Japanese Continuers 2022 HSC exam pack

Conversation

Students should:

• be prepared to communicate on 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
• express ideas and opinions that justify their point of view by providing depth and insight in their responses rather than only giving short pre-prepared responses
• elaborate using a variety of vocabulary, phrases and expressions suitable to the question asked
• use a range of tenses and be prepared to reflect on the past, present and future
• manipulate the language to fulfil the requirements of the question
• avoid the repetition of the same vocabulary, phrases, expressions and grammatical structures
• be prepared to be interrupted by the examiner
• use Japanese to ask for repetition and/or clarification of the question.

In better responses, students were able to:

• understand the question and did not need to ask the examiner to repeat questions or have questions rephrased
• answer the questions promptly and fluently, allowing the conversation to flow at a good pace
• use a wide variety of grammar structures accurately, effectively and naturally
• accurately use tenses (verbs/adjectives), particles and grammar structures
• speak correctly with confidence in the past, present and future tenses
• effectively and accurately make comparisons
• use more complex structures, for example, tekureru,temorau,teageru and relative clauses
• answer questions with relevant information and in some depth, for example, to communicate feelings, opinions, justify their responses and provide the perspectives of others
• speak confidently and fluently with excellent pronunciation and appropriate intonation
• use authentic expressions, such as, sou desu ne, zannen desu ga, and jitsu wa
• use an appropriate register for an examination and remain consistent in their use of this register.

Areas for students to improve include:

• ensuring they are familiar with all interrogatives, such as, doko de, itsu, dare to, naze, and doushite
• reducing the use of prepared responses
• using particles accurately, for example, shourai (no particle), sangatsu ni
• conjugating i adjectives and na adjectives correctly
• being careful not to overuse aizuchi or English hesitation words during their exam
• speaking in the polite masu / desu register as is appropriate for a language examination with a teacher, and not in plain form
• increasing the accuracy of senior grammar structures, for example, which structures require the te form, plain form, and verb stems
• using correct vocabulary, for example, eigo / eiga, Nihon / Nihongo, tsukau / tsukuru, chuugakkou / chuugoku, tetsudai / tasukeru, hitori / jibun, koto / mono, yakunitastu / benri
• ensuring that English words are not used.

Listening and Responding

Students should:

• make notes in the Candidate’s Notes column on the right-hand side of the page
• read the question carefully and respond to all parts of the question
• support their responses with relevant evidence from the text
• transcribe their response on to the lines, using the space allocated beneath the question
• use the number of lines as an indication of the required length of the response
• support their responses with reference to relevant content and language, using their own words
• avoid translating the text as part of their response.

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate understanding of more complex vocabulary, such as, katamichi (Q1), oufuku (Q1), ryoukin (Q2), futsuka mae (Q3), jinja (Q4), hanabi (Q4), omoide (Q4)
• demonstrate an understanding of the phrase, ‘2 for the price of 1’ and include this as a reason for why Shintaro was wanting to visit this place (Q2)
• summarise the advantages of the obento effectively rather than translating the text (Q5)
• include all relevant information in their responses
• support their responses with reference to the text and in their own words
• use their knowledge of vocabulary to accurately identify the specific details in the texts
• demonstrate how the classes were flexible for Yukiko (Q6)
• provide evidence of both language and content to support their understanding of how Toshi persuades Anne (Q7)
• identify most key points that were positive about the university (Q7)
• clearly identify language techniques used, for example, providing an example from the text in English and explaining the effect on how persuasive it was, for example, uses statistics such as ‘Japanese universities are 30% cheaper than Australian universities’ to ease her concerns about cost (Q7)
• make correct inferences based on evidence provided in the text (Q7)
• evaluate the information provided rather than just translating what they hear (Q8)
• differentiate time frames correctly to understand which changes occurred when, for example, Yoshida has now returned to Japan (Q8).

Areas for students to improve include:

• structuring concise and articulate responses
• ensuring handwriting is clear and legible
• adhering to the question requirements, for example, avoiding translating and writing long responses when the question asks for a summary (Q5)
• improving their precision of vocabulary to avoid confusion between similar vocabulary, especially katakana words and numbers, for example, annai suru (to guide) vs online, 3 minutes vs 1 third (Q7)
• ensuring all aspects of the question are addressed, for example, language and content where required, and providing an evaluation where required (Q7)
• taking accurate and detailed notes to support their response
• ensuring all quotes are provided in English, not in Japanese, when asked to make reference to the text
• paying careful attention to numbers, katakana words, time words, meals and other small but significant details.

