2014 HKDSE English Language Briefing Session

2014 HKDSE

English Language

Briefing Session

October/November 2014

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2

Briefing rundown

Overall statistical performance

Paper 1

Paper 2

Paper 3

Paper 4

Question-Answer Session

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Upcoming publications

(November)

2014 DSE English Language Examination

Report and Question Paper

2014 DSE English Language Samples of

Candidates’ Performance for all papers and

all levels on HKEAA website http://www.hkeaa.edu.hk/en/hkdse/assessment/subje

ct_information/category_a_subjects/hkdse_subj.html?

A1&1&2_25

http://www.hkeaa.edu.hk/en/hkdse/assessment/subject_information/category_a_subjects/hkdse_subj.html?A1&1&2_25



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Entry Statistics 2012-2014

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Attendance in 2014

Day school candidates: 64,434

Whole group: 74,302

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General performance in 2014

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General performance in 2014

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Paper 1 Reading

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Number of Candidates

Part 1A 74,195

Part 1B1 36,880 (49.70%)

Part 1B2 37,315 (50.29%)

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Paper 1: Reading

Full Mark Mean Score (%) S.D. (%)

Part A 47 64.71 23.81

Part B1 41 56.38 20.36

Part B2 41 50.24 19.55

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Paper 1: Reading


Part A 47 64.71 23.81

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Part 1A score distribution for all

candidates

Mean: 64.71%

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How 1B1 candidates performed

in 1A

Mean: 49.31%

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in 1A

Mean: 77.65%

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Paper 1: Reading

Overview

Reading Passage No. of

items

Part A 1 RP - Short story

• Combination of narrative and dialogue

• Structure and lexis used are relatively

simple

• Work out implied meanings of the text,

e.g. robot’s intention, Karl’s regrettable

action, how Winston feels about the

revelation some years later

• Items tested: identifying the main

characters, order events, summarizing

the message behind the story

47 items

16

Paper 1A comments

• Most candidates able to handle basic story

elements e.g. characterisation, plot and setting

Easier questions

• Information was either given explicitly in the text

or straightforward, e.g. True/False/Not Given

items (Q.6i, ii, iii and Q.9i, ii, iii); Sequencing

question (Q.14)

17

Paper 1A comments

More difficult questions

interpreting the implicit meaning in the text

Q.21: ‘What does it mean when the robot says,

“Insufficient value”?’

• Answer required paraphrasing, e.g. Winston’s

apology was not serious enough (1 mark)

compared to the one he received (1 mark)

• Only 27% of candidates were given the two

marks for this question

18

Paper 1A comments

Q.28: ‘What is the message behind this story?’

• Overall interpretation of the story - answers

supported by ideas that could be implied from

the text

• E.g. It is never too late to make an apology (1

mark) which can make people feel better about

themselves (1 mark)

• Making an apology is important - too vague to

earn a mark

• Only 36% of candidates were awarded 2 marks

for this question

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Paper 1: Reading


Part B1 41 56.38 20.36

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Part 1B1 score distribution

Mean: 56.38%

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Paper 1: Reading

Overview


items

Part B1 2 RPs - based on the same theme

• First passage introduces the theme

of “Writing love letters to strangers”

• Test items: finding explicitly-stated

information, e.g. name/founder of the

website, identifying obvious

differences between writing emails

and love letters to strangers.

41 items

RP1: 20

items

22

Paper 1: Reading

Overview


items

Part B1 2 RPs - based on the same theme

• The second reading passage is

written from the perspective of a

journalist chronicling her first attempts

at writing love letters to strangers.

• Test items: inferencing the meaning of

colloquial expressions, e.g. ‘Nope’;

interpreting the meaning of the

writer’s messages, and how writing

such letters are similar to writing a

Tweet

41 items

RP2: 21

items

23

Easier test items for the first passage

finding explicitly-stated information

• Identifying name and founder of the website (Q.31,

89%; Q.34, 88%)

• Sequencing events, e.g. start of the website, rising

popularity of trend (Q.43, 69%)

• Do/Don’t for guidelines for writing the love letters (Q.44: 70% for three of the four items)

Paper 1B1 comments

24

More challenging items in second reading passage

Making inferences

Q. 45: ‘What nationality is the writer?’

Text: ‘I’m not sure that’s something we British do

well.’ (38%)

