Years 7 to 8 Chinese Achievement Standard
10 statements aligned to content descriptors and elaborations
Achievement standard (as ACARA publishes it)
Achievement standard
Click any sentence to jump to its statement and linked content descriptors.
By the end of Year 8, students initiate and maintain interactions in Chinese language in familiar and some unfamiliar contexts related to a range of interests and experiences. They use Chinese to collaborate and problem-solve, and adjust language in response to others. They interpret information, ideas and opinions in texts. They demonstrate understanding of similarities and differences between languages, in both familiar and some unfamiliar cultural contexts, by adjusting and reorganising responses. They select and use vocabulary, sentence structures, expressions and levels of formality, to create texts. They select and use characters appropriate to context and begin to use Pinyin to transcribe spoken words and short modelled sentences.
Students apply the conventions of spoken Chinese, including differences in sounds and tones, to develop fluency and demonstrate understanding of writing system features and the role and function of character components. They demonstrate understanding that spoken, written and multimodal texts use different conventions, features and linguistic structures to convey meaning. They comment on structures and features of Chinese text, using metalanguage. They reflect on how the Chinese language, culture(s) and identity are interconnected, and compare this with their own language(s), culture(s) and identity.
Second language learners · Foundation to Year 10 sequence
The 10 achievement standard statements
Open a statement to see the content descriptors ACARA links to it, then open a descriptor's elaborations.
By the end of Year 8, students initiate and maintain interactions in Chinese language in familiar and some unfamiliar contexts related to a range of interests and experiences.
Content descriptorAC9LC8C01 Communicating meaning in Chinese
initiate and sustain exchanges in familiar and some unfamiliar contexts related to students’ experiences, feelings and views, adjusting their language in response to others
Elaborations (4)
- Elaboration sharing opinions about school or family life, including 我的学校, 我的老师, 我的好朋友, 我的一家人, and linking ideas to explain and support a position or view, for example, 我的姐姐喜欢音乐, 也很喜欢体育
- Elaboration exploring ways to initiate an interaction by selecting and incorporating modelled structures to adjust to new contexts such as 你有没有书？ versus 你有书吗？, using other question words, 什么, 几, responding to yes/no questions using 是, 不是; 有, 没有; 好, 不好; 去, 不去; 工作, 不工作, concluding an interaction 祝你生日快乐！ 明天见！谢谢！
- Elaboration participating in conversations to exchange information with others including personal experiences, and expressing opinions about what is common to these experiences, for example, 你好！ 你叫什么名字？你是哪国人？and 我的老师很好。同学们都很喜欢他。
- Elaboration discussing school life or hobbies, and asking questions to seek ideas and enhance mutual understanding, for example, 我不喜欢听音乐。我喜欢看书。你呢？
They use Chinese to collaborate and problem-solve, and adjust language in response to others.
Content descriptorAC9LC8C02 Communicating meaning in Chinese
collaborate in activities that involve the language of transaction, negotiation and problem-solving to plan projects and events
Elaborations (3)
- Elaboration organising a class or school celebration such as celebrating Spring Festival 拜年 and Mid-Autumn Festival 吃月饼, sharing suggestions and delegating roles
- Elaboration participating in role-plays of shopping scenarios, including expressing opinions about the quality of goods such as 这条红色的裤子真好看, making comparisons such as 这件比那件便宜, and expressing satisfaction or dissatisfaction with price such as 太贵了
- Elaboration visiting Chinese-owned stores in the local area, replicating a store in a virtual world or role-playing imaginary shops, specifying the number or nature of items required; requesting, negotiating and accepting prices; and completing transactions, for example, 我们什么时候去...？, 我们去哪儿买？, 我们要买什么？
They interpret information, ideas and opinions in texts.
