Externally assessed written assignment

[Danbo]

I have a concern. As I have understood it from the language B syllabus the exam consists of the written part and the oral part. The written part is made up by paper 1, paper 2, and a written assignment.

My teacher made us do the written assignment last week and she put us in a room for 3 hours and let us as it with the written assignment. She said we were absolutely not allowed to take it home and work on it.

I thought it was a bit strange since I thought the written assignment would have been like that of in English A where you were worked on it on your own time and kept to the word count. I didn't see anything on the syllabus that said there was a certain time limit for the written assignment to be done so I'm a bit confused as to whether or not it's necessary for my teacher to have us in a room for 3 hours again when the actual exam comes around.

So is there a set time that the written assignment has to be done? Does the entire process have to be supervised?

[carpediem]

Yes, the Language B written assignment has to be supervised and has to be done in a set time. It actually is 4 hours long for SL and HL, but too did 3 hours for our practise run. I think they wanted it to be like this so students wouldn't use online translators, but you are allowed paper dictionaries during your 4 hours. Teachers are not allowed to talk to you about your written assignment, so any feedback is prohibited.

The word count:

• HL Rationale (100 words) and the actual written assignment (500-600 words) which is based on one of the short stories which HL students have studied prior to the exam.
  

I don't know the SL word length, so I'll edit this post when I find my worksheet with all the guidelines.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

[Danbo]

Yes, the Language B written assignment has to be supervised and has to be done in a set time. It actually is 4 hours long for SL and HL, but too did 3 hours for our practise run. I think they wanted it to be like this so students wouldn't use online translators, but you are allowed paper dictionaries during your 4 hours. Teachers are not allowed to talk to you about your written assignment, so any feedback is prohibited.

The word count:

• HL Rationale (100 words) and the actual written assignment (500-600 words) which is based on one of the short stories which HL students have studied prior to the exam.
  

I don't know the SL word length, so I'll edit this post when I find my worksheet with all the guidelines.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

The word limit is 300-400 words for the SL written assignment with the same 100 word rationale. But what is a rationale?

[carpediem]

But what is a rationale?

A rationale is supposed to be your 'abstract', in a sense. It's supposed to illustrate your reasons for choosing a text type, the ideas you are going to express in your Written Assignment and how you show your understanding of literature for HL, and of the text type conventions and Core topic for SL.

Here's a summary of what SL and HL require you to do. (As quoted from the IB Language B Syllabus, first testing in 2013)

SL:

• Purpose: "to provide the student with the chance to reflect and develop further understanding of a Core topic, as well as develop inter-textual receptive and productive skills. Inter-textual reading refers to the ability to read across different texts that may be linked by a common theme."
  
• Task: "choosing 3 sources in the target language and transforming the information from those sources into a written text." (which could be blogs, interviews, articles etc. and is provided only during the exam)
  
• Form of your Written Assignment: "[it] should be chosen from the recommended text types published in the Language B Guide." (I don't have the actual list, but from what I overheard you can choose an interview, editorial, journalistic review and magazine article at least.)
  
• Word limits: 100 words (rationale), 300-400 (written assignment)
  
• Conditions: 4 hours, supervised, no teacher feedback allowed
  
• Rationale: "explain why they have a selected the topic and the text type"
  
• Marking rubric: "assignment emphasises content and organisation over format... [and] should demonstrate understanding of the subject matter... as well as the ability to organise and use information."
  

Example for English B:

--> Core topic: Global issues

--> Focus of sources: People trafficking into the UK

--> Sources: Interview with trafficking victim, editorial comment, brochure of charity that helps illegal immigrants

--> Topic of assignment: Modern slavery

--> Text type: Interview

--> Title of assignment: Crossing the Channel

--> Rationale: Explanation of the reasons for choosing topic and text type

HL:

• Purpose: "to provide the student with the chance to reflect and gain further understanding of one of the literary works covered in class, while developing receptive, productive and creative skills to a higher degree."
  
• Task: "a piece of creative writing... based on a work of literature studied and mate use related information from other reading material."
  
• Form of your Written Assignment: "[it] should be chosen from the recommended text types published in the Language B Guide." (I was specifically told a new ending to a story, an interview with the character(s) or a diary entry)
  
• Word limits: 150 words (rationale), 500-600 (written assignment)
  
• Conditions: 4 hours, supervised, no teacher feedback allowed
  
• Rationale: "introduc[es] the assignment, stating objectives and a summary of the literary work."
  

Example for English B:

--> Source: short story

--> Topic of assignment: Dialogue with a character of the short story

--> Text type: Interview

--> Rationale: Introducing assignment, stating objectives and literary work summary

The Written Task is worth 20% of your overall grade. It is marked liked this:

1. Criteria A (Language) - 8 marks
   
2. Criteria B (Content) - 10 marks
   
3. Criteria C (Format) - 4 marks
   
4. Criteria D (Rationale) - 3 marks
   

Edited February 26, 2013 by carpediem

[Danbo]

A rationale is supposed to be your 'abstract', in a sense. It's supposed to illustrate your reasons for choosing a text type, the ideas you are going to express in your

So for example, if I were to be writing an article about Human Rights I'd have to introduce the article with my reasons of writing it or if I were conducting an interview I'd have to explain in writing , as the interviewer, the reasons I have for interviewing about the selected topic?

