French
Course Code: FRN315109
2013 Assessment Report
PART 1 Reading and Responding Question 1 The first passage about Marie Curie was well done by the vast majority of students. The most common error was misinterpretation of how Pierre Curie died. “après avoir été renversé par une voiture à cheval” was frequently said to be “he reversed his car into a horse” or “he was hit by a car while horse-­‐riding”. One student wrote of a “horse-­‐car” and drew a picture! After consultation with the TQA representative, it was decided to give the student half a mark. Several students did not answer the WHY? Part of question (b) Two students did not notice that the questions began under the passage and so did not answer question (a). Question 2 Question 2 was about the town of Lille. It was decided that question (g) should be marked out of 6 rather than 5 as it had so much detail required in the answer, thus making the entire question worth a total of 24 marks. The word “incontournable” proved difficult for students, as it was usually translated as “unavoidable” which did not make a lot of sense in the context. At the pre-­‐marking meeting, it had been decided that the word “chineur” would not be counted in any answers, as it did not appear in Collins, Larousse or Harrap small dictionaries. (several students mentioned Chinese people or pieces of china which did not make sense). On the whole, it was a well understood passage. Question 3 Question 3 was about a young Cambodian student studying in Nice. It was decided that question (d) would be marked out of 7, as there was such a lot of detail required. The entire question is therefore worth 21 marks. Tasmanian Qualifications Authority Page 1 of 8 2013 Assessment Report In answer (a) many students said Khim worked in A family business instead of THE (i.e. HIS) family business. They did receive a half mark, even though there is quite a difference. “Une dizaine” was regularly misinterpreted as “a dozen” instead of “about 10”. “vous êtes libre d’être vous-­‐même” was often said to mean “you can be just the same as everyone else”—quite the opposite of being free to be yourself. The standard of understanding was very high overall. PART 2 Writing in French The French essay is the section of the written paper where students have the opportunity to showcase the French they have studied and hopefully know how to use. This year‘s candidates generally performed well with a few exceptional papers at the top end of the marking scale and a significantly increased number of failures. There were 5 topics to choose from, including a narrative, a diary entry, a conversation, a profile and a letter. It is vital for students to remember that it is important to date and sign the letter and diary entry in order to respect the form but also because the agreement of past participles will depend on who is writing. The two markers involved are fully aware of the sheer amount of French grammar and vocabulary students have to master in order to present a coherent piece of writing for assessment. It was pleasing to notice that mid-­‐range candidates had good control of basic grammatical structures (including direct and indirect pronouns) and their use of vocabulary was mostly appropriate. Their essays had reasonable flow and meaning was rarely obscured by errors in syntax and/or misuse of vocabulary. Like last year, the candidates who found this section challenging displayed a mixture of the following attributes. Firstly, some candidates clearly thought that 250 words really meant 100-­‐120 words. Candidates who do not respect the word limit actually prevent the examiners from assessing the student’s true ability as the writing sample is far too short to assess. It is important to note also that the over-­‐the-­‐limit essays are penalised. Secondly, some candidates pay no attention to the text type specified in the essay topic and think that the examiners won’t notice that their essay is not a letter but rather a descriptive narrative. Even more worrying were the candidates who were incapable of copying the subject topic into their introduction without making mistakes in the French. It is one thing to make genuine mistakes, but when you cannot correctly transpose the French that is given to you in the topic, then that is a real problem. Thirdly, some candidates who have learned by heart some typical answers (not that this is the wrong thing to do) do not pay enough attention to the topic they have chosen. Finally, again like last year, examiners were concerned about the way in which students were using or not using dictionaries appropriately in the exam. It would seem logical that one of the major uses of the dictionary would be to check