The Junior Cycle French examination is a Common level examination which requires candidates to engage with, demonstrate comprehension of, and respond to stimulus material. The learning outcomes that are assessed in any year constitute a sample of the outcomes from the Modern Foreign Language Speci?cation. The examination consists of three sections: Listening, Reading and Writing. The Listening and Reading Sections are marked out of 140 marks each and the Writing Section is marked out of 80.

Some good practice observed

The following good practices were observed with varying degrees of frequency in the material presented by candidates for the 2022 examinations. Where they occurred, they assisted candidates in scoring well.

• In the listening section, candidates were able to identify speci?c information in the texts related to familiar topics, such as buying clothing, weather, and ordering food.

• It was clear that, for many candidates, the skills related to listening were well
• Candidates were successful in recognising frequently used words and phrases relating to areas of their experience.

• Candidates performed well in the reading section of the examination. They recognised the meaning of familiar words and phrases and understood the general sense of the texts.
• It was evident that the key words in the questions asked in the target language were understood.

• In the writing section, candidates showed a good ability to create a piece of writing about familiar topics such as friends, school, and leisure activities, writing short descriptions of present, past and future events.
• A number of candidates demonstrated an understanding of language patterns, such as syntax, verbs, nouns, adjectives, and so on, and often used them correctly.

Advice on engaging with the written examination

The following advice will assist with ensuring that candidates demonstrate their levels of achievement to full e?ect when engaging with the written examination.

• Teachers should continue to reinforce key verbs, including ‘aller’, ‘faire’, ‘avoir’ and ‘être’ in past, present and future tenses.
• Teachers should continue to make time for regular practice writing emails, letters, blogs, postcards, etc.
• Teachers should continue to regularly reinforce vocabulary such as days, numbers, months of the year, seasons, time, family, countries, occupations, clothes, transport, directions, buildings in the town, weather, activities, food, animals and school subjects in order for candidates to be well equipped for the examination, particularly for, but not limited to, the listening section.
• Teachers should encourage candidates to read over their work and encourage selfcorrection.
• Teachers should encourage candidates to use French as the target language in the classroom. This will improve their knowledge of everyday vocabulary.
• Teachers should encourage candidates to write short, simple, correct sentences, focusing on the verb in the sentence.
• Teachers should continue to practise formulating questions with the
• Candidates should attempt all questions, including those involving written expression.
• Where one piece of information is required for an answer, candidates should only provide one piece of Listing more than one answer may lead to marks not being awarded.
• Candidates should keep sentences simple and
• Candidates should have a good knowledge of certain vocabulary, such as days of the week, months of the year, colours, numbers, and words related to the weather.
• Candidates should be familiar with time indicators, such as, hier, le weekend prochain
• Candidates should practise writing sentences in past, present and future
• Candidates should practise changing ton école / ta maison in a question to mon école / ma maison in the corresponding answer to become pro?cient with possessive adjectives.