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

In better responses, students were able to:

• vary their grammatical structures, using the present, future, past and conditional tenses
• use a variety of connectives to allow their responses to sound more fluent and authentic
• answer confidently to comparative questions
• manipulate tenses and other language features such as adverbs, adjectives, pronouns, possessives and gender agreement to express ideas and opinions
• use colloquial responses with fluidity
• correct themselves if they realise they have made an error
• minimise rote learned responses
• elaborate on all questions with confidence
• establish and maintain communication with good intonation
• organise information coherently
• use modal verbs correctly
• respond to questions across a variety of syllabus topics.

Areas for students to improve include:

• using correct intonation that does not impede meaning
• using accurate grammatical structures and vocabulary
• elaborating on topics
• understanding interrogatives, for example, Dove?, Quando?, Con chi?
• understanding the tense of the question and replying appropriately
• avoiding frequent pauses and hesitation
• using the verb fare effectively in present, past and future tenses, for example, Cosa facevi da piccolo?
• using the idiomatic expressions with fare effectively
• avoiding using English syntax
• differentiating between tenses
• understanding questions such as Cosa fai dopo quest’esame? A chi assomigli? Ti manchera’ la scuola? Ti mancheranno i tuoi amici/ i tuoi professori? Cosa fai nel tuo tempo libero?
• avoiding misunderstanding words such as libero, confused with libri
• revising the correct use of possessive adjectives, mia sorella, mio padre, i miei amici
• avoiding giving one word answers, for example, si or no
• applying third person and gender agreement appropriately when talking about family and friends.

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:

• identify the action of the conversation and who was involved and how (Q6)
• identify the correct multiple choice (Q3) and complete the table (Q5) using the information
• make the connection between the emotion and the reasoning (Q6, Q9)
• provide in depth detail to demonstrate thorough understanding (Q6 to Q9)
• identify differences and agreement between speakers (Q8)
• make thorough and distinct comparisons of both points of view (Q10).

Areas for students to improve include:

• understanding key vocabulary and pronunciation, for example, volevo is not volleyball (Q9), libro is not libero (Q2), gentile is not gentle, severo is not severe (Q8), guardare is not guidare (Q6)
• avoiding a literal translation of idiomatic expressions, for example, che brutta figura! what an ugly figure (Q2)
• avoiding basing a response on a single word, for example, piccolo (Q6) and ballare (Q7)
• being familiar with verb tenses to understand the context of the text. For example, the girl is currently at university, not the idea of intending to go to university next year (Q10).

Students should:

• read the whole text(s)
• address all parts of each question
• use the lines, table, chart etcetera 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:

• link cause and effect identifying and creating links throughout the text, for example, understanding the idea of paying it forward, one euro donation and the result of the donation
• avoid word for word translations rather than looking at the whole reading passage, summarising, comparing and consequently forming an opinion that was backed up with evidence
• provide an analysis throughout the response
• demonstrate an understanding of idioms and colloquial expressions, for example, in bocca al lupo for good luck, esame di maturità for HSC exam
• provide both positive and negative aspects in their response with effective use of comparative language, for example, she performed well in French notwithstanding her poor performance in Italian
• demonstrate inference, for example, it is mentioned that she forgot her gym shoes for sport and her dictionary for French indicates she is disorganised
• identify a position in response to the questions, for example, the season is winter because…, her parents would be relatively happy because…however…
• understand the difference in time using tenses (past tense, future tense) to formulate accurate inference from the text (Q13).

Areas for students to improve include:

• misinterpreting vocabulary and lacking a confirmation of cognates or false cognates by using the dictionary, for example, fabbrica was misinterpreted as fabric, farmi as farm
• understanding prima di meaning before
• misinterpreting the target audience, for example, nonna was misinterpreted as the recipient of the email (Q13)
• using the dictionary effectively.

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:

• address context, purpose and audience, for example, address their neighbour appropriately (Q17)
• creatively address the question, for example, provide good reasons as to why they were upset with their neighbour (Q17)
• attempt a variety of language structures, for example, modal verbs, conditional (Q17)
• use a wide range vocabulary (Q18)
• address their parents correctly (Q18)
• use the appropriate text type, for example, note (Q18)
• use a variety of tenses as required in particular, the past and the imperfect tenses (Q18)
• demonstrate a good range of vocabulary and expressions (Q18)
• provide creativity in their responses (Q18)
• use the voi form correctly (Q18)
• address all elements of the question (Q19, Q20)
• use the correct text type that is, a diary entry (Q19, Q20)
• use paragraphs to organise their ideas coherently (Q19, Q20)
• use a variety of vocabulary and expressions (Q19, Q20)
• correctly use a range of tenses and grammatical structures, especially the past and imperfect tenses (Q19, Q20)
• use complex grammatical structures, for example, direct object pronouns (Q19, Q20).

Areas for students to improve include:

• using their dictionary correctly to avoid using incorrect vocabulary, for example, sonoro for loud or noioso for noisy (Q17)
• using their dictionary to check spelling, for example, mamma and papà (Q18)
• using correct verb conjugations and modal verbs (Q17)
• using correct syntax
• using the correct auxiliary verb when using the past tense, for example, ho andato (Q18)
• adhering to the length of the task
• providing information relevant to the question (Q19, Q20)
• editing their work to check agreements and conjugating verbs (Q19, Q20)
• using a variety of tenses (Q19, Q20)
• using the dictionary correctly, for example, using the word schiena instead of ritornare or confusing prossimo and scorso.