Italian Beginners 2018 HSC exam pack

Students should:

• be prepared to respond to questions about their personal world
• expect questions that relate to past, present and future experiences
• be able to respond to questions that are both predictable and unpredictable within the syllabus topics
• correct themselves if they realise they have made an error
• ask in Italian for the question to be repeated or clarified if they have not understood the question
• not identify their school or teacher in the exam.

In better responses, students were able to:

• elaborate on their responses
• manipulate tenses and verbs correctly, especially in the third person
• provide and justify opinions use idiomatic expressions and proverbs within the correct context
• engage effectively across a range of syllabus topics
• use a broad range of vocabulary and a variety of language structures
• demonstrate authentic pronunciation and intonation.

Areas for students to improve include:

• avoiding the use of English syntax and anglicisms
• responding with relevant information
• recognising the tense in which the question is asked and respond accordingly
• avoiding repetition of the same information
• having a strong command of vocabulary and grammatical structures in particular with pronouns, articulated prepositions and word endings
• manipulating the grammatical structure of the question
• ensuring that essere is not used when talking about age
• avoiding repetition of the question asked.

Students should:

• make notes in the Candidates Notescolumnon the right-hand side of the page
• transcribe their response on to the allocated lines under the question
• read the question carefully and address all parts of the question in their response
• respond using their own words and avoid giving a translation of the text as their response.

In better responses, students were able to:

• identify a wide range of vocabulary and expressions and provide details required by the question, using the own words
• analyse the text and respond to questions demonstrating a holistic understanding of the text
• support their responses with detailed references to the text
• demonstrate a good understanding of the whole text without repeating information
• summarise the key information as required by question (Q8).

Areas for students to improve include:

• revising vocabulary related to topics set for study, for example numbers, time, weather, (for example, vento (Q1-5))
• avoiding giving their personal opinion rather than referring to information and details in the text (Q7)
• summarising main points using own words (Q8)
• avoiding translating sections from the text in to their response (Q10).

Students should:

• read questions carefully and address all parts of the question
• demonstrate an understanding of the whole text in their response
• use their own words in their response and avoid simply translating text without an explanation
• use the number of lines for each question as an indication of required length for each response
• use the dictionary appropriately to find the correct meaning for the context.

In better responses, students were able to:

• identify key information, vocabulary and expressions related to topics set for study in the syllabus, for example the time of day and food (Q11); cameriere (Q12a); umore and the influence of the colours (Q13a, b, c)
• explain why Giulia was justified in saying Che giornata tragica, using evidence form the text (Q14)
• avoid a literal translation of vocabulary and expressions and use their own words to respond to the question (Q14)
• support opinions and points of view by referring to the texts, for example explaining that Regina is being interviewed because of her expertise in technology and education (Q15a).

Areas for students to improve include:

• using the dictionary appropriately to find the correct meaning of words or expressions for the context
• attempting all questions and sections of the examination
• editing their responses to ensure that meaning is clear
• providing more detailed references to the text to support and justify their opinion (Q14)
• identifying the key words of the question and the main ideas in the text to answer the question fully.

Students should:

• address audience, purpose and context required by the question
• apply consistent register and tenses required by the question
• write using a wide variety of vocabulary, expressions and sentence structures
• avoid repeating the same expressions through the response
• use dictionary carefully to access vocabulary and expressions that are meaningful in the context used.

In better responses, students were able to:

• write to the word length required by the question
• respond using the conventions of the type of text required by the question
• provide logical and coherent responses, addressing all elements required by the question
• write using correct register, for example using the noi or voi form throughout the response when emailing team members  (Q16)
• use a range of vocabulary, sentence structures and tenses for example, the future tense (Q16) and the past tenses (Q18 and 19)
• useappropriate expressions that address the criteria of an eventful occasion and interesting dinner (Q18 and Q19).

Areas for students to improve include:

• addressing all elements of each question
• adhering to the required length of each question
• using the correct subject pronoun throughout the response, for example voi addressing team members (Q16); tu for a farewell note to a friend (Q17)
• applying the conventions of commencing and ending the type of task required by question
• using correct articulated prepositions
• revising agreement of possessives pronouns in regards to number and gender
• using correct auxiliaries and past participles in present perfect tense
• revising correct spelling of commonly used vocabulary, for example scuola, acqua, allenamento, delizioso
• using appropriate vocabulary for context, eg incorrectuse of circa for ‘it is about’; incorrect use of perdere instead of mancare; confusing prossimo and scorso; using Italian word dolce instead of using ‘dessert’
• avoiding the use of English words, expressions and English syntax
• editing work to ensure clarity of meaning.