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Assessment Report

Level 1 Korean 2021

Standards 90898 90901

Part A: Commentary

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Part B: Report on standards

90898: Demonstrate understanding of a variety of spoken Korean texts on areas of most immediate relevance

Examinations

Candidates need to be aware that the overall grade for a question is based on how much of the text has been understood, and the depth of the understanding, rather than knowledge of individual lexical items. Therefore, candidates should avoid direct translation, as the translation alone is not enough evidence that the candidate understands the meaning of the texts clearly or thoroughly. Candidates who selected evidence from the whole text and integrated them to justify their answer in a convincing manner achieved higher grades than those who correctly translated relevant chunks of the text.

This examination included three questions. Candidates were required to respond to all three. Questions 1 to 3 required candidates to demonstrate their understanding of a variety of spoken Korean texts on areas of most immediate relevance. The questions covered the requirements of the 2021 assessment specification which was for three spoken texts related to basic personal information and past, present, and / or future experiences, for example, family and friends, home, school, free time and leisure, hometown, and country.

Observations

Understanding of CL6 vocabulary and grammar is vital to achieving this standard. While many candidates wrote simple and short answers, not providing details associated with the questions prevented candidates from reaching a Merit of Excellence grade. The spoken text themes of family, school and daily life, travel, and places around town worked well for this standard and produced successful responses, as candidates were able to relate to the themes and situations in the spoken texts.

Grade awarding

Candidates who were awarded Achievement commonly:

answered in 1 – 3 sentences, providing pieces of information OR relied heavily on context (e.g. scenario in the question, glossed vocabulary, and images) to attempt explanations, but lacked relevant details.

Candidates whose work was assessed as Not Achieved commonly:

did not understand Korean vocabulary and provided answers that were mainly guessed using glossed vocabulary or the context of the questions.

Candidates who were awarded Achievement with Merit commonly:

demonstrated a broad understanding of vocabulary and grammar structures but were let down by directly translating parts of the text without selecting information to provide a convincing conclusion.

Candidates who were awarded Achievement with Excellence commonly:

demonstrated a broad understanding of vocabulary and grammar structures were able to select the best information from the whole text to draw the conclusion that is fully justified.

90901: Demonstrate understanding of a variety of spoken Korean texts on areas of most immediate relevance

Examinations

This examination included three questions. Candidates were required to respond to all three. Questions 1 to 3 required candidates to demonstrate their understanding of a variety of Korean texts on areas of most immediate relevance. The questions covered the requirements of the 2021 assessment specification, which was for three written texts related to basic personal information and past, present, and / or future experiences, for example family and friends, home, school, free time and leisure, hometown, and country. The questions required candidates to read and respond to three written texts representative of different text types.

Observations

Understanding of CL6 vocabulary and grammar is vital to achieving this standard. While many candidates wrote simple and short answers, not providing details associated with the questions prevented candidates reaching a Merit of Excellence grade. The text themes of family, school and daily life, travel, and places around town worked well for this standard and produced successful responses, as candidates were able to relate to the themes and situations in the texts.

Grade awarding

Candidates who were awarded Achievement commonly:

answered in 1 – 3 sentences, providing pieces of information OR relied heavily on context (e.g. scenario in the question, glossed vocabulary, and images) to attempt explanations but lacking relevant details.

Candidates whose work was assessed as Not Achieved:

lacked understanding of CL6 vocabulary and provided answers that were mainly guessed using glossed vocabulary or the context of the questions.

Candidates who were awarded Achievement with Merit commonly:

demonstrated a broad understanding of vocabulary and grammar structures but were let down by directly translating parts of the text without selecting information to provide a convincing conclusion.

Candidates who were awarded Achievement with Excellence commonly:

demonstrated a broad understanding of vocabulary and grammar structures and were able to select the best information from the whole text to draw a conclusion that was fully justified.

Korean subject page

Previous years' reports