The specification is designed to inspire students, enabling them to use the Language independently and encouraging a deeper understanding of the language and culture.
What I should consider before enrolling
All students undertaking this A level must have IGCSE in English Language at grade C or 4 (or equivalent qualification) and a grade B or 6 (or equivalent qualification) in Chinese.
Chinese
Overview of content
Course
Teachers can explore the topic areas in any way they choose. The following examples (which are not prescriptive) are a useful guide to planning courses. All these suggestions, and other themes chosen by the teacher from within the topic areas, should be studied with reference to countries/communities where Chinese is spoken.
Human relationships – family – generation gap – young people
- Family activities; new patterns of family relationships; the status of the elderly and responsibility for their care
- Generation gap; conflicts in the family circle; young people and the older generation; attitudes of young people to the family environment
- Young people; young people and their peer group; young people as a target group for advertisers and politicians
Patterns of daily life – urban and rural life – the media – food and drink – law and order – philosophy and belief – health and fitness
- Daily routine; school; the individual’s way of life; living conditions
- Advantages and disadvantages of urban and rural life; transport and communications; shopping; housing
- The role and influence of the media; the power of advertising
- Healthy eating; fast-food; national traditions of eating and drinking
- Violence and crime; drug-related crime; the role of the police; law-enforcement
- The role of philosophy and belief in a local, national and an international context; attitudes towards different beliefs and philosophical issues; philosophical and religious practices/groups; values and morality
- Healthy living; exercise; dieting; drugs; health care provision; stress; AIDS
Work and leisure – equality of opportunity – employment and unemployment – sport – free time activities – travel and tourism – education – cultural life/heritage
- Women in society and in the workforce; equality of opportunity for minority groups
- Preparation for work and job opportunities; career plans; qualifications and job routines; plight of the unemployed, areas of high unemployment; demise of traditional industries; possible solutions, immigrant workers
- Individual and team sports; amateur and professional sport
- Value of leisure; balance between leisure and work; planning leisure time
- Tourism as a modern phenomenon; friction between tourists and local inhabitants; holidays and foreign travel
- Education systems and types of school; patterns of curriculum; relationship between education and training; further and higher education provision; examinations
- The world of the arts; significant figures and trends in the arts; the place of culture and the arts in the life of the nation War and peace – social and economic development
- Conflicts in the world: ethnic, religious, ideological • positive and negative aspects of social and economic development; recent and predicted trends
Chinese Specification
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