INSTRUCTIONS AND INFORMATION

This memorandum must be used in conjunction with the attached English FAL assessment rubrics for SECTIONS A, B and C.

NOTE:

All pieces of writing should be read at least TWICE during assessment, once for content and once for language respectively. Errors must be indicated in your second reading.

SECTION A: ESSAY

QUESTION 1

INSTRUCTIONS TO MARKERS:

• Candidates are required to write on ONE topic only.
• The ideas listed below the topics are only some ways in which the topics can be interpreted.
• Full credit must be given for the candidates’ own interpretation.
• Marking must be objective. Give credit for relevant ideas.
• Use the 50-mark grid to mark the essays. The texts produced by candidates must be assessed according to the following criteria:
  • Content and planning (30 marks)
  • Language, style and editing (15 marks)
  • Structure (5 marks)

NOTE:

• Adhere to the length of 250–300 words as prescribed in the CAPS document. However, should the maximum word count be reached mid- sentence, read to the end of that sentence.
• No additional penalties may be imposed as the rubric itself imposes penalties.

1.1

I will remember him/her forever

Narrative/Descriptive/Reflective

• If narrative, the essay must have a strong storyline and an interesting ending.
• If descriptive, the writer should create a picture in words using as many senses as possible to make the description clear.
• If reflective, the essay should convey emotional reactions and feelings the candidate experiences/experienced.

NOTE:A candidate may write an essay which contains elements of more than one type of essay/any other essay type.

[50]

1.7

Interpretation of pictures

The candidate:

• must give the essay a suitable title
• may interpret the pictures in any way, relevant to the picture.
• may choose to write any type of essay, relevant to the picture.
• must link the interpretation to the picture.
• may write in any appropriate tense.

1.7.1

Picture: Guitar in a field
Narrative/Descriptive/Reflective/Argumentative/Discursive

• Literal interpretations: music, learning to play a guitar, nature and music, becoming a musician/composer etc.
• Figurative interpretations: a carefree life, living in nature, the music industry, a musician’s life, reflecting on music and nature etc.

[50] 

1.7.2

Picture: A couple in wedding outfits
Narrative/Descriptive/Reflective/Argumentative/Discursive

• Literal interpretation: girls and their wedding dreams, the challenges of marriage etc.
• Figurative interpretation: symbolic meaning of weddings, is marriage still valid today etc.

[50]

TOTAL SECTION A:

50

SECTION B: LONGER TRANSACTIONAL TEXT

QUESTION 2

INSTRUCTIONS TO MARKERS:

• Candidates are required to answer ONE question.
• Marking must be objective. Give credit for relevant ideas.
• Use the 30-mark assessment rubric to mark the responses in this section. The texts produced by candidates must be assessed according to the following criteria as set out in the assessment rubric:
  • Content, planning and format (18 marks)
  • Language, style and editing (12 marks)

NOTE:

• Adhere to the length of 120–150 words as prescribed in the CAPS document. However, should the maximum word count be reached mid-sentence, read to the end of that sentence.
• No additional penalties may be imposed as the rubric itself imposes penalties.

2.1

FORMAL LETTER

A letter of complaint

• Allow for acceptable variations of the format.
• The letter should be addressed to the manager of a popular shop.
• The tone and register of the letter should be formal.
• The letter should have an introduction, a body and a conclusion.
• The following aspects of format must be included:
  • Address of sender
  • Date
  • Recipient: The Manager
  • Address of recipient
  • Greeting/Salutation
  • Subject line
  • Suitable ending
  • Signature
  • Name of sender
• The letter must include details about complaint regarding defective/faulty pair of shoes and poor service at the shop.