Content descriptorAC9LC8C03 Communicating meaning in Chinese
interpret information, ideas and opinions in a range of spoken, written and multimodal texts, and respond appropriately to cultural context, purpose and audience
Elaborations (6)
- Elaboration documenting specific details of events, customs and lifestyles presented in multimodal sources (video clips, face-to-face interviews, etc.) to summarise the information, for example, 一般来说，在华语文化中，人们每天都吃米饭
- Elaboration listening to, or viewing, multimodal texts (popular music videos from various sources of media, etc.) to identify key information such as names of people and places, time and date and opinions, for example, 秦始皇, 西安, 北京, 上海, 香港, 星期三, 下午两点, 我很喜欢 and expressing personal opinions such as 我觉得... , 很有意思
- Elaboration reading or listening to a range of genres and analysing and explaining the development of ideas or an argument, for example, reading a short article about the protection of pandas, listening to an interview with a person working with pandas and then contributing to a class blog about wildlife protection 熊猫每天吃很多竹子
- Elaboration listening to, reading or viewing First Nations Australian authors’ stories and responding to them in spoken or written Chinese
- Elaboration reading a short fictional story and writing diary entries or recording a video blog as one of the characters, incorporating their perspectives
- Elaboration listening to, and viewing travel-related websites, podcasts or videos to create a suggested itinerary for a school trip and using persuasive language to suggest participating in activities
Content descriptorAC9LC8C04 Communicating meaning in Chinese
interpret and adjust non-verbal, spoken and written language to convey meaning in Chinese language in familiar and some unfamiliar cultural contexts
Elaborations (5)
- Elaboration accessing various texts about different cultures, and creating a digital presentation, sharing information about their own membership of diverse groups and exploring how this is expressed in Chinese language, for example, 每年春节小明的妈妈都会包饺子, 安娜的妈妈每年圣诞节都烤火鸡
- Elaboration making adjustments when moving between Chinese and English language, recognising that some words cannot be translated directly, for example, “How’s it going?” in English and 孝顺 when talking about the bond between children and parents
- Elaboration identifying the differences in meaning of multiple terms to convey a similar concept, for example, 你 versus 您；厕所 versus 洗手间 or comparing representations of foreigners in 外国人有一些不同的习俗 to 老外都很奇怪
- Elaboration exploring the contexts and implications of terms used to identify others, for example, 老外, 华侨, 华裔, 大陆人, 华人, 中国人, 少数民族
- Elaboration exploring the use of 普通话 as a lingua franca in Chinese-speaking communities and identifying terms used in different regions to express a similar idea such as 中文 versus 汉语
They demonstrate understanding of similarities and differences between languages, in both familiar and some unfamiliar cultural contexts, by adjusting and reorganising responses.
Content descriptorAC9LC8C04 Communicating meaning in Chinese
interpret and adjust non-verbal, spoken and written language to convey meaning in Chinese language in familiar and some unfamiliar cultural contexts
Elaborations (5)
- Elaboration accessing various texts about different cultures, and creating a digital presentation, sharing information about their own membership of diverse groups and exploring how this is expressed in Chinese language, for example, 每年春节小明的妈妈都会包饺子, 安娜的妈妈每年圣诞节都烤火鸡
- Elaboration making adjustments when moving between Chinese and English language, recognising that some words cannot be translated directly, for example, “How’s it going?” in English and 孝顺 when talking about the bond between children and parents
- Elaboration identifying the differences in meaning of multiple terms to convey a similar concept, for example, 你 versus 您；厕所 versus 洗手间 or comparing representations of foreigners in 外国人有一些不同的习俗 to 老外都很奇怪
- Elaboration exploring the contexts and implications of terms used to identify others, for example, 老外, 华侨, 华裔, 大陆人, 华人, 中国人, 少数民族
- Elaboration exploring the use of 普通话 as a lingua franca in Chinese-speaking communities and identifying terms used in different regions to express a similar idea such as 中文 versus 汉语
They select and use vocabulary, sentence structures, expressions and levels of formality, to create texts.
Content descriptorAC9LC8C05 Communicating meaning in Chinese
create and present spoken, written and multimodal informative and imaginative texts, selecting vocabulary, expressions, sentence structures, textual features and conventions, using characters appropriate to text type and context
Elaborations (7)
- Elaboration composing stories by producing labels for pictures, photos and cartoons to convey a sequence of events in imagined contexts, using appropriate digital tools in combination with sound, voice and music
- Elaboration writing and presenting short plays or digital presentations and taking on roles in imagined scenarios, for example, visiting or hosting a Chinese-speaking friend, a shopping experience, a fashion show, or creating skits about school life and daily routine
- Elaboration collaboratively creating informative, multimodal texts (interviews, vlogs, etc.) with familiar settings (home, school, communities, places travelled, etc.), for example, reporting on a school excursion or swimming carnival 学校水运会
- Elaboration creating a print or digital poster in Chinese to promote travel to a significant cultural location on a First Nations Country/Place, including what to see and do
- Elaboration writing a detailed account of an imagined experience to an area in China, or another Chinese-speaking country or community, and then answering questions in an interview about these experiences and conveying varying attitudes and degrees of emotion towards people, places and events, for example, 我觉得这个地方很好
- Elaboration contributing to a short dialogue communicating with peers about their subjects of study, hobbies or interests, and expressing appropriate emotions, for example, 妈妈做的菜太好吃了
- Elaboration using some modelled language and digital tools to create a slideshow with audio about a planned seven-day trip to a Chinese-speaking country, including famous places to visit, cultural events to attend and foods to eat such as 我想去看看...
