National 5 English Course Information

Course Assessment

Paper I: Reading for Understanding, Analysis and Evaluation 30%

Paper II: Critical Reading 40%

Folio 30%

Course Units

Spoken Language unit – pass/fail

Reading for Understanding, Analysis and Evalution 30 marks/30%

Candidates are given a passage to read in their exam. These passages usually come from newspapers such as The Independent, The Guardian or The Times. Candidates must read the passages and answer the questions that follow. This area of the course is testing candidates ability to understand ideas, analyse language and evaluate the effect of the language. This is assessed through a mixture of the following question types:

Understanding Qs

Own Words – candidates are asked to express the same idea as the writer but using different words/phrasing

Summarise – candidates are asked to shorten main ideas of a text in their own words

Linking – candidates are asked to identify and explain the structure of the passage and how the writer moves between arguments

 

Analysis Qs

Word Choice – candidates are asked give connotations of words used by the writer and what it tells the reader about the situation in the passage

Imagery – candidates are asked to identify images used by the writer and explain what picture they create to help the reader understand the ideas of the passage

Sentence Structure – candidates are asked to explain the structure of the passage and how it helps the reader understand the ideas of the passage

Tone – candidates are asked to identify the attitude of the writer and how word choice, iamgery and sentence structure is used to convey the attitude

 

Evaluation Qs

Effective intros/conclusion – candidates are asked to explain why the opening and closing paragraphs of a passage are appropriate