Chinese Beginners 2023 HSC exam pack

Conversation

Students should:

• be prepared to communicate about a variety of topics relating to their personal world
• elaborate and provide relevant details to address the questions in a way that engages with the examiner
• use a range of vocabulary, expressions and language structures to respond appropriately to the questions
• 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:

• use a wide range of language accurately and authentically
• make comments, express opinions and elaborate on ideas about their personal world effectively
• provide clear responses to questions with minimal hesitation
• provide relevant answers to unexpected questions rather than giving a rehearsed answer
• respond appropriately with correct pronunciation and intonation, including for English cognates, such as 咖啡、巧克力
• use correct tenses in line with the intent of the question, for example, 我去年去过北京，明年会去上海
• use conditional forms correctly, for example, 如果我不做医生，我就做老师
• elaborate and justify ideas and opinions using authentic and personalised examples relating to past, present and future aspects of their personal world
• provide a variety of adjectives, for example, 友善、幽默、亲切、聪明又漂亮
• demonstrate a good understanding of various grammatical points including particles or verb suffixes indicating past experiences, adverbs of degree, and use of modal verbs, for example, 过、了、最、更、能、可以
• develop ideas by using connectives, adverbs of frequency and contrasting connectors, for example, 虽然我在家常常吃中国菜，但是我更喜欢越南菜
• use a variety of vocabulary relevant to the topics, for example, 兵马俑、故宫、南京路、外滩，and 北海公园  for tourist attractions.

Areas for students to improve include:

• further developing their knowledge of sentence structures so they can understand the questions asked, for example, 你起床后做了什么？or 你的朋友是个什么样的人？or 你的邻居人怎么样
• elaborating their responses with appropriate information rather than giving only single words as an answer
• applying correct grammar and syntax in their responses, for example, 我想跟我的朋友庆祝生日, not 我想庆祝生日跟我的朋友
• using measure words correctly, for example, 一只狗or 一条狗，not一个狗
• using conjunctions such as 也 and 和 correctly, for example, 我朋友很聪明，也很漂亮，not 我朋友很聪明和漂亮
• avoiding missing essential particles after adjectives, for example, 我朋友是一个很好的人，not 我朋友是一个很好人.

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.

In better responses, students were able to:

• identify all the key information from the audio texts, particularly the key words, for example, ‘art classes’ (Q3), ‘crowded on the bus’ (Q4), ‘very enthusiastic’ (Q9)
• demonstrate detailed elaboration with relevant textual reference
• compare and contrast ideas or opinions effectively, for example, whether to go to the park or to the beach and when to do it (Q8), whether to go to the US or to Italy (Q9)
• respond to the questions directly. 

Areas for students to improve include:

• selecting relevant information to address the questions
• interpreting the details more precisely
• avoiding literal translation
• providing adequate information required by the questions.

Students should:

• read the whole text(s)
• address all parts of each question
• use the lines, table or chart 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 comprehensive understanding of the texts by identifying all relevant  information. For example, the main message of the notice (Q12), past work experience in a milk tea shop (Q15b), and ‘time consuming for those who live far from school to walk to school’ (Q16)
• answer questions using relevant reference to the texts
• demonstrate the ability to ‘explain’ (Q12b), ‘justify’ (Q15b) and ‘compare’ (Q16b) and address the questions appropriately.

Areas for students to improve include:

• avoiding direct translation of the texts
• using dictionaries to identify key words to avoid misinterpretation of the details
• understanding the questions and providing relevant responses
• including all relevant information. For example, Xiaoming’s concerns should be addressed and included (Q14b).

Students should:

• write to the word length required
• address the context, purpose and audience required by the question
• apply the conventions of the type of text indicated in the question
• use correct register consistently 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:

• present ideas and information in a logical sequence
• address the questions with relevant information and ideas
• choose most relevant information when developing ideas
• use a wide range of vocabulary and language structures accurately.

Areas for students to improve include:

• understanding the questions and providing relevant information in their response
• avoiding irrelevant examples. For example, selecting activities that represent Australia, such as, watching koalas or visiting the Harbour Bridge, rather than going to play basketball or sports games (Q20)
• using a wide range of vocabulary and structures.