GCE EXAMINERS' REPORTS FRENCH AS/Advanced SUMMER 2013
Grade boundary information for this subject is available on the WJEC public website at: https://www.wjecservices.co.uk/marktoums/default.aspx?l=en Online results analysis WJEC provides information to examination centres via the WJEC secure website. This is restricted to centre staff only. Access is granted to centre staff by the Examinations Officer at the centre. Annual Statistical Report The annual Statistical Report (issued in the second half of the Autumn Term) gives overall outcomes of all examinations administered by WJEC. This will be available at: http://www.wjec.co.uk/index.php?nav=51 Unit Page FN1 1 FN2 4 FN3 10 FN4 13
FRENCH General Certificate of Education Summer 2013 Advanced Subsidiary/Advanced Principal Examiner: Mr Gareth Wyn Roberts FN1 and FN3 oral tests SUMMARY Centres are used to the nature and demands of both the FN1 and the FN3 examinations. There are exceptions, however, particularly when centres conduct their own FN1b tests. Expectations, however, are not always high enough. Centres do not understand that fluency is only one strand of communication and that spontaneity and interactivity are also very important. Consequently there is a tendency in many centres for candidates, especially at AS, to rely heavily on pre-learnt material. The best performances are to be seen where candidates have been thoroughly prepared and happy to discuss in French and show spontaneity and flexibility in their answers. This is true of both FN1 and FN3. In both FN1 and FN3 candidates still tend to write too much in the preparation room when getting ready for their tests. They then read this out word for word. In many centres where centre staff conduct the FN1b test candidates are allowed to deliver minispeeches without sufficient challenge or further questioning. This is true both in card based tasks and in the ensuing conversations. At FN3, candidates and centres are familiar with the requirements of the topic based conversation tests. Candidates, however, tend to have prepared too long answers to the initial three starter questions and have to be interrupted. Exposés on films remain most popular and the ensuing conversations do convey the candidates enthusiasm for the choice of film or book. Many exposés on regions, however, remain descriptive rather than evaluative. As the discussion following the exposé lasts up to ten minutes, candidates must expect questions which broaden out the conversation to the book, film or region chosen and not just the specific aspect discussed. They must also expect to be discouraged from giving pre-learnt speeches and required to rise to the challenge of unexpected questions. Administrative arrangements. These remarks echo those made in last year s report. The Board would like to thank centres for the welcome given to the visiting examiners and the arrangements made for them. Oral examiners are aware that centres vary in the quality of their facilities but appreciate the centres efforts to provide suitable accommodation for the tests. 1
The preparation room does not have to be supervised but it is essential to have someone close by in case of an emergency. The preparation room, as well as the room where the tests take place, must be clearly indicated as examination rooms. This was not done in many centres. It is not part of the examiner s duties to check whether candidates have taken in mobile phones etc. into examination rooms, nor is it part of the examiner s duties to look after candidates belongings during the examination. A chaperone is not required but is permitted. A chaperone, for any reason, should not be the candidate s French teacher. The centre is expected to provide the visiting FN3 examiner with the sheet indicating the candidates details and the topic of the exposés. FN1a (conducted and marked by the visiting examiner) (a) Topic based conversation The system of choosing cards worked well. Centres are reminded that they need to cover each of the topics in the specification. Many candidates exceed the guidelines in the amount of material they can write in the preparation room. Consequently, they often read out very full answers to the initial three questions which they have written down during the preparation room. This is against the spirit of the examination as over-reliance on pre-prepared material is discouraged in the specification and mark scheme. Some candidates feel threatened by interruptions by the examiner. Candidates, however, should not think that they can give mini speeches on something they have prepared earlier or be allowed to talk about something which is not strictly relevant to the question asked. Examiners are looking for a good interactive atmosphere and a high degree of spontaneity. Speaking at length or fluently is not the same as speaking spontaneously and interactively with the visitor. (b) General conversation Most candidates coped well with the general conversation which is really a personal conversation. Surprisingly, some candidates lack ideas on all three topics in the conversation, namely the subjects they are studying, their hobbies and interests and their future plans. Candidates should be prepared to be stopped by the examiner who might wish to steer the conversation to another aspect of a subject or topic. Some barely improved their level of language beyond GCSE French, for example when discussing hobbies. There needs to be a clear improvement in sophistication, length of utterances and quality of language and vocabulary between GCSE and AS. FN1b (tests conducted by teachers but externally marked) Centre staff undertake the FN1 tests of about a third of the AS candidates. The following is advice based on this year s experiences. Almost all centres submitted their orals in digital format, as recommended. There are problems, however, with labelling. CDs often do not give the centre number, candidate numbers and their examination order on the CD. This is particularly important where the digital recordings file names themselves do not identify the candidate. Permanent ink can be used to write information on the CD itself as paper labels become unstuck. Few centres identified by name the teacher examiner(s) undertaking the tests. Although many centres conduct their tests well and respond fully to the requirements, other centres are less successful in this respect. There were specific problems in some centres - these will have been noted in the individual report sent to centres that conduct their own tests. 2
