Dear Xiaoming,
I fully agree that good results in Mandarin always means a lot of extra hard
work from the teachers, and I think it is the same on the students' side as
well. They need to be truly interested, hard-working and committed if they
want to gain a good grade in the Chinese exams.
I am delighted to have this year's results in Calday in both GCSE and
AS Chinese
exams, however, I know exactly how much extra time and effort I have
put in and
how much extra time and effort the students have made on their side.
Apart from the same teaching hours as other language lessons, which is two
periods of 50 minutes Chinese lessons for Year 7 every week, 5 periods every
fortnight for Year 8, 9, 10 and year 11, we also provide extra lunch time
conversational session for year 10 and year 11 students once a week, one hour
twilight reading session once a week. And these extra sessions continue right
up to the time of exam, and they continue the sessions even during the period
of Study Leave for year 11. Due to students' committment and hard-work, three
of my A* students this year got full marks for their GCSE speaking exam.
I must admit that I do enjoy teaching my students, especially those
hard-working
students always give me reward by their achievement, but it would be nicer to
have more time for myself if the teaching of Mandarin was in the same line as
teaching other modern languages such as French, German, etc. I still think it
is neccesary that the exam board provide two tiers of GCSE Chinese exams, so
that more British students can do the exam without adding too much extra time
and effort.
Of course, the teaching methodology is another important factor, and also the
exam techniques are important. I think these will also affect the results of
exam. Do you agree?
Regards
Lisa
Quoting Xiaoming Zhu <[log in to unmask]>:
> I can not agree more that we should look at the whole picture of how the
> students are taught (in a "normal" secondary school class or in a small
> group or individually as Mary said). This year our results are an A*
> (year 10) and a C and D (year 11s). They are all British. The A*
> student is a very good linguist and is always very committed. But he
> also had lots of one to one lessons after school from myself and from
> our Mandarin assistant. Yes, an A*, but not an easy one. I heard from at
> least one teacher (whose students had As in the previous years) that
> good results in Mandarin always means lots extra work from the
> teachers.
>
> It is encouraging to hear A*s and As, but I think we have to be careful
> not to be too optimistic. Maybe a research could be done to find out
> more behind the good and not so good results as how the students are
> taught?
>
> Xiaoming
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: Mandarin Chinese Teaching
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Mary Wood
> Sent: 14 September 2005 19:47
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: This year's Mandarin GCSE grades
>
>
> Hmmm. My pupils all got A* but then they were all native speakers...
> I've yet to see anyone email in details of success with a "normal"
> secondary school class of results, as opposed to small group/ individual
> pupils who are clearly well motivated. My heart sank when I saw the
> grade boundary for a C grade was 60% yet again this year - same as
> before and I was hoping this would change after the British Council
> meeting referred to below. This is higher than what is needed in French
> and other European languages.
> For those that know me, please note that I am now at St Bart's School in
> Newbury and my email address is now [log in to unmask]
>
> Best wishes
>
> Mary (ex-Chinese coordinator, Bedford School)
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: MTATE <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 09:52:29 +0100
> Subject: Re: This year's Mandarin GCSE grades
>
>> I don't want to put you off, but the GCSE in Chinese is much more
>> difficult than the French. Don't hold your breath for any changes yet.
>
>> There was a forum chaired by the British Council earlier in the year
>> that brought together secondary school teachers of Chinese, University
>
>> lecturers, Edexel, DfES, QCA and Head teachers to discuss the issues
>> surrounding the exam. I am not sure how this has been followed up,
> but
>> the fact that there is a problem has been raised. I'm not sure who
>> told you that the exam is going to be made easier - it's the first
> time
>> I've heard it and I'm not sure that I believe it!
>>
>> Michelle Tate
>> Katharine Lady Berkeleys' School
>>
>> ----Original Message----
>> From: [log in to unmask]
>> Date: 11-Sep-2005 19:19
>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Subj: Re: This year's Mandarin GCSE grades
>>
>> We started teaching Mandarin last year in year 9 with some of our most
>
>> able boys - and are worried...
>>
>> Given that these will all get A* in French GCSE a year early any
>> difference seems unfair.
>>
>> I have heard that the IGCSE may well become easier - can anyone
>> confirm?
>>
>>
>> Best wishes
>>
>>
>> Nick Mair
>>
>> Dulwich
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Katharine Carruthers [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>> Sent: Sat 10/09/2005 16:09
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Cc:
>> Subject: This year's Mandarin GCSE grades
>>
>>
>>
>> Dear All
>>
>> I would like to try, through the email forum, to build up a picture
>
>> of
>> this year's Mandarin Chinese GCSE grades achieved by non native
>> students. The aim of this exercise is to build up an overall
> picture
>> across the country, so that we can say to schools still too worried
>> about poor performance in Mandarin Chinese GCSE to enter candidates
>
>> and
>> to timetable Chinese as a main subject:
>>
>> Either ' Look at this year's results. It shows the situation is
>> improving.'
>>
>> Or 'Look at this year's results. It shows that the GCSE results are
>> still an issue which needs to be resolved'.
>>
>> Could I ask schools that have had non native students take the exam
>
>> this
>> year send in the results to me, so that I can build a picture of
>> results
>> across the forum. I'll let you know how it looks - should emphasize
>
>> that
>> I'll give the overall picture out to the forum, not the performance
>
>> of
>> individual groups of pupils, as I know there are a lot of factors
>> involved in influencing the performance of individual groups.
>>
>> Will look forward to hearing from you.
>>
>> Best wishes
>> Katharine Carruthers
>> Chinese Network Coordinator
>> --
>>
>> Katharine Carruthers
>> Brooke House
>> Ashdon Road, Saffron Walden
>> Essex, CB10 2AA
>>
>>
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>>
>>
>>
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>> Any misuse should be reported to [log in to unmask]
>
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