Japanese
Home > Japanese > Background Speakers Course > How to approach the exam > Writing in Japanese advice > Advice - Background speakers course
How to approach the examination
The course prescriptions 2009-2013, the syllabus and a summary of syllabus changes can be found on the Board of Studies website. http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/syllabus2000_listj.html 
The Board of Studies NSW has developed two Japanese Standards Package of CD-ROMs (2001 and 2002), which contain detailed information on the level of achievement for each performance band, including examples of student responses. While these are not the current prescribed texts, themes and issues, reading actual student responses is an excellent way to see how the marking criteria are put into practice. This will reassure you of the standard expected. The packages are available at http://arc.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/go/hsc/std-packs/
Section III: Writing in Japanese
About the examination
Preparing for the examination
In the examination
What the markers are looking for
About the examination
The writing section of the examination is worth 25 marks.
You may use dictionaries in this section of the examination.
This is the third section of the written exam. It is designed to assess your ability to express ideas through the production of original texts in Japanese.
There will be a choice of three tasks. Each task will relate to one of the prescribed themes or contemporary issues.
All tasks will specify a context, purpose and audience.
Preparing for the examination
To prepare for this section of the exam you should:
- read widely in Japanese
- practise regularly
- learn from your mistakes.
Read widely in Japanese:
- As you read a wide range of texts you will notice the different features of these texts.
- As you read, analyse the different texts.
- Note down interesting phrases, new vocabulary, structures and facts that you will later be able to incorporate into your own writing.
- Read articles related to the contemporary issues listed in the syllabus.
Practise regularly:
- Write in Japanese as often as you can. Get into the habit of always planning your work and putting effort into it. When unsure, check words in a dictionary.
- Practise writing under exam conditions by giving yourself a time limit to complete a task.
Learn from your mistakes:
- Carefully go over work handed back by your teacher. If you do not understand why something has been corrected, ask your teacher.
- Keep all your work in a folder and read over earlier pieces to see how much progress you have made. Check that you are not still making the same mistakes.
In the examination
Read the questions carefully and select the one(s) for which you are best prepared.
Jot down a rough plan. This will help develop the direction and structure of your response.
Keep your answers accurate and interesting. Avoid being overly ambitious and attempting complex structures beyond your level of Japanese. Use phrases that you can express confidently.
Make your cultural references authentic.
Keep to the required ji length. If you exceed the suggested length by a significant number of ji you will increase your chances of making mistakes. You will also lose time that could be devoted to another section of the paper.
Check through your response at the end. Ensure that you have been consistent with register and tense, and that your language is appropriate for the context, purpose and audience.
What the markers are looking for
You will be assessed on your ability to:
- write texts appropriate to context, purpose and audience
- sequence and structure information and ideas
- demonstrate a range and control of language structures and vocabulary
- maintain reader interest.
|