Modern Hebrew Continuers 2017 HSC exam pack

Conversation

General Feedback

Students should:

• use a range of strategies to maintain communication.

Students should expect to:

• respond to a variety of questions in relation to their personal world during the seven minute conversation
• answer questions in depth using a variety of grammar, vocabulary and sentence structures and demonstrate an ability to manipulate the language to respond appropriately to the questions.

Student Strengths

In better responses, students were able to:

• respond in depth to a range of questions
• express, justify and reflect on their personal world
• adapt their responses to meet the requirements of the question
• respond to questions fluently and with correct intonation and pronunciation
• manipulate language using correct grammar, a variety of vocabulary and sentence structures
• conjugate verbs and use correct tense in complex sentences.

Discussion

General Feedback

Students should:

• be able to express and justify opinions and points of view on the in-depth study topic
• refer to at least three texts, one of which should be a literary text (film, novel, play or poem) as stipulated by the syllabus.

Students should expect to:

• respond to a variety of questions in relation to their chosen in-depth study topic during the eight minute discussion
• demonstrate evidence of their research into their topic and the texts that they sourced
• link their texts and research findings to support their discussion on the in-depth topic
• refer to their texts to analyse, evaluate and reflect on their topic.

Student Strengths

In the better responses, students were able to:

• select topics that allowed them to support their research with quality texts
• identify their texts by title and author
• select at least ONE literary text
• analyse and evaluate information from different texts for example, article, documentary
• respond appropriately to the questions asked
• link the texts to the topic chosen
• make specific and perceptive references to texts
• clarify the angle or perspective of their texts
• use comparing and contrasting information and ideas
• discuss and substantiate an opinion or point of view
• synthesise information researched and use it to support their point of view
• offer possible solutions to issues raised in their research
• demonstrate a high level of grammatical accuracy and used a variety of vocabulary and sentence structures.

Students should:

• respond to all parts of a question
• expect to support their responses with evidence from the texts (spoken or written)
• use their own words in their responses whether the response is in English or Modern Hebrew
• respond in the language indicated by the question and section of the examination, that is, English or Modern Hebrew
• provide an explanation for a quote taken from listening or written texts and where used in a response
• explain why language examples are given and not just list literary devices
• respect the conventions of the text type that they are using in the response
• follow the word limit indicated in the question
• use a dictionary appropriately to obtain meaning in context
• use the Candidates’ Notes column to make notes and ensure all relevant information is incorporated into the final response
• write responses in the space and lines provided in the whole examination
• demonstrate an understanding of the whole text and respond to all the main points in the text
• expect to describe, explain, present and express a point of view or opinion when writing in Modern Hebrew
• demonstrate their proficiency in Modern Hebrew grammar, language structures, tenses and vocabulary
• use their own words to express ideas, opinions and information and not transcribe text from other parts of the examination
• manipulate the language creatively to meet the requirements of the task.

Students can prepare for this examination by:

• listening to radio programs and podcasts in Modern Hebrew
• watching films and TV programs in Modern Hebrew
• reading magazines, newspapers, short stories and novels in Modern Hebrew
• engaging with Modern Hebrew speakers and practising Modern Hebrew in formal and informal settings
• revising grammar and extending their vocabulary
• practising using dictionaries to extend their knowledge of words, expressions and idioms.

Listening and Responding

Part A

Question 1

In better responses, students were able to:

• identify the mixed emotions of the speaker and name them correctly for example, excited but incredulous, thankful for support, doubtful about success
• connect emotions to the occasion and support their response with reference to text.

Question 2

In better responses, students were able to:

• explain how the course enabled Debbie to change her behaviour and support their responses by giving examples from the text using their own words, for example, ‘Debbie learnt to be critical of her behaviour and change bad behaviour’, ‘she found the courage to quit her job and go back to study’, ‘she rekindled her friendship with an old friend’.

Question 3

In better responses, students were able to:

• present all of Liora’s arguments to encourage Dov to go to the party
• demonstrate an understanding of Dov’s reservations to every point of encouragement that Liora makes
• support their conclusion as to whether Dov is likely to attend the party with reference from the text.

Question 4

In better responses, students were able to:

• understand that the speaker is presently a grandfather
• understand that the speaker is talking about his experiences in the past with his own grandparents and comparing his experiences as a child with his current experiences as a grandfather with his own grandchildren
• explain that the speaker realises that whilst his experiences as a child were different to those of his grandchildren in the present, he can still have a meaningful relationship with his grandchildren and create memories with them in the same way that he has memories of his own grandparents.

Part B

Question 5

In better responses, students were able to:

• understand that Isaac has not only studied Modern Hebrew but has also participated in an exchange program in Israel
• use the present and past tense correctly and appropriately for the context when writing in Modern Hebrew
• use their own words when writing in Modern Hebrew and not just transcribe from the text
• translate or explain quotes taken from text.

Question 6

In better responses, students were able to:

• identify Rina’s character traits (for example, inconsiderate, irresponsible, disorganised, selfish, lazy) and support response with examples from the text.

Reading and Responding

Part A

Question 7

In better responses, students were able to:

• identify the trend that young Israelis travel abroad after their military service and that they do so to discover themselves
• summarise all the main reasons as seen by the author for the trend
• use the bullet points as a guide to write their response succinctly
• identify Malka’s point of view, for example, she was disapproving, critical, dismissive of young people and the trend
• analyse how Malka conveys her point of view and support their response with evidence from the text
• refer to both content and language to support their response
• explain how language techniques used help Malka convey her point of view and not just list them
• evaluate the information in the whole text to demonstrate how Malka conveys her point of view
• convey their understanding by using their own words
• explain in English any quotes referred to from text.

Question 8

In better responses, students were able to:

• identify the target audience as young people
• identify that young people are unsure of the career to choose and/or are worried about when and where they will be able to get a rewarding career
• understand the quote and translate its meaning in the context of the text
• explain why the author uses the expression in his article
• refer to all the strategies that the author uses to engage the audience (language and content)
• provide evidence from the text for the strategies used by the author for example, language techniques, choice of vocabulary, familiar style, statistical evidence and personal examples
• support evidence from text with accurate translations from Modern Hebrew into English.

Part B

In better responses, students were able to:

• write in the correct text type as required by the question, that is, an email
• understand that Gal and Danny have been corresponding for a long time but have never met
• respond to the literal and inferred information in the text
• sequence events in relation to the stimulus text
• provide evidence that Gal’s email is written before the stimulus text
• use their own words and do not transcribe sentences and expressions directly from the stimulus text or any other text in the examination
• use the future tense appropriately and correctly.

Writing in Modern Hebrew

In better responses, students were able to:

• use the conventions of the text type of a letter to a friend
• use their own words and not transcribe text from other parts of the examination
• manipulate language structures to express ideas, opinions and points of view
• use appropriate language, literary devices and vocabulary to effectively address the requirements of the task
• write in grammatically correct Modern Hebrew
• use correct syntax and conjugate a variety of tenses.

Question 10 (a)

• understand that it is a recurring dream
• describe the dream to a friend with a reason in mind for example, to ask the friend for help to interpret the meaning of the dream, to share the dream because it was strange and/or because they are troubled by the dream etc.
• provide information of how having the dream is affecting them rather than simply giving a description of a dream
• create their own dream and not recount dreams from other texts.

Question 10 (b)

• address all the elements of the question
• understand that ‘the future’ does not only refer to the period immediately after school
• use language and expressions to express their feelings of pressure to make a decision for the future
• address both the hopes and the fears that they have for their future in their response.