Clarification details
Published February 2020. This is a new document to address issues that have arisen from moderation and the update to Version 4 of the standard.
Level of the standard: Guidance Information 2
This standard is set at New Zealand Qualifications Framework level 4 and is informed by level mid-B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. It attests to a learner’s readiness for the academic demands of undergraduate degree or diploma courses.
Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (external link)
Academic purpose: Guidance Information 7 and 11 and Performance Criteria 1.1
An appropriate academic purpose is essential and must give learners scope to meet all performance criteria of the standard. The research question will relate to previously read resource material, but the question itself will be new to the learner. The assessment task should include an instruction to learners to use and acknowledge this material in their writing.
The text will address and answer the research question that has been given. A text written in response to a comparison or pros and cons question requires the learner to address both aspects of that question.
Write under test condition: Guidance Information 8
Learners have 120 minutes to complete this assessment. This includes independent drafting and editing of their own writing. No assessor/peer feedback is permitted during this assessment. These specific conditions of assessment mean that re-submission is not available for this standard.
Dictionaries and electronic devices: Guidance Information 5
Learners may use monolingual or bilingual dictionaries. Standard spelling and grammar checkers can also be used in word processing. Other grammar check programmes and electronic devices, such as translators and translator apps on cell phones, are not permitted, as these may compromise the learner’s ability to demonstrate independent competence.
Resource material: Guidance Information 6
The material that learners base their writing on needs to be of sufficient complexity of both language and content to meet university entrance reading requirements. Examples of such texts may be found in the resource material for externally assessed NCEA standards that also meet UE literacy requirements. The resources need to be the original, unannotated material rather than summaries and/or key points. Resource material needs to be in English.
Development of ideas and integration of acknowledged material: Performance Criteria 1.2 and 1.6
Learners need to demonstrate that the ideas developed are based on their resource material. Integration of this material could include paraphrasing, summarising and quotation, with in-text citation of the source/s. A bibliography or reference list is not required, but it is expected that the resource documents are included in external moderation submission.
Formal style: Performance Criteria 1.4 and Guidance Information 11
A formal style appropriate to the academic context and purpose is required. Slang, colloquialisms, contractions and use of the first-person point of view are not usually found in academic writing, so any use of these informal features needs to be appropriate to the academic context. At mid-B2, learners will use some complex grammatical structures and a range of lower frequency vocabulary related to the topic.
Use of appropriate forms: Performance Criteria 1.5 and Guidance Information 4
This relates to the accuracy of use of lexical and grammatical forms. Some inaccuracies of surface features are permissible, but any occasional lapses must not interfere with meaning. The writing must be able to be understood by a general reader.