Spanish Continuers 2018 HSC exam pack

Conversation

Students should:

• respond to all questions asked
• be prepared to talk about a variety of topics relating to their personal world
• elaborate on responses and avoid yes and no responses
• answer the question asked and avoid giving pre-prepared responses that do not address the question
• express their ideas and opinions and justify their point of view
• manipulate the language to fulfil the requirements of the question
• avoid repetition of the same vocabulary, phrases and expressions throughout the conversation.

In better responses, students were able to:

• address all key parts of the question and support their responses by expressing their point of view
• use a variety of vocabulary, tenses, grammatical structures and expressions
• used complex sentences with appropriate conjunctions
• demonstrate knowledge of adjectival agreement
• show depth of opinions and ideas in their responses
• respond in a fluent and confident manner, and provide relevant information when answering the examiner’s questions.

Areas for students to improve include:

• avoiding listing information or responding with pre-prepared information that does not address the question asked
• providing relevant information and supporting response with a point of view
• demonstrating knowledge of verb tenses and verb conjugation in singular and plural
• demonstrating knowledge of adjectival agreement and connectives
• using a range of appropriate adjectives, expressions and appropriate idioms
• avoiding repeating the same information for different questions.

Listening and Responding

Students should:

• listen to the entire track before they answer
• focus on the key words
• provide reference from the text were required
• translate quotes and use quotation marks.

In better responses, students were able to:

• respond with detail
• infer and deduct meaning were required
• demonstrate a good knowledge of the topics vocabulary
• analyse ideas and information and respond to questions using their own words rather than provide mere translations of segments of text.

Areas for students to improve include:

• demonstrating a more holistic understanding of texts that is beyond the literal understanding, and using this understanding to respond to questions appropriately and correctly
• avoiding translating parts of texts
• including specific reference to content and language into their responses
• providing relevant information.

Reading and Responding

Part A

Students should:

• read the texts and the questions carefully and locate the key ideas  
• plan longer responses
• use a dictionary to look up key words
• translate quotes and place in quotation marks
• only answer based on the text, not based on common knowledge.

In better responses, students were able to:

• respond with relevant detail
• provide a concise response
• address the requirements of the questions
• infer and deduct meaning
• provide relevant reference from the text where required.

Areas for students to improve include:

• focus on the key words
• respond with information provided in the text
• address the requirements of the questions
• use a dictionary effectively
• translate quotes.

Part B

Students should:

• read the entire text first
• plan their response
• make a dot point list of all details mentioned in the stimulus text
• cluster aspects and address them
• use paragraphs and language to structure response.

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate a clear understanding of context, purpose and audience
• address all key elements of the stimulus text within a balanced response
• demonstrate very good control of verb tenses
• demonstrate very good control of key grammar concepts such as adjectival agreement and verb conjugation
• use a range of connectives
• sequence their ideas with paragraphs and language.

Areas for students to improve include:

• writing a text in response to the stimulus text
• addressing all key elements
• planning their response to achieve a balance when addressing key elements
• knowing a wider range of vocabulary to express their ideas effectively
• demonstrating a very good understanding of general spelling conventions.

Writing in Spanish

Students should:

• focus on the question terminology
• address all details provided in the question
• plan their response
• use paragraphs and relevant language to structure their texts.

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate a clear understanding of context, purpose and audience
• provide ideas, opinion and information relevant to the question
• demonstrate very good control of verb tenses
• demonstrate very good control of key grammar concepts such as adjectival agreement and verb conjugation
• use a range of connectives
• sequence their ideas with paragraphs and language.

Areas for students to improve include:

• taking note of the details provided in the question
• addressing the requirements of the question
• demonstrating very good knowledge of general spelling conventions and key grammar concepts.