Years 7-8 Syllabus
Years 7-8 Band Level Description
In Years 7 and 8, students are beginning their learning of Vietnamese language. This will be influenced by the extent of students’ backgrounds and prior experiences of language learning. Students use Vietnamese to describe their personal worlds and interact and collaborate with teachers and peers within and beyond the classroom. Background-language learners may also interact in Vietnamese within their family and in their local community. Listening, speaking, reading and viewing, and writing activities are supported by modelling, scaffolding and feedback as required. Background-language learners and second-language learners may work collaboratively to facilitate learning.
Students access authentic and purpose-developed spoken, written and multimodal resources which may include traditional and contemporary stories, conversations, audio and video clips, textbooks, advertisements, blogs and magazines. Background-language learners may source texts and other resources from their local community to share with peers. Students use their English and/or Vietnamese literacy knowledge of metalanguage to reflect on similarities and differences between Vietnamese and English language pronunciation, structures and features. They understand differences between using the Roman alphabet in Vietnamese and English, including the use of tone marks and how they affect pronunciation and meaning. They recognise that language choices reflect cultural identity, beliefs and values.
Years 7-8 Achievement Standard
By the end of Year 8, students use Vietnamese language to interact and collaborate with others, and to share information and plan activities in familiar contexts. They respond to others’ contributions, and recognise familiar gestures, questions and instructions in exchanges. They recognise relationships between spoken and written forms. They locate and respond to information in texts and use non-verbal, visual and contextual cues to help make meaning. They respond in Vietnamese or English, and demonstrate understanding of context, purpose and audience in texts. They use familiar language, and modelled sentence and grammatical structures to create texts.
Students approximate tones, pronunciation and intonation in spoken Vietnamese. They demonstrate understanding that Vietnamese has conventions and rules for non-verbal, spoken and written communication. They comment on aspects of Vietnamese and English language structures and features, using metalanguage. They demonstrate awareness that the Vietnamese language is connected with culture and identity, and that this connection is reflected in their own language(s), culture(s) and identity.
Years 7-8 Content Descriptions
Interacting in Vietnamese
interact with others using modelled language to exchange information in familiar contexts about self and personal worlds
- greeting and farewelling others and expressing states of wellbeing, appreciation and wishes, using formal or informal language appropriate for peers, teachers and family members, for example, Chào thầy/cô. Bạn khỏe không? Tôi khỏe. Cám ơn. Còn bạn thế nào? Chúc mừng sinh nhật. Chúc mừng năm mới.
- introducing themselves, family members or possessions, for example, Em tên là Nam. Em mười hai tuổi. Em học lớp bảy, trường trung học Newford. Em ở Green Fields. Gia đình em có bốn người. Ba em là giáo viên. Đây là anh Trung/chị Lan/ba mẹ em. Đây là thầy/cô của em.
- discussing plans and daily routines, for example, Bạn tôi rất tốt. Cuối tuần bạn làm gì? Tôi đi chợ với gia đình.
- exchanging information with peers in face-to-face and secure online conversations about their personal interests, for example, Bạn thích ăn món gì? Bạn thích uống gì?
- expressing likes, dislikes and preferences, for example, Tôi thích ăn cơm. Tôi không thích uống nước ngọt.
- using some expressions and spontaneous exclamations when interacting with peers, to show interest and comprehension and to fill pauses, for example, Hay lắm! Được rồi!
- exchanging emails and posts on secure shared websites or secure personal blogs that highlight school, home or social life activities
- exchanging information about special events or special community celebrations, for example, Bạn sẽ mua món quà gì cho ba của bạn trong Ngày Nhớ Ơn Cha? Bữa tiệc sinh nhật của tôi là tuần tới. Bạn đã thăm ai trong kỳ nghỉ?
develop language to interact in exchanges, routines, tasks and responsibilities related to classroom and interests
- expressing opinions on classwork and school life, for example, Giờ học tiếng Việt rất vui. Buổi đi cắm trại rất thú vị. Nhà vệ sinh rất sạch. Căn-tin có đồ ăn ngon.
- requesting help or support, for example, Bạn cho tôi mượn viết chì. Xin cô giúp em.
- participating in classroom exchanges by asking and responding to questions about school life, subjects, teachers and friends, for example, Bạn mới tên gì vậy ? Bạn thích học môn gì? Khi nào có giờ toán? Bạn làm bài xong chưa? Xong rồi/Chưa xong.
- developing language appropriate to classroom routines such as responding during roll call, for example, Chào thầy/cô... Dạ có mặt /Dạ bạn Nam vắng mặt
- following instructions, for example, Xếp hàng. Vào lớp. Mở tập ra. Đứng lên. Ngồi xuống. Im lặng.
