w
ap
eP
m
e
tr
.X
w
om
.c
s
er
MANDARIN CHINESE (PRINCIPAL
SUBJECT)
w
Cambridge Pre-U
9778 Mandarin Chinese Principal Subject June 2010
Principal Examiner Report for Teachers
Paper 9778/01
Speaking
General comments
There are two parts to this examination – Section 1 is a Prepared Topic and Topic Conversation and
Section 2 is a General Conversation. The Prepared Topic is marked out of 15 with 10 marks for
Content/Presentation and 5 marks for Language. The Topic Conversation and the General Conversation are
each marked out of 15 with 5 marks for Comprehension and Responsiveness and 10 marks for Accuracy
and Range of Language. In addition, 15 marks are awarded globally for Pronunciation/Intonation (5 marks)
and Feel for the Language (10 marks). This gives a total of 60 marks for the paper.
The Speaking test is the opportunity for the candidate to show the Examiner what s/he can do; the practice
and preparation before the examination with the candidate’s own teacher should focus on this.
For candidates taking Mandarin Chinese as a Principal Subject, the Speaking test is conducted by an
external Examiner with whom the candidate will not have spoken previously at any length. Examiners will try
to make it as clear as possible to candidates when they are moving from the Topic Conversation to the
General Conversation and also when they are moving between Topic Areas within the General Conversation
in order to support the candidates. Teachers should practise this approach with candidates before the
examination.
Candidates have time during the year to work on their Prepared Topic and should be able with practice to
present fairly fluently. This initial presentation by the candidate should last two minutes, but once the two
minutes have elapsed, and if the candidate shows no signs of concluding the presentation, s/he will be
interrupted by the Examiner so that the Topic Conversation can take place. Whilst tones and pronunciation
are not expected to be perfect, the presentation should be easily understood by a sympathetic native
speaker. Teachers get used to understanding their own candidates and making allowances for their errors,
but the Principal Subject candidate needs to be able to be understood by the visiting Examiner listening to
them as well. Candidates will score highly on the Prepared Topic when they also demonstrate good
preparation both in terms of the content of their presentation and the vocabulary and the structures used –
e.g. good use of conjunctions etc.
In the conversation sections, the Examiner will ask open-ended questions to which the candidate can
respond on a variety of levels, depending on ability. Teachers can prepare candidates for this; the Examiner
will play the part of the intelligent lay-person in the Topic Conversation and will of course be genuinely
interested to talk with the candidate about the Prepared Topic.
The Examiner will keep the flow of conversation going in as relaxed a manner as possible. Candidates need
to be prepared for straightforward questions, but also ones which will stretch them. As well as having a
conversation, they need to regard the examination as an opportunity to show the Examiner what they can
do, thus maximising their chances of good marks which are obtainable with a natural, responsive
conversation showing good use of vocabulary, structures and idiom. At this level, candidates should be
encouraged to get in the habit of developing their answers, even if they are asked a very straightforward
question.
The Speaking test is led by the Examiner and the aim is to create the conditions in which a genuine
interchange takes place, but with the candidate doing most of the talking. Therefore in the conversation
sections the Examiner will be as flexible as possible in their approach and will try to adapt questioning to the
candidate’s interests and line of thought. If a candidate has areas of a topic where s/he feels particularly
confident, s/he should try to respond to questions in such a way as to be able to demonstrate this to the
Examiner.
1
© UCLES 2010
Cambridge Pre-U
9778 Mandarin Chinese Principal Subject June 2010
Principal Examiner Report for Teachers
Cambridge Pre-U Mandarin Chinese is an examination for foreign language learners. Therefore, native
speakers of Mandarin who have a well-prepared topic may, in all likelihood, score maximum marks.
However, it is the standard required for the foreign language learner which will be borne in mind by the
Examiner as the testing and marking of candidates takes place.
Advice to Centres for preparation of future candidates
In the conversation sections Examiners will ask series of general, open-ended questions, designed to allow
candidates to talk freely. It is then up to the individual candidate to show what s/he knows and to
communicate his/her interest and knowledge to the Examiner, by presenting relevant facts, expressing ideas
and opinions and putting forward points for discussion. In order to access the higher mark bands, candidates
should take the opportunity to develop their responses rather than merely responding as briefly as possible
to the questions asked.
When choosing a topic for the Topic conversation, candidates are advised to consider carefully in what ways
a conversation about it might develop as if they cannot think of half a dozen questions they could be asked
about it, it is unlikely to present a fruitful source for discussion. Marks are awarded for the ideas and
opinions candidates express, and this may prove difficult if the topic chosen is very factual.
2
© UCLES 2010
Cambridge Pre-U
9778 Mandarin Chinese Principal Subject June 2010
Principal Examiner Report for Teachers
MANDARIN CHINESE (PRINCIPAL
SUBJECT)
Paper 9778/02
Listening, Reading and Translation
General comments
The content of the examination related clearly to the teaching syllabus in terms of the prescribed themes and
topics for Pre-U Mandarin Chinese and was of an appropriate level of difficulty. Candidates had been well
prepared by Centres and their performance was very strong to excellent. They had clearly been presented
at the level in the National Qualifications Framework appropriate to their level of ability.
Comments on specific questions
Section 1 – Listening
There were some excellent performances in this section of the paper. In particular, candidates should be
commended on the quality of their summaries for Exercise 4.
The identification of Pinyin with tones (Exercise 1) proved a little challenging: this may have been because it
was the first exercise on the question paper and candidates were still getting into their stride.
Section 2 – Reading
Overall, there were strong performances for the Reading section of the paper. There was some evidence
that candidates had been misled by the distractors when tackling Question 12.
