1. Home
Print this page Reduce font size Increase font size

2013 Notes from the Marking Centre – Italian Beginners

Introduction

This document has been produced for the teachers and candidates of the Stage 6 Italian Beginners course. It contains comments on candidate responses to the 2013 Higher School Certificate examination, indicating the quality of the responses and highlighting their relative strengths and weaknesses.

This document should be read along with:

Section I – Listening

Characteristics of better responses:

  • responses were not merely a translation of the text
  • a full response to the question was provided
  • only specific information required for the response was provided
  • the information was not repeated
  • dictionaries were used effectively to ensure the correct interpretation of words in context.

Characteristics of weaker responses:

  • words such as barca and parco and basics such as the time were frequently confused
  • responses were not logical or coherent
  • specific information contained in a text was not identified.

Section II – Reading

Characteristics of better responses:

  • responses were not merely a translation of the text
  • all the correct details required for a full response were identified
  • the question being asked was answered
  • responses were succinct
  • the gist of the texts was understood.

Characteristics of weaker responses:

  • translations of the text were provided without identifying the requirements of the question
  • relevant information from the text was not chosen
  • dictionaries were not used effectively, frequently translating words literally
  • responses were often very wordy but irrelevant.

Section III – Writing

Question 16

Characteristics of better responses:

  • the correct terminology was used or the term ‘to borrow’ was paraphrased
  • the familiar mode was used when speaking to parents
  • correct verbs such as dare in dietro and restituire were used as well as indefinite and definite article combinations in front of this verb, for example te lo darò indietro
  • a good command of the past tense was demonstrated.

Characteristics of weaker responses:

  • the polite Lei form was used, for example Può prestarmi
  • candidates experienced difficulty with adjectival agreements
  • ‘to return’ was incorrectly translated as ritornare
  • modal verbs were not used
  • avere was used as a substitute for dovere, for example Tu hai venire as opposed to tu devi venire.

Question 17

Characteristics of better responses:

  • authentic reasons to attend the film were provided
  • persuasive language was used
  • a variety of tenses was used.

Generally, most candidates attempted to use a good variety of tenses, and better students showed greater control and command of these tenses.

Characteristics of weaker responses:

  • candidates experienced difficulty with the following grammatical structures:
    • articulated prepositions, for example in il cinema
    • definite article choice, for example il tuo biglietti
    • poor command of the verb divertirsi
    • using the Lei form when addressing friends, for example Cara Giulia, lei vuole venire al cinema?

Question 18

Characteristics of better responses:

  • ideas were elaborated and sequenced coherently
  • there was good control of the past tense, and a variety of other tenses were used as well
  • interesting vocabulary was used.

Characteristics of weaker responses:

  • candidates focused exclusively on their trip to Italy rather than also including other experiences of their study of Italian during the last two years
  • candidates displayed poor spelling, even of basic words such as Italia, scuola, viaggiare, studiare
  • certain words were anglicised, such as ‘subject’ into soggetto instead of materia, favorito instead of preferito, and English syntax was used, for example il mio favorito soggetto
  • candidates experienced difficulty with articulated prepositions.

Question 19

Characteristics of better responses:

  • ideas were elaborated and sequenced coherently
  • there was good control of the past tense, and a variety of other tenses were used as well.

Characteristics of weaker responses:

  • a variety of experiences were referred to but they were not linked so the text was not fluent or logical
  • verbs were used in the infinitive form
  • there was poor adjectival agreement and incorrect use of the definite and indefinite articles.
Print this page Reduce font size Increase font size