Correct Format, Wrong Register
The writing section is worth 23 marks: an 8-mark application for sick leave, a 10-mark essay and a 5-mark translation. 72 scripts are on the table. Candidate A's application has every format element - sender's address, date, receiver, subject, salutation and closing - but addresses the headmaster as tum and uses main chahta hoon instead of arz hai. Candidate B's essay is 280 words, clearly organised, but has nine spelling errors, two gender-agreement errors and one wrong date in a historical example. Candidate C translates the idiom aankh ka taara word for word, though the rest of the sentence is accurate. The rubric gives the application 4 format plus 4 language; the essay 4 content, 4 expression and 2 accuracy; the translation 3 sense plus 2 idiom and register.
1. Candidate A's application: allocate the 8 marks with reasoning.
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Format is 4/4: every required element is present and in the right order. Language is 2/4: the application is intelligible, but tum to a headmaster and main chahta hoon instead of arz hai break the formal register. The error is consistent, so it affects the whole communicative purpose rather than one sentence. Do not reduce the format mark, because format is a separate trait. If the rubric's language strand includes register, this is the correct place to deduct; do not deduct again under content. Feedback should ask the candidate to rewrite two sentences in the prescribed register, so the correction is concrete.
2. Candidate B's essay: how do the spelling errors and the factual error interact with the 10 marks?
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Keep the traits separate. Content is 3/4: the essay is organised and relevant, but the wrong date weakens its authority; if the date is peripheral, 3 is fair rather than 2. Expression is 3/4: clear structure with two agreement errors. Accuracy is 1/2: nine spelling errors exceed a minor-slip threshold. Total 7/10. The reasoning is that the essay still communicates and should not be failed for spelling, while a nine-error script cannot be called accurate. Record the spelling list for whole-class remediation and do not reclassify the factual error as a language error, since that would hide the real weakness.
3. Candidate C's idiom and the principle for translation marking.
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Translation is sense-for-sense, not word-for-word. Award 3/3 for sense because the rest of the sentence is accurate, and 0/2 for the idiom because 'star of the eye' does not carry the intended meaning in the target language. Total 3/5. Do not give partial credit for a literal rendering that would confuse the reader, but do give credit if the target sentence still conveys the sense. Keep a list of 20 exam-frequent idioms with accepted equivalents and teach the difference between literal and idiomatic meaning. The same principle applies to register: a translation that is accurate but rude is not fully accurate.