[30]

 2.2

 INTERVIEW

A conversation between candidate and fashion designer (former learner)

• The tone must be formal
  • A brief scenario (context) must be sketched before the speakers start speaking.
  • The names of speakers must appear on the left-hand side of the page.
  • A colon must appear after the name of each speaker.
  • A new line must be used to indicate each speaker.
  • Stage directions (tone of voice, actions etc.) must be written in brackets, if applicable.
• The following ideas may be explored, among others:
  • How the former learner became a fashion designer.
  • Advice to learners to reach their dreams

[30]

2.3

OBITUARY

A disabled friend has passed away

• The tone must be formal.
• The following aspects of format must be included:
  • Full name of the deceased
  • Date of birth
  • Date of death
  • Birthplace
  • Where the person was living at the time of death
  • Key survivors
  • Date, time and place of funeral.
• The following may be included:
  • Cause of death
  • Biographical information
• Content should include the following, among others:
  • A tribute must be paid to the deceased.
  • State what the disabled friend meant to you and others.

[30]

2.4

MAGAZINE ARTICLE

Gender-based violence

• The article must have a suitable heading.
• Paragraphs must not be too long.
• The style should be personal, addressing the reader.
• The language must be formal
• The article should be stimulating to the reader.
• The article must express dissatisfaction with gender-based violence, give advice to potential readers/victims on how to break the silence and what to do in situations of gender-based violence.

[30]

TOTAL SECTION B:

30

SECTION C: SHORTER TRANSACTIONAL TEXT

QUESTION 3

INSTRUCTIONS TO MARKERS:

• Candidates are required to answer ONE question.
• Marking must be objective. Give credit for relevant ideas.
• Use the 20-mark assessment rubric to mark the responses in this section. The texts produced by candidates must be assessed according to the following criteria as set out in the assessment rubric:
  • Content, planning and format (12 marks)
  • Language, style and editing (8 marks)

NOTE:

• Adhere to the length of 80–100 words as prescribed in the CAPS document. However, should the maximum word count be reached mid-sentence, read to the end of that sentence.
• No additional penalties may be imposed as the rubric itself imposes penalties.

3.1

DIARY ENTRIES

The candidate’s feelings BEFORE and AFTER travelling by air.

• There must be two diary entries with two different times.
• The entries must express the candidate’s feelings before and after the flight.
• The diary entries must be written in the first person.
• The language should be simple and informal.
• The tone must reflect suitable emotions.

The language may be formal or informal, but slang or colloquialism is not allowed.

3.2

ADVERTISEMENT

Organisation of a market day

• The advertisement must:
  • Have a catchy headline to attract the attention of the reader.
  • Inspire action.
  • Create interest in and the desire for the advertised market day
  • Have the following details: a description of the market day,
  • Products and services that will be available and the contact details of the organiser.
• The target market should be clear.

NOTE: No marks are awarded for drawings or illustrations.

[20]

3.3

DIRECTIONS

Directions from the entry point to the candidates’ school

• The directions may either be in point or paragraph form.
• Complete sentences are not necessary.
• Directions must be in the correct chronological order.
• Directions must be given from the point of entry to the candidates’ town to his/her school
• Landmarks, approximate distances and specific directions must be included.

NOTE: No marks are awarded for drawings or illustrations.

[20] 

TOTAL SECTION C:

20

GRAND TOTAL:

100

Criteria

Exceptional

Skilful

Moderate

Elementary

Inadequate

CONTENT AND PLANNING

(Response and ideas) Organisation of ideas for planning

Awareness of purpose, audience and context 30 MARKS

Upper level

28–30

22–24

16–18

10–12

4–6

• Outstanding/Striking response beyond normal expectations.
• Intelligent, thought-provoking and mature ideas
• Exceptionally well organised and coherent (connected) including introduction, body and conclusion/ending.

• Very well-crafted response.
• Fully relevant and interesting.
• Ideas with evidence of maturity
• Very well organised and coherent (connected) including introduction, body and conclusion/ending.

• Satisfactory response
• Ideas are reasonably coherent and convincing.
• Reasonably organised and coherent including introduction, body and conclusion/ending

• Inconsistently coherent response
• Unclear ideas and unoriginal
• Little evidence of organisation and coherence.

• Totally irrelevant response.
• Confused and unfocused ideas.
• Vague and repetitive.
• Unorganised and incoherent.

