Introduction to Intermediate 1 Courses in Cantonese and Mandarin

2. Introduction to Intermediate 1 Courses in Cantonese and Mandarin 8 May 2008Balmoral Hotel Edinburgh

3. Jim McDonald Qualifications Manager NQ Languages Fan Lin NQ Development Officer

4. Aims of the event • To familiarise delegates with structure and delivery of Course • To explore approaches to assessment of Course

5. Outline of the event • Background • Presentation • Workshop

6. Fan Lin Chinese Languages Development Officer

7. Background to Developments • Scottish Government’s Stronger Engagement with China initiative • Ten Point Plan included the development of National Qualifications in Chinese, by 2010 • SQA set up the Chinese Steering Group which ratified proposals for Qualifications in Cantonese and Mandarin

8. Introduction to Chinese Languages National Courses: Qualifications Framework

9. Overview of the National Course A Course award (A/B/C/D) is made on the basis of successful completion of both: • Unit Assessments (internal assessment conducted and marked by teacher/lecturer) and • Course Assessment (the final external exam)

10. Introduction to Intermediate 1 Four skills are assessed in both Unit (internal) and Course (external) assessment: • Speaking • Listening • Reading • Writing

11. Introduction to Intermediate 1 Three Units are assessed at this level: • Personal and Social Language • Transactional Language • Language in Work

12. Units: Internal Assessment • Reading: One text of 200-300 characters. Approximately 40 minutes • Listening: Eight items approx 5-15 seconds in length. Approximately 20 minutes • Writing: Short piece of text in Target Language in response to 3-4 requests for information. Approximately 40 minutes

13. Internal Unit Assessment: National Assessment Bank (NAB) • NAB assessment items will be available for all three Units • The NABs indicate the standard of assessments required at this level • NABs can be downloaded by SQA Co-ordinators from the secure area of SQA’s secure area

14. Speaking Assessment • Speaking assessed by the centre • Stimulus activities included in NABs • This Speaking Assessment also meets the speaking requirement of the external examination (dual purpose) • The assessment consists of face to face conversation/simulation/role play — two minutes approximately • Assessment results are subject to Verification by SQA

15. External Examination Reading • Two texts at 60-75 characters and two texts at 180-300 characters. Questions in English — glossary • 45 minutes. 35% of the whole examination • Dictionary: Yes • Additional Information: Answer in English

16. External Examination Listening • 10 items at 5-15 seconds each — questions in English • 20 mins max. 20% of the whole examination • Dictionary: No • Additional Information: hear each item twice

17. External Examination Writing • Compile simple personal profile under specific headings • 30 minutes, 15% of the whole exam • The headings are fixed and the same year on year • Candidates write three sentences in response to four headings • Candidates can use a dictionary.

18. Approval • All candidates for NQ Courses (including Access 3) must be entered by an SQA Approved Centre • Centres wishing to seek Approval should contact SQA’s Customer Contact Centre: customer@sqa.org.uk

19. Workshop Activities • Activity 1 —Familiarisationwith Units • Activity 2 — Specimen Question Paper

20. For more information visit: www.sqa.org.uk

21. Contact: Fan Lin  fan.lin@sqa.org.uk

22. Thank you! xie xie!