Young Chinese Test (YTC)
1. Introduction
The new exam YCT was launched by Hanban, in a effort to encourage young foreign students to learn Chinese and to improve their sufficiency in such language. As a part of this effort, from the year 2004, Haban has called together experts of different fields such as Chinese language teaching, linguistics, psychology and educational mediation, to work on the programme, carrying out studies to know the lasts tendencies in the teaching and learning of Chinese abroad.
2. 1. The structure of the exam
The new YCT is a standardised international exam of sufficiency in the Chinese Language. The exam assess foreign young students’ skills so as to use Chinese in their daily and academic life. The new YCT consists on a written and spoken exam, which are independent between them. The written exam is divided into four levels, concretely, the *YCT (Level I), *YCT (Level II), *YCT (Level III) and *YCT (Level IV). The spoken exam is divided into *YCT (elementary level) and YCT (Intermediate level).
| Written exam | Oral exam |
|---|---|
| YCT (Level IV) | YCT (Intermediate level). |
| YCT (III level). | YCT (elementary level). |
| YCT (II level). | |
| YCT (I level). |
III. Exam levels
The different levels of the YCT are similar to some of the levels of the scale of the sufficiency of the Chinese language for speakers of other languages (CLIPS) and the Reference Framework of the European Union (CEF); the details are the following:
| New HSK | New YCT | Voluntary work | CLPS | CEF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HSK (Level VI) | More 5,000 to more | Level VI | C2 | |
| HSK (Level V) | 2,500 | Level V | C1 | |
| HSK (Level IV) | 1,200 | Level IV | B2 | |
| HSK (III level). | YCT (Level IV) | 600 | III level | B1 |
| HSK (II level). | YCT (III level). | 300 | II level | A2 |
| HSK (I level). | YCT (II level). | 150 | I level | A1 |
| YCT (I level). | 80 |
YCT level 1
Participants shall be able to address the *YCT (Level 1), may understand and use some of the most common sentences in Chinese and will have the capacity to carry on with their studies in the Chinese language.
| Exercises | Approximate time | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Listening comprehension | 10 minutes | 100 |
| Reading -15 question | 17 minutes | 100 |
| Total time (including the time to fill out the data on the exam sheet) | 35 minutes | 200 points total (Passed from 120 points) |
YCT level 2
Participants shall be able to address the *YCT (Level 1), may understand and use some of the most common sentences in Chinese and will have the capacity to carry on with their studies in the Chinese language.
| Exercises | Approximate time | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Listening comprehension | 15 minutes | 100 |
| Reading -20 question | 27 minutes | 100 |
| Total time (including the time to fill out the data on the exam sheet) | 50 minutes | 200 points total (Passed from 120 points) |
YCT level 3
Those participants who manage to pass the YCT (Level III) will have achieved an excellent Chinese level, and they will communicate in known quotidian topics in a simple way.
| Exercises | Approximate time | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Listening comprehension-35 questions | 20 minutes | 100 |
| Reading Comprehension -25 question | 30 minutes | 100 |
| Total time (including the time to fill out the data on the exam sheet) | 60 minutes | 200 points total (Passed from 120 points) |
YCT level 4
Participants who are able to pass the YCT (Level IV) may speak in Chinese in a basic level in their daily, academic and professional life. When they travel to China, they will be able to handle most form of communication in Chinese
| Exercises | Approximate time | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Listening Comprehension - 40 questions | 30 minutes | 100 |
| Reading Comprehension -30 question | 30 minutes | 100 |
| Writing expression- 10 question | 15 minutes | 100 |
| Total time (including the time to fill out the data on the exam sheet) | 85 minutes | 300 points total (Passed from 180 points) |
4. Exam levels
The new YCT’s main aim is strengthening Chinese language students’ confidence and follows the “exam-teaching correlation” principle. It is based on the exam level in accordance with the current tendencies in the international training of the Chinese language, and it is closely related to the learning procedures of texts books. The main purpose of this exam is “fostering training through exams” and “promoting learning through exams”.
5. Exam purposes
The YCT is addressed to primary and secondary education students whose mother tongue is not the Chinese language. The exam can have diverse purposes:
- Becoming a method for those Chinese learning students to assess and improve their efficiency in the language.
- Becoming a model for the Chinese language teaching in schools
- Becoming a method in order for the institutions that teach Chinese to assess the teaching outcomes.
- Becoming a landmark for those students willing to take part in the HSK exam.
6. Outcomes certification
Participants will be given the results of the new YCT, dispatched by Hanban, within the three subsequent weeks to the exam date.
