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Regular version of the site
Bachelor 2020/2021

Chinese Language: Basic Course

Category 'Best Course for Career Development'
Category 'Best Course for Broadening Horizons and Diversity of Knowledge and Skills'
Category 'Best Course for New Knowledge and Skills'
Area of studies: Foreign Regional Studies
When: 1 year, 1-4 module
Mode of studies: offline
Open to: students of one campus
Language: English
ECTS credits: 23
Contact hours: 648

Course Syllabus

Abstract

This course is catered for students with no prior experience in the language. We will start the course by introducing pronunciation, reading, typing, and writing. Great emphasis will be placed upon standard pronunciation, listening comprehension, and everyday “survival” language. Various supplementary listening materials will be used from the beginning of this course to give students an authentic, practical way to learn correct pronunciation and reinforce class lessons. Students will also be exposed to the language and culture via movies and cultural information. After taking this course, learners will have a basic understanding of the Asian language and will be able to conduct basic conversations of daily living such as exchanging personal information, talking about daily arrangements and food, asking about price, introducing the city, talking about hobbies etc. Selected topics and situations come from real life scenarios and can be used for everyday communications. In addition to the dialogues, the selection of reading materials and practice activities will make the content as rich and varied as possible, in order to stimulate the learners’ interests.
Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives

  • communicative competence – developing communicative skills through speaking, listening, reading and writing in communicative scenarios and topics chosen for the course
  • language competence – learning new language units (orthographic, phonetic, lexical, grammar) related to communicative scenarios and topics of the course; learning about language phenomena in the foreign language, about various ways of expressing ideas using the native and foreign languages
  • socio-cultural competence – introducing students to the culture, traditions, and realia of the country whose language they are learning; developing skills of presenting their country and its culture when communicating with foreigners
  • cognitive competence – developing general and special academic skills; familiarizing students with available ways of autonomous learning of a foreign language and culture, ICT included
Expected Learning Outcomes

Expected Learning Outcomes

  • After learning this sequence, students will: 1)understand the sound system of Mandarin Chinese (pinyin and tones) 2) master about 150 basic Chinese radicals and write them in the correct stroke orders.
  • After learning this sequence, students shoud be able to demonstrate: - an improved vocabulary and pronunciation related to the topic “Greetings”; - ability to write correctly new characters; - ability to use grammatical constructions correctly.
  • After learning this sequence, students shoud be able to demonstrate: - an improved vocabulary and pronunciation related to the topic “Everyday objects”; - ability to write correctly new characters; - ability to use grammatical constructions correctly.
  • After learning this sequence, students shoud be able to demonstrate: - an improved vocabulary and pronunciation related to the topic “Countries and nationalities”; - ability to write correctly new characters; - ability to use grammatical constructions correctly.
  • After learning this sequence, students shoud be able to demonstrate: - an improved vocabulary and pronunciation related to the topic “Family”; - ability to write correctly new characters; - ability to use grammatical constructions correctly.
  • After learning this sequence, students shoud be able to demonstrate: - an improved vocabulary and pronunciation related to the topic “Study”; - ability to write correctly new characters; - ability to use grammatical constructions correctly.
  • After learning this sequence, students shoud be able to demonstrate: - an improved vocabulary and pronunciation related to the topic “ Students’ life”; - ability to write correctly new characters; - ability to use grammatical constructions correctly.
  • After learning this sequence, students shoud be able to demonstrate: - an improved vocabulary and pronunciation related to the topic “ Shopping and Currency exchange”; - ability to write correctly new characters; - ability to use grammatical constructions correctly.
  • After studying this topic, students shoud be able to demonstrate: - an improved vocabulary and pronunciation related to the topic “Day, date, month and year”; - ability to write correctly new characters; - ability to use grammatical constructions correctly.
  • After studying this topic, students shoud be able to demonstrate: - an improved vocabulary and pronunciation related to the topic “Birthday сelebration”; - ability to write correctly new characters; - ability to use grammatical constructions correctly.
  • After studying this topic, students shoud be able to demonstrate: - an improved vocabulary and pronunciation related to the topic “Hobby and Future plans”; - ability to write correctly new characters; - ability to use grammatical constructions correctly.
  • After studying this topic, students shoud be able to demonstrate: - an improved vocabulary and pronunciation related to the topic “Asking about directions”; - ability to write correctly new characters; - ability to use grammatical constructions correctly.
  • After studying this topic, students shoud be able to demonstrate: - an improved vocabulary and pronunciation related to the topic “ School routine ”; - ability to write correctly new characters; - ability to use grammatical constructions correctly.
  • After studying this topic, students shoud be able to demonstrate: - an improved vocabulary and pronunciation related to the topic “Sports”; - ability to write correctly new characters; - ability to use grammatical constructions correctly.
  • After studying this topic, students shoud be able to demonstrate: - an improved vocabulary and pronunciation related to the topic “Visiting the doctor”; - ability to write correctly new characters; - ability to use grammatical constructions correctly.
  • After studying this topic, students shoud be able to demonstrate: - an improved vocabulary and pronunciation related to the topic “Renting an apartment”; - ability to write correctly new characters; - ability to use grammatical constructions correctly.
Course Contents

