GCE EXAMINERS' REPORTS
SPANISH
AS/Advanced
JANUARY 2013
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Statistical Information
The Examiner’s Report may refer in general terms to statistical outcomes. Statistical
information on candidates’ performances in all examination components (whether internally
or externally assessed) is provided when results are issued.
Annual Statistical Report
The annual Statistical Report (issued in the second half of the Autumn Term) gives overall
outcomes of all examinations administered by WJEC.
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SPANISH
General Certificate of Education
January 2013
Advanced Subsidiary/Advanced
Principal Examiner:
Dr C M Kelley
Unit Statistics
The following statistics include all candidates entered for the unit, whether or not they
'cashed in' for an award. The attention of centres is drawn to the fact that the statistics listed
should be viewed strictly within the context of this unit and that differences will undoubtedly
occur between one year and the next and also between subjects in the same year.
Unit
Entry
SN2
615
Max Mark
98
Grade Ranges
A
B
C
D
E
71
63
55
48
41
N.B. The marks given above are raw marks and not uniform marks.
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1
Mean Mark
59.2
SN2 - Listening, Reading and Writing
Ejercicios 1 and 2.
The listening tasks were based on recordings about las tendencias de los jóvenes and los
Simpson.
Ejercicio 1 was a true / false task in which false plus correction are always required to gain
the mark. Most candidates understood the passage and coped well with the true / false
questions, although there is still evidence that weaker candidates are trying to score marks
by guessing. Many candidates scored full marks but most got between 5 and 7 out of a
possible 8. Question 3 was the most difficult and many candidates ticked it as being true
when it was, in fact, false. Short answers are always to be encouraged as is some language
manipulation in the answer. Infinitives and past participles are not acceptable as valid
communication in corrections (unless grammatically correct in the context), and neither was
chatar for chatear in question (v). Some candidates ticked both boxes or did not tick any;
others merely negated the statement, which infringes the clearly stated rubric and does not
gain a mark.
Ejercicio 2 was a grammar question testing common grammatical points. Many candidates
scored full marks although the weaker candidates found all 5 difficult, particularly 3 and 5.
The three reading texts in the folder were based on smoking, domestic violence and
Halloween.
Ejercicio 3(a) Once again this was the most accessible task on the Paper. Many candidates
spotted all five correct statements which were 1, 4, 6, 7 and 10, but some could find only four
correct statements in line with the information provided in the text. Finally, some candidates
are still confusing their answers by using a combination of ticks and crosses.
In Ejercicio 3(b) the questions were direct and required brief answers. Many candidates
performed well in this task. However, weak candidates found it very difficult and tended to
copy directly from the text without any linguistic manipulation: for example in question (i) hay
muchas denuncias, and 25,000 maltratadores son condenados cada año were common; in
question (ii) muchos hombres no creen que sea un problema grave; in (iii) many candidates
contradicted themselves: No, la educación es importante. In question (iv) the reference was
to female immigrants, but many candidates understood los inmigrantes: los inmigrantes no
tienen apoyo de la familia o la sociedad.
In Ejercicio 3(c) it was clear once again that candidates who drew up a table of the different
parts of speech did much better in the task than those who did not analyse the list of words.
The words that proved to be most difficult were: raíces, destrozos, evitar. Some candidates
used one word more than once which goes against the rubric. It is essential to copy correctly
and this includes any accents: cívicas was often written without the accent. In some cases
candidates lost up to three marks through carelessness. While it is evident that weak
candidates need to practise this exercise more, the overall performance for this question is
improving.
Ejercicio 4 was the third most accessible task on the Paper. The testing items were
fumando, vaya, otro, hay, pudieran and cargadas.
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2
Ejercicio 5
The extracts for translation were fewer in number but involved some complicated structures.
Many candidates are still stringing words together without bothering to look back at the
context or check the meaning or sense of what they are writing. English and Welsh words
are increasingly being invented. In order to gain a mark, and verbs MUST be translated in
the correct tense.
In extract (i) informe is still being translated as ‘information’ instead of ‘report’ or ‘study’,
destaca is stronger than just ‘states’; locales públicos refers to ‘bars’ and not ‘public locals’.
