2014 HKDSE
English Language
Briefing Session
October/November 2014
1
Briefing rundown
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Overall statistical performance
Paper 1
Paper 2
Paper 3
Paper 4
Question-Answer Session
2
Upcoming publications
(November)


2014 DSE English Language Examination
Report and Question Paper
2014 DSE English Language Samples of
Candidates’ Performance for all papers and
all levels on HKEAA website
http://www.hkeaa.edu.hk/en/hkdse/assessment/subje
ct_information/category_a_subjects/hkdse_subj.html?
A1&1&2_25
3
Entry Statistics 2012-2014
4
Attendance in 2014
Day school candidates: 64,434
Whole group:
74,302
5
General performance in 2014
6
General performance in 2014
7
Paper 1 Reading
8
Number of Candidates
Part 1A
Part 1B1
Part 1B2
74,195
36,880 (49.70%)
37,315 (50.29%)
9
Paper 1: Reading
Part A
Part B1
Part B2
Full Mark Mean Score (%) S.D. (%)
47
64.71
23.81
41
56.38
20.36
41
50.24
19.55
10
Paper 1: Reading
Part A
Full Mark Mean Score (%) S.D. (%)
47
64.71
23.81
11
Part 1A score distribution for all
candidates
Mean: 64.71%
12
How 1B1 candidates performed
in 1A
Mean: 49.31%
13
How 1B2 candidates performed
in 1A
Mean: 77.65%
14
Paper 1: Reading
Overview
Reading Passage
Part A 1 RP - Short story
• Combination of narrative and dialogue
• Structure and lexis used are relatively
simple
• Work out implied meanings of the text,
e.g. robot’s intention, Karl’s regrettable
action, how Winston feels about the
revelation some years later
• Items tested: identifying the main
characters, order events, summarizing
the message behind the story
No. of
items
47 items
15
Paper 1A comments
• Most candidates able to handle basic story
elements e.g. characterisation, plot and setting
Easier questions
• Information was either given explicitly in the text
or straightforward, e.g. True/False/Not Given
items (Q.6i, ii, iii and Q.9i, ii, iii); Sequencing
question (Q.14)
16
Paper 1A comments
More difficult questions
interpreting the implicit meaning in the text
Q.21: ‘What does it mean when the robot says,
“Insufficient value”?’
• Answer required paraphrasing, e.g. Winston’s
apology was not serious enough (1 mark)
compared to the one he received (1 mark)
• Only 27% of candidates were given the two
marks for this question
17
Paper 1A comments
Q.28: ‘What is the message behind this story?’
• Overall interpretation of the story - answers
supported by ideas that could be implied from
the text
• E.g. It is never too late to make an apology (1
mark) which can make people feel better about
themselves (1 mark)
• Making an apology is important - too vague to
earn a mark
• Only 36% of candidates were awarded 2 marks
for this question
18
Paper 1: Reading
Part B1
Full Mark Mean Score (%) S.D. (%)
41
56.38
20.36
19
Part 1B1 score distribution
Mean: 56.38%
20
Paper 1: Reading
Overview
Reading Passage
Part B1 2 RPs - based on the same theme
• First passage introduces the theme
of “Writing love letters to strangers”
No. of
items
41 items
RP1: 20
items
• Test items: finding explicitly-stated
information, e.g. name/founder of the
website, identifying obvious
differences between writing emails
and love letters to strangers.
21
Paper 1: Reading
Overview
Reading Passage
Part B1 2 RPs - based on the same theme
No. of
items
41 items
• The second reading passage is
RP2: 21
written from the perspective of a
items
journalist chronicling her first attempts
at writing love letters to strangers.
• Test items: inferencing the meaning of
colloquial expressions, e.g. ‘Nope’;
interpreting the meaning of the
writer’s messages, and how writing
such letters are similar to writing a
Tweet
22
Paper 1B1 comments
Easier test items for the first passage
finding explicitly-stated information
• Identifying name and founder of the website (Q.31,
89%; Q.34, 88%)
• Sequencing events, e.g. start of the website, rising
popularity of trend (Q.43, 69%)
• Do/Don’t for guidelines for writing the love letters
(Q.44: 70% for three of the four items)
23
Paper 1B1 comments
More challenging items in second reading passage
Making inferences
Q. 45: ‘What nationality is the writer?’
Text: ‘I’m not sure that’s something we British do
well.’ (38%)
Difficulty with the key idea, i.e. letters were written to
strangers
Q. 57: …compare writing these letters to writing a
Tweet? ‘Both are ___________’ (39%)
24
Paper 1: Reading
Part B2
Full Mark Mean Score (%) S.D. (%)
41
50.24
19.55
25
Part 1B2 score distribution
Mean: 50.24%
26
Paper 1: Reading
Overview
Reading Passage
No. of
items
Part B2 1 RP - an excerpt from the
41 items
autobiography of Stephen Fry
• Theme: fame and the rise of celebrity
culture
• Text is a combination of descriptive
and expository discourse
• Significantly longer stretches of
language are used
• Language structure and lexical terms
are more dense and varied compared
to those found in Part A and B1
27
Paper 1: Reading
Overview
Reading Passage
Part B2 1 RP - an excerpt from the
autobiography of Stephen Fry
No. of
items
41 items
• Items test global reading processes
e.g. identifying the main ideas of each
paragraph, interpreting the writer’s
stance and comparing the differences
in attitude between the current
generation and previous ones
28
Paper 1B2 comments
First part of the text is narrative
Easier items
• Candidates were required to interpret the
writer’s feelings (Q.60, Q.61), identify his actions
(Q.62) and interpret reasons for his actions
(Q.64) and feelings (Q.63, Q.65, Q.66)
• This section of the text was straightforward and
four of the ten items were answered correctly
by more than 70% of the candidates
29
Paper 1B2 comments
The passage then becomes expository
More difficult items
Q79. ‘What does “Oh, Stephen” suggest about
the writer’s feelings? Why does he feel like this?’
• Interpret the writer’s feelings (his resentment
of the praise given to a fellow performer)
• Writer feels ashamed not only of his jealousy
and his own desire to be admired (1 mark), but
also because that desperation to be famous is
now revealed to the public (1 mark)
• Only 8% of candidates were awarded the first
mark and 2% the second
30
Paper 1B2 comments
More difficult questions
Q.81: ‘What is ‘entrails’ a metaphor for?’
‘…to drag out their entrails for public inspection…’
• Inner/private thoughts or secrets (1%)
Q.82: ‘Who is the writer referring to when he says
“you”?’
• everyone/anyone/people in general; not
the reader or any specific group of people (4%)
31
Paper 1 Summary
• Level of difficulty in Part A was slightly easy
for the candidature as a whole; and in
particular for candidates who attempted
Part B2
• Levels of difficulty for Parts B1 and B2 were
appropriate for the respective group of
candidates attempting them
• Parts B had a wide coverage of easy and
difficult items to assess different levels of
candidates’ abilities
32
Paper 1 Recommendations
Choosing Part B
Candidates who are most at risk of being
capped are candidates with a level of
performance at the upper range of the Level
4 descriptors (or above) but who choose to
do the easier part of the paper rather than
the more difficult part
33
Paper 1 Recommendations
ONLY APPLICABLE TO 2014 Paper 1
• If candidates are getting 75% or higher of
items correct in Part A, they should attempt
Part B2 to avoid component grade being
capped at Level 4
• Candidates who got less than 75% can
choose between either B1 or B2 as their
component grades would remain unchanged
34
Paper 1 Recommendations
• The capping policy is in place because the
items tested in Part B1 is designed for
candidates whose abilities match the level
descriptors for Level 3 or below, while Part B2
is designed to match levels of performance
ranging from 3 to 5
• Therefore, any candidate who wishes to attain
Level 5 must opt for Part B2
35
Paper 2 Writing
36
Paper 2 – Writing
Statistical information
 Candidates’ performance
 Samples of performance
 Recommendations for candidates

37
Statistical information (1)
No. of candidates sat: 73,810
Mean
Part A: 22.35/42
Part B: 18.30/42
(55.4%)
(43.6%)
S.D.
Part A: 9.97/42
Part B: 8.94/42
(23.7%)
(21.3%)
38
Statistical information (2)
Theme
Sports
Communication
Drama
Popularity (%) Mean
(out of 42)
14.0
17.33
3.90
12.92
Social issues
19.80
20.74
Debating
13.10
20.02
39
Statistical information (3)
Theme
Workplace
Communication
Popular culture
Poems &
songs
Short stories
Popularity (%) Mean
(out of 42)
34.00
18.00
4.4
18.92
3.3
16.04
6.8
17.01
40
Marking Guidelines (1)
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
Both Parts A and B use the same set
of marking guidelines
Candidates’ performances in Content,
Language and Organization are
assessed
41
Marking Guidelines (2)
Content
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Whether content fulfils all the requirements
of the question
Whether the content is relevant
Whether ideas are developed/supported
Whether creativity and imagination are shown,
where appropriate
Whether the text engages the reader’s
interest
Whether there is an awareness of audience
42
Marking Guidelines (3)
Language
 Range of accurate sentence structures
 Grammar accuracy; if there are errors,
whether these errors affect overall clarity
 Range and appropriacy of vocabulary
 Spelling and punctuation
 Whether register, tone and style are
appropriate to the genre and text-type
43
Marking Guidelines (4)
Organization
 Whether the text is organized effectively
 Whether the ideas are logically developed
 Cohesion in the text
 Cohesive ties and use of cohesive devices
 Overall structure is coherent, sophisticated
and appropriate to the genre and text-type
44
Marking Guidelines (For Part B only )
If content is off-topic, candidates should
not be awarded more than 3 marks in
each of the other domains
45
Performance of candidates in
Question 1 – Compulsory Part
Performance of stronger candidates:

