A-level POLISH Unit 2 Reading and Writing Report on the Examination 2685 June 2013 Version: 1.0: 0613
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General Comments Entries for PLSH2 the number have dropped by one candidate from 944 to 943. As for last year there was a wide range in the ability of the students. There were a number of well prepared students with excellent Polish, who knew what was expected of them and who produced good quality papers. Most of them had either attended Polish Saturday schools, or had had some form of tuition, or had studied the text thoroughly. Some of them had an excellent command of Polish and some did not, but both groups knew the requirements of the examination and were well prepared. There were many more students than last year who arrived in England some years ago and, having missed their schooling in Poland, have also neglected their Polish since being in England. Some of them thought that what knowledge they had brought with them would be sufficient to succeed in the examination. That was not so. Many of them did not study for the examination or even familiarise themselves with the specification. They produced very weak papers, especially in the essay section. There were many untidy, badly written scripts which made scrutiny difficult. It is of paramount importance that schools/colleges make sure that the students they have entered read the specification and know what the examination requirements are. The students should be reminded about reading the instructions carefully and studying past papers for practice. In studying this way, they will know what is expected of them and will fully understand the demands of the questions. Section 1 Comprehension The PLSH2 comprehension questions were mostly answered correctly by the majority of the students. Generally, where incorrect answers were given, they were few in number, or there was no discernible underlying trend to indicate a possible cause. However, that was not the case with Question 1(a)(v) Od czego zależy powodzenie znajomości? The question was worth one mark. It can be said with certainty that this was forfeited where students were not specific enough in the answer they gave. It was not sufficient to write od zbieżności sumienia or merely od sumienia, because these answers were too vague. For the mark, students had to demonstrate that they fully understood the idea presented in the article, namely that for relationships to thrive there must be parity of conscience. There were some wrong answers such as od wyglądu, urody. Question 1(a)(vi) Odpowiedź na pytanie zadane przez autora tekstu. Na czym opiera się Twoje sumienie? Some answers to this question were thoughtfully original, for example: Moje sumienie opiera się na głębokiej wierze w dobro. Uważam, że ludzie powinni być mili i życzliwi dla siebie oraz innych, a także pomagać innym w potrzebie. Ta wiara opiera się na wychowaniu przez dobrych rodziców oraz towarzystwie kochanych przyjaciół. Others were perfectly acceptable, but in many instances students largely borrowed ideas from the text or copied it, sometimes blatantly so. Nikt nie może przeze mnie cierpieć was lifted straight out of the text. Students should be capable of expressing their own opinions and this is exactly what is required and expected of them at A-level standard. In the following example, it could be said that the student was honest, even if the answer they gave was not quite what was expected. 3 of 8
Nie wiem na czym, ponieważ nigdy nie miałem wyrzutów sumienia, a nie zastanawiałem się na czym ono się opiera, bo nie mam na to czasu. Another student stated: Ten tekst mnie nauczył jak zachowywać się z moim sumieniem. Jak ja mam sumienie to staram się o nim zapomnieć. Krzywdziłem przyjaciół i znajomych i nigdy nie miałem odwagi przyznać się do tego co zrobiłem. Muszę być lepszym człowiekiem i zebrać odwagę, żeby coś z tym zrobić bez tej odwagi moje sumienia zostaną ze mną na zawsze. The following is a particularly outstanding and thoughtful response: Sumienie opiera się na wewnętrznych przekonaniach i naszym systemie wartości. Sumienie jest kreowane od najmłodszych lat i składa się na nie mnóstwo czynników. Swojego sumienia nie da się oszukać, jest to swego rodzaju wewnętrzny głos, który towarzyszy nam na każdym kroku, z tego powodu ważne jest życie w zgodzie z własnym sumieniem. Section 2 Translation The text offered for translation into Polish in the 2013 paper produced by and large a strong performance. A score in excess of fifteen out of twenty was commonplace. Students struggled to provide vocabulary and they often improvised with their own neologisms. This is the right approach. Students who leave a blank have no chance of gaining any marks. By improvising or offering a cognate or synonym, there is always the possibility of offering a correct translation. There were some particularly inaccurate transfers of meaning, for example, I blurted out translated as bursknąłem, or if you are impertinent rendered as jeśli będziesz dociętny. The following points relate to some of the more common errors or issues that prevented students from scoring a higher mark in the translation: A dark November afternoon. A number of students did not appear to know the months of the year. Of these, quite a few began their translation of this passage with the words ciemne, październikowe popołudnie, wieczór. We arrived at this establishment was often translated as dojechaliśmy do tego miejsca, but there were suggestions such as: kontynent, miejsce posiedzenia, spotkanie. alone among all these strangers presented another problem for weaker students who rendered it as pomiędzy dziwakami, dziwadłami, dziwolągami, marudami. Miserable was rendered as: byłem nedznikiem, nieśmiały, zdezorientowany, rozczarowany, strasznie nastawiony na pomysł. Great, fierce, formidable place. Again, students invariably failed to convey the sense of trepidation and foreboding that the young Winston Churchill felt as he approached the school building for the first time in his life. After all was translated quite literally as po wszystkim rather than w końcu or other acceptable alternative. Nursery was commonly translated as żłobek or przedszkole. Very few students appeared to know pokój dziecinny and pielęgniarski pokój was also offered. Form Master. Some students did not know the word wychowawca. Where this was the case, they wrote nauczyciel, grup mistrz,mistrz formowania, amongst other suggestions. Form Room was given as: pokój dokumentacyjny, pokój formalny, formowy. 4 of 8
