que los ‘estudiantes nativos’ tienen que ser identificados antes del examen. ¿Para qué si luego esta identificación no tendrá ningún peso?
Que yo sepa la identificación de los estudiantes considerados nativos no ha cambiado y continúa siendo ‘5 años de estudios escolares en el país donde la lengua sea la oficial’. Es claro así que aquellos que hayan llegado a NZ hace 2-4 años -y obtenido la ciudadanía- después de haber hecho más de 10 de estudios en la lengua nativa podrán presentarse a este examen.
Algunos podrán decir, que se nivela la balanza al incluir instrucciones y pedir contestaciones en inglés. A lo cual se puede contestar que por un lado los nativos han estado recibiendo instrucciones y dando respuestas en inglés en los últimos 2-4 años de colegio y que por lo tanto no debería constituir una gran dificultad, y por otro que se juzgará la versatilidad idiomática inglesa en la que los candidatos puedan transmitir sus ideas y no su conocimiento escrito de la lengua. Una vez más se presenta la incongruencia de cuál conocimiento se está evaluando de este modo.
Mucho más se podría agregar, pero creo que en resumidas cuentas, este cambio representará la muerte de Scholarship y de la oportunidad que brindó a muchos estudiantes capaces. Una vez más, los idiomas estarán relegados a una segunda categoría y cuando llegue el momento de elegir las asignaturas en los últimos años de estudio, la falta de recompensa futura por el esfuerzo será lo que inclinara la balanza hacia el abandono del estudio de un idioma extranjero.
Creo que o se mantiene el examen como hasta ahora o se debe crear otro más justo adaptado a las nuevas necesidades.
Es descorazonador ver como ya algunos profesores contemplan la idea de disuadir a sus alumnos a presentarse a este examen en el futuro.
Quizás debamos defender el derecho de nuestros alumnos en forma mas contundente que con simples palabras.
*Students in a secondary school have the opportunity to gain a Scholarship.
Scholarship is a monetary award to recognise top students. It does not attract credits nor contribute towards a qualification but the fact that a student has gained a Scholarship appears on the Record of Learning.
The Scholarship exams enable students to be assessed against challenging standards, and are demanding for the most able students in each subject. Scholarship students are expected to demonstrate high-level critical thinking, abstraction and generalization, and to integrate, synthesise and apply knowledge, skills, understanding and ideas to complex situations.
** In the 1998 Cabinet Paper “Qualifications for Young People Aged 16 to 19 Years” a new scholarship examination was signalled:
An NCEA Level 4 “Scholarship” will be introduced for the highest achieving students. The nature of assessment for this will require further consideration and consultation with the secondary schools sector and other interest groups. The award could comprise a separate set of examinations or be provided as an elective/extension option to the Level 3 National Certificate examinations.
Discussions about the nature of New Zealand Scholarship were held over the next two years at the Secondary Leaders Forum. There was consultation with the wider secondary education sector. The recommendations from the Leaders Forum were that:
* the standards for scholarship be externally assessed
* assessment be used to award scholarships and top scholars.
A scholarship reference group was established to guide the work of subject expert panels and give advice on other details of the policy.
The Reference Group established the following guidelines:
* a student who achieves scholarship will have demonstrated, within complex situations, higher level critical thinking, abstraction and generalisation and the ability to integrate, synthesise and apply knowledge, skills, understanding and ideas; and
* depending on the area of study, a student will display a range of:
o comprehensive content knowledge (breadth and depth)
o effective communication
o original or sophisticated solutions, performances or approaches
o critical evaluation
o flexible thinking in unfamiliar/unexpected contexts.
After further extensive consultation and planning, Scholarship Examinations were held in 2004 in accordance with these guidelines.
The Scholarship Reference Group, which was convened in response to the greater than expected variation between scholarship results in the 2004 examinations, made a number of recommendations which were accepted by the Government in April 2005. The Ministry of Education and the Qualifications Authority have implemented changes to the Scholarship system for 2005 based on these further recommendations.
In the 1998 Cabinet Paper “Qualifications for Young People Aged 16 to 19 Years” a new scholarship examination was signalled:
An NCEA Level 4 “Scholarship” will be introduced for the highest achieving students. The nature of assessment for this will require further consideration and consultation with the secondary schools sector and other interest groups. The award could comprise a separate set of examinations or be provided as an elective/extension option to the Level 3 National Certificate examinations.
Discussions about the nature of New Zealand Scholarship were held over the next two years at the Secondary Leaders Forum. There was consultation with the wider secondary education sector. The recommendations from the Leaders Forum were that:
* the standards for scholarship be externally assessed
* assessment be used to award scholarships and top scholars.
A scholarship reference group was established to guide the work of subject expert panels and give advice on other details of the policy.
The Reference Group established the following guidelines:
* a student who achieves scholarship will have demonstrated, within complex situations, higher level critical thinking, abstraction and generalisation and the ability to integrate, synthesise and apply knowledge, skills, understanding and ideas; and
* depending on the area of study, a student will display a range of:
o comprehensive content knowledge (breadth and depth)
o effective communication
o original or sophisticated solutions, performances or approaches
o critical evaluation
o flexible thinking in unfamiliar/unexpected contexts.
After further extensive consultation and planning, Scholarship Examinations were held in 2004 in accordance with these guidelines.
The Scholarship Reference Group, which was convened in response to the greater than expected variation between scholarship results in the 2004 examinations, made a number of recommendations which were accepted by the Government in April 2005. The Ministry of Education and the Qualifications Authority have implemented changes to the Scholarship system for 2005 based on these further recommendations.