Further Links Contact Us Search Help

Syllabus | Exams | Resources | What's on? | What next? | Dictionary

German

Home > German > Continuers Course > How to Approach the Exam > Advice > Advice - Continuers

How to approach the exam: The oral examination

• Examination specifications
• Before the examination
• During the examination
• What the markers are looking for?

Examination specifications

The oral examination will take approximately 10 minutes and is worth 20 marks.

The oral examination assesses your knowledge and skills in interacting in German. It relates to Objective 1, and the following outcomes, where you:

1.1 use a range of strategies to maintain communication
1.2 convey information appropriate to context, purpose and audience
1.3 exchange and justify opinions and ideas
1.4 reflect on aspects of past, present and future experience.

The oral examination is held on a date in Term 3, earlier than the HSC written examinations. The Board of Studies publishes a Languages Oral Examinations Timetable each year at (http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/events/ ). You should be familiar with the practical advice supplied with the timetable. You will be advised of the examination date, time and venue at least three weeks prior to the examination. Make sure that your school and the Board of Studies have your correct contact details.

The examination consists of a general conversation between you and the examiner, and focuses on your personal world, for example your life, family and friends, interests and aspirations. The examiner will not be your own teacher.

You are not permitted to use dictionaries or refer to written notes during the oral examination.

Before the examination

This is an examination for which you can be well prepared. You will be asked about your personal world, and topics may include:

• home life and community
• relationships, including family and friends
• school life and future plans
• free-time activities and keeping fit
• holidays and travel
• lifestyles, including celebrations.

For a full list of topics, go to http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/pdf_doc/germanc_syl_2008.pdf (Section 8.1.1).

In order to prepare for the examination, you should:

• learn as much useful vocabulary as you can. This will enable you to talk across the range of topics.
• practise your pronunciation. There are a number of resources available to help you do this, e.g. the audio material which comes with textbook courses, commercially available material which focuses specifically on pronunciation, etc. Listen carefully and try to model your pronunciation on what you hear.
• practise responding to a wide range of sample questions. Click here to see the list of sample questions included on this website. It is a good idea to listen to each question and respond to it, before viewing the script.
• practise speaking with classmates, with different German teachers, etc.
• record your answers and, if possible, ask your teacher for feedback. This will give you practice in recording your responses and will also help you to assess areas on which you may need to focus, e.g. pronunciation, intonation, variety of vocabulary, sentence structure, etc.
• practise giving a broad range of information in your answers. This will enable you to show a greater facility with the language and will create a good impression.
• remain consistent throughout the conversation, e.g. it is inadvisable to say you don't have time for a part-time job at the beginning of the examination and then claim to work two nights/week at the end.
• practise using a variety of sentence structures, including different word order (e.g. time first) and subordinate clauses (e.g. with wenn, weil, als, etc.), etc.
• practise speaking in the present, past and future tenses.
• know how to use verbs correctly. You should be able to talk not only about yourself and what you do, but also about other people. Listen careful to see if a question is asking about you, about someone else, or about you and your friends. Consider whether you need to answer using ich, er/sie, wir, etc.

During the examination

Remember that the speaking skills exam is your opportunity to display your full range of vocabulary and knowledge of German language structures and your ability to adapt this knowledge to different situations. This is the only chance the examiners have to assess how well you speak.

You should:

• remain calm and speak confidently and clearly.
• avoid the temptation to rush into a response. If you need a moment to think about your answer, then take it – just as you might in a normal conversation. On the other hand, long pauses would not be natural, and should be avoided, especially as this examination only lasts for ten minutes.
• listen carefully to the question. If you have not understood, or are uncertain, then ask the examiner (in German) for clarification, or to repeat it, e.g. Wie bitte?, Können Sie die Frage wiederholen?
• be aware that the questions asked may follow on from the answers you have already given. However, a number of different topics may be covered in the exam so there may be a switch to other topics during the course of the conversation. You should be prepared for this to happen.
• be prepared to expand your answers. This does not mean giving a prepared monologue and attempting to dominate the conversation. However, you should attempt to expand your responses by making a number of relevant comments to demonstrate the range of vocabulary and language structures you have at your disposal. You may find that aiming for roughly three comments in an extended response will assist you in this.
• be aware that this is not a normal ‘conversation’, but rather a one-way conversation, with a series of questions provided for you to demonstrate your knowledge. It is therefore not appropriate for you to ask the examiner questions.
• remember that there is a wide range of possible questions that you could be asked. It is impossible to accurately predict the questions in this type of examination. However, if you have practised, you can be confident you will be able to handle any line of questioning the examiner follows.
• answer as best you can, but do not worry if there is a question you cannot answer. A range of questions may be asked across a range of topics.
• sound as natural as possible. Repeating great ‘chunks’ of pre-learned material, which may not be relevant to the question, will not be considered favourably.

What the markers are looking for?

The examiner(s) will take the following factors into account when judging your performance:

• capacity to maintain a conversation
• relevance and depth of treatment of information, ideas and opinions
• clarity of expression (pronunciation, intonation, stress)
• accuracy of vocabulary and sentence structures
• variety and appropriateness of vocabulary and sentence structures.