2013 Notes from the Marking Centre – Modern Hebrew Continuers
Introduction
This document has been produced for the teachers and candidates of the Stage 6 Modern Hebrew Continuers 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:
- the Modern Hebrew Continuers Stage 6 Syllabus
- the 2013 Higher School Certificate Modern Hebrew Continuers examination
- the marking guidelines
- Advice for students attempting HSC languages examinations, and HSC Languages oral examinations – advice to students
- Advice for HSC students about examinations
- other support documents developed by the Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards NSW to assist in the teaching and learning of Modern Hebrew in Stage 6.
Oral examination
Part A – Conversation
Characteristics of better responses:
- demonstration of effective communication skills
- elaboration of responses using a variety of tenses, when required
- high level of vocabulary, including a range of sophisticated vocabulary and sentence structures
- effective manipulation of the language, using the correct intonation
- expression and justification of a point of view.
Characteristics of weaker responses:
- responses to questions lacked depth and fluency
- brief responses with occasional use of English syntax
- past and future tenses not used correctly
-
frequent grammar mistakes, including:
- incorrect use of the infinitive (eg ani rotzah leshalemet, or ani lesachek kaduregel)
- incorrect preposition after certain verbs (eg nosea beh)
- errors in the noun-adjective agreement (eg bayit gedolah) and pronoun-verb agreement (eg hamishpacha holchim).
Part B – Discussion
Characteristics of better responses:
- well-defined topics that were interesting, related directly to the syllabus, allowed for discussion and provided opportunities to express and justify a point of view
- detailed and perceptive references to sources, including mention of a literary source and insight into the usefulness of their sources and also, in some instances, a comparison of sources
- demonstration of in-depth knowledge of the topic area and detailed, fluent responses to questions
- high level of grammatical accuracy, use of a range of sophisticated vocabulary and sentence structures, and correct pronunciation and intonation
- point of view discussed and substantiated effectively, supported by reasons and evidence from sources.
Characteristics of weaker responses:
- research lacked depth
- questions not always understood, or answered with insufficient depth and detail
- prepared material was evident in responses and there was no elaboration
- specific vocabulary relating to the topic was not always used
- lower levels of sophistication and grammatical accuracy were used than when presenting their topics.
Written examination
Section I – Listening and Responding
Characteristics of better responses:
- responses were not simply a translation of the text
- responses had depth and included all the relevant information from the texts
- candidates supported their answers with references to the texts
- in the longer responses, answers were well structured and clearly articulated.
Characteristics of weaker responses:
- candidates quoted from the texts in Hebrew, not demonstrating their understanding
- responses were simply a translation of the text
- candidates did not respond to all aspects of the question as required.
Section II – Reading and Responding
Characteristics of better responses:
- relevant details from the text were included to support opinions
- responses provided depth and detail
- the main points of the text were identified and all the relevant information was included.
Characteristics of weaker responses:
- candidates did not use accurate grammar or correct vocabulary
- candidates did not make sufficient reference to the main points raised in the text.
Section III – Writing in Modern Hebrew
Characteristics of better responses:
- a range of vocabulary and language structures was used
- candidates provided relevant detail in response to the topics
- responses were well structured
- candidates used grammatical structures accurately.
Characteristics of weaker responses:
- there was inconsistent use of register
- responses did not always fully meet the requirements of the task
- responses showed evidence of English syntax and translation
- there were frequent errors in language structures and vocabulary
- candidates did not meet the word limit and responses were repetitive with irrelevant information.
NSW Government