carefully the genders of common words students had used in their essays. Unfortunately this was not the case as many very basic words were given the wrong gender which had disastrous effects on the whole sentence e.g. cette matin. Page 2 of 8 2013 Assessment Report Similarly, some students copied idioms or set phrases from the dictionary which was at odds with the general level of the French used in the rest of the essay. More competent students knew to use their dictionaries judiciously and their essays were subsequently more balanced from a linguistic perspective. Here is a list of the most common errors. Cher mon journal Beaucoup de which becomes beaucoup du/des/ de l’ Des, au become de les and à le Jouer de and jouer à totally misused or not used at all in some cases Excellent becoming très excellent… très magnifque En+ country and à + city were very poorly handled e.g. en Paris, à la France, à Tasmanie. Prendre, chercher, emmener are problematic Son anniversaire became s’anniversaire..this was very common and one of the most disturbing errors Past participles seem to be a problem e.g. apprendu, inscrivé, returné, rencontru… Bonne nuit often became bon nuit The misuse or lack of accents was concerning in some cases e.g. trés (very common), j’éspère, Il avait 17 ans became il était 17 ans or il était 20 Sa mère became son mère. Sa père… Depuis/il y a/ pendant posed many problems Past tenses, both simple and compound, were major sources of difficulty in many essays. Candidates were at a loss and used avoir as an auxiliary as a default position. Pronouns, especially direct and indirect pronouns, were misplaced or simply absent. Articles were missing in front of nouns, subjects and place names. Negatives were problematic, especially when combined with a compound tense e.g. il n’a aimé pas. A cause de and parce que were often confused. Verbs linked by a preposition simply didn’t exist for some students e.g. j’ai décidé faire. Et toi became et tu quite often in the conversation. Avant ça became avant cet in a few papers. The expression concerning the weather were often badly used. Students should be reminded of the importance of being consistent with the vous and tu. The usual spelling error of chevaux for cheveux is a perennial. Students should be aware of the distinction between classe and cours (un cours de biologie … la classe dans laquelle nous étudions la biologie meaning the classroom) In conclusion, the examiners would like to say that they enjoyed reading some essays that were interesting, amusing and sincere. They also acknowledge that while it is necessary to indicate the areas in which students appear to have difficulties, we never lose sight of the fact that the majority of these students have never been to France and yet they do very well indeed. This is testimony not only to the students themselves but also to the hard work of French teachers across the State. Page 3 of 8 2013 Assessment Report PART 3 Listening and Responding Spoken Text 1 – Question 9 (a) Making a quiche lorraine 1 2 for Aunt Caroline 1 2 . (b) Because she has broken 1 2 both 1 2 her arms 1 2 and they are both in plaster 1 2 . (c) She was on a bushwalk 1 2 with two friends 1 2 and she fell 1 2 going down 1 2 a rocky ( )
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( 1 2) path ( 1 2) . She is a nurse ( 1 2 ) and was carrying ( 1 2 ) a first aid kit (1). So she helped her (1). As soon as ( 1 2 ) the quiche is ready ( 1 2 ) . At about (1/2) midday ( 1 2 ) . A little ( 1 2 ) bunch ( 1 2 ) of flowers ( 1 2 ) from the garden ( 1 2 ) . That there are some lovely red ( 1 2 ) roses ( 1 2 ) just opposite ( 1 2 ) the letterbox ( 1 2 ) . Total: 15 marks Key little words such as “juste”, “dès que”, “les deux” or “petit” cost the students marks. In plaster, rocky path, letter box or first aid kit were not understood, most of the time. A number of students misunderstood “infirmière” and thought the friend was a farmer. Spoken Text 2 – Question 10 (a )How are summer holidays going (1)? How is he (1)? (b) In Nice (1) with parents (1) (c) Fine/ hot/ warm/ nice (1) ( 1 2) every day ( 1 2) beach ( 1 2) volleyball ( 1 2) bush-­‐walking/ hiking ( 1 2) visits ( 1 2) (1 )
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to nearby/ neighbouring 2 towns 2 (d) swimming ( 1 2) Palace ( 1 2) famous ( 1 2) aquarium ( 1 2)
(e) Royal (f) Mothers (g) (h) dancing 2 disco 2 2 months 1 2 rest 1 2 having good time (1) forget 1 2 school 1 2
( 1 2) & daughters ( 1 2) funny (1) dad ( 1 2) loved it ( 1 2)
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2013 Assessment Report (i) see friends 1 2 again 1 2 show 1 2 photos 1 2 ( )
