iGCSE Chinese Syllabus 2011
iGCSE Chinese Syllabus 2011
iGCSE Chinese Syllabus 2011
Cambridge IGCSE Mandarin Chinese Syllabus code 0547 For examination in June 2011
Note for Exams Officers: Before making Final Entries, please check availability of the codes for the components and options in the E3 booklet (titled Procedures for the Submission of Entries) relevant to the exam session. Please note that component and option codes are subject to change.
Contents
1. Introduction
Recognition
Cambridge IGCSEs are internationally recognised by schools, universities and employers as equivalent to UK GCSE. They are excellent preparation for A/AS Level, the Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE), US Advanced Placement Programme and the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma. Learn more at www.cie.org.uk/recognition.
Support
CIE provides a world-class support service for teachers and exams officers. We offer a wide range of teacher materials to Centres, plus teacher training (online and face-to-face) and student support materials. Exams officers can trust in reliable, efficient administration of exams entry and excellent, personal support from CIE Customer Services. Learn more at www.cie.org.uk/teachers.
Excellence in education
Cambridge qualifications develop successful students. They not only build understanding and knowledge required for progression, but also learning and thinking skills that help students become independent learners and equip them for life.
1. Introduction
This is one of a number of Cambridge IGCSE foreign language syllabuses for a full list, visit the CIE website at www.cie.org.uk.
1. Introduction
2. Assessment at a glance
Cambridge IGCSE Mandarin Chinese Syllabus code 0547 2.1 Scheme of assessment
All candidates have access to all elements of the examination. However, for the examination to be appropriate to candidates across the full ability range, separate options are available for Core Curriculum candidates and Extended Curriculum candidates: Core curriculum Grades available: C, D, E, F, G Paper 1 Listening 35 minutes: Sections 1, 2 and 3 Paper 2 Reading and Directed Writing 1 hours: Sections 1, 2 and 3 Paper 3* Speaking 15 minutes Extended curriculum (Core + Supplement) Grades available: A*, A, B, C, D, E, F, G Paper 1 Paper 2 Listening 35 minutes: Sections 1, 2 and 3 Reading and Directed Writing 1 hours: Sections 1, 2 and 3
Papers 1, 2 and 3 are common to both routes, but candidates cannot achieve higher than a grade C without taking Paper 4. All Extended Curriculum candidates will be graded twice: once on their performance on the Core Curriculum Papers (1, 2 and 3) and once on their performance on the Extended Curriculum Papers (1, 2, 3 and 4). Candidates are awarded the higher of the two grades they achieve. * Individual Centres are responsible for conducting the tests and for the initial assessment, which is then subject to moderation by CIE.
2. Assessment at a glance
1 2 3 4
This syllabus should be read in conjunction with the Mandarin Chinese Defined Content Booklet, available from the CIE website at www.cie.org.uk.
2. form a sound base of the skills, language and attitudes required for further study, work and leisure 3. offer insights into the culture and civilisation of countries where the language is spoken 4. encourage fuller integration into the local community, where relevant 5. develop a fuller awareness of the nature of language and language learning 6. encourage positive attitudes toward language learning and towards speakers of other languages and a sympathetic approach to other cultures and civilisations 7 . provide enjoyment and intellectual stimulation 8. complement other areas of study by encouraging skills of a more general application (e.g. analysis, memorising, drawing of inferences).
Please note that IGCSE, Cambridge International Level 1/Level 2 Certificates and O Level syllabuses are at the same level.
4. Description of papers
All examination papers are set in the target language: this includes rubrics and all questions. All questions requiring written answers, including questions testing Listening and Reading Comprehension, are to be answered in the target language. Dictionaries are not permitted in the examination. For detailed guidance on how the papers are marked, please refer to the published mark schemes which are available on the CIE Teacher Support website.
4. Description of papers
5 of the 20 marks allocated to Sections 2 and 3 correspond to questions requiring answers in Chinese. These questions are phrased in such a way that answers can be brief and candidates are allowed to write their answers in either Chinese characters or pinyin. As long as communication is achieved, candidates are not penalised for language which may be incorrect. Where candidates write their answers in pinyin, tones do not need to be correct for the mark to be awarded. Answers written in any language other than Chinese will be ignored.
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4. Description of papers
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4. Description of papers
Section 3 (20 marks) Exercises 1 and 2 (20 marks): two longer texts with questions testing general and specific comprehension. Questions may also require candidates to identify attitudes, emotions and ideas, the main points or themes, and to draw conclusions and make inferences.
The Role Play tasks are provided by CIE, but individual Centres are responsible for conducting the tests and for the initial assessment. This assessment is then subject to moderation by CIE.
