Chinese: Second Language Learner 7–10 Sequence / Levels 9 and 10 / Understanding / Systems of language
Content description
Relate prior knowledge of character form and function to infer information about sound and meaning of unfamiliar characters
Elaborations
analysing sequences of characters containing a common component or side to determine the features of form, function and predictability within the group, for example, explaining the features of position, phonetic function and range of sounds in the characters 请 清 情 晴 精 睛 猜
using understanding of familiar radicals and phonetic sides to estimate the sound and meaning of characters when reading aloud
describing characters to others by naming their components or sides in sequence, for example, ‘standing man’ (亻) on the left, ‘words’ (言) on the right ＝ 信
discussing the use of 繁体字 and 简体字 in Chinese-speaking communities today, including the revival of 繁体字 and the spread of 简体字 in diverse communities
recognising traditional characters encountered in their local Chinese communities and noting their simplified character version
exploring examples of types of simplifications and ways of associating traditional characters with known simplified forms, for example, whole simplifications (为-為), part substitutions (汉-漢) and half simplifications (说-說)
exploring the use of diverse character-morphemes to express similar ideas, for example, identifying multiple characters for ‘food’ (饭、菜、食、餐) and organising and classifying words containing these characters to understand their context of use
recognising the two-syllable preference in Chinese nouns and applying this understanding when reading texts
