Chinese

Assessment

Paper One Listening, reading and translation (2 hours, written paper, 40% of mark) Candidates complete a series of reading and listening exercises from a variety of types of authentic texts and listening material, as well as a translation from the target language into English. They are assessed on their ability to understand the gist and main ideas, interpret complex language, identify explicitly and implicitly stated ideas, draw inferences, synthesise information, and identify vocabulary and structures by applying close reading skills. Paper Two Written response to works and translation (2 hours 40 minutes, 30% of mark) Candidates translate an unseen passage from English into the target language and complete two essays in the target language on either two literary texts or one literary text and one film. Candidates should produce responses that show a critical appreciation of features such as key concepts and issues, characterisation, form, and technique of presentation, for example, the effect of narrative voice in prose text or the effect of camera work in film, and social and cultural settings. In their writing, they should present viewpoints, develop arguments, conclude, and analyse and evaluate the texts they have studied. A full list of the prescribed literary texts and films can be found in the specifications on the Edexcel website. Recent texts and films taught in the department include Sartre: Les Mains Sales; Solzhenitsyn: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich; Benigni: La vita è Bella; and Salles: Diarios de Motocicleta. Paper Three Speaking (approx. 18 minutes, internally conducted and externally assessed, 30% of mark) There are two parts to the test. In the first part, candidates present and discuss ideas and issues arising from a stimulus card with a choice of two topics.