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THIS DOCUMENT WILL GIVE YOU SOME IDEAS AND ADVICE ON HOW YOU CAN PREPARE WELL AND SIT FOR YOUR NATIONAL MOROCCAN BACCALAUREATE EXAM.GO THROUGH THE DOCUMENT AND DISCOVER THE NATIONAL EXAM SPECIFICATIONS RELATED TO ENGLISH.
هذا الملف سيقدم لك معلومات و نصائح حول كيفية التعامل مع الامتحان الوطني في مادة الانجليزية

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I WOULD BE GRATEFUL TO TEACHERS WHO SEND THEIR ADVICE AND OBSERVATIONS ON THIS DOCUMENT FOR THE SAKE OF MAKING IT BETTER.

THE MOROCCAN BACCALAUREATE EXAM SPECIFICATIONS.

The English Baccalaureate Exam Specifications

For all Streams

Introduction

The Baccalaureate English exam is a final achievement, performance-oriented test based on the content standards set forth for the teaching of English in
the upper secondary schools. It aims at assessing what the testees “know and are able to do” with English through demonstrating specific communication modes, particularly the interpretive and presentational ones (See Guidelines 2007). The form, the content and the tasks of the test should approximate real-life situations which require knowing the conditions under which the test taker will use the language appropriately. Different types of tests or test tasks lend themselves to different scoring, so the scoring method needs to be clearly specified at all levels. Specifying a scoring method involves (i) knowing the criteria for what constitutes “successful completion”, and (ii) determining whether responses will be scored as right or wrong, or with varying degrees of correctness. The Baccalaureate exam must take the curriculum and official guidelines as a frame of reference. It must, accordingly, take into account the various streams’ syllabus distribution, time allocation,coefficient, test components and weighting.

1. SYLLABUS BREAKDOWN

Streams	Syllabus and Textbooks	Syllabus coverage
Arts	-The syllabus specified in the Guidelines (2007) -The textbook(s) adopted by the Ministry of Education for the second year Baccalaureate.	All learners must cover the 10 units + the four supplementary reading texts which are supplied in the textbook(s). These reading texts and tasks are related to the themes below : 1. Cultural issues/values. 2. The gifts of youth. 3. Women and power. 4. Sustainable development.
Humanities	-The syllabus specified in the Guidelines (2007) -The textbook(s) adopted by the Ministry of Education for the second year Baccalaureate.	All learners must cover the 10 units + the two supplementary reading texts which are supplied in the textbook(s). These reading texts and tasks are related to the themes below : a. Women and power. b. Sustainable development.
All science, technical and original streams	-The syllabus specified in the Guidelines(2007) -The textbook(s) adopted by the Ministry of Education for the second year Baccalaureate.	All learners must cover the 10 units.

3. EXAM SECTIONS AND WEIGHTING

The English test consists of three sections: reading (37.5%), language (37.5%) and writing (25%). The weighting designed for each section is specified as follows:

Stream	Reading	Language	Writing
Arts	15/40	15/40	10/40
Humanities	15/40	15/40	10/40
All science, technical and original streams	15/40	15/40	10/40

4. SECTIONS AND RUBRICS

4.1. THE READING SECTION

4.1.1. Reading performance standards

Test designers should take into account the five standards’ areas as stated in the Guidelines (2007). Students have to demonstrate their level of attainment through performing reading tasks as specified in the syllabus and Guidelines:

ü Skim a text for general idea/main idea;

ü Scan a text for specific information;

ü Make inferences: informational, explanatory, propositional and pragmatic;

ü Infer word meaning from the context;

ü Identify referents;

ü Identify discourse markers and their functions in the text;

ü Distinguish main idea from detail;

ü Distinguish fact from opinion;

ü Distinguish cause from effect;

ü Identify the author’s attitude;

ü Identify the author’s intention;

ü Transfer information from text to chart, diagram or table.

ü Re-arrange the ideas or topics discussed in the text.

ü Evaluate ideas expressed in a text (i.e. critical reading).

ü Draw conclusions from the text.

4.1.2. Text types and topics

Texts designed for testing reading need to be of appropriate level of difficulty, and should target stimulating issues related to the topics/themes dealt with in the currently-used textbooks. They should also relate to students’ interest, age,and should tap their prior knowledge and experience.

Reading texts could be in the form of newspaper articles, letters, biographies, encyclopaedia entries, film/book reviews, report and advertisement. They can be narrative,informative, descriptive, or argumentative texts.

4.1.3. Text length

Streams	Number of words
Arts	400 – 450
Humanities	350 – 400
All science, technical and Original streams	250 – 300

4.1.4. Test techniques

The following techniques should allow testers to evaluate testees’ various reading competencies. Test techniques should vary so that no particular test technique would become predictable.

ü Wh/questions

ü True/False
+ appropriate justification

ü Sentence completion

ü Summary cloze

ü Gap filling

ü Information transfer

ü Matching elements

ü Extracting information from the text

ü Ordering elements of the text (events, arguments, etc.)

