CAES1000 Core University English

Assessment Descriptions & Grade Descriptors

I. Assessment Descriptions
The following table outlines the assessed components of the course:

Speaking Test Written Exam Independent Online Moodle Modules

Learning Tasks [Avoiding Plagiarism &
Developing Citation and
Referencing Skills]

40% 35% 25% 0% *

*The work you do in the online learning modules [Avoiding Plagiarism & Developing Citation and
Referencing Skills] is not assessed. However, failure to complete the modules will lead to a one sub-
grade reduction of your final CUE grade (e.g. from B- to C+)

Speaking Test (Tutorial Discussion)

The speaking assessment will be done in Week 11 of the course. You will do this assessment in groups
of 4 students. The discussion will last for 20 minutes. The process will be as follows:

1. Your tutorial discussion topic will be released on the CUE Course Moodle site 72 hours before
the test starts.
2. You should use the 72 hours to read about the topic, establish your stance and extract ideas /
data from 3 academic sources of information to bring to the tutorial (one assigned reading text
and 2 academic reading texts from your choice).
3. You will need to bring these ideas / data to the tutorial in point form and include a reference
list.
4. This must be handed in to your teacher at the end of the discussion.

More details on how to prepare for the speaking test are in the Speaking Test Documents section on the
CUE Course Moodle. You can also find the grade descriptors there showing what an A, B, C student
needs to achieve.

You will be assessed on the academic quality of your sources, the quality of the contribution that you
make in the discussion as well as your speaking skills.

Written Exam
The written exam will be done during the official exam period. The exam will last for 3 hours. You will
be required to write either an academic essay or report. To complete the essay or report you will need
to read, understand and critically interpret a number of academic texts which will be given to you.

More details on how to prepare for the written exam are in the Written Exam Documents section on the
CUE Course Moodle. You can also find the grade descriptors there showing what an A, B, C student
needs to achieve.
 You will be assessed on your ability to structure an academic text, express a clear, detailed and critical
stance, support that stance through citation and referencing and write grammatically accurately using
a range of vocabulary.

Independent Learning Tasks

The following table outlines the types of Independent Learning Tasks:

Essay/ Report Writing Task Annotations of Essay / Report

20% 5%

Essay/ Report Writing Task

This task requires you to write either an essay or a report. This will give you practice writing a
complete academic text and you will get feedback from your teacher to help you improve your writing
skills further and perform better in the written exam.

You will be assessed on your ability to structure an academic text, express a clear, detailed and critical
stance, support that stance through citation and referencing and write grammatically accurately using
a range of vocabulary. The grade descriptors for this assessment are the same as for the written exam.

Annotations of your Essay / Report

The task requires you to annotate the essay / report that you write to show where you have made
improvements to your writing.

You will be assessed on whether you are able to demonstrate an understanding of the writing skills
practiced in the course. The grade descriptors for this assessment are below.
II. Grade Descriptors
CUE Course-level Grade Descriptors

Grade Standard Expectations of student performance

Students are able to produce spoken and written academic texts which are at all times appropriately structured. Students can clearly and
concisely explain academic concepts and critically argue for a detailed position. Students always use appropriate academic sources to
A+
support their ideas in writing and speaking. They cite and reference correctly at all times. Students demonstrate an ability to fully
A Excellent comprehend and critically interpret spoken and written texts. Written language contains very few, if any, systematic errors in grammar and
A-
vocabulary. Spoken language is always comprehensible and fluent.

Students are able to produce spoken and written academic texts which are appropriately structured with only minor errors. Students can
almost always clearly and concisely explain academic concepts and almost always critically argue for a detailed position. Students almost
B+ always use appropriate academic sources to support their ideas in writing and speaking. They cite and reference correctly with only a few
B Good non-systematic errors. Students can comprehend and interpret texts with ease, although they may miss some implied meanings and
B- opinions. Written language is nearly always accurate but contains a few minor systematic errors in complex grammar and vocabulary.
Spoken language is nearly always comprehensible and fluent.