Difficulty with the key idea, i.e. letters were written to

strangers

Q. 57: …compare writing these letters to writing a

Tweet? ‘Both are ___________’ (39%)

Paper 1B1 comments

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Paper 1: Reading


Part B2 41 50.24 19.55

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Mean: 50.24%

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Paper 1: Reading

Overview


items

Part B2 1 RP - an excerpt from the

autobiography of Stephen Fry

• Theme: fame and the rise of celebrity

culture

• Text is a combination of descriptive

and expository discourse

• Significantly longer stretches of

language are used

• Language structure and lexical terms

are more dense and varied compared

to those found in Part A and B1

41 items

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Paper 1: Reading

Overview


items

Part B2 1 RP - an excerpt from the

autobiography of Stephen Fry

• Items test global reading processes

e.g. identifying the main ideas of each

paragraph, interpreting the writer’s

stance and comparing the differences

in attitude between the current

generation and previous ones

41 items

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Paper 1B2 comments

First part of the text is narrative

Easier items

• Candidates were required to interpret the

writer’s feelings (Q.60, Q.61), identify his actions

(Q.62) and interpret reasons for his actions

(Q.64) and feelings (Q.63, Q.65, Q.66)

• This section of the text was straightforward and

four of the ten items were answered correctly

by more than 70% of the candidates

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Paper 1B2 comments

The passage then becomes expository

More difficult items

Q79. ‘What does “Oh, Stephen” suggest about

the writer’s feelings? Why does he feel like this?’

• Interpret the writer’s feelings (his resentment

of the praise given to a fellow performer)

• Writer feels ashamed not only of his jealousy

and his own desire to be admired (1 mark), but

also because that desperation to be famous is

now revealed to the public (1 mark)

• Only 8% of candidates were awarded the first

mark and 2% the second

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Paper 1B2 comments

More difficult questions

Q.81: ‘What is ‘entrails’ a metaphor for?’

‘…to drag out their entrails for public inspection…’

• Inner/private thoughts or secrets (1%)

Q.82: ‘Who is the writer referring to when he says

“you”?’

• everyone/anyone/people in general; not

the reader or any specific group of people (4%)

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Paper 1 Summary

• Level of difficulty in Part A was slightly easy

for the candidature as a whole; and in

particular for candidates who attempted

Part B2

• Levels of difficulty for Parts B1 and B2 were

appropriate for the respective group of

candidates attempting them

• Parts B had a wide coverage of easy and

difficult items to assess different levels of

candidates’ abilities

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Paper 1 Recommendations

Choosing Part B

Candidates who are most at risk of being

capped are candidates with a level of

performance at the upper range of the Level

4 descriptors (or above) but who choose to

do the easier part of the paper rather than

the more difficult part

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ONLY APPLICABLE TO 2014 Paper 1

• If candidates are getting 75% or higher of

items correct in Part A, they should attempt

Part B2 to avoid component grade being

capped at Level 4

• Candidates who got less than 75% can

choose between either B1 or B2 as their

component grades would remain unchanged

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• The capping policy is in place because the

items tested in Part B1 is designed for

candidates whose abilities match the level

descriptors for Level 3 or below, while Part B2

is designed to match levels of performance

ranging from 3 to 5

• Therefore, any candidate who wishes to attain

Level 5 must opt for Part B2


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Paper 2 Writing

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Paper 2 – Writing

Statistical information

Candidates’ performance

Samples of performance

Recommendations for candidates

38

Statistical information (1)

No. of candidates sat: 73,810

Mean

Part A: 22.35/42 (55.4%)

Part B: 18.30/42 (43.6%)

S.D.