Test techniques should lead to clear and reliable scoring for the sake of equity. Three to six of the above techniques must appear in the reading comprehension section to guarantee appropriate coverage of the reading performance standards.

4.1.5. Distribution of bits

The reading section should contain 10 to 18 bits.The bits should sample the reading performance standards listed above.Over-testing one or two reading standards at the expense of others should be avoided.

4.1.6. Rubrics

Rubrics are those characteristics of the test that guide the testees and inform them about the procedures for performing test tasks. They also inform testees about how the test will be scored. Rubrics need to be made as explicit and clear as possible. For the sake of standardisation, the following rubrics should appear in the test paper:

ü WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING WOULD BE THE BEST TITLE FOR THE PASSAGE?

ü WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING COULD BE INFERRED FROM THE TEXT?

ü WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS DOES THE PASSAGE ANSWER?

ü ARE THESE SENTENCES TRUE OR FALSE? JUSTIFY.

ü ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS IN YOUR OWN WORDS.

ü COMPLETE THESE SENTENCES IN YOUR OWN WORDS.

ü FILL IN EACH BLANK WITH A WORD FROM THE TEXT.

ü FILL IN EACH BLANK WITH AN EXPRESSION FROM THE TEXT.

ü FIND IN THE TEXT WORDS OR EXPRESSIONS THAT MEAN THE SAME AS:

ü WHAT DO THE UNDERLINED WORDS IN THE TEXT REFER TO?

ü PICK OUT FROM THE TEXT EXPRESSIONS OR PHRASES WHICH SHOW THAT:

ü MATCH THE MAIN IDEA WITH THE CORRESPONDING PARAGRAPH.

ü IN WHAT ORDER DO THE FOLLOWING IDEAS/ARGUMENTS OR EVENTS APPEAR IN THE TEXT?

ü WHAT IS THE WRITER’S OPINION/ ATTITUDE/TONE/INTENT?

ü CHOOSE THE RIGHT ANSWER FROM THE LIST GIVEN.

ü FILL IN THE CHART WITH THE RIGHT INFORMATION FROM THE TEXT.

Three to six of the rubrics above must appear in the reading section.

Scoring: responses may receive 0.5,1, 1.5, or 2 points.

It is important to ensure that suitable test techniques and rubrics are used for testing students’ performance and for eliciting reliable scoring. In the same vein, when testing reading comprehension, students should not be penalized on form unless their mistakes totally hinder comprehension.

4.2. THE LANGUAGE SECTION

It comprises three content areas: vocabulary, grammar and rhetorical functions. It aims at assessing students’ ability to use language accurately and appropriately.

Distribution and weighting

VOCABULARY	GRAMMAR	RHETORICAL FUNCTIONS
6 points	6 points	3 points

4.2.1. VOCABULARY

Vocabulary test items should be related to the
topics and themes dealt with in the syllabus and textbook(s). It should
particularly focus on the following areas:

ü collocations

ü Word associations

ü word definitions

ü synonyms/ antonyms

ü poly-words

ü word formation

ü suffixes,prefixes and their meanings

ü phrasal verbs

ü idiomatic expressions.

4.2.2. GRAMMAR

Grammar test items assess students’ ability to recognize, understand and apply rules and their grammatical forms. They also evaluate their competence in using those forms accurately and appropriately.
The test items should be realistic and contextualised. The grammar test component must include items related to the following list of structures:

ü Tenses (including past perfect, past perfect continuous and future perfect);

ü Wishes(present and past), If only (past), and conditionals (including type 3);

ü Reporting commands, statements, and questions in the present and past;

ü Modals:present and past;

ü Infinitive  vs. Gerund;

ü Phrasal verbs with particular focus on the meaning of particles ;

ü Passive with different tenses;

ü Passive with modals;

ü Restrictive and non-restrictive clauses;

ü Linking words.

Items testing vocabulary and grammar can take the form of mini-dialogues or short prose to provide enough meaningful context.

4.2.3. RHETORICAL FUNCTIONS

The rhetorical functions to be tested at this level are the following:

ü Defining

ü Cause and effect

ü Purpose

ü Addition

ü Concession.

4.2.4. LANGUAGE TEST TECHNIQUES

A variety of test techniques should be included in the test paper. The overuse of some of these techniques at the expense of others must be avoided.

ü Correct form

ü Sentence transformation/ rewriting

ü Sentence completion

ü Gap filling

ü Matching

ü Multiple choice

ü Cloze procedure with list or with first letter given

ü Word definitions

ü Classifying/categorising

ü Providing synonyms, antonyms or poly-words.

4.2.5. RUBRICS

The rubrics below are to be used when testing grammar, vocabulary and rhetorical functions.

ü PUT THE VERBS BETWEEN BRACKETS IN THE CORRECT TENSE.

