Students should opt for more quality reads in the digital age: HKEAA
Students are used to expressing themselves with emoticons and fragmented sentences on social media, and they should read more quality passages to absorb advanced writing skills and structure, authorities said in a tip for DSE takers.
The comments came as the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority on Thursday published its latest Question Papers with marking schemes and examiners’ comments on HKDSE candidates’ performance in spring this year.
The Chinese Language panel’s chief examiner said people nowadays live in a communication environment "filled with images and fragmented text messages," and people seldom use whole sentences while texting or even replace their self-expressions with emoticons.
The chief examiner suggested students establish a reading list according to their interests and habits while setting monthly or seasonal targets to review their progress. Students were also advised to jot down good phrases and words during their reading.
Meanwhile, the English panel’s chief examiner also encouraged students to read different text types to become familiar with the appropriate writing style for particular audiences.
"Writing simple sentences accurately might be enough in some tasks but might be too limited for others requiring more linguistic flexibility," it said.
For Liberal Studies, the paper said some students' discussions became far-fetched, including one student who concluded that "work from home" arrangements can spare office lands and solve housing problems - which led to a deduction in marks as the discussion had strayed from the topic.
The HKEAA said sample scripts of different performance levels of the 2022 HKDSE have been uploaded by batch to their official website for teachers' and candidates’ reference.