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4. Description of papers
Confidential test materials (Teachers Notes Booklet and Role Play Cards) are sent to Centres approximately two to three weeks before the start of the assessment period and will include full instructions on how to conduct and assess the Speaking examination. These should be opened four working days before the Centres assessment starts and studied carefully by the teacher/Examiner before conducting his/her first Speaking examination. Teacher/Examiners who have prepared their own roles fully and are confident in what they are doing are better able to help candidates should they experience any difficulty. Once the materials have been opened, they remain confidential and must be kept in a secure place by the Centre until the end of the examination period. In order to allow CIE to check accurately the standard of assessment, each teacher/Examiner must record and send to CIE a sample from each Centre at which he or she examines: Centres entering 116 candidates must send the recordings of all candidates. Centres entering 17 or more candidates must send: (i) the recordings of the first 10 candidates according to candidate number and (ii) the recordings of 6 candidates across the ability range, e.g. 2 good, 2 middling, 2 weak. The candidates selected should be representative of the range of marks awarded by the Centre and should be spread as evenly as possible across that range. If possible, the recordings of the strongest and the weakest candidates at the Centre should be included, with the other recordings spaced at equal intervals in between. Note Centres entering 17 or more candidates must send a total of 16 recordings. The category (ii) candidates must be chosen from candidates who do not fall into category (i). In Centres with just over 17 candidates, CIE accepts this may mean that the category (ii) candidates are not fully representative of the range. Moderation samples must be recorded at normal speed onto either a C90 audiocassette or a standard format CD. Mini cassettes/mini CDs must not be used. The Centre is responsible for supplying cassettes/CDs for the recording of its moderation sample: these will not be supplied by CIE. All recording equipment, including cassettes/CDs, must be of as high a standard as possible to ensure that moderation samples are clearly audible. Where Centres make use of digital recording software, each candidates file must be saved individually and saved as .mp3 so that it can be accessed for the purposes of moderation. Centres will receive a brief report on the outcome of moderation (Form CW/C/REP). A Distance Training Pack can be ordered from CIE Publications and provides guidance on the conduct and assessment of the Speaking examination. Although accreditation by CIE is not mandatory for teachers conducting and assessing the IGCSE Mandarin Chinese Speaking examination, CIE recommends that Centres new to the syllabus complete this training.
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4. Description of papers
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4. Description of papers
In the Topic Conversation, candidates should be able to respond to the teacher/Examiners questions in a spontaneous and natural manner. It is the extent to which candidates can manipulate their prepared material according to the needs of the teacher/Examiner that determines their marks and they must not be allowed to deliver a prepared monologue or a series of obviously prepared replies. In order to extend the candidate as far as possible, the teacher/Examiner should probe, explore, ask for explanations, enlargements, descriptions (how? when? why? tell me a bit more about etc.). For the Mark Scheme, see Appendix, Table B of the Marking Instructions. Test 3: General Conversation (approximately 5 minutes, 30 marks) The Topic Conversation will lead into the General Conversation. The teacher/Examiner will start out from any point of interest noted earlier, or ask general questions relating to the candidates everyday life, school, home, town, journey to and from school, free time (evenings, weekends), holidays, hobbies. All candidates can reasonably be expected to have the command of vocabulary and idiom necessary for this. The teacher/Examiner should aim to cover at least two or three of the Defined Content Topics in this section of the examination (listed in the Curriculum Content section). Precise factual information or knowledge is not required, and candidates are not penalised for lack of such knowledge. Questions must be adjusted to the candidates ability and the teacher/Examiner should be ready to pass on quickly to another subject if candidates are obviously out of their depth. Candidates are expected to give natural replies to questions; their answers need not therefore be in the form of complete sentences. The teacher/Examiner should avoid asking questions which can be answered with yes or no and should instead use a variety of interrogatives, e.g. when? how? why? how many? how long? with whom? with what? etc. As in the Topic Conversation, the candidate should be extended as far as possible. For the Mark Scheme, see Appendix, Table B of the Marking Instructions. Impression (10 marks) At the end of the Speaking examination, based on the candidates overall performance, the teacher/Examiner awards a mark for pronunciation, accent and fluency. For the Mark Scheme, see Appendix, Table C of the Marking Instructions.
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4. Description of papers
Candidates are expected to communicate as accurately as possible, and should, in so doing, make use of a wider variety of idiom, vocabulary, structure and appropriate tenses than is required on Paper 2. A system of positive marking is used. Examiners reward material worthy of credit and do not indicate errors. Irrelevant material is not rewarded. Each of the two questions is marked out of 25 under the following three headings: Communication Quality of Language General Impression 5 marks 15 marks 5 marks
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5. Curriculum content
Candidates may follow the Core Curriculum or the Extended Curriculum which includes both the Core and Supplement. Candidates aiming for grades A* to C will follow the Extended Curriculum.
