SACE Stage 2 Portuguese (continuers) flashcards

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

Internal assessment weighting

School assessment contributes 70% of the final Stage 2 Portuguese grade. It is made up of several tasks moderated externally, and grades may be adjusted to statewide standards.

External assessment weighting

The external component contributes 30% of the final grade, typically split between a written examination and an oral examination. Confirm exact proportions in the current SACE subject outline.

Folio of responses

A collection of student responses to unseen texts, including written and spoken or multimodal texts. It forms the largest internal assessment type and is assessed holistically against performance standards.

Interactive oral

A live or recorded spoken assessment where the student sustains a conversation in Portuguese. Criteria include fluency, range and accuracy, and the ability to extend interaction rather than recite prepared answers.

Performance standards A–E

Five grade bands with holistic descriptors describing knowledge and understanding, and skills in responding and composing. Teachers use them to judge each task, and moderators use them to check consistency.

Assessment plan

A school document listing all internal tasks, their weightings, conditions, and due dates. It must be given to students before tasks begin and submitted for moderation.

Authenticity declaration

A signed statement by the student that submitted work is their own and that translation tools or outside help were not used improperly. Teachers must verify authenticity before accepting work.

Supervised conditions

Internal tasks must be completed individually under some supervision. The school decides the arrangements and must retain evidence of student work for external moderation sampling.

Moderation sample

A selection of student work plus the assessment plan sent to SACE. External moderators compare the sample against statewide standards and may adjust grades upward or downward.

Text production task

An internal task requiring students to compose a specified text type in Portuguese for a given audience and purpose, assessed on content, organisation, and accuracy of language.

Task sheet requirements

Each internal task sheet should state the text type, audience, purpose, and expected length or duration, plus which performance standards apply, so students know the criteria in advance.

Unseen text rule

Folio texts must be new to the student at the time of the task. Pre-studied texts may only be used where the task explicitly allows preparation, such as the interactive oral.

Listening section format

Recorded Portuguese texts are played a set number of times, usually twice, with pauses between. Questions test literal comprehension and inference, and answers are normally written in Portuguese.

Reading section focus

Authentic-style Portuguese texts such as articles, narratives, and notices. Questions test literal meaning, inference, register, tone, and recognition of the writer's purpose or attitude.

Writing section demands

Students produce specified text types such as emails, articles, diary entries, or speeches. Marks depend on addressing audience and purpose, organisation, range of vocabulary, and grammatical accuracy.

Oral examination structure

Conducted by an external assessor, typically around 15 minutes. It usually includes a short monologue or discussion based on a stimulus followed by general conversation on familiar topics.

Oral assessment criteria

Assessors judge communication effectiveness, range and accuracy of vocabulary and grammar, pronunciation and intonation, and fluency and coherence across the whole oral examination.

Dictionary policy

Dictionaries are not permitted in the external examination. Students must infer unfamiliar words from context, word families, and cognates with other languages they know.

Examination duration

The written examination is typically two hours plus reading time, covering listening, reading, and writing. Check the current SACE subject outline for the exact duration and structure.

Register and tone

The level of formality in a text, shown by pronoun choice, verb forms, and vocabulary. Reading questions may ask students to identify whether a text is formal, informal, ironic, or critical.

Text type conventions

Expected features of a genre, such as a greeting and sign-off in an email, a headline in an article, or direct address in a speech. Writing marks reward correct use of these conventions.

Inference questions

Questions asking what a text implies rather than states directly. Answers require combining clues across the passage, such as tone words, contrasts, and the writer's choice of examples.

Grammar accuracy weighting

Errors are judged by their effect on communication. Systematic errors in verb tense, agreement, or pronoun use reduce marks more than isolated slips that do not obscure meaning.

Portuguese verb moods

Indicative states facts, subjunctive expresses doubt, wish, or hypothesis, and imperative gives commands. Correct mood choice after expressions like espero que or se is frequently tested.

Personal infinitive use

Portuguese uses the inflected infinitive when its subject differs from the main clause subject, as in antes de eles chegarem. Recognising this form aids reading comprehension and accurate writing.

Formal address forms

Você, o senhor, and a senhora signal varying degrees of formality in Brazilian and European Portuguese. Choosing the right form affects register marks in writing and oral tasks.

Connectors for cohesion

Words such as portanto, no entanto, além disso, and por conseguinte link ideas. Examiners reward their accurate use because they show control of complex sentence structure.

Answer language rule

Answers must be written in Portuguese unless a question explicitly permits English. Writing in English when Portuguese is required can lose marks even if the content is correct.

Stimulus-based discussion

An oral examination component where the student responds to a picture, short text, or prompt, describes it, and develops opinions, showing range beyond memorised phrases.

Investigation task

An internal research-based task in which students explore a topic related to Portuguese-speaking communities and present findings in written or multimodal form, assessed on content and language.

Marking against criteria

Written and oral answers are judged on content, organisation, and language accuracy together. A fluent answer that misses the question's focus can score lower than a simpler accurate one.

Grade adjustment

After moderation, SACE may raise or lower a school's reported grades so they match statewide standards. Individual students' ranks within the school are usually preserved.