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El Chupacabra · Joined: 22 Jul 2009 Posts: 378 Location: Kwangchow

I haven't seen the TEM-4 rubric but I have seen sample answers and scores from the Gao Kao. Last year I had my 3rd-year writing students analyze them to infer what the examiners may be marking. we all determined that examiners notice structure and adherence to the main idea of the writng prompt. If you have that much going for you, errors in spelling and grammare will go unnoticed. There's a point of diminishing returns if your paper is chock full of grammar and spelling errors, so students ought to minimize those.

Whether it be Gao Kao, TEM 4/8 or CET, examiners are facing a stack of paper. They're going to be scanning those papers but not reading them at a deeper level. Presence of a thesis statemence and adherence to a standard structure will pay off. Even if you have to grimace at all the "Firstly" and "secondly" and "in a word" triteness in their practive essays that may be the best to get them a score under Chinese examiners who only scan for patterns.

In nine words, focus on cohesion, even if some coherence is lost.

7969 · Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 5782 Location: Coastal Guangdong

I now have what I am told is the TEM4 writing rubric, in Chinese and English.

Guerciotti · Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 11:56 am Post subject:

7969 · Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 5782 Location: Coastal Guangdong

This is the rubric for the composition (emailed to me by a teacher at our school). It's easily understood but can be re-written by anyone who's fussy about perfecting it. I won't post the Chinese version here but if anyone wants it I can email it as a .doc file.

Standard of the Composition of TEM4 for evaluation:

14-15 points: keeps to the point, intact, clear, structured, correct grammar, coherent, adequate in diction, and no errors basically.

11-13 points: keeps to the point, intact, clear, structured, correct grammar, coherent, a few grammar mistakes.

8-10 points: keeps to the point, intact, clear basically, structured basically, correct grammar basically, coherent basically, a few gross errors, and a few catachresis.

5-7 points: keeps to the point basically, intact, not clear, clearly Chinglish, a lot of language mistakes and catachresis.

2-4 points: strays from the point, not intact, idea confusion, and incomplete sentences. Only a few sentences can be understood. A lot of spelling mistakes.

Guerciotti · Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 2:15 pm Post subject:

randyj · Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 10:27 pm Post subject:

Thank for that, 7969. What do you think about the idea that overworked evaluators look at only the first and last paragraphs of essays?

7969 · Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 5782 Location: Coastal Guangdong

You're both welcome.

Guerciotti · Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 3:11 pm Post subject:

I talked to a few seniors and they said the TEM-4 is western style organization but the CET-4 is definitely Chinese style.
Just thought I'd pass that along.

Thanks ElChupacabra for the GaoKao insight. I'll kill a goat for you; my treat.

randyj · Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2011 4:43 am Post subject:

I ran across this by accident today. http://wenku.baidu.com/view/280b1ab8fd0a79563c1e72c9.html?from=related&hasrec=1

Guerciotti · Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2011 8:24 am Post subject:

randyj · Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2011 9:30 am Post subject:

I have downloaded it. The size is only 266kb. If you will pm an e-mail address, I can transmit it to you.

Guerciotti · Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2011 1:20 pm Post subject: