Jessica Paardekooper

Chinese is a relatively new subject in Dutch secondary education. A pilot programme began in 2010, when only about 20 students took the final examination. Since then, the subject has gradually expanded to around 30 schools, with approximately 260 students taking the exam each year. Since then, the subject has not shown significant growth, but considerable effort has been invested in standardising proficiency levels and assessment. Together with teachers from the China Network coordinated by Nuffic, we have been developing assessment materials at the A1 and A2 levels. At present, the Netherlands is undergoing a broader reform of secondary school curricula across all subjects. Chinese is also part of this revision. In my presentation, I would like to explain the new examination criteria and present examples of the newly developed assessment materials.