Chinese Beginners 2020 HSC exam pack

Conversation

Students should:

• be prepared to communicate about a variety of topics relating to their personal world
• answer the question asked rather than presenting pre-prepared responses
• provide information, express ideas and comment on their personal world
• be prepared to respond to questions from a different perspective
• be prepared to respond to questions that relate to past, present and future aspects of their personal world
• avoid the repetition of the same vocabulary, phrases and expressions
• manipulate the language to fulfil the requirements of the question
• be prepared to be interrupted by the examiner
• use Chinese to ask for repetition and/or clarification of the question.

In better responses, students were able to:

• answer questions with relevant information
• make comments, express opinions and elaborate on ideas about their personal world
• use time phrases to indicate tense, for example, 昨天，去年，现在，明年
• use a variety of vocabulary relevant to the topics
• use conjunctions and other useful phrases to express meanings with complexity, for example, 如果……就……, 虽然 ……但是……，尤其, 希望, 比如 and  一边……一边……
• speak clearly and with good intonation and pronunciation
• speak confidently and fluently.

Areas for students to improve include:

• responding in full sentences rather than giving only single words as an answer
• supporting their responses with appropriate information to extend their answers
• further developing their listening skills so they can understand the questions asked
• paying attention to the position of a time phrase in a sentence, for example, 我每个星期六去打球， not 我去打球每个星期六
• paying attention to the sequence of time words, for example, 下午四点, not 四点下午.

Students should:

• read each question carefully
• make notes in the Candidate’s Notes column on the right-hand side of the page
• transcribe their response on to the lines, using the space provided for each question
• use the lines provided as a guide to the length of the response required
• ensure their responses are clear and address all parts of the question
• use their own words and respond in English
• avoid translating text as part of their response.

In better responses, students were able to:

• identify the key information from the audio text, especially the crucial words needed for the questions, for example, umbrella (Q1)
• address the questions appropriately, for example, suggestions made by Mary (Q2)
• support their responses with adequate reasons and evidence (Q4)
• demonstrate their ability to summarise (Q6)
• Justify their responses with appropriate textual reference (Q7-8), for example, how Xiaowen convinces his mum to change her mind (Q8)
• demonstrate their understanding of the audio texts, justifying their responses with supportive evidence (Q9-10).

Areas for students to improve include:

• interpreting the questions correctly
• using their own words rather than literal translation from texts
• providing adequate and appropriate information required by the questions
• using a dictionary effectively to find key words needed.

Students should:

• read the whole text(s)
• address all parts of each question
• use the lines, table, chart etcetera allocated for the response
• provide all necessary details to respond to the question fully
• support their responses with evidence from the text where required
• use their own words rather than giving a literal translation
• use their dictionary appropriately to find the correct meaning of the word(s) in context.

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate a thorough understanding of the texts
• identify all relevant information by providing appropriate information required for each question (Q11-13)
• draw conclusions and support responses with specific references to the texts (Q14-16)
• infer meaning from the text, not just providing direct translations (Q14, Q16b)
• demonstrate the ability to analyse, compare and summarise (Q14-16).

Areas for students to improve include:

• focusing on what is asked in the question
• using their own words rather than direct translation from texts
• avoiding the inclusion of irrelevant details
• using a dictionary effectively to identify key words from the texts.

Students should:

• write to the word length required
• address audience, purpose and context required by the question
• apply the conventions of the type of text indicated in the question
• use correct register throughout the response
• use a range of tenses, sentence structures and a variety of vocabulary
• avoid repeating the same expressions throughout the response
• use the dictionary carefully to access vocabulary and expressions that are meaningful in the context of their response
• avoid listing
• edit their work.

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate a thorough understanding of the question
• sequence their responses in a coherent and logical way
• use a variety of language structures and vocabulary
• use the correct text types.

Areas for students to improve include:

• understanding the requirements of the question
• avoiding repeating the same expressions throughout the response, for example, 因为…… 所以
• focusing on the topic rather than providing irrelevant information
• avoiding using pre-learned responses
• avoiding using pinyin or English.