Course Contents

  • Introduction: Chinese Pronunciation-Pinyin System, Tones, Useful Expressions Learn 214 radicals and how to write them
    In this topic, students will learn: - Chinese phonetic alphabets – Pinyin; - how to phonetically read pinyin; - some pronunciation and reading rules; - about 150 basic Chinese radicals.
  • Greetings
    In this topic, students will learn: - how to greet people; - learn some ways to introduce themselves.
  • Everyday objects
    In this topic, students will learn : - how to ask and respond to questions: 这是什么?(What is this?) and 那是什么?(What is that?) - how to say “This is my book”, “This is my friend’s pen” etc. This learning sequence also develops students' ability to count with numbers from 1 to 20.
  • Countries and nationalities
    In this topic, students will learn: - how to ask and respond to questions: 你来自哪里?(Where are you from?) and _____ 在哪儿? (Where is _____?) - how to say the names of different countries and their capital cities in Chinese; - how to explain which capital city belongs to which country.
  • Family
    In this topic, students will learn: -how to talk about family, occupations, and age; -Basic vocabulary—family members, measure word for people, professions; -Sentence patterns—introduce family members, introduce family members’ professions. - Cultural note—different family concept; one-child policy; different addressing in a Chinese family.
  • Study
    In this topic, students will learn: - basic vocabulary related to study; - how to describe their daily schedule
  • Students’ life
    In this topic, students will: -learn how to explain their daily activities in Chinese and ask others about what time they do certain activities in their daily lives; -explore the differences and similarities between the daily routines of students in China and those of students in Russia.
  • Shopping and Currency exchange
    In this topic, students will: -learn how to communicate with a shop keeper in Chinese to purchase an item; - learn how to count different items, using appropriate 'measure words' and how to bargain the price down when shopping in a Chinese market. Students explore what kinds of items are cheaper in China than they are in Russia, and why; - learn bargaining skills to negotiate the price of an item at a Chinese market; - understand that the cost of certain products is different in China and Russia.
  • Talking about day, date, month and year.
    In this topic, students will: - learn how to express time: the time, years, month and dates.
  • Birthday сelebration
    In this topic, students will learn: - how to talk about gifts and parties; -expressions related to birthday and celebration; - traditional Chinese Birthday Customs.
  • Hobby and Future plans
    In this topic, students will: - learn how to describe and respond to questions about their hooby and future plans; - learn how to talk about jobs; including the plans for future work.
  • Asking about directions
    In this topic, students will learn: - Basic vocabulary—means of transportation; directions; taxi language; -Sentence patterns—asking ways; communicating with taxi drivers (drive slowly, drive fast, turn left/right, stop, etc.) -Cultural note—road names in China, road designing ideas in China, Fengshui and directions.
  • School routine
    In this topic, students will: -learn how to explain in Chinese which subjects they study and why; -learn the expressions related to education; -describe their timetable, including the days and times they study each subject; - explore the differences and similarities between China and Russia in relation to school timetables, subject offerings and compulsory subjects.
  • Sports
    In this topic, students will: - learn words and phrases related to sports in general and for specific sports. - learn how to discuss sports contests in Chinese.
  • Visiting the doctor
    In this topic, students will: - learn basic vocabulary related to visit the doctor; - learn the common procedures of visiting a doctor in Chinese hospitals; answer a variety of questions from patients as a guiding nurse.
  • Renting an apartment
    In this topic, students will: -learn basic vocabulary related to house renting; -learn how to talk about home furnishings.
Assessment Elements

Assessment Elements

  • non-blocking Gcumulative
  • non-blocking Gexam
Interim Assessment

Interim Assessment

  • Interim assessment (2 module)
    0.6 * Gcumulative + 0.4 * Gexam
  • Interim assessment (4 module)
    0.6 * Gcumulative + 0.4 * Gexam
Bibliography

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

  • McNaughton, W., & Fan, J. (2013). Reading and Writing Chinese : Third Edition, HSK All Levels (2,633 Chinese Characters and 5,000+ Compounds) (Vol. Third edition). Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1568742
  • William McNaughton. (2015). Reading & Writing Chinese Simplified Character Edition : (HSK Levels 1 - 4). North Clarendon, UNITED STATES: Tuttle Publishing. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1568914

Recommended Additional Bibliography

  • Sam Brier, & Xia Lu. (2014). Chinese Phrase A Day Practice Volume 1 : Includes Downloadable CD. [N.p.]: Tuttle Publishing. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1568040