A first language/mother tongue/native language is usually defined as the language a person has learned from birth or early childhood, if they were born and immersed in the language during youth, in a family where the adults shared a similar language experience as the child.
Second Language is usually used to refer to a language which is not a mother tongue but which is learned after the first language in a context where the language is used widely in the speech community. The term often refers to non-native speakers who are learning, for example, Chinese in a Chinese language environment.
The decision as to which qualification and syllabus a candidate should be entered for rests with the individual centre. This decision should be based on candidates’ level of competency in Chinese and their prior knowledge of Chinese at the point of starting the course. We strongly recommend that centres refer to the syllabus and specimen papers to gain an understanding of the different requirements of the different qualifications we offer in Chinese at IGCSE level.
The Assessment Manager has advised that we offer IGCSE First Language Chinese (0509) and also IGCSE Second Language Chinese (0523) which may be more appropriate for a Chinese national. However, it is a decision for the centre to decide which qualification they wish to en[CT1] [SF2] ter candidates for.
[CT1]Lucy Nuthall has remarked this is a pretty common question, the wording is taken from ticket #2054189. Similar tickets inlclude:
#2096030
#1663123
Could we add this?
[SF2]This is good. Thank you
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