Centres conducting their own FN1b tests should ensure that they do not disadvantage their candidates, and should:- Keep to the timings in the specification i.e. four minutes for each of the two cards and seven minutes for the general conversation. This makes a total of 15 minutes. Ensure that one card from group A and one card from group B (one picture and one text card, one white and one green card) are chosen - not two picture or text cards and not two from the same section. Make sure that all three starter questions are asked and that the candidates are not allowed to answer these at too great a length. In practice, answering the starter questions takes about 1.5 minutes out of the four minutes for each card. Ensure that the discussion on the card is a discussion on the topic chosen and not a personal discussion. Discussion about the candidate s hobbies and interests, sports etc. should take place in the general conversation not when discussing the cards. Stop candidates when they try and answer questions by means of a prelearnt, possibly somewhat irrelevant, mini-monologue i.e. when they stop answering spontaneously and regurgitate pre-learnt material. Ensure that the general conversation discusses three things only, namely the candidate s hobbies and interests, the subjects they are currently studying and their plans for the future. Discussions on visits to France, their current college or school, their family and area are not relevant to the three set topics. Avoid jumping from one question to a question on something completely different without further exploration. Be ready to explore candidates ideas more fully and deeply and present them with a challenge to show that they can cope with the unexpected. Questions by the candidate to the examiner always seem to be artificial or unnatural and are best avoided. Having stated all their shortcomings, it is again pleasing to report that many centres do succeed in conducting very good personalised orals which are spontaneous and interactive. The very best discussions on the cards show a high level of detailed knowledge and sophisticated reasoning within the four minute discussion. Similarly, the very best general conversations are rich in detail and well-argued as candidates maintain or defend their viewpoints. 3
FRENCH General Certificate of Education Summer 2013 Advanced Subsidiary/Advanced Principal Examiner: Mrs Lindsey Davies FN2 - Listening, Reading and Writing Q.1 Quite well done but less well than in previous years (Mean mark 4.8). 1. Très peu was clued in the tapescript as 1 sur dix but many candidates did not make this connection and ticked it as a false answer, often using the 1 sur 10 as a corrected answer. 2. Again many ticked this as correct, but the correct answer was en primaire (also in rubric). 3. Well answered with some good corrections. 4. Good answers, but some candidates merely removed the ne.pas (cf rubric re. negation). 5. Mostly answered as correct. 6. Surprisingly high number of candidates thought this was correct. La banlieue should have been a very familiar word. Spelling of banlieue was often incorrect. 7. Some candidates talked about the bullying being in other schools (not in the tapescript). 8. Generally well answered correct. Q.2 There are still problems with this grammatical exercise (Mean mark 3). Poor spelling was a problem, but also poor application of grammar: 1. Many wrote assisté, or insiste, no é. 2. Inaccurate spelling of suffit souffit, soffi, suffi. 3. En often written as on. 4. Eux very poorly done euh was very popular. 5. Apprendre 2 nd verb infinitive still causes a lot of problems. Candidates should be aware of the need for grammatical knowledge in order to complete this question correctly. There is a zero tolerance on spelling, including accents. 4
Q.3 (a) Well done with most candidates scoring some marks (Mean mark 4.2). N.B the answers must come from the information in the text. (b) Candidates are improving in their technique in responding in French (subtle manipulation and less lifting ) but there was a decline in grammatical accuracy which led to many marks being lost. This is reflected in the mean mark of 2.8. The answers can be found in chronological order in the text. (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) Many candidates wrote entrâine instead of s entrâine, failed to mention par semaine which was needed for the answer. Quite well answered and there were quite a few possibilities for a correct answer, although il n aime pas les journalistes was not one. Parler de incorrect. There was quite a lot of lifting for these answers. Pour nager, pour faire un stage incomplete answers. Again, marks lost for entrâiner. Some good paraphrasing for les Australiens, but often lifting for les Français the present tense of se plaindre was very poorly conjugated with very few candidates getting ils se plaignent. The idea of une attitude négative would have been enough to answer this question. Ce metier referred directly to Alain s career choices which appeared in the final paragraph and NOT to swimming. His reason was pour aider les autres. (c) Mean mark 5.1. Again, poor spelling and grammatical inaccuracy led to loss of marks. (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) (vii) Needed idea of increased consumption of alcohol to indicate the change in habits. Very poorly done. La Grande Bretagne is Key Stage 3 vocabulary. La Bretagne, Breton, Bretange, Grand Brittagne, Gran Bretagna, Brittaigne were just some of the examples seen. La santé clearly signposted in text. Poor spelling often led to loss of marks la foi, le sirosse. Some successful answers here using minimum manipulation from the text. A list of three reasons was sufficient for a correct answer, again with minimum manipulation. Very poorly answered. Candidates did not pick up on the fact that the sugar hides the taste of alcohol, that it is barely traceable. Many said incorrectly On ne peut pas goûter l alcool. The answer needed the perfect tense (n.b. not if using en lançant ). T.V = 0. 5
