Briefing Session for the
2022 HKDSE English
Language
October 2022
1
Rundown
• Overview of the 2022 exam
• Paper 1
• Paper 2
• Paper 3
• 2023 Assessment Framework
2
Attendance in 2022
Day school candidates:
Whole group:
40,948
45,062
3
HKDSE English Language candidates
2012-2022
90000
80000
70000
60000
50000
Day School
Whole Group
40000
30000
20000
10000
0
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
4
General performance in 2020-2022
30
Percentage of Cands.
25
20
15
10
5
0
U
1
2
3
4
5
5*
5**
2020
7.2
12.5
25.3
25.4
19.4
6.2
3
1
2021
7.5
12.5
27.5
26.8
16.6
5.5
2.7
0.9
2022
7.8
13.1
25.9
25.8
16.9
6.3
3.1
1.1
2020
2021
2022
5
Paper 1
Reading
6
Contents
• Statistical Information
• General Comments and Recommendations
7
Number of Candidates
Taking Optional Parts (2022)
Part
Number Sat
Popularity (%)
1A
45 029
Compulsory
1B1
20 392
45.3
1B2
24 637
54.7
8
Paper 1: Reading Statistics (2022)
Paper 1
1A
1B1
1B2
84
42
42
42
39.5
49.4
47.4
41.3
20.8
22.3
18.1
19.7
9
Paper 1 Statistics (Whole Group) 2022
Mean: 39.5%
10
Part 1A: Reading Passage
Reading Passage
Article about Hong Kong comic
industry and its future prospects
No. of
items
42
11
Part 1A Statistics (2022)
Full
Mark
Part A
Candidates
taking B1
Candidates
taking B2
42
Mean Score
(%)
49.4
S.D. (%)
33.5
16.5
62.6
17.3
22.3
12
Mark Distribution (1A-Whole Group) 2022
Mean: 49.4%
13
How B1 Candidates Performed in 1A (2022)
Mean: 33.5%
14
How B2 Candidates Performed in 1A (2022)
Mean: 62.6%
15
Part 1B1: Reading Passages
Reading Passages
Two texts with the theme of job seeking
- A collection of four classified ads for
job vacancies
- Online article about the ‘slasher’
42
16
Part 1B1 Statistics (2022)
Full Mark
Mean Score (%)
S.D. (%)
42
47.4
18.1
17
Part 1B1 Score Distribution (2022)
Mean: 47.4%
18
Part 1B2: Reading Passage
Reading Passage
Text evaluating the ethical concerns of
adopting artificial intelligence (AI) in
business operation
42
19
Part 1B2 Statistics (2022)
Full Mark
42
Mean Score
(%)
41.3
S.D. (%)
19.7
20
Part 1B2 Score Distribution (2022)
Mean: 41.3%
21
General Performance
Performed well in items
• Finding meaning of simple vocabulary
• True-False-Not Given
• Multiple choice
• Gap fill
• Finding simple factual details about the text & its
genre
• Asking about the tone and intention of the writer
• Matching
22
General Performance
Items pose challenging to candidates
• Items requiring inferencing
• Gap-fill requiring holistic understanding of the
message
• Sentence completion questions
• Items requiring candidates’ detailed understanding
of the main arguments
23
General Observation
• Some candidates did not follow instructions
carefully
• word limits not being followed (e.g. one word only)
• how many times particular options can be used in an
answer
• more specific instructions. For example, in some items
where candidates were asked to provide words found in
the text
24
Recommendations to Candidates
• Read instructions carefully
• Avoid excess copying
• Be aware of the grammatical cues provided in
the questions
25
Paper 2
Writing
26
Summary Statistics
Overall performance
•
•
•
The mean mark of the paper as a whole is 53.8%.
The mean mark for 2022 is similar to that of 2021 and 2020.
Number of candidates continues on a downward trend.
Mean: 53.8%
No. sat: 44,946
27
Paper 2 – Writing
Summary statistics
Part A
Part B
Mean mark
54.9%
52.2%
Standard Deviation
18.9%
20.1%
Due to the special arrangements in 2022, the weighting for Part A was
increased to 11.2% and 16.8% for Part B.
28
Paper 2 – Writing
Q1:
Complete two sections of a visitor’s guide for Hong Kong
Adventure Farm
29
Paper 2 – Writing
Q1
About Hong Kong Adventure Farm (Write about 50 words.)