They select and use characters appropriate to context and begin to use Pinyin to transcribe spoken words and short modelled sentences.
Content descriptorAC9LC8C05 Communicating meaning in Chinese
create and present spoken, written and multimodal informative and imaginative texts, selecting vocabulary, expressions, sentence structures, textual features and conventions, using characters appropriate to text type and context
Elaborations (7)
- Elaboration composing stories by producing labels for pictures, photos and cartoons to convey a sequence of events in imagined contexts, using appropriate digital tools in combination with sound, voice and music
- Elaboration writing and presenting short plays or digital presentations and taking on roles in imagined scenarios, for example, visiting or hosting a Chinese-speaking friend, a shopping experience, a fashion show, or creating skits about school life and daily routine
- Elaboration collaboratively creating informative, multimodal texts (interviews, vlogs, etc.) with familiar settings (home, school, communities, places travelled, etc.), for example, reporting on a school excursion or swimming carnival 学校水运会
- Elaboration creating a print or digital poster in Chinese to promote travel to a significant cultural location on a First Nations Country/Place, including what to see and do
- Elaboration writing a detailed account of an imagined experience to an area in China, or another Chinese-speaking country or community, and then answering questions in an interview about these experiences and conveying varying attitudes and degrees of emotion towards people, places and events, for example, 我觉得这个地方很好
- Elaboration contributing to a short dialogue communicating with peers about their subjects of study, hobbies or interests, and expressing appropriate emotions, for example, 妈妈做的菜太好吃了
- Elaboration using some modelled language and digital tools to create a slideshow with audio about a planned seven-day trip to a Chinese-speaking country, including famous places to visit, cultural events to attend and foods to eat such as 我想去看看...
Students apply the conventions of spoken Chinese, including differences in sounds and tones, to develop fluency and demonstrate understanding of writing system features and the role and function of character components.
Content descriptorAC9LC8U01 Understanding language and culture
apply knowledge of conventions of spoken Chinese to enhance fluency, and to respond to and create texts in familiar and some unfamiliar contexts
Elaborations (7)
- Elaboration experimenting with rhythm, voice, emotion and gesture to convey the intended sentiment and meaning of songs and rhymes to enhance performance
- Elaboration recognising and using features of the Chinese sound system, discriminating use of tones, rhythm and sound flow, for example, differentiating pronunciation, intonation and stress when listening to short texts 四是四, 十是十, 十四是十四, 四十是四十
- Elaboration listening to interactions between unfamiliar voices at diverse speeds or levels of clarity to develop auditory and comprehension skills, for example, discriminating between the range of vowel and consonant combinations, ‘qin’ versus ‘qing’ and ‘chi’ versus ‘ci’
- Elaboration analysing characters containing a common component or side, for example, explaining the features of position, phonetic function and range of sounds in the characters 请, 清, 情, 晴, 精, 睛, 猜
- Elaboration estimating the probable sound and meaning of characters based on understanding of familiar components and phonetic sides when reading unfamiliar texts, for example, 鸡, 鸭, 鹅 and 爸, 吧, 把
- Elaboration examining the diverse meanings of words that share similar sounds such as the many meanings of the sound ‘shi’, and learning how to differentiate between 同音词 and 近音词 in different contexts, for example, 买东西 and 卖东西
- Elaboration exploring changes in neutral tone and identifying patterns to aid their own pronunciation and flow of expression, for example, demonstrating understanding the use of neutral tone for the second syllable when it repeats or does not contribute to the meaning of the first syllable 妈妈, 孩子
They demonstrate understanding that spoken, written and multimodal texts use different conventions, features and linguistic structures to convey meaning.
