Chinese (Second Language Advanced) Unit 3 and 4

Prerequisites

A student is eligible for Chinese (Second Language) (Advanced) if:

• they have had no more than seven years of education in a school where Chinese is the medium of instruction and;
• the highest level of education attained in a school where Chinese is the medium of instruction is no greater than the equivalent of Year 7 in a Victorian school.

The time periods referred to in these criteria is counted cumulatively since the time of the student's birth.

As the formal education commencement age for a Victorian student is five years of age, all applicants are deemed to have commenced formal education by the end of their fifth year of age regardless of setting.

Students must complete application forms giving details of their background in Chinese if they wish to enrol in this study. They will be required to present evidence of length of residence in Australia and other countries and school reports for study completed overseas to the VCAA.

Course Description

The units are designed to enable students to:

• Communicate with others in Chinese in interpersonal, interpretive and presentational contexts;

• Understand the relationship between language and culture;

• Compare cultures and languages and enhance intercultural awareness;

• Understand and appreciate the cultural contexts in which Chinese is spoken;

• Learn about language as a system and themselves as language learners;

• Make connections between different languages, knowledge and ways of thinking;

• Become part of multilingual communities by applying language learning to social and leisure activities, life-long learning and the world of work.

Areas of Study

Themes and Topics

• The individual: personal identity, relationships and education and aspirations.
• The Chinese-speaking Communities: history and culture, arts and entertainment and living in a Chinese-speaking community.
• The World Around Us: global and contemporary society, communication and media and the influence of science and technology.

Grammar and Vocabulary

• Formal aspects of language such as phonology, syntax, morphology, semantics and character writing.
• Linguistic elements and the rules related to them.

Kinds of Writing

• Students are expected to be familiar with and be able to produce five kinds of writing: personal, informative, persuasive, evaluative and imaginative.

Assessment

Unit 3 Outcomes	Assessment Tasks	Marks Allocated
	(school-assessed coursework)
Participate in a spoken exchange in Chinese to resolve a personal issue.	A three to four minute role-play, focusing on negotiating a solution to a personal issue.	20
Interpret information from texts and write responses in Chinese.	Responses to specific questions or instructions using information extracted from written, spoken and viewed texts on the selected subtopic.	15
Express ideas in a personal, informative or imaginative piece of writing in Chinese	An approximately 250-character personal, informative or imaginative piece of writing.	15
Total Marks		50

 

Unit 4 Outcomes	Assessment Tasks	Marks Allocated
	(school-assessed coursework)
Share information, ideas and opinions in a spoken exchange in Chinese	A three to four minute interview providing information and responding to questions about a cultural product or practice.	20
Analyse information from written, spoken and viewed texts for use in a written response in Chinese.	An approximately 300-character written response for a specific audience and purpose, incorporating information from three or more texts.	15
Present information, concepts and ideas in evaluative or persuasive writing on an issue in Chinese.	An approximately 350 character evaluative or persuasive piece of writing.	15
Total Marks		50

 

Overall Final Assessment

Graded Assessment	Title	Assessment	Exam Duration	Contribution to Study Score (%)
1	Unit 3 Coursework	School-assessed		25
2	Unit 4 Coursework	School-assessed		25
3	Exam: Oral component	October	15 mins	12.5
4	Exam: Written component	November	2 hours	37.5