Lower level

25–27

19–21

13–15

7–9

0–3

• Excellent response but lacks the exceptionally striking qualities of the outstanding essay
• Mature and intelligent ideas
• Skilfully organised and coherent (connected) including introduction, body and conclusion/ending.

• Well-crafted response.
• Relevant and interesting ideas.
• Well organised and coherent (connected) including introduction, body and conclusion.

• Satisfactory response but some lapses in clarity.
• Ideas are fairly coherent and convincing.
• Some degree of organisation and coherence including introduction, body and conclusion.

• Largely irrelevant response.
• Ideas tend to be disconnected and confusing.
• Hardly any evidence of organisation and coherence.

• No attempt to respond to the topic
• Completely irrelevant and inappropriate
• Unfocused and muddled

LANGUAGE, STYLE AND EDITING

Tone, register, style, vocabulary appropriate to purpose/effect and context Word choice

Language use and conventions, punctuation, grammar, spelling

15 MARKS

Upper level

14–15

11–12

8–9

5–6

0–3

• Tone, register, style, vocabulary highly appropriate to purpose, audience and context
• Language confident, exceptionally impressive
• compelling and rhetorically effective in tone.
• Virtually error-free in grammar and spelling.
• Highly skilfully crafted.

• Tone, register, style and vocabulary very appropriate to purpose, audience and context.
• Language is effective and a consistently appropriate tone is used.
• Largely error-free in grammar and spelling.
• Very well crafted.

• Tone, register, style and vocabulary appropriate to purpose, audience and context.
• Appropriate use of language to convey meaning.
• Tone is appropriate.
• Rhetorical devices used to enhance content.

• Tone, register, style and vocabulary not appropriate to purpose, audience and context.
• Very basic use of language.
• Tone and diction are inappropriate.
• Very limited vocabulary.

• Language incomprehensible
• Tone, register, style and vocabulary less appropriate to purpose, audience and context
• Vocabulary limitations so extreme as to make comprehension impossible

Lower level

13

10

7

4

• Language excellent and rhetorically effective in tone.
• Virtually error-free in grammar and spelling.
• Skilfully crafted.

• Language engaging and generally effective
• Appropriate and effective tone.
• Few errors in grammar and spelling.
• Well-crafted

• Adequate use of language with some inconsistencies.
• Tone generally appropriate and limited use of rhetorical devices.

• Inadequate use of language.
• Little or no variety in sentence.
• Exceptionally limited vocabulary.

STRUCTURE

Features of text

Paragraph development and sentence construction

5 MARKS

5

4

3

2

0–1

• Excellent development of topic
• Exceptional detail
• Sentences, paragraphs exceptionally well- constructed

• Logical development of details
• Coherent
• Sentences, paragraphs logical, varied

• Relevant details developed
• Sentences, paragraphs well- constructed
• Essay still makes some sense

• Some valid points
• Sentences and paragraphs faulty
• Essay still makes sense despite flaws.

• Necessary points lacking
• Sentences and paragraphs faulty

MARKS RANGE

40–50

30–39

20–29

10–19

0–9

Criteria

Exceptional

Skilful

Moderate

Elementary

Inadequate

CONTENT PLANNING AND FORMAT

(Response and ideas ) Organisation of ideas for planning

Purpose, audience and features/conventions and context

18 MARKS

15–18

11–14

8–10

5–7

0-–4

• Outstanding response beyond normal expectations
• Intelligent and mature ideas
• Extensive knowledge of features of the type of text
• Writing maintains focus
• Coherence in content and ideas.
• Highly elaborated and all details support the topic
• Appropriate and accurate format

• Very good response demonstrating good knowledge of features of the type of text.
• Maintains focus – no digressions.
• Coherent in content and ideas, very well elaborated and details support topic.
• Appropriate format with minor inaccuracies.

• Adequate response demonstrating knowledge of features of the type of text.
• Not completely focused
• some digressions.
• Reasonably coherent in content and ideas
• Some details support the topic
• Generally appropriate format but with some inaccuracies.

