Italian Beginners 2017 HSC exam pack

Students should:

• use correct grammar
• demonstrate the ability to conjugate verbs in a variety of tenses
• be comfortable with correcting themselves if they realise they have made a pronunciation or grammatical mistake
• ask, in Italian, for the question to be repeated, clarified or rephrased if they don’t understand the question
• avoid asking the examiner to translate words or questions
• avoid identifying themselves, their teachers or school in the exam.

Students should expect:

• to respond to one or more questions, both predictable and unpredictable, within any one syllabus topic by giving information and opinions not only about themselves but also others (friends and relatives)
• questions relating to the past, present and future experience.

Students can prepare for the examination by:

• practising responses to questions about the student’s personal world as it relates to the syllabus topics.

In better responses, students were able to:

• respond with more than yes/no responses by providing relevant information and their opinions
• respond in a spontaneous manner with some elaboration, including authentic expressions
• use consistently accurate pronunciation and intonation
• manipulate with confidence a variety of tenses including reflexives, modals and infinitives and pronouns
• use a variety of vocabulary within the syllabus topics
• use linking words effectively and correctly
• use adjective agreements consistently and correctly
• correctly mimic the question asked, for example, Sì, mi piace…, (Io) studio…
• understand Con chi?, Da quanto tempo?, Vai spesso?
• avoid repetitiveness throughout the conversation
• respond accurately to questions in the third person.

Students should:

• read the questions during the reading time allowed before listening to the item
• respond by showing a clear understanding of the question
• use the Candidates’ Notes column to make notes and ensure all relevant information is incorporated into the final response
• use any time at the end of the examination to read over responses to ensure they are meaningful and not contradictory
• use the correct text types, ensuring that they use the correct greetings/endings
• ensure that they use the dictionary correctly, seeking the appropriate meaning
• be ready to reflect on/write about aspects of the past, present and future
• to manipulate a variety of tenses correctly; use adjectival agreements correctly and know their pronouns particularly ci and ne.

Students can prepare for this examination by:

• practising past HSC examination papers and highlighting key words from a question before answering
• learning to use dictionaries effectively and accurately
• ensuring handwriting is legible; ensuring expression is clear
• revising tenses thoroughly
• practising responding to a variety of text types.

In better responses, students were able to:

• distinguish between meeting on the way to school rather than just meeting before school (Q3)
• present a contrasting as well as a common point of view when asked to comparing the points of view (Q9)
• identify correct vocabulary: vado a piedi (Q3), rumore and forte  (Q4), ti prometto and tengo (Q5), bambino and piange (Q6), moneta and understand that collezione was not colazione (Q10).

In better responses, students were able to:

• identify and refer to all the elements in the text to support their response
• justify with reference to the text by paraphrasing in English
• recognise the written word for numbers, for example, sessantenne (Q13)
• read the text in its entirety, for example, the title, the sub title (Q13)
• clearly explain the context of their responses include the fact that the festival started in Florence because it was stipulated (Q14 (a))
• clearly identify the personal qualities of a fashion blogger (Q15)
• recognise the tenses in relation to key information required in their responses (Q16)
• understand key expressions for example, luogo di nascita; il mio cuore ha vinto for my heart won (Q16).

In better responses, students were able to:

• use a variety of tenses, grammatical structures and expressions appropriately
• use reflective language when describing their experiences in their diary entries
• write on a range of topics about their personal world, with only minor inaccuracies in grammar, vocabulary and sentence structure.