Chinese (Version 8.4)

Please select at least one combination of Pathway and Sequence to view the content
Please select at least one year level to view the content
Please select at least one Strand to view the content

Context statement

The place of the Chinese language and culture in Australia and the world
China's official language is Modern Standard Chinese, or Putonghua (the common or shared language) in Chinese.

Read More >>

PDF documents

Resources and support materials for the Australian Curriculum: Languages - Chinese are available as PDF documents. 
Languages - Chinese: Sequence of content
Languages - Chinese: Sequence of Achievement - Background Language Learner Pathway - F-10 …

Read More >>

Years 9 and 10

Years 9 and 10 Band Description

The nature of the learners

At this level, students bring prior knowledge of Chinese language and culture, and a range of language learning strategies to their learning. They are increasingly aware of the world beyond their own and are engaging with youth, social and environmental issues. They are considering their future pathways and choices, including how Indonesian could be part of these.

Chinese language learning and use

Students use Chinese for self-expression, to obtain information and present a point of view to others, identifying subtle differences in word use and manipulating language for different purposes and audiences. Pinyin remains an important tool for learning the sound of new words, associating sounds with characters, and creating digital texts in characters.

Contexts of interaction

The likely contexts for interaction are extended to encompass the exchange of information and opinions on topics that will assist students to develop a deeper appreciation of cultural practices and traditions in diverse Chinese-speaking communities'. Learners interact with a broader range of Chinese speakers, using the spoken language to participate in discussions and other interactions.

Texts and resources

Text types include short informative texts from various websites, opinion pieces from personal blogs, and online chat forums conducted in Chinese with users in diverse locations. Students access information and explore texts written in Chinese, developing strategies to interpret meanings where not all characters are known.

Features of Chinese language use

Learners engage in cross-cultural communication and reflect on their own experiences in Chinese. Classmates work collaboratively to exchange information and ideas relating to contemporary issues or events and to share their life experiences. They use creative and expressive language in narratives to express their imagination.

Level of support

Learners are supported to develop autonomy as language learners and users, to self-monitor, and to adjust language in response to their experience in increasingly diverse contexts. They access characters and vocabulary from a range of print and digital resources and online and print dictionaries.

The role of English

Chinese is the language of instruction and interaction. Some discussion and reflection are necessarily carried out in English, but learners at this level are beginning to express


Years 9 and 10 Content Descriptions

Socialising

Exchange and elaborate on suggestions and opinions in spoken interactions related to planning and negotiating activities and events, adjusting spoken language for familiar and unfamiliar participants, purposes and contexts

[Key concepts: celebrity, leisure and recreation, built and natural environment; Key processes: planning, negotiating, deciding] (ACLCHC065 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia
  • participating in discussions and expressing personal opinions on issues relevant to contemporary youth (such as 教育,环境,科技,文化), displaying levels of politeness or assertiveness as appropriate to context, for example, 我希望 versus 我要; 你最好 / 你应该 versus 你一定要
  • inviting others to voice opinions and eliciting alternative positions by asking questions such as 你怎么看?你觉得呢?你同意吗?, and responding to verbal and non-verbal cues (including silence) from participants
  • acknowledging others’ ideas, views and opinions when expressing agreement or disagreement (for example, 好的、我同意), and challenging others’ opinions using rhetorical questions or concessionary or emphatic phrases, for example, 你说的有道理,可是…;你怎么可以说…?;你说的不对
  • commenting on transaction experiences and acknowledging the work of others, for example, 谢谢你的帮助,但是如果你…就更好了
  • planning group events such as an excursion to Chinatown and persuading others to get involved and contribute in different ways, for example, 我们去中国城可以吃到中国的小吃,你不是很喜欢吃早茶的吗?你来决定我们去哪个饭店吧
Sustain and extend written exchanges about places, future plans, and contemporary social issues and activities

