Composition Marks When Length, Register and Script All Slip
You are marking the 15-mark guided composition on an SSC Arabic paper. The instruction is «اكتب فقرة من ثمانين كلمة عن مدرستك» (write an 80-word paragraph about your school). Candidate F submits 54 words. The Arabic is largely accurate: case endings on the words she uses are correct, she uses two sound plurals and one idafa correctly, and the paragraph is clearly about her school. But she writes «أنا طالب» where the subject pronoun is redundant with the verbless sentence, uses the colloquial «مش» once for negation, and writes 'computer lab' as 'कंप्यूटर लॅब' in Devanagari script. The marking scheme allots content and relevance 5, grammar 5, vocabulary and expression 3, and length and task completion 2. One colleague wants 11/15 because the grammar is clean; another wants 6/15 because the word count and dialect forms break the task. The paper is a third-language paper, and the syllabus does not teach the word for 'computer lab'.
1. Allocate Candidate F's 15 marks across the four heads with a justification for each.
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Content and relevance 4/5: the paragraph is on task and coherent, but thin because 54 words cannot develop the topic fully. Grammar 3/5: case endings and plurals are good, but «أنا طالب» is a redundant pronoun construction and «مش» is Egyptian-dialect negation outside the syllabus; two register-relevant errors in a short text justify a two-mark deduction. Vocabulary and expression 2/3: vocabulary is basic and repetitive, and the Devanagari insertion shows she lacks the Arabic term rather than a grammatical error. Length and task completion 1/2: 54 words is roughly two-thirds of the requirement, so the paragraph is under-developed but not off-task. Total 10/15. The 11 is too generous because it ignores the dialect form; the 6 is too harsh because the Arabic that is present is largely correct.
2. Decide how the Devanagari phrase and the colloquial «مش» should each be treated.
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Treat them differently, because they are different kinds of error. The Devanagari 'कंप्यूटर लॅब' is a script and vocabulary problem: the syllabus does not teach the term, so the candidate had no taught Arabic equivalent, but an Arabic composition must still be written in Arabic script, so the deduction belongs under vocabulary and expression, not grammar. «مش» is a register and grammar problem: standard negation here would be «ليس» or «لا», and the dialect form is not in the syllabus, so it belongs under grammar and should be counted once, not repeatedly. This distinction matters because a marker who counts both as grammar errors would double-penalise, while a marker who ignores both would reward non-standard Arabic.
3. Write the feedback comment that would most improve Candidate F's next attempt, in no more than five sentences.
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Praise what is secure, then give two or three concrete moves. Suggested wording: 'Your case endings and plurals are accurate, which is a real strength. To reach 80 words, plan four short sentences of about 20 words each: my school, its buildings, its teachers, and why I like it. Avoid «أنا» before a verbless sentence; write «أنا طالب في الصف العاشر» only when the pronoun is needed for contrast. Use «ليس» or «لا» for negation, not «مش», and write borrowed words in Arabic script, for example «مختبر الحاسوب».' This is specific, correctable and tied to the rubric heads, so the candidate can act on it.