US 31027 annotated exemplars

This annotated exemplar is intended for teacher use only. Annotated exemplars are extracts of student evidence, with commentary, that explain key parts of a standard. These help teachers make assessment judgements at the grade boundaries.

Download all exemplars and commentary [PDF, 199 KB]

For Excellence, the learner needs to deliver a developed presentation to communicate ideas effectively on a familiar topic.

This involves:

• ensuring the presentation is effectively organised, developed and connected
• using a wide range of appropriate language features and conventions with consistent control
• conveying meaning with minimal inconsistencies.

This learner has delivered a developed presentation on the endangered elephant.

The presentation is relevant, organised, developed and connected. The introduction provides data about elephant population decline, followed by information about why and how elephants are being killed, and the ecological impact. The conclusion urges the audience to take action. Information is well-supported with explanations, statistics and examples.

A wide range of appropriate language features is used with consistent control. These include topic-specific vocabulary and complex sentence structures. Minimal inconsistencies occur, e.g. ‘poacher have killed’, ‘This image show’. Phonological features are used effectively throughout. Delivery is very well-paced, with effective use of intonation and stress. Pausing encourages audience reflection. Pronunciation is clear.

A wide range of conventions are used effectively. These include eye contact, stance, gesture and facial expression. Many verbal strategies are also used, including emotive language, e.g. ‘gouging out’, ‘butchered’, hyperbole, e.g. ‘I was hit with such rage…’ and rhetorical questions, e.g. ‘Can you imagine…?’. Personal pronoun use engages the audience, e.g. ‘I want you to focus on…’, ‘It’s because of us’. Discourse markers support flow, e.g. ‘Let me explain’, ‘Conversely’. Sentence fragments, e.g. ‘Greed. Because its makes money’, and repetition, e.g. ‘a total ban, a complete ban’ are used for emphasis.

Excellence - Video

For Excellence, the learner needs to deliver a developed presentation to communicate ideas effectively on a familiar topic.

This involves:

• ensuring the presentation is effectively organised, developed and connected
• using a wide range of appropriate language features and conventions with consistent control
• conveying meaning with minimal inconsistencies.

This learner has delivered a developed presentation on lowering the voting age.

The presentation is relevant, organised, developed and connected. The introduction defines voting age and identifies campaigns to lower this to 16. Opposing arguments are effectively developed with explanation and examples - inexperience, lack of interest in politics, not exercising the right to vote, and the need to focus on education.

A wide range of appropriate language features is used with good control. These include topic-specific vocabulary, complex sentence structures, modal verbs and passive voice. Minor inconsistencies occur, e.g. ‘16 years old also will’, ‘are not participate’.

Phonological features are strong. Delivery is well-paced, with effective use of pause. Intonation and stress are used to good effect throughout. Pronunciation is usually clear; inconsistencies are minimal.

A wide range of conventions is used effectively. Eye contact, stance and gesture are well-used, although reference to written notes occasionally affects chunking. Verbal strategies include the use of discourse markers, e.g. ‘Another factor…’, rhetorical questions, e.g. ‘Can you imagine…?’, emotive language, e.g. ‘They mean nothing to students’, and first-person plural to involve the audience, e.g. ‘Most of us are…’.

For a more secure Excellence, the learner could demonstrate consistent control of grammatical language features and pronunciation.

Low Excellence - Video

For Merit, the learner needs to deliver a developed and connected presentation on a familiar topic.

This involves:

• ensuring the presentation is organised, developed and connected
• using a wide range of appropriate language features and conventions with good control
• conveying meaning with minor inconsistencies.

This learner has delivered a developed presentation on a natural disaster – earthquakes.

The presentation is relevant to the topic, purpose and context. It is organised, developed and connected, with a clear introduction and conclusion. Information is presented in a logical sequence - what an earthquake is, how it occurs, what happens, and what to do to keep safe during an earthquake. Each of these sub-topics is developed with explanations and examples.

A wide range of appropriate language features is used. These include specialised vocabulary, modal verbs, imperatives, and some complex sentence structures. Grammatical inconsistencies occur, especially in verb forms, e.g. ‘in case they fells’, ‘all the shocks stops’, but these are minor and do not obscure meaning. 

Phonological features are strong. The delivery is well-paced, despite occasional hesitations and repetition. Pronunciation is clear, and intonation and stress are well-used. 