- asking for permission and making apologies, for example, Thưa cô cho em đi vệ sinh, Xin lỗi cô, em tới trễ
- using repair strategies such as asking for repetition or specific details of tasks and expressing lack of knowledge, for example, Xin lỗi, bạn vừa nói gì? Xin lỗi, bạn lặp lại được không?
- using active listening and turn-taking strategies, such as Bạn có đồng ý không?
engage in modelled non-verbal, spoken and written exchanges with peers to organise activities relating to daily life and school environment
- planning home and school events, such as a Moon festival/Lantern festival/Children’s festival, a birthday party or group presentation, and exchanging information about date, time, place, activities and participants, for example, Khi nào là sinh nhật của bạn? Sinh nhật của tôi là thứ Bảy 23 tháng 10 lúc 7 giờ tối. Ba ơi, chủ nhật này là Tết Trung Thu. Mấy giờ mình đi chơi? Mười một giờ sáng.
- making real or simulated transactions such as purchasing goods, ordering food or requesting services, for example, Xin lỗi, cô cần gì? Cái áo này bao nhiêu tiền? Có số nhỏ/lớn hơn không? Vé xe lửa đi City bao nhiêu tiền?
- collaborating to create displays, presentations or performances for family, friends or school community, to showcase Vietnamese learning, such as singing a song in Vietnamese or reciting a poem, for example, Xin chào Vietnam, bài thơ Tôn Trọng
- participating in a real or simulated outing to a Vietnamese restaurant, such as discussing the menu, food and drink preferences with friends and ordering in a culturally appropriate way, for example, Bạn muốn ăn món gì? Cơm chiên. Bạn muốn uống nước dừa hoặc nước lạnh? Nước dừa.
- contributing to a secure school-created blog site to communicate with other students learning Vietnamese, and sharing ideas to plan and organise a Vietnamese cultural day at school
- planning and participating in activities that combine language and cultural elements, such as an excursion to a Vietnamese exhibition, film festival, performance or community event
Mediating meaning in and between languages
locate and process information and ideas in familiar spoken, written and multimodal texts, responding in ways appropriate to cultural context, purpose and audience
- locating and summarising information from a range of sources, such as notices, results of class surveys, announcements and reports, and using tools such as tables, charts and concept maps to organise and sequence information
- gathering information about aspects of Vietnam, for example, weather, vegetation, wildlife or popular foods and drinks, and using the information in new ways, for example, creating a poster or multimodal presentation to promote travel to Vietnam
- comparing details from a range of texts about special occasions and ceremonies, and discussing culture-specific terms and representations, for example, how Tết is celebrated in Vietnam and Australia
- listening to, reading or viewing First Nations Australian authors’ stories in English and responding to them in spoken or written Vietnamese
- listening for key facts in short spoken or recorded texts, such as phone messages, announcements or television advertisements, transposing them to note form, and communicating to others
- identifying and describing settings, characters, events and key ideas in imaginative texts by asking and responding to questions such as ở đâu? khi nào? ai? and làm gì? or by producing a profile of a character or a timeline of events
- reading and viewing imaginative texts such as folktale stories, legendary films and Vietnamese photo series, and performing scenes that illustrate aspects of the characters’ attitudes, personality or reactions, the story’s ending or the writer’s messages
- illustrating an extract from a text by selecting images such as a picture, colour, symbol or emoticon to reflect the content, mood or key message of the text, and explaining the reasons for selections
- listening to Vietnamese versions of English-language songs, for example, Chúc Mừng Sinh Nhật, Xin chào Vietnam, and comparing aspects of each version, such as language use and cultural representations
- interpreting the actions and behaviours of characters in multimedia texts such as cartoons, video clips or films (without listening to the original scripted dialogue) to imagine the text content and participants’ relationships, and creating the imagined conversations between participants
- interviewing family or local Vietnamese-speaking community members, or using secure online resources to research aspects of Vietnamese cultural practice, history and natural environment, for example, cúng ông bà, cúng giao thừa, tourist attractions such as Vinh Hạ Long, phố cổ Hội An and using this information in their own short reports
develop and begin to apply strategies to interpret, translate and convey meaning in Vietnamese in familiar contexts
- comparing translations of familiar texts such as children’s stories or advertisements and considering whether meaning can be changed or lost in the translation process
- identifying words or phrases that are difficult to translate, for example, food items such as bánh chưng, bánh tét, bánh xèo, phở, or traditional practices such as cúng ông bà, cúng giỗ, coi ngày, coi tuổi, and explaining reasons for difficulty, such as lack of equivalent concepts or practices in Vietnamese and English
- learning to use bilingual dictionaries and electronic translation tools, and identifying issues such as multiple meanings of words and the need to consider context or grammar to select relevant meaning, for example, đá banh (kick the ball), nước đá (iced water), cục đá (stone)
