Download FR834 French Stage 4

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S E C O N D A R Y
FR834
French Stage 4
A S S E S S M E N T
B O A R D
2002 External Examination Report
Oral
There were two separate ‘teams’ of examiners over four days of oral examinations. This was, for the examiners
at least, a very pleasant experience, enabling them to interact with capable, enthusiastic and keen candidates
whose pronunciation, generally, was of a high standard and whose understanding and fluency were, on the whole,
commendable.
There were, of course, some problem areas. We advise candidates to avoid offering a monosyllabic ‘oui’ or ‘non’
answer: at this level, candidates are expected to be able to expand their response to the examiner’s question and
to offer some detail in their answer. It was most pleasing that many candidates were able to do this: thorough
preparation and a willingness to communicate were always acknowledged.
The verb étudier was not used well in the present and in the passé composé tenses; lire, rester and reflexive verbs
were often incorrectly used in the passé composé; and actuellement was sometimes used instead of en fait.
Some candidates did not understand:
Où est-ce que vous habitez?
Comment est …?
Qui s’occupe de …?
Où se trouve …?
Qu’est-ce que vous lisez …?
Lequel …Laquelle?
We noticed that on was never used for ‘we’; it would be good to hear candidates use on as it is so often used in
France in conversation or discussion. We also suggest the circulation of a ‘common’ list of school subjects so
that all candidates will use the correct terminology.
Nevertheless, the general impression received by the examiners was that candidates actually enjoyed the
opportunity of speaking French, even in the exam situation!
Aural Comprehension
The majority of scripts showed that candidates had a reasonable comprehension of the four passages. A pleasing
number of candidates gained an A rating, but it must be said that weaker candidates found some difficulty in
producing scripts of a pass standard. Most candidates tried to offer an answer to all questions although, at times,
creative answers indicated an absence of accurate comprehension: such answers were generally most entertaining!
However, when an educated guess is being made, candidates must be sure to keep their answer within the general
context of the passage.
Candidates seemed to identify numbers and dates rather better this year, although there was still occasional
confusion in the recognition of quinze (quinze heures), vingt and, surpisingly, dixhuit. Similarly, there was
occasional confusion with juin (at times translated at July, or even, January!) Soixante-quinze ans was
frequently recognised as soixante-cinq! This suggests that candidates should continue their practice in identifying
numbers.
Tasmanian Secondary Assessment Board
2002 External Examination Report
FR834
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French Stage 4
Other problems words for many candidates were boulangerie (frequently translated as butcher!); institutrice;
plusieurs; exposition (usually referred to as exposition or expedition, neither of which were acceptable!); and,
surprisingly, Parisienne. This latter word was translated several times as Parisia!!! Again, the phrase s’occuper
de did not seem to be well known.
Despite these problems, though, there were many excellent scripts. The range of awards suggests that the
standard of the passages was suitable and that the majority of candidates were able to cope with the range of
vocabulary and the delivery of the texts.
Written Paper – Section A
In general, candidates did very well in this section, two candidates obtained perfect scores.
The first text on Marie-Antoinette was the most difficult of the two. Some candidates were helped by their
knowledge of history. The difficulties arose mainly from the lack of understanding of the following grammatical
structures:
Marier son quinzième enfant
Ne.. que (ne pense qu’aux fêtes)
Elle sait à peine lire et écrire
Vocabulary problems:
La paix was confused for le pays, l’incendie for an incident, la foule became the adjective foul.
In the second text Benjamin, some errors occurred in the understanding of vocabulary such as:
rigoler and embêter but in general, candidates understood the text well.
étonnés,
Written Paper – Section B
This section produced a small number of ‘A’ ratings, a similar number of ‘D’ ratings, while the majority of
candidates achieved a ‘C’ or ‘B’ rating.
The verbs, pronouns and adjectives in questions 4, 5 and 6 enabled a number of candidates to make a satisfactory
recovery from disaster in the sentence translation.
The following points are worthy of particular mention.
Question 3
(a)
as it is raining = comme il pleut
we do not want to go out = nous ne voulons pas sortir
Compare with
we do not want you to go out = nous ne voulons pas que vous sortiez.
(b)
there is / there are = il y a
There was confusion between il y a and c’est.
The negative ne – que (only) and quelqu’un (someone) also provided problems.
Some incorrect translations for the latter were: une personne, un gen, quelqu’un person, le personne.