A wide range of conventions are used. These include non-verbal strategies, such as eye contact, gesture and facial expression, although memorisation detracts from engagement with the audience at times. Verbal strategies include the use of questions, e.g. ‘Is there any earthquakes in your country?’, the first-person pronoun to involve the audience, e.g. ‘Have you ever had experienced…?’, ‘You should’, and some discourse markers, e.g. ‘also’, ‘for example’.

Merit - Video

For Merit, the learner needs to deliver a developed and connected presentation on a familiar topic.

This involves:

• ensuring the presentation is organised, developed and connected
• using a wide range of appropriate language features and conventions with good control
• conveying meaning with minor inconsistencies.

The learner has delivered a developed presentation on a natural disaster – volcanic eruptions.

The presentation is relevant to the topic, purpose and context. It is organised, developed and connected, with a clear introduction and conclusion, and four explicitly stated sub-topics – what volcanoes are, how volcanic eruptions happen, how they affect our lives and what to do in an eruption. Transitions between these sub-topics are generally smooth. Each sub-topic is developed with explanations and examples.

A wide range of appropriate language features is used. These include specialised vocabulary, passive voice and some complex sentence structures. Grammatical errors and inconsistencies occur, especially in verb forms, e.g. ‘which formed by’, ‘the lava spill’, but these are minor and do not obscure meaning. 

A range of phonological features are used, although there is little variation in intonation and some words are mispronounced.

A range of conventions are used. Non-verbal strategies include eye contact, stance and reference to visuals. Verbal strategies include the use of questions, e.g. ‘Do you know how many volcanoes…?’, and first-person plural imperative, e.g. ‘Let’s look at this diagram’, to involve the audience.

For a more secure Merit, the learner could use a wider range of phonological features and conventions and demonstrate better control of verb forms.

Low Merit - Video

For Achieved, the learner needs to deliver a developed presentation on a familiar topic.

This involves:

• ensuring the presentation is generally organised, developed and relevant to the topic, purpose, audience and context
• using a range of appropriate language features and conventions with adequate control
• conveying meaning, although errors and inconsistencies may occur.

This learner has delivered a developed presentation on the Japanese kimono.

The presentation is relevant, organised and developed, with a clear introduction and conclusion and explicitly stated sub-topics – the history of kimono design and ‘how to co-ordinate the kimono’. Each of these sub-topics is developed by adding detail and examples.

The range of lexical and grammatical features is sufficient for Achieved, although sentence structures are predominantly simple and compound. Grammatical errors and inconsistencies occur, notably in verb forms, e.g. ‘can easy to fold’, ‘your dream will be come from’, and article omission, but these do not obscure meaning.

Phonological features - audibility, pace, intonation, stress and rhythm - are used with control. Some words are mispronounced, but the meaning is clear.

A wide range of conventions are used. These include non-verbal strategies, such as eye contact and gesture, and verbal strategies - discourse markers to signal sub-topics, e.g. ‘First’, ‘I want to move on to…’) and transitions within sub-topics (‘So next step is…’). Questions are used to involve the audience, e.g. ‘Do you know what’s this theme?’, ‘That is amazing, isn’t it?’).

To reach Merit, the learner could use language features, notably verb forms and pronunciation, with better control.

High Achieved - Video

For Achieved, the learner needs to deliver a developed presentation on a familiar topic.

This involves:

• ensuring the presentation is generally organised, developed and relevant to the topic, purpose, audience and context
• using a range of appropriate language features and conventions with adequate control
• conveying meaning, although errors and inconsistencies may occur.

The learner has delivered a developed presentation on the differences between New Zealand and Chinese schools.

The presentation is relevant to the topic, purpose, audience and context. It is generally organised, with a clear introduction and a conclusion summarising main points. Information is communicated in explicitly stated sub-topics – organisation, teaching techniques and learning, uniform, school rules and life. There is occasional ‘back-tracking’ to visuals. Each of the sub-topics is developed with explanations and examples.

A range of appropriate language features is used. Lexical and grammatical features are sufficient for Achieved, although sentence structures are predominantly simple and compound. Grammatical inconsistencies occur, e.g. ‘learning become’, but do not obscure meaning. Phonological features - pronunciation, intonation, stress, pace, audibility and rhythm are strong. There is occasional reading from written notes.

A range of conventions are used. These include non-verbal strategies - eye contact, gesture and stance – and verbal strategies, including discourse markers to signal new sub-topics, e.g. ‘First…’, ‘Another difference…’) and connectives of comparison and contrast, e.g. ‘However’, ‘Compared with…’. Rhetorical questions, e.g. ‘Do you know the difference…?’ are used to involve the audience.

For a more secure Achieved, there needs to be less reliance on written notes.

Low Achieved - Video