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5. 2012 HSC Notes from the Marking Centre — Serbian Continuers

2012 HSC Notes from the Marking Centre – Serbian Continuers

Contents

• Introduction
• Oral examination
• Written examination
• Listening and responding
• Reading and responding
• Writing

Introduction

This document has been produced for the teachers and candidates of the Stage 6 course in Serbian Continuers. It contains comments on candidate responses to the 2012 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 2012 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 Serbian.

NOTE: Teachers and students are reminded that in 2013, the revised Serbian Continuers syllabus and examination specifications will be examined for the first time.

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 far beyond the indicated space 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 that are not included in the glossary may be used, such as ‘design’, ‘translate’ or ‘list’.

Oral examination

General comments

The oral examination for Serbian Continuers consists of two sections: the Conversation and the Discussion. The duration of the oral examination is approximately 7 minutes for Conversation and approximately 8 minutes for Discussion.

In the Conversation, the examiner will ask the candidate questions about his or her personal world (for example his/her life, family and friends, interests and aspirations) as it relates to the prescribed topics in the syllabus. Neither the number of questions nor the number of topics covered by the examination is predetermined. The questions the examiner asks may relate to a previous response made by the student or introduce a new topic. Candidates should answer each question only with information related specifically to the question asked. Candidates are encouraged to respond in such a way that they demonstrate knowledge and understanding of a range of structures and vocabulary, but not through the inclusion of material irrelevant to the question asked. If they do not understand a question, candidates may ask for the question to be repeated, clarified or rephrased in the language being examined.

In the Discussion, the examiner will ask the candidate a series of questions relating to the student’s in-depth study. The subject of the study will relate to one or more of the prescribed themes or topics and involve 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. Students should be prepared to discuss issues related to the study as well as the texts/resources studied. Students must not bring objects such as photographs, posters or pictures to the examination.

Conversation

In the best responses, candidates communicated effectively by going beyond a minimal response, and used correct grammar, intonation and pronunciation. Candidates in this category presented and justified opinions, and their responses to questions showed an ability to manipulate language.

Although all candidates showed some ability to communicate in Serbian, in some weaker responses, candidates typically had errors of grammar such as case, gender and number, and the interference of English words, structures or expression. Some candidates gave minimal responses or needed prompting and questions to be rephrased.

Discussion

Most responses to this section showed a high degree of preparation and knowledge of the requirements of the task. In the best responses, candidates showed effective reference to resources, including literary ones such as films and novels as well as documentaries and television programs and series. Some candidates referred to more than one literary resource. In addition, there was a variety of interesting topics that allowed candidates to refer to varying views and opinions as well as provide their own. These included arranged marriages, surviving the digital world, and challenges faced by migrants.

Most candidates referred to a number of resources, and not just internet articles. However, there were still some instances of inadequate or inappropriate resources. Conversations with parents and grandparents, while adding possible alternative perspectives on an issue, will never be sufficient resources on their own.

Written examination

Listening and responding

General comments

Candidates should ensure they address the question. They should give specific details from the text rather than make generalisations. Candidates must ensure that all relevant information contained in the Notes column is transferred to the lined section of the examination paper if they want this information to be considered as part of the response.

In better responses, candidates inferred, evaluated and analysed information, language, emotions, points of view, and attitudes in the texts. Candidates are advised to read the questions and carefully focus on the key words in each question such as ‘compare’, ‘how’ and ‘why’, and address the answer from this perspective.

Part A

Question 1(b)

To score full marks, candidates needed to recognise the changes in the way (the tone) Jovan speaks to Vanja.

Question 2

In better responses, candidates clearly compared the neighbour’s opinions about the new coffee machine. In weaker responses, candidates provided a summary of the opinions without comparing them.

Question 3

In better responses, candidates clearly articulated how the tone of the speaker changed. In weaker responses, candidates identified the issue, but did not write about the change in tone.

Question 4 (b)

In better responses, candidates demonstrated a thorough understanding of the spoken text, correctly identifying the reason, emphasising the idea of the virtues and qualities that young people from different areas of life hold and how this would motivate others to work harder.

Question 5

In better responses, candidates clearly stated Mr Novakovic’s wisdom and positive attitude to life and included relevant information from the text to justify their responses.

Part B

Question 6

In better responses, candidates composed the message that Marko left for Vera, providing details. They demonstrated a clear understanding of the text and conveyed all relevant information in the message.

Question 7

In better responses, candidates identified examples of both language and language features, which was necessary to indicate how the speaker could persuade others. Examples of relevant language to support the argument could have included strong expression, the use of emphasis, descriptive language, metaphor and sarcasm.

Reading and responding

General comments

Candidates are encouraged to read the questions before reading the texts as an aid to identifying the meaning of unfamiliar words and to formulate the general sense of the texts. Information required to answer a question may be found in different parts of the text, so candidates are advised to read the whole text, including the heading to gain a global understanding of it.

Part A

Question 8

1. In most responses, candidates recognised the importance of the EXIT festival and included relevant information from the text to justify their responses.
2. In better responses, candidates clearly outlined the reasons and provided details.
3. In better responses, candidates demonstrated a clear understanding of the support of the citizens of Novi Sad to EXIT.

Question 9

1. In better responses, candidates identified examples of language and language devices used by the writer to describe the atmosphere during EXIT. The concept of an electric atmosphere was well understood.
2. In better responses, candidates gave a thorough analysis of both content and tone, comparing Alexander’s and Dragana’s views of EXIT. Weaker answers retold the content.
3. Better responses included a combination of evidence and a discussion of language and tone to explain Nikola’s attitude to EXIT. These made reference to the use of emphatic language, the bitter tone etc. Weaker responses focused on content and did not address the language features required in the question.

Part B

Question 10

Candidates generally responded well to the information in the text. There was more than enough information to provide depth in the response and better answers were clearly written and well organised. Few responses failed to refer in detail to what was required.

Most candidates included relevant points, with many of them demonstrating an excellent understanding of the entire text. However, the language showed weaknesses. Responses demonstrated a satisfactory to thorough understanding of Serbian vocabulary and sentence structures but writing the superlative form of adjectives separately (eg naj jaci, naj bolji), using English imports to Serbian, poor congruence and incorrect negative forms of verbs were evident. There was a preponderance of incorrect punctuation, especially commas. This affected sentence structure and the overall fluency of the text.

Some of the positives this year included the absence of English vocabulary (not the Serbian ‘imports’) and Cyrillic–Latin mixes. There were signs of a creative use of language which gave depth and maturity to responses.

Writing

Questions 11 and 12

The responses to both questions generally demonstrated a certain depth of treatment with candidates responding with relevant information and ideas. Many candidates demonstrated breadth and depth in the treatment of the task, despite evident difficulties in manipulating language. Weaknesses included the influence of English syntax, lack of appropriate punctuation, poor congruence, lack of variety of vocabulary and some inventions such as mrznoca, bogatuje, privilegiozna.