Russian Continuers 2024 HSC exam pack (archive)

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
• use a range of vocabulary, expressions and language structures to respond appropriately to the questions
• provide information, express and justify 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 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 Russian to ask for repetition and/or clarification of the question.

In better responses, students were able to:

• speak clearly with excellent pronunciation, word stress, syntax, register and intonation
• answer the questions with minimal hesitation, allowing the conversation to flow at a good pace
• answer questions with relevant information and in some depth, for example, to communicate feelings, provide opinions and justify their responses
• address the requirements of the question
• elaborate on their responses without extra prompts from the examiner, provide more details and references to the texts
• respond in full sentences, using compound and complex sentences
• conjugate verbs in appropriate tense for the context, for example, После школы я буду поступать в университет
• use language structures and features such as grammatical cases, verb aspect, tenses and correct register effectively to enhance their responses, for example, Я планирую связать свою жизнь с …
• demonstrate excellent knowledge of a wide repertoire of vocabulary, for example, Физико-математический факультет, моделирование
• use appropriate tenses in response as required by the question
• use authentic and idiomatic expressions appropriately, for example, взять себя в руки, на одном дыхании, Мы с сестрой живем душа в душу.

Areas for students to improve include:

• using correct verb agreements
• using correct verbal forms such as 2nd and 3rd person singular and plural present tense
• using correct gender of nouns and pronoun-noun agreement
• using correct adjectival declensions
• using correct case forms of nouns, adjectives and pronouns
• using a wider vocabulary rather than repeating the same words irrespective of the question
• avoiding anglicisms, for example, saying делаю религию instead of изучаю религию (correct)
• avoiding the translation of English expressions into Russian, for example, saying изготавливаю еду instead of готовлю (correct), тренируюсь бегом instead of занимаюсь бегом (correct), трудно стараюсь instead of стараюсь изо всех сил (correct)
• using idioms only when appropriate to the context, for example, incorrectly using the idiom делать из мухи слона which means ‘to exaggerate’ when meaning to express 'do something inappropriate in a particular situation'
• answering with minimal hesitation to avoid the use of filler words such as ну, ага.

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.

Students should:

• support their discussion with evidence from the texts that they have sourced
• express and justify opinions and points of view on the topic of in-depth study
• reflect on their research findings to help them express opinions or develop new perceptions about their topic of 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
• supporting their discussion with evidence from the texts that they have sourced rather than from general knowledge.

In better responses, students were able to:

• ensure that sources chosen were relevant to the topic of in-depth study
• compare the validity and reliability of their texts
• refer to their sources and comment on how each source contributed to their understanding of the in-depth topic
• discuss how their research impacted on their views and helped them gain a better understanding of the in-depth topic
• develop analytical approach to texts studied rather than memorise information from the texts
• provide logical and well-structured responses to questions
• come to insightful conclusions regarding issues raised in their research
• use specific vocabulary and expressions relating to the topic
• use complex sentences and suitable idiomatic expressions to strengthen and support their opinions
• respond using a high level of grammatical accuracy, sophisticated vocabulary and expressions
• manipulate the language effectively to support their ideas and justify their point of view.

Areas for students to improve include:

• responding to the question asked rather than recounting information irrespective of the question
• synthesising information rather than just listing facts
• choosing texts that are relevant to the topic
• identifying the focus and issue(s) of the topic of in-depth study
• presenting their opinions about the issues raised in their research.