Latin, Latin grammar. Not all students gave łacina or gramatyka łaciny in their translations. Latynowska, was a very common mistake but also rzymska, włoska, litwińska, litwowsk i języka łaciatego were also given. Grammar was sometimes understood to be referring to school: szkoła o profilu łacińskim, szkoła łaciny, gimnazjum etc. Declension of the noun. Wymienić rather than odmienić, and przymiotnik, czasownik rather than rzeczownik, were two errors frequently found in these translations, but deklamacja, deklaracja, wymowa głoski, sylaby, znaczenie słowa were also quite common. A table was sometimes rendered as tablica rather than stół. If you are impertinent you will be punished. The word impertynencki is available in the Polish language but hardly used. Students found it difficult to provide an alternative, and most often used nieposłuszny instead, which is not quite the same but is acceptable. Other unacceptable suggestions included: niestosowny, niezdarny, niewytrwały. Most knew the word ukarany but occasionally punished was incorrectly translated as niestosowny, oskarżony, potępiony, poskromiony. Steam engine was usually translated correctly but there were some variations: pociąg parujący, z prawdziwym dymem, gazowy. If students read the text first, they would gain an appreciation of its overall meaning. The text described a child s first days at school. Section 3 Writing Students had to write two essays of at least 200 words. There is no limit as some students thought and it appeared that they had counted the words. 200 is the required minimum but this rarely produces a top mark. The questions are grouped according to four topics, literary and non-literary, and any combination was acceptable provided that no two questions from the same topic were attempted. The essays for A2 Polish this year were disappointing. Each year there is clear evidence that some students have not prepared for the exam at all and this year was no exception. One student even wrote in their answer booklet: I didn t watch the films as I haven t been told to. It is common for poorly prepared candidates to fail to comply with the rubric or to answer the wrong question. As a last resort, some will attempt both history questions, while others will base their answers to literary questions on their recall of unsuitable texts they barely remember from past study. This was certainly true of some of the papers seen this year. In many of these instances the dearth of knowledge was such that the student scored zero. Some chose the wrong question for the wrong topic. For example, questions from topic 1 were used for Wajda s films, or a question on Wajda was used as a response to topic 2 which deals with moral issues in Polish drama. The rubric must be strictly adhered to. The fight for independence as a theme in Polish literature. There were many essays on Kamienie na szaniec and quite a few on Wierna rzeka. Of course, there were some good essays and one or two excellent ones among them, but generally speaking, students had not prepared as thoroughly as they ought to have done. There was certainly evidence of study, but often these rather verbose essays contained little in the way of references to the text, and where references were made, they were often not accurate: 5 of 8
Koniec Wojny. Polska odzyskała niepodległość. Młodzi bohaterowie cieszą się wolnością. Jednak nie na długo. Pewnego ranka do domu Rudego wpada policja i zabiera go na komisariat. Kolejnym pomysłem były słodkie konfitury dla zabicia czasu i czegoś do jedzenia. Rudy prowadził rozmowy z Alkiem, który trzymał jego rękę cały czas i jęcząc z bólu mówił O, jak rozkosznie. Some answers appeared to be based on the film or just one chapter of the book. The essays started well with much relevant detail but then deteriorated. Students who attempted questions based on Wierna rzeka, were focused too much on the human drama rather than being centred on the topic. Students wrote mostly about the doomed relationship between Salomea Brynicka and Józef Odrowąż, and how the latter s mother eventually came between them. Characters more germane to the topic, like Hubert Olbromski, were barely mentioned, and where relevant material was presented it was not always developed. For example, some students wrote that the peasants were unpleasant to Odrowąż, but they did not explain why they were indifferent or hostile. Each year some students base their answers to either Question 3(a) or 3(b) on Nad Niemnem. The students who chose these questions were well prepared and wrote good essays. In all cases, the answers were relevant to the topic and were focused on the question. In relation to the works Omyłka, Smierć Pułkownika, Reduta Ordona, the essays still fell short of what was expected. Some students knew the story of Emilia Plater, but there was barely any reference to the text of Mickiewicz s poem and only peripheral biographical