Assessment and reporting in Chinese and Literature
Assessment for Chinese and Literature provides information to support learning and reporting of performance. Find out about assessment requirements and the structure of the HSC exam.
School-based assessment requirements
Schools are required to develop an assessment program for each Year 11 and Year 12 course. NESA provides information about the responsibilities of schools in developing assessment programs in course-specific assessment and reporting requirements and in the Assessment Certification Examination (ACE) rules and requirements.
Schools are required to submit to NESA a grade for each student based on their achievement at the end of the course.
Teachers use professional, on-balance judgement to allocate grades based on the Common Grade Scale for Preliminary courses.
Teachers consider all available assessment information, including formal and informal assessment, to determine the grade that best matches each student’s achievement at the end of the course.
See ACE (Assessment, Certification and Examination rules and requirements) for further information.
Assessment programs must reflect course components and weightings
The course components and component weightings for Year 11 are mandatory.
| Course component | Weighting |
|---|---|
| Listening | 20% |
| Reading | 40% |
| Speaking | 10% |
| Writing | 30% |
Schools may determine specific elements of their assessment program
Schools have authority to determine the number, type of task and the weighting allocated to an assessment task. Schools may also follow the sample assessment programs provided by NESA.
Sample assessment program
NESA’s sample Year 11 formal school-based assessment program for Chinese and Literature includes:
- 3 assessment tasks, including:
- a formal written exam.
The recommended weighting for any individual task is 20% to 40%.
NESA requires schools to submit a school-based assessment mark for each Year 12 candidate in a course. Formal school-based assessment tasks should reflect the syllabus outcomes and content. The mark submitted by the school provides a summation of each student’s achievement measured at several points throughout the course.
A school’s program of school-based assessment includes both mandatory and non-mandatory elements.
See ACE (Assessment, Certification and Examination rules and requirements) for further information.
Assessment programs must reflect course components and weightings
The course components and component weightings for Year 12 are mandatory.
| Course component | Weighting |
|---|---|
| Listening | 20% |
| Reading | 40% |
| Speaking | 10% |
| Writing | 30% |
Schools may determine specific elements of their assessment program
Schools have authority to determine the number, type of task and the weighting allocated to an assessment task. Schools may also follow the sample assessment programs provided by NESA.
Sample assessment program
NESA’s sample Year 12 formal school-based assessment program for Chinese and Literature includes:
- 4 assessment tasks, including:
- a minimum weighting for an individual task of 10%
- a maximum weighting for an individual task of 40%
- a formal written exam with a maximum weighting of 30%.
Formal written exam
This task may assess a broad range of course content and outcomes. Schools may choose to replicate the timing and structure of the HSC exam.
HSC exam specifications
The external HSC exam measures student achievement in a range of syllabus outcomes.
The external exam and its marking relate to the syllabus by:
- providing clear links to syllabus outcomes
- enabling students to demonstrate the levels of achievement outlined in the performance band descriptions
- applying marking guidelines based on criteria that relate to the quality of the response
- aligning performance in the exam each year to the standards established for the course.
Exam questions may require candidates to integrate knowledge, understanding and skills developed through studying the course.
The exam will consist of a written paper worth 100 marks.
Written paper (100 marks)
Time allowed: 3 hours including 10 minutes reading time.
The stimulus texts and the writing tasks will relate to the contemporary issues listed in the syllabus.
All questions will be phrased in English and Chinese.
Monolingual and/or bilingual print dictionaries may be used.
This paper will consist of 3 sections.
This section will consist of 2 parts.
Part A (10 marks)
- There will be one question based on an aural text in Chinese.
- The text will be read twice. There will be a 2-minute pause between the readings, and a 12-minute pause following the second reading to allow candidates to answer the question.
- The total time for one reading of the text will be approximately 3 minutes.
- The question will contain short-answer parts requiring a response in English, and may contain objective response parts.
- There will be no more than 4 parts.
- One part will be worth from 5 to 6 marks.
- Candidates will be required to respond to information in the text in one or more of the following ways: providing a summary of the main points, ideas, arguments or points of view; analysing ways in which language is used to convey meaning; or identifying the audience, purpose and context of the text.
Part B (10 marks)
- There will be one extended response question requiring a response in Chinese.
- The question will be based on 2 aural texts in Chinese related to the same contemporary issue.
- The texts will be read twice. The texts will be read in sequence and there will be a 2-minute pause between the readings and a 20-minute pause following the second reading of both texts to allow candidates to answer the question.
- The total time for one reading of both texts will be approximately 4 minutes.
- The question will specify the audience, purpose and context of the response.
- The expected length of response will be approximately:
- 150 words in Indonesian and Korean
- 200 characters in Chinese
- 300 ji in Japanese.
This section will consist of 2 parts.
Part A (40 marks)
- There will be 2 questions requiring responses in either Chinese or English.
- The first question will contain approximately 4 parts, with at least one part worth from 5 to 7 marks, and will relate to an extract from one of the prescribed texts. The length of the extract will be:
- up to 500 words in Indonesian and Korean
- up to 600 characters in Chinese
- up to 1000 ji in Japanese.
- Candidates will be required to identify, discuss and analyse the content, context and/or language of the extract.
- The second question will have a mark value from 15 to 25 marks, and will require an extended response. The question will relate to one of the prescribed themes or contemporary issues. Candidates will be required to evaluate the textual features of one or more of the related prescribed texts:
- The expected length of response will be from approximately:
- 300 to 400 words in Indonesian and Korean
- 350 to 450 characters in Chinese
- 600 to 800 ji in Japanese.
Part B (15 marks)
- There will be one extended response question requiring a response in Chinese.
- Candidates will be required to respond to the opinions, ideas and information in a text of approximately:
- 250 words in Indonesian and Korean
- 300 characters in Chinese
- 500 ji in Japanese.
- The question will specify an audience, purpose and context.
- The expected length of response will be approximately:
- 300 words in Indonesian and Korean
- 350 characters in Chinese
- 600 ji in Japanese.
- There will be 2 extended response questions requiring a response in Chinese.
- Candidates will be required to answer one question.
- Questions will specify the audience, purpose and context for the response, and will require the same text type.
- The expected length of response will be approximately:
- 350 words in Indonesian and Korean
- 400 characters in Chinese
- 700 ji in Japanese.