Korean Beginners 2020 HSC exam pack

Students should:

• be prepared to communicate about a variety of topics relating to their personal world
• answer the question asked rather than presenting pre-prepared responses
• 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 Korean to ask for repetition and/or clarification of the question.

In better responses, students were able to:

• use conjunctions such as 그래서, 그런데, 그러면 to link ideas
• use correct tenses
• use a wide range of sentence structures and vocabulary related to the topic
• answer unexpected questions
• expand on their responses by providing reasons, examples and comments
• speak clearly and confidently on a variety of topics
• articulate their responses fluently with correct pronunciation and intonation.

Areas for students to improve include:

• not confusing words that have similar sounds, such as 할 것 같아요/한 것 같아요, 사람이에요/살아요, 좋아요/좋아해요
• avoiding errors from basic grammar, for example, 이에요/있어요 endings
• using a variety of sentence beginnings and endings when responding to questions
• avoiding repeating the same structures such as ~고 싶어요, 왜냐하면
• avoiding using formulaic expressions
• understanding the words in the question such as 왜, 어떻게, 언제, 어디에/어디에서, 무슨
• using particles such as 을/를, 이/가 correctly.

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:

• summarise the points clearly without elaborating
• understand the text holistically and provide answers to questions which reflect this holistic understanding without simply translating the relevant sections of the text
• justify their answers with evidence from the text.

Areas for students to improve include:

• summarising main points using their own words
• revising vocabulary related to topics.

Students should:

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

• summarise concisely when instructed
• refer to all stimulus texts to justify their response
• support their answers by giving relevant examples from the text.

Areas for students to improve include:

• following the instructions and reading the question’s requirements carefully
• avoiding repetition of ideas and vocabulary
• structuring their responses logically and writing in comprehensible English.

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:

• include all the relevant ideas from the stimulus text (Q18)
• provide a number of relevant ideas and support them with appropriate examples
• utilise a variety of complex language structures correctly
• sequence and structure their speech logically and coherently (Q19, Q20).

Areas for students to improve include:

• selecting one question to answer when given a choice, either Q19 OR Q20
• avoiding the inclusion of irrelevant ideas
• avoiding copying segments and/or sentences from the reading texts in the Reading Section
• learning different text types and revising spelling and vocabulary related to the topics in the syllabus (including particles 은/는/을/를/이/가)
• avoiding repeating same structures such as ~고 싶어요, 왜냐하면
• paying attention to spelling and conjugation of verbs.