Provide some general information about the farm
e.g.
basic facts – when it opened, location, how to get there
background – history of the farm, mission
overview/summary
Top three things to see and do (Write about 150 words.)
Recommend activities for first-time visitors
e.g.
describing attractions (more unique, more compelling)
emotional responses
discussing routes/itineraries
practical advice
30
Paper 2 – Writing
Q1
• Sub-question level word guide e.g. 50 words, 150
words
• Candidates generally stayed within the word guide
• It is important that candidates try and stay within
the word guide / space or number of pages given
so that there is some uniformity in terms of
producing similar length of work which increases
fairness when assessing performance in public
exam
31
Paper 2 – Writing
Part B
32
Paper 2 – Writing
Part B Popularity of the questions
Pie chart that shows the popularity of each question in percentages.
Debating Popular Culture
19%
25%
Short stories 4%
Drama 2%
Poem & Songs 1%
Workplace
Communication
Social Issues
17%
13%
19%
Sports
Communication
33
Paper 2 – Writing
Part B Mean percentages
Mean percentages of each question, ordered by the highest mean percentage
Elective
Topic
Mean (%)
Debate
(Q9)
Social Issues
(Q5)
Work Comm
(Q3)
Pop Culture
(Q2)
Short stories
(Q8)
Sport Comm
(Q4)
Poem Songs
(Q6)
Drama
(Q7)
Letter to the School Management about four-day school week
57.9%
Letter to the editor about the lack of interest in traditional art
forms
Letter of Advice about whether to quit one’s job and start a café
55.1%
Article about hosting a YouTube channel for teens
52.6%
Story about a hiker who gets caught in a storm
48.4%
Speech about coming second in the championship finals
45.6%
Bio about a musical group
45.3%
Drama journal entry about a playing heroes and villains
37.4%
53.1%
34
Paper 2 – Writing
Indicating choice of question
Candidates should check that
the question they attempted
has been correctly indicated
35
Paper 2 – Writing

Learning English through Popular Culture
You are the host of ‘Teen Chat’, a YouTube channel that explores a wide range of topics from a teenage
perspective. Write an article for Teen Magazine about why you started this channel and what you have learned
in the process.
Introduction
• self intro, intro to situation
Body
• Explain why you started channel
• Share/reflect on what you have
learned
Closing
• Description of a situation/personal experience, e.g. relating back to Covid-19
• Reasons linked to starting YouTube Channel should be developed and not just
listing a set of skills/lessons learned
• Ideas organized in chronological, reverse-chronological order, comparecontrast, problem-solution, cause-effect
• If too many details are included, e.g. detailed steps to perform a skill, may
affect coherence
36
Paper 2 – Writing
Introduction
• Text could be written in first person / third
person
Body
• Examples of success/failure pursuing
dream,
• pros/cons of either decision,
• challenges of running a small business
Closing
• Wish reader luck/words of
encouragement
 Learning English through Workplace Communication
You write an advice column for Jobs Online magazine. A reader
submitted the following question:
My dream is to open a café with a few friends, but I’ve just been
offered a promotion at my company. The pay is good, but I’m not
that interested in the work. Should I leave now or wait a few
years?
— Kam Chai, 25 years old
Write a reply to Kam Chai offering your advice.
• Advice should address the dilemma and does not need to recommend one
particular stance but provide some perspectives for the reader to consider
• Too many possibilities and scenarios may complicate and confuse the situation
and therefore candidates should make have in mind a clear progression and
logical flow of ideas
37
Paper 2 – Writing
Introduction
• Greet audience, welcome to event
Body
• Description of the season/
commentary/analysis, reflecting on
achievements
• Word of thanks to coach, teammates,
principal/Any lessons learned/gained;
Closing
• Looking forward to the next season
 Learning English through Sports Communication
You are the captain of the school’s basketball
team. Your team made it to the inter-school
championship final but came second.
Write a speech to be delivered to the team at the
end-of-season dinner celebration.
• Appropriate tone: celebratory and entertaining and not just a recap of what
happened during the season
38
Paper 2 – Writing
Introduction
• Express stance
Body
• Changes in society/culture/trends and
impact on young people
• Reasons for the phenomenon
Closing
• Restate stance / hope for further
action to be taken
•
•
 Learning English through Social Issues
The following comment appeared in the editorial of Hong
Kong Post:
Young people today lack interest in traditional art
forms such as lion dance, calligraphy or the art of
tea drinking.
You are the chairperson of your school’s Heritage Club.
