All About Cambridge IGCSE Hindi as a Second Language

 

IGCSE or the International General Certification of Secondary Education, as the name suggests is one component of the Cambridge Course way and is an English language-based examination and is developed by the University of Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE). The Cambridge IGCSE is internationally recognized and accepted by qualified students in the age group of 14-16 years.

CAIE and Pearson Edexcel are the two boards offering the IGCSE examination. The schools have the privilege to choose the board through which they want to offer the IGCSE.

Cambridge IGCSE offers more than 70 subjects including 30 languages and Multiple languages aiming to include students from multi-linguistic backgrounds. The curriculum allows the students to pick a minimum of 5 but at most 14 subjects. Core subjects for the IGCSE include

• First Language
• Second Language
• Mathematics
• One or multiple subjects in Science

Students can choose subjects like Social Sciences, Arts, and Technology among others. The curriculum is quite flexible and aims to develop the student’s knowledge, understanding, and skills in

• Intellectual Enquiry
• Appreciating change in general and responding accordingly
• Interaction and Communication in English
• Cultural Awareness
• Subject content
• Application of the knowledge and understanding of to new and familiar scenarios

The high scores on the IGCSE not only give the student an international education certificate but also give other benefits too:

• Helps the students to transit to other curriculums smoothly
• World recognized certificates, enabling opportunities for higher education in abroad countries
• High job opportunities

Cambridge IGCSE Hindi as a second language is curated for students who already have a practical understanding of the language and who want to reinforce their understanding for higher education or career opportunities.

During the course of their study, the students get a better hand on how to use Hindi in different types of situations and Hindi – speaking environments, they come across in their daily lives.

The syllabus focuses on the four language skills reading, listening, speaking, and writing.

The aims of the syllabus focus on

• Developing the usage of the Hindi language in real circumstances
• Developing a strong foundation required for further studies or employment where Hindi is used as a medium of communication
• Appreciating the nature of language and language learning skills
• Enhancing the usage of Hindi vocabulary
• Promoting the students’ personal development

 

Content Overview

Content is designed in a way that the students get the opportunity to enhance their practical communication skills in reading, listening, speaking, and writing skills in both written and spoken Hindi. They are able to understand and appreciate factual information and abstract ideas, choose relevant details, and understand what is directly stated or implied.

 

Assessment Overview

All the students choosing Hindi as their second language need to attempt two papers and have the option to take the third paper.

Marks for paper 3 do not contribute to the overall qualification grades. This paper is separately endorsed. When the students perform to the required standard, certificates record a grade from 1-5 separately, with I being the highest and 5 the lowest.

 

Subject Content

The skills covered in this subject are

 

Reading

• Understand the public notices and signs including timetables and advertisements
• Identify and point out appropriate details from a given text
• Select and arrange relevant information from a range of other texts of interest such as blogs, brochures, emails, webpages, and magazines
• Extract the ideas, opinions, and attitudes from a range of texts
• Understand what is implied rather what is not directly stated such as gist, writer’s purpose, and intention
• Summarize and draw conclusions in an extended piece of writing

 

Writing

• Articulate factual information, ideas, or arguments in a short and extended writing task in Hindi
• Respond to a given task by using the appropriate style/format for the required purpose and audience
• Use a range of grammatical structures, punctuation, and vocabulary
• Express opinions using the appropriate style
• Select and organize information and ideas into a coherent paragraph

 

Listening

• Understand the factual information from a range of given texts
• Identify the relevant information and select the correct details from a range of given sources
• Identify ideas and opinions from a range of sources and be able to connect them
• Understand what is not directly implied such as gist, purpose, intention

 

Speaking (Optional task)

• Communicate factual information, ideas and arguments
• Use a range of vocabulary and grammatical structures
• Arrange and connect ideas with the appropriate linking devices
• Give a clear presentation without a script
• Respond to questions on topics within a defined range
• Participate in a conversation and demonstrate when dealing with new ideas or responding to other speakers’ responses

 

Assessment Objectives (AO)

The assessment objectives are

 

AO1 Reading

• Ascertain and select relevant information
• Appreciate ideas, opinions and attitudes
• Understand the connections between ideas, opinions and attitudes
• Extract the gist, purpose and intentions which are usually not directly implied

 

AO2 Writing

• Articulate ideas/opinions/information clearly, accurately, and effectively in writing
• Arrange and organize the ideas into a coherent passage using various linking devices
• Use a range of vocabulary, grammatical structures correctly and effectively
• Demonstrate the control of punctuation and spelling
• Use the style/format relevant to the given purpose and audience

 

AO3 Listening

• Pinpoint and select the relevant information
• Appreciate the ideas, opinions, and attitudes
• Demonstrate the understanding between the ideas, opinions, and attitudes
• Understand the indirectly implied information such as purpose, intentions, gist

 

AO4 Speaking

• Communicate ideas, opinions clearly, accurately and effectively
• Develop responses and link ideas using various linking devices
• Use a range of vocabulary and grammatical structures accurately and effectively
• Demonstrate control of pronunciation
• Engage in a conversation and participate effectively to help move the conversation forward

 

Grading

Grades are allotted to the students in range A* – G, A* being the highest and G the lowest.

 

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