Part A: 9.97/42 (23.7%)

Part B: 8.94/42 (21.3%)

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Theme Popularity (%) Mean

(out of 42)

Sports

Communication

14.0 17.33

Drama 3.90 12.92

Social issues 19.80 20.74

Debating

13.10 20.02

40


Theme Popularity (%) Mean

(out of 42)

Workplace

Communication 34.00 18.00

Popular culture

4.4 18.92

Poems &

songs 3.3 16.04

Short stories 6.8 17.01

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Marking Guidelines (1)

Both Parts A and B use the same set

of marking guidelines

Candidates’ performances in Content,

Language and Organization are

assessed

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Content

Whether content fulfils all the requirements of the question

Whether the content is relevant

Whether ideas are developed/supported

Whether creativity and imagination are shown, where appropriate

Whether the text engages the reader’s interest

Whether there is an awareness of audience

43


Language

Range of accurate sentence structures

Grammar accuracy; if there are errors, whether these errors affect overall clarity

Range and appropriacy of vocabulary

Spelling and punctuation

Whether register, tone and style are appropriate to the genre and text-type

44


Organization

Whether the text is organized effectively

Whether the ideas are logically developed

Cohesion in the text

Cohesive ties and use of cohesive devices

Overall structure is coherent, sophisticated

and appropriate to the genre and text-type

45

Marking Guidelines (For Part B only )

If content is off-topic, candidates should

not be awarded more than 3 marks in

each of the other domains

46

Performance of candidates in

Question 1 – Compulsory Part

Performance of stronger candidates: Adequate content; appropriate tone for a

history newsletter; a theme to link up three

sections

Performance of weaker candidates: Answers lack audience awareness;

attempted the task as if merely answering

questions; weak link between three

sections; misinterpreted the task

47

Performance of candidates in Question 2 –

Learning English through Sports Communication

Performance of stronger candidates:

Gave credible and persuasive reasons why

the donation of fitness equipment benefits

both the school and the fitness centre

Performance of weaker candidates:

Failed to make a request in an appropriate

tone or demonstrate audience awareness

48


Learning English through Social Issues

Performance of stronger candidates: Relevant content; appropriate tone; clearly

familiar with what such a genre looks like

Performance of weaker candidates: Misunderstood ‘filming movies’; wrote about

filming their own movies or wrote about

watching movies in the city centre

Wrote an argumentative essay rather than a

letter

49

Performance of stronger candidates: Showed creativity and imagination; used

language and organization typical for a

newspaper article

Performance of weaker candidates: Irrelevant content: answers not focusing on

a costumed character performer


Workplace Communication

50

Samples of Performance

Level 5: Part B / Q. 5

Level 4: Part A


Level 2: Part A


51

Content

Content addresses the requirements of the

questions adequately. All areas, including the

views of students in the opinion poll and

justification of the writer’s views, are covered

Most ideas are well-developed, though there

could be some exaggeration of the mental

health problem that students may face arising

from the lack of lockers at school

Script A

Level 5 Question 5

52

Language

Most sentences, including noun clauses,

relative clauses and adverb clauses, are

accurately constructed

Grammar is mostly accurate with occasional

common errors that do not affect overall clarity

Vocabulary is wide, with many examples of

more sophisticated lexis

The letter demonstrates good awareness of

the intended reader

Script A

Level 5 Question 5

53

Organization

The overall structure is coherent, sophisticated

and appropriate to the genre and text-type

Cohesive devices used are mostly appropriate

and link up ideas between and within

paragraphs with clearly defined topics

Script A

Level 5 Question 5

54

Content Some relevant ideas to be found in all three

sections

Section 1 is more like the personal history of

Mr Smith, although there is one idea about

the change of the social environment

Candidate provides background on how

villagers oppose a proposal to have the

village turned into a resort hotel and gives a

description of the village’s famous sunset

Script B Level 4 Question 1

(Part A)

55

Language

There is a wide range of accurate sentence

structures and good grasp of more complex

sentences

Vocabulary is well chosen and used

appropriately, e.g. “oppose this proposal”

Mostly an informative register is used with a

bit of persuasion at the end


(Part A)

56

Organization

Cohesion is clear within each paragraph, but

read as a whole, the article lacks some

logical development

For example, it is not clear how the biography

of Mr Smith fits in with the rest of the article,

and there seems to be a contradiction

between the statement in section 2 that Lucky

Village is “not famous at all” and the one in

section 3 that “it is famous for its sunset”


(Part A)

57

Content

There are a few relevant ideas, but not

all are well-developed

The letter engages the reader’s interest

sporadically and shows occasional

awareness of audience

Script C Level 3 Question 4

58

Language

Most simple sentences are accurately

constructed

Occasional attempts are made to use

more complex language, but some is not

grammatically correct

On the whole, the lexis used is generally

appropriate


59

Organization

Some cohesive devices are used to link

ideas

The candidate has problems organizing

the ideas into proper paragraphs

Ideas are sometimes not logically linked


60

Content / Organization

Ideas are partially relevant to the three

themes of each section

Not clear how the detail about “Peter

and Mary” links with the heading of

Section 2

Limited use of cohesive ties

Script D Level 2 Question 1

(Part A)

