Japanese Continuers 2018 HSC exam pack

Conversation

Students should:

• be well prepared and give responses which demonstrate the ability to elaborate and express or justify an opinion
• focus 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
• respond 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 an 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.

Listening and Responding

Students should:

• provide depth of information in responses
• transfer information written in the notes column to their response
• provide relevant examples from the text.

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate appropriate depth of understanding
• demonstrate the skill of summarising by providing succinct responses within the limited space given
• structure responses that clearly answered the question
• demonstrate an excellent knowledge of vocabulary
• address the requirements of the question by providing details and not just translating the text
• write a comparison with reference to the text
• synthesise a number of different ideas to give an accurate and complete responses.
• provide all relevant details from the text.

Areas for students to improve include:

• providing the required information in responses and not simply translating the text
• identifying tenses
• revise vocabulary regularly so that they are familiar with key words.

Reading and Responding

Part A

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate understanding of vocabulary, grammatical structures and kanji in the passages
• include nuances from the text, which require an understanding of more difficult grammar and vocabulary
• demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the text by correctly identifying tenses
• identify the question requirements and provide appropriate responses
• demonstrate the ability to identify personality traits and give clear, correct and detailed examples from the text as to how this is demonstrated, such as, Kai is an independent person which is reflected in the fact that he likes to travel alone (Q9c)
• identify each personality point and refer to the text to support their answer (Q9c)
• provide all relevant information about how Tomoko was influenced by Emi.

Areas for students to improve include:

• translating the names of cities correctly
• providing all the reasons why Ben was motivated to attend the event (Q8b)
• providing both aspects of the purpose of the post (Q9a)
• describing personality traits using relevant evidence from the text and not simply listing their interest (Q9c)
• considering the text as a whole and ensuring they include all relevant information (Q9d).

Part B

Students should:

• demonstrate a clear and correct understanding of Masumi’s email by referring to the text
• answer any questions that Masumi asks in her email as well as addressing relevant explanations or opinions
• write good and meaningful advice to Masumi about her concerns in her email in a logical and persuasive manner and by using syllabus grammar structures effectively
• write with consistent register and pay attention to the tense.

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate a thorough understanding of the stimulus text referring to all or most of the points mentioned
• write an appropriate email maintaining consistent register
• use a variety of complex grammar structures, vocabulary and kanji characters with a high level of accuracy
• structure and sequence their ideas in a logical manner.

Areas for students to improve include:

• ensuring their response includes depth in advice
• structuring responses appropriately using paragraphs
• using of – te ageru and –te kureru
• using a range of prescribed kanji
• using past tense forms of adjectives and verbs correctly
• using adjectives + ni naru and–ku naru correctly, for example, ureshii ni naru
• ensuring that dictionaries are used only when necessary.

Writing in Japanese

Students should:

• read the question carefully and address the purpose context, audience and type of text
• write descriptively
• sequence the relevant events well and write concisely
• use tense/register accurately and appropriately
• demonstrate control of range of language structures and vocabulary in Japanese.

In better responses, students were able to:

• address purpose and context effectively and creatively by including all relevant details
• use authentic vocabulary and structures that are culturally appropriate with high level of accuracy
• demonstrate a good control of tense
• structure ideas cohesively and coherently
• use prescribed kanji and correct katakana and hiragana.

Areas for student to improve include:

• addressing context and purpose
• using grammar correctly, for example, ~ta koto ga arimasu , tsurete iku~te kureru nakerebanarimasen
• using authentic vocabulary
• writing original, creative accounts in precise manner
• ensuring that spelling is accurate, for example, long vowels and double consonants in words such as issyo ni instead of issyou ni
• using particles, prescribed kanji and tenses correctly
• writing with the correct type of text.