Q.4 (a) Selecting correct part of speech from a list. This part was not done well Mean mark 1.6. Confusion between croissance / croissant, chiffres / figures led to marks being lost. Lack of grammatical and lexical knowledge was evident. (b) Section (b) was better with many candidates scoring well. Mean mark 3.3. Adjectival agreements still cause concern: familial / familiale. (c) Section c was well done. Mean mark 2.7. Second verb infinitive not always known consommer / consommé confused. Q.5 There continues to be an improvement in this question. The mean mark was 10.9. Techniques of transference are improving and some candidates produce excellent idiomatic language to convey the meaning. Any French words used in the translation into either English or Welsh resulted in the candidate not being given credit for that part of the question. Omission of often simple words was a fairly common reason why candidates lost marks. Candidates should realise that answers that make no sense in English cannot be correct! They should continue to learn faux-amis as these are a source of many mis-translations in this question. (i) Some very garbled renditions of Club des nageurs e.g. club of the swimmers (with misplaced apostrophes) to convey the idea of swimming club. Antibes not recognised as a place name by some. A few examples of Caribbean were seen (confusion with Antilles. In the second part, many candidates lost the mark by employing the incorrect tense, was. The passive voice still causes problems. Another error was training with. (ii) but not widely known, although there were some very good idiomatic translations of this section. The superlative was often mistake for the comparative more competitive. (iii) For knowing not accepted. Most candidates gave translations for the other 2 sections. (iv) semblent ne pas prendre conscience de caused problems. lose consciousness, become conscience. Gravité often seen in the scientific sense because of lack of gravity, when you are unconscious the gravity is phenomenal. It is well possible not credited. The subjunctive was well translated by many. Tenté mistranslated as tend to Some problems with un jeune some examples of child seen 6
Q.6 Essay The mean mark for the essay was 23.8. Beware the broad-brush approach which will lead to digression and dilute the argument. Candidates should focus on the title and plan accordingly. Too many candidates still feel the need to include extraneous and irrelevant material which distorts the essay. Les parents n ont pas beaucoup d influence sur les ados d aujourd hui. INDICATIVE CONTENT Teenager/parent relationships conflict school, studies, going out, friends, Parents have supportive role guidance through the difficult years. Modern technology parents to prevent too much time on games, computer. Teenagers in a rebellious phase normal at this age. Influence of friends, social networking. NB watch out for wholesale essay on friends and bad influences drinking, smoking, drugs etc. This title produced some interesting responses on teen/parental relationships, often thoughtful and well-considered. Some still take the blanket-bomb approach and try and cover everything they know about the topic, and some candidates are still trying to turn the question into their own preferred title, in this case involving long tracts about tabagisme, alcool and drogues being the main reasons for conflict. On doit se concentrer sur les études au lycée, on n a pas le temps d avoir un petit boulot. Qu en pensez-vous? Discutez et justifiez vos opinions. INDICATIVE CONTENT Both sides should be presented: Importance of studies for future university, career, need to study hard for le bac. Job balanced life, break from intensive study, advantages: money, working with others, also experience of world of work could be an advantage later when applying to university etc. or a job. Candidates produced thoughtful and well-considered answers focusing well on the title. 7
Le sport est important pour une vie équilibrée chez les jeunes. Croyez-vous que ce soit vrai? Donnez et justifiez vos raisons. INDICATIVE CONTENT Importance of sport for fitness and health also psychological reasons friendship, teamwork, socialising life work balance. Also watching sport (live or on TV) very popular pastime which is enjoyed by many young people. Beware the diversion/digression into healthy eating, obesity etc. These factors can be discussed but only in the context of THIS essay! A very popular choice, but often digressed into an essay on health and fitness in general. Those candidates who focused on the question set produced some very high quality essays. However, some candidates at the lower end of the mark range produced lists of unconnected statements and examples with little or no attempt to address the title set. Passer un an à l étranger est essentiel pour les jeunes de nos jours. Discutez et justifiez votre réponse. INDICATIVE CONTENT *Advantages of year abroad (can be une année sabbatique) broadens the mind etc., experiences of new cultures, languages and people. Working and living with others. But is it essential??? Pros and cons, balanced views. BEWARE holiday and tourism essays!!! The title is very specific. The temptation to write about le tourisme in an all-encompassing way proved too great for some candidates. Those who worked with the essential elements (see above) produced some well-crafted essays. General comments The wide range of topic coverage provided ample opportunity for candidates of all abilities to attempt all the questions there were very few blanks. Technique in answering questions is continuing