- making and using bilingual resources for language learning, such as glossaries or personal Vietnamese-English and English-Vietnamese print or online flashcards or creating bilingual games
- comparing appropriate ways of communicating in Vietnamese and non-Vietnamese contexts, for example, using different titles to address a teacher by their first name in Vietnamese but by their family name in English, for example, Thầy Tùng/ Mr. Nguyen, Cô Hoa/ Ms Tran
Creating text in Vietnamese
create spoken, written and multimodal, informative and imaginative texts using appropriate vocabulary, expressions, grammatical structures, and some textual conventions
- presenting a report in multimodal or digital form using graphics to support meaning, such as a report about personal interests or experiences, for example, their favourite music, singer, film, book or holiday
- producing a poster or a digital brochure for a cultural event in Vietnam or Australia, such as hội chợ Tết, tết Trung thu or Harmony Day
- creating Vietnamese subtitles to match short video clips or descriptions for slideshow presentations of intercultural experiences such as going on an overseas holiday, attending a wedding ceremony, giving or accepting a gift, or for informing peers and school or local community about cultural events
- creating a print or digital poster in Vietnamese to promote travel to a significant cultural location on a First Nations Country/Place, including what to see and do
- creating a story in the form of a photo slideshow, using modelled language and speech bubbles, captions or other audiovisual aids to enhance effect
- creating the next scene, a new character or an alternative ending for a Vietnamese imaginative text such as a folk tale, short story, drama or film
- writing and performing scripted scenarios that involve challenging situations or intercultural encounters, using gestures, expression and props to build mood and explore relationships and emotions
- composing songs, jingles, posters or video clips to promote real or imagined Australian products for a Vietnamese market
- participating in and performing for the class an imagined dialogue between characters from a story
- mapping their own linguistic and cultural profiles, for example, by creating a family tree or a secure web profile to highlight formative elements such as family languages, key relationships and intercultural experiences
Understanding systems of language
recognise and use features of the Vietnamese sound system, including tones, rhythm, pronunciation and intonation, and demonstrate understanding of how these are represented in familiar contexts
- exploring the Vietnamese alphabet, identifying letters that have no equivalent in the English alphabet, such as ă, â, ê, ô, ơ, ư and đ, and letters that have no equivalent in the Vietnamese alphabet, f, w, z
- reading, listening to and reproducing Vietnamese words with different tone markers, recognising that Vietnamese is a tonal language, and understanding that tone changes affect the meaning of a word, for example, ma (ghost), mà (but/that), má (mother), mả (grave), mã (horse), mạ (rice seedling)
- recognising that Vietnamese has different regional accents such as Northern, Central and Southern Vietnamese, for example, má/mẹ, ba/bố, dứa/thơm/khóm
- identifying similarities in pronunciation in Vietnamese borrowed words from different countries such as ga ra, tivi, video, phim, bò bít tết, xà phòng
- identifying words with the same syllables, including monophthongs, diphthongs and triphthongs, for example, đi thi, nho nhỏ, đo đỏ, ngày nay, máy bay, cười tươi, and developing awareness of sound-letter relationships and Vietnamese spelling rules
- differentiating between consonant blends that are pronounced similarly such as ch and tr, d and gi, s and x, for example, che chở versus trường học; đôi dép versus giữ nhà; cá sấu versus xấu quá
- using digital tools to check the correct pronunciation of Vietnamese and using voice-recording apps to check their own tone and intonation to develop fluency
develop knowledge of, and use structures and features of, the Vietnamese grammatical and writing systems to understand and create spoken, written and multimodal texts
- using punctuation conventions such as full stops, capital letters, exclamations marks and question marks
- applying Vietnamese spelling rules, including adding or changing initial consonants, vowels or tone markers to form new words, for example, ai, hai, cái, đi thi, hai tai, mười người, ba, no nê, nho nhỏ, gió to, tươi cười
- understanding and applying the rules of compound-word formation, for example, trường + học = trường học; xe + đạp = xe đạp, and using these rules to generate new words
- using adjectives in comparative and superlative forms, for example, già, trẻ, rộng lớn, nhỏ, chật, quan trọng, vui, buồn, mắc, rẻ, tốt, xấu and đẹp, đẹp hơn, đẹp nhất
- using conjunctions to join phrases and sentences, for example, Tôi và bạn, Bạn thích đi bơi hay đi xem phim? Tôi không thích đi bơi nhưng thích đi xem phim.
- expressing plural forms such as hai bạn, ba cái nhà, nhiều người
- using adverbs to modify verbs and adjectives, and to indicate time, for example, chạy nhanh, học giỏi, hát hay, đẹp lắm, hay quá, hôm qua, hôm nay, ngày mai, tuần rồi, tháng tới
- using simple sentence structures such as affirmative, negative and interrogative sentences, including closed and open-ended questions with ai, cái gì, gì, nào, ở đâu, for example, Tôi thích ăn cơm. Tôi không thích ăn cháo. Bạn thích ăn cơm không? Bạn thích ăn món gì? Lớp bạn ở đâu?
