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5. 2010 HSC Notes from the Marking Centre — Armenian Continuers

2010 HSC Notes from the Marking Centre — Armenian Continuers

Contents

• Introduction
  • Oral Examination
  • Written Examination
    • Section I – Listening and Responding
    • Section II – Reading and Responding
    • Section III – Writing

Introduction

This document has been produced for the teachers and candidates of the Stage 6 Armenian Continuers course. It contains comments on candidate responses to the 2010 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 relevant syllabus, the 2010 Higher School Certificate examination, the marking guidelines and other support documents which have been developed by the Board of Studies to assist in the teaching and learning of Armenian.

General comments

Teachers and candidates should be aware that examiners may ask questions that address the syllabus outcomes in a manner that requires candidates to respond by integrating their knowledge, understanding and skills developed through studying the course.

Candidates need to be aware that the marks allocated to the question and the answer space (where this is provided on the examination paper) are guides to the length of the required response. A longer response will not in itself lead to higher marks. Writing in excess of the space allocated may reduce the time available for answering other questions.

Candidates need to be familiar with the Board’s Glossary of Key Words which contains some terms commonly used in examination questions. However, candidates should also be aware that not all questions will start with or contain one of the key words from the glossary. Questions such as ‘how?’, ‘why?’ or ‘to what extent?’ may be asked or verbs may be used which are not included in the glossary, such as ‘design’, ‘translate’ or ‘list’.

Oral examination

Conversation

The majority of the candidates were well prepared, and a good standard was achieved for this section of the oral examination. Better responses were comprehensive and demonstrated correct grammar, and appropriate pronunciation and intonation. The best responses showed an extensive vocabulary, a wealth of ideas and a command of a variety of linguistic structures. A few candidates were less well prepared and tended to answer questions using limited vocabulary and had to search for words and used anglicisms. These responses tended to show weaknesses in grammar and language structures.

Discussion

A few responses appeared to be a result of under-preparation, with evidence of English words and simple language.

Most candidates demonstrated that they had researched a topic for the in-depth study and made use of a number of resources to which they referred during the discussion. Candidates generally used excellent expressions in this section. However, some candidates were unable to demonstrate an ability to ‘make detailed and perceptive references to the texts’ (Discussion marking guidelines). Candidates need to be reminded that preparing a topic for the Discussion requires ‘the in-depth study of at least three texts, one of which will be a literary text, such as a novel, play, film or poem’ (Assessment and Reporting in Armenian Continuers, p9). A literary text enables candidates to bring different perspectives to the study and provides a better platform for a discussion than webpages, conversations with family members, travel brochures and personal experiences. It is suggested that candidates use novels, films, poems and short stories to support the in-depth study.

The best responses demonstrated an ability to present both sophistication and depth to a discussion of their study. These candidates made specific and detailed references to texts and offered opinions and presented arguments based on these. Weaker responses were characterised by a lack of in-depth understanding of the topic and limited ability to present and discuss issues, opinions and/or arguments

Written Examination

Section I – Listening and Responding

Part A

Question 1

Most candidates provided the information required. There was some confusion with the words car and bus.

Question 4

1. This multiple choice question was answered correctly by most students.
2. Most candidates demonstrated a good understanding what the dialogue between the grandfather and Ani revealed about their relationship. Better responses referred to the mutual relationship between Ani and her grandfather.

Question 5

The majority of the candidates showed an understanding of why the conversation had been broadcast. The better responses made references to the text. It is advisable for candidates to do this to support their arguments.

Part B

Question 6

Most responses demonstrated a good understanding of the parents' attitude to Armen, and better responses manipulated the language effectively.

Question 7

This question proved challenging. The majority of responses showed some understanding of the text but were unable to provide relevant references to the text in explaining how Rosa and Hagop felt sorry about Seta. Better responses manipulated the language effectively.

Section II – Reading and Responding

Part A

Question 8

1. Most candidates were able to answer this question, explaining what the newspaper article had revealed.
2. This part of the question proved to be challenging, with few responses demonstrating a perceptive understanding of Mariam's achievements and actions and making references to the text.
3. The best responses identified the issues raised in the last paragraph of the article, showing a good understanding. Some candidates only made general statements, showing a lack of understanding of the details of the issues raised.

Question 9

1. The majority of the candidates demonstrated a good understanding of Mariam's reasons for writing the letter by referring to her reluctance to meet her coach and also thanking him for his support.
2. This part of the question posed some difficulty for the majority of candidates. Some responses indicated a confused understanding of the question.
3. This was a challenging question, requiring the candidates to infer from and compare the two texts. Most responses used the newspaper article to answer the question. The difficulty appeared to be the comparison of the two texts and the inferences.

Part B

Question 10

Most candidates demonstrated a sound, general understanding of the stimulus text and offered wide-ranging responses to the negative film review with the appropriate text type, a film review, as required by the question. The best responses exhibited depth of treatment, authenticity and creative manipulation of language. They showed an ability to use information from the stimulus text and to write with acceptable fluency and accuracy.

Section III – Writing

In this section candidates are expected to demonstrate the ability to write accurately and appropriately using a range of vocabulary and structures creatively, and to sequence and structure ideas appropriately to the topic and task. Most candidates were able to do this to some degree.

Most candidates answered Question 11 – an article on the importance of exercise for young people – and did so with competence and appreciable skill. The treatment of both topics showed depth and skilful manipulation of language in the majority of responses. The best responses were to Question 12 – a speech. These responses demonstrated exceptional creativity and good sequencing of ideas in well-structured, coherent, vocabulary-rich texts.

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