To add to this debate about how many years to GCSE I think that we should
not lose sight of the opportunity to also teach about the culture and
history of China. As Xiaoming pointed out we should also try to encourage
all students even weaker ones to enjoy Chinese and they may do this through
enjoying the culture too. I think it is really important to try and get as
many of the students on a visit to China to experience it for themselves. I
have found this to be a huge motivator.
If we have a sausage machine with a few years of study with the goal of good
grades at GCSE all we are doing is getting those bright students through
with a GCSE to add to their clutch of other A grades. The ones with less
good grades just write it off as something they are not very good at.
Anne Martin
Trinity School
Croydon
----- Original Message -----
From: "Xiaoming Zhu" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2007 12:50 PM
Subject: Re: Mission Impossible?
I entirely agree with Michelle that whether to get a good result or not
depends very much on the students' ability, motivation etc. It is a fact
that we are having bright students gaining As or Bs in GCSE exams. But my
concern is that I think nowadays we very much focus on the positive side
which is bright students achieving good results (within 4 or 3 or even 2
years of study). But on the other hand, we shouldn’t forgot the less able
students. If we want to introduce Chinese on a large scale it must go to
the less able as well as the bright pupils who will get good exam results.
Best wishes
Xiaoming
Djanogly City Academy Nottingham
-----Original Message-----
From: Mandarin Chinese Teaching
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of MTATE
Sent: 29 November 2007 09:56
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Mission Impossible?
I would say it depends very much on the students' ability, commitment
and timetabled hours as to how possible it is for them to achieve good
grades at GCSE. If they have no Chinese background, but are committed
and willing to put in a lot of effort independently, reviewing
characters regularly, then it is not impossible for them to do well at
this level.
We teach all non-Chinese pupils at KLB School from Y7 to Y13. The
students opt to take the language and are generally very enthusiastic
and willing to learn. Mandarin shares the same curriculum time (10%) as
all of the other languages - 4 hours a fortnight in Y7, 5 hours in Y8,
6 hours in Y11.
Our experience has shown that with 5 years of lessons, very able and
committed pupils can achieve the higher grades, and less well committed
pupils achieve lower grades, in line with the amount of effort they put
in.
Michelle
----Original Message----
From: [log in to unmask]
Date: 29-Nov-2007 08:18
To:
Subj: Re: Mission Impossible?
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I have five non-native students taking
GCSE in 2004 after three years from year 9 – year 11 and four
achieved A*,
one was one percent from A*. I have twelve students going to take GCSE
this
coming summer and I expect them to do very well. The students have two
and half
hours of lesson time each week and it should be enough to bring anyone
non-natives to GCSE level, in my opinion. We use GCSE for Chinese.
We are a little too negative ourselves,
sometimes!
Yan
From:
Mandarin Chinese Teaching
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of ru lan
Sent: 2007年11月28日 22:07
To:
[log in to unmask]
Subject: Mission Impossible?
Hello Everyone,
My school is planning to introduce Mandarin up to GCSE level. I was
asked if
I could take Year 9 pupils from beginner's level to GCSE in 3 to 3.5
years. My initial response is it will be very difficult and it might
be
impossible even the kids are very bright (a selective school with very
outstanding GCSE and A Level results). At the moment I am
investigating if this
is a difficult mission but achievable, or simply an impossible
mission.
As far as I know, it normally takes around 4 to 5 years to take
beginners
to GCSE level. Kids from a Chinese background can take
shorter time while non-native speakers will take longer. Definitely,
I will get more teaching hours (at least 4 lessons per week) and
select
students based on their language capability, enthusiasm and study
skills. I
will also try to keep the class size to around 10.
Could you please voice your opinion?
I would also like to know how GCSE Mandarin is taught in your school
in terms
of years taken, number of lessons, selection of students, class size,
text
books etc.
Thank you for your help!
Lan Ru
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..............................................................................................................................
Michelle Tate
Head of Oriental Languages
Katharine Lady Berkeley's School
Wotton-under-Edge
Glos. GL12 8RB
Tel: 01453-842227
Email: [log in to unmask]
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