Course details

Summary

China is one of the world's oldest civilisations and in the 21st century, is the most heavily populated nation in the world, with over 1.3 billion people. Mandarin Chinese is the most widely spoken first language in the world. For the last few years China has been New Zealand's fastest growing market for international visitors.

By developing competency in the Chinese language, students will gain insight and access to Chinese culture. Understanding the society and culture of this historic yet modern nation is becoming increasingly important as China overtakes more traditional Western nations in terms of economic power, cultural relevance and international influence.

The GradDipArts is designed for graduates seeking to qualify for entry to postgraduate qualifications in arts, to change career direction, or to extend or upgrade their existing qualification/s.

Qualification structure and duration

Students normally take courses from the Bachelor of Arts (BA) schedule. They are required to pass courses totalling a minimum of 120 points; of these 90 points must be at 300-level, including 60 in a single subject. A maximum of 15 points towards the GradDipArts may be taken from subjects not in the BA schedule. Normally all courses would be from the same subject.

Further study

This qualification is an ideal pathway into postgraduate study.

Career opportunities

Learning about influential languages and cultures is advantageous for many careers around the world as graduates are increasingly required to be culturally competent, globally aware and ready to work internationally.

Career opportunities for graduates in Chinese include teaching Chinese in New Zealand schools, working in international trade, in tourism and related industries, for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and other government departments.

Recent UC graduates have become interpreters/translators, TESOL teachers, import/export brokers, secondary school teachers, policy analysts, tourism marketing officers and travel agents. Others have gone on to professions such as law, accounting, engineering and business in New Zealand, China and other Asian countries.

Entry criteria

Graduate diploma require a relevant bachelor's degree. If you gained your qualifications overseas, these will need to be assessed to ensure they are of an equivalent standard.

Other English language requirements: TOEFL PBT with a minimum score of 550 and TWE with a minimum score of 4.5; CCEL EAP Level 2 with a minimum C+ grade; CAE or CPE minimum score of 169 with at least 162 in reading, writing, listening and speaking; Pearson Test of English (Academic) - PTE with an overall score of 57 and no PTE communicative skills score below 50.