Answering Listening and Reading Sections in Langauges (1 Viewer)

Maybe2004

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Hello,

I am currently doing Japanese continuers and extension, however, am not performing as well I thought I would be... I know I am not bad in understanding the subject as I get an average of 95% in writing and speaking. However, for some reason when it comes to answering questions in English I lose marks very easily. I lose marks even though I can comprehend what is written/spoken. I just can't seem to answer the question as the marker would like. What should I do?? It fustrates me to be losing marks despite knowing the content. How do I answer and approach language questions when answering in english?
 
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What exactly does the marker want- have you asked the teacher/marker after results are handed back? Is there a past criteria you can refer to?

I do Japanese continuers but I haven't experienced that possibly due to the fact that my teacher lets the class write in dot points for English answers but in other tests I would have to be writing in full sentences I assume. Some things I get deducted marks for include answering in correct tense, clarity of answer and the answer having a specific grammar structure in mind (if that makes sense).

I also wanted to ask you, if it's alright, how exactly different is Japanese extension to continuers?
 

jimmysmith560

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While a thorough understanding of spoken and written material in the target language constitutes the basis for answering relevant questions, it is not sufficient if your goal is to ensure optimal performance. This does not just apply to Japanese Continuers and Japanese Extension, but also to other language subjects that follow the same HSC exam structure, such as French Continuers and French Extension. Consider the following:

Japanese Continuers:

A thorough understanding of the stimulus material in listening as well as reading and responding components allows you to demonstrate high attention to detail, which is required in order to become able to achieve favourable results with respect to those 2 sections. This means that your responses must be comprehensive and thorough, in the sense that they should cover all the important points that are relevant to their respective questions. This may be a bit more difficult to apply to the listening section as stimuli are only repeated twice, making it a bit more difficult to make notes of every major point covered whereas in the reading and responding section, the stimuli are right in front of you.

Based on this, you should ensure that you cover all important points (potentially including minor details depending on the stimuli and the questions) in as much detail as possible because markers may deduct marks if you miss a minor detail or incorrectly describe a particular detail, although I believe the latter would not occur in your case since you seem to be competent in the Japanese language. This applies to both listening and reading and responding.

Japanese Extension:

The lack of a listening section is relieving as you will not have to worry about what you need to worry about in Japanese Continuers twice. However, understanding your prescribed text as a whole and in a precise manner (with respect to the extracts and issues covered in each extract) is crucial. In addition to the need to cover all important points that are relevant to the questions, you also need to ensure that you are effectively establishing a link between your points, the evidence you provide to support your points and the prescribed issues where applicable. The same also applies to questions that require a response to an extract from the film in Japanese, as not only is your knowledge of the Japanese language assessed here, but also your knowledge of the prescribed text. A similar section appears in Continuers language exams, although the only difference is that there are no prescribed texts for Continuers language subjects.

I also wanted to ask you, if it's alright, how exactly different is Japanese extension to continuers?
Japanese Extension, in addition to other Extension language subjects that follow the same structure, such as French Extension and Arabic Extension, is different to Japanese Continuers through the following:
  • Extension language courses (including Japanese Extension) feature a prescribed text to be studied throughout the year, including issues relevant to the particular text.
  • Unlike Continuers language courses, Extension language courses do not include a listening component.
  • Extension language courses assume a higher ability in speaking and writing in the target language from students and thus require more sophisticated responses.
  • Speaking exams for Extension language courses are different from those in Continuers language courses. Continuers language courses assess a student's speaking ability through a conversation-style exam, whereas Extension language courses assess a student's speaking ability through a spoken response that a student must provide in the target language, which goes for 3 minutes.
I hope this helps! 😄
 

Maybe2004

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While a thorough understanding of spoken and written material in the target language constitutes the basis for answering relevant questions, it is not sufficient if your goal is to ensure optimal performance. This does not just apply to Japanese Continuers and Japanese Extension, but also to other language subjects that follow the same HSC exam structure, such as French Continuers and French Extension. Consider the following:

Japanese Continuers:

A thorough understanding of the stimulus material in listening as well as reading and responding components allows you to demonstrate high attention to detail, which is required in order to become able to achieve favourable results with respect to those 2 sections. This means that your responses must be comprehensive and thorough, in the sense that they should cover all the important points that are relevant to their respective questions. This may be a bit more difficult to apply to the listening section as stimuli are only repeated twice, making it a bit more difficult to make notes of every major point covered whereas in the reading and responding section, the stimuli are right in front of you.

Based on this, you should ensure that you cover all important points (potentially including minor details depending on the stimuli and the questions) in as much detail as possible because markers may deduct marks if you miss a minor detail or incorrectly describe a particular detail, although I believe the latter would not occur in your case since you seem to be competent in the Japanese language. This applies to both listening and reading and responding.