[Key concepts: relationships, values, beliefs, attitudes, future, work; Key processes: analysing, evaluating] (ACLCHC066 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Capability
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia
  • introducing a topic or issue for discussion with others (for example, the importance of China to Australia’s economy, the growth of Chinese tourism in Australia, or ways to promote a better understanding of China in Australian schools), and leading the discussion in a manner likely to elicit ideas related to possible scenarios or outcomes
  • referring to information stated, or requesting or providing further details in order to clarify or confirm the ideas or views of others, for example, 你说澳洲人对中国的印象是…
  • discussing issues, suggesting alternative solutions and making decisions using levels of formality and respect appropriate to audience and purpose, for example, 我觉得这样做更适合;…可以吗?
  • following online media conventions and experimenting with terms such as 楼主 to refer to participants of the shared digital space

Informing

Analyse, compare and present perspectives on topics of interest, identifying the different ways emotions, intentions and ideas are expressed

[Key concepts: celebrity, leisure and recreation, place, education, youth, space; Key processes: comparing, contrasting, negotiating, deciding, persuading] (ACLCHC067 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Numeracy
  • Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Capability
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia
  • discussing differences in the way events are reported in different media sources, such as local and national Chinese TV news programs
  • collating and analysing data on life in Chinese communities (such as positive and negative experiences of adjustment to life in Australia, impressions of Australian education system, and perspectives on the Australian national character) by interviewing Chinese speakers and utilising a range of graphic organisers to collate and compare ideas from diverse sources and perspectives
  • presenting or supporting a personal position or view by reconstructing information from diverse sources, summarising key points, and using quotes or supporting information, acknowledging diverse perspectives and sources of information and the views of others by using reported speech, and using forms of presentation appropriate to the subject matter, for example, using charts or images to support text
  • gathering information on an issue from different sources and reporting on it to others, using tools such as tables, graphic organisers and charts, and discussing whether the information is similar or different in different sources and why
  • extracting details and main ideas from texts, making judgements about their relevance and discussing contrasting points of view, for example, selecting the main events from an article, identifying core data from interviews, identifying gist and main point/s of a spoken interaction, or analysing different interpretations of meaning in a conversation

  • comparing different perspectives on the same event or on a topical issue such as intergenerational relationships, the environment, or food choices
  • making presentations on aspects of cultural practices and lifestyles in Chinese communities, providing a balanced perspective and avoiding stereotyping, for example, 很多中国人…;据报道,百分之三十的人口…
  • creating and displaying posters to raise peers’ awareness and help promote the messages of charity organisations conducting work in China
  • sharing own interest in people, places and events in the Chinese world by reading about places and historical figures (such as 秦始皇, 毛泽东) and writing articles for the school newsletter to inform others, recommending further reading and websites (Chinese and English)
Collate and present different perspectives on a range of issues from different sources

[Key concepts: ideograph, issues, career, future; Key processes: extracting, collating, identifying] (ACLCHC068 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Numeracy
  • Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Capability
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • exploring websites designed for non-Chinese audiences, identifying relevant information on research topics such as 中式饮食,娱乐活动, and comparing sources, differentiating between fact and opinion, and identifying information which is not credible or which is too value-laden
  • reading and sharing key information from diverse authors, making connections between the author’s opinion and attitudes towards particular topics (such as 中国的独生子女) and their background and experiences
  • sharing ideas on sources of information and explaining ways to utilise these sources, with examples or data to support their opinions
  • preparing visual displays of data or information gathered from personal research to share with Chinese-speaking peers on features of lifestyle or experiences of Australian young people, for example, educational opportunities, outdoor and sporting activities across the seasons, or a typical weekend for an Aussie teenager

Creating

Engage with a range of performance-based imaginative texts, and respond by discussing attitudes portrayed, expressing opinions, explaining themes, discussing characters, and considering language use and cultural meanings, and apply this knowledge to create imaginative texts

