French Beginners 2024 HSC exam pack

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 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 French to ask for repetition and/or clarification of the question.

In better responses, students were able to:

• respond confidently to questions with minimal hesitation
• respond using a range of correctly formed tenses including the présent, passé composé, futur proche, futur simple, conditionnel, and a variety of regular and irregular verbs. For example, je veux, je peux, nous faisons, je m’entends, j’ai fait, j’ai vu, je suis allé, nous sommes restés, c’était, je vais voyager, je voudrais, j’aimerais
• recognise and use the correct tense relevant to the intent of the question. For example, responding in passé composé or futur proche to questions relating to the past or future respectively
• use expressions for giving opinions, for example, je trouve que, je pense que
• provide relevant answers to questions rather than giving a rehearsed answer
• elaborate and justify ideas and opinions using authentic and personalised examples relating to past, present and future aspects of their personal world
• demonstrate the ability to use negation correctly, for example, je ne suis pas allé, je n’ai pas encore voyagé
• use connectives, time markers and adverbs to add flow and complexity to answers, for example, par contre, malheureusement, à part ça, en général, normalement, typiquement, d’habitude, donc, souvent, de temps en temps, l’année dernière
• provide a variety of adjectives, for example, intéressant, aîné, ennuyeux, accueillant
• demonstrate an excellent control of language structures including adjectival endings, and use of modal verbs, for example, la cuisine française, je veux voyager,je dois faire mes devoirs, nous voulons.

Areas for students to improve include:

• using the verb avoir to state an age, j’ai 18 ans, ma soeur a 7 ans
• using reflexive verbs correctly. For example, nous nous entendons, je me dispute, je vais m’amuser, je voudrais me détendre
• conjugating common regular and irregular verbs, such as, j’étudie, je fais, je vais
• forming tenses correctly. For example, je vais étudier/voyager, je suis allé
• using the verb visiter with a place and rendre visite à or voir with people
• avoiding one-word answers such as oui and non with no elaboration
• avoiding the use of English in answers
• using possessives and subject pronouns correctly, ma soeur not ta soeur, mon père not ma père
• using negatives with the passé composé. For example, je n’ai pas déjà visité
• mastering the use of the verb préférer in a sentence, such as, je préfère l’anglais, not je préférer l’anglais.

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 onto the lines, using the space provided for each question
• use the lines provided as a guide to the length of the response required
• ensure that 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:

• sequence their answer in an orderly and coherent manner
• use the knowledge of the alphabet in French to spell words correctly (Q1)
• recognise vocabulary such as numbers in context (Q4)
• give full details such as, ‘best pastry chef in the world’ (Q3)
• address the concept of comparison (Q9)
• clearly analyse a table (Q9).

Areas for students to improve include:

• providing specific evidence to support their responses
• ensuring responses make sense and avoiding making contradictions
• ensuring answers contain all relevant details
• revising numbers (ordinal and cardinal)
• using a broad range of vocabulary.

Students should:

• read the whole text(s)
• address all parts of each question
• use the lines, table, chart provided for their response
• respond fully to the question by including details as required
• 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 word(s) in context.

In better responses, students were able to:

• understand both the overall meaning and identify supporting detail in the text concisely
• use dictionaries effectively to identify key words relevant to the answer trotinette, (Q11)
• use the text as a basis for their answers rather than assumptions based on general knowledge (environmental benefits)
• recognise cultural differences, euros
• select information in the text relevant to answering the question rather than translating everything
• distinguish faux amis and cognates. For example, société as an organisation rather than society (Q12b)
• compose a comparison with details as outlined in the question such as the advantages and disadvantages (Q14c)
• demonstrate the ability to use the mark value to determine the amount of information required.

Areas for students to improve include:

• answering in full sentences to avoid ambiguity and reading over answers to make sure they are cohesive and their expression in English makes sense
• using dictionaries to clarify meaning of simple words such as chat
• using English spelling for cognates such as astronaut not astronaute or a synonym to show understanding rather than just writing the French word
• using the title and context of the text to help answer the question, un chat astronaute
• identifying words that give or change meaning, especially prepositions, sur les trottoirs;comme les vélos (Q11)
• avoiding generalisations and/or assumptions not supported by the text such as ‘clean energy’ (Q11)
• selecting information relevant to question rather than translating the whole text
• paraphrasing the text in English instead of quoting it in French as part of the response. 

Students should:

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

In better responses, students were able to:

• answer the question with relevant details, including party details and an explanation of or reason for the chosen theme, (Q15)
• focus on one memory in the response, for example, school camp, family trip, fun day out instead of describing different memories across time (Q17, Q18)
• recognise and use appropriate vocabulary, such as fête d’anniversaire (Q15)
• use the correct register consistently (Q15, Q16) and use vous for a speech (Q17,Q18)
• use rhetorical questions for a speech to engage the audience (Q17-18)
• provide an introduction and conclusion for the speech (Q17-18)
• use authentic French expressions correctly, J’ai hâte de te voir (Q15), Je voudrais vous parler de, merci de votre attention … (Q17, Q18)
• use imperatives correctly and a variety of adjectives such as enrichissant, inoubliable
• sequence ideas coherently by organising ideas into paragraphs and use a range of connectives. For example, premièrement, ensuite, après ça (Q17, Q18)
• apply a range of past tenses including the passé composé and imparfait and reflexives.

Areas for students to improve include:

• using dictionaries correctly and recognising the difference between a verb, noun or adjective and nouns with multiple options: souvenir versus mémoire
• recognising the different meanings of verbs which sound similar such as porter versus apporter
• ensuring that all parts of the question have been answered including the audience, purpose and context of the question
• checking work thoroughly and paying attention to language structures, such as verb and adjective agreements, tense formation, gender, possessive adjectives, the use of mon, ma, mes, prepositions and adjectives versus adverbs
• conjugating verbs correctly and using a variety of tenses.