to improve language manipulation to answer questions 3b and 3c is now much more in evidence and there is much less evidence of lifting (i.e. copying directly) from the texts in the folder. However candidates lose marks needlessly by not answering the question set, misinterpreting key words. There are still a lot of low marks being scored on the discrete grammar questions (2 and 4) where absolute accuracy is required. Translations (transfer of meaning) are obviously being given more attention in centres as the marks continue to improve. However there is evidence that idiomatic language still poses a problem for some candidates. Essays (content see above). The technique is still improving in this question and essays are mostly of an appropriate length (200-250 words). There were very few vastly overlength essays. Candidates are still losing too many marks for careless and basic errors genders, adjectival agreement, and incorrect verb endings. 8
Poor spelling was prevalent especially with well-known words and structures. Although communication is important it does not compensate for lack of accuracy and often candidates disadvantage themselves with incomprehensible spelling and syntax. 9
FRENCH General Certificate of Education Summer 2013 Advanced Subsidiary/Advanced Principal Examiner: Mr Gareth Wyn Roberts FN3 Oral examination All the tests are conducted by external visiting examiners. (a) Structured Discussion Good practice Candidates wishing to gain the highest grades must be able to give relevant, cogent well informed answers which show a very good insight into the issues involved. Candidates must be made aware that they need to be able to withstand robust questioning in order to get marks in the higher bands and that they could well be stopped in mid-flow if perceived as going off-message or one that I have prepared earlier mode. The ability to present relevant, informed, spontaneous opinions and viewpoints in good French and being able to support assertions when challenged is the main feature of candidates who perform very well in this examination. Candidate performance in 2013 Candidates seemed to be happier talking about the traditional topics at A2, namely racism, nuclear energy and global warming. Most candidates seemed to go for one of these if they were offered one as a choice of card. Candidates are less familiar with modern media than the traditional radio, TV or printed material. Brief notes made in the preparation room are by far more conducive to more fluent discussions on the guided discussion card. Some candidates are still making too copious notes for the guided discussion. Many believe that the first question (which asks what the text is about) needs a long summary of the content of the card. A couple of sentences are enough. Candidates get too involved in the detail on the card this is not an explication de texte. Candidates still need to bear in mind that the card containing the text is only a starting point for a conversation that could deal with any aspect of the topic area. 10
(b) Oral Exposé Good practice As all candidates are meant to prepare their exposés beforehand, the exposé must be of very good quality to become outstanding enough to gain the highest marks. The best quality exposés do keep to the four minute deadline. They are planned meticulously and the language is succinct and in an appropriate oral register. They have a short but effective introduction, a central part detailing and illustrating the candidate s opinion about the topic under discussion and a conclusion which is to the point and possibly offers a lead in into the ensuing conversation. Candidate performance in 2013 The majority of exposés were on films. Most of the exposés were on films from the prescribed list for the Guided Studies essay in FN4. The most popular were La Haine, Amélie and Les Choristes. Many centres had candidates talking about films and books not on the prescribed list and this worked well. Examiners cannot be expected to know every work that is presented and indeed this does make for an interesting and possibly more spontaneous conversation. Preparing an exposé on a film, book or region specified for the Guided Studies essay in FN4 is allowed in the specification, but candidates and centres need to be aware that there is a check to ensure that a candidate has not answered a question on the same film, book or region in both the oral test and the written test. Doing so is contrary to the examination regulations and will normally disqualify the candidate from the examination. There were fewer exposés on books and regions. Many of those on the regions still tend to be descriptive rather than evaluative. There were many good exposés on books (often on the set list e.g. Boule de Suif, L Étranger, Manon des Sources). The best exposés on the literature were perceptive literary criticisms showing detailed relevant knowledge. All centres provided visiting examiners with a list of candidates and their examination numbers in the order candidates are being tested. Some centres, however, just give the title of the film or book as the title of the exposé. Merely naming the film, book or region makes it difficult for the examiner to get a focus for the ensuing conversation. Candidates are advised to present titles for presentations in the form of a question to be answered or an issue or aspect of a film, book or region which is about to be explored. The best exposés did not give an exhaustive evaluation of the book, play or region but indicated clear areas that the examiner could pursue in the conversation. Very often the examiner will lead into the questions with general questions, such as why was that film chosen or why that particular aspect was of interest to the candidate. Some areas for discussion were too narrow and the conversation had to be widened out to cover other aspects of the film, book or region. Some candidates found this disconcerting but the conversation following the exposé does last for up to 10 minutes. Generally the standard overall was good, in many instances very good. There were some outstanding exposés and ensuing conversations. Those who tried to learn exposés by heart were not always convincing. In some cases there was quite a large discrepancy between the quality of French in the exposé and the quality of the language in the conversation that followed. This is reflected in the marks awarded. 11
