Dear folks
There is a general point that unless spelling is so bad that the marker
cannot understand what a candidate is trying to say, any weakness in
spelling in exams should be ignored. This should be a conscious
thought in the mind of the marker; it is too easy to fall into the
routine of academic thinking that posits a direct correlation between
good presentation and understanding of the subject at hand. If the
broad irrlevance of exam spelling were established, the notion that
people without spell checkers or any other mechanical aid are at a
disadvantage falls to pieces: for most people, accurate spelling,
correct grammar, sentence cohesion and coherence and all the other
details of good presentation are automatic. They are the points that
more than a decade of compulsory education has been explicitly intended
to inculcate. If people have to stop and consider these matters in the
middle of an exam, they are generally spending their time on a matter of
secondary importance (unless, of course, they are studying English
language). What's needed is adherence to an agreed, institution-wide
policy on the part of markers and a system of oversight to make sure
that it is being followed. Until there is common agreement among
lecturing staff about what does and doesn't constitute the compromising
of academic standards, this is unlikely to take place.
Very few lecturers, especially teaching modular courses, are keen to
see students spending their study time preparing for exams (i.e.,
preparing how to pass them, practicing their exam technique, working on
model answers and the rest). Quite rightly, they think that this has
little to do with the matter in hand. It's a bit hard on students who
have never mastered this stuff or never been taught it in a way they
could understand, especially when exams can easily count for more than
half the marks on a course. On a distantly related matter, it would be
nice if all the people setting exams would stop producing apparently
open questions for which they imagine there is an ideal answer. At the
least, they might more honestly ask 'about the matter of 'x': what am I
thinking?' (In fairness, I see very few examples of this sort of thing
and they become increasingly rare, but dyslexic students in particular
are quick to assume the guilt for this kind of communication failure.)
Ah well, back to work.
Bernard
----------------------
Bernard Doherty
Student Adviser
ACCESS Centre
Anglia Polytechnic University
Tel: 01223 363271 x2534
Fax: 01223 417730
Minicom: 01223 576155
[log in to unmask]
|