Assessment and reporting in Japanese in Context

Schools are required to submit to NESA a grade for each student based on their achievement at the end of the course.

Teachers use professional, on-balance judgement to allocate grades based on the Common Grade Scale for Preliminary courses.

Teachers consider all available assessment information, including formal and informal assessment, to determine the grade that best matches each student’s achievement at the end of the course.

See ACE (Assessment, Certification and Examination rules and requirements) for further information.

Assessment programs must reflect course components and weightings

The course components and component weightings for Year 11 are mandatory.

Schools may determine specific elements of their assessment program

Schools have authority to determine the number, type of task and the weighting allocated to an assessment task. Schools may also follow the sample assessment programs provided by NESA.

Sample assessment program

NESA’s sample Year 11 formal school-based assessment program for Japanese in Context includes:

• 3 assessment tasks, including:
  • tasks will involve each of the 4 skill areas of listening, speaking, reading and writing at least once, either independently or in combination*
  • a formal written exam.

The recommended weighting for any individual task is 20% to 40%.

* Some students with disability may require adjustments in order to access assessment opportunities and demonstrate achievement of outcomes.

NESA requires schools to submit a school-based assessment mark for each Year 12 candidate in a course. Formal school-based assessment tasks should reflect the syllabus outcomes and content. The mark submitted by the school provides a summation of each student’s achievement measured at several points throughout the course.

A school’s program of school-based assessment includes both mandatory and non-mandatory elements.

See ACE (Assessment, Certification and Examination rules and requirements) for further information.

Assessment programs must reflect course components and weightings

The course components and component weightings for Year 12 are mandatory.

Schools may determine specific elements of their assessment program

Schools have authority to determine the number, type of task and the weighting allocated to an assessment task. Schools may also follow the sample assessment programs provided by NESA.

Sample assessment program

NESA’s sample Year 12 formal school-based assessment program for Japanese in Context includes:

• 4 assessment tasks, including:
  • tasks that involve each of the 4 skill areas of listening, speaking, reading and writing at least once, either independently or in combination*
  • a minimum weighting for an individual task of 10%
  • a maximum weighting for an individual task of 40%
  • a formal written exam with a maximum weighting of 30%.

* Some students with disability may require adjustments in order to access assessment opportunities and demonstrate achievement of outcomes.

Formal written exam

This task may assess a broad range of course content and outcomes. Schools may choose to replicate the timing and structure of the HSC exam.

There will be 6 to 8 questions phrased in Japanese and English.

• Questions will be grouped according to the stimulus text(s).
• There will be 3 groups of questions.
• Each question in the first group will relate to a spoken text. Each question in the second group will involve the integration of information from a spoken and a written text. Each question in the third group will relate to one or more written texts.
• Questions will be graded in difficulty within each group.
• There will be 6 to 10 texts in total.
• The texts will include a range of text types.

Spoken texts

• There will be 2 to 4 texts.
• The texts will vary in length, ranging from 1 to 2 minutes.
• The total time for one reading/playing of all texts will be 4 to 6 minutes.
• The texts will be read/played twice. There will be a pause between the readings/playings and a longer pause after the second reading/playing to allow students to answer the question.

Written texts

• The total length of the written texts in Japanese will be in the range of 1200–1400 ji.
• One or 2 questions will require a response in English of up to 200 words.
• The length of the responses in Japanese will depend on the nature of the stimulus text and the requirements of the task and will be in the range of 100–300 ji.

Part A (10 marks)

• The student will be required to answer one question.
• The question will relate to the course issues.
• The student will be expected to compose an informative, imaginative or reflective text in Japanese.
• The question will specify a context and audience.
• The question will be phrased in Japanese and English, for a short response in Japanese.
• The length of the response will be in the range of 150–175 ji.

Part B (20 marks)

• The student will be required to answer one question.
• The question will relate to the course issues.
• The student will be expected to compose an informative, evaluative, persuasive or reflective text in Japanese.
• The question will specify a context and audience.
• The question will be phrased in Japanese and English, for a response in Japanese.
• The length of the response will be in the range of 350–375 ji.