Considering to take IB Chinese but unsure of how it is assessed and how heavy are each assessment? Learn more about IB Chinese, the assessments and weightages with Tutopiya! This is what we are going to discuss today - Learning all about IB Chinese. Readers who does not have any idea of what is IB, it is International Baccalaureate. There are schools in Singapore that offers the IB curriculum.

How does IB work?

IBDP, also known as IB Diploma Programme, is for students aged 16 to 19 years old. It prepares students to be university or employment ready.

In the IBDP curriculum, there are 2 standards to a subject, also known as HL and SL. HL stands for Higher Level and SL stands for Standard Level.

Higher and Standard levels are differentiated by the recommended teaching hours, the depth of syllabus coverage and the level of difficulty and requirements of the assessment tasks and criteria.

 

Types of IB Chinese

Type	Who takes them?
Chinese A HL	Mostly taken by PRC scholars, also known as Literature in Chinese
Chinese B HL	Taken by a small group of local students, it is also like taking Literature in Chinese
Chinese B SL	Taken by the vast majority of local students. It is more similar to the level of Chinese offered in Singapore, no literature
Chinese ab initio SL	For students with little or no experience of the language

We will discuss more about Chinese B SL and Chinese ab initio SL since majority of the students takes Chinese B SL and ab initio

IB Chinese SL

Highest attainable grade is 7. The grades range is from 1 to 7, 1 being the lowest and 7 being the highest.

Syllabus outline

Syllabus component	Teaching hours
SL	HL
Part 1: Language in cultural context	40	40
Part 2: Language and mass communication	40	60
Part 3: Literature - texts and contexts	40	70
Part 4: Literature - critical study	30	50
Total teaching hours	150	240

 

Assessment outline

Assessment component	Total marks	Number of hours	Weightage
External assessment	65	3 hours	70%
Paper 1: Textual analysis The paper consists of 2 unseen texts Students write an analysis of one of these texts.	20	1 h 30 m	25%
Paper 2: Essay In response to one of six questions, students write an essay based on both the literary texts studied in part 3. The questions are the same as HL but assessment criteria are different	25	1 h 30 m	25%
Written task Students produce at least three written tasks based on material studied in the course Students submit one written task for external assessment - 800-1000 words in length + a rationale of 200-300 words.	20	-	20%
Internal Assessment	60	-	30%
Individual oral commentary Students comment on an extract from a literary text studied in part 4 of the course.	30		15%
Further oral activity Students complete at least two further oral activities, one based on part 1 and one based on part 2 of the course	30		15%

IB Chinese AB Initio

What is IB AB initio?

IB ab initio is a language course that is designed to provide students with the necessary skills and understanding for them to successfully communicate in an environment where the language studied is spoken.

Language ab initio is available at standard level (SL) only.

Who takes them?

The language ab initio course is a language acquisition course for students with little or no experience of the language.

This means a lot foreign students whose mother tongue is not Chinese are more likely to take IB Chinese ab initio.

Curriculum overview

Areas of study
Language - Receptive skills: ability to comprehend straightforward written and spoken language - Productive skills: ability to write and speak the target language effectively - Interactive skills: ability to understand and respond effectively to written and spoken language
Themes - Individual and society - Daily routines; education; food and drink; personal details; appearance and character physical health; relationships; shopping - Leisure and work - Employment; entertainment; holidays; media; sports; technology; transport - Urban and rural environment - Environmental concerns; global issues; neighbourhood; physical geography; town and services; weather
Texts Students are taught to understand and produce a variety of spoken, written and visual texts.

Assessment and Weightages

 

Type of assessment	Format	Time(hours)	Weighting of final grade (%)
External			75
Paper 1: Receptive skills	Understanding of four written texts. Text-handling exercises.	1.5	30
Paper 2: Productive skills	Two compulsory writing exercises. Section A: One question to be answered from a choice of two. Section B: One question to be answered from a choice of three.	1	25
Written assignment: Receptive and productive skills	A piece of writing, 200–300 words, in the target language carried out under teacher guidance.	2	20
Internal			25
Individual oral: Interactive skills	1. Presentation of visual stimulus 2. Follow-up questions 3. General conversation	10 minutes	25

 

Benefit of learning IB Chinese

New opportunities

One of the main driving forces for people to learn Chinese is because of the booming economy in China. We all know that China is a huge country with many opportunities as well as room for improvements. Over the last 35 years, China has grown from an impoverished third world country to the largest global economy.

China encourages foreign investment and economic cooperation. As such, there is a huge demand for people who can bridge the gap between this new growing China and the world.

 

Possessing the ability to speak fluent Chinese can also land you in attractive jobs. This is because people in the Western business world hardly has anybody who can speak both English and Chinese. Therefore, making you an attractive hire.

All in all, knowing how to speak and write Chinese fluently is a good skill to possess.

About Tutopiya

Tutopiya has recently introduced some new languages for the IB curriculum as well. Have a read! 

Tutopiya is a 1-1 Live Online Tutoring for students aged 8 to 18 years old. Our tutors are highly qualified and trained to teach the IB curriculum.

Sign up for a FREE 60 minutes trial in IB Chinese now! Our tutors are bilingual and experienced in teaching IB Chinese.

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