While the exposé is a structured oral essay (not a written essay which is read out), the ensuing conversation is more spontaneous and interactive. This means that the discussion can vary in depth and breadth. Even in centres where numerous candidates have chosen to discuss the same aspect of a book, every exposé and discussion is different. Language marks in FN1 and FN3 The language marks in both FN1 and FN3 are important. Although Accuracy and Range are only worth five marks each, poor accuracy and lack of expression can also affect the quality of communication. The expectations for intonation and pronunciation are the same for both FN1 and FN3. The quality of intonation and pronunciation can vary considerably from centre to centre. Intonation is adversely affected if candidates are reading long pre-prepared answers to the starter questions or if they are regurgitating pre-learnt passages or mini-monologues. Exposés which have too obviously been learnt by heart usually have an unnatural intonation. Pronunciation of final consonants is a particular problem in some centres, indicating that the candidates are more familiar with written rather than oral forms. 12
FRENCH General Certificate of Education Summer 2013 Advanced Subsidiary/Advanced Principal Examiners: Mr Gareth Wyn Roberts Mrs Lindsey Davies FN4 - Listening, Reading and Writing Summary Candidates generally coped reasonably well with question 1, the listening comprehension. Performance in question 2, the reading comprehension, varied considerably but was generally better than in previous years. Candidates generally gained more marks in 2b than in 2a. Very many now obey the rubric not to copy answers from the text. Performance in Q3, the translation from Welsh or English into French, was marred by a lack of accurate knowledge of verb forms and tenses. There were few very good translations. Many candidates gained more marks for their Guided Studies essays in Part 4 (question 4) than they did for the three questions in part A. Listening and reading comprehensions Candidates can improve their performance in the first two questions by paying attention to the following: Obeying the rubric and answering in English/Welsh in question 1 and the first part of question 2a. Ensuring appropriate manipulation so that the whole answer is not copied out straight from the text. When answering ensuring that : they have fully understood the question words they generally use the appropriate tense when answering answers fully answer the questions set they do not offer a second alternative answer which is incorrect when one answer is required. They do not use French words in their answers in English and English words in their answers in French. That the French is accurate enough to completely communicate the answer. Particular attention should be given to verb forms, ensuring that any negative is correctly formed and that any second verb is in the infinitive e.g. je veux aller. 13
Translation from English or Welsh into French Candidates can improve their performance in the translation by paying attention to the following: Ensuring that they translate all of the passage. A surprising number omitted the last three sections or individual words within sections. Giving particular attention to verb forms: ensuring the correct tense is being used in the context checking whether the verb form should be passive or active ensuring that the appropriate pronoun or subject is used with the verb form forming the verb completely correctly both root and endings. Giving close attention to agreements definite or indefinite articles with nouns, adjectives with nouns, any relevant agreement of past participles. Using relative pronouns correctly and ensuring that their forms are correct. Finding and using correctly any appropriate vocabulary from the reading passage which has the same general theme as the translation. The usefulness of the passages in this respect, however, will vary from year to year. Detailed analysis of the questions Question 1 Most candidates coped adequately with 1, 2 and 3, but 4 and 5 caused more problems. In 4, the answers tended to be insufficiently specific and in 5 very few candidates gave a full enough answer: most mentioned parents without reference to cars. Some also gave an incorrect answer by also mentioning insurance companies. Imprecise English or Welsh also resulted in incorrect answers e.g. 2. Trees in the road. Question 2a Première partie There were a surprising number of candidates who failed to grasp the main point of this text, i.e. to help elderly people look after themselves in their own homes. Quite a large number thought that the main point was to help this age group get to grips with technology. This misinterpretation subsequently affected all their answers. 1. A very small number of candidates gave a full answer including the reference to 75+. 2. Many gave the answer to help old people use technology. 3. A great deal of variety. Popular answers included the homeless, the disabled, the poor. Motorised wheelchairs was not accepted as an answer. 4. A surprising number of incorrect answers, and many answers that were not specific enough ( helpers, staff ). 14
