Marking Exam Papers

I’m sure; any language teachers will love but hate this job. For Paper 1, it might not that bad, as it is MCQs. But then, I hate it because the column in OMR paper is small. It is like ‘eyesore among eyesore’. After 2 or 3 paper my eyes already ‘juling’. I have 186 students under my wing and each of them had to answer 40 questions. Simple calculations, 7440 columns. Wow! But, I felt a bit relief as some students did actually score for Paper 1. One of my students scored 39/40! I had to countercheck several times to make sure that my eyes weren’t lying. [sometimes it becomes an issue, jawab semua betul di pertikaikan, jawab banyak salah pun kena marah]

Anyway, for Paper 2, I can say that I partially love it. I started with the last class. Know why? I think it is a lot easier, as some of them actually do not answer the questions at all. Some will rewrite the questions again. Some choose to answer Section B only (summary). Others, will try to construct sentences form the points given for Section A (guided writing) even though the sentences doesn’t make sense at all.

For obedient students, they will answer Section C (novel). Why I call them obedient? Because, I’ve told them that if they write the sentences that I have taught them, I’ll give them 2 marks for language. Well, at least they still write something in English which is related to the novel that they have learnt; even they do not answer the question. As my students learnt Potato People by Angela Wright, I gave them an introduction and several stems to follow. The introduction is like this:

The novel that I have learnt is ‘Potato People’ by Angela Wright. This story took place in Ireland. It is about Patrick and Marie who go through a lot of obstacles in life. Finally, they managed to build a new life in America.

See, it is already 43 words! Even they might not understand and know how to answer the question, they still write something about the novel. At least, the examiner will be ‘impressed’ with them.

Another reason why I started with the last class is just a matter of psychology. Knowing that marking their papers can be considered easy, at least I can tell myself, ‘hey, I’ve finished marking both papers for 1 class!” Sometimes, we need this to keep us motivate and plus, the faster I mark their paper the faster I can key in their marks.