Section 3 – Chinese sayings (Chengyu)
Candidates had clearly been well prepared for this section of the paper and performances were uniformly
excellent.
Section 4 – Translation
Pleasingly, candidates were able to respond with a high degree of accuracy and marks were high for this
section of the paper. However, candidates should be reminded that in some instances a literal rendering of
the words of the original can result in some loss or distortion of meaning. They should therefore get into the
habit of re-reading their work to check that what they have written (a) reads like correct English and (b)
conveys the meaning of the original text.
Advice to Centres for preparation of future candidates
Reading: in preparing candidates for the Reading section of the paper, Centres are reminded of the
importance of developing candidates’ dictionary skills, for example by providing candidates with sufficient
practice in using the prescribed dictionary so that they become familiar with the various features of the
dictionary and are able to find the information they need quickly and efficiently.
General: Centres are advised to familiarise candidates with the layout and the structure of the question paper
before they sit the live examination. CIE’s specimen question paper and the June 2010 question paper will
be very helpful in this respect.
3
© UCLES 2010
Cambridge Pre-U
9778 Mandarin Chinese Principal Subject June 2010
Principal Examiner Report for Teachers
MANDARIN CHINESE (PRINCIPAL
SUBJECT)
Paper 9778/03
Writing and Usage
General comments
Candidates’ performance on this paper was very pleasing. There are three parts to this examination –
Section 1 focuses on testing characters and usage, Section 2 is Letter-writing and Section 3 is an Opinion
Essay. Section 1 is marked out of 10 with 6 marks for the character question and 4 marks for the usage
question. The letter is marked out of 20 with 5 marks for Communication and 15 marks for Language (5 for
Accuracy of characters and 10 for Accuracy of grammar and structures). In Section 3, the Opinion Essay is
marked out of a total of 30 with 20 marks available for Accuracy and linguistic range and 10 marks available
for Development and organisation of ideas. This gives a total of 60 marks for the question paper.
Comments on specific questions
Section 1
Candidates scored very well on the exercise on radical and stroke order skills, but found the cloze test on
use of grammar markers, aspect markers and measure words more challenging. Candidates need to have
plenty of opportunity to practise this sort of cloze test before the examination.
Section 2 – Letter writing
Candidates wrote very pleasing letters applying to study Chinese on the summer programme at Beijing
Language and Culture University; they did well in starting and ending their letters appropriately. In order to
maximise their communication marks, they needed to cover each of the bullet points in the question.
To access the highest level of the Mark Scheme (i.e. 9 or 10 marks) for grammar and structures, candidates
needed to employ some more complex structures.
Section 3 – Opinion essay
Candidates responded well to this question. It is worth noting that the essay should have a clear introduction
and a conclusion and show development of ideas, as well as accuracy and linguistic range, in order to
access the highest mark bands. Questions are provided in both Chinese characters and English to ensure
that no misunderstandings arise from a misinterpretation of the question.
Advice to Centres for preparation of future candidates
It is important that all candidates, including those who are able to write very fluently, read the question
carefully and ensure that what they write focuses very precisely on the question asked and is not a general
response to the wider topic area.
4
© UCLES 2010
Cambridge Pre-U
9778 Mandarin Chinese Principal Subject June 2010
Principal Examiner Report for Teachers
MANDARIN CHINESE (PRINCIPAL
SUBJECT)
Paper 9778/04
Chinese Culture
General comments
Candidates are required to answer two questions for this paper, one from the Topics in Chinese Culture
section and one from the Chinese Literature and Film section. Each answer is marked out of 30 with a mark
out of 25 for content and a mark out of 5 for structure. In all cases, questions are open to interpretation; the
candidate needs to develop an analytical response to the question with clear, specific examples (not
generalized statements) to back up his/her argument. The Mark Scheme gives some indicative content for
the questions on the paper, but this is not intended to be prescriptive and is by no means exhaustive.
There were some very successful essays which demonstrated in-depth analysis backed up by specific
reference. In general, candidates seemed to find Section One – Topics in Chinese Culture – more
challenging than Section Two – Chinese Literature and Film.
Each essay should start with an introduction which should outline how the question is going to be tackled.
Subsequent paragraphs should develop a clear argument/line of thinking with specific, relevant examples to
illustrate the argument and essays should finish with a strong conclusion.
Essays should not be a list of facts. Candidates obviously need to have a lot of facts at their fingertips, but
then need to be in a position to manipulate those facts to demonstrate their deeper understanding and
analytical capability in response to the question. Organisation of material is vital and an appropriate style
should be used.
In order to be able to respond to these essay questions appropriately, candidates need to be exposed during
their studies to a range of commentaries/view points about a particular topic and to have had the opportunity
to discuss ideas with their teachers and other candidates to inform their interpretation of events or their
interpretation of a book or film. It is only this exposure to a variety of views that will give candidates the
ability to handle these essay questions with sufficient analysis.
Advice to Centres for preparation of future candidates
It is intended that the study of a Chinese text or film will give candidates a valuable insight into Chinese
culture and an understanding of the influences that have resulted in the China we see today. Despite the
unfamiliar settings, these texts/film reflect human experience and therefore give expression to ideas and
feelings we can all understand, which is reassuring to candidates. However, it is essential that candidates
are also aware of the ‘differences’ and therefore need an understanding of the historical and social
background of the works of literature/film studied, so that their interpretations are appropriate. For example,
in the case of Yellow Earth, candidates will need to have a good grasp not only of the history of the period in
which the film is set, but also of the context in which the film was made and released. The two sections of
the syllabus can be mutually supportive in this respect – for instance if candidates choose to study The
Founding of the PRC and Yellow Earth or Chinese Economic Trends since 1978 and Red Dust (to a lesser
extent).
5
© UCLES 2010