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2009 HSC Notes from the Marking Centre – Armenian

Contents

Introduction

This document has been produced for the teachers and candidates of the Stage 6 Armenian course. It contains comments on candidate responses to the 2009 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 2009 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.

Teachers and students are advised that, in December 2008, the Board of Studies approved changes to the examination specifications and assessment requirements for a number of courses. These changes will be implemented for the 2010 HSC cohort. Information on a course-by-course basis is available on the Board’s website.

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 a guide 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 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. They tended to search for words and use anglicisms. Grammar was also an issue.

Discussion

All candidates demonstrated that they had researched a topic for the in-depth study and made use of a number of resources to which they were able to refer during the discussion. Candidates generally used excellent expressions in this section. A few responses were very poor and appeared to be a result of under-preparation, with evidence of English words and simple language – often with single words and simple phrases.

Topics which lent themselves well to discussion of information, ideas and opinions included:

  • the role of the Diaspora in the maintenance of the Armenian culture
  • Michael Jordan: a personal response
  • the Australian economy
  • mixed marriages and the effect on the maintenance of Armenian culture
  • contemporary issues pertinent to youth – binge drinking, driving, drugs, the role of the woman now and then: divorce and the effect on children.

Candidates demonstrated that they had used a number of resources, including websites, books and magazines. However, candidates need to be reminded that they should be using a minimum of three different resources and be able to critically evaluate these: ‘It is expected that at least three different texts will form the basis of the in-depth study, so that the candidate is able to explore their chosen subject in sufficient depth.’ (Armenian syllabus)

Should candidates choose to bring supporting material to the examination, they are reminded that these should be items such as photographs, pictures and maps. Notes and cue cards are not permitted and there must be limited written information or annotations either in English or in Armenian on the objects. Supporting objects serve only as a prompt and in no way influence the mark awarded.

Written examination

Section I – Listening and Responding

Part A

Question 4

This question proved to be challenging. In the best responses, candidates showed a good understanding of Anna’s view. They inferred aspects of Karo’s character from the tone of the conversation.

Question 5
  1. The best responses perceptively deduced the reasons for the effectiveness of the interview. However, the majority of candidates did not refer correctly to the techniques used by the interviewer to encourage Mrs Panossian to speak about her achievements. Context and audience also proved to be challenging for the majority of candidates, with most candidates simply recounting the chronology of the interview.

Part B

Question 6

Most responses were satisfactory in responding to the question and in demonstrating some degree of authenticity to meet the requirements of the task. However, few responses manipulated the language effectively.

Question 7
  1. Most candidates answered this question correctly.
  2. Candidates in the main perceived the question to require a listing of David’s initial thoughts, followed by his concluding remark of being convinced. A few candidates were able to read the tone and context of the conversation, and so were able to show a perceptive understanding of David’s change of thinking.

Section II – Reading and Responding

Part A

Question 8
  1. Most candidates chose an appropriate title and justified their selection.
  2. The majority of candidates identified the ‘concerns’ as being the loss of Armenian identity with the loss of Armenian traditions. A few candidates correctly justified the ‘concerns’ being ‘unique and unusual’ with reference to ancient traditions and contrasting their disappearance over the past twenty years.
  3. The majority of candidates agreed with Mr Hovanissian’s view that ‘a new profile of Armenians is emerging’. Some candidates took a contrary view. Candidates in the main supported their answers with references to the text and a few were able to perceive the rhetorical nature of the sentence: ‘being Armenian in spirit and having a surname ending in …ian’. Most candidates interpreted this to mean the position adopted by Mr Hovanissian.
Question 9
  1. and b. This question confused candidates as it was unclear who had initiated the chatroom conversation and who was giving advice to whom. Therefore, marking schemes were developed for both interpretations, ie that either Mary or Silva had instigated the chat and given advice to the other.
  2. Candidate responses for either Mary’s or Silva’s personality were accepted provided there was appropriate supporting evidence from the text. Candidates had clearly understood the content of the chatroom conversation and were able to identify the purpose of the chat. They understood Mary’s and Silva’s perspectives of the events and were able to write effectively about the personalities revealed.

Part B

Question 10

Candidates generally demonstrated a sound understanding of the stimulus text and offered wide-ranging responses to the positive review of the concert. Very few candidates answered the question with an appropriate text type, a review for a magazine, as required by the question. Most candidates answered in a letter, report, or advertisement. Responses showed an ability to use information from the stimulus text and an ability to write with acceptable fluency and accuracy. Only a few candidates produced responses of high quality, exhibiting depth of treatment, authenticity and creative manipulation of language.

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 – a letter to the school principal – 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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