MARKING SCHEME MUET 800/4 Q1 & Q2

As requested here is the marking scheme for the writing paper.

Q1

Task Fulfilment
(critical thinking skills, answered the requirements of the question, clear introduction and overview linked stimulus, synthesise info, many accurate key features, good conclusion etc)
B6 : 18 -20
B5 : 17 - 15
B4 : 14 - 11
B3 : 10 - 7
B2 : 6 - 4
B1 : 3 - 0
Total: x/20

Language & Organisation
(Grammatical accuracy, vocabulary, relavant phrases, arrangement of report (intro, key features and conclusion), word count does not exceed 200 words (ignore 201 onwards) etc.)
B6 : 18 - 20
B5 : 17 -- 15
B4 : 14 - 11
B3 : 10 - 7
B2 : 6 - 4
B1 : 3 - 0
Total: y/20

So for question 1, x + y = a/40


Q2
Same as above, Task Fulfillment (x/30) + Language & Organisation (y/30) = b/60
B6 : 30 - 26
B5 : 25 - 21
B4 : 20 - 16
B3 : 15 - 11
B2 : 10 - 6
B1 : 5 - 0

TOTAL FOR WRITING PAPER Q1 (a) + Q2 (b) = z/100

CONVERT TO 30% weightage
90/300 = z x 0.9

example: 50 x 0.9 = 45 marks from maximum 90 for the writing component.


Does anyone have any issues about how to calculate the marks for muet?

It's a bit tricky but here are the breakdowns.

Listening : students' mark x 45 / 20 = i
Speaking : students' mark x 45 / 54 = ii
Reading : students' mark x 120 / 45 = iii
Writing : students' mark x 90 /100 = ix
TOTAL MUET MARKS : i + ii + iii + iv = Z/300

B6 : 260 - 300
B5 : 220 - 259
B4 : 180 - 219
B3 : 140 - 179
B2 : 100 - 139
B1 : 0 -99

Ok.. i know what you're dying to know now. haha.. how do we calculate the speaking marks right. This is even more complicated at the real exam level. Here goes.

Task A
a) Task fulfilment (relevant answers) maximum 18 marks
b) Language max 18 marks
c) Communicative ability (gestures, eye contact, convincing style, confidence, fluency etc) max 18

B6 : 16 - 18
B5 : 13 - 15
B4 : 10 - 12
B3 : 7 - 9
B2 : 4 - 6
B1 : 0 - 3

So task A, a + b + c = x/54

Task B is exactly the same breakdown of marks.. max 18 each category
a) Task fulfilment (understands topic, relevant response)
b) Language
c) Communicative ability (fuency, interact confidently, manage a discussion, displays initative etc.)

So task B, a + b + c = x/54

TO GET THE TOTAL U HAVE TO AVERAGE TASK A & TASK B = total x/54

In the actual exam, it gets extremely complicated cos after every group the two examiners must have a discussion about the performance of each candidate and standardised their marks. so there will be adjustment of marks on the spot according to performance and discussion of examiners, and they will double check if they agree with the marks by ranking the four candidates. when they are satisfied with the marks awarded, then the examiners will call in the next group. quite a tedious process if you ask me, but very necessary.

HOWEVER,
for school exams. I use an 18 point system for Task A & B, then I average the marks and convert to 54 by multiplying by 3. Youc can use this system if you like or simply ignore it if you find it is not accurate enough.

low - mid - high
18 - 17 -16 = B6
13 - 14 - 15 = B5
10 - 11 - 12 = B4
7 - 8 - 9 = B3
4 - 5 - 6 = B2
1 - 2 - 3 = B1

I find this to be the best method cos it's not as complicated and as an examiner you always have to consider if the candidate is low, mid or high band 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6.


CONGRATULATIONS if you have understood everything I have written thus far. Any questions? Please feel free to ask.

Latest on MUET marking scheme

Well, well, well.. we never cease to learn.. today I was conducting a course for district level trainers in KK for MUET.. and I learnt so many new things... so just a short note here to clear the air...

Apparently, for report writing (question 1 in the writing paper), they don't use the terms 'overview' and 'controlling idea' anymore.. the concept and content is the same but now overview is called introduction and controlling idea is the overview. confusing but i suppose this is slightly easier to understand rather than the term controlling idea. :)

Also, I found out that contrary to what they told us the last time I went for a course, it would seem that you CAN'T write MORE THAN 200 words for Q1. Examiners have been given strict instructions to ignore every word written after that... Yikes! Now I have to review and modify all my samples for Q1 in order to conform to this new ruling. Ah well, at least I know now. Thanks Suzie for the juicy info.

I've also gotten confirmation that every single error in grammar, spelling, vocabulary and what not is deducted in the listening paper.. and examiners don't even award half marks, therefore it's either 1 mark or 0.

