Chinese

Studying another language offers students important opportunities to develop their Christian faith. In particular, the commandment to “love our neighbours as ourselves” can only be fulfilled by gaining an understanding of others and developing respect for other cultures and ways of understanding the world. The Biblical story of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11) offers theological insight into God’s purpose in developing a multilingual world. Learning another language allows students to break away from the monolingual traps of self-righteousness and pride and encourages them to develop a better ability to critique their own perspective. Students understand that their own perspectives on life are shaped by their language and culture, rather than being the only way to live. Developing respect for the differing perspectives and understandings of others by learning another language helps to shape habits of tolerance, empathy and compassion, and equips students better to “love their neighbours”. 

In an increasingly globalised world, skills developed through learning a second language can be applied later in life to the study of further languages and the understanding of other cultures, providing the foundation for students to reach out in faith to the peoples of the world. An understanding of the fact that ideas may need to be presented differently in different languages and cultures to meet the needs of the target audience contributes to making those who speak more than one language better communicators. 

Year 7 Chinese introduces second language (non-Chinese background) students to the Chinese language and culture. Students use simple spoken and written Chinese to interact in a range of familiar contexts, using learnt phrases to respond to instructions, questions and directions and exchange personal information, seek clarification and communicate on familiar topics. They become familiar with the key features of the Chinese writing system and word order in Chinese sentences and understand the differences between Chinese and English. They recognise the function of tone-syllables and Pinyin. 

Background Chinese students use spoken and written Chinese at a more advanced level to communicate about their personal and social worlds, making appropriate language choices for different roles, relationships and situations. They understand that there is diversity within the Chinese language community, noting differences between standard Chinese and their own dialects and reflect consciously on Chinese cultural values and how these influence Chinese language and communicative practices.