information. The same observation can be made with regard to Reduta Ordona. Students essays focused on the legend rather than on the poem, with weak conclusions: Gdyby nie wojna oraz nienawiść, prawdopodobnie Ordon by nie miał własnej Reduty oraz nie zginąłby. Moral and social issues as presented in Polish drama. Gdy oglądamy sztukę,tango łapiemy się za głowę co tam się tak naprawdę dzieje. Students who chose this topic usually answered the question with reference to Moralność Pani Dulskiej, which continues to be the most popular play studied at A-level. Somewhat less popular, but still widely read and studied in preparation for the exam, is Niemcy. Essays on Tango, Emigranci, Balladyna and Zemsta were fewer in number. The essays on this topic exemplified a wide range of ability among students. Question 4(a) was mainly answered quite well. The question was particularly suitable for Moralność Pani Dulskiej, and many students took the opportunity to criticise the main protagonist s dual morality, emphasising that with the play s conclusion nothing at all has changed in the Dulski household. In many of these essays, it was the students reaction to the travesty of justice at the end of the play, which left a strong impression on the reader. This year there were a number of comparative essays, especially in this topic category. One student, for example, wrote about Moralność Pani Dulskiej and Tango. Another wrote about Balladyna and Moralność Pani Dulskiej. Some wrote about Kamienie na szaniec i Wierna rzeka. These essays very often lacked depth and were descriptive. If a student intends to write an essay on two or three plays, or on two or three works of literature, the writing has to be concise and the student must know the texts well. Higher marks are achieved when students refer to just one text. 6 of 8
Students who write comparative essays often produce excellent work, but they do not usually have the concentration and depth of essays based on just one literary source. Poland and the Poles during World War II Below is an extract from an essay submitted on the topic. It was one of the weaker responses. Ludzie byli tak chętni do wyjazdu, że brali każdą możliwość jaką mieli, żeby wyjechać jak najszybciej. Niektórzy płynęli statkiem przez tygodnie w bardzo ciężkich warunkach. Inni płacili pilotom, którzy brali ich do Anglii, lecz ci, którzy byli za biedni byli zmuszeni iść pieszo przez pół Europy przez Niemcy i inne kraje, żeby dotrzeć do celu. Jedni wracali bez rąk lub nóg, a inni wracali już w trumnach; ich rzeczy były wysyłane z powrotem do ich najukochańszych. Matki i kochanki płakały razem z córkami i siostrami or ludzie jechali do Angli za pracą, bo po wojnie było ciężko w Polsce więc dużo ludzi wyjeżdżało, aby polepszyć sobie życie! There were of course some good essays and one or two which scored maximum marks. It was disappointing that so few students had applied themselves to the study of Polish history. The rest rely heavily on narrative, as the above extract shows. The lack of historical detail and the student s lack of knowledge is very evident. The films of Andrzej Wajda Ashes and Diamonds and Man of Marble Question 6(b) Wytłumacz sens i znaczenie tytułów filmów Wajdy Popiół i diament i Człowiek z marmuru. It appeared that quite a few of those who attempted this question had not actually seen either film. Some seemed to be making up their response as they wrote, taking their ideas from the imagery that we automatically associate with diamonds, ashes and marble, rather than basing their answers on anything specific in either film. Most of the essays written in answer to Question 6(b) gained low scores. Those students who attempted Question 6(a) Zanalizuj i opisz rzeczywistość życia w Polsce w czasach przedstawionych w filmach Wajdy,Popiół i diament i,człowiek z marmuru fared much better. Here the essays were mostly well written and accordingly these students scored much higher marks. However, the discussion of life in communist Poland was not as comprehensive in terms of the knowledge displayed at it could have been. These examples show the importance of understanding a film and not just watching it. Mimo tego, że działo się źle, obywatele wciąż wierzyli w Polskę. Było to pokazane w filmie p.t.,popiół i diament, kiedy w czasie przyjęcia tańczyli poloneza, który jest bardzo popularnym, polskim tańcem, radośnie przy tym wykrzykując i chwaląc kraj. W rzeczywistości sam robotnik [Birkut] był tuczony jak gęś oraz miał pomocników. Za czasów Komuny Niemcy zamieszkali na terenie Polski bo chcieli by Polska należala do nich. The general advice to students approaching the PLSH2 exam is to be more thorough in their preparation. This applies equally to the Wajda films. Man of Marble in particular is a very dense and in some ways subtle film. It is easy to miss the detail. Even small sections of the dialogue can be laden with meaning. These films can, of course, be watched in one sitting, but for the purpose 7 of 8
of study this is not recommended. The films should be watched over a number of sessions and, as an aid to learning, the value of timetabling lessons on the history of post-war Poland cannot be over emphasised. Students who did well were very positive about their experience stating that they learned a lot about Poland and life under communism from these films and were enthusiastic about their study of them. Converting Marks into UMS marks Convert raw or scaled marks into marks on the Uniform Mark Scale (UMS) by using the link below. UMS conversion calculator www.aqa.org.uk/umsconversion Mark Ranges and Award of Grades Grade boundaries and cumulative percentage grades are available on the Results statistics page of the AQA Website. 8 of 8