NCEA Level 3 Samoan key terms

Listening carefully and with understanding, paying attention to tone, pace, and implied meaning rather than only the surface words. A key skill when answering questions about spoken Sāmoan texts such as interviews, speeches, and news items.

The main idea or central message of a spoken or written text. Candidates identify it before selecting supporting details, so answers stay focused on the overall purpose rather than isolated facts.

Supporting details, examples, or evidence that back up the main idea of a text. In listening tasks these are often numbers, names, reasons, or examples a speaker gives to strengthen a point.

Voice and delivery: how a speaker uses volume, stress, pauses, and intonation to convey attitude or emphasis. Recognising these cues helps listeners infer feelings such as frustration, humour, or respect.

Tone of voice and the attitude it signals, for example sarcasm, warmth, urgency, or formality. Listening questions often ask what a speaker really means, which depends on tone as much as vocabulary.

The speaker's purpose or intention, such as to persuade, inform, warn, entertain, or request. Identifying purpose early helps candidates predict the kind of detail likely to appear in the text.

Persuasion: language used to convince an audience, including repetition, rhetorical questions, appeals to emotion, and reference to authority or tradition. Useful when analysing speeches and advertisements in listening and reading tasks.

Evidence or proof offered in support of a claim, such as statistics, quotations, examples, or personal experience. Candidates should distinguish evidence from opinion when evaluating an argument.

An opinion, viewpoint, or belief held by a person. In receptive tasks, candidates separate the speaker's opinions from established facts and identify whose view is being reported.

Bias or prejudice shown in a text, revealed through loaded word choice, selective evidence, or omission. Recognising bias supports critical evaluation questions in reading and viewing.

The theme or subject of a story or text, distinct from its plot. Theme questions ask what the text says about values, family, migration, or identity rather than what happened next.

The plot or sequence of events in a narrative text. Understanding structure - setting, complication, climax, resolution - helps candidates answer ordering and cause-and-effect questions accurately.

The conclusion or resolution of a text, where conflicts are settled or a final point is made. Questions may ask candidates to explain why an ending is satisfying or what message it leaves.

An example or illustration used to clarify or support a point. Skilled readers notice whether examples are representative or chosen selectively to strengthen an argument.

Figurative language, including simile, metaphor, and personification. Sāmoan texts often use imagery from nature and the sea, so candidates must interpret meaning beyond the literal words.

Proverbial or allusive speech, often drawn from tradition, used to hint at a meaning indirectly. Recognising these references helps candidates understand respect, hierarchy, and cultural values embedded in texts.

Traditional honorific titles and genealogical references used to acknowledge a village, district, or chiefly lineage. Encountering these in speeches and written texts requires understanding of respectful formal register.

Respectful or formal language used in speeches, letters, and interactions with elders and titled people. Choosing the right register is assessed in both writing and speaking, and recognised in listening and reading.

A formal speech, often delivered at ceremonies, church gatherings, or community meetings. A good lauga follows conventions of greeting, acknowledgement, argument, and closing, and uses respectful vocabulary.

Thanks or an expression of gratitude, frequently part of formal speeches and written correspondence. In assessment tasks, candidates are expected to use appropriate thanks formulas rather than literal translations.

A speech presentation or oral performance, including pacing, eye contact, gesture, and clarity. Productive speaking tasks reward structured delivery and confident use of appropriate register.

A conversation or discussion, often assessed as an interactive speaking task. Candidates must sustain turns, ask follow-up questions, and respond appropriately to a partner's ideas.

Questions and answers, the basic exchange structure of interviews and classroom interaction. Forming accurate questions with the right question word and word order is a core speaking and writing skill.

To discuss or negotiate meaning with others, including agreeing, disagreeing politely, and seeking clarification. These interactive strategies are assessed in group discussion tasks.

To explain or describe something in detail. Instruction words in exam questions determine the depth required, so candidates must distinguish explaining from simply listing or naming.

To compare or weigh up, often used when asked to examine similarities and differences between ideas or texts. A strong answer states both likeness and difference and draws a conclusion.

To justify or prove a position with reasons and evidence. In extended writing, candidates should link each reason to the point it supports rather than listing unrelated ideas.

An essay or text plan outlining introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion before writing. Planning improves coherence and helps candidates manage time in timed writing assessments.

Paragraph structure: a topic sentence, supporting sentences, and a linking or concluding sentence. Well-structured paragraphs are a key criterion in writing assessment at this level.

Cohesion and linking of ideas using connectors such as 'ae peitai', 'ona', 'o le mea lea', and 'i le isi itu'. Effective linking makes writing flow and shows logical relationships between points.

A formal letter, such as one written to a principal, employer, or newspaper. It requires correct layout, respectful register, clear purpose, and an appropriate closing formula.

An informal or personal letter or message to a friend or family member. The register is warmer and more conversational, but structure and accuracy are still assessed.

A narrative or account, including historical and traditional stories. Reading such texts requires tracking time markers, cause and effect, and cultural context.

Legends and traditional tales passed down orally, often carrying moral or cultural lessons. Understanding their purpose and values supports comprehension and interpretation questions.

The mood or emotional atmosphere of a text, created through word choice and imagery. Identifying mood helps candidates explain how a writer influences the reader's response.

Visual elements in viewing texts, such as images, camera angles, and on-screen text. Viewing tasks ask candidates to explain how visual choices reinforce or contradict the spoken message.

Oral performance skills including fluency, pronunciation, intonation, and appropriate pace. In speaking assessments, clear delivery matters as much as accurate grammar and vocabulary.

Language features or stylistic devices, such as repetition, rhetorical questions, and emotive vocabulary. Naming and explaining their effect is a common requirement in analysis questions.