German Beginners 2022 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 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 German to ask for repetition and/or clarification of the question.

In better responses, students were able to:

• use complete sentences with correct verb endings that match the subject
• provide a number of extended responses using subordinate clauses and conjunctions with correct word order, for example, Deutsch ist mein Lieblingsfach, weil ich die Grammatik interessant finde und der Unterricht Spaß macht/Wenn ich genug Zeit habe, gehe ich ins Fitnessstudio
• use past tenses correctly such as, using both sein and haben as auxiliaries with correct past participles
• use the simple past tense of the verb sein when appropriate, for example, Am Sonntag bin ich zum Strand gegangen. Das Wetter war leider kalt und es hat geregnet
• use correct tenses in line with the intent of the question
• develop accurate responses in the future tense, using werden, möchten or a time phrase, for example, Nach den Prüfungen werde ich mit meinen Freunden eine Reise machen/Nach der Schule möchte ich arbeiten/Nächstes Jahr studiere ich Psychologie
• demonstrate a good understanding of many grammatical points including case endings, adjectival endings, and use of modal verbs
• use correct word order including examples of verb – subject inversion, for example, Am Wochenende spiele ich Fußball
• use adverbs such as Am Wochenende spiele ich gern/oft Fußball
• have an awareness of prepositions and related case such as mit meinen Freunden/in einem großen Haus
• work with all forms of verb conjugation, for example, Q: Was habt ihr gemacht? A: Wir haben Oma besucht/Q: Wie heißen deine Schwestern?  A: Sie heißen Anna and Ella
• use good pronunciation and intonation including for English cognates such as Universität
• speak with flair either in the choice of vocabulary or phrase, such as großzügig/eine Herausforderung/im Großen und Ganzen/ich interessiere mich für.

Areas for students to improve include:

• responding in full sentences or complete phrases rather than giving single word responses, such as, ja/nein only as the response
• elaborating and giving detailed information and/or examples to add depth to their responses using a variety of tenses, especially the perfect tense with auxiliary verbs haben and sein
• using a range of vocabulary and sentence structures
• revising the question words wo, wann, wie, warum and especially wer, in order to respond appropriately
• conjugating verbs correctly, especially all first and third person singular
• using correct pronunciation especially for the cognates, such as, Englisch, Deutsch, Universität, Basketball, interessant, Familie, Musik (and school subjects in general)
• using a variety of adjectives to avoid the overuse of one item of vocabulary or repetition of expressions
• using modal verbs with an infinitive and correct word order
• responding with the correct subject-verb form required by the question, especially with regards to pronouns
• avoiding only responding in the first person
• learning the correct pronunciation of kochen, Kuchen and Küche
• revising the difference between Hausaufgaben and Hausarbeit
• revising the basic questions about names and ages
• knowing the verbs gefallen, gewinnen, verlieren and füttern
• knowing key vocabulary related to prescribed syllabus topics such as Beruf & Zukunft
• revising the construction of the expressions mit jemandem gut auskommen and sich mit jemandem gut verstehen
• knowing ordinal numbers for a possible question on birthdays
• knowing how to respond to a question to which they don’t know the answer, for example, Das ist eine schwere/gute Frage, or Ich bin nicht sicher was mein Bruder studiert
• asking for repetition or rephrasing of question in German only
• speaking as loudly and clearly as possible.

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:

• provide all the necessary textual evidence to support their response
• choose only one response to multiple choice questions
• listen carefully to specific information in order to eliminate distractors in multiple choice questions, for example, Ich muss auch zur Kantine – komm, wir gehen zusammen dorthin means this conversation is nottaking place at the canteen (Q8)
• demonstrate understanding of specific or sophisticated vocabulary, for example, drauβen, Freund/Freundin/Freunde, verliebt, eine Wohnung mieten, aus meinem Zimmer klettern, Stadtteil, vertrauen, glauben, Ausflüge, Badetuch, der See, ihr, ihnen, sich trennen
• understand numbers when listening to time of day (Q7)
• link the information in the texts to indicate global understanding
• provide a well-structured response which justifies and supports an observation with a range of details from the text (Q10)
• summarise key information succinctly using the dot points provided (Q7)
• listen to pronouns carefully and understand who is doing what in a text, for example, (Q9) soll ich mit ihnen reden means Nina is offering to talk to Julian’s parents
• follow a complicated narrative that covers a combination of time and place (Q5)
• avoid relying purely on translating the text, but rather using interpretation and analytical skills.

Areas for students to improve include:

• providing all the information required to answer the question fully
• providing an interpretation if the question asks for one
• writing clear and concise responses, especially for the summary responses
• ensuring their English response makes sense
• avoiding repetition of the same material in the response.

Students should:

• read the whole text(s)
• address all parts of each question
• use the lines, table and 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
• not write German in their responses.

In better responses, students were able to:

• understand and interpret vocabulary, particularly compound nouns, correctly to assist in providing detailed responses, including: Straßenparty, Weihnachten, Selbstbewusstsein gestärkt, verdient, Sprachassistentin, Noten
• interpret tenses to understand what is taking place and when
• understand the sentence structures when sub-ordinate clauses are used
• make connections within the text to provide opinion and justify them with details from the text
• formulate a response which addresses the key words in the question, for example, justify, describe, summarise, explain.

Areas for students to improve include:

• looking beyond the first meaning of a word in the dictionary
• writing clear sentences and checking that their English makes sense
• identifying key points or the essence of the question before looking up relevant vocabulary
• avoiding the overuse of the dictionary
• ensuring they have answered the how or what evidence component of the question
• avoiding using quotes from the text in German
• looking beyond literal meaning, for example, meine Frau hat ohne Brille das Essen fast nicht gesehen (Q14)
• writing succinct summaries.

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:

• correctly use conjunctions and subordinate clauses to make longer sentences
• make their text engaging by using a good variety of vocabulary and including some authentic German words or phrases, for example, obwohl, außerdem, Vorteile und Nachteile, fix und fertig, im Großen und Ganzen
• demonstrate an understanding of different pronouns depending on audience being addressed
• use a variety of tenses, such as, perfect, imperfect and future tenses and vary the tenses appropriately
• use modal verbs correctly
• use the verb werden correctly
• use the word Spaβ correctly
• use Umlauts appropriately
• write creatively and avoid common adjectives and scenarios
• vary their sentence structure to showcase their knowledge of more complex grammar.

Areas for students to improve include:

• using the dictionary correctly, for example teuer (dear/expensive), Grille (cricket/cricket)
• avoiding repetition of words or phrases
• using the given expression ich bin ausgezogen correctly
• avoiding confusing the verbs werden and wollen
• employing a greater variety of tenses, vocabulary and structures
• avoiding including pre-learnt text if it is not relevant to the task
• planning and sequencing the information in their responses
• avoiding the use of English syntax and English words
• using third person and plural prepositions with the correct verb conjugation
• avoiding short sentences and aiming to use conjunctions or subordinate clauses.