Form and conduct of examinations, 2016

Notices by Faculty Boards, or other bodies concerned, of changes to the form and conduct of certain examinations to be held in 2016, by comparison with those examinations in 2015, are published below. Complete details of the form and conduct of all examinations are available from the Faculties or Departments concerned.

Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Tripos, Part II, 2016: correction

With immediate effect (applies to oral examinations to be held in October 2015)

A correction has been made to the Notice published on 26 November 2014 (Reporter, 6366, 2014–15, p. 160) for the oral examinations for Paper MES31, Advanced Arabic language. Section (b), reading aloud, has been removed and the oral examination will now consist of three redesignated sections (a), (b), and (c) instead of four. The redesignated sections (a), liaison interpreting, and (b), discussion, will be taken at the beginning of the fourth year; and section (c), listening comprehension, will be taken at the end of the fourth year. Marks to be allocated for each of the sections have been revised. The written examination for the paper remains unchanged.

Part II

MES. 31 Advanced Arabic language

The examination consists of two parts, a three-hour written examination (100 marks) and an oral examination (100 marks). The written examination, which will be taken at the end of the fourth year, will contain: one passage of Arabic on which candidates will be required to answer questions (35 marks); one passage of Arabic to be translated into English (25 marks); one passage of English to be translated into Arabic (20 marks); and one question requiring a piece of writing in Arabic (20 marks). All questions must be attempted.

The oral examination consists of three sections. Sections (a) and (b), liaison interpreting, and discussion, will be taken at the beginning of the fourth year, and section (c), listening comprehension, will be taken at the end of the fourth year. All timings are approximate and all oral examinations are recorded.

(a)Liaison interpreting. Candidates act as an interpreter for two examiners, one speaking Arabic and one English. (30 marks)

(b)Discussion. Candidates discuss a topic of their choice which has been approved in advance by the examiners. (40 marks)

The examination for sections (a) and (b) together will last approximately twenty-five minutes.

(c)Listening comprehension. Candidates answer questions on one recorded passage, which may be taken from a variety of sources. (30 marks)

The Faculty Board of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies have confirmed that no candidate’s preparation for the examinations in 2015 or 2016 will be affected.