Content descriptorAC9LC8U02 Understanding language and culture
apply understanding of sentence structures, expressions, character components and writing system features to infer meaning, and compose and respond to texts
Elaborations (8)
- Elaboration typing correct characters using Pinyin to respond to questions in Chinese language
- Elaboration describing characters by naming their components or sides in sequence, for example, 亻 (standing man) on the left, 木 (tree) on the right ＝ 休 (rest)
- Elaboration viewing words in 繁体字 in familiar contexts and applying their understanding of the simplification process to determine the possible meanings and the 简体字 equivalent, for example, 个, 個; 汉, 漢
- Elaboration comparing ways in which tense is expressed in Chinese, for example, 了 to indicate completion; 过 to indicate the experience; 想 to indicate intention; verb negation 没有 to indicate incomplete past; and 正在 to indicate action in progress
- Elaboration understanding and using elements of Chinese grammar and punctuation, (word order, sentence construction, etc.) and analysing Chinese-specific sentence structures, for example, 能不能, 有没有
- Elaboration exploring and applying the use of conjunctions to sequence and connect ideas when constructing texts, for example, 有的… 有的..., 一边… 一边, 不但... 而且..., 虽然…, 但是...
- Elaboration using different ways to negate ideas depending on degree of formality or emphasis, for example, 我不是..., 我没有..., 我不会
- Elaboration recognising the two-syllable preference in Chinese nouns, and applying this understanding when reading for meaning in words with suffixes such as 学校, 学生, 学习
They comment on structures and features of Chinese text, using metalanguage.
Content descriptorAC9LC8U03 Understanding language and culture
reflect on similarities and differences between Chinese and English language structures and features, using metalanguage
Elaborations (3)
- Elaboration identifying similarities and differences between Chinese and English word order and sentence construction such as 我明天去飞机场
- Elaboration exploring key features of Chinese phonology by comparing with English phonetics, for example, demonstrating understanding that each character is pronounced with one syllable
- Elaboration teaching peers, other students of Chinese or a buddy class about how Chinese works, focusing on a particular structure using metalanguage and visual supports, for example, comparing text direction in a Chinese language story book with English language and reading the story to students, indicating the direction as the story is read
They reflect on how the Chinese language, culture(s) and identity are interconnected, and compare this with their own language(s), culture(s) and identity.
Content descriptorAC9LC8U04 Understanding language and culture
reflect on and explain how identity is shaped by language(s), culture(s), beliefs, attitudes and values
Elaborations (7)
- Elaboration examining how globalisation is having an impact on Chinese speakers’ values and language use, for example, how responses to praise are shifting to reflect a western concept of gratitude 谢谢 rather than the modesty of the past 哪里哪里
- Elaboration exploring the ways in which new words and phrases are incorporated into everyday communication in Chinese, for example, demonstrating understanding about how English expressions of emotion 去 happy 吧 are used in chat forums and text messaging, and how Pinyin abbreviations are used to replace characters (L P = 老婆)
- Elaboration investigating the ways in which Chinese language is used to foster the awareness of social etiquette and courtesy among local communities, for example, addressing adults using 叔叔, 阿姨, and reflecting on how body language and nuances may be interpreted differently by others
- Elaboration examining how First Nations Australians’ languages have strong connections to Country/Place and how these can be compared to language variation across Chinese-speaking countries and regions/regional dialects
- Elaboration reflecting on how particular words of cultural significance may be interpreted differently by others, for example, ‘mate’ in Australian contexts and 兄弟 in Chinese-speaking contexts
- Elaboration inferring the relationship of participants in a spoken interaction by observing word choices and gestures, for example, 老张, 张校长, 张小明, and asking, “What titles and terms of address are used for individuals in Chinese?”, “How do these titles compare to English practices?”
- Elaboration exploring how known languages influence their own identity and communicative preferences, such as reflecting on the values of one culture when communicating in another, for example, differences in the use and frequency of ‘thank you’ and 谢谢
This achievement standard describes the expected learning for Years 7 to 8 Chinese · Second language learners · Foundation to Year 10 sequence. Use it to plan teaching and assessment with the Australian Curriculum v9.
At a Glance
| Strand | Substrand | CDs | Elaborations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Communicating meaning in Chinese | Interacting in Chinese | 2 | 7 |
| Communicating meaning in Chinese | Mediating meaning in and between languages | 2 | 11 |
| Communicating meaning in Chinese | Creating text in Chinese | 1 | 7 |
| Understanding language and culture | Understanding systems of language | 3 | 18 |
| Understanding language and culture | Understanding the interrelationship of language and culture | 1 | 7 |
| Total | 9 | 50 | |