Reading and Responding

Part A

Students should:

• read the title, questions and the whole text before responding
• use only the lines or space beneath the question for the response
• support their responses with reference to content and language, using their own words
• be succinct in their responses, addressing the relevant details required by the question and avoiding repetition
• focus on key words in the question, for example, ‘how’, ‘why’, ‘explain’, ‘justify’ and respond in relation to the context of the text
• read the whole text in order to demonstrate understanding of relevant information and ideas
• identify the key issue(s) and provide examples to substantiate their response when asked to analyse or evaluate information
• draw a conclusion or justify a point of view using their own words
• provide a succinct response of main points or ideas when asked to summarise
• avoid providing a literal translation of text
• use the dictionary appropriately to find the correct meaning of the word(s) or expressions in context.

In better responses, students were able to:

• clearly articulate specific environmental sustainability factors (Q9b)
• sort the relevant detail from the irrelevant detail
• provide excellent detail, but also clear understanding of the key issues and concepts
• link personality traits to clear examples from the text (Q9c)
• articulate the overall issue, for example, waste reduction, as well as give thorough detail to explain the issue (Q9d)
• provide legible, concise responses which were supported by evidence from the text
• identify how the workers’ attitudes had changed with evidence from the text (Q10c)
• provide multiple personality traits with relevant supporting details (Q10d)
• provide quotes from the text, translated into English, to support their responses.

Areas for students to improve include:

• reading the questions carefully and addressing all required areas in the answers
• ensuring responses address the question rather than just translating the text
• identifying the key issue when describing Takeshi’s contribution to environmental sustainability, for example, reducing waste, in addition to listing examples (Q9b)
• learning the vocabulary sonnani, ryoushin and kangaetmorau
• ensuring that their writing is legible
• distinguishing between amounts of time and specific times (Q10b)
• knowing all syllabus kanji, including hajimeru, doubutsu
• understanding that some kanji have more than one meaning, for example, kiku can mean ‘to listen’ and ‘to ask’
• understanding the meaning of katakana words, for example, torakku, nooto, and indoneshia
• clearly indicating a change with supporting details when a question asks how a person’s attitude has changed (Q10c).

Part B

Students should:

• respond to the question asked in relation to the text
• read the entire text in order to respond fully to the question
• use the conventions of the type of text required by the question
• demonstrate understanding of the whole text in their response and not just respond to questions asked in the text
• focus on all relevant information and key points raised in the text in order to respond to comments made, requests for advice, issues discussed, and observations made
• use the appropriate register throughout the response
• provide a creative and authentic response in relation to the text and question
• use a variety of vocabulary and expressions and a range of grammatical structures
• plan effectively to organise their thoughts, paying attention to purpose, audience, context and the type of text required in question
• edit their work to ensure clarity of the response.

In better responses, students were able to:

• include all the important points and additional relevant information to give their response authenticity and flair
• write the reason why Mari is interested in working together with Yoshiko, the reason why Mari was away from school last week and what Mari and Yoshiko can do for part-time work
• use conjunctions effectively.

Areas for students to improve include:

• using past tense correctly, for example, to describe why Mari was away from school last week
• knowing how to use noni, zenzen, dake and shika
• using particles correctly
• knowing the difference between tetsudau and tasukeru
• understanding the difference between okane o tameru, and okane o tsukuru.

Writing in Japanese

Question 12

Students should:

• address all parts of the question
• use the appropriate register and conventions of the type of text
• commence and conclude appropriately
• use the correct tense for the requirements of the question
• sequence their response logically for maximum effect
• use the dictionary effectively by selecting vocabulary to suit the context
• proofread and edit work
• adhere to the suggested word length.

In better responses, students were able to:

• write concisely
• use their knowledge of Japanese culture to make the writing more creative with different activities, such as, calligraphy, popular character meet and greets, and learning how to make traditional Japanese items
• use a wide variety of grammar structures including relative clauses
• invite and encourage readers to come to the festival.

Areas for students to improve include:

• using potential form correctly, for example, ga mirareru
• paying attention to tense and time words
• reducing spelling errors, for example, writing minnasan instead of minasan
• using grammar structures in a more authentic way to ensure flow was not impacted.

Question 13

Students should:

• read the question carefully and address all parts of the question
• plan their response to ensure a clear structure and sequence
• use the appropriate register and conventions of the type of text required
• commence and conclude appropriately
• manipulate the language to suit the requirements of the task
• use a variety of tenses, phrases and structures appropriate to the requirements of the question
• proofread and edit their work
• adhere to the suggested word length.

In better responses, students were able to:

• address the question with examples to support their reflection
• use various senior language structures to write effectively for the diary entry
• use punctuation correctly
• organise their ideas clearly in each paragraph
• use the correct diary text type
• sequence the text, using conjunctions, such as, mazu and tsugini
• use authentic expressions, such as, marude, no youni.

Areas for students to improve include:

• clearly structuring and sequencing their ideas
• knowing how to produce text types accurately, for example, using the correct diary text type
• better sequencing and using a range of conjunctions
• using authentic expressions.