SACE Stage 2 Australian Languages - First Language flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

School assessment weighting

School assessment makes up 70 percent of the final grade in Australian Languages (First Language), with the remaining 30 percent from the external examination.

Folio weighting

Assessment Type 1, the Folio, is worth 30 percent of the school assessment and includes oral interaction, text analysis, and written response tasks.

In-depth Study weighting

Assessment Type 2, the In-depth Study, is worth 20 percent and involves a sustained investigation into a language or cultural topic presented in the target language.

Text Production weighting

Assessment Type 3, Text Production, is worth 20 percent and requires students to create original texts in the target language for specified audiences and purposes.

Performance Standards levels

Performance Standards describe five levels of achievement from A to E, and grades are awarded holistically against descriptors rather than by percentage cut-offs.

Holistic grading

Judgements are made against the whole set of performance standards descriptors for an assessment type, not by adding up marks for individual criteria.

Moderation purpose

Moderation compares school-assessed grades across schools to ensure consistent, comparable judgements, requiring retained evidence that justifies each awarded grade.

Oral interaction task

A Folio task requiring sustained spoken use of the target language, assessed for fluency, accuracy, range, and appropriateness of register to context.

Text analysis task

A Folio task where students examine a text in the target language and explain its purpose, audience, structure, and language features.

Evidence sufficiency

Schools must retain enough assessment evidence per student per assessment type to allow an external moderator to verify the grade awarded.

Register appropriateness

The match between language choices (formal, informal, honorific) and the social context, audience, and purpose of the communication.

In-depth Study presentation

The In-depth Study culminates in a presentation or product in the target language, supported by evidence of research and sustained language use.

External exam weighting

The external written examination is worth 30 percent of the final subject grade and is set and marked externally by the authority.

Exam duration

The external assessment is a two-hour written examination, typically allowing about 60 minutes for each of its two sections.

Section A focus

Section A of the exam is a text analysis section presenting unseen texts in the target language for students to analyse for purpose, audience, and features.

Section B focus

Section B of the exam is a text production section requiring original writing in the target language in response to a specified stimulus or context.

Unseen texts

Texts in the examination that students have not previously studied, requiring them to apply analysis skills to unfamiliar material.

Stimulus material

Short prompts, images, or scenarios provided in Section B that students use as the starting point for producing their own text.

Specified audience

The reader or listener identified in an exam task; language choices such as formality and vocabulary must suit this audience.

Specified purpose

The communicative aim stated in an exam task, such as persuading, informing, or entertaining, which shapes structure and language selection.

Text type conventions

The structural and linguistic features characteristic of a genre, such as an article's headline and paragraphs or a speech's direct address.

Dictionaries in exam

Printed or electronic dictionaries are generally not permitted in the external examination, so vocabulary must come from prior learning.

Exam assessment criteria

The examination is marked against criteria reflecting the performance standards, covering knowledge and understanding of language and communication in the target language.

Time allocation

A strategy of dividing the two-hour exam roughly evenly between Section A and Section B, including planning time within each section.

Language features analysis

Identifying and explaining devices such as metaphor, repetition, honorifics, or sentence structure and their effect on the reader or listener.

Responding in target language

Some exam tasks require answers written in the target language rather than English; the task instructions specify which language to use.

Context in exam tasks

The situation described in a task, including relationships and setting, which determines appropriate register and language choices.

Planning a produced text

Brief outlining of structure, key vocabulary, and register before writing in Section B, to improve coherence and accuracy under time pressure.

Mark allocation guidance

The number of marks for a question signals the expected depth and length of the response; more marks require fuller development.

Accuracy versus fluency

A balance in exam marking between correct grammar and vocabulary and the ability to communicate meaning smoothly and coherently.

Cohesion in produced texts

The use of linking devices, referencing, and paragraphing so that ideas in a written response connect logically for the reader.

Cultural knowledge in exam

Understanding of cultural practices and values associated with the target language, which may be assessed within analysis and production tasks.