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How to approach the exam: the Oral Examination
- Examination specifications
- Preparing for the examination
- During the examination
- The Board of Studies Website
Examination specifications
The oral examination will take approximately fifteen minutes and is worth 25 marks.
The oral examination assesses the student’s knowledge and skills in interacting in Vietnamese. It relates to Objective 1– exchange information, opinions and experiences in Vietnamese and Objective 4 – understand aspects of the language and culture of Vietnamese-speaking communities, and the following outcomes:
| 1.1 | uses a range of strategies to maintain communication |
| 1.2 | conveys information appropriate to context, purpose and audience |
| 1.3 | exchanges and justifies opinions and ideas on known topics |
| 1.4 | reflects on aspects of past, present and future experience |
| 4.1 | recognises and employs language appropriate to different social contexts |
| 4.2 | identities values, attitudes and beliefs of cultural significance |
| 4.3 | reflects upon significant aspects of language and culture. |
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 will consist of a general conversation between you and an examiner (approximately 7 minutes) and a discussion on a chosen in-depth study (approximately 8 minutes). In the conversation, you and the examiner will discuss the topic personal world, as it relates to the prescribed topics in the syllabus. The focus of the Discussion will be to explore aspects of language and culture of the Vietnamese-speaking communities. The topic of your in-depth study may be chosen from the sub-topics suggested for study in the syllabus.
You may support your Conversation and Discussion with objects such as photographs, diagrams and maps. Notes and cue cards are not permitted.
You are not permitted to use dictionaries or refer to written notes during the oral examination.
Other useful and related documents provided by the Board of Studies are included at the end of this section.
Preparing for the examination
You should aim to establish effective communication and to maintain the flow of the conversation to create the best overall impression. You should demonstrate how well you can:
- exchange relevant information (i.e. give relevant answers to the questions asked)
- exchange opinions and make comments (e.g. say why you like something, why you don’t want to do something, etc.)
- use appropriate intonation and pronunciation
- demonstrate a variety of vocabulary and language structures.
This is an examination for which you can be well prepared. You may be asked about aspects of everyday life (see the topics listed below), from the perspective of your personal world. This is your opportunity to talk about yourself, your friends, your family, etc.
For the conversation you are advised to:
- familiarise yourself with the topics prescribed in the syllabus. These are:\
- Personal identity
- Future aspirations
- learn as much useful vocabulary as you can. This will enable you to speak 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. Some of these are available electronically. Listen carefully and try to model your pronunciation on what you hear.
- practise responding to a wide range of sample questions.
- practise speaking with classmates, with different Vietnamese 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 speaking in full sentences and extending your responses where possible. This will enable you to show a greater facility with the language than if you consistently answer with simple phrases or single words. Practise making a number of relevant comments in your response.
e.g. Examiner: Em có bạn không? Student: Dạ có, em có một người bạn thân. người ấy là bạn cùng lớp với em. Bạn ấy tên là Tuấn. Examiner: Em và bạn em có cùng những sở thích gì? Student: Em và Tuấn đều thích bơi lội và chơi bóng rổ. Chúng em thường chơi bóng rổ ở trường và đi bơi ở hồ bơi. Examiner: Vậy thì em và bạn em thường làm gì vào ngày cuối tuần? Student: Chúng em chơi bóng rổ, xem tivi, chơi trò chơi điện tử hay vào internet. Ðôi khi chúng em cũng rủ nhau đi xem phim.
- practise giving a range of information in your answers. You may be asked a range of questions from the perspective of your own personal world and you should not limit yourself to extremely brief answers. Conversing well, across a range of topics, will create a good impression. It is up to you to maximise this opportunity during the seven minutes of the conversation. You should remain consistent throughout the conversation, e.g. it is inadvisable to say you have three brothers at the beginning of the examination and then claim to be an only child at the end.
- familiarise yourself with phrases and structures that are used regularly in a conversation. Draw up a list of useful vocabulary and sentence structures for each topic.
For the discussion topic, prepare the materials well. Work with your teacher during the year to organise this. Prepare your discussion well in-advance.
$$LineUpIamge$$During the examination
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 this – 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 five minutes.
- listen carefully to the question. If you have not understood, or are uncertain, then ask the examiner (in Vietnamese) for clarification, or to repeat it, e.g. ‘Xin lỗi thầy (cô), xin thầy (cô) lặp lại câu hỏi’, hay ‘Xin lỗi thầy (cô), em không hiểu câu hỏi’.
- 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.
- try to treat every question as a springboard to show what you know. Avoid the temptation to restrict your response to (yes) ‘Dạ có’ or (no) ‘Dạ không’, or to simply repeat the question. Consider the following examples. Which response do you think would make the better impression?
Example 1 Examiner: Em thích làm gì trong lúc nghỉ hè? Student: Ði bơi. Example 2 Examiner: Em thích làm gì trong lúc nghỉ hè? Student: Dạ, em thích đi bơi. Em đi bơi ở hồ bơi hoặc thỉnh thoảng thì em đi biển để sẵn dịp em đi tắm nắng luôn.
- 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, e.g. whether he/she has seen a film, where he/she goes on holidays, etc.
- 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 that develops.
- 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.
- be aware that you should not ask the examiner for assistance, other than to repeat or clarify the question.
- avoid using English words if you don't know the correct word or expression in Vietnamese. You should have a range of appropriate vocabulary at your disposal and should keep to what you know to be correct. The examination is not a good time for experimentation.
- always remember that the examiner’s role is to facilitate the examination. The aim is to provide you with a positive experience, by giving you the opportunity to show your range of ability in spoken Vietnamese.
The Board of Studies Website
At the Board of Studies website (http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/ ), you can access the following:
- Vietnamese Continuers syllabus
- HSC (Year 12) Examination Timetable
- Past examination papers
- Notes from the Examination Centre
- Equipment Checklist for Higher School Certificate Examinations and School Certificate Tests
- Rules and Procedures for Higher School Certificate Candidates.
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