Serbian Continuers 2020 HSC exam pack (archive)

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 the ‘aims’ of the Book and Toy Fair and the ‘activities’ available at the fair
• identify that the aim of the book and toy fair is to donate children’s books and toys to the local hospital (Q1a)
• demonstrate that the activities at the fair were different to the aims of the fair, for example, having books signed by the authors and buying books (Q1b)
• refer to Ana’s feelings regarding both her professional and private life (Q2b)
• identify and describe Ana’s feelings about delivering a speech at the conference (motivated and confident) but also having the mixed feelings (excitement and anxiety) about reuniting with her family after 20 years (Q2b)
• explain of the relationship between Tara and her grandpa as loving, nurturing, strong, based on trust and support even though they don’t see each other often. The grandfather calls Tara ‘my little kangaroo’, and he says, ‘Grandpa is always here for you’ and Tara can confide anything to him including her ‘love problems ‘What would I do without you!’ (Q3b)
• identify that Tamara’s friend is worried about finding a good place for his birthday celebration (Q4a)
• include Tamara’s positive and negative impressions of the birthday venue, for example, the restaurant is too busy on weekends and difficult to find (Q4b)
• analyse how the language of the advertisement promotes the tourist attraction, for example, the use of descriptive language чари, снежна лепотица, одузима дах; using arhetorical questions, such as Импресивно, зар не?; catering for all, искусни скијаши, породице, „школа скијања за децу; directly appeaing to listeners and using of imperative пожурите to urge the listeners to take up the offer.

Areas for students to improve include:

• avoiding rephrasing or translating the text rather than answering the question in their own words
• identifying and using relevant information to support their answer
• understanding that questions starting with ‘how’ require explanations that often need reference to language use
• read questions carefully and focusing on key words before answering.

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:

• explain the author’s opinion about the role of technology using their own words (Q7)
• avoid including irrelevant details that did not answer the question (Q7)
• identify the two different views on technology – a positive stance expressed by Stefan and Nada, and a negative as expressed by Marija and support their response with detailed reference to the text (Q8).

Areas for students to improve include:

• avoiding paraphrasing (Q7)
• avoiding simply listing differences as a comparison of different opinions (Q8).

Reading and Responding – 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:

• apply the text conventions of writing a letter to the editor of a newspaper
• use the appropriate register – addressing the editor formally and maintain the formal tone throughout the response, for example Поштовани уредниче, use of the pronoun Ви / Ваш and appropriate address at the end С поштовањем
• address all relevant points in the text concerning environmental issues, for example personal responsibility, littering, lack of government action, involvement of institutions
• use appropriate expressions, for example У потпуности се слажем са Вама, У праву сте када кажете, Слажем се са Вашим мишљењем
• use polite tone and sophisticated phrases when disagreeing with the editor, for example Уз дужно поштовање, али..., Разумем Вашу бригу, али..., Не желим да звучим као да наређујем или придикујем, али...
• use complex grammatical structures, for example the conditional Када би сваки човек бацио своје ђубре, Србија би била ..., Да политичари и мало брину о будућности људског рода, истог тренутка би забранили ...
• create complex sentences with correct punctuation, for example Уз дужно поштовање, али ако ми као заједница не преузмемо овај проблем у своје руке, немојте очекивати никакве промене чекајући на друге.

Areas for students to improve include:

• identifying and responding to all relevant points in the text
• revising formal and informal register
• using formal register and tone throughout the letter to the editor of the newspaper
• organising ideas into paragraphs
• revising grammar structures, such as use of prepositions, cases, the conjugation of the verb бити – to be
• using of their own words and avoiding paraphrasing or borrowing words from the stimulus text in their response.

Writing in Language

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
• proof read and edit their work
• adhere to the suggested word length.

In better responses, students were able to:

• use the text type conventions for an article (Q10) and a private email (Q11) appropriately and consistently throughout the text
• express their thoughts and views on the benefits of being bilingual and support their ideas by providing a range of reasons, such as employment opportunities, helping the community, better understanding of their own and other cultures, feeling good about themselves (Q10)
• use appropriate vocabulary and a variety of sentence structures (Q10)
• use rhetorical questions to engage the readers, for example, Зашто је корисно говорити два језика? Да ли сте се икад упитали ...?
• use persuasive language to convince their friend to come to Australia to study, for example Постоје многе предности због којих нећеш зажалити ..., „ Гарантујем ти, То је одлична идеја ..., Искористи ову могућност ..., Нећеш се покајати …, Ту сам ако ти затреба..., Прилика је ту, само треба да је зграбиш (Q11)
• present a range of ideas in depth to emphasise the advantages of studying and spending time in Australia, such as excellent tertiary education recognised throughout the world, better employment opportunities, improving the English language, amazing libraries; experiencing Australian multiculturalism, enjoying Australian food, landscapes, beaches; making new friends, be involved in the vibrant Serbian community life in Australia (Q11)
• use a variety of tenses correctly - present tense and future tense in particular, for example, постоје, осигурава, надам се etc..; correct use of both forms of future tense – shorter version научићеш, упознаћеш, видећеш and longer version ћемо учити, ћеш стећи, нећеш се разочарати; use of imperative размисли, пакуј се, не пропусти (Q11)
• use language creatively to convince their friend to come to Australia Студирати у Аустралији је многим људима сан, а теби може да постане реалност. (Q11).

Areas for students to improve include:

• applying the text type conventions of an article (Q10)
• avoiding changing text type in the course of response, for example, changing article to a speech
• revising appropriate Serbian syntax (Q10 and Q11)
• using of variety of sentence structures (Q10 and Q11)
• using a range of vocabulary, for example using of synonyms instead of repeating the same words and sentences
• avoiding  literal translation of  English word or/phrases into Serbian, for example Имаћеш лепо време instead of Лепо ћеш се провести (Q10 and Q11)
• applying the conventions of punctuation to ensure clarity of meaning
• using paragraphs to structure and organise their thoughts and ideas
• writing consistently and entirely in either Cyrillic or in Latin script and avoiding mixing the two scripts
• using capital letters where required
• writing negation НЕ with a verb correctly.