[Key concepts: imagination, creativity, emotion, love, hate; Key processes: expressing, responding] (ACLCHC069 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia
  • viewing episodes of popular TV programs, such as sitcoms from mainland China, Taiwan and other regions, sharing opinions on characters and plot (for example, 我不懂他们为什么吵架。他真的很烦人,我特别不喜欢他), and relating the situations and contexts in the TV program to similar events in their own life, for example, 如果我是她…; 我觉得他最好…
  • listening to popular Chinese songs, comparing themes and content to those of songs popular in Australia, and discussing how popular culture reflects social issues, for example, 家庭的关系 (family relationships)
  • creating own dramatic performances to entertain others, with a focus on accuracy of tone and rhythm appropriate to choices in language and gestures
  • creating plays with plots that reflect personal opinions on topics of interest (for example, 旅行,未来), using props to support storytelling, and experimenting with language, image and sound to convey complex ideas and enhance audience appreciation
  • presenting own version of a familiar story or event, for example, collaborating to create a voiceover for a segment from a familiar TV show or commentating a youth sporting event
  • reading narratives (for example, personal histories and extracts from teenage fiction) and writing a journal to share personal reflections on the ways of life and experiences portrayed and expressed, providing reasons for their opinions, for example, 这个故事非常…比如说…你一定要看这本书!
Create written imaginative texts that express aspects of Chinese culture for different audiences and identify how some concepts can be readily translated between Chinese and English and some do not

[Key concepts: values, tradition; Key processes: creating, expressing, reading, writing] (ACLCHC070 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • creating first person narratives in which they describe experiences and emotions in imagined scenarios and places, for example, 假如我是巨星
  • producing cartoon scripts to express traditional Chinese values, for example, 孔融让梨

Translating

Translate a range of Chinese texts and identify how some concepts can be readily translated between Chinese and English and some do not

[Key concepts: semantics, syntax: Key processes: translating, interpreting] (ACLCHC071 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • identifying core values implicit in interactions in Chinese and explaining these to English speakers, for example, describing the language of celebration, including the origins, significance and meanings of commonly used expressions such as 福如东海、年年有余
  • describing interactions, showing consideration of 面子, and discussing the differences in the significance of 面子 when the interaction occurs interculturally
  • interpreting key ideas conveyed in Chinese texts, discussing how to maintain the sentiment and intention of authors when retelling or summarising these in English, and understanding why this is important in translation
  • reading everyday Chinese texts encountered in shop brochures, product packaging and advertising; identifying challenges involved in conveying meaning in English; and explaining word choices and textual features employed to enhance meaning
Create bilingual texts, identifying similarities between Chinese and English syntax and vocabulary, and explaining how these similarities can be used when transferring culture- or context-specific ideas from Chinese into English

[Key concepts: similarities, cultural positioning, sensitivity; Key processes: translating, captioning] (ACLCHC072 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia
  • producing bilingual displays about Chinese language, culture or contemporary society to share learning and knowledge with the whole school community, for example, a poster display on Chinese characters, on earthquake-prone areas such as Sichuan, on youth cultures in China, or on the Chinese community in Australia
  • creating own texts in Chinese and exploring how word choices impact on the subtlety or accuracy of intended meaning
  • considering ways of exemplifying ideas to ensure effective mediation of ideas or information as opposed to word for word translation, for example, 谢谢您!— 不谢!(‘Thank you!’ — ‘You’re welcome!’)
  • using alternative ways of expressing meanings when communicating complex ideas, for example, 一个孩子 for 独生子女
  • using print and online dictionaries to expand their own linguistic repertoire and convey subtle meanings when creating own texts, understanding the risks of word-for-word translation

Reflecting

Compare the experiences of young Australians with those of young people in Chinese-speaking communities, reflecting on how these diverse experiences affect individuals’ identity, attitudes and beliefs

[Key concepts: behaviour, youth, lifestyle, social distance; Key processes: comparing, contrasting, reflecting] (ACLCHC073 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia
  • constructing texts and participating in interactions with young Chinese which involve sharing aspects of their own identities as young Australians, for example, 中国的年轻人喜欢什么运动?澳洲人喜欢游泳、打板球和打橄榄球
  • comparing own experiences and opinions with those of Chinese youth encountered in diverse texts and contexts, for example, exploring how young people feel about school: What is universal? What is culturally specific? What is environmental? Why do we do things a particular way? 大部分澳大利亚的学生功课压力没有那么重;很多中国学生在食堂吃饭
  • viewing texts related to the experiences of young Chinese speakers (for example, 偶像剧), and discussing aspects of their life, world or values conveyed, asking, for example: What assumptions or generalisations are made? How does this impact on our perception of Chinese youth? Does this reflect the reality of Chinese youth?
  • exploring diversity within Chinese identity and becoming more aware of this when interacting with Chinese speakers, for example, understanding that calling Chinese speakers 中国人 does not reflect the diversity of Chinese speakers’ identities
  • engaging in interaction with Chinese speakers and reflecting on how their own language choices are perceived by Chinese speakers, for example: Is my communication culturally appropriate? Should I adjust language and gesture to help convey meaning more appropriately and effectively?

