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5. 2010 HSC Notes from the Marking Centre — Spanish

2010 HSC Notes from the Marking Centre – Spanish

Contents

• Introduction
• Beginners
  • Oral examination
  • Written examination
    • Section I – Listening
    • Section II – Reading
    • Section III – Writing in Spanish
• Continuers
  • Speaking skills
  • Written examination
    • Section I – Listening and Responding
    • Section II – Reading and Responding
    • Section III – Writing in Spanish
• Extension
  • Speaking skills
  • Section I – Response to prescribed text
  • Section II – Writing in Spanish

Introduction

This document has been produced for the teachers and candidates of the Stage 6 courses in Spanish. It contains comments on candidate responses to the 2010 Higher School Certificate examinations, indicating the quality of the responses and highlighting their relative strengths and weaknesses.

This document should be read along with the relevant syllabuses, the 2010 Higher School Certificate examinations, the marking guidelines and other support documents which have been developed by the Board of Studies to assist in the teaching and learning of Spanish.

General comments

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’.

Beginners

Oral examination

In the best responses, candidates provided a range of answers across different topics relating to their personal world for the required five minutes, using sophisticated language, manipulating a range of vocabulary and language structures, as well as demonstrating control of a range of verb tenses. These candidates responded to the questions asked with relevant information that demonstrated their ability in spoken Spanish.

Written examination

Section I – Listening

General comments

Candidates are reminded that they should listen for gist as well as specific items of information and that they should read each question carefully.

Question 1

Some candidates did not understand that the event would take place tomorrow.

Question 3

Some candidates did not understand the setting of the scenario in its Spanish-speaking context.

Question 4

Some responses included only one reason for the bad mood.

Question 7

The best responses clearly identified how the parents were supported by the suggestions of the radio item. In weaker responses, candidates omitted some key information provided.

Question 8

The best responses clearly summarised the four arguments.

Question 9

Candidates found this question challenging. In weaker responses, candidates did not identify the nature of the message.

Question 10

In weaker responses, candidates did not provide evidence from the text to support their answer. In this particular question candidates needed to understand the change in the woman’s opinion on travelling overseas.

Section II – Reading

General comments

Students are reminded to take care in the use of dictionaries. They are advised to read the individual texts and all the accompanying questions before consulting a dictionary. Reading the questions carefully, taking note of the marks and number of lines allocated for each question and then identifying the required information in the text itself, before starting to answer questions, is the best way to ensure that responses are relevant.

Question 12

A few students identified only one of the relevant two pages.

Question 13

1. Weaker responses misinterpreted las siete y media as ‘6.30’.
2. In better responses, candidates addressed all the requirements of the question by including reasons based on the text: ‘needs to be patient and well organised because s/he will be in charge of two young children...’ An unusual, but equally acceptable, approach to this question was to describe an individual and explain why s/he would be a suitable applicant: ‘X is a university student who is patient and well organised and so would be a suitable person to look after two young children…’

Question 14

1. Most responses identified young people and politics as the topic of the article, though some of the weaker responses included only a literal translation of the title.
2. The council survey findings were clearly identified in better responses as being a series of concerns for young people – personal security, access to education, youth services and the environment – as well as their awareness of the impact that politicians’ decisions can have on their lives.
3. In the best responses, candidates explained precisely what Miguel saw as the advantages of involvement. Weaker responses tended to include literal, often incomprehensible, translations of chunks of text.

Question 15

3. In the best responses, candidates pointed out that the usefulness of Jamie’s information was limited as it did not contribute to the forum and that he was merely using the forum as a means of advertising his agency. In weaker responses, candidates identified the information Jaime provided, with no attempt at evaluating its usefulness.
4. In the best responses, candidates interpreted the postings of Maria Isabel and Hugo and showed why they would enjoy the same holiday: a preference for winter, dislike of crowds, love of mountains and snow and of physical activity, a sense of connectedness to nature and the universe and an interest in not spending much money.

Section III – Writing in Spanish

General comments

In better responses, candidates addressed all the requirements of the questions, paying careful attention to the audience, purpose and context. In the case of the longer task, the responses were well organised and paragraphed. They displayed originality and were also written in correct Spanish, featuring a wide range of vocabulary and varied language structures. Many of these excellent responses were within the word limit. Students are reminded that there is nothing to be gained by writing overlong responses. Indeed, the longer the response the greater the likelihood of error and the less time candidates leave themselves for proofreading.

Question 16

Weaker responses did not refer to a gift and/or the occasion. Students are reminded that ‘thanks for …’ is translated as gracias por …

Question 17

Responses to this question took two forms: a letter sent before the best friend started travelling and a letter that the best friend took with him/her. In better responses, references were made to the friendship and to the personal qualities of the friend, often including a suggestion that the relative and the friend would get on well. In weaker responses, candidates wrote lengthy descriptions of the friend’s physical appearance and interests which had little to do with being a pleasant guest.

