Enduring Understanding

This is the third part of a two-year course in Beginning Chinese. The dialect taught is Mandarin and the course is designed for students who have had little prior exposure to Chinese language.

The emphasis in this class is on building up vocabulary and sentence patterns in communicative contexts, and building a solid foundation in pronunciation. Students will expand their ability to carry out simple conversations in Chinese on a limited range of topics, such as campus and family life, social issues and aspects of Chinese culture. Reading and writing (using simplified or complex characters) will be more developed in conjunction with speaking and listening skills. Students will be expected to speak, read, and write all new words that appear in vocabulary lists in the main textbook unless otherwise noted by the instructor. The students will be exposed to a limited amount of slightly modified authentic materials. This may include menus of restaurants, the invitation letters or magazine articles.

 

 

Course Design

 

  • Lecture presentation.
  • Reading and interpretation of written material and in-class exercises, including discussion using that material.
  • Oral repetition to refine pronunciation.
  • Listening comprehension with tapes and DVDs.
  • In-class writing and translation drills.
  • Research project on cultural aspects of the Chinese-speaking-world.
  • Speech presentation, pair and group work about cultural aspects of China and other Mandarin-Chinese-speaking places and communities.
  • Film viewings and cultural discussions.


Additional Resources Needed


Required Textbooks:

Discovering Chinese Volume 3 Student Pack (Simplified) ISBN-13: 978-1-60603-272-5

Order number SP562 from

http://www.betterchinese.com/catalog.pdf

 

Required Technology:

  • Computer that meets the minimum system requirements listed on the Live Classroom page
  • Internet connection (Broadband preferred)
  • Headset with microphone combination
  • E-mail account (recommended)
  • Printer
  • Scanner or access to a fax machine (Your school should have this available for you
  • DVD Player (in PC or consumer player)
  • Web camera for computer (recommended
  • Writing tablet (recommended)- (Genius Mouse Pen 8x6 - $50; Bamboo [Small] Pen tablet with pen only - $70 - from Amazon.com)

 

Content Topics

 

Unit 1

Text: Dining

 

Unit 2

Text: At the Library

 

Unit 3

Text: Asking Directions

 

Unit 4

Text: Birthday Party

 

Unit 5

Text: Seeing a Doctor

 

Unit 6

Text: Dating

 

 

 

Key Skills

 

Listening

  • Listen to recordings of each lesson after studying the vocabulary list;
  • Do listening comprehension based on more mini-dialogues or solo narrations.

Speaking

  • Ask concrete, personal questions related to our daily lives. By stringing together short questions and answers, students will be able to construct their own mini-dialogues, practice in pairs or take turns asking or answering the questions;
  • Express own opinions on a number of topics in paragraph-length discourse

Reading comprehension

  • Read sentences the instructor provides; answer questions.
  • Read the short passage which is related to the lesson learned.
  • Read slightly modified authentic materials, such as a personal ad or movie listings.

Writing and Grammar

  • Clearly understand the important grammar points
  • Answer questions or complete sentences using specific grammatical forms.
  • Translate sentences or paragraphs given by the instructor.
  • Write simple compositions on daily topics after expressing orally.
  • Vocabulary quizzes.
  • Write statements based on information given in class by the instructor or induced by audio and audio visual materials.
  • Demonstrate correct character writing on Character workbook.
  • Write or read basic dialogues emphasizing cultural aspects of the Mandarin-Chinese-speaking-world.
  • Present one project related to Chinese culture.

      •  

       

Assessments

 

  • Attendance, regular practice/drills and classroom participation: 20%
  • Home work: 15%
  • Project: 5%
  • Quizzes: 10%
  • Midterm: 20%
  • Final: 30%

 

 

>