Express your views by writing a letter to the editor of Hong
Kong Post.
Candidates who were able to link specific attributes of traditional art forms and
how they influence or do not influence the lifestyle of young people would be
considered more relevant in terms of content and task fulfilment.
E.g.
Learning different types of tea and how to pour tea is more involved than drinking Bubble tea
from a plastic container
vs
Students today have a lot of pressure from academic studies and no interest in traditional arts
39
Paper 2 – Writing
Introduction
• Wh-questions about the group
Body
• Background, style of music
• Upcoming events
Closing
• For more information, click on this
button
 Learning English through Poems and Songs
The musical group Nine Dragons has asked you to help promote
them by writing a bio for their website.
The bio should include background information about the group,
style of music and plans for the future.
• Purpose is to promote the musical group and attract visitors to the
website to learn more about group
• Use of sub-headings to organize ideas would be appropriate for a
website
40
Paper 2 – Writing
Introduction
• Context of the role/character
Body
• Discuss challenge or interesting
moments of playing particular role and
reasons for preference
• May be a critical enquiry into one’s
learning experience/self observation
Closing
 Learning English through Drama
As part of your drama class, you played the role of the hero and
the villain in different plays.
Write an entry in your drama journal. Reflect on which role you
preferred playing and why.
• Recounting personal experience/thoughts of playing either role or both roles
• Reflections may reveal personal opinions/views/motivation behind performing
(in general or playing a hero or villain)
• Only describing a plot without reflecting on playing role of hero/villain would
not fulfil requirements of the questions
41
Paper 2 – Writing
 Learning English through Short Stories
Introduction
• Main characters, setting
Body
• Description of the event/incident
• Description of surroundings
• Description of feelings/emotions/reactions
Closing
You entered the ‘Stories of Survival’ short story
competition. The theme of this year’s competition is
‘Nature: friend or enemy?’
Write a story about a hiker who gets caught in a storm
while hiking in the mountains.
• Linking plot to the theme: e.g. convey nature as caring or something to be
feared
• Past tense: what happened
• Present tense: dialogue
• Future tense or conditionals: what the story meant to the writer or morals or
meaning drawn
42
Paper 2 – Writing
Introduction
• Salutation/Greeting
• Stance
Body
• Supporting arguments/counterargument
Closing
 Learning English through Debating
The School Management is considering a four-day
school week. Students would only need to attend school
four days a week instead of five, but the length of each
day would be increased by one hour.
You are a member of the Parent-Teacher
Association (PTA). Write a letter to the President of the
PTA stating your opinion either for or against a four-day
school week. Give reasons to support your view.
• Letter should provide clearly stated points that are relevant to the discussion of
schools adopting four-day week instead of five
• May present rebuttals to his/her argument and refute them (not necessary to
do both)
• Tone of a concerned parent or teacher would add more interest to the points
given
43
Paper 2 – Writing
Stronger performance
• show some insight and/or personal reflection
• express creativity
• make arguments that are valid
Fair Performance
•
•
•
answer the question but with more general comments
informative but not always engaging
have less variety (ideas, sentence structures, vocab)
44
Paper 2 – Writing
• Plan and draft an outline before writing
• Edit the work after writing
• Help with producing a response that is more polished and
concise
• Ideas should be communicated effectively, clearly and
appropriate to the genre
• Longer responses will not necessarily score higher by virtue
of length
45
Paper 2 - Writing
Changes to the 2024 Assessment Framework
• Due to optimisation of the curriculum and flexibility in
teaching of the electives, the number of questions in Part B
will be reduced from 8 to 4
Sample Paper
• https://www.hkeaa.edu.hk/DocLibrary/HKDSE/Subject_Inform
ation/eng_lang/ENG-SP-Paper2-2024.pdf
• Past Papers are good resource for sample questions
(Examiners’ comments on candidates’ performance and
statistics)
46
Paper 3
Listening and
Integrated Skills
47
Paper 3: No. Candidates Part B (%)
48
Paper 3: Mean Scores
Part A
Part B1
Part B2
Full Mark Mean Score (%)
52
46.9
53
39.1
53
43.4
SD (%)
26.7
25.1
18.8
49
Part 3A score distribution for all candidates
50
Part 3A score distribution for 3B1 candidates
51
Part 3A score distribution for 3B2 candidates
52
Paper 3A results per task
Mean (%)
Task 1
A conversation re: a tour of Henry’s
Umbrella Store.