Deuxième partie The shift into French produced the usual small number of answers in English. Question 2b 5. A very small number indeed handled this question well as they did not answer the questions of what these innovations did. There was a great deal of lifting of nouns from the text. 6. Generally correct and with some manipulation of the text. 7. A lot of variety. Candidates became confused trying to manipulate the negative and there were many who said that M. Kennel didn t want to insulate old people. As with 2a, there was a frequent misunderstanding: a large number of candidates failed to distinguish between sunlight and daylight. Another common source of error was the failure to distinguish between le photovoltaïque and l énergie in terms of gender. 1. This question produced a mere handful of correct answers. Few had grasped the idea of using solar energy to heat water. 2. Confusion between sunlight and daylight was very frequent in this question. 3. Generally correct. 4. This question produced a great many incorrect answers, many of which drew on material required in questions 6, 7 and 8. The implication is that candidates do not read the questions thoroughly before answering them. 5. Most candidates produce semantically correct answers. 6. and 7. Generally correct, though the perfect tense of créer produced many errors, due to absence or inaccuracy of the accent. 8. The majority appeared to understand this question, but many answers were incomplete and talked about la sécurité without specifying what kind of security it was. 9. This question produced many answers which were almost correct, but which failed to gain a mark because they were incomplete or not linguistically correct. Travailler was frequently used instead of fonctionner, and compétitif was misunderstood by many to mean expensive. Question 3: Translation into French Section 1: Section 2: Section 3: Section 4: Section 5: The most common error was the use of temps instead of fois (which was often thought to be masculine). A great many candidates can t spell année. The main problem was with the relative pronoun. Many candidates used qui instead of que and a surprising number used dont. Some candidates consistently used ce qui / ce que for the relative pronoun throughout the passage. Most candidates got this correct, apart from absent or misapplied accents. In some instances they omitted an essential word e.g. solaire or l énergie. A very small number indeed managed to use depuis and the present tense correctly. Those who did use depuis usually combined it with the perfect tense (or even the pluperfect). Generally correct.the preceding direct agreement was rarely present. This did not impede communication, however. In some instances the auxiliary was omitted. 15
Section 6: Section 7: Section 8: Section 9: Section 10: Section 11: Section 12: Section 13: Section 14: Section 15: Many candidates used the future tense but could not form the passive in the future. Most candidates managed the future but a surprising number used the conditional. Propriétaires produced a great variety of spellings, alternatives and circumlocutions; the same is true of fermes. Generally correct, though frequently without the correct adjectival agreement. Generally correct, though the conditional was used by a number. The verb caused a lot of problems. Many candidates used the conditional of devenir rather than of pouvoir. The agreement was often absent. A large number of candidates failed to use the correct subject pronoun, but the majority recognised the need for the subjunctive. Néanmoins was frequently misspelt. Néanmoins, pourtant or toutefois were widely known. Very few candidates were able to use de moins en moins correctly or use the correct conjunction for as. The future tense was attempted in most cases but was frequently incorrect; few could use en correctly; village was often unknown as was the correct form for our. 16
GUIDED STUDIES OPTION The response to this option continues to be very pleasing, with the majority of candidates knowing how to answer the questions set. The best answers were on the literature texts. A: LE MONDE DU CINEMA Mean mark 30.5. The most popular films were La Haine, Les Choristes and Au Revoir les Enfants, but Le Grand Voyage is gaining in popularity. Le boucher Only one small centre studied this film and all candidates answered (a) - one essay was thoughtful and analytical while the other two were much more descriptive. Le grand voyage The few essays on (a) were very competent and really got to grips with the cultural conflicts dividing Réda and his father. The level of analysis was high. The candidates demonstrated a sympathetic understanding of the issues involved. Most candidates chose (b) and the best candidates showed good analytical skills as well as a sound understanding of the problems of the Beurs in France. Some candidates, however, limited themselves to a description of the disputes between father and son rather than analysing their causes and the eventual outcomes. Au revoir les enfants Essays were fairly equally divided between the two titles. Inevitably, there was a lot of storytelling rather than analysis of events, especially in the essay on Julien Quentin. The best of these focused on both his role and importance and showed insight but weaker candidates sometimes just summarised the main events of the story. A surprising number failed to mention Julien s involuntary betrayal of Jean and many dwelt too much on his home life at the expense of analysing his role in the events of the film. Those candidates who attempted the question on the importance of the film s title generally showed greater analytical skills and raised some interesting points and were more interesting and original. There was a tendency among some candidates to dwell too heavily on Louis Malle s personal experiences. This continues to be a film with which candidates engage well. La haine Both answers were addressed, neither appearing to dominate. In the question on Said the standard varied. There were well constructed essays which gave clear insight into his importance to the film and clear examples and analysis of his various roles. On the other hand essays were often overly descriptive and showed little evidence of structure: they tended to be a catalogue of Saïd s exploits with minimal analysis. Some were hopelessly rambling. The general impression conveyed by candidates was that Saïd is a very popular character but unfortunately too many candidates failed adequately to explain why. Ça c est la banlieue produced the most interesting answers which also tended to be better structured. The differences between Paris et la banlieue were well analysed with good references to the film. Many of these essays got right to the heart of the fracture sociale and not a few indulged in a little political campaigning! Some essays on (b) just described the problems of the banlieue with minimal reference to the events of the film. 17
