International
English Competion for Schools
Competition
date: Tuesday 19 July
If
you have difficulties with this date, please contact
IEEAC
immediately.
Entries
close: Monday 20 June
Entry Fee: TBA
Aims of the
Competition
The aims of the
International English Competitions for Schools are
to:
- provide an
opportunity for all students to gain a measure of their own achievement in
an external assessment situation
- monitor
individual progress across a range of skills and knowledge in English
- recognise
and reward achievement at all levels
- provide
students, parents, teachers and schools with a comprehensive analysis of
student performance.
How many years
are assessed?
There are eight
papers:
- Std 3 - 45
items - 45 minutes
- Std 4 - 50
items - 50 minutes
- Std 5 - 60
items - 1 hour
- Std 6 - 60
items - 1 hour
- Form 1 - 80
items - 1 hour 15 minutes
- Form 2 - 80
items - 1 hour 15 minutes
- Forms 3 - 4
80 items - 1 hour 15 minutes
- Form 5/Lower
6 and Upper 6 80 items - 1 hour 15 minutes
All
students should sit the paper for the Year in which they are currently
enrolled.
If you are unsure about the appropriate paper for your students, please
contact
IEEAC.
Each Year Level is marked as a separate group. The Competition is comprised
of a variety of multiple-choice items. Each question is worth one mark. The
total score is the number of correct answers. No marks are deducted for
wrong answers.
How are the
assessments structured?
Each assessment
covers a wide range of skills in reading, language and spelling across both
literary and factual genres and text types. The skills are clearly specified
to enable schools to relate student results to curriculum outcomes.
The following
is a sample range of International Competitions for Schools (English) test
specifications which indicates the range of skills in the various assessment
strands.
Reading:
Factual texts
Identifies:
- temporal
sequencing
- broad
textual form (literary/factual)
- generic
textual purpose
- textual
conventions (author, title, etc)
-
classification
- aspects of
description
- image
sequencing
- single
pieces of information
Spelling
Spells
accurately:
- high
frequency words with simple/common spelling patterns
- commonly
used homonyms
- all digraphs
- three-letter
consonant blends
- compound
words
- basic sight
and function words
- alphabetical
order
Reading:
Literary texts
Identifies:
- main
characters
- setting
- simple theme
- point of
view
- audience
- related
information
- figurative
language
- main idea
- events
Language:
Syntactical
Identifies:
- tense
- main clause
- pronoun
- functions of
clauses
- correct
modality
- grammatical
usage
- grammatical
function
- pnctuation
Language:
Textual
Identifies:
- figures of
speech
- point of
view
- literary
devices
- technical
language
- stylistic
elements
- meaning of
words in context
- varied use
of tense
Can the
assessments be compared between years?
There are
common items in each assessment that enable each year to be compared with
the years above and below it. This means that schools can compare the
relative performance of students both in and between years.
Can the
assessments cater to a wide range of student ability?
The assessments
have been developed so that all students will be able to participate
successfully in each paper. Papers are ordered from the easiest items to the
most difficult items. This means that all students will complete enough of
the paper so that diagnostic data can be provided on their performance.
However, there will be a sufficient range of more difficult items to
discriminate the performances of the very best students.
Will the
assessments still be able to rank and identify high levels of student
performance?
Yes, as always
the International English Competitions for Schools
will identify all levels of student performance and provide certificates of
relative achievement and medals for the highest performing students.
Awards
Medals
are awarded to the top student in each year level in Malaysia, at the
discretion of IEEAC.
Certificates
are awarded on the following basis:
- High
Distinction (to the top 1% of entrants in each year level in Malaysia)
- Distinction
(to the next 10% of entrants in each year level in Malaysia)
- Credit (to
the next 20% of entrants in each year level in Malaysia)
-
Participation (to all students who do not qualify for one of the above
Certificates.)
Eligibility
for Awards
To be eligible
for the award of a Medal, candidates must generally have sat the paper on
the official date. In special circumstances, permission may be given to sit
on an alternate date. In this case, students will receive Certificates but
may not be eligible to receive a Medal.
Candidates must
have been supervised as for an external examination. Neither the supervisor,
nor any invigilator assisting, should be a family member or relative of any
candidate attempting the Competition.
To ensure the
integrity of the Competition, IEEAC reserves the
right to investigate any factors which may affect student performance and
eligibility for awards.
Results
All students
receive a diagnostic report on their performance and a Certificate suitable
for inclusion in a portfolio.
Schools receive
valuable statistics which will enable them to compare their students'
achievements with the rest of their country.
Each Year Level
is marked separately. For this reason students should enter the Year Level
in which they are currently enrolled in Malaysian schools.
Confidentiality
of school statistics is maintained at all times and, as with all
English Competitions, IEEAC
does not use these statistics to draw comparisons between schools or school
systems.
General
enquiries to:
E–mail:
ieeac@ieera.org