Adequate content; appropriate tone for a
history newsletter; a theme to link up three
sections
Performance of weaker candidates:

Answers lack audience awareness;
attempted the task as if merely answering
questions; weak link between three
sections; misinterpreted the task
46
Performance of candidates in Question 2 –
Learning English through Sports Communication
Performance of stronger candidates:

Gave credible and persuasive reasons why
the donation of fitness equipment benefits
both the school and the fitness centre
Performance of weaker candidates:

Failed to make a request in an appropriate
tone or demonstrate audience awareness
47
Performance of candidates in Question 4 –
Learning English through Social Issues
Performance of stronger candidates:

Relevant content; appropriate tone; clearly
familiar with what such a genre looks like
Performance of weaker candidates:


Misunderstood ‘filming movies’; wrote about
filming their own movies or wrote about
watching movies in the city centre
Wrote an argumentative essay rather than a
letter
48
Performance of candidates in Question 6 –
Workplace Communication
Performance of stronger candidates:

Showed creativity and imagination; used
language and organization typical for a
newspaper article
Performance of weaker candidates:

Irrelevant content: answers not focusing on
a costumed character performer
49
Samples of Performance
Level 5:
Level 4:
Level 3:
Level 2:
Level 1:
Part B / Q. 5
Part A
Part B / Q. 4
Part A
Part B / Q. 9
50
Script A
Level 5
Question 5
Content


Content addresses the requirements of the
questions adequately. All areas, including the
views of students in the opinion poll and
justification of the writer’s views, are covered
Most ideas are well-developed, though there
could be some exaggeration of the mental
health problem that students may face arising
from the lack of lockers at school
51
Script A
Level 5
Question 5
Language




Most sentences, including noun clauses,
relative clauses and adverb clauses, are
accurately constructed
Grammar is mostly accurate with occasional
common errors that do not affect overall clarity
Vocabulary is wide, with many examples of
more sophisticated lexis
The letter demonstrates good awareness of
the intended reader
52
Script A
Level 5
Question 5
Organization


The overall structure is coherent, sophisticated
and appropriate to the genre and text-type
Cohesive devices used are mostly appropriate
and link up ideas between and within
paragraphs with clearly defined topics
53
Script B
Level 4
Question 1
(Part A)
Content



Some relevant ideas to be found in all three
sections
Section 1 is more like the personal history of
Mr Smith, although there is one idea about
the change of the social environment
Candidate provides background on how
villagers oppose a proposal to have the
village turned into a resort hotel and gives a
description of the village’s famous sunset
54
Script B
Level 4
Question 1
(Part A)
Language



There is a wide range of accurate sentence
structures and good grasp of more complex
sentences
Vocabulary is well chosen and used
appropriately, e.g. “oppose this proposal”
Mostly an informative register is used with a
bit of persuasion at the end
55
Script B
Level 4
Question 1
(Part A)
Organization


Cohesion is clear within each paragraph, but
read as a whole, the article lacks some
logical development
For example, it is not clear how the biography
of Mr Smith fits in with the rest of the article,
and there seems to be a contradiction
between the statement in section 2 that Lucky
Village is “not famous at all” and the one in
section 3 that “it is famous for its sunset”
56
Script C
Level 3
Question 4
Content
 There are a few relevant ideas, but not
all are well-developed
 The letter engages the reader’s interest
sporadically and shows occasional
awareness of audience
57
Script C
Level 3
Question 4
Language
 Most simple sentences are accurately
constructed
 Occasional attempts are made to use
more complex language, but some is not
grammatically correct
 On the whole, the lexis used is generally
appropriate
58
Script C
Level 3
Question 4
Organization
 Some cohesive devices are used to link
ideas
 The candidate has problems organizing
the ideas into proper paragraphs
 Ideas are sometimes not logically linked
59
Script D
Level 2
Question 1
(Part A)
Content / Organization
 Ideas are partially relevant to the three
themes of each section
 Not clear how the detail about “Peter
and Mary” links with the heading of
Section 2
 Limited use of cohesive ties
60
Script D
Level 2
Question 1
(Part A)
Language
 Some short simple sentences are accurate
with the occasional complex one (e.g. “Lucky
Village is an old village in Hong Kong... As a
famous old village, Lucky Village has many
beautiful old buildings”)
 Vocabulary used is not wide but there are a
few good words used, e.g. “World War II”,
“landmark”
 Register and tone are appropriate to the
genre
61
Script E
Level 1
Question 9
Content / Organization