Spoken and written academic texts produced by students are usually well-structured. Students are usually able to explain academic concepts
but they might not always be clear and concise. Students can argue for a position, but at times this may not be very detailed and tends to be
C+ simplistic rather than critical. Students usually, but not always, use sources which are academic and appropriate to support their ideas in
C Satisfactory writing and speaking. There is evidence of correct systematic usage of citation and referencing, but there are some systematic errors.
C- Students can always understand the main ideas of an academic text but may miss some of the writer’s views and attitudes. Written language
is generally accurate. Errors, when they occur, are more often in complex grammar and vocabulary. Spoken language is generally
comprehensible and fluent.
There is evidence of the ability to produce spoken and written academic texts but they are often not well-structured. There is some evidence
of an ability to explain academic concepts clearly and concisely. Students are rarely able to critically argue for a position. Students can
sometimes use sources which are academic and appropriate to support their ideas in writing and speaking. There is evidence of an
D+ understanding of some of the conventions of citation and referencing, however, there are quite a few systematic errors. Students can almost
Pass
D always understand the main ideas in a text but often miss some of the writer’s views and attitudes. Written language can be followed by an
academic audience but it contains quite a few errors in grammar and vocabulary. Spoken language, although comprehensible, can place
strain on the listener.
Productive skills are too limited to be able to successfully carry out spoken and written assessments. Texts are unstructured and unclear.
Students are unable to follow and interpret texts. There are language errors in almost every sentence. Spoken language is often
F Fail
incomprehensible.
Assessments may not have been attempted or contain plagiarism.
Speaking Test (Tutorial Discussion Assessment) Grade Descriptors – 40% of Grade

Grades Standard Expectations of student performance

Students can clearly and concisely explain academic concepts and critically argue for a detailed position. Students always use appropriate
A+, A, A- Excellent academic sources to support their arguments. Students are always able to understand what others are saying and are always able to
respond appropriately - either through expressing agreement or disagreement. Spoken language is always comprehensible and fluent.

Students can almost always clearly and concisely explain academic concepts and almost always critically argue for a detailed position.
B+, B, B- Students almost always use appropriate academic sources to support their arguments. They are able to use those ideas to support their
Good
arguments.
Students are always able to understand what others are saying and are almost always able to respond appropriately - either through
expressing agreement or disagreement. Spoken language is nearly always comprehensible and fluent.

Students are usually able to explain academic concepts but they might not always be clear and concise. While they can argue for a
position, it is not very detailed and tends to be simplistic rather than critical. Students usually, but not always, use sources which are
Satisfactory
C+, C, C- academic and appropriate to support their arguments. Students are usually able to understand what others are saying and are usually
able to respond appropriately - either through expressing agreement or disagreement. Spoken language is generally comprehensible and
fluent.

There is some evidence of an ability to explain academic concepts clearly and concisely. Students are rarely able to critically argue for a
position. Students sometimes use sources which are academic and appropriate to support their arguments. Students are mostly able to
D+, D Pass understand what others are saying but are only sometimes able to respond appropriately - either through expressing agreement or
disagreement. Students may be largely silent throughout the discussion. Spoken language, although comprehensible, can place strain on
the listener.

Speaking skills are too limited to be able to successfully take an active role in the tutorial discussion. What is said is almost always
F unclear. Students almost never use the ideas from their reading to support their arguments, relying almost solely on personal opinion
Fail
and experience. Students are often unable to understand what others are saying and are almost always unable to respond appropriately
- either through expressing agreement or disagreement. Spoken language is often incomprehensible. The student may not have attended
the assessment.
Written Exam Grade Descriptors – 35% of Grade

Grades Standard Expectations of student performance

Students are able to produce written academic texts which are, at all times, appropriately structured. Students can clearly and concisely
explain academic concepts and critically argue for a detailed position. Students always use appropriate academic sources to support
Excellent
A+, A, A- their ideas in writing. They cite and reference correctly at all times. Students demonstrate an ability to fully comprehend and critically
interpret written texts. Written language contains very few, if any, systematic errors in grammar and vocabulary.

