ABOUT THE CHALLENGE
The South Australian Chinese Spelling & Literacy Challenge is a statewide academic competition that celebrates excellence in Chinese language learning and literacy.
This inaugural event aims to:
Promote Chinese literacy and accurate character writing
Strengthen vocabulary development and linguistic accuracy
Encourage students to deepen their understanding of the Chinese language and culture
Recognise outstanding student achievement across South Australia
PRIZES
Certificates and prizes will be awarded to the highest-achieving students in each year level and language background category.
DIVISIONS AND LANGUAGE CATEGORIES
The competition is open to students from schools across South Australia in the following divisions:
Primary Division: Years 3–6
Middle Years Division: Years 7–9
Senior Division: Years 10–12
Students will compete in one of the following language background categories:
Second Language
Background Language
First Language
Competition groupings may be adjusted according to entry numbers to ensure a fair and balanced competition.
COMPETITION FORMAT
Round 1 – School-Based Preliminary Round
A written Chinese spelling and literacy assessment
Conducted at participating schools
The highest-achieving students will advance to the State Final
Round 2 – State Final
A live Chinese spelling challenge
Literacy tasks involving word recognition, character writing and contextual language use
A Grand Final round for the highest-scoring participants
COMPETITION CONTENT
The Challenge may include:
Listening to words or sentences and writing the correct Chinese characters
Converting pinyin into Chinese characters
Identifying word meanings
Demonstrating accurate character formation and stroke structure
Completing short literacy and reading comprehension tasks
Applying vocabulary appropriately in context
Recommended vocabulary ranges and task difficulty will be aligned, where appropriate, with relevant Australian Curriculum requirements and adjusted according to year level and language background category.
Challenge Information by Year
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The 1st SA Chinese Chinese Spelling & Literacy Challenge 2026
Event Coordinators |
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Categories | Category One: Chinese Second Language Learner Category Two: Background Language Learner Category Three: First Language Learners of Chinese |
Challenge Date | Friday, 6 November 2026 (Week 4 Term 4) |
Entry fee | Free entries. |
Participant Limit | Each school may enter a maximum of three students in each division and language background category. |
Registration | Friday, 16 October 2026 (Week 1 Term 4) |
Prizes, Awards and Recognition | Certificates and prizes will be awarded to outstanding participants based on their performance in each division and language background category. PRIZES, AWARDS AND RECOGNITION Individual awards may include:
A Best Performing School Award may also be presented to recognise the school demonstrating the strongest overall performance across the competition. The number and type of awards presented may be adjusted according to the number of entries in each competition category. |