Nonverbal language and respecting speaking time also count in oral education tests.
40% of students have a notable level, but there are worse results in Catalan than in Spanish.
This Tuesday, the results of the Catalan oral tests administered by the Education Ministry to all schools and secondary schools in the country were made public. These findings show that, according to the criteria of the Education Evaluation and Prospective Agency, 40% of students have a notable level. The data also demonstrate how There are three times as many failures in Catalan as in Spanish. (despite not reaching 5%) and how the proportion of excellent students among 6th grade primary and 4th year secondary school students is 10 points higher in Spanish tests than in Catalan tests.
Beyond these specific data, in a statement, Educació defended that, for example, in 6th grade primary, in 5 of the 8 elements assessed, 35% of students are at the level of excellence. Now, what do these eight elements consist of?
In these tests, launched by the Esquerra Republicana (ERC) government, both in primary and secondary school, the elements assessed are the same, but the level is adapted. In this way, vocabulary, morphology, syntax, phonetics, and fluency are assessed, but also more abstract aspects such as nonverbal language, adequacy, cohesion, and interaction. In this last section, the first criterion assessed is respecting speaking turn, both with eleven-year-old students and fifteen-year-old adolescents. In fact, to achieve a satisfactory level—just above failing—of interaction, all that is required is for a student to respect speaking turn, participate when required, despite having a secondary role in the conversation during the exercise, and listen to their partner, even if they do not take advantage of their interventions.
Regarding nonverbal language, which is also assessed in the oral tests, the teacher is asked to take into account criteria such as posture and whether gestures are relaxed, whether the student shows tension and discomfort, or whether they have difficulty maintaining eye contact with the interlocutor. On the other hand, in the morpho-syntax section, it is surprising how a satisfactory level can be achieved despite presenting "strong interference from another language" with expressions such as we had to go either my house. And in the fluency variable, you can reach a notable despite making "sporadic use" of crutch words like Okay, fine either in plan.
What are the exercises like?
In the fourth year of compulsory secondary education, the Catalan oral test for 15-year-old students consists of an individual task and a paired task. The teacher's guidelines for taking the test ask students to remind them that "they will be taking an oral expression test in Catalan, so it is very important that they use Catalan at all times and express themselves as accurately as possible."
The first activity involves having students answer questions about travel. They are asked if they like to travel and why; if they have taken any trips they particularly remember and if they can explain them; and what their ideal trip is, and to define where they would like to go, with whom, how they would travel, where they would stay, and why they are drawn to the destination.
Afterwards, the students must talk to each other in pairs, pretending to be class representatives and organizing the end-of-year trip. To complete this exercise, students should sit opposite each other, and the teacher should remind them again to speak in Catalan. The two students should jointly decide on the destination and agree on all aspects of the trip. To do this, the teacher gives them a script with the conversation items: Where do you want to travel to? What means of transportation will you use? When will you go? How many days will you go? Where will you stay (camping house, apartment, hotel, etc.)? What activities will you do? Will you do anything to raise money for the trip? Which one?
Finally, the teacher asks them two more questions to close the conversation, asking them to reflect on whether they think their classmates would like the trip they have planned and whether they think it would be possible to do it, and why.