By the way I appreciate this a lot, carpediem Thanks!

[carpediem]

A rationale is supposed to be your 'abstract', in a sense. It's supposed to illustrate your reasons for choosing a text type, the ideas you are going to express in your

So for example, if I were to be writing an article about Human Rights I'd have to introduce the article with my reasons of writing it or if I were conducting an interview I'd have to explain in writing , as the interviewer, the reasons I have for interviewing about the selected topic?

By the way I appreciate this a lot, carpediem Thanks!

Not necessarily in the point of the interviewer, but in the point of you as a student and just your reasons for choosing all that. But basically, yes.

You're welcome, I'm really glad I helped But honestly, doing a mock of the Written Assignment is the best way to learn what it's like. You'll feel so much more prepared when the real thing comes around!

[emantse]

But what is a rationale?

A rationale is supposed to be your 'abstract', in a sense. It's supposed to illustrate your reasons for choosing a text type, the ideas you are going to express in your Written Assignment and how you show your understanding of literature for HL, and of the text type conventions and Core topic for SL.

Here's a summary of what SL and HL require you to do. (As quoted from the IB Language B Syllabus, first testing in 2013)

SL:

• Purpose: "to provide the student with the chance to reflect and develop further understanding of a Core topic, as well as develop inter-textual receptive and productive skills. Inter-textual reading refers to the ability to read across different texts that may be linked by a common theme."
  
• Task: "choosing 3 sources in the target language and transforming the information from those sources into a written text." (which could be blogs, interviews, articles etc. and is provided only during the exam)
  
• Form of your Written Assignment: "[it] should be chosen from the recommended text types published in the Language B Guide." (I don't have the actual list, but from what I overheard you can choose an interview, editorial, journalistic review and magazine article at least.)
  
• Word limits: 100 words (rationale), 300-400 (written assignment)
  
• Conditions: 4 hours, supervised, no teacher feedback allowed
  
• Rationale: "explain why they have a selected the topic and the text type"
  
• Marking rubric: "assignment emphasises content and organisation over format... [and] should demonstrate understanding of the subject matter... as well as the ability to organise and use information."
  

Example for English B:

--> Core topic: Global issues

--> Focus of sources: People trafficking into the UK

--> Sources: Interview with trafficking victim, editorial comment, brochure of charity that helps illegal immigrants

--> Topic of assignment: Modern slavery

--> Text type: Interview

--> Title of assignment: Crossing the Channel

--> Rationale: Explanation of the reasons for choosing topic and text type

HL:

• Purpose: "to provide the student with the chance to reflect and gain further understanding of one of the literary works covered in class, while developing receptive, productive and creative skills to a higher degree."
  
• Task: "a piece of creative writing... based on a work of literature studied and mate use related information from other reading material."
  
• Form of your Written Assignment: "[it] should be chosen from the recommended text types published in the Language B Guide." (I was specifically told a new ending to a story, an interview with the character(s) or a diary entry)
  
• Word limits: 100 words (rationale), 500-600 (written assignment)
  
• Conditions: 4 hours, supervised, no teacher feedback allowed
  
• Rationale: "introduc[es] the assignment, stating objectives and a summary of the literary work."
  

Example for English B:

--> Source: short story

--> Topic of assignment: Dialogue with a character of the short story

--> Text type: Interview

--> Rationale: Introducing assignment, stating objectives and literary work summary

The Written Task is worth 20% of your overall grade. It is marked liked this:

1. Criteria A (Language) - 8 marks
   
2. Criteria B (Content) - 10 marks
   
3. Criteria C (Format) - 4 marks
   
4. Criteria D (Rationale) - 3 marks
   

I think it's actually 150 words for HL if I'm not mistaken, and I never knew there were mock Written Assignments, our school is just having us do it, and that's it I believe.

[carpediem]

I think it's actually 150 words for HL if I'm not mistaken, and I never knew there were mock Written Assignments, our school is just having us do it, and that's it I believe.

Yup, sorry, edited. And my school has mock everything, just so we get a feel for what the assessments are like.

[emantse]

That's cool, we just had the first day of the written assignment, gahh felt so lost, so many new words o.o wish we had some mocks xP

[carpediem]

At least there's IBS to help out! I was so lost when I did my mock-WA, no one here had any idea about the WA. (This was back in June/July of last year.) Hopefully my mock experience will be helpful to some

[emantse]

My teacher just keeps reminding us, we don't need to be able to understand every word, just the general idea; and we're set to write! Hopefully I did not misread the articles because if I were to actually translate each word, it would probably take more than half the time xP (mandarin dictionaries take awhile to find the word)

[carpediem]

My teacher just keeps reminding us, we don't need to be able to understand every word, just the general idea; and we're set to write!

It sounds like the same approach for Paper 1 (the reading paper), so I don't see how that is an issue. It just means you have to have a good grasp of the language to make an educated guess what it's indicating exactly.

From what I understand of SL, is that you somehow adapt the articles you are using, like make a response to both of the articles you have. So minute details are not needed anyways.

[emantse]

mhm, thanks for reassuring me hah doing an exam for an ib mark makes it seem so daunting, yet it really isn't that different from regular in class writes