Language EE? Chinese EE?

[crystal-star]

Hey guys! I'm starting IB this year, and I was thinking about ideas for EE. I'm pretty good at Chinese (I'm doing Mandarin B), so I was wondering whether it's worth doing my EE in a language. Do a lot of people do it?

[I`m Potato]

It is good that you are willing to take on the challenge to write in a foreign language. I guess it's not a popular choice within students but many people do it just to either get an easy way out (because they know the language well enough and do not want to spend lots of trouble writing an EE of another subject), or as a last resort when they cannot find a subject area which they can register their EE topic as.

I've been told that the IBO values Group 2 EEs because it demonstrates much skill in language ability in terms of integrating research skills and your fluency in the langauge, so there is no reason for you to not do it (unless you are not so sure of your abilities in Chinese, but surely I don't think it's the case for you since you sound quite determined to attempt on a Chinese EE).

Anyway, in a Chinese/Mandarin EE you can write about either the language itself (its development/history/lexicon etc.), the Chinese culture (film, music, drama, architecture, social phenomena/issue etc.), the Chinese language in relation to social aspects (how has the Chinese language evolved with new vocabulary suited to the new generations etc...) and literature (an analysis or a comparative analysis of Chinese text(s)). However, a helpful advice is that when you think of your EE topic, be very sure that you'll have access to ample primary/secondary sources in CHINESE to base your EE on (books, websites, videos, interviews etc.) and not other languages.

By the way, I did my EE on an analysis on the evolution of Taiwanese films in terms of their portrayal of the young Taiwanese society.

Edited January 6, 2011 by imopotato

[vira.may]

I wrote a group 2 language EE (I'm taking SL French B). I focused on a comparison of two works of French literature.

[peiyao]

Could you please send me your sample EE that you wrote in Chinese to my e-mail _______ please? Because I am writting an EE in Chinese but so far there is no teacher in my school that have supervised it and they do not have any sample essays.

It is good that you are willing to take on the challenge to write in a foreign language. I guess it's not a popular choice within students but many people do it just to either get an easy way out (because they know the language well enough and do not want to spend lots of trouble writing an EE of another subject), or as a last resort when they cannot find a subject area which they can register their EE topic as.

I've been told that the IBO values Group 2 EEs because it demonstrates much skill in language ability in terms of integrating research skills and your fluency in the langauge, so there is no reason for you to not do it (unless you are not so sure of your abilities in Chinese, but surely I don't think it's the case for you since you sound quite determined to attempt on a Chinese EE).

Anyway, in a Chinese/Mandarin EE you can write about either the language itself (its development/history/lexicon etc.), the Chinese culture (film, music, drama, architecture, social phenomena/issue etc.), the Chinese language in relation to social aspects (how has the Chinese language evolved with new vocabulary suited to the new generations etc...) and literature (an analysis or a comparative analysis of Chinese text(s)). However, a helpful advice is that when you think of your EE topic, be very sure that you'll have access to ample primary/secondary sources in CHINESE to base your EE on (books, websites, videos, interviews etc.) and not other languages.

By the way, I did my EE on an analysis on the evolution of Taiwanese films in terms of their portrayal of the young Taiwanese society.

Could you please send me your sample EE that you wrote in Chinese to my e-mail ______please? Because I am writting an EE in Chinese but so far there is no teacher in my school that have supervised it and they do not have any sample essays. Edited September 30, 2012 by Sandwich
Please don't give out email addresses publicly on the forum. Thanks.

[carpediem]

Not many people do Language B EEs (shown by the fact I'm the only one in my IB cohort doing one) because of the language barrier. If you feel that you'll be able to write it quite easily, then go ahead and do it! Just bear in mind that the EE doesn't mark you heavily on the language you use (e.g. if you use synonyms), which is different to the normal Language B syllabus), but instead on the argument you make. (BUT you are marked on the specific format you use, so write it as a formal essay).

Here is the EE guide, which has subject-specific EE guides in there: http://www.ibsurvival.com/files/file/311-09-onwards-ee-guide/

These are the types of Lang B EEs you can get: (as mentioned by I'm Potato)

• Category 1 (Language): "the essay should be specific analysis of the language (its use, structure and so on) normally related to its cultural context or a specific text"
  
• Category 2 (Culture and Society), Type A (essays of a sociocultural nature with an impact on the language): "the essay should be an analysis of a cultural nature that describes the impact of a particular issue on the form or use of the language"
  
• Category 2, Type B (essays of a general cultural nature based on specific cultural artefacts): "the essay should be an analysis of a more general cultural nature but specific to a country or community where the language is spoken. Topics that are too broad and could apply to many cultures (e.g. globalisation, death penalty or eating disorders) are inappropriate."
  
• Category 3 (literature): "the essay should be an analysis of a literary type, based on a specific work or works of literature exclusively from the target language... all texts must originally have been written in the target language"
  

Just warning you, if you do do Category 1, my supervisor advised me that it is difficult to do well. One of the EEs I've read (which didn't score that well) was in this category, and the person conducted their own survey about the language, which you could do if you wanted. Also, the majority of your sources have to be in the target language.

[kingprawn]

Mandarin EE's are very rare. Here is a sample EE though that received an A: http://ibpal.com/docs/mandarin-ee

[Sara Jog]

Hello again,

My extended essay is in good progress, but was just wondering whether images or attachments could be added while sending in the final draft of the assignment.

Cheers.