First year Chinese language unit, HMC101 & 102 Chinese 1A and 1B: oral task
Developed by Isabel Wang and Moira Cordiner
This criteria sheet was based on one developed and used by Isabel. She wanted to make the criteria match more closely to the learning outcomes, and to revise the
descriptors so they were more detailed and specific to the task. The original criteria sheet was too generic, although the students still found it useful.
Synopsis of the task and its context
The majority of students studying this subject have above average language skills — none are Chinese native speakers. The oral task requires students to create and
structure the content on a learned topic and then deliver this orally in Chinese. The topics are closely to students’ lives, e.g. family, study, university life. To do this,
they use basic knowledge of vocabulary and grammar, as well as pronunciation skills and communication strategies. Students are prepared with extensive
scaffolding in which their fluency and accuracy is gradually developed. They rehearse speaking Chinese with Isabel and with their peers (not the actual assessment
topic). As this is an introductory unit, the vocabulary and grammar is relatively simple and the emphasis is on talking naturally rather than from memory. Because
of this (and the students’ abilities), Isabel does not expect any students to fail— hence the NN standard has not been described on the criteria sheet.
Match between learning outcomes and criteria
Revised learning outcomes
On completion of this unit you should be able to:
Grammar
 apply knowledge of the basic elements of Chinese grammar to structure simple sentences.
Vocabulary
 demonstrate knowledge of the cultural and linguistic history of Chinese characters
 recognize and write approximately 300 basic Chinese characters
Task specific criteria
To complete this task, you should meet the following criteria:
 Content and structure
Knowledge
 demonstrate introductory knowledge of important aspects of the cultural, social and
political elements associated with Chinese language.
Pronunciation
 use knowledge of the Mandarin Chinese phonetic system to develop pronunciation habits
Communication Strategies
 use basic knowledge and communication strategies (expression, structure, fluency and
presentation skills) to create short oral and written sentences

Delivery
 Fluency
 Pronunciation
 Communication strategies
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First year Chinese language unit, HMC101 1A
criterion
HD
Content and
structure
Weighting 40%
Delivery
 fluency (10%)
 pronunciation
(10%)
 communication
strategies
(40%)
Weighting (60%)
oral presentation
DN
CR
Weighting 10%
PP
In your oral presentation, you:
In your oral presentation, you:
In your oral presentation, you:
In your oral presentation, you:
 logically structured the content by
correctly using:
 all of the prescribed grammatical
points (parts of speech, sentence
structures)
 a relevant and wide selection of
familiar learned topic vocabulary
 enriched the details by:
 varying the use of vocabulary and
grammar points
 adding relevant vocabulary
 confidently delivered an audible,
fluent and easily comprehensible
speech with:
 logically structured the content by
correctly using:
 most of the prescribed grammatical
points (parts of speech, sentence
structures)
 a relevant selection of familiar
learned topic vocabulary
 added relevant vocabulary
 structured the content by correctly
using:
 at least half of the prescribed
grammatical points (parts of
speech, sentence structures)
 a relevant selection of familiar
learned topic vocabulary
 occasionally referred to notes or a
script
 partially structured the content by
correctly, for the most part, using:
 a few of the prescribed
grammatical points (parts of
speech, sentence structures)
 a relevant, but small, selection of
familiar learned topic vocabulary
 relied heavily on notes or a script
 delivered an audible, mostly fluent
and comprehensible speech with:
 delivered an audible and halting
speech (that had even and some
uneven sections) making it mostly
comprehensible with:
 delivered an audible and halting
speech (that had many uneven
sections) making it partially
comprehensible with:
 few pauses, hesitations or
stumbles
 correct and clear pronunciation and
all tones suited the context
 few pauses, some hesitations or
stumbles
 correct and clear pronunciation and
most tones suited the context
 pauses, hesitations and stumbles
 pauses, hesitations and stumbles
 correct and clear pronunciation and
most tones suited the context
 correct and clear pronunciation and
some tones suited the context
 occasional non-native
pronunciation that did not interfere
with your delivery
 occasional non-native
pronunciation that did not interfere
with your delivery
 occasional non-native
pronunciation that did not interfere
with your delivery
 non-native pronunciation frequently
interfered with your delivery
 selected and used communication strategies that involved:
 selected and used communication
strategies that involved:
 controlling variations in pace and intonation to interest the audience and suit
the allocated time
 speaking with a mix of fast and
slow sections to finish in the
allocated time
 spoke either too fast or too slowly so
that you finished before or after the
allocated time
 making eye contact with the audience and using gestures to emphasise points
you made
 occasionally making eye contact
with the audience and using
gestures
 looked into the distance or at a fixed
point in the room rather than at the
audience
 listening and responding to all of the audience’s questions and giving
responses in full sentences.
 listening and responding to at least
two thirds of the audience’s
questions by giving answers that
were mostly correct, and in phrases
rather than full sentences.
 listened and responded to at least
half of the audience’s questions by
repeating them OR giving answers
that were partially correct OR
unrelated to the questions.
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