Further Links Contact Us Search Help

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

Indonesian

Home > Indonesian > Continuers' Course > How to Approach the Exam > Advice > Advice: reading and responding

• About the exam
• Preparing for the exam
• In the exam
• What the markers are looking for

About the exam

The reading and responding section of the exam is worth 40 marks.

It is the second part of the written exam and is designed to assess your knowledge and skill in analysing information from written texts and in analysing and exchanging information in response to a text. The texts will be related to the themes and topics prescribed in the syllabus. You can download the Indonesian Continuers syllabus from the Board of Studies website

You may use dictionaries in this section of the exam.

This section has two parts; Part A and Part B.

Part A

Part A is worth 25 marks.

You will be required to read two texts in Indonesian with a combined word count of 500-600 words.

You will be required to demonstrate understanding of written texts. You may have to extract, summarise and/or evaluate information from texts.

Questions and answers will be in English.

Part B

Part B is worth 15 marks.

You will read a text in Indonesian of about 150 words. It could be in the form of an email, fax, letter, postcard, message, advertisement, notice.

You will be expected to write about 150-200 words in Indonesian in response to the text.

You will be required to:

• demonstrate an understanding of the written text provided in the exam paper
• exchange information by responding in Indonesian to questions, statements, comments and/or other specific items in the text.

You will be required to produce one of the following text types: description, diary entry, email, fax, informal letter, message, note, narrative account, personal profile, postcard, recount, report, script of a speech/talk.

The instructions for the task will be in English.

Preparing for the exam

The best way to prepare for this section is to read a wide range of text types from a number of different sources such as Indonesian newspapers, magazines, brochures, advertisements, packaging etc.

To prepare for Part A you can work through past HSC Indonesian exam papers.

To prepare for Part B you can respond to letters, emails, advertisements, articles etc.

The texts in the exam will be related to the topics prescribed in the syllabus so make sure you are familiar with topic-specific vocabulary.

For both sections, being able to use the dictionary will be very useful. Practise looking up words in the dictionary. The faster, the better. Remember, if you look up a word in the English-Indonesian dictionary make sure you crosscheck it in the Indonesian-English dictionary.

In the exam

Part A

• Take note of any heading and illustrations accompanying the text. These often help in gaining an overall sense of the text.
• Read the questions before reading the text. The questions will help you focus on the most relevant information.
• Read the text more than once
  • The first time you read the text, try to gain a general idea of the content.
  • When you read the text for the second time, mark the section of the text from where you think the answers come.
• Answer the questions fully and provide all relevant information.
• No two questions should require the same information.
• Make sure your writing is legible and that your answers make sense.
• Make sure that your answers are relevant to the questions asked. Underlining key words in the questions may help you do this. Commonly occurring words in questions include:
  • analyse
  • comment on
  • compare
  • contrast
  • describe
  • explain
  • give examples
  • how
  • what
  • who
  • why
• The mark allocation and the number of lines provided will give you an idea about how much information you need to give in your answer.
• Try to read for overall understanding before consulting a dictionary. If you have any spare time only look up essential, unknown words in the dictionary.

Part B

• To help ensure you address all of the comments, questions, statements and other specific items provided in the text, underline each one.
• Write a brief plan to help organise your ideas.
• Keep it relevant. Remember, you are being assessed on how well you respond to the issues presented in the text.
• Make sure the register and level of language is appropriate.
• Use text type conventions. For example, a letter will have a greeting, body and signing off.
• If you look up a word in the English-Indonesian dictionary make sure you crosscheck it in the Indonesian-English dictionary and vice versa.
• Where possible keep to words, phrases and expressions you have gone over with your teacher. In particular, learn Indonesian expressions. This will help you to not translate directly from English.
• Try to keep within the word limit (100-150 words). If you greatly exceed the suggested length you risk the chance of making more mistakes and/or becoming repetitive. You will also use time that could be spent on another section of the paper.
• The best responses are creative and show appropriate use of authentic language.

What the markers are looking for

In Part A you will be assessed on your ability to understand written Indonesian.

You will be expected to:

• identify and convey gist
• identify and convey main points
• identify and convey supporting points
• identify and convey specific details
• accurately summarise, interpret and evaluate the information
• provide appropriate information from the text.

In Part B you will be assessed on your ability to exchange information in response to questions, statements, comments etc provided in the text.

You will be required to:

• demonstrate general understanding of and ability to identify specific detail in the text
• analyse and respond to information in the text
• provide relevant information in your response
• develop and organise your ideas logically
• demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of vocabulary, grammar, syntax, register and text type.