Les choristes There were some excellent essays on Morhange s life but also a number which immediately deviated to Clément Mathieu and his role. The essay on Pierre Morhange produced a lot of essays which were not sufficiently focused on the title. There was a strong tendency to disagree with the initial premise in the introductory paragraph and to spend almost the entire essay on a different theme. In this case candidates are not answering the question which has been set. They should focus on la vie de Pierre Morhange and analyse why it is not (in their opinion) the main theme rather than disregard the question and delve into other themes. Many failed to make the key connection between Morhange and Mathieu at the beginning, where Morhange cannot remember his mentor s name. The other widespread failing was to talk in too much detail about Christophe Barratier (cf Louis Malle above). However, there were also some very competent essays. Questions on le flashback varied in quality from basic story-telling and plot explanation to good analysis of the technique. Le dernier metro Most candidates answered (a) and showed a good understanding of the relationship between Marion and Lucas. Some essays on (b) focused well on the question asked but others just gave a general description of wartime Paris. Amélie Most candidates chose the question on Nino s role, which was well handled on the whole. Candidates had engaged well with the character and wrote competently about his role. There were some analytical essays but a number focused on his personality at the expense of his role in the film. A general criticism is that there was a slight tendency, in discussing his effect on Amélie s life, to include too much detail about her childhood which, though it parallels his own in many ways, was not the main point of the question. Fewer candidates attempted (b) there were some detailed descriptions of the scene where Amélie finds la boîte aux trésors but in some cases not much else. Many ignored Amelie s imaginative and fantastical nature which leads her to cast herself in a Princess Diana-like role and her ensuing desire to help people. Merci pour le Chocolat None seen. B: LE MONDE DE LA LITTERATURE Mean mark 32.9. L Etranger Most did (a) and most essays focused appropriately on their relationship and its implications for Meursault but there was a lot of variety in where they placed the emphasis: the letter, the beach, the court room. The best essays succeeded in drawing evidence from a variety of examples while others tended to focus too much on one aspect. One noticeable failing was that having talked about the reasons why Meursault agreed to write the letter, the essay then veered off into the theme of indifference generally and left much that should have been discussed unaddressed. The result was a kind of hybrid essay. 18
L indifférence - This title produced some significantly over-long essays with little or no structure (9 pages!), listing every possible example of Meursault s indifference but with little or no analysis. There were also some very competent essays, however, which handled the title with intelligent penetration. As always, digressions into l absurdisme and existentialism swallowed up too much of the word count in some cases with no real relevance to the question. La Place Some interesting and well thought-out essays on both questions, although there is still a tendency to focus too generally on Annie s life and not to select and analyse points pertaining to the questions set. Manon des Sources Some candidates wrote a well-structured and analytical essay on the importance of the relationship. There was one excellent essay on la vie provençale which was a pleasure to read. Les Mains Sales Very few centres chose this play, but in some examples seen candidates produced some very high quality essays showing excellent knowledge of the text, a high level of analytical skills and thorough knowledge of the technique and structure required for writing a good essay. Le Silence de la Mer The questions were generally well done and demonstrated significant understanding and even empathy. There was sometimes a tendency to supply too much unnecessary background information. The essay on the uncle s role was the more popular choice and these essays were generally more interesting to read, being more original and individual in approach. Most candidates were able to discuss both his role and importance with no significant mis-interpretations of events. However there was a tendency to focus on the earlier part of the novel and to ignore the après Paris events and the key role of the narrator here. The essays on l officier tended to follow a similar pattern of examining his actions in chronological order and often indulged in lengthy descriptions of Werner von Ebrennac. Most candidates dealt with the first part of the question competently but only a few analysed the importance of this idea. Le Blé en herbe No essays seen. 325.000 francs None seen. Boule de Suif et autres contes de guerre (selected stories) Candidates can adapt the title to include all or any of the stories in the collection. There were some excellent essays on both questions. 19
