Exams Throughout the Year

EXAMS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR

FOR COMPULSORY PREPARATORY CLASSES

OF DEPARTMENTS OF ENGLISH/GERMAN LANGUAGE TEACHING

(FACULTY OF EDUCATION),

AND DEPARTMENTS OF BULGARIAN/ENGLISH/GERMAN TRANSLATION & INTERPRETATION

(FACULTY OF LETTERS)

(B2 LEVEL)

In compulsory preparatory classes, one end-of-term exam and one final exam as well as four midterms (two midterms in each term) and two quizzes (one quiz in each term) are carried out in an academic year. These exams are written, oral or written/oral. The exam schedules are determined by the Administrative Board of the School of Foreign Languages and are announced by the administration at least fifteen days before the beginning of the exams.

Students have to take the midterms. However, students who cannot take the exam because of an excuse accepted by the Administrative Board of the School of Foreign Languages have the opportunity to take an excuse exam if they apply to the administration in seven days following the end of their excuse. There is no excuse opportunity for quizzes.

CALCULATION OF THE FINAL GRADE:

The pass grade of preparatory class which should be 60 out of 100 points is calculated by taking 50% of the average grade throughout the year and adding 50% of the final exam grade on it. 60% of midterms, 20% of quizzes and 20% of performance grade are calculated to obtain the average grade throughout the academic year. Students who are successful in the preparatory class continue their education in the department which they have registered to.

MIDTERMS:

Four midterms (two midterms in each term) are carried out in an academic year in total in the Compulsory Preparatory Classes of Trakya University Faculty of Education Departments of English/German Language Teaching and Faculty of Letters Departments of Bulgarian/English/German Translation & Interpretation.

Descriptions of the exam sections are given below:

1. Listening Comprehension: Listening exam questions consist of four sections. These sections are divided into Listening for Gist and Listening for Detail. The listening exam booklets are distributed to the students before the listening process begins and students are given time to read the exam questions before each section is played. Listening texts are selected from authentic materials. Depending on the format of the exam, some sections are listened to once while some are listened to twice.

2. Reading: The reading exam consists of various sections and each section contains different types of questions. In these sections, students read the questions and find the required information in the text.

3. Writing: Writing exam consists of two sections. In these sections, students are asked to write two texts on two different topics. Students are expected to write using the assisting ideas provided in the given topic. Students can start from the section that they wish. Writing competence, academic use of the related foreign language and the coherent expression of ideas are taken into account in the evaluation of writing.

4. Grammar: The parts of which the grammar exam consists are prepared to test all of the grammar rules of the related foreign language. In these sections, students place the necessary information into the text, make corrections or matching in the text, or answer questions that measure language knowledge in various forms.

5. Speaking: The speaking exam aims to measure students' speaking skills in a variety of question forms. The questions require individual or mutual talk about a picture, topic, idiom, proverb, etc.

6. Language Development: The language development exam is an exam which measures the vocabulary knowledge of the related foreign language. Students' vocabulary knowledge is tested in this exam.

QUIZZES:

Two quizzes (one quiz in each term) are carried out in an academic year in total in the Compulsory Preparatory Classes of Trakya University Faculty of Education Departments of English/German Language Teaching and Faculty of Letters Departments of Bulgarian/English/German Translation & Interpretation.

Descriptions of the exam sections are given below:

1. Listening Comprehension: Listening exam questions consist of four sections. These sections are divided into Listening for Gist and Listening for Detail. The listening exam booklets are distributed to the students before the listening process begins and students are given time to read the exam questions before each section is played. Listening texts are selected from authentic materials. Depending on the format of the exam, some sections are listened to once while some are listened to twice.

2. Reading: The reading exam consists of various sections and each section contains different types of questions. In these sections, students read the questions and find the required information in the text.

3. Writing: Writing exam consists of two sections. In these sections, students are asked to write two texts on two different topics. Students are expected to write using the assisting ideas provided in the given topic. Students can start from the section that they wish. Writing competence, academic use of the related foreign language and the coherent expression of ideas are taken into account in the evaluation of writing.

4. Grammar: The parts of which the grammar exam consists are prepared to test all of the grammar rules of the related foreign language. In these sections, students place the necessary information into the text, make corrections or matching in the text, or answer questions that measure language knowledge in various forms.

5. Speaking: The speaking exam aims to measure students' speaking skills in a variety of question forms. The questions require individual or mutual talk about a picture, topic, idiom, proverb, etc.

6. Language Development: The language development exam is an exam which measures the vocabulary knowledge of the related foreign language. Students' vocabulary knowledge is tested in this exam.

PERFORMANCE GRADE:

In the Bulgarian/English/German Preparatory Units, various written homework and projects are assigned to students by the teaching staff and a performance evaluation is carried out throughout the year. This grade is the average of the performance grade given by the lecturers and instructors teaching at the preparatory class of the related departments.