HSC Chinese Continuers (NSW) case studies
HSC Chinese Continuers (NSW) · Put your knowledge to work in context.
HSC Chinese Continuers is a New South Wales Higher School Certificate course and external examination for senior secondary students who have already studied Chinese as a second language and want to keep building it. It suits candidates who can handle everyday written and spoken Chinese but are not background speakers of the language; the syllabus is designed for learners with prior formal study rather than for students raised speaking a Chinese variety at home. The HSC Chinese Continuers (NSW) case studies are 5 cases and about 2,007 words.
1The Exchange Student Who Won't Speak
Lin Mei, a 17-year-old exchange student from Guangzhou, has been at a Sydney high school for four months. Her host report notes she is 'quiet in class but fluent with two Mandarin-speaking friends at lunch'.
474 words, about 2 min2Reading the Advert Behind the Advert
A Year 12 student is analysing a recruitment advertisement for a Chinese-language customer service role in Sydney. The Chinese text describes the company as 发展迅速 and 团队年轻有活力, offers 底薪加提成, and states 需能吃苦耐劳, 有责任心.
412 words, about 2 min3The Village Tourism Sign
A regional council wants to attract Chinese-speaking visitors to a heritage village. The draft bilingual sign reads, in Chinese: 欢迎来到我们的古老村庄，这里有很多历史，你可以看到以前的人怎么生活。 A community consultation raises three concerns: Chinese-speaking residents say the wording sounds like a school essay; a tourism operator says it gives no reason to visit; and a historian says '以前的人怎么生活' is vague and slightly condescending.
359 words, about 2 min4The Voicemail You Only Hear Once
A listening task plays a 90-second voicemail from a friend, Chen Hao, once only. In it he mentions: a change of plan for Saturday (meeting at 10:30 instead of 9:00 at the train station), that he has booked a table for four at a restaurant called 老地方, that one friend, Xiaoyu, cannot come because of a work shift, and that he will send the address by message but the listener should bring cash because the restaurant 不收卡.
379 words, about 2 min5Choosing the Right Register for a Complaint
A student must write a 250-character email in Chinese to a language school complaining that a promised homestay family was changed twice in the first month and that no one replied to two earlier emails. The assessment criteria reward appropriate register, clear statement of facts, a specific request, and a polite but firm tone.
383 words, about 2 min