61

Language

Some short simple sentences are accurate with the occasional complex one (e.g. “Lucky Village is an old village in Hong Kong... As a famous old village, Lucky Village has many beautiful old buildings”)

Vocabulary used is not wide but there are a few good words used, e.g. “World War II”, “landmark”

Register and tone are appropriate to the genre

Script D Level 2 Question 1

(Part A)

62

Content / Organization

Some ideas are relevant but not well developed.

The content only partially satisfies the

requirements of the question

The text type is unclear and hard to define. The

plot is lacking in development. The internal logic

within paragraphs is weak, which makes

comprehending the text very difficult

Script E Level 1 Question 9

63

Language

Some short, simple sentences are used

There are multiple errors in sentence

structures, which often impede

communication

Script E Level 1 Question 9

64

Recommendations to candidates

Read the questions carefully to fulfil all the requirements of the task

Avoid frequent / inappropriate use of quotations, clichés, stock phrases and unusual vocabulary in candidates’ answers

More time should be spent on planning and proofreading answers

65

Paper 3

Listening & Integrated Skills

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Paper 3: Listening & Integrated

Skills: Overview

General performance in Parts A

and B

Focus on Part A

Variables in listening input

Testing understanding of narrative

Candidate performance

Recommendations

67

Paper 3: Number of Candidates Part B

68


Skills


Part A 60 48.98 24.69

Part B1 54 42.49 27.02

Part B2 54 51.17 17.69

69


Skills


Part A 60 48.98 24.69

Part B1 54 42.49 27.02

Part B2 54 51.17 17.69

70


candidates

71


Skills


Part A 60 48.98 24.69

Part B1 54 42.49 27.02

Part B2 54 51.17 17.69

72

Paper 3B: Integrated Skills

Part B1 (easy section) Part B2 (difficult section)

Task 5 Task 6 Task 7 Task 8 Task 9 Task 10

41.22% 42.99% 43.25% 60.55% 48.52% 44.44%

73


74


75


Skills


Part A 60 48.98 24.69

Part B1 54 42.49 27.02

Part B2 54 51.17 17.69

76

Paper 3A results per task

Mean (%)

Task 1 70.0

Task 2 67.3

Task 3 34.2

Task 4 32.0

77

Paper 3A text types

Task No. of

speakers

Text type

/genre

Formality Functions

1 4 Meeting Semi-formal Planning, making suggestions

2 3 Discussion Informal Making suggestions, evaluating

3 2 Interview Informal Recount of narrative, cause &

consequence

4 (i) 2 Interview Formal Exposition, compare & contrast

4 (ii) 2 Discussion Semi-formal Evaluating, making suggestions,

expressing attitude

78

Paper 3A text types

Task No. of

speakers

Text type

/genre

Formality Functions

1 4 Meeting Semi-formal Planning, making suggestions

2 3 Discussion Informal Making suggestions, evaluating

3 2 Interview Informal Recount of narrative, cause &

consequence

4 (i) 2 Interview Formal Exposition, compare & contrast

4 (ii) 2 Discussion Semi-formal Evaluating, making suggestions,

expressing attitude

Paper 3A: Task 3: Answers and Percentages

Morning

Mr Tang’s dog barked at something.

The boar (32)_______chased 46%____ the dog.

Mr Tang was knocked over and (33)_______broke his arm 40%________________.

Before lunch

Mr Tang’s son arrived and he tried to scare the boar by

(34)_____________banging the floor (with a stick) 28%____________________.

The boar bit his leg and he needed stitches and (35)__an injection 36%__________.

Lunchtime / Afternoon

The AFCD arrived.

They put (36)__a cage 48%__ inside the house which had (37)_dog food 36% inside it.

They didn’t catch the boar because it (38)___ate the food in the kitchen 28%____.

Paper 3A: Task 3: Answers and Percentages

In the evening

The police and a (39)___vet 18%_______ arrived.

He (40)____tranquilized 46%______ the boar and the boar (41)_fell asleep 7%__.

