QCAA Chinese Extension key terms

The central idea or message a text develops, such as family duty, migration, or generational change, which a reader identifies and tracks across a whole work.

The writer's main point or purpose behind a text, distinct from its topic because it states what the writer wants the reader to accept or feel.

The circumstances surrounding a text: when and where it was produced, who it addresses, and what events or debates it responds to, which shape how meaning is made.

The customs, values, history, and social norms a text grows out of, which readers need in order to interpret references, allusions, and implied attitudes accurately.

The implied meanings a word, image, or practice carries within a particular culture, often invisible to outsiders but obvious to members of that culture.

An object, person, or action that stands for a larger idea beyond its literal meaning, such as a river representing continuity or separation in a narrative.

A concrete image built from sensory language that carries emotional or thematic weight, often repeated across a text to create atmosphere and unity.

Deliberate language techniques such as metaphor, repetition, rhetorical questions, or parallelism used to persuade, emphasise, or create aesthetic effect.

The category a text belongs to, such as essay, news report, short story, speech, or letter, each carrying its own conventions, register, and expected purposes.

The level of formality and the choice of vocabulary and grammar suited to a situation, ranging from colloquial speech to formal written Chinese.

How a text is organised, including its opening, development, transitions, and conclusion, and how this arrangement guides the reader's understanding.

What the writer aims to achieve through a text, such as informing, persuading, entertaining, or criticising, which readers infer from content, tone, and context.

How an intended audience is likely to interpret and respond to a text, shaped by their own background, values, and expectations.

A person's stated position on an issue, which may be explicit or implied and which a reader must identify before it can be evaluated.

The side a writer or speaker takes on a contested issue, often revealed through word choice, selection of evidence, and what is left unsaid.

The emotional or evaluative stance a writer takes toward a subject, ranging from approval and admiration to scepticism, irony, or disapproval.

The feeling conveyed by a text's language, such as serious, humorous, urgent, or nostalgic, produced through word choice, rhythm, and sentence length.

The main claim an argument sets out to establish, which the remaining reasoning and evidence in the text are designed to support.

The evidence offered to support a claim, including statistics, examples, expert opinion, personal experience, or comparison, each with different persuasive strength.

The reasoning that links evidence to a claim, showing why the evidence should lead the reader to accept the conclusion being advanced.

A leaning in favour of or against something that distorts fair judgement, often visible in one-sided evidence, loaded vocabulary, or omitted counterarguments.

A fixed preconceived view about a group or issue held without sufficient evidence, which resists revision even when contrary information appears.

An oversimplified generalisation applied to a whole group, frequently used in texts to signal attitudes and worth questioning when analysing representation.

Presenting information in a balanced, evidence-based way that separates fact from personal feeling and acknowledges differing viewpoints where they exist.

Reflecting personal feeling, judgement, or perspective rather than neutral observation, often signalled by evaluative adjectives and first-person framing.

A meaning suggested rather than directly stated, which readers infer from context, connotation, and implication, and which often carries the text's real attitude.

What a speaker or writer intends to convey beyond the literal words, frequently relying on shared cultural knowledge and situational context to be understood.

The two-way exchange of information, opinions, and feelings, requiring attention to purpose, audience, register, and appropriate response strategies.

Conveying ideas and feelings clearly and appropriately in Chinese, using suitable vocabulary, sentence patterns, and organisation for the audience and purpose.

An exchange in which participants offer, compare, and respond to different views on a topic, requiring turn-taking, agreement, disagreement, and follow-up questions.

Reaching agreement through discussion and compromise, involving proposing options, responding to objections, and adjusting one's position to find common ground.

Presenting information or a position clearly and in sequence, often in spoken or written form, with supporting detail and a logical structure.

Supporting a general statement with a specific instance, a common strategy in both spoken exchange and written argument to make ideas concrete.

Examining similarities and differences between ideas, texts, or cultures, often using paired structures in Chinese to highlight contrast and connection.

An extended piece of writing that advances and defends a position through claims, evidence, and reasoning, usually with a clear introduction, body, and conclusion.

An extended narrative piece recounting events, often with setting, character, conflict, and reflection, used to convey experience and attitude.

Words, sentences, or paragraphs that connect one idea to the next, giving extended writing coherence and guiding the reader through the argument.

The quality of a text in which ideas follow logically and link smoothly, achieved through cohesive devices, consistent reference, and clear progression.

Borrowing words or ideas from another source and acknowledging them, used in extended writing to strengthen claims while respecting intellectual honesty.

Reviewing a draft to improve accuracy, clarity, and style, checking grammar, word choice, and structure before submitting a final written response.