Some ideas are relevant but not well developed.
The content only partially satisfies the
requirements of the question
The text type is unclear and hard to define. The
plot is lacking in development. The internal logic
within paragraphs is weak, which makes
comprehending the text very difficult
62
Script E
Level 1
Question 9
Language


Some short, simple sentences are used
There are multiple errors in sentence
structures,
which
often
impede
communication
63
Recommendations to candidates



Read the questions carefully to fulfil all the
requirements of the task
Avoid frequent / inappropriate use of
quotations, clichés, stock phrases and
unusual
vocabulary
in
candidates’
answers
More time should be spent on planning
and proofreading answers
64
Paper 3
Listening & Integrated Skills
65
Paper 3: Listening & Integrated
Skills: Overview


General performance in Parts A
and B
Focus on Part A




Variables in listening input
Testing understanding of narrative
Candidate performance
Recommendations
66
Paper 3: Number of Candidates Part B
67
Paper 3: Listening & Integrated
Skills
Part A
Part B1
Part B2
Full Mark Mean Score (%) S.D. (%)
60
48.98
24.69
54
42.49
27.02
54
51.17
17.69
68
Paper 3: Listening & Integrated
Skills
Part A
Part B1
Part B2
Full Mark Mean Score (%) S.D. (%)
60
48.98
24.69
54
42.49
27.02
54
51.17
17.69
69
Part 3A score distribution for all
candidates
70
Paper 3: Listening & Integrated
Skills
Part A
Part B1
Part B2
Full Mark Mean Score (%) S.D. (%)
60
48.98
24.69
54
42.49
27.02
54
51.17
17.69
71
Paper 3B: Integrated Skills
Part B1 (easy section)
Part B2 (difficult section)
Task 5
Task 6
Task 7
Task 8
Task 9
Task 10
41.22%
42.99%
43.25%
60.55%
48.52%
44.44%
72
Part 3B1 score distribution
73
Part 3B2 score distribution
74
Paper 3: Listening & Integrated
Skills
Part A
Part B1
Part B2
Full Mark Mean Score (%) S.D. (%)
60
48.98
24.69
54
42.49
27.02
54
51.17
17.69
75
Paper 3A results per task
Mean (%)
Task 1
70.0
Task 2
67.3
Task 3
34.2
Task 4
32.0
76
Paper 3A text types
Task No. of
Text type
speakers /genre
1
4
Meeting
Formality
Functions
2
3
Discussion
Informal
Making suggestions, evaluating
3
2
Interview
Informal
4 (i)
2
Interview
Formal
Recount of narrative, cause &
consequence
Exposition, compare & contrast
4 (ii)
2
Discussion
Semi-formal Evaluating, making suggestions,
expressing attitude
Semi-formal Planning, making suggestions
77
Paper 3A text types
Task No. of
Text type
speakers /genre
1
4
Meeting
Formality
Functions
2
3
Discussion
Informal
Making suggestions, evaluating
3
2
Interview
Informal
4 (i)
2
Interview
Formal
Recount of narrative, cause &
consequence
Exposition, compare & contrast
4 (ii)
2
Discussion
Semi-formal Evaluating, making suggestions,
expressing attitude
Semi-formal Planning, making suggestions
78
Paper 3A: Task 3: Answers and Percentages
Morning
Mr Tang’s dog barked at something.
The boar (32)_______chased 46%____ the dog.
Mr Tang was knocked over and (33)_______broke his arm
40%________________.
Before lunch
Mr Tang’s son arrived and he tried to scare the boar by
(34)_____________banging the floor (with a stick) 28%____________________.
The boar bit his leg and he needed stitches and (35)__an injection 36%__________.
Lunchtime / Afternoon
The AFCD arrived.
They put (36)__a cage 48%__ inside the house which had (37)_dog food 36% inside
it.
They didn’t catch the boar because it (38)___ate the food in the kitchen 28%____.
Paper 3A: Task 3: Answers and Percentages
In the evening
The police and a (39)___vet 18%_______ arrived.
He (40)____tranquilized
46%______ the boar and the boar (41)_fell
The next day
They (42)________let the boar go (back into the wild)
asleep 7%__.
54%_____________.
Part 3A score distribution for all
candidates
82
How 3B1 candidates performed
in 3A
83
How 3B2 candidates performed
in 3A
84
Paper 3: Listening & Integrated
Skills
Item Whole Grp. (%) 3B1 Cands.(%) 3B2 Cands.(%)
32
46
18.9
61.4
33
40
12.8
55.2
34
28
7.2
39.9
35
36
7.5
51.8
36
48
22.5
62.9
37
36
14.3
49.0
38
28
6.6
40.0
39
18
3.3
25.8
40
46
27.0
57.0
41
7
1.6
10.1
42
54
30.0
68.4
85
Paper 3A general recommendations