61.7
Task 2
An interview re: the history of a
porcelain factory and the reasons for its
decline.
48.3
Task 3
A conversation between two members
of Hidden Hong Kong Tours at Bolin
Medicine’s factory.
44.3
Task 4
A conversation between two members
of Hidden Hong Kong Tours about an
interview with a retired toy factory
worker in Hong Kong.
33.7
53
Paper 3A: Recommendations
• Candidates should spend the preparation time familiarising
themselves with the tasks. With the help of the information given,
they may be able to predict the likely development of a text.
•Candidates may predict the vocabulary they will hear in the
recording and make guesses about possible answers.
•Candidates should read the prompts and stems carefully to
predict the required form of the answer, i.e. whether it should be
a single noun, noun phrase, clause or sentence.
•For some tasks, it is important to gain an understanding of the
whole section of conversation: candidates may consider jotting
down notes first before coming back to complete their answers
during the tidy-up time.
•Candidates should be prepared to compose answers in their own
words: certain items may require them to infer the answers
though not explicitly stated in the text.
•Before moving on to Part B, candidates should take the time to
check whether their answers make sense and are clear.
54
Paper 3B: Integrated Skills
• Situation
In both Parts B1 and B2, candidates took the role of
Nico Lin, who works at Shiny Diamond Lighting
Limited, a company that designs, makes and sells
neon lighting products and services. In both parts,
Nico is assigned to write texts for company use.
55
Paper 3: Mean Scores
Part A
Part B1
Part B2
Full Mark Mean Score (%)
52
46.9
53
39.1
53
43.4
SD (%)
26.7
25.1
18.8
56
Paper 3B1: Integrated Skills
Three tasks:
• Task 5: write an email to the students at the
Hong Kong Design School to encourage
them to apply to join Shiny Diamond
Lighting Limited as trainees
• Task 6: draft a leaflet on how neon signs are
made for customers who visit the neon light
factory
• Task 7: complete a webpage detailing the
company’s products
57
Paper 3B1: Task Mean Scores
Task
5
6
7
Part B1 (easy section)
Full Mark Mean (%) S.D. (%)
18
18
17
35.6
36.0
46.2
26.5
27.2
28.1
58
Part 3B1 score distribution
59
Paper 3: Mean Scores
Part A
Part B1
Part B2
Full Mark Mean Score (%)
52
46.9
53
39.1
53
43.4
SD (%)
26.7
25.1
18.8
60
Paper 3B2: Integrated Skills
Three Tasks:
• Task 8: a short history of the company
for its website
• Task 9: an email reply to Wan Yuen
Estate Residents’ Association
• Task 10: a short speech for the opening
of an exhibition
61
Paper 3B2: Integrated Skills
Task
8
9
10
Part B2 (difficult section)
Full Mark Mean (%) S.D. (%)
18
17
18
47.2
46.9
36.2
20.8
22.6
21.2
62
Part 3B2 score distribution
63
Paper 3B: Recommendations
•Weaker candidates tended not to understand the entirety of what
was required in each task: candidates should take time to read all
the instructions given in the Data File.
•Candidates should pay particular attention to what is required in
each task and only then locate the relevant information by reading
the Data File texts carefully.
•Whenever necessary, candidates should adapt the language of the
Data File to suit the purpose of the task they are working on and be
wary of copying large amounts of text indiscriminately.
•Candidates should first read the given headings on the note-taking
sheet and anticipate what kinds of information will be presented in
the recording.
•After listening to the recording, candidates should spend some
time tidying up their notes, so that they can familiarise themselves
with the information that will be useful for the tasks they will
attempt.
64
Paper 3B: Reminder from the
Assessment Guidelines
Any / all of the following may vary from year to year:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The nature of the listening task
The number of tasks
The length of the tasks
The points allocation per task
The total points allocation for Part B
The aspects of performance tested
Etc.
65
2023 Assessment Framework
Component
Public
Examination
Paper 1 Reading
Weighting
20%
Duration
1½ hours
Paper 2 Writing
25%
2 hours
Paper 3 Listening & Integrated Skills
30%
About 2 hours
Paper 4 Speaking
10%
About 20
minutes
School-based Assessment (for school candidates only)
15%
66
Publications
• 2022 DSE English Language Question Papers
• 2022 DSE English Language Samples of Candidates’
Performance for all papers and all levels on HKEAA
website http://www.hkeaa.edu.hk/en/
• To be published in November 2022
67