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Mark Scheme Interpretation

To give some context, in advance, I'm currently preparing for the IGCSE English First Language (0500) examination.

Take the following segment of a mark scheme (s17_21):

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Question 1 (20 marks)

This question tests reading assessment objectives R1 to R3 (15 marks)

R1 demonstrate understanding of explicit meanings
R2 demonstrate understanding of implicit meanings and attitudes
R3 analyse, evaluate and develop facts, ideas and opinions

and writing assessment objectives W1 to W4 (5 marks)

W1 articulate experience and express what is thought, felt and imagined
W2 sequence facts, ideas and opinions
W3 use a range of appropriate vocabulary
W4 use register appropriate to audience and context

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Following his successful presentation, Harrold is offered a specialist sales and managerial position as ‘Birdbrain’ in the Birdland section of the company’s brand new megastore. The megastore will replace all three existing local stores which will close next month. Staff not leaving the company will remain on full pay until the new store opens in six months’ time.

Unsure if he should accept, Harrold writes a letter to a friend.

Write Harold’s letter to his friend

In your letter you should:
• describe your feelings about the various events at home over the past few months
• explain recent changes at work and the factors you are weighing up regarding the proposed position
• discuss the options you are now considering.

Base your letter on what you have read in Passage A, but be careful to use your own words. Address each of the three bullet points.

Begin your letter, ‘Dear friend, I have had quite a bit to think about recently...’.

Write about 250 to 350 words.

Up to 15 marks are available for the content of your answer, and up to 5 marks for the quality of your writing.

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General notes

Candidates should select ideas from the passage (see page 6) and develop them relevantly, supporting what they write with details from the passage. look for an appropriate register for the genre, and a clear and balanced response which covers the three areas of the question, is well sequenced, and is in the candidate’s own words.

Annotate A1 for references to Harrold’s feelings about the various events at home
Annotate A2 for references to changes at work and the factors Harrold is weighing up
Annotate A3 for references to options Harrold might be considering.

Responses might use the following ideas:

A1: Harrold’s feelings about the various events at home over the past few months

Reward an idea about:
• neighbour dying (det. Mrs F, last month, older, watched TV soaps) [dev. sad, misses her, shared interest, used to visit to see Beryl]
• Beryl coming to live with him (det. parrot, lived downstairs with Mrs F) [dev. lonely beforehand, Yellow-headed Amazon]
• Beryl leaving (det. newly-empty flat, family) [dev. escaped through an open door (or window), felt responsible] • Harrold living alone (again) / life without Beryl (det. lunch alone at home) [dev. missed her company, not eating properly]
• Beryl’s return (det. heard her at the window) [dev. relieved, pleased she is back, turning point (suggestion of better things and open window), Beryl may (want to) leave again]

A2: Changes at work and the factors Harrold is weighing up regarding the proposed position

• reapplication procedure (det. everyone had to reapply, generous severance payment, interviews, slogans, U.S.P.) [dev. attitude to loyal staff, (initially) hated the presentation event]
• new rota (det. working lunch-hours) [dev. open longer, more pressurised]
• new staff / younger staff brought in (det. Lisa the Saturday girl, bespectacled youth) [dev. (over) enthusiastic, not expert]
• rebranding / modernisation of pet shop(s) (det. digitalised emporium(s), megastore) [dev. at odds with his view, tacky]
• publicity campaign(s) / hard selling (det. promotional stickers / signs, e.g. H for Hamster signs, piped music) [dev. feels over-commercialised, aimed at children (and / or parents), not in animals’ best interests, noise upsets rabbit]
• exact nature of new job (det. sales, management, Birdbrain title) [dev. emphasis on selling animals not caring for them, birds only, concern re management style / approach expected, required to wear new title, e.g. on a badge / T-shirt]

A3: options Harrold might be considering

• accept new position (det. surprised at positive reception for his presentation, parrots are his favourite) [dev. new found confidence, he could influence things positively, can always resign if it does not work out]
• postpone decision / stay until shop closes (det. shop not closing for a month) [dev. stay until then to monitor well-being of animals / see what other changes the company brings in / unsure now Beryl is back]
• turn down new position / find another source of income (det. protest / not eating alone now / severance pay) [dev. opportunity for a new start / find job (or start own business) that involves caring for rather than selling animals / disapprove of new direction / would not be able to vet customers / no longer needs to work for company now Beryl is back]
• take a trip (det. tropical break, 6 months full pay / accept severance package) [dev. to see yellow-heads in the wild, her adventure did Beryl good, like winning the lottery, would need to arrange care for Beryl]
• improve life for Beryl / spend more time with her (det. toolkit for DIY, arrives at work early) [dev. has ‘family’ back / improve accommodation for Beryl / make the flat bird friendly / accident proof / feel guilty she wanted to leave]

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Now, I've got two enquiries to make.

My main perplexity involves the exact way marks should be awarded, in this kind of a scenario. Is each point, above, worth exactly one mark (the total number of bullet-points is fifteen, after all)? Do you need all of the points above, or equivalent ones, to achieve perfect marks - strictly considering the reading comprehension aspect of the question? How is the marking done in such a situation?

I guess my next question will be tackled more easily. What is the actual meaning of the 'dev.' and 'det.' abbreviations? I do understand their usage, I'm just interested in their denotation.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 1

EbicStuden

I've got the same question about the det and dev abbreviations, but for your first question a teacher of mine told me that you don't need all 15 points to get a full mark(which is difficult). Even if you had 13 or 14, if ur answer was good enough you should get a full marks for that question.