Swedish Continuers 2023 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
• express ideas and opinions that justify their point of view by providing depth and insight in their responses rather than only giving short pre-prepared responses
• 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 Swedish to ask for repetition and/or clarification of the question.

In better responses, students were able to:

• speak clearly with excellent pronunciation, syntax, register and intonation
• answer the questions with minimal hesitation, allowing the conversation to flow at a natural 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
• respond in full sentences, using compound and complex sentences
• use language structures and features effectively to enhance their responses
• demonstrate excellent knowledge of a wide repertoire of vocabulary such as words to talk about their future plans, for example, sabbatsår, lärling, praoa, utforska alternativ, tågluffa and education, NO-ämnen, textil, hemkunskap and hobbies, bergsklättring
• accurately use tenses as required by the question
• use authentic and idiomatic expressions appropriately, for example, det har bara klickat i mitt huvud, jag är en lång grabb.

Areas for students to improve include:

• avoiding the overuse of ‘filler words’ such as liksom and asså
• revising grammar features and structures such as prepositions, for example, på en liten säsong, i fritiden, på kassan; tenses with irregular verbs in the past villde and future tense när jag är äldre, and agreement of adjectives min bröder
• using ’false friends’ and direct translations, for example, högskolan vs högstadiet, se vs träffa, gå vs åka
• revising word order, for example, placement of inte and också in subordinate clauses BIFF-regeln
• differentiating between tror, och,tycker.

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 the in-depth study topic
• reflect on their research findings to help them express opinions or develop new perceptions about their in-depth topic
• 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:

• ensure that sources chosen were relevant to the topic of in-depth study
• compare the validity and reliability of their texts by discussion the level of objectivity of each text, for example, den ägs av staten och enligt lag måste den vara opartisk
• 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
• draw insightful conclusions regarding issues raised in their research
• use specific vocabulary and expressions relating to the topic such as organisationsuppbyggnaden,klimatkris,nätverk, cirkulärt mode, gängkriminalitet, grundvatten and extremister
• use complex sentences and suitable idiomatic expressions to strengthen and support their opinions, for example, Jag känner en stark personlig koppling till vad personen har betytt, Den tar upp problemet på ett underhållande och tankeväckande sätt
• 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:

• referring to their texts without being prompted.
• answering the question rather than responding with pre-prepared information
• having a critical approach to information in texts
• including different perspectives regarding the issues raised in the research.

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:

• identify that the purpose of the text is to encourage/persuade people of all ages to book a holiday at Harpön camping (Q2a)
• identify the persuasive technique of encouraging people to book quickly to not miss out (Q2a)
• compare the two speakers’ perspectives and include both similarities and differences of views rather than just listing what each person said in the conversation (Q3b)
• identify both reasons for the teacher’s call, that is, to invite Daniel’s family to the end of year prize award and to deliver the exciting news that Daniel has won an academic prize (Q4a)
• identify and describe Louise’s feelings as being proud, happy, initially concerned and then relieved (Q4b)  
• connect Loiuse’s feelings to changes in Daniel’s development and performance from being an unmotivated  student to becoming an excellent student and mentor for others. For example, Louise är stolt, så glad, hon var orolig i början,  han var så omotiverad I början … (Q4b)
• take a stance of how unlikely it is for Alexandra to get a lift and justifies this stance. For example, nätverket ligger nere, hon kommer vara på jobbet en timma för tidigt, Hon måste städa för Dans mamma kommer (Q5)
• infer that there is a slight possibility that Alexandra could change her mind regarding getting a lift to work if Dan’s mum does not come to dinner as that would mean that Alexandra wouldn’t need to stay at home and clean first in the morning (Q5)
• provide reasons why John has mixed positive and negative views regarding the TV series and ‘hobby archaeologists’. These students were able to identify that John blames the TV series for damaged artefacts. However, he also acknowledges that the increased interest in archaeology due to the TV series may result in more people enrolling in archaeology courses and this may result in more government funding (Q6).

Areas for students to improve include:

• addressing the key words in a question, for example, ‘why’, ‘explain’, ‘how likely’, ‘justify your answer’.