REPUBLIC OF TUNISIA

Ministry of Education

ONGOING EVALUATION IN BASIC EDUCATION

NUMBER OF TESTS, DURATION, COMPONENTS AND SCALE

Each tem, learners are tested in compliance with the following specifications:

7TH FORM 8TH & 9TH FORMS

FIRST TERM SECOND & THIRD TERMS EACH TERM
speaking at least 1 10 speaking at least 1 10 speaking at least 1 10
project work at least 1 10 project work at least 1 10 project work at least 1 10
a one-hour language 14 a one-hour language 14 a one-hour listening 08
mid-term test spelling 06 mid-term test listening 06 mid-term test language 12
language 15 reading 05 reading 06
a one-hour a one-hour a one-hour
language 10 language 08
end-of-term test end-of-term test end-of-term test
writing 05 writing 05 writing 06

COMPONENTS SPECIFICATIONS
1. The oral component
a) The speaking test: learners are tested orally on the acquisitions of a previous lesson at least
once a term and the test will be communicative in nature. Their performance is marked out
of ten.
b) Project work: learners are allotted a mark out ten for the outcome of the project work
they undertake and /or the process followed.
The final end-of-term mark is the sum of the two marks specified above.

2. The spelling component

It consists of one or two exercises requiring the learner to:
a) Write the missing words in a text read by the teacher.
b) Write figures or numbers in letters.

3. The language component

It consists of 3 to 4 exercises testing the assimilation of lexical and grammatical acquisitions in
an essentially integrated manner and requiring the learner to:
a) Fill in a gapped paragraph with (n) words provided in a box including two distractors.
b) Tick / Underline / Circle the right options in a gapped paragraph with three options per
item.
c) Complete a gapped dialogue with the right utterances from a box including 2 extra items.
d) Provide the right tense or form of bracketed words.
e) Match sentence parts to get coherent sentences. (only with 7th formers)
f) Match sentence parts to get a coherent paragraph.(with 8th and 9th formers)
g) Reorder 3 or 4 sentence parts to get a correct sentence. (only with 7th formers)
h) Unscramble sentence parts to get a paragraph; the first sentence should be provided and
the remaining sentences should be in the right order.
i) Match utterances in a short dialogue with the right functions provided in a list including one
extra item.

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 j) Tick / Circle / Underline the right option in multiple choice questions relative to the function
of each utterance underlined in a short dialogue.
With 7th formers, the exercises can be set at sentence level. With all three levels, the test taker
gets half a mark for each correct answer.

4. The reading comprehension component

It consists of one linear text, a linear text and a non-linear one, or two complementary texts
totalling 100, 150 and 200 words respectively for the 7th, 8th and 9th year levels. The linear texts
are authentic or semi-authentic and extracted from various sources: novels, magazines,
newspapers, brochures... Non-linear texts can be charts, notes, tickets, menus, notices,
timetables...The linguistic as well as semantic content of these texts is appropriate to the
targeted level. To demonstrate comprehension of the content of the text(s) and its
organization, the learner is required to:
a) Match paragraphs with the appropriate titles, main ideas or visuals.
b) Provide justified answers to Yes / No questions, the justification being retrieved from the
text or worded by the test taker.
c) Write short answers to WH questions.
d) Answer one or two reference questions.
e) Transfer information by completing a table, a diagram, a list or a chart.
f) Complete a sentence or a paragraph with information retrieved from the text, the
information being a word, a phrase, a clause, a date, a figure...
g) Complete a sentence or a paragraph with his / her own words or phrases when the
information is not explicitly stated in the text.
h) Select the appropriate alternative in multiple choice questions related to the title or main
idea of a text or the meaning of a given word.
i) Find equivalents or opposites of new words or expressions underlined in the text.
j) Identify the topic sentence of a text or paragraph when that is appropriate.
k) Tick / Underline / Circle the right option in multiple choice questions about the function of a
given statement.
l) Find out the function corresponding to a given statement.
m) Pick out a statement expressing a given function.
n) Identify true or false statement.
o) Tick / Underlie / Circle the right option in multiple choice questions about the type of text.
p) Express reaction to the content of the text or the characters or people involved.

The test taker gets a full mark for each correct answer.

5. The listening comprehension component

It consists of a monologue, a dialogue, a conversation, a speech or a presentation totalling 100,
150 and 200 words respectively for the 7 th, 8th and 9th year levels. The linguistic as well as
semantic content of these oral texts is appropriate to the targeted level. To demonstrate
comprehension of the content of the text and its organization, learners are required to:
a) Identify the speaker(s)
b) Identify the relationship between the speakers.
c) Give justified answers to Yes / No questions, the justification being retrieved from the text
or worded by the test taker.
d) Write short answers to WH questions, including inference questions.
e) Transfer information by completing a table, a diagram, a list or a chart.
f) Complete a sentence or a paragraph with own words or phrases.

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 g) Select the appropriate alternative in multiple choice questions related to the title or main
idea of the text or specific words or ideas in the text.
h) iInfer attitudes and moods.
i) Express reaction to the content of the text or the characters or people involved.
The test taker is allotted one mark for each correct answer to the above specified
comprehension questions.

In addition to the comprehension questions, the test taker is required to

j) Tick the right option in multiple choice questions about the function of a given statement.
k) Find out the function of a given statement.
One mark is allotted for the appropriate answer to either of the above questions.

Pronunciation is tested through questions requiring the learner to:

l) Circle the word(s) he hears (minimal pairs)
m) Listen to a section of the text and identify words having (a) specified sound(s) or stress
The learner is allotted half a mark for each correct answer to the above specified
pronunciation questions.

Spelling is tested through a question requiring the learner to:

n) Complete a gapped section of the text as s/he listens to the tape.
Half a mark is allotted for each correct answer.

The use of the cassette is compulsory.

6. The writing component

Ability to write is tested through one single assignment requiring the learner to
a) Write a narrative text: a report, a story...
b) Write a description, instructions or directions.
c) Write a postcard, an e-mail, a message or a letter
d) Write from prompts: a series of pictures, a chart, a table...
The suggested topics should interest the learners and specify the audience, the purpose and
the context. The following evaluation criteria should be indicated on the test paper:
a) Adherence to task and content adequacy.
b) Lexical appropriacy and grammar accuracy
c) Mechanical accuracy (punctuation, capitalization and spelling).

i This document integrates the changes agreed on January 26, 2010.

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