ü FILL IN THE GAP(S) WITH THE APPROPRIATE WORD OR EXPRESSION FROM THE LIST.

ü FILL IN THE GAP WITH AN APPROPRIATE WORD OR EXPRESSION.

ü FILL IN THE GAP WITH AN APPROPRIATE PHRASAL VERB.

ü FILL IN THE GAP WITH THE APPROPRIATE COLLOCATION.

ü MATCH THE WORDS THAT GO TOGETHER TO MAKE APPROPRIATE COLLOCATIONS.

ü REWRITE THE SENTENCES BEGINNING WITH THE WORDS GIVEN.

ü REWRITE THE SENTENCES AS INDICATED.

ü MATCH THE WORDS WITH THE CORRESPONDING DEFINITIONS/ SYNONYMS/ ANTONYMS.

ü REPLACE THE UNDERLINED WORD WITH THE APPROPRIATE SYNONYM.

ü SELECT THE ONE WORD OR PHRASE THAT MOST CLOSELY MATCHES THE MEANING OF THE UNDERLINED
WORD.

ü PROVIDE THE APPROPRIATE WORD(S) FOR THE FOLLOWING DEFINITION.

ü GIVE THE CORRECT FORM OF THE WORDS BETWEEN BRACKETS.

ü JOIN THE PAIRS OF SENTENCES WITH THE LINKING WORDS GIVEN.

ü MATCH EACH SENTENCE WITH ITS APPRORIATE FUNCTION.

4.2.6. DISTRIBUTION OF BITS

The language section must contain 10 to 18 bits, the bits must sample the language component (grammar, vocabulary and rhetorical functions) included in the syllabus and textbooks.

A minimum of five rubrics must appear in the language section.

Scoring: responses may receive 0.5 or 1 point.

4.3. THE WRITING SECTION

4.3.1. Writing performance standards

The writing section assesses students’ writing skill and provides an indication of how well learners communicate in the written language. Testers can determine learners’ achievement in writing through real-life tasks, bearing in mind the performance standards stated in the syllabus and guidelines:

ü using adequate and relevant content;

ü using an appropriate text structure according to the conventions of the targeted genre ;

ü selecting an appropriate style according to audience;

ü using cohesive devices and transitions to organize content at the level of paragraph(s) and whole text effectively;

ü using mechanics (spelling, punctuation,capitalization) and applying the appropriate structures and vocabulary to get the message across;

ü using a variety of sentence structures: simple, complex sentences active and passive forms, parallelism, etc.;

The following genres are highly recommended in the testing of writing:

ü formal/informal letters,

ü film review  ,

ü book review,

ü narrative,descriptive, expository text, and argumentative texts.

Topics designed for testing writing should be bias-free and should target stimulating issues related to the themes familiar to the students and/or dealt with in the textbooks. Writing tasks should be well defined; i.e. students should know exactly what they are supposed to write. The audience and
purpose should also be specified clearly in the task. Additional useful
notes could be provided with the writing prompts to help students demonstrate their competence to the fullest.

4.3.2. The writing length

The writing task must specify the number of words as indicated in the
table below:

Arts	Humanities	All science, technical and original streams
approximately 250 words	approximately 200 words	approximately 150 words

4.3.3. Scoring and criteria

Criteria for scoring must be specified in the marking scale.

The mark should be based on the overall use and usage of the language, including the range and the appropriateness of the vocabulary, the sentence and paragraph structure and correctness of grammar, spelling and punctuation. In addition, the piece of writing should demonstrate a logical
organisational structure and relevance to the task. The scoring method is
analytical and includes the following elements:

Writing criteria	Scores
Relevance of content to the task	(3pts)
Coherence and cohesion	(2 pts)
Appropriateness of vocabulary	(2 pts)
Accuracy of grammar	(2 pts)
Mechanics	(1 pts)

Scorers can reduce up to one point of the overall mark if the writing is too short to respond to the number of the words recommended (4.3.2) above.

5. GENERAL NOTES.

Reading section:

- Questions must appear in textual order within the rubrics.

- The reading tasks must aim at testing comprehension and not
recognition per se.

- For lexical inference, there must be an indication of the
relevant paragraph.

- The key answer must be provided.

Language section:

- Items testing grammar (tenses, passive, modals, etc) must
include affirmative, negative and interrogative forms.

- The key answer must be provided.

Range of difficulty:

The test paper must include easy as well as challenging items to ensure
discrimination. Starting an English paper with easier questions will boost up
students’ motivation and help them perform better.

- Rubrics in each section must include a variety of receptive and productive items.

-Gap-filling items tested receptively must have the following number of alternatives:

-1 gap: 3 alternatives

-2 gaps: 5 alternatives

-3 gaps: 6 alternatives.

N.B. For more details about the standards and performance-based assessment, see the official guidelines (2007).

DOWNLOAD THE EXAM SPECIFICATIONS HERE: #mce_temp_url#