Question 18

General comments

The importance of planning and organising the response to address the precise requirements of the question was evident in the best responses. Students are advised to note the Spanish version of the question which will often contain some language relevant to the task.

1. The question clearly set the context as a diary entry being written in mid-January. It also required a focus on how the writer expected his or her life to change from now on. In better responses, candidates fully addressed this requirement by reflecting on their life in the recent past (eg school environment, structured daily routine, friends …) and how the future with its freedoms and responsibilities might be different. Weaker responses tended to outline future plans without referring to the element of change.

   In keeping with the future focus of this question, better responses demonstrated excellent control of future tenses as well as a range of appropriate vocabulary.

2. In the best responses, candidates demonstrated good control of the various past tenses, including preterite and imperfect. In the weaker responses, candidates did not convey why the weekend was memorable, merely outlining a series of unremarkable events over a weekend. Candidates must address the question realistically. Responses that described a trip from Australia to Spain and back, including sightseeing, all within the space of a weekend, were not considered plausible.

Continuers

Speaking skills

General comments

The use of false friends and anglicisms were commonly used by candidates, eg marcas when referring to notas; facilidades when referring to servicios or instalaciones; hospitalidad when referring to hostelería, bookeamos instead of reservamos, aplicar, instead of solicitar and salvar instead of ahorrar.

Care should be taken with the correct form of verbs such as he ido instead of ha ido vive when referring to vivi, hacimos when meaning hicimos. When the subjunctive should have been used, many candidates used the present, ie cuando termino el colegio instead of cuando termine el colegio. Inaccuracies such as yo gusta, sabo etc. were also present.

Literal translations from English into Spanish should also be avoided. For example, moverse instead of mudarse; voy a hacer la universidad instead of voy a estudiar en la universidad, use of the word libreria when referring to library, ‘Business Studies’, Estudios Empresariales or Administración de Empresas.

There were inaccuracies in gender and number agreements and adjective and noun agreements. In the weaker responses, candidates also had difficulties with prepositions in general as well as with gender and number eg la piano for el piano, un banda instead of una banda, la tema and gentes instead of gente. Use of the subjunctive, eg cuando termino el colegio instead of cuando termine el colegio. The incorrect of use of ser and estar was also evident in weaker responses.

Candidates are reminded not to identify themselves or their school.

Written examination

Section I – Listening and Responding

Specific comments

Question 4

The best responses demonstrated a good understanding of the reasons why Carlos left the message: ie he lost the mobile phone, he had it last when he was with her and he wants her to ring back.

Question 5

1. In weaker responses, candidates did not explain why young people would visit the site. These responses were often insufficiently explicit or not logically sequenced.

Question 7

Most candidates demonstrated a general understanding of this question. The best responses, however, included relevant details and an accurate and clear explanation. Candidates needed to explain and support the explanation from Rafael’s point of view (not that of the career advisor) after considering what she has said to him.

Question 8

In the best responses, candidates identified the purpose of the speaker and then explained how her use of language achieved this purpose. Listing techniques without explanation is not helpful. The better responses tended to be written logically and often sequentially, referring to the techniques as they were used in the text.

Section II – Reading and Responding

Question 9

Specific comments

1. In weaker responses, candidates omitted part of the explanation as to why Tony was writing the email to Pedro.
3. In weaker responses, candidates did not include sufficient detail and did not relate information to the focus of the question ie He was lucky because he did not like Amelia’s idea of buying a car so he decided not to go with the friends, thus avoiding the problems they encountered later on.

Question 10

Candidates are reminded to read each question carefully before answering it. Candidates are also reminded to plan their responses and that global responses need to be supported by specific examples from the text in English and/or quotes in Spanish.

2. Summarising in dot form means not including unnecessary detail. An answer like ‘Lack of money, Lack of resources, Isolation and Lack of time’ was sufficient as indicated by the space provided.
3. Many candidates correctly identified Diego’s personality: arrogant, intolerant, superficial, etc, but could not relate it to the language used in the text. The weaker candidates listed language techniques or translated parts of the text.
5. Weaker responses demonstrated a poor understanding of the question, confusion about the writers, or reflected a significant lack of relevant material.

Question 11

Candidates are reminded to read the stimulus text carefully in order to identify the points they need to address. Candidates should also consider the nature of the text type and the word limit in framing their response.

Section III – Writing in Spanish

Question 12

Better responses were written using the correct text type and adhered to the word limit. These responses demonstrated a consistency in the use of tense, addressed the correct audience (either one parent or both parents) and included a plausible explanation. Some weaker responses were too verbose or did not specifically address purpose.

Question 13

General comments

Candidates are strongly advised to adhere to the word limit. Overlong responses were repetitive and lacked coherence and relevance.

