Japanese Continuers 2017 HSC exam pack

Students should:

• be well prepared and give responses which demonstrate the ability to elaborate and express or justify an opinion
• focussing on demonstrating confidence and fluency, minimising the length of pauses between ideas
• demonstrate consistency in their use of tense and register
• avoid the use of pre-prepared responses that do not answer the questions.

Students should expect:

• to demonstrate the capacity to manipulate language across the full range of topics, responding capably to unanticipated questions with control of a wide variety of vocabulary and language structures.

In better responses, students were able to:

• use correct particles; use of age and tense in verbs and adjectives
• correctly use te and tari forms and plain forms
• correctly conjugate i and na adjectives
• use particle ni after a general time word correctly
• use kara when using nazenara
• include the negative ending when using amari
• use correct vocabulary for eigo/eiga, nihon/nihongo
• manipulate language effectively
• answer questions with relevant information and in some depth
• use a range of perspectives
• speak confidently and fluently with excellent pronunciation and appropriate intonation
• use authentic expressions such as sou desu ne, zannen desu ga, jitsu wa
• use appropriate register for an examination
• draw on the appropriate depth of ideas in responses, for example, communicated feelings, opinions, third person perspective
• use a variety of grammatical structures so that responses sounded natural.

Students should:

• demonstrate a clear understanding of context, purpose and audience in their responses, for example, be clear about where the speakers are and who/what they are talking about in the Section I – Listening and Responding
• evaluate the details in the text and justify their responses with reference to the text to fully support their responses
• remember that the exam requires students to provide responses that move beyond direct translations
• ensure responses address the question, rather than simply performing a translation of the text
• use the number of lines provided as a guide to the expected length of their responses; this means students are often required to summarise their understanding of the text in their responses
• pay close attention to tense in the texts to support their understanding of context
• pay careful attention to linguistic techniques in order to develop a deeper understanding of the nuance embedded within texts
• read the questions carefully and consider which syllabus grammar structures will be most effective in addressing the purpose of the text
• read both the English and Japanese instructions where applicable
• use the correct text type conventions
• write with consistent register and pay attention to the tense required in the question
• pay particular attention to observing correct grammar rules to ensure sophisticated structures are used accurately, for example, the use of te form rules, the use of correct forms of adjectives, nouns and verbs before to omoimasu
• avoid relying on dictionaries to provide phrases and translations

Students should expect to:

• respond to questions that require them to describe, explain, and justify an opinion about the texts and not just translate the text
• be required to synthesise details the information in texts to formulate holistic responses
• provide opinions and draw conclusions based on their understanding of the text, which requires candidates to be able to infer meaning from the texts
• be asked about a variety of topics from across the syllabus.

Students can prepare for this examination by:

• frequently listening to and reading Japanese texts, for example, using study specific websites and news podcasts
• developing a solid knowledge of vocabulary, syllabus grammar and syllabus kanji
• reviewing past HSC examination papers to practise answering questions that require explanations and justifications, rather than simply relying on translations.

Listening and Responding

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate appropriate depth of understanding, showing a good knowledge of vocabulary
• make the distinction between relevant and irrelevant information
• summarise effectively by providing succinct responses within the limited space given
• synthesise a number of different ideas to give an accurate and complete response
• provide details and not simply a translation of the text to address the requirements of the question
• provide an effective comparison, making the points of view of the speakers very clear, and they are supported with relevant detail (Q5)
• support a perceptive understanding of the speaker’s personality with evidence from the text (Q6)
• provide a thorough understanding of the aspect of Japanese society that had undergone change and the reasons for it (Q7)
• make specific reference to content and language techniques, and demonstrate a perceptive understanding of how Oyama’s attitude changed throughout the text (Q8).

Reading and Responding 

Part A

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate a good understanding of vocabulary, grammatical structures and kanji across the texts
• correctly translate Katakana ‘illumination’, ‘Pochi’; and understand the meaning ‘nante’ and ‘naite’ (Q9)
• correctly translate ‘kawaisoo’ without confusing it with kawaii or kowai (Q9)
• provide a logical comparison of how Anna and her host sister felt about the accommodation (Q9)
• translate ‘ayamaru’ correctly and understand that Anna felt bad about not having entered the bath, because the host family spend a lot of money on the accommodation and interpret the tenses correctly ‘Anna had studied…. And should have known…’ (Q9)
• correctly identify past tense within the text, for example, ‘hajimattan desu’ and link details in the text to the broader context, and explore all aspects of the positives of the self-driving car including freedom/independence and enhanced safety (Q10).

Part B

In better responses, students were able to:

• show a thorough understanding of the text, write creatively, and use a variety of complex sentence structures with a high level of accuracy. They mention all or most of the points mentioned in the email (studies Maths at university, suggests a lesson fee of more than 3000 yen, busy every Saturday afternoon with a charitable activity, concerned about the transport to get to Takuya’s house, mentions about interest or ability to teach science, states they are an academic, includes unusual hobby)
• maintain consistency with register and present correct Kanji
• correctly use teageru/temorau/tekureru
• display highly accurate conjugation of adjectives and verbs in all forms, and are accurate with the spelling of vocabulary
• make minimal errors with common patterns such as adjective + noun (for example, omoshiroi hito) and to omoimasu.

Writing in Japanese

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate a good control of tense
• structure their ideas coherently
• write prescribed kanji accurately and demonstrate knowledge of a variety of vocabulary and structures, which are also written accurately
• manipulate senior structures and use authentic, advanced vocabulary and expressions
• use highly accurate language, including correct tense and correct Japanese kanji
• express strong personal persuasion, reflection and ideas
• demonstrate an excellent understanding of the text type (farewell card) and audience (a Japanese friend) (Q12)
• address purpose effectively and creatively by including details of past shared experiences/ events with the explicit and concise reasoning of why they will miss the exchange student (Q12)
• effectively include the context (the Japanese friend is returning to Japan after living in Australia for one year) in an authentic manner (Q12)
• write with a coherent structure which follows an email text type conventions, for example, 〜 yori、〜 kara, including an introduction, reasoning, persuasion and conclusion (Q13 (a))
• write in plain form to address the audience (Q13 (a) and (b))
• make effective use of ne and yo ne at the end of sentences to make it more authentic and persuasive (Q13 (a) and (b))
• emphasise the benefits of volunteer work to persuade their friend in a logical flow, and understand that the question requires a focus on volunteering, not just on taking a gap year or travel (Q13 (b)).