Students are able to produce written academic texts which are appropriately structured with only minor errors. Students can almost
always clearly and concisely explain academic concepts and almost always critically argue for a detailed position. Students almost
B+, B, B- Good always use appropriate academic sources to support their ideas in writing. They cite and reference correctly with only a few non-
systematic errors.
Students can comprehend and interpret texts with ease, although they may miss some implied meanings and opinions. Written language
is nearly always accurate but contains a few systematic errors in complex grammar and vocabulary.

Written academic texts produced by students are usually well-structured. Students are sometimes able to explain academic concepts but
they may not always be clear and concise. Students can argue for a position, but at times this may not be very detailed and tends to be
C+, C, C- simplistic rather than critical. Students usually, but not always, use sources which are academic and appropriate to support their ideas in
Satisfactory writing. There is evidence of correct systematic usage of citation and referencing, but there are some systematic errors. Students can
always understand the main ideas of an academic text but may miss some of the writer’s views and attitudes. Written language is
generally accurate. Errors, when they occur, are more often in complex grammar and vocabulary.

There is evidence of the ability to produce written academic texts but they are often not well-structured. There is some evidence of an
ability to explain academic concepts clearly and concisely. Students are rarely able to critically argue for a position. Students can
sometimes use sources which are academic and appropriate to support their ideas in writing. There is evidence of an understanding of
Pass some of the conventions of citation and referencing, however, there are quite a few systematic errors. Students can almost always
D+, D
understand the main ideas in a text but often miss some of the writer’s views and attitudes. Written language can be followed by an
academic audience but it contains quite a few errors in grammar and vocabulary.

Writing skills are too limited to be able to successfully carry out the written assessment. Texts are unstructured and unclear. Students
Fail
F are unable to follow and interpret texts. There are language errors in almost every sentence. The assessment may not have been
attempted or contains plagiarism.
Independent Learning Task Grade Descriptors – 25% of Grade

Grades Standard Expectations of student performance

Students are able to produce written academic texts which are, at all times, appropriately structured. Students can clearly and concisely
explain academic concepts and critically argue for a detailed position. Students always use appropriate academic sources to support
Excellent
A+, A, A- their ideas in writing. They cite and reference correctly at all times. Students demonstrate an ability to fully comprehend and critically
interpret written texts. Written language contains very few, if any, systematic errors in grammar and vocabulary.

Students are able to produce written academic texts which are appropriately structured with only minor errors. Students can almost
always clearly and concisely explain academic concepts and almost always critically argue for a detailed position. Students almost
B+, B, B- Good always use appropriate academic sources to support their ideas in writing. They cite and reference correctly with only a few non-
systematic errors.
Students can comprehend and interpret texts with ease, although they may miss some implied meanings and opinions. Written language
is nearly always accurate but contains a few systematic errors in complex grammar and vocabulary.

Written academic texts produced by students are usually well-structured. Students are sometimes able to explain academic concepts but
they may not always be clear and concise. Students can argue for a position, but at times this may not be very detailed and tends to be
C+, C, C- simplistic rather than critical. Students usually, but not always, use sources which are academic and appropriate to support their ideas in
Satisfactory writing. There is evidence of correct systematic usage of citation and referencing, but there are some systematic errors. Students can
always understand the main ideas of an academic text but may miss some of the writer’s views and attitudes. Written language is
generally accurate. Errors, when they occur, are more often in complex grammar and vocabulary.

There is evidence of the ability to produce written academic texts but they are often not well-structured. There is some evidence of an
ability to explain academic concepts clearly and concisely. Students are rarely able to critically argue for a position. Students can
sometimes use sources which are academic and appropriate to support their ideas in writing. There is evidence of an understanding of
Pass some of the conventions of citation and referencing, however, there are quite a few systematic errors. Students can almost always
D+, D
understand the main ideas in a text but often miss some of the writer’s views and attitudes. Written language can be followed by an
academic audience but it contains quite a few errors in grammar and vocabulary.

Writing skills are too limited to be able to successfully carry out the written assessment. Texts are unstructured and unclear. Students
Fail
F are unable to follow and interpret texts. There are language errors in almost every sentence. The assessment may not have been
attempted or contains plagiarism.