1. In better responses, candidates used the subjunctive mood and past tenses effectively.
2. Some candidates had difficulties in conveying the sense of ‘experiencing something new’ and incorrectly used experienciar.

Common errors included:

• misuse of capital letters for proper nouns such as España, Colombia, Paris
• misspelling of verbs such as hacer and haber, ie without the h
• verb conjugations of verbs such as tener, estar.

Extension

Speaking skills

General comments

In better responses, candidates developed a logical and well-structured argument and supported it with relevant ideas and information, demonstrating a sophistication of vocabulary and sentence structures with a high level of grammatical accuracy, authentic intonation and pronunciation. Candidates gave appropriate references to the prescribed issues, and used appropriate vocabulary, language structures and pertinent examples.

In the weaker responses (particularly to Question 2), candidates focused more on one aspect of the question and only addressed in a general way the other aspect, rather than explaining the relationship between strength and unity.

Candidates are reminded of the importance of preparing good, well-structured notes during their seven minute preparation time. Many candidates did not structure their responses effectively. The use of appropriate linking words and phrases should also be considered as an important preparation for this task. Candidates are encouraged to read widely in order to develop an opinion on topics relating to the prescribed issues.

Question 1

In weaker responses, candidates did not address the specific issue nor develop a logical argument. A number listed life experiences, but did not link these to the personal development of an individual.

Question 2

Weaker responses did not address both aspects of the question.

Section I – Response to prescribed text

General comments

Most candidates demonstrated a sound understanding of the film, settings, events, characters and their portrayal, and the prescribed issues were evident in many perceptive interpretations and analyses. However, a number of responses were general in nature and did not include any supporting statements or specific examples from the extract. It is most important to address each element of the question. The mark allocation for each question gives an indication of the depth of treatment required.

Question 1

1. Most candidates responded perceptively and succinctly identified the reason why Alberto mentioned Ernesto’s mother’s comment at this point. A few candidates recounted the scene without necessarily answering the question.
2. In better responses, candidates provided sufficient evidence to demonstrate a thorough understanding of the relationship between Alberto and Ernesto.
3. This question required students to make reference to the whole extract. In the majority of responses, candidates demonstrated a good understanding of the scene. However, only in the better responses did candidates discuss perceptively the relationship between the issues of Solidarity and Survival and this scene. In weaker responses, candidates often listed aspects of the issues without linking these to the scene.
4. In better responses, candidates discussed perceptively the impact of ‘Ernesto’s crossing of the river’ ie the opportunity to reflect on the breaking down of social barriers imposed and an attempt to unite society, and Ernesto’s speech before the crossing of the river. In weaker responses, candidates recounted examples of the impact of the river throughout the film. These responses often lacked depth or relevance to the question.

Part B

Question 2

Most candidates demonstrated a good understanding of the prescribed text through their rewrite of the ending of the film. The responses demonstrated an insight into the situation and the emotions of the characters in the context of the attitudes and beliefs held at the time. A closer knowledge of the film was often missing in the less successful responses where candidates resorted to generalisations about the film.

The best responses to this task demonstrated:

• flair and originality
• a perceptive and sensitive understanding of the text
• an ability to organise information and ideas to meet the requirement of the task
• an ability to manipulate language authentically and creatively.

Section II – Writing in Spanish

General comments

Most candidates presented well-developed arguments, using a range of vocabulary and sentence structures to support their point of view. Candidates are advised to read the question carefully to ensure that their response is relevant. The best responses answered the question directly and specifically and developed a sophisticated, coherent, well-structured argument supported by a range of appropriate and relevant examples. The best responses demonstrated a good understanding of the text type.

In preparing for this part of the examination, candidates should:

• plan their response, writing a quick plan
• provide a relevant introduction and a convincing conclusion in keeping with the text type
• develop a response that has breadth and depth
• write accurately, aiming to use a variety of structures, tenses and vocabulary
• engage the interest of the audience
• use the dictionary appropriately and cross-reference where necessary.

Candidates should also allow time to review their responses, especially regarding:

• verb–subject agreement
• correct tense
• word order
• spelling
• punctuation, particularly commas.

Question 3

In better responses, candidates demonstrated an understanding of the required text type, included an engaging introduction that stimulated the reader's interest and structured their ideas effectively. Most candidates regarded volunteering in a developing country positively. However, those candidates who answered this question from a different point of view but who supported their arguments, also performed well.

Question 4

Better responses showed evidence of careful planning, well-thought-out arguments and the accurate use of a wide variety of vocabulary, idiomatic expressions and structures. Weaker responses often commenced well with a positive opening statement or idea but did not develop or explain a point of view adequately or substantiate an argument with relevant examples. They did not demonstrate sufficient breadth and depth in the treatment of ideas.

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