Portuguese Continuers 2019 HSC exam pack (archive)

Conversation

Students should:

• be prepared to talk on a variety of topics relating to their personal world
• answer the question asked rather than presenting pre-prepared responses
• express their ideas and opinions and justify their point of view
• be prepared to respond to questions from a different perspective
• 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 Portuguese to ask for repetition and/or clarification of the question.

In better responses, students were able to:

• be prepared to talk in depth about a variety of topics relating to their personal world
• answer the question asked and not just memorise responses on topics and attempt to recite them irrespective of the question
• manipulate the language to fulfil the requirements of the question
• use a range of vocabulary, expressions and sentence structures appropriate to syllabus topics
• conjugate verbs correctly across the tenses and from different perspectives
• speak fluently with correct pronunciation and intonation.

Areas for students to improve include:

• avoiding inaccuracies in syntax and word order
• avoid repetition of the same vocabulary, phrases and expressions
• elaborating information in responses and not giving single word answers
• using Portuguese idioms and avoiding using anglicisms.

Discussion

In preparation for the Discussion

Students should:

• choose a topic that has good quality reference texts and sources available
• prepare for the discussion by referring to at least three texts in their research
• ensure that one of the texts used in their research is a literary source.

During the Discussion examination

Students should:

• support their discussion with evidence from the texts that they have sourced
• express and justify opinions and points of view on their in-depth study
• reflect on their research findings to help them express opinions or develop new perceptions about their in-depth study
• manipulate language to respond in a coherent and logical way to the questions asked
• use a variety of relevant vocabulary, grammar, sentence structures and expressions
• avoid responding with pre-prepared responses that do not address the question asked
• avoid relying on general knowledge about the topic of in-depth study.

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate a strong link between their discussion and the texts used to research information on in-depth topic of study
• critically analyse their research and not just recount information without expressing their point of view
• reflect on their learning regarding their topic of in-depth study and support their ideas with evidence from their texts
• manipulate the language authentically to respond to the question asked.

Areas for students to improve include:

• choosing a topic for in-depth study which leads to a discussion that has substance
• avoiding reciting memorised information that does not answer the question asked
• repeating the same vocabulary, expressions and sentence structures throughout the discussion
• avoiding using anglicisms instead of authentic Portuguese expressions and idioms.