When the Recording Fails
During the external assessment period, a small school records students' Indonesian oral interactions for external marking. The technician discovers that the recording for one student, Dodi, has no audio for the first 45 seconds because a microphone cable was loose. The rest of the 5-minute recording is clear. Dodi's conversation included a strong opening where he introduced himself and asked his partner two questions. The school must submit recordings by a deadline in three days. The assessor who conducted the conversation is available for one hour tomorrow. School policy says recordings must be complete and clearly audible; the external authority's guidance says schools should contact it if evidence is compromised. Re-recording would require a new prompt and a different partner, and Dodi is unavailable after tomorrow because of a family commitment.
1. Evaluate the options available to the school and recommend a course of action.
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Option A: Submit the incomplete recording as is. This breaches the requirement that recordings be complete and audible, and the missing 45 seconds contains Dodi's introduction and questions, which are key evidence. Not recommended without disclosure.
Option B: Re-record with a new prompt and partner. This would produce valid evidence but changes the task conditions and is only fair if Dodi has no extra preparation advantage. Dodi is available tomorrow, so it is feasible, but the school must ensure the new prompt is comparable and not previously seen.
Option C: Contact the external authority and explain. The published guidance explicitly directs schools to do this when evidence is compromised. This is the safest first step.
Recommendation: Contact the external authority immediately, explain the fault, and propose either (a) submitting the partial recording with a written statement plus the assessor's contemporaneous notes, or (b) a supervised re-recording tomorrow with a comparable prompt. Do not conceal the gap.
2. Explain how the school should document the incident and what fairness considerations apply to Dodi.
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Documentation: The school should keep a short factual record covering: the date and time of the fault, the cause (loose cable), the exact portion affected (first 45 seconds), the steps taken to check the rest of the file, the assessor's notes on what occurred during the missing section, and all communication with the external authority. The technician's check should be logged.
Fairness to Dodi: Dodi should not be penalised for a technical failure outside his control. If a re-recording is used, it must be under comparable conditions, with a fresh prompt and no additional preparation. If the partial recording plus assessor notes are accepted, the authority should confirm this in writing. Dodi and his family should be informed promptly and given the reason for any change, and the same procedure should apply to any other student affected by the same fault. The aim is to preserve valid evidence of Dodi's achievement while maintaining comparability with other candidates.