In response to Nihongo BC's letter of Feb. 12, 2007 to Shirley Bond, Minister of Education regarding the Japanese 12:

The Ministry modified the table of specifications so that the students are
able to record their responses without a Japanese 12 teacher present. This
change was in response to considerable field concern. You now raise
additional concerns about the short presentation students must make.

A presentation format is one way to measure speaking ability and can be
easily implemented under a standardized circumstance. This kind of
speaking ability is consistent with the curriculum learning outcomes under
the "Communicating" curriculum organizer of the Japanese 12
Integrated Resource Package. For example, students are asked to
" express plans, goals, and intentions" and "give
information and reasons to support points of view on various topics".
The assessment strategies in that section refer to criteria to observe
when "students present information to the class".

Other methods require greater student/teacher interaction, which make it
more difficult for administration and standardization. While I appreciate
your suggestions, reverting to a more one-on-one interactive approach in
the speaking component would put added pressure on the classroom teacher
and the methods you propose would be difficult to control or monitor in
terms of standardized administration procedures. Perhaps such approaches
are more conducive to classroom assessment as part of the 60% school mark.
I'd like to point out that the short presentation consisting of 6 marks
is 7% of a 40% exam, comprising 3% of the final mark. We also feel this
is a conservative and sensible approach for this initial year of
implementation.

The approach being used for Japanese 12 is similar to the Advanced
Placement exams in terms of embedding listening files. As long as the
students are properly seated, several students can record the oral
components simultaneously.

The recording technology has been thoroughly tested since last year, and
in January 2007, about 240 Français langue seconde immersion 12 students
successfully completed their oral component using this new electronic
method.

Students do have ample time to practice ahead with their presentation
preparation and technology at any time during the year and all 15 themed
topics are posted on the Ministry website. All three parts of the
listening and speaking components are available at the exam practice site
(http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/eassessment/grad_practice.htm
www.bced.gov.bc.ca/eassessment/grad_practice.htm
http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/eassessment/grad_practice.htm ). The 2-minute
student preparation time brings standardization to the provincial
examination process.

Marking rubrics were posted on the Ministry website in June 2006. The
student samples for the speaking component along with the related scores
will be posted on the Ministry early April.

In-school testing and fine tuning is occurring with classrooms of Japanese
12 students and the examination preparation team is involved in all
aspects of the work. Additionally, Wang Xie, our Second Language
Examination Coordinator, will be connecting with all teachers of Japanese
12 prior to the exam to ensure a comfort level with the procedures and the
technology. Marker training is currently being considered for April.
Technical support will also be available from A. Willock Information
Systems before and during the administration and marking period.

More detailed administration information (log on user name, password,
marking site, deadlines, etc.) will be provided in May.

I hope I have addressed your concerns. The Ministry is committed to
implementing the approach as designed and reviewing the format following
administration and feedback.

Attached are answers to your specific questions. Thank you for your
support in implementing these new examination components.


Answers to specific questions

1. Principals are required to make arrangements for exam invigilation.
Japanese 12 teachers do not need to be present during the exam listening
and speaking components.

2. The listening and speaking component is not built into the examination
administration schedule, as the schedule tends to focus on specific days
and testing sessions. For the past 10 years, the oral components of the
FRAL and FRALP 12 exams have not appeared on the exam schedule per se,
although the 3-week administration period is known and communicated in
different ways. However, the inclusion of the oral/speaking and listening
component on the exam administration schedule is something we will
consider.

3. Arranging for examination administration is the responsibility of the
principal; Japanese 12 teachers do not need to be present. It is assumed
teachers will prepare students as they usually do for provincial
examinations; students can also prepare and practice on their own time.
The Ministry encourages teachers and students to familiarize themselves
with the practice site well in advance of the official administration
period. This should help minimize class time taken in June. The 3-week
administration window in June also allows teachers to spread the exams
over a long period of time which will keep the impact on class time to a
minimum.

4. Yes, students can re-record if they freeze or experience problems while
recording their responses. They also have 3 weeks to complete this
component.

5. Students are still required to listen, understand the language and
respond accordingly and we feel it is unlikely that students would be able
to share the question content and the answers with other students.
However, we are considering presenting the questions or the options in
slightly different orders. Next year, different sets of equivalent
questions might be randomized for students.

6. Yes, the topic themes will be scrambled. However, the 15 themes are
posted on the website. Six have been chosen for the June exam. Students
randomly select two numbers and then pick one of the two themes that are
presented. The six themes will be scrambled across the six numbers and no
student will see all six themes. In the future, all 15 themes could be
randomly provided to students. See the practice site
http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/eassessment/grad_practice.htm
www.bced.gov.bc.ca/eassessment/grad_practice.htm
http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/eassessment/grad_practice.htm for more detail
and the table of specifications
http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/exams/specs/grade12/ja/2006.htm
www.bced.gov.bc.ca/exams/specs/grade12/ja/2006.htm for the 15 themed
topics.

7. Yes. Marking rubrics are already posted. The student samples for the
speaking component along with related scores will be posted on the
Ministry website early April.

8. The Ministry is currently considering what kind of monitoring or
feedback might be presented to schools on the marking of the speaking
component.

9. One site that might be of interest in terms of logistics is the APsite:
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/courses/teachers_corner/44240.html
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/courses/teachers_corner/44240.html
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/courses/teachers_corner/44240.html
You need to register, but it is free and easy. Other than that, we
would suggest you try the practice e-exams with your students and
determine what works best for your setting.

10. It is likely that at a minimum, 4 or 5 students can complete the
speaking component at the same time; however, it really depends on the
size of the computer lab or room, the way the room is set up and if
headphones are being utilized. The AP exam setting involves students
sitting side-by-side with headphones equipped with an attached microphone.
Ultimately, schools are in the best position to decide this based on
their room arrangement and equipment at hand. Students will need to be
separated enough from one another so that they do not disturb each other
and their responses being recorded do not interfere with one another.
This is less of an issue if students are wearing headphones to hear the
questions or topics but they will still need to be spaced apart so their
recordings do not interfere with each other.

11. See above. Also, marking can occur at the time if the teacher is
present or at any time convenient to the teacher. It is likely best that
administration be completed and that marking occur at one time so that
teachers are not disrupted and get into the "flow" of marking.
However, teacher can make their own decisions about how best and when to
mark student responses. Student responses will be available for teacher
marking from June 4, 2007 to June 29, 2007.

12. Deadline for marking is June 29, 2007. Marks are entered and captured
directly in the electronic system. A practice marking site will also be
available shortly and marker training is currently being considered for
April. Toll free technical support will be provided from A. Willock
Information Systems, as required.