AS 91547 annotated exemplars

An annotated exemplar is a sample of student evidence, with a commentary, to explain key aspects of the standard. It assists teachers to make assessment judgements at the grade.

Download all exemplars and commentary [PDF, 218 KB]

TKI French assessment resources (external link)

For Achieved, the student needs to write a variety of text types in clear French to explore and justify varied ideas and perspectives.

This involves evaluating and giving explanations or evidence to support their own ideas and perspectives, as well as supporting or challenging those of others. 
Communication is achieved overall despite inconsistencies.

The student has written two different text types, an informative text about tourism in New Zealand and a reflective review about the film Les Intouchables. In each text there is presentation of a perspective, e.g. “D’un côté, quand les étrangers nous visitent, il aide l’économie, crée des emplois et aide à conserver des sites naturels” and “Les Intouchables est un film trés important parce que il montre le public que, avec un peu de tolérance des autres, les differences personne à personne n’est pas grande”.

There is an attempt to challenge the ideas of others, “Bien que j’adore le film il y a des gens qui ne l’aime pas, mais à mon avis tout le monde devrait voir…” 

The text contains numerous errors in spelling, verb conjugations and agreements. However the text is, with the exception of “il inspire auto-ameloirent”, comprehensible throughout and therefore communication is achieved overall. 
For Merit, there would be evidence of mastery of a range of language, for example successful use of the more basic structures and evidence of some success with more complex sentence structures. Further, Merit requires fuller development of ideas and perspectives, including justification of opinions.

For Merit, the student needs to write a variety of text in clear French and convincingly develop ideas and perspectives in French which is generally credible and connected, selecting and using a range of language and language features. 

This involves evaluating and giving explanations or evidence to support their own ideas and perspectives, as well as supporting or challenging those of others. Communication is not significantly hindered by inconsistencies.

Within the contexts of an exchange visit and a discussion on why students should learn French, the student has evaluated the benefits of each, giving reasons and explanations. For example, “Une chose est que tu es entouré par la langue que tu apprends”, “Ça m’a aussi aide d’être très fort en français” and “D’être capable de parler anglais et français…ton CV”

Opinions are clearly expressed and justified throughout, with phrases such as “je pense que”, “à mon avis” and “je trouve que”.

Other perspectives are given through the disadvantages outlined, e.g. “Une mauvaise chose à propos de rester avec une famille…n’est pas la même que la tienne” and “si les mers de Nouvelle-Zélande avaient des eaux plus chaudes ce serait très mauvaises pour les créatures marines.”

There is a range of language, including a variety of vocabulary and language structures. For example, comparisons such as “je n’ai pas eu froid aussi vite qu’ici où j’ai froid rapidement” and different verb tenses (past, imperfect, future and conditional), e.g. “cela me rendrait frustré”. There is evidence of use of structures at level 8 of the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC), e.g. “Bien qu’il soit difficile, il faut essayer de parler français tout le temps”.

Ideas are generally well connected across both texts, with logical progression supported by linking phrases such as donc, mais, bien qu, and si, contributing to overall coherence at Merit level.

There are a number of errors and inconsistencies, for example in grammar, spelling and gender. In general, these are minor in nature and do not significantly affect communication. Occasional incorrect word choice means the reader needs to use context in places, e.g. “je suis un débutant visuel” is probably intended to mean “learner”.

The language appears authentic, with the student making a genuine attempt to apply recently learned language to the task rather than relying on copied external material. 

For Excellence, there would be additional evidence of successful use of language, including additional evidence of mastery of NZC level 8 language.

For Excellence, the student needs to write a variety of text types in clear French, effectively developing ideas and perspectives in French which is controlled and integrated. Language and language features are capably selected and successfully used. 

This involves evaluating and giving explanations or evidence to support their own ideas and perspectives, as well as supporting or challenging those of others. Communication is not hindered by inconsistencies.

The first text explores and evaluates ideas and perspectives around career choices, e.g. “D'un côté, je voudrais travailler comme pâtissière” and “De l'autre côté, ça m'intéresserait de travailler avec des enfants, par exemple comme au pair”. The career prospects are developed, for example through evaluation of various advantages and disadvantages, “Quelques avantages du métier de pâtisserie est qu'il offre…” and “Ils ont de longues heures de travail et peuvent exiger beaucoup de travail physique”. The student provides the perspectives of their parents on these choices, e.g. “Quant à mon avenir, mes parents ont leur propre opinion”.  The student successfully challenges the opinions of others.

The second text discusses the issue of microplastics in the ocean. The problem is evaluated by outlining the issue and suggesting possible solutions, e.g. “On pourrait éviter les plastiques jetables, parce qu'ils contribuent aux plastiques dans l'environnement en general”, and continues on to outline other environmentally friendly practices.

The ideas are integrated logically into the central theme of the writing, with different ideas/opinions/information developed in each paragraph. Both texts are well organised, with developed and well sequenced paragraphs. The development of the ideas, rather than simply listing them, puts this in the Excellence category.
 
There is evidence of successful use of language at level 8 of the New Zealand Curriculum in both texts. There is a wide range of specialist context vocabulary and a range of language structures, such as si clauses, conditional and some use of the subjunctive.

There are inconsistencies in both texts, for example in word choice and/or order, “meme se mobiliser petit au quotidien est utile”, and some incorrect verb usage, “ce qui être fatigant”, “il appelait Trade Aid” and “il est essentiel que nous le résolvons”. However, these inconsistencies do not hinder communication.

One or two sentences, e.g. “comme faire grandir de jeunes esprits” and “il est également probable qu’il y a toujours du travail dans le domaine de la garde d’enfants”, may reflect phrasing drawn directly from external material. However, other than these two possible examples, the texts appear to be constructed as a result of learning done in class around the two topics.

These texts are much longer than the expected word count for this standard. This length is not an expectation of Excellence. At all times quality is more important than quantity.