AC9LCH8C04 Year 7 Languages

AC9LCH8C04 – Year 7 Languages: Mediating meaning in and between languages

Strand

Communicating meaning in Chinese

Substrand

Mediating meaning in and between languages

This Content Descriptor from Year 7 Languages provides the specific knowledge and skills students should learn. Use it to plan lessons, create learning sequences, and design assessments that align with the Australian Curriculum v9.

Content Descriptor

interpret and translate non-verbal, spoken and written language to convey meaning in a range of familiar and unfamiliar cultural contexts

Elaborations

• identifying the challenges of translating some concepts such as 龙的传人 and 别客气, developing strategies to overcome these, and discussing ensuing questions such as, "What is lost in translation?", "Why can’t we just translate word for word?" and "Why does context matter?"
• understanding how to convert informal spoken language such as 你们都晓得 into formal register, to suit particular purposes and audiences, and experimenting with formal expressions such as 大家都知道 ..., 你们都知道 ...
• interpreting for visitors as appropriate, applying strategies such as clarifying and rephrasing to explain cultural concepts
• comparing choices of language and behaviours when communicating in Chinese and English, explaining the modifications they make and why, for example, being indirect when making refusals in Chinese-speaking contexts such as 是的，我不能保证。我可能会再看一遍。我也喜欢这个礼物，但是 ...or using both hands when giving something to show respect
• developing Chinese glossaries to accompany English texts, for example, 天气预报 (weather forecast), 关于自然的纪录片 (nature documentary), 卡通 (cartoon), 旅游博客 (travel blog) or 民间故事 (folktales)
• discussing and amending inaccurate translations of public signs or notices in China and in Australia, for example, 小心地滑 (carefully slide), 有害垃圾 (evil rubbish)
• using Chinese dictionaries to enhance understanding of subtle differences in how and when words are used, and applying this knowledge to interpret meanings in texts

Show 2 more elaborations

• composing bilingual texts, for example, menus for Chinese restaurants with footnotes in English, and public signs and notices for Chinese-speaking and Australian contexts, paying attention to aspects of culture
• reflecting on and explaining which words, expressions or gestures should or should not be used when interacting with Chinese speakers or speakers of other languages, for example, hugging someone when greeting or making or avoiding eye contact during conversation

Achievement Standard This Supports

This Content Descriptor contributes to the following Achievement Standard:

Year 7 ASLANCHIBLLF-1Y78

Year 7 Languages Achievement Standard

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, and expressions to create texts and apply Chinese script conventions in written texts. Students apply the conventions of spoken Chinese to develop fluency. They demonstrate understanding that spoken, written and multimodal texts use different language conventions, structures and features to convey meaning. They comment on structures and features of Chinese text, using metalanguage. They reflect on how Chinese language, culture and identity are interconnected, and compare this with their own language(s), culture(s) and identity.