GCE EXAMINERS' REPORTS
SPANISH
AS/Advanced
JANUARY 2010
Statistical Information
This booklet contains summary details for each unit: number entered; maximum mark
available; mean mark achieved; grade ranges. N.B. These refer to 'raw marks' used in the
initial assessment, rather than to the uniform marks reported 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.
Unit
Page
SN2
1
SPANISH
General Certificate of Education
JANUARY 2010
Advanced Subsidiary/Advanced
Principal Examiner:
C. M. Kelley, M.A., D. Phil., Director of Hispanic Studies Department,
Cardiff School of European Studies, Cardiff University.
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
520
Max Mark
98
Grade Ranges
A
B
C
D
E
71
61
51
42
33
N.B. The marks given above are raw marks and not uniform marks.
1
Mean Mark
49.9
SN2 – Listening, Reading and Responding
Ejercicio 1
The first listening text was based on health, diet and obesity in Spain. The first exercise was
a True / False task in which false statements required the correction in order to attract the
mark. Most candidates understood the passage but failed to read the questions carefully. In
statement (ii) many failed to link la capital italiana to Rome, and in (iii) many interpreted
quince regiones as cinco regiones when cinco ciudades was the correct answer. In (v) only
a few candidates wrote the correct 18%, with many writing 19%. In (vii) all that was needed
was a brief reference to the Mediterranean diet being less popular with young people and in
(viii) les afecta mucho but many candidates tried to over-complicate their answer. As a
general rule only short answers are needed in this exercise. Some candidates tried to write
down whole sentences from the recording, hoping that the answer might be in there
somewhere. Short answers are to be encouraged as is some manipulation of the answer in
which candidates use their own Spanish.
Ejercicio 2
This was a grammar question testing common grammar points. Good candidates scored full
marks while weaker candidates managed only very low marks or none at all. The following
were confused: in (i) deje de and deja de; in (ii) es / está with the gerund; in (iv) creen /
crean. In (iv) most spotted tampoco, but in (v) only very few chose tercio.
Ejercicios 3 (a), (b), (c)
There were three texts, one about problems in Spanish schools caused by immigrants, the
second about the Spanish siesta and the third on gender-related violence.
Exercise 3(a) required 5 correct statements to be ticked. Most candidates coped well with
this task, although few got all 5 correct. Once again careful reading is required to spot the 5
correct statements according to the information in the text. A few candidates used a
confusing mixture of crosses and ticks, and were penalised accordingly.
Exercise 3 (b) required 4 questions to be answered in Spanish. Candidates needed to infer
meaning from the text and answer the questions in their own words in Spanish. Only the
best candidates did this well. Many candidates scored no marks for this task. Some
improvement was noted, however, compared with the May 2009 exam. It is worth pointing
out that once more only short answers were required. Candidates should not lift verbatim
from the text and hope that the examiner will find the answer for them. The following
answers were sufficient: in (i) en una encuesta; in (ii) sólo una minoría la practica; in (iii) a
verb was needed: se duerme en el sofá; in (iv) Aragón – most candidates answered this one
correctly.
In the gap filling exercise in 3(c), the task was well done by the best candidates who often
scored full marks while weaker candidates only gained a few marks, and many scored none
at all. Practice is still needed with this type of exercise.
Ejercicio 4
This task tested common grammar problems. Many candidates scored full marks, but
weaker ones still made mistakes. The following problems were observed: in (i) resultos /
resultados and dependen de / en were equally chosen; in (ii) many candidates missed the
subjunctive saquen; in (iii) famosa was often not spotted as agreeing with España, and por
and para were confused; in (iv) estando and siendo were frequently confused.
2
Ejercicio 5
The extracts for translation into English or Welsh were shorter than before but were
nevertheless quite demanding. Too many candidates translated each word in isolation and
did not think about the sense of the phrase or sentence as a whole. Consequently, many
renditions were incomprehensible. Translations of this nature do need practice. It was
obvious which centres had practised this skill as these candidates were then able to produce
an adequate version. In (i) Dime and sacar notas were not known, and some confused
estudias with estudios; in (ii) destaca, apenas, rendimiento escolar and castellano were not
recognised; in (iii) lectura was often translated as ‘lecture’ or ‘lecturer’ and only the best
candidates were able to give a good translation of vuelven a ser using ‘again’ or ‘once more’
rather than the incorrect idea of ‘returning to do something’; in (iv) gozan de un ligero
sueñecito después de comer was nicely rendered by some candidates, although some
mentioned ‘a dreamy lie down’ or ‘a lingered dream’; in (v) denuncia all too often was
translated as ‘denounce’ when ‘report’ or similar would have got the mark; in (vi) suceso,
medios de comunicación, and género were badly translated by the majority of candidates.
Only very few knew how to translate la violencia de género – which one would think is a key
phrase for that particular topic.
Ejercicio 6
The open nature of the essay in this new specification implies that candidates are free to
write whatever they like as long as the question is addressed. The essays were on smoking
& alcohol (a), fast food and obesity (b), immigration and problems in education (c), and
fashion and young people (d).
The most popular essays by far were (a) and (b) with only a small percentage of candidates
choosing (c) and (d). It was obvious that many candidates merely reproduced their
pre-learnt essay. Many gave their own opinion of whether smoking was more serious than
drinking alcohol, and whether or not fast food was the biggest cause of obesity, but some
failed to address the rubric of question and were penalised. In essay (c) many candidates
mentioned problems in the education system other than immigration, but weaker candidates
restricted themselves to immigration alone and so did not give a full answer. Although not a
popular choice, essay (d) was generally well done with many candidates able to suggest
what interests young people have other than fashion.
Most candidates kept to the word limit. It was pleasing to note some nicely-structured
essays with good use of introductory phases at the beginning of each paragraph and a
proper conclusion. However, weaker candidates translated literally from English and had
problems such as attempting to form the perfect tense with the auxiliary tener plus past
participle, and the future tense with será +verb, as well as the conditional with sería + verb.
This is a recent and rather worrying trend and teachers should alert candidates to this.
Spelling continues to be careless, especially of words already on the printed paper: el
alcohol was often misspelled. The gender of problema was frequently wrong, and the
negative was too often in the wrong place, as in es no. Incorrect use of phrases and words
mentioned in the previous reports and in INSETS such as: a causa de / porque de, tiempo /
vez, tomar / tocar / tener, (no) me acuerdo / (no) estoy de acuerdo continue to be a concern.
Candidates should be encouraged to check the meaning of what they write in order to avoid
phrases like: No vuelan a casa hasta la madrugada; una ahora ( = hora), no comer nadie.
On the positive side, some candidates managed to use colloquial and up-to-date
expressions such as: por el mero hecho de que…, la mazmorra de la adicción, los
atracones del alcohol. They also gave their own views and opinions, which were pleasing to
read. Nevertheless, planning and accuracy remain the two big areas to be worked on by
weaker candidates in preparation for future examinations.
GCE Spanish Examiners Report /January 2010/KB
29 March 2010
3
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