Systems of language

Explain differences in intonation, rhythm and sounds when listening to speakers of different ages, genders and social positions (ACLCHU074 - Scootle )
  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • exploring changes in neutral tone and identifying patterns to aid their own pronunciation and flow of expression, for example, the use of neutral tone for the second syllable when it repeats or does not contribute to the meaning of the first syllable (妈妈、孩子)
  • experimenting with tone changes and reflecting on the impact on fluency when speaking, for example: Can I speak more quickly? Do my words sound less forced and more natural?
  • exploring the role of emphasis, stress and rhythm in expressing subtle meanings in interactions
Relate prior knowledge of character form and function to infer information about the sound and meaning of unfamiliar characters (ACLCHU075 - Scootle )
  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • identifying familiar components and characters in different fonts and handwriting, including calligraphy and cursive forms of handwriting
  • describing orthographic features of new characters encountered, including the structure, sequence and relationship of components, and explaining connections evident between form, sound and meaning
  • recognising that characters may have multiple sounds (i.e. 多音字) and multiple meanings
  • identifying the meanings of abbreviations, and analysing examples of abbreviations alongside their original forms to identify the ways in which abbreviations are formed in Chinese
  • examining and explaining the relationships between characters and word meanings when encountering new vocabulary
  • recognising commonly seen prefixes and suffixes (including 老,子,儿) and identifying the functions of the words
Analyse and examine how effective authors control sentence structure and use language to engage their audience (ACLCHU076 - Scootle )
  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • comparing the use of words that rely on interpretation of context to convey the intended meaning (such as 让、给), for example, listening to and reading several extracts from texts which use the same word in a different way
  • expressing conditions (for example, 如果…就); expressing cause and effect (for example, 为了…); and expressing the condition, quality or result of an action, for example, 坐得下、 说得对、 做完、买到
  • justifying opinions and building logical arguments by expressing additional information and providing reasons (for example, using 不但…而且…;除了…以外;另外), and introducing contrasting views to others using elements such as cohesive devices, for example, 不是…而是…;不过;虽然…但是…
  • exploring the ways in which language can be manipulated to make ideas more objective, for example, removal of personal pronouns and opinions
  • examining the use of noun phrases in Chinese and experimenting with omitting nouns (zero subjects) in their own communication
  • experimenting with the use of 成语 and famous sayings to substantiate ideas in Chinese
  • experimenting with as a subject modifier to express ideas that would contain relative clauses in English, for example, 我昨天买的书不太贵
Compare the purposes, text structures and language features of traditional and contemporary texts (ACLCHU077 - Scootle )
  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • exploring the use of repetition to add emphasis and strengthen ideas, for example, 不同的国家有不同的文化
  • viewing different types of texts on similar topics and recognising differences in discourse of oral and written texts, especially language used, such as 昨天街上人很多。昨天街上人山人海
  • analysing features of text structure (for example, layout, expression and tone) and rhetorical devices (for example, metaphor and exaggeration) used to convey a persuasive argument or position