C: LES REGIONS DE LA FRANCE ET LA FRANCOPHONIE Mean mark 28.0. There were some fine essays on the regions although they were comparatively few. The common fault among essays in this category is lack of analysis, and while some essays did fall into this trap, others were competent. The traps of the geographical survey or the travelogue were generally avoided but some candidates gave long lists of local features, facts and figures and statistics which were NOT RELEVANT to the question set. If, for example a candidate was dealing with le chômage in a particular area, then a few relevant statistical facts would be needed to exemplify and justify the ideas therein. Provence-Côte d Azur The winter aspect of tourism in Provence-Côte d Azur was rather overlooked by one or two candidates. Rhône Alpes Very few answers, but on the whole, good with one very interesting and well-informed essay on Rhône Alpes (changements climatiques). La Bretagne It was surprising to see most candidates opting for question (a). On the whole, candidates had not understood the question at all, trying to put everything they knew about Brittany in it. They were discussing more the Fishing Industry and Tourism than Agriculture. They even went on to say how important the Car, Naval and Electronic Industries were for Brittany. They also talked about Festivals to celebrate Agriculture (mixing it up with question (b)), mentioning Le Festival des Vieilles Charrues which takes place every year in the middle of nowhere but which is a rock as well as a Celtic festival and all kind of music. Whenever Agriculture was mentioned, they did not get the type of plantation right: En Bretagne, on fait l élèvement du maïs, la culture de l orage et des artichoux. Aussi, les touristes aiment conduire sur ses grandes routes avec des champs de chaque côté. On voit aussi la population bretonne locale du 19ème siècle vêtus de leurs vieux vêtements agricoles. The essays on the héritage celte were more likely to resemble a list. The essay on (a) was rather descriptive and was in part a list of the attractions of Brittany. One of the essays on l héritage celte did focus in part on its economic importance but the other described the important tourist attraction of le Mont de St Mitchell (sic), as well as stating that la langue officiel (sic) est le français mais aussi un peu l anglais c est pourquoi la Bretagne est populaire pour les touristes. Question (b) was quite well answered. Candidates knew about traditions in Brittany and the importance of the culture and language among the Breton population. The category was not highly represented but the essays on les jeunes showed more analysis and were generally more mature in their approach. 20
L Alsace Very few answers, quite well done, but once again avoid the pitfalls of the travelogue. Ile de France Some good answers for both questions, but a tendency to focus exclusively on Paris (75). It would nice to read about Les Franciliens and not just Les Parisiens. Pays de la Loire Very few answers, but these tended to be very long and drawn out with lists of historical, cultural, social examples which did not answer the questions as set. Québec Very few answers. Un DOM Very few answers. General remarks on Guided Studies Too many candidates still favour unnecessarily lengthy introductions, especially those giving the life story of film directors or authors. Please dissuade candidates from wasting words (and marks) in this way. Handwriting: a real problem in some cases. Where centres know that this problem exists, they should take the necessary action to ensure this will not have a deleterious effect upon the candidate s performance. Candidates use of additional answer sheets/books; sometimes there is no reference on the actual exam paper to the fact that questions have been answered on additional sheets and one finds these later. Unless clearly flagged up, it is quite easy to miss answers. Most candidates respected the given word limit of 400. Those who went beyond or fell short of this risked self-penalising according to the criteria of the mark scheme. Some essays were too short and quality of response and knowledge of film, book or region suffered. Some candidates got confused and did not know if they had to answer both questions (a) and (b). If this was the case, both essays were marked and the best mark awarded. Some as well, answered (a) and (b) in one essay. There is a tendency for candidates to rely too much on narrative, story-telling and scenesetting and lengthy character descriptions (A and B). Candidates should think not What, but Why? The vast majority of candidates tried to stick to the question. A good essay is a planned essay it was most encouraging to see evidence of planning. This does help candidates to harness their thoughts and ideas before beginning to write. Many of the questions (A and B) ask for a personal response or viewpoint. Candidates should be encouraged to do this when practising their essay writing technique. 21
Common errors The level of grammatical inaccuracies and lack of syntactical knowledge at this level is worrying: Object pronouns not known il aime lui. Very poor examples of 2 nd verb infinitive especially after modal verbs: il peut aide, on peut concluire / concluder. Poor knowledge of present tense conjugations especially of common irregular verbs: ils veuvent, quand les trois protagonists allent à Paris, ouvrir (and compounds) not known le film ouvert, il découvrit, il a découvré. Present subjunctive of avoir incorrect il aie. Adverbs and adjectives confused, especially bon / bien il est un bien exemple pour les garçons, la seulement raison. Negatives poorly applied: si on ne fait rien de bruit. Genders: attitude, société, nouns ending in...tion often masculine. La livre for book. Humour and humeur often confused leading to misunderstandings about characters. Meursault aime LA physique avant toute chose. Sa mère travaille dans AU café. Mathieu est AIME un père pour les garçons. Meursault a toujours froid avec les gens. Ils SE forcent (instead of LA) de dormir avec le soldat prussien. In «la haine» one candidate thought Le Pen was a place: quand Saïd est dans Le Pen avec Hubert et Vinz. Such errors greatly affect the communication and quality of response as well as the accuracy and range in the assessment of the essay. A good knowledge and application of grammar and relevant vocabulary and idiom is essential at this level. GCE French Examiners Report (Summer 2013) /HL 22
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