The table below summarises the relationship between the Defined Content and the question papers. Paper Section Topic Areas Minimum Core Vocabulary Structures and Grammar Part 1 Part 1 Parts 1 and 2 Part 1 Part 1 Parts 1 and 2 Part 1 Part 1 Parts 1 and 2
Paper 1
1 2 3
A, B, C A, B, C, D*, E* A, B, C, D, E A, B, C A, B, C, D*, E* A, B, C, D, E A, B, C A, B, C, D, E A, B, C, D, E
Paper 2
1 2 3
Paper 3
Paper 4
* Where Section 2 of this paper features passages based on Topic Areas D and E, only vocabulary from the Minimum Core Vocabulary List will be tested.
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5. Curriculum content
5.2 Tasks
Please refer to the Mandarin Chinese Defined Content Booklet for further details of the grammatical knowledge expected of candidates in the Core and Extended levels of the examination.
Paper Core All students should be able to: 1. Listening demonstrate understanding of specific detail in short, formal public announcements, informal announcements, short conversations and interviews demonstrate general comprehension of the above demonstrate understanding of words within short texts such as public notices, instructions and signs extract relevant specific information from texts such as brochures, guides, letters and forms of imaginative writing considered likely to be within the experience of and reflecting the interests of young people show a general understanding of more extended texts scan for particular information, organise the relevant information and present it in a given format carry out basic writing tasks (such as asking for detailed information, giving some personal information, reporting) perform Role Playing tasks which involve both taking the initiative and responding to questions, with both strangers and friends report, express opinions and respond to questions on a topic of the candidates choice respond to unprepared questions in a general conversation on topics of interest to the candidate express thoughts, feelings and opinions in order to interest, inform or convince demonstrate adequate control of vocabulary, syntax and grammar, punctuation and spelling play a part in discussion; choose and organise ideas and present them clearly adapt to the needs of the audience and the situation Supplement Students aiming for grades A* to C should, in addition, be able to: demonstrate general and specific understanding of longer and more complex material identify the important points or themes of the material, including points of view show comprehension of a wider range of texts, including magazines and newspapers likely to be read by young people demonstrate the ability to identify the important points or themes within an extended piece of writing draw conclusions from, and see relations within an extended text
3. Speaking
4. Continuous Writing
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5. Curriculum content
Home life School routine Eating and drinking Health and fitness Self, family, pets, personal relationships House and home Leisure, entertainments, invitations Eating out Festivals and special occasions Holidays; getting around Accommodation Home town and geographical surroundings Shopping Public services Natural environment Weather Finding the way Meeting people Places and customs Travel and transport Further education and training Future career plans Employment Communication Language at work Holiday travel and transport (see also C9) Geographical surroundings (see also C1) Weather (see also C5) Places and customs (see also C8) Food and drink (see also A4) Meeting people (see also C7) Issues according to available resources and individual interest
Holidays and special occasions Area C The world around us Home town and local area Natural and made environment People, places and customs Area D The world of work Continuing education Careers and employment Language and communication in the work place Area E The international world Tourism at home and abroad Life in other countries and communities World events and issues
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6. Grade descriptions
Grade A Listening Candidates understand gist and identify main points and detail in spoken language. They recognise points of view. Reading Candidates understand gist and identify main points and detail in a variety of types of authentic texts. They recognise points of view, attitudes and emotions and are able to draw conclusions. They show an ability to understand unfamiliar language and to extract meaning from more complex language. Candidates initiate and develop conversations and discussions, and narrate events. They express and justify ideas and points of view, and produce longer sequences of speech using a variety of vocabulary, structures and verb tenses. They speak confidently, with good pronunciation and intonation. The message is clear although there may still be some errors, especially when candidates use more complex structures. Candidates give information and narrate events both factually and imaginatively. They express and justify ideas and points of view. They produce longer sequences using a range of vocabulary, structures and verb tenses. Their spelling and grammar are generally accurate, and the style is appropriate to the purpose.
Speaking
Writing
Grade C Listening Candidates identify and note main points and extract some details from spoken language. The spoken texts include past and future events. Reading Candidates identify and extract details and points of view from authentic and simulated texts, drawn from a variety of topics and which include past, present and future events. They show an ability to understand unfamiliar language.
Speaking Candidates develop conversations and simple discussions which include past, present and future events, involving the use of different tenses. They express personal opinions and show an ability to deal with some unpredictable elements. Although there may be some errors, they convey a clear message, and their pronunciation and intonation are generally accurate. Writing Candidates express personal opinions and write about a variety of topics which may be factual or imaginative and which may include different tenses or time frames. They use an appropriate register. The style is basic but despite some errors the writing conveys a clear message.
Grade F Listening Candidates identify and note main points from simple spoken language. Reading Candidates identify main points and extract some information from short, simple texts. They use context to work out the meaning of words.