- recognising and using appropriate words for personal pronouns and terms of address for diverse speakers in different contexts, for example, con, cháu, em, tôi, ông, bà, anh, and chị can be used to indicate both first and second person depending on relationships
- using some honorific words to express courtesy, for example, dạ, dạ có, dạ không, thưa
- exploring and using synonyms, for example, đẹp = xinh; vui đùa = vui chơi, and antonyms, for example, tốt ≠ xấu; mới ≠ cũ; ngày ≠ đêm; nóng ≠ lạnh, tối ≠ sáng, mắc ≠ rẻ
- experimenting with the use of prepositions such as trên, dưới, trong, ngoài, ở giữa, bên trái, bên phải, for example, ở trên trời, ở trên bàn, ở dưới đất, ở nhà, ở thành phố, ở ngoài đường
- recognising possessive cases using formation of noun + pronoun/noun or của, for example, ba mẹ của tôi, anh/chị của tôi, nhà/trường/lớp của tôi
- understanding and describing past, current and future events using appropriate terms for time expressions such as đã, sẽ, đang, chưa, rồi, for example, Tôi ăn rồi. Tôi đã ăn sáng rồi. Tôi sẽ ăn sáng lúc chín giờ. Tôi chưa ăn sáng. Tôi đang ăn sáng.
compare Vietnamese language structures and features with English, using familiar metalanguage
- discussing aspects of grammar, using metalanguage in Vietnamese or English, for example, danh từ/noun, động từ/verb, tính từ/adjective/, chủ ngữ/subject, vị ngữ/predicate
- identifying the audience and purpose of short familiar texts in Vietnamese and English, such as messages, notes, signs, instructions, personal emails/letters, advertisements, announcements, recipes, legendary stories and songs, for example, Xin Chào Việt Nam, Chúc Mừng Năm Mới, chuyện Tấm Cám, Sơn Tinh Thuỷ Tinh
- recognising structural features of familiar personal, informative and imaginative Vietnamese and English texts, for example, the date on diary entries and letters, titles for stories, and greetings in emails or conversations, for example, ngày …., tháng …, năm … nhật ký thân mến, Chào bạn, hẹn găp lại, sẽ viết tiếp cho nhật ký
- understanding that personal pronouns in Vietnamese do not change according to their grammatical function as in English, for example, Anh ấy biết tên tôi (He knows my name), Tôi biết anh â (I know him), Kim đã giúp tôi (Kim helped me)
- exploring and using pluralisation of nouns, for example, hai cái áo and các/nhiều/những căn nhà, making connections and comparisons between Vietnamese and English
- understanding the position of nouns and adjectives in Vietnamese compared with English, for example, một học sinh giỏi versus ‘a good student’
- discussing ways in which different grammatical elements are used for different textual purposes, for example, the use of imperatives in a set of instructions such as Đứng lên. Ngồi xuống. Mở tập ra. Nghe và lặp lại and comparing this with English
- translating information such as menus, school timetables, directions, and school and public signs or notices, and recognising and explaining similarities and differences in language structures, for example, cơm chiên (fried rice), trạm xe lửa (train station), Ngày Làm Sạch Nước Úc (Clean Up Australia Day)
Understanding the interrelationship of language and culture
recognise how identity is shaped by language(s), culture(s), attitudes, beliefs and values
- discussing how language reflects cultural concepts and values, for example, the importance of seeking agreement and compromise as reflected in the way Vietnamese people express disagreement such as Tôi không nghĩ vậy, or the importance of respect as seen in the way Vietnamese-speaking people address those more senior to themselves using dạ/dạ có/ chào Cô/ Thưa thầy
- understanding that languages and cultures change continuously in response to new ideas, social change and technological development and finding examples of this in Vietnamese and English, such as phrases and concepts that have been created as a result of contact with other cultures, for example, kimono, koala, sushi, pizza, pasta, bánh mì, hamburger, fast food
- examining the influence of Vietnamese culture on gestures, tone and word choices in social interactions, for example, understanding that chú, bác indicates informality when addressing an unrelated person and that this reflects the value of family in Vietnamese culture
- examining, in Vietnamese or English, how First Nations Australians’ languages have strong connections to Country/Place and how these can be compared with language variation across Vietnamese-speaking communities
- recognising the influence of English language and culture on own Vietnamese language use, including writing Vietnamese names such as Lan Nguyen instead of Nguyễn Thanh Lan
- discussing how values such as politeness, affection or respect are conveyed in Vietnamese, for example, by comparing interactions in their family with interactions they observe in non-Vietnamese-speaking families, and the use of terms of affection such as dễ thương, đáng quí