Stage 1 Chinese Beginners

About the subject

In this course students develop their ability to communicate and interact in a variety of contexts for a range of purposes, within and across languages and cultures. Students develop the skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing, and use information and communication technologies, to create and engage effectively with a range of spoken, written, and multimodal texts in Chinese.

At beginners level, students develop and apply linguistic and intercultural knowledge, understanding, and skills by:

• interacting with others in Chinese in interpersonal situations
• creating texts in Chinese for specific audiences, purposes, and contexts
• analysing texts that are in Chinese to interpret meaning
• comparing languages and how they work as a system
• reflecting on the ways in which culture is created, expressed, and communicated through language.

Students explore the three interconnected themes of Relationships, Lifestyles, and Experiences from the perspectives of ‘The Personal World’ and ‘The Chinese speaking Communities’.

A bilingual dictionary (Chinese to English, English to Chinese) is highly recommended.

Who is this subject for?

This is a subject for students with little or no previous knowledge of Chinese. Students who learn Chinese at Middle Schools are not eligible for this course. Students therefore need to give evidence to support this condition and must sign an eligibility form to this effect.

Assessment

• Type 1: Interaction (Individual or in pairs)
• Type 2: Text Production (Writing)
• Type 3: Text Analysis (Read and listen to texts in Chinese and answer questions in either English or Chinese as required).