Japanese Extension:

The lack of a listening section is relieving as you will not have to worry about what you need to worry about in Japanese Continuers twice. However, understanding your prescribed text as a whole and in a precise manner (with respect to the extracts and issues covered in each extract) is crucial. In addition to the need to cover all important points that are relevant to the questions, you also need to ensure that you are effectively establishing a link between your points, the evidence you provide to support your points and the prescribed issues where applicable. The same also applies to questions that require a response to an extract from the film in Japanese, as not only is your knowledge of the Japanese language assessed here, but also your knowledge of the prescribed text. A similar section appears in Continuers language exams, although the only difference is that there are no prescribed texts for Continuers language subjects.



Japanese Extension, in addition to other Extension language subjects that follow the same structure, such as French Extension and Arabic Extension, is different to Japanese Continuers through the following:
  • Extension language courses (including Japanese Extension) feature a prescribed text to be studied throughout the year, including issues relevant to the particular text.
  • Unlike Continuers language courses, Extension language courses do not include a listening component.
  • Extension language courses assume a higher ability in speaking and writing in the target language from students and thus require more sophisticated responses.
  • Speaking exams for Extension language courses are different from those in Continuers language courses. Continuers language courses assess a student's speaking ability through a conversation-style exam, whereas Extension language courses assess a student's speaking ability through a spoken response that a student must provide in the target language, which goes for 3 minutes.
I hope this helps! 😄
Does this mean that if I include all the information a question asks, even if it is a summarise question, I will get full marks for the question? If not then are nesa key terms very important? Should I answer questions as I would in the common module english short answer section? (I'm sorry for so many questions)
 

jimmysmith560

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Does this mean that if I include all the information a question asks, even if it is a summarise question, I will get full marks for the question? If not then are nesa key terms very important? Should I answer questions as I would in the common module english short answer section? (I'm sorry for so many questions)
That would be a good approach, particularly for Japanese Continuers. With that being said, ensure that you are aware of the mark allocation for a particular question in addition to the space provided as those indicate the expected length of response. If you notice that your response exceeds the writing space provided by a considerable margin, then perhaps you should go through your answer and ensure all important information has been included and where applicable, any unnecessary information has been removed.

NESA key terms remain important and you should definitely ensure that you are able to distinguish between each key term in terms of what type of answer would be required, although you are less likely to encounter them in a language exam than a subject like Business Studies, where they tend to be somewhat more common.

I don't think that you should approach language exam questions the same way you would approach short answer questions for the Common Module section in English exams as they are quite different subjects. You can instead take a look at different sample answers (from HSC exam papers for example) and carefully observe what information a particular answer includes in addition to how it is structured.
 

Maybe2004

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That would be a good approach, particularly for Japanese Continuers. With that being said, ensure that you are aware of the mark allocation for a particular question in addition to the space provided as those indicate the expected length of response. If you notice that your response exceeds the writing space provided by a considerable margin, then perhaps you should go through your answer and ensure all important information has been included and where applicable, any unnecessary information has been removed.

NESA key terms remain important and you should definitely ensure that you are able to distinguish between each key term in terms of what type of answer would be required, although you are less likely to encounter them in a language exam than a subject like Business Studies, where they tend to be somewhat more common.

I don't think that you should approach language exam questions the same way you would approach short answer questions for the Common Module section in English exams as they are quite different subjects. You can instead take a look at different sample answers (from HSC exam papers for example) and carefully observe what information a particular answer includes in addition to how it is structured.
Thank you!
 

cyniczny

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Does this mean that if I include all the information a question asks, even if it is a summarise question, I will get full marks for the question? If not then are nesa key terms very important? Should I answer questions as I would in the common module english short answer section? (I'm sorry for so many questions)
This is for listening specifically: We've been told that for summarise questions, we shouldn't include all information, as this is likely to make us lose marks since we haven't actually summarised.
Also in terms of mark allocation, for questions where they ask you to refer to language and content, you want to make sure you have some language techniques on hand you can refer to. You can talk about how the speaker addresses the audience in second person, uses rhetorical questions - stuff like that. I believe for a 5 mark language and content question we were told to use 3 language techniques and 2 content examples, but to be on the safe side I would use at least 3 examples of each.
 

Maybe2004

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This is for listening specifically: We've been told that for summarise questions, we shouldn't include all information, as this is likely to make us lose marks since we haven't actually summarised.
Also in terms of mark allocation, for questions where they ask you to refer to language and content, you want to make sure you have some language techniques on hand you can refer to. You can talk about how the speaker addresses the audience in second person, uses rhetorical questions - stuff like that. I believe for a 5 mark language and content question we were told to use 3 language techniques and 2 content examples, but to be on the safe side I would use at least 3 examples of each.
Okay, thank you!
 

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