Only the very best candidates translated the first half of this sentence correctly. In extract (ii)
setenta was not known and asesinatos machistas often became ‘machist’, ‘mashist’ [sic] or
‘assassins’; se basa en was read as ‘baja’ or ‘bajo’, criterios were too frequently ‘criterias’,
and pacífica was often translated as ‘specific’.
Extract (iii) caused major problems for all but the best candidates and there were some
imaginative responses here: varón was frequently translated as ‘baron’ and recurso ‘source’
– the nonsensical “the source of a baron to violence” appeared too often. Many candidates
did not realise that las inmigrantes had to be ‘female immigrants’ and distorted their
translation to fit in with male immigrants. The comparative con más rapidez que was missed
by too many as was ya no and the idea that female immigrants are no longer prepared to
accept ‘patriarchal domination’. The adjective patriarcal was often translated as ‘patriotic’,
‘patriotical’, ‘partical’ or ‘paternal’.
In extract (iv) vamos a dar una vuelta proved difficult for some who thought vuelta was vuelo
with the result that the teenagers were “flying off on a trip”! Some candidates invented a verb
for vigilando and applied it to calle – “the street is not watching / vigilating” [sic]. No se dan
cuenta was often ‘they take into account’ rather than the correct: ‘they don’t realise’. The fact
that some words might have several meanings was forgotten by some in the phrase
llevamos alcohol which became “we are wearing alcohol”.
In extract (v) suelen was often omitted, residuos was translated as ‘residents’ in some cases,
and suciedad was translated as ‘suicide’ or ‘society’ by a fair number of candidates.
Clearly, candidates need to be reminded to read what is actually written in the extract and
check the meaning of their translation within the context. It is clear that in centres where this
type of translation exercise has been practised regularly, candidates as a whole perform
much better. However, there are still too many who are failing to grasp the meaning of these
extracts and who are writing meaningless or very inaccurate versions of the original Spanish.
English and Welsh spelling left much room for improvement with some candidates offering
versions that would blur communication with a native speaker. Here are some examples:
“omicids” for ‘murders’, “falures” and “faliours” for ‘failures’ and “showvaunistic” for
‘chauvinist’.
Ejercicio 6
The essays set were on fiestas, sport and a healthy lifestyle, the importance of parents and
friends during adolescence and school failure. All of the titles were attempted, with the most
popular being 2, whether sport or diet is more important for a healthy lifestyle. There were
many well written essays on this topic. Some candidates observed the rubric and wrote
about the benefits of sport rather than exercise in general, mentioning the Olympics, team
work, friendships formed and so on. However, weaker candidates tended to regurgitate a
pre-learnt essay on exercise and diet which did not fully address the question and did not
say whether or not they agreed with the statement. Nevertheless it was clear that many
candidates had written an essay of this nature before and were able to use their knowledge
to give a full answer.
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3
In essay 1 on the importance or otherwise of fiestas and celebrations in times of recession,
many candidates merely wrote about parties and failed to address the question of whether
the expense of fiestas or celebrations could be justified during a recession. In essay 3 many
candidates wrote balanced essays on whether friends or parents were most influential during
adolescence. In essay 4 many reasons for school failure were provided with many being
along the lines of the prompts.
Overall there was an increased use by good candidates of the subjunctive, as well as good
coloquial phrases such as eres un aguafiestas, hasta la coronilla, parece un Michelin, hacen
la vista gorda, el dinero no cae del cielo, lo que a uno cura a otro mata, ojos que no ven
corazón que no siente, les importa un bledo. There was also clear evidence of planning by
good candidates. However, weaker candidates tended to write shorter essays which were
unfocused, contained words just strung together, and were full of many errors such as the
common formentar, intergración, una cuerpa, quieren caber, the confusion of bueno / bien,
and invented words such as atrocioso (‘atrocious’?) and ojalán (they will hope?)
Nevertheless, there has been a steady improvement over the years in the linguistic usage of
good candidates.
Finally, a reminder that candidates MUST keep to the word limit and check that they have
answered the question, agreed or disagreed with any statement in the rubric, as the case
may be, and provided reasons or solutions where these form part of the question.
GCE Spanish Examiners Report - January 2013/ED
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4
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