Mandarin

What does GCSE Mandarin offer me?

You will be following the AQA GCSE syllabus to develop the four skills you acquired at KS3 and develop your language skills to the full potential. You will be equipped with the knowledge and confidence to communicate in a variety of contexts.

In addition to your lessons, you will have regular speaking lessons in Year 11in a smaller group with a native Chinese speaker.

What does the course entail?

The course includes the following three big themes and twelve sub-topics

•Identity and Culture

•Local, National, International and Global areas of interests

•Current and future study and employment

For further information about the Mandarin specification, please click the link below: https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/languages/gcse/chinese-spoken-mandarin-8673 Assessment:

•Four Papers in Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing.

• The papers are offered at Foundation (Grade 1-5) or Higher Tier (Grade 4-9)

• Since the first examination with the new specification in 2019, the grade boundary of a Grade 7 is between 47%-53%..

Paper 1 Listening

Students’ understanding of spoken language will be tested by a range of question types in English, requiring non-verbal responses or responses in English.

Paper 2: Speaking

The students will participate in three questions Role-Play, Photo Card and General Conversation. The test is conducted and audio-recorded by the teacher and marked by an AQA examiner.

Paper 3: Reading

Students need to understanding and responding to different types of written language and question types, including literary and a translation.

Paper 4: Writing

You will write simple sentences, a short text, a short essay and translate a short message at Foundation Tier. Higher Tier requires a short essay, a long essay and a translation.

Beyond GCSE

Many universities offer Mandarin as a degree or a combined degree course as well as a range of language courses from scratch.

Curriculum enrichment

• Overseas trip

• HSBC and British Council Annual Mandarin Speaking Competition

• British Council Annual Chinese Culture Photograph Competition

The subject materials such as core vocabulary and grammar list will be shared with the students. We expect the students to go beyond to extend their vocabulary range whenever possible by accessing available resources on the internet or recommended by the teachers. The department will purchase the latest text books, CDs and online learning platform to allow and assist the learning.