• Basic response demonstrating some knowledge of features of the type of text.
• Some focus but writing digresses.
• Not always coherent in content and ideas.
• Few details support the topic.
• Has vaguely applied necessary rules of format
• Some critical oversights.

• Response reveals no knowledge of features of the type of text
• Meaning is obscure with major digressions.
• Not coherent in content and ideas.
• Very few details support the topic.
• Has not applied necessary rules of format.

LANGUAGE, STYLE AND EDITING

Tone, register, style, purpose/effect, audience and context Language use and conventions.

Word choice Punctuation, spelling

10–12

8–9

6–7

4–5

0–3

• Tone, register, style, vocabulary highly appropriate to purpose, audience and context.
• Grammatically accurate and well- constructed
• Virtually error-free.

• Tone, register, style and vocabulary very appropriate to purpose, audience and context Generally grammatically accurate and well- constructed
• Very good vocabulary Mostly free of errors

• Tone, register, style and vocabulary appropriate to purpose, audience and context.
• Some grammatical errors
• Adequate vocabulary
• Errors do not impede meaning

• Tone, register, style and vocabulary less appropriate to purpose, audience and context
• Inaccurate grammar with numerous errors
• Limited vocabulary
• Meaning is obscured.

• Tone, register, style and vocabulary do not correspond to purpose, audience and context.
• Error-ridden and confused
• Vocabulary not suitable for purpose
• Meaning seriously impaired

12 MARKS

MARKS RANGE

25–30

19–23

14–17

9–12

0–7

Criteria

Exceptional

Skilful

Moderate

Elementary

Inadequate

10–12

8–9

6–7

4–5

0–3

CONTENT PLANNING AND FORMAT

(Response and ideas) Organisation of ideas for planning

Purpose, audience and features/conventions and context

12 MARKS

• Outstanding response beyond normal expectations
• Intelligent and mature ideas
• Extensive knowledge of features of the type of text
• Writing maintains focus
• Coherence in content and ideas.
• Highly elaborated and all details support the topic
• Appropriate and accurate format

• Very good response demonstrating good knowledge of features of the type of text.
• Maintains focus – no digressions.
• Coherent in content and ideas, very well elaborated and details support topic.
• Appropriate format with minor inaccuracies.

• Adequate response demonstrating knowledge of features of the type of text.
• Not completely focused
• some digressions.
• Reasonably coherent in content and ideas
• Some details support the topic
• Generally appropriate format but with some inaccuracies.

• Basic response demonstrating some knowledge of features of the type of text.
• Some focus but writing digresses.
• Not always coherent in content and ideas.
• Few details support the topic.
• Has vaguely applied necessary rules of format
• Some critical oversights.

• Response reveals no knowledge of features of the type of text
• Meaning is obscure with major digressions.
• Not coherent in content and ideas. Very few details support the topic.
• Has not applied necessary rules of format.

LANGUAGE, STYLE AND EDITING

Tone, register, style, purpose/effect, audience and context Language use and conventions.

Word choice Punctuation, spelling

8 MARKS

7–8

5–6

4

3

0–2

• Tone, register, style, vocabulary highly appropriate to purpose, audience and context.
• Grammatically accurate and well- constructed
• Virtually error-free.

• Tone, register, style and vocabulary very appropriate to purpose, audience and context
• Generally grammatically accurate and well- constructed
• Very good vocabulary
• Mostly free of errors.

• Tone, register, style and vocabulary appropriate to purpose, audience and context.
• Some grammatical errors
• Adequate vocabulary
• Errors do not impede meaning.

• Tone, register, style and vocabulary less appropriate to purpose, audience and context
• Inaccurate grammar with numerous errors
• Limited vocabulary
• Meaning is obscured.

• Tone, register, style and vocabulary do not correspond to purpose, audience and context.
• Error-ridden and confused
• Vocabulary not suitable for purpose
• Meaning seriously obscured

MARKS RANGE

17–20

13–15

10–11

7–8

0–5