Candidates should:
 Prepare by exposure to all types of
listening input: dialogue/ monologue;
informal/ formal; private / public
broadcasts etc.
 Always consider the text which they are
creating to make sure it makes sense
 Always consider the attitudes and stance
of the speakers as well as simply the
information they are communicating
86
Paper 3A recommendations for
narratives

Candidates should consider whether their
answer:
 Captures the essence of what happened
in the story
 Expresses the chronology clearly
 Expresses the rhetorical structure
clearly e.g. cause and consequence
 Expresses the relationship of the
characters to the events
87
Paper 4 Speaking
88
Paper 4 - Speaking
General Statistics
 10 day examination period
(30 April – 15 May 2014)



69,483 candidates
Total score: 56
Mean: 28.33 (50.58%)
89
Paper 4
Domains
Pronunciation and delivery
Mean
(total 14)
7.13
Communication strategies
7.03
Vocabulary and language patterns 6.83
Ideas and organization
7.35
90
Samples of performances




Three videos will be uploaded onto the
HKEAA website
In the videos, a total of two candidates per
level of performance (Levels 1 to 5) have
been identified
Comments on the performance of one of
these are given to illustrate the performance
typical of each level
The other five candidates serve as
unannotated additional samples
91
Samples of performances
Video
Candidate / Level of Performance
Annotations
provided
1
Candidate A – L4
Candidate B – L5
Candidate C – L2
Candidate D – L3
Candidate A
Candidate B – L3
Candidate C – L1
Candidate D
Candidate A – L5
Candidate B – L1
Candidate C – L4
Candidate D – L2




2
3

92
Examination Report
Pronunciation & Delivery
 Most candidates spoke audibly but
many struggled with fluency
 For stronger candidates, some
problems with lack of intonation /
speaking too quickly
93
Examination Report
Communication Strategies
 Stronger candidates encouraged
weaker candidates to contribute
 Make reference/elaborating/expanding
to ideas suggested by other members
 Rephrase to clarify meaning
 Use linguistic strategies to make the
discussion flow smoothly
94
Examination Report
Communication Strategies
 However, some strong candidates were
overenthusiastic in their encouragement
of weaker candidates
 Weaker candidates simply waited for
others to invite them to contribute interpreted by examiners as lack of
confidence/passivity
95
Examination Report
Vocabulary and language patterns
Lacked vocabulary and grammar to
construct coherent utterances
Misinterpreted the key ideas in the
reading material
- ‘health mistakes’ = how to stay
healthy;
- pros and cons of advertising in
society’ = ‘debating society’
96
Examination Report
Ideas and organization
 Discussions good when asked to talk
about familiar issues (e.g. changing role of
technology)


Topics with international perspective,
proved to be challenging for most
candidates (e.g. Education in Finland)
Candidates went off topic / repeated the
ideas in the reading material
97
Examination Report
Ideas and organization
 Stronger candidates were able to link
the topic to their personal experience
from their school or home life (e.g. food
photos, helicopter parents, education
system)
 Incorporate ideas provided by other
candidates to substantiate their
stance/argument
98
General Recommendations




Read the materials and listen to the
examiners’ question(s) carefully
Pay close attention and be courteous to
other candidates in the Group
Interaction
Show a genuine interest in what others
have to say on an issue and not be tied
to notes
Ask for clarification if necessary
99
General Recommendations




Expose students to a wide range of
genres
Encourage students to pay attention to
the world (including Hong Kong and
international issues)
Reflect/critique issues, ideas and
opinions
Use English for genuine communication
100
Thank you!
Q&A
www.hkeaa.edu.hk
101