(c)
I would like to watch … = j’aimerais regarder … (infinitive after aimer).
When to translate ‘until’ with jusqu’à? When it is followed by a noun.
Tasmanian Secondary Assessment Board
2002 External Examination Report
FR834
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French Stage 4
When to use ‘jusqu’à ce que + subjunctive? When ‘until’ is followed by a verb.
eg. until his return = jusqu’à son retour
until he finishes his work = jusqu’à ce qu’il finisse son travail.
(d)
there is / there are = il y a
There was confusion between il y a and c’est.
nothing = ne – rien
there is nothing to do here = il n’y a rien à faire ici
what a boring town = quelle ville ennuyeuse (no indefinite article in French).
(e)
to be on the point of = être sur le point de + infinitive
(confused with être en train de = to be in the process of)
téléphoner + indirect object: ils étaient sur le point de lui téléphoner.
(f)
The spelling of professor did not help some candidates to arrive at le professeur. (single ‘f’, double
‘s’).
There was confusion with meilleur (adjective: la meilleure composition) and the adverb mieux.
The pluperfect (tu lui avais donné) was missed in a number of cases.
Written Paper – Section C
There was a wide range of achievement by candidates this year, with results spread more or less evenly between
A, B and C ratings but unfortunately some candidates failed to reach a satisfactory standard. All but one
candidate managed to produce compositions of the correct length.
The most popular topic was the first, concerning how to spend a wintry day, but most topics had quite a few
takers, so presumably candidates felt that they had plenty of choice. It is a concern that a small number of
candidates trot out their set piece, which was in several cases only tenuously linked to the topic. Candidates
would do better to learn a wide range of expressions and to have a wide vocabulary which they can make use of
in any situation, rather than learning whole slabs off by heart. Perhaps topics should be less open-ended, though
this may disadvantage some less able candidates. A few candidates joined several set pieces together or
incorporated several of the proposed topics into one. I am not altogether sure that dogs or rabbits would be sent
through the post, but the ‘bonne surpise’ which was delivered by the postman was, in quite a few cases, such a
gift! There were an incredible number of broken legs, expressed correctly in the majority of cases, and ‘j’ai faille
tomber dans les pommes’ was very popular.
Candidates must remember that they are required to write TWO short essays if they choose question 8.
There are still some very untidy scripts, though a number of candidates are making an effort to do a rough copy
of their work first, for which there should be plenty of time. In many cases it is evident that the finished
product is not checked, as there are many careless errors. ‘A range of appropriate structures and vocabulary’
should eliminate the overuse of the verb ‘aller’. Some scripts had a version of this verb on every second line, it
seemed. A number of scripts demonstrated a very poor range of vocabulary, even though in some cases there
was a variety of structures. Candidates should have a wide vocabulary by this stage of their study of French.
The usual problems surfaced:
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inconsistency of tenses
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no agreement of subject and verb, nor of noun and adjective
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incorrect gender of nouns
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omission of the auxiliary in the passé composé
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no inversion of subject and verb after direct speech
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confusion between visiter and rendre visite à
Tasmanian Secondary Assessment Board
2002 External Examination Report
FR834
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French Stage 4
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si instead of ainsi or donc, temps used where fois is the correct word for time
incorrect forms of vieux
omission of the relative pronoun
incorrect propositions used after verbs such as décider, entrer and commencer, or the preposition omitted
altogether
the full partitive used incorrectly after negatives and before adjectives
confusion between mal and mauvais
incorrect past participles of lire and écrire
Letters are still begun incorrectly: Cher (sic) la (or les) police, Chère ma famille. Je suis bien is often used
instead of je vais bien.
Promener and se promener caused problems, as did ennuyeux and s’ennuyer. Vite and silencieux appeared in
strange guises.
As in previous years, there were a number of very competent papers, fluent and rich in vocabulary and structures,
and at the other end of the scale, candidates who were inadequately prepared. Most candidates who show interest
and who work conscientiously should be able to reach the required standard by the end of Stage 4. I commend
the large number of candidates – along with their teachers – who have succeeded this year and feel sure that they
have been enriched by their study of French.
All correspondence should be addressed to:
Tasmanian Secondary Assessment Board
PO Box 147, Sandy Bay 7006
Ph: (03) 6233 6364 Fax: (03) 6224 0175
Email: [email protected]
Internet: http://www.tassab.tased.edu.au
Tasmanian Secondary Assessment Board
2002 External Examination Report