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Total: 20 marks Again, lack of details in certain questions (“tous les jours”, “deux mois”). A number of students didn’t know Nice. Many thought Laure was a male (confusion because the person talking is male and it is likely the students did not read the question carefully). Question (f) confused students who didn’t get that it was for mothers and daughters. Spoken Text 3 – Question 11 (a) 2 1 2 tickets 1 2 (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) To permanent(1) or temporary exhibition/ exposition (1) The temporary (1)/Picasso(1) Students cards 6.50€/for the two audio-­‐guide Yes 1 2 1 will do 1 2 (h) (j) wants to see 1 2 Picasso 1 2 not much 1 2 time 1 2 ends 1 2 today/ that day 1 2 extended 1 2 till August 30 1 2 tickets for 2 1 2 exhibitions/expositions 1 2 cost 4.50€ 1 2 p.p./each 1 2 good 1 2 value 1 2 or interesting 1 2 price 1 2 1
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He’ll come back 2 Thursday 2 time 2 for the 2 exhibitions 1 2 thanks employee 1 2 ( )
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for her kindness ( 1 2 )
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Total: 20 marks Lack of details (“two tickets”, “in total”). “Un appareil me suffit” in question 11 (g) was not understood most of the time. For question 11 (j) students gave partial answers Spoken Text 4 – Question 12 (a) Belong to the same family 1 2 for more than 1 2 six centuries 1 2 ; (b) (c) (d) ( )
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always been occupied ( 1 2 ) Opened ( 1 2 ) to the public ( 1 2 ) Botanical ( 1 2 ) park/garden ( 1 2 ) ; forests ( 1 2 ) surrounding it ( 1 2 ) ; vegetable ( 1 2 ) garden ( 1 2 ) Tintin ( 1 2 ) exhibition ( 1 2 ) (question out of 3 marks) Vast ( 1 2 ) living rooms ( 1 2 ) ; ballroom ( 1 2 ) ; children’s ( 1 2 ) bedrooms ( 1 2 ) ; remarkably preserved ( 1 2 ) Page 5 of 8 2013 Assessment Report (e) (f) (g) ( )
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18th century building 1 2 now 1 2 a café 1 2 wide/large 1 2 windows 1 2 terrace 1 2 To have a break 1 2 and something to eat 1 2 delicious 1 2 ice-­‐creams 1 2 pastries 1 2 ( )
savoury ( 1 2 ) tarts ( 1 2 ) hot ( 1 2 ) cold ( 1 2 ) drinks ( 1 2 ) All sorts of ( 1 2 ) nice souvenirs ( 1 2 ) Total: 18 marks “More than” was not understood, nor the fact that people still lived in the Château. “Remarkably preserved” caused some confusion with some students mentioning “conservatory” for instance. A number of students wrote that it was a building of the 28th Century (?). “Boissons fraîches”: refreshing was accepted but not fresh. In question 12 (f) many students did not mention “to have a break/ to have something to eat”. Spoken Text 5 – Question 13 (a) A birthday present 1 2 for his girlfriend / female friend 1 2 maybe 1 2 a handbag 1 2 ( )
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(c) Handbags are very personal (1) suggests a nice silk (1/2) scarf 1 2 A 20% 1 2 discount 1 2 if you buy two (1) (d) With yellow 1 2 , orange 1 2 pink 1 2 or green 1 2 (e) (f) (g) ( )
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An orange Dior ( 1 2 ) scarf ( 1 2 ) with grey ( 1 2 ) spots ( 1 2 ) To giftwrap the purchase (1) A little sachet 1 2 of the new Dior 1 2 perfume 1 2 for his girlfriend 1 2 (h) 75 euros (1) Total: 14 marks Lack of details again “peut-­‐être”, “joli”, “petit” and “nouveau”. “Foulard”, “soie” and “à pois” were not understood. “Birthday” and “anniversary” were mixed up and “copine” was only translated as “friend” most of the time. “20%” was often translated as “20 people”. Question 13 (e) was confusing for the students as it asked for the first item. ( )
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2013 Assessment Report ORAL ASSESSMENT Candidates were asked to do a conversation of 8 to 10 minutes with two examiners (sometimes a little longer if the students were weak so that we could find out if there was something they knew). Two criteria were assessed: criterion 2 (communicate in spoken French) and 5 (use correct pronunciation, intonation and demonstrate fluency). As examiners, we have tended to include the fluency component in criterion 2. This year again most candidates were well prepared and conversed with the examiners in a very confident manner. Examiners noticed though, that some students were not expanding on their answers using parce que, par contre, alors... or other suitable sentences such as mais, puisque, cependant... Students should be reminded that using the negative form shows that they have understood some difficult grammatical rules. Here is a succinct list of questions which were not understood: Vous aimez, vous avez votre propre chambre, combien de temps faut-­‐il , meilleur ami, comment est-­‐ce