Language variation and change

Explain the dynamic nature of the Chinese language and how changes over time are influenced by local and global contexts and cultures (ACLCHU078 - Scootle )
  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • recognising traditional characters encountered in the local Chinese community and making note of the simplified character version
  • exploring examples of types of simplifications and ways of associating traditional characters with known simplified forms, for example, whole simplifications (为-為), part substitutions (汉-漢) and half simplifications (说-說)
  • exploring the role of code-switching by Chinese speakers, including the use of acronyms and English words, and how Chinese authorities are trying to limit the use of these terms in the media
Explain how language defines people’s roles as outsiders or insiders in groups and cultures (ACLCHU079 - Scootle )
  • Literacy
  • Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Capability
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • experimenting with internet language to communicate with peers in a class blog and recognising the value of technology in exploring and constructing own texts
  • considering how they can be more inclusive in their own language use, for example: What questions can I ask to understand others better? What words are best to be avoided? How can I express my opinion without causing offence?
  • examining the use of inclusive language and how ideas are framed, for example, the impact of positive versus negative framing on how meaning is interpreted across languages and cultures, such as 足下留情,小草常青 versus ‘Keep off the grass’
  • exploring the contexts and implications of terms used to identify others, for example, 老外、 华侨、 华裔、 大陆人、 华人、 中国人、 少数民族

The role of language and culture

Analyse the ways in which language choices reflect cultural practices and values and how language is used to express familiarity and distance between participants in interactions (ACLCHU080 - Scootle )
  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • exploring how known languages influence their own communicative preferences, such as reflecting the values of one culture when communicating in another, for example, differences in the use and frequency of ‘thank you’ and 谢谢
  • making connections between their first language and how it influences communication in additional languages, for example: Why do Chinese speak English in certain ways? What features of my first language influence how I speak Chinese? How does this affect mediation of ideas between languages?
  • interacting with people of different ages and positions, varying language and level of formality according to relative status, for example, using appropriate ways to accept or decline requests, compliments or suggestions (你能不能帮我一点忙?---- 对不起,我没有空; 您找谁?- 你爸爸在家吗?)
  • examining how concepts such as humour and humility are conveyed in Chinese, and discussing how these may be perceived by non-native Chinese speakers
  • reflecting on taboos in language use and how these can impact on communication across cultures, for example: Is it okay to ask someone’s age in China? Why do numbers and colours matter? What are we superstitious about in Australia? What hand gestures are acceptable with Chinese speakers? What can I joke about?
  • defining familiarity and distance as they relate to language use

Years 9 and 10 Achievement Standards

By the end of Year 10, students use spoken and written Chinese to sustain extended interactions with familiar and unfamiliar participants in a range of contexts (for example, interacting with Chinese-speaking students online; using Chinese to ask about items in a local Chinese grocery). Students use pinyin to transcribe spoken texts and use characters to create written texts. They identify key ideas and compare information from multiple sources (such as 新闻,访谈,podcast, 纪录片) to develop and substantiate their own position on topics of personal interest or issues of broader significance. They exchange ideas and opinions, for example, 为什么学中文很重要?; 澳大利亚的语言;好用的手机app, 我不太同意你的说法,因为…你觉得呢?; 虽然你说得有道理,但是… 所以我觉得… They speak with attention to pronunciation and tone. Students respond to and create a range of short informative and imaginative texts for a variety of audiences and purposes, for example, 什么是最健康的食物? 如果我…的话 . They use a range of sentence structures and grammatical features to develop cohesion and coherence in these texts, including prepositional phrases to describe participants (for example, 我和 / 跟妈妈去买东西), and adverbs to express time, tense and frequency of events, for example, 总是,还没有. They use conjunctions (for example, 虽然如此…,尽管这样…但是…) and apply a range of stylistic devices such as rhetorical questions, quotes and 成语. They translate texts and produce bilingual texts, recognising that not all concepts can be readily translated Chinese and English. They engage with a range of imaginative texts, for example, 娱乐节目-小品,合唱,音乐录影,流行歌曲比赛,电视片,电影.

Students recognise how writers and speakers, including themselves, make deliberate choices when using language features and text structures. They recognise that language is dynamic and is influenced by time, place, setting, participants and contexts. When interacting with a range of texts they identify how audience and purpose shape their own and others’ language choices and interpretation of these texts. They explain how features of Chinese culture and language shape their own and others’ communication practices. Students reflect on how their own cultural experience impacts on interactions with Chinese speakers.


Years 9 and 10 Work Sample Portfolios