AMC and multi-lingual exams

Version 5 (Pieter Van den Hombergh, 04/06/2014 05:34 pm)

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h1. AMC and multi-lingual exams
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At our institute (Fontys Hogeschool voor techniek en logistiek in Venlo NL) we teach Dutch and German students.
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In the first two semesters we teach in Dutch and German, the exams are accordingly.
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The lessons and exams that the students receive in these lessons should be the same, content wise.
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That is why I create my lecture sheets in LaTeX-Beamer, with multiple languages in the same file. I do the same with my exams.
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By keeping the content in one file, it is much easier to keep the content the same, provided you know the languages used to some degree.
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It also help correcting the content of such files languages wise. While you are working on one file someone else (a colleague, maybe better at one of the languages 
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can correct you files in the mean time. This is especially advantageous if you teach in one language and the other in another and you share sheets and exam questions.
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h1. The trick is trivial.
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Define a set of macros each with one argument, one for each language. The macro for the active language simply passes its contents, the 
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macro for the inactive language(s) drops its content.
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Example adapted to the AMC doc.
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<pre>
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\newcommand\DE[1]{#1} % active
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\newcommand\NL[1]{#1} % active
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\newcommand\EN[1]{#3} % active
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In the production file I deactivate the inactive languages like this:
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\renewcommand\DE[1]{}   % inactive
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\renewcommand\NL[1]{}   % inactive
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\renewcommand\EN[1]{#1} % active
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\begin{questionmult}{test}\scoring{haut=2}
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  \EN{Please select the correct assertions.}
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  \DE{Bitte wählen Sie die korrekte Behauptungen.}
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  \NL{Kies de correcte beweringen.}
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  \begin{choices}
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    \wrongchoice{\EN{Merkozy is the current president of the European Union.}
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            \DE{Merkozy ist der Jetzige President der Europäische Union.}
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            \NL{Merkozy is de huidige president van de Europese Unie.}
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     }
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    \wrongchoice{\EN{The UK just entered the EURO zone.}
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             \DE{Das vereinigte Königreich hat gerade die EURO zone zugetreten.}
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             \NL{Het verenigd koninkrijk ist zojuist bij de EURO zone toegetreden.}
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    }
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  \end{choices}
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\end{questionmult}
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</pre>