que vous dépensez votre argent, vous vous entendez bien ? Qu'est-­‐ce que vous voulez faire plus tard/ comme métier? (Many confusions arose between matière and métier) Qu'est-­‐ce que vous faites pour vous détendre? Qui s'occupe de..? Vous avez déjà voyagé? Ça vous a plu? Qu'avez-­‐vous fait? Vous avez aimé? Qu'avez-­‐vous fait? rather than : Qu'est-­‐ce que vous avez fait? Parlez-­‐nous de, pas encore, déjà (vous êtes déjà allé à l’étranger, vous avez déjà voyagé) Many students did not understand the word pièce. The eternal errors of telling how old people are remain an area of concern. Candidates were not always able to say ma soeur a quinze ans for example. Some candidates used quarante or cinquante instead ofquatorze and quinze. Dates of birth were also problematic in some cases, candidates using c'est le quinzième de décembre. The year of birth was often wrong. Candidates need to be more careful with tenses: there were still many mistakes in the Passé Composé with the inappropriate use of avoir and être and past participles. Verbs like faire, savoir, lire, prendre, écrire, voir… should be known at this level. The future even with aller+infinitive was often not used appropriately. The imparfait and the forms depuis, il y a,pendant were also not well known. Reflexive verbs were also sometimes a little problematic (je me suis prendre, je me couché). Some candidates surprised the examiners with their total lack of understanding of conjugation: je faire la vaisselle, l’année prochaine je faisais les maths. The conditional was used mostly appropriately. It would be gratifying to hear more students use the subjunctive e.g., il faut que je fasse mes devoirs/ il faut je j’aiille en ville; participles en mangeant, avant de me lever, après avoir or après être. Students definitely impress the examiners if they can say après m’être levé je… Prepositions were very inaccurate e.g à+… , en+… so were the possessive adjectives. There is no excuse for not knowing mon père/ frère, ma mère/ soeur. Candidates should be able to Page 7 of 8 2013 Assessment Report use correctly: Mon meilleur ami/ ma meilleure amie. Other errors included using à+le or à+ les, mes+ les (je vois mes les amis). Some candidates also used Je travaille dans un le restaurant. The distinction between jouer à and jouer de posed problems as well. Candidates should remember not to use an article in front of a profession: je voudrais être professeur. A few candidates confuse assister à, attendre and aider. Savoir and connaître are still problematic for some candidates. Also of concern are the errors of gender which affect the whole sentence. Confusions with dernière and prochaine meant that some candidates were unable to answer correctly que ferez-­‐vous l’année prochaine? As far as pronunciation is concerned some typical errors included: lack of liaison and liaison with et ; copain/copine, semaine, de temps en temps, dans, examen, vingt, international, psychologie, vaisselle, ville, je préfère becomes préféré… Urope (Europe), les yeux, j’ai instead of je. Préférer and étudier are still very difficult words for candidates to use. At times the intonation appeared to be overlooked totally by quite a few students. Perhaps students should be encouraged to read French texts aloud and to listen to French native speakers (SBS French news are an excellent way to immerse oneself in the language). It is a little concerning that candidates do not know the various vocabulary words for household tasks, to describe the rooms of their house or the furniture in their bedroom. In that respect some candidates did not understand qu’est-­‐ce que vous voyez de la fenêtre de votre chambre? Qui and que were sometimes misused. This year hardly any student used the on form. We believe that this is an easy way to show a cultural understanding. Some students expressed themselves with a wonderful accent, understood the humour and were very much at ease, even though they had had no in-­‐country experience. The examiners acknowledge the passion which inexorably drives all the hard work that teachers and students have contributed, to achieve a high level of communication. Page 8 of 8 TASMANIAN QUALIFICATIONS AUTHORITY
FRN315109 French
ASSESSMENT PANEL REPORT
Award Distribution
EA
HA
CA
SA
This year
25% (17)
32% (22)
32% (22)
12% (8)
69
Last year
21% (22)
20% (21)
40% (42)
20% (21)
106
Last year (all
examined
subjects)
11 %
19 %
39 %
31 %
Previous 5 years
26 %
24 %
37 %
14 %
Previous 5 years
(all examined
subjects)
11 %
19 %
39 %
30 %
Student Distribution (SA or better)
Male
Female
Year 11
Year 12
This year
30% (21)
70% (48)
62% (43)
38% (26)
Last year
31% (33)
69% (73)
64% (68)
36% (38)
34%
66%
63%
37%
Previous 5 years
Total