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General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level
3195 Hindi November 2011
Principal Examiner Report for Teachers
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HINDI
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Paper 3195/01
Composition
Key messages:
In order to do well in this examination, candidates should:
•
ensure that their response in Section A addresses each bullet point in detail
•
express themselves in well-structured sentences
•
check their written Hindi carefully to avoid errors of grammar and spelling.
General comments
The majority of candidates performed well in both sections of the paper. Most candidates managed their
time effectively and were able to complete their compositions well. A number of responses showed
imagination and flair.
Generally, the quality of language and presentation was of a high standard, and many candidates made
good use of relevant idiomatic phrases. In some scripts, candidates needed to check more carefully that the
expressions used were appropriate to the context.
At the lower end, scripts tended to include a number of errors of spelling and grammar. The most common
errors made were in the areas of subject/verb agreement, number and gender.
A significant number of candidates wrote compositions which were overlong. Candidates are reminded to
keep to the word limit specified.
Comments on specific questions
Section A – Letter, Report, Dialogue or Speech
Question 1
Candidates who attempted Question 1 were asked to write a conversation. There were many detailed and
well structured conversations written in response to this question. Candidates made good attempts to
address the bullet points while keeping the flow of the conversation. Some candidates made effective use of
humorous and light-hearted touches to make the conversation sound natural.
Some responses showed a lack of understanding of the concept of adventure holidays, and focused instead
on other types of activity. In some scripts, a substantial proportion of the word count was given to opening
and closing the conversation, with the result that the bullet points were insufficiently addressed.
Some candidates seemed to have difficulty addressing the third and fourth bullet points separately, as in a
number of responses the discussion of challenges and dangers was mixed together with comments about
safety measures.
Question 2
Candidates responded well to the task of letter writing and to the topic of charity work. Many candidates
chose to focus on charities for children or for older people. The majority of responses were detailed, heartfelt
and well thought through. In addition to addressing all the bullet points, many candidates reflected upon
relevant social issues. Responses to the third and fourth bullet points were particularly convincing.
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© 2011
General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level
3195 Hindi November 2011
Principal Examiner Report for Teachers
At the lower end, there was a tendency to give insufficient consideration to the last bullet point. Some
candidates wrote just one or two short sentences in relation to this point.
Most candidates were able to draw on a wide range of appropriate, relevant vocabulary.
A few candidates did not understand the question and wrote about routine charitable deeds rather than
charity work.
Section B – Essay
Question 3
In response to this question, most candidates argued in favour of a ban on electronic gadgets in schools.
Responses usually included consideration of the merits and demerits of the gadgets, and of the impact of
such gadgets on school discipline and on the overall climate at the campus. A number of candidates
presented balanced arguments, examining the points for and against the motion before reaching their
conclusions. Some candidates used small anecdotes from personal experience to support their cases.
In weaker responses, the argument presented was often rather one-sided, with little or no coverage of
alternative points of view. Some responses were constrained by a more limited knowledge of grammatical
constructions.
Question 4
Candidates responded well to this question, which was about the loss of a valuable item. Examples of items
chosen by candidates include a grandfather’s watch, a hand-woven shawl or a diary. Some of the responses
demonstrated considerable creativity and flair.
At the lower end, responses sometimes sounded clichéd and repetitive. The most common weakness was
insufficient explanation of why the lost item was important to the candidate and what made it difficult to
replace.
Question 5
This question asked candidates to write about whether or not, based on their experience, the greatest things
in life cost nothing. The majority of responses to this question were of a high quality. Responses were
generally very thoughtful, convincing and original. Most candidates chose to argue against the motion that
the greatest things in life cost nothing. A few essays on this subject lacked coherence, but candidates
generally presented convincing conclusions.
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© 2011
General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level
3195 Hindi November 2011
Principal Examiner Report for Teachers
HINDI
Paper 3195/02
Language Usage and Comprehension
Key messages:
In order to do well in this examination, candidates should:
•
read the passages carefully to gain a clear understanding of the context
•
answer the Section C questions using their own words as far as possible
•
check their written Hindi carefully to avoid errors of grammar and spelling.
General comments
On the whole, candidates seemed well prepared for the examination. Most candidates attempted all the
questions. Where candidates performed less well on a question, the most common reason seemed to be
that they found it difficult to select the most relevant information. In weaker scripts, there was evidence of
gaps in candidates’ knowledge of vocabulary.
Comments on specific questions
Exercises A1 and A2 were attempted very well by most of the candidates and performance was generally
very strong.
Exercise A3 was a sentence transformation exercise. Many candidates did very well in this exercise. At the
lower end, candidates sometimes had difficulty forming new sentences which were grammatically correct.
Exercise A4 required candidates to select the correct words to fill in the gaps in the cloze passage.
Candidates tended to do very well in this exercise.
Section B
Exercise B5
For each of the questions in this multiple choice comprehension exercise, candidates are required to select
the correct answer from a choice of 4. The exercise was well attempted by most candidates, and some
candidates answered all of the questions correctly. A few candidates did not read the rubric correctly and
wrote down the words instead of the corresponding numbers in the answer booklet.
Section C
Exercise C6
The majority of candidates made a good attempt to answer the questions using their own words, in
accordance with the instructions given in the rubric. A few candidates lifted the wording from the text.
Exercise C7
Candidates found the last question in this exercise more challenging, and only the better candidates tended
to answer this question correctly.
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© 2011