Speaking Candidates take part in simple conversations showing some ability to communicate simple ideas in straightforward language. Their pronunciation is generally accurate, and although there may be some grammatical inaccuracies, the main points are communicated. Writing Candidates write short sentences and communicate simple ideas. Although there may be mistakes in spelling and grammar, the main points are communicated.
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7 Marking instructions for the Speaking Examination .1 and the Working Mark Sheet
7 .1.1 Marking instructions for the Speaking Examination General principles
You are urged to use the full range of marks, bearing in mind that it is not necessary for a candidate to be of native speaker standard to be given maximum marks within any single category. Adopt a positive approach: award marks based on what the candidate can do rather than deducting marks for errors. Above all else, please be consistent in your marking. The moderation process allows for adjustments to be made to consistently harsh or consistently generous marking. If you are unsure of the mark to award, err on the side of generosity.
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Notes 1 2 If there are two elements in a task and only one is completed, then a maximum of one mark only may be awarded. Short utterances, if appropriate, can be worth three marks especially in Role Play A.
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Table B Mark Scheme for Test 2: Topic Presentation/Conversation and Test 3: General Conversation (2 30 marks)
As detailed in Table B, each of Tests 2 and 3 is marked on two scales: Scale (a): Comprehension/responsiveness This assesses the candidates response in terms of comprehension of the teacher/Examiner, immediacy of reaction/response, fluency of response, and presentation of material in the topic. Scale (b): Linguistic content This assesses the linguistic content of the candidates answers in terms of the complexity, accuracy and range of structures, vocabulary and idiom.
Category Outstanding (a) A spontaneous interchange between candidate and Examiner. Responds confidently to all question types. Fluent. Not necessarily of native speaker standard. (b) Very accurate use of structures, vocabulary and idiom with occasional errors in more complex language. Not necessarily of native speaker standard. Very good (a) Generally understands questions first time, but may require occasional rephrasing. Can respond satisfactorily to both straightforward and unexpected questions. (b) Wide range of mostly accurate structures, vocabulary and idiom. Good (a) Has no difficulty with straightforward questions and responds fairly well to unexpected ones, particularly when they are re-phrased. (b) Good range of generally accurate structures, varied vocabulary. Satisfactory (a) Understands straightforward questions but has difficulty with some unexpected ones and needs rephrasing. Fairly fluent, but some hesitation. (b) Adequate range of structures and vocabulary. Can convey past and future meaning: some ambiguity. Weak (a) Has difficulty even with straightforward questions, but still attempts an answer. (b) Shows elementary, limited vocabulary and faulty manipulation of structures. Poor (a) Frequently fails to understand the questions and has great difficulty in replying. (b) Shows very limited range of structures and vocabulary.
Mark 1415
1213
1011
79
46
03
23
78
56
34
12
24
25
1 3
2 3
5 3
6 3
7 3
15 10
Signature
Date
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Cambridge IGCSE Mandarin Chinese (0547/3): Cover Sheet for Moderation Sample
A copy of this cover sheet must be completed by the Centre and enclosed with the Moderation documentation and recorded sample to be despatched to CIE. Centre name: 1 Centre number:
Tick to confirm that the required moderation documents are enclosed: (i) Moderator copy of MS1 or printout of Internal Marks Report from CAMEO. (ii) Copy of completed Working Mark Sheet(s) (WMS).*
(* One WMS per Examiner in Centres using more than one Examiner)
If any other documents are enclosed for CIE's attention, please list them below: 2 Tick to confirm that documentation has been checked for arithmetical and transcription errors: (i) Addition of marks on WMS has been checked and Total Mark is correct for each candidate. (ii) Total Mark for each candidate has been correctly transferred to the MS1 or CAMEO. 3 Tick to confirm that the recording quality of Moderation samples has been checked: All sample recordings are clearly audible. Samples are recorded on standard size CDs/cassettes and recorded at normal speed. Digital recordings only: each candidate saved individually and files saved as .mp3. 4 Tick to confirm that the correct number of candidates has been submitted for moderation: For Centres with 16 or fewer candidates, the following are enclosed: Recordings of the complete Speaking test for all candidates. For Centres with 17 or more candidates, the following are enclosed: (i) Recordings of the complete Speaking test for 6 candidates across the range AND (ii) Recordings of the complete Speaking test for the first 10 candidates by candidate number.
CENTRES USING MORE THAN 1 EXAMINER tick to confirm Internal Moderation procedures: Internal moderation carried out and details of Internal Moderation procedures enclosed.
(name) (signature)
Date:
University of Cambridge International Examinations 1 Hills Road, Cambridge, CB1 2EU, United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)1223 553554 Fax: +44 (0)1223 553558 Email: international@cie.org.uk Website: www.cie.org.uk University of Cambridge International Examinations 2008