The next day

They (42)________let the boar go (back into the wild) 54%_____________.

82


candidates

83


in 3A

84


in 3A

85


Skills

Item Whole Grp. (%) 3B1 Cands.(%) 3B2 Cands.(%)

32 46 18.9 61.4

33 40 12.8 55.2

34 28 7.2 39.9

35 36 7.5 51.8

36 48 22.5 62.9

37 36 14.3 49.0

38 28 6.6 40.0

39 18 3.3 25.8

40 46 27.0 57.0

41 7 1.6 10.1

42 54 30.0 68.4

86

Paper 3A general recommendations

Candidates should:

Prepare by exposure to all types of

listening input: dialogue/ monologue;

informal/ formal; private / public

broadcasts etc.

Always consider the text which they are

creating to make sure it makes sense

Always consider the attitudes and stance

of the speakers as well as simply the

information they are communicating

87

Paper 3A recommendations for

narratives

Candidates should consider whether their

answer:

Captures the essence of what happened

in the story

Expresses the chronology clearly

Expresses the rhetorical structure

clearly e.g. cause and consequence

Expresses the relationship of the

characters to the events

88

Paper 4 Speaking

Paper 4 - Speaking

General Statistics

10 day examination period

(30 April – 15 May 2014)

69,483 candidates

Total score: 56

Mean: 28.33 (50.58%)

89

Paper 4

Domains Mean

(total 14)

Pronunciation and delivery 7.13

Communication strategies 7.03

Vocabulary and language patterns 6.83

Ideas and organization 7.35

90

Samples of performances

Three videos will be uploaded onto the

HKEAA website

In the videos, a total of two candidates per

level of performance (Levels 1 to 5) have

been identified

Comments on the performance of one of

these are given to illustrate the performance

typical of each level

The other five candidates serve as

unannotated additional samples

91

Samples of performances

Video Candidate / Level of Performance Annotations

provided

1 Candidate A – L4

Candidate B – L5

Candidate C – L2

Candidate D – L3

2 Candidate A

Candidate B – L3

Candidate C – L1

Candidate D

3 Candidate A – L5

Candidate B – L1

Candidate C – L4

Candidate D – L2

92

Examination Report

Pronunciation & Delivery

Most candidates spoke audibly but

many struggled with fluency

For stronger candidates, some

problems with lack of intonation /

speaking too quickly

93

Examination Report

Communication Strategies

Stronger candidates encouraged

weaker candidates to contribute

Make reference/elaborating/expanding

to ideas suggested by other members

Rephrase to clarify meaning

Use linguistic strategies to make the

discussion flow smoothly

94

Examination Report

Communication Strategies

However, some strong candidates were

overenthusiastic in their encouragement

of weaker candidates

Weaker candidates simply waited for

others to invite them to contribute -

interpreted by examiners as lack of

confidence/passivity

95

Examination Report

Vocabulary and language patterns

Lacked vocabulary and grammar to

construct coherent utterances

Misinterpreted the key ideas in the

reading material

- ‘health mistakes’ = how to stay

healthy;

- pros and cons of advertising in

society’ = ‘debating society’

96

Examination Report

Ideas and organization

Discussions good when asked to talk

about familiar issues (e.g. changing role of

technology)

Topics with international perspective,

proved to be challenging for most

candidates (e.g. Education in Finland)

Candidates went off topic / repeated the

ideas in the reading material

97

Examination Report

Ideas and organization

Stronger candidates were able to link

the topic to their personal experience

from their school or home life (e.g. food

photos, helicopter parents, education

system)

Incorporate ideas provided by other

candidates to substantiate their

stance/argument

98

General Recommendations

Read the materials and listen to the

examiners’ question(s) carefully

Pay close attention and be courteous to

other candidates in the Group

Interaction

Show a genuine interest in what others

have to say on an issue and not be tied

to notes

Ask for clarification if necessary

99

General Recommendations

Expose students to a wide range of

genres

Encourage students to pay attention to

the world (including Hong Kong and

international issues)

Reflect/critique issues, ideas and

opinions

Use English for genuine communication

100

Thank you!

Q & A

www.hkeaa.edu.hk

101

http://www.hkeaa.edu.hk/



2014 HKDSE English Language Briefing Session

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