Anyway, tomorrow is the second part to this 2 day course. I'll upload some pics later. Have a nice week everyone!

The week that was.. SMK Inanam & UiTM MUET Seminars

Was a really hectic week thus far. I started it off with a MUET seminar in SMK Inanam, thanks to Mainie and Suzana for inviting me. If you didn't know, I first started working at this school and you can imagine what fun it was to see and chat with all my ex-colleagues. :) Was a great time and I hope the students enjoyed my talk.

Then I rushed over to present the Reading Component workshop at UiTM from 10am to 1pm at the KK campus and the crowd was extremely good and cooperative. The reading workshop with sample questions from past year exams were a hit going by the responses from the students. If you're a UiTMn student reading this now, I'm happy to have helped you and I hope you'll explore the archives of my blog to read up about MUET. Good luck to everyone!

Thanks to Suzie and team for inviting me for my third seminar here.. may we have a long lasting professional and personal relationship.

Some really enthusiastic uni girls.. try your best ok!

Some smart looking and hopefully smart thinkin agricultural boys... Well done!

Workshop style for teaching reading comprehension. I've received some feedback pertaining teaching reading by other MUET teachers. I'll detail how to do this best in the next blog entry. At the end of the day, the onus is on the teacher to be creative, adopt or adapt, and the students to read, read and read some more!

Happy teaching and learning everyone! :)

Busy bee!

My bunch of crazies! hehe.. but I love them all!

Notice the plaster ceiling, downlights and chandelier in my school's meeting room.. haha.. not even in KK but million times more posh! Hidup Majakir! Here you can see the kids enjoying the karaoke session 'I believe I can fly' at the end of my seminar. :)

Here the teachers from all over Sabah have come to 'THINK' for our tank. ;-) English Teachers Unite!

Sabah Think Tank Exco Members .. thanks Pn Hjh Nuri & Pn Jenifah from SPA for empowering me to empower others.

Guest lecturing in SMK Putatan, KK.

Thanks for having me, Pn. Haribala & Pn Balvinder... for inviting. ;-)

As you can see, I've been super busy and the cog is still spinning as we speak. :) So far, I've presented a MUET Seminar in SMK Putatan last week, and created the module for the Sabah Think Tank English Language Task Force which I presented at a full day seminar in KK Highschool for English language teachers all over Sabah, some as far as Nabawan.

You can see from the uploaded video clips below the MUET seminar I did yesterday at my own school. It's very rewarding when students come up to me and thank me for teaching them. My eyes actually watered when I read a post in facebook where my student said: "I love MUET". This came from a student who at the start of this year was completely freaked out about the whole subject. Hehe..

Next week I'll be presenting in SMK Inanam and UiTM on the same day. It's a lot of hard work and travelling but I have to admit that I do it because of the joy it brings me. Not the glamour mind you, but the reaching out to help those who need my help most. :)

Anyway, Lydia (thanks, dear!) has kindly agreed to share the essay she has written which I have reviewed using Microsoft Word (the review application is soooooo cooool!!! I can't believe I just found it!!!!) Anyone who would like to read it please email me at queendrey@gmail.com. If anyone knows how I can upload documents onto this blog.. pls let me know.. I'm savvy but apparently not that savvy. Hehe.. cheers ya'all!

SMK Majakir MUET Strategies 2010 Seminar

MUET Speaking Task B

Powerpoint Presentations in the MUET Classroom

As you can see from the video clips below, I've been using multimedia in the classroom.. but instead of me preparing and presenting, I've empowered my students to work in groups to gather materials and develop their own presentations. I believe that when you give students the room to grow, indeed they will. Of course the presentations are far from perfect, but as the old saying goes: it is not the destination that counts, but the journey itself.

Therefore, I'm sure my students will agree with me when I say they have learnt a lot from researching the topics using traditional referencing in the library.. and internet access where they collected most of the materials. What is more important is the process of reading and synthesising for a purpose.

For teachers, the basic instructions I gave were:
1. Divide each group into 3-4 students and provide a social ills topic (eg smoking, vandalism, gangsterism, drug abuse, free sex etc.)
2. Each person develops 5 - 7 slides using only POINT FORM (to avoid reading) and PICTURES/GRAPHS etc.. with NOT MORE THAN 20 WORDS per slide (to avoid over-congestion).
3. Students divided the content according to definition, examples, causes, effects and solution or recommendation.
4. Take lots of pics and record sections to be uploaded into Youtube, Facebook & Blogs.

So MUET students out there reading this, would you have liked doing this activity in your own class? Would it increase your motivation to present if you knew you would be published online?

Would be interesting to get your feedback on this as I will be explaining in my next blog the Action Research related to motivation that I'm conducting right now. :)