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Curriculum & Syllabi

Summer program participants will take a placement test to determine their level of proficiency in Chinese around May 2016. There also will be a short oral interview on-site to confirm placement after students arrive in Xi’an. Language instruction is entirely in Chinese and taught by native speakers.

 

CHIN 101-102: Elementary Chinese

CHIN 201-202: Intermediate Chinese

CHIN 301-302: Pre-Advanced Chinese

CHIN 401-402: Advanced Chinese

CHIN 485: Selected Topics

CHIN 101: Elementary Chinese I

This course is designed for helping students acquire basic skills involved in oral and written production. Students in CHIN101 acquire familiarity with tone and pronunciation of the Mandarin Chinese, and learn to create with sentence level language in order to exchange basic information with their teacher and classmates about themselves and each other. Utterances typically consist of memorized phrases and short sentences tailored to the situation.

 

Objectives

  • Fundamentals of Chinese pronunciation

  • Understand the basic writing system of characters including basic strokes, stroke order and some basic radicals

  • Participate in very simple simulated scenarios and respond orally to questions on topics relating primarily to their own lives and to those of their classmates: Greet, apologize, express gratitude, ask for the price, etc.

  • Write compositions (30 - 50 characters)

 

Texts

Nan Yang. Road to Success-Lower Elementary 1. China: Beijing Language & Culture University Press

Nan Yang. Road to Success-Lower Elementary 2. China: Beijing Language & Culture University Press

CHIN 102: Elementary Chinese II

This course is designed for helping students gain greater control over basic skills acquired in the previous level. Students in CHIN102 increase their capacity to understand oral questions and texts as well as written passages, based on character recognition. They expand in their ability to present information orally and in writing about themselves and their community.

 

Objectives

  • Practice and gain more comprehension of characters

  • Participate more actively in simple exchanges regarding their immediate environment: daily routines, homes and dormitory; future plans

  • Create simple dialogues on topics related to course materials

  • Write compositions (80 characters)

 

Texts

Nan Yang. Road to Success-Lower Elementary 2. China: Beijing Language & Culture University Press

Li Zhang. Road to Success-Elementary 1. China: Beijing Language & Culture University Press

 

CHIN 201: Intermediate Chinese I

This course is designed for students who have successfully completed a rigorous one-year college course in spoken and written Mandarin Chinese, or its equivalent. Students increase in both breadth and length of expression when presenting information orally and in writing.

 

Objectives

  • Continue to practice and broaden comprehension of more characters

  • Begin to express opinions on class topics using short sentences

  • Write compositions (100 characters)

 

Texts

Li Zhang. Road to Success-Elementary 1. China: Beijing Language & Culture University Press

Li Zhang. Road to Success-Elementary 2. China: Beijing Language & Culture University Press

Shirong Mou. Road to Success-Upper Elementary 1. China: Beijing Language & Culture University Press

CHIN 202: Intermediate Chinese II

This course is designed for helping students engage in more complex interactions and expand their interest in the larger Chinese and Chinese world. They become increasingly aware of cultural and linguistic appropriateness and can be understood by native speakers accustomed to dealing with learners of Chinese.

 

Objectives

  • Expand vocabulary, and internalize more complex grammatical constructions. 

  • Identify cultural differences in language use

  • Use some prescribed phrasing or strategies to address oral presenters

  • Write compositions (150 characters)

 

Texts

Li Zhang. Road to Success-Elementary 2. China: Beijing Language & Culture University Press

Shirong Mou. Road to Success-Upper Elementary 1. China: Beijing Language & Culture University Press

Hui Zhang. Road to Success-Upper Elementary 2. China: Beijing Language & Culture University Press

CHIN 301: Pre-Advanced Chinese I

This course is designed for students who already have taken approximately two years of college-level Chinese instruction or its equivalent. Entering students should be able to conduct basic conversation in Mandarin Chinese on day-to-day topics and on matters relating to vocabulary previously acquired. This course increases students’ preparedness for daily social demands and to provide access into the Chinese culture.

 

Objectives

  • Independently read written communication and compositions relating to daily life, study and social interaction

  • Develop the skills to begin reading brief documents aimed at native speakers concerning China’s society and culture.

  • Write compositions (200 characters)

 

Texts

Shirong Mou. Road to Success-Upper Elementary 1. China: Beijing Language & Culture University Press

Hui Zhang. Road to Success-Upper Elementary 2. China: Beijing Language & Culture University Press

Hui Zhang. Road to Success-Upper Elementary 3. China: Beijing Language & Culture University Press

CHIN 302: Pre-Advanced Chinese II

This course is designed for providing students a grammatical foundation and facilitates formal and informal language use, with special emphasis on grammar, correct syntax, and verbal expression/writing skills and helps students develop culturally appropriate language skills.

 

Objectives

  • Support opinions and hypothesize on a broad range of concrete and abstract topics

  • Read short authentic articles concerning China’s society and culture

  • Write compositions (300 characters)

 

Texts

Hui Zhang. Road to Success-Upper Elementary 2. China: Beijing Language & Culture University Press

Hui Zhang. Road to Success-Upper Elementary 3. China: Beijing Language & Culture University Press

Danna Huang. Road to Success-Lower Intermediate 1. China: Beijing Language & Culture University Press

CHIN 401: Advanced Chinese I

This course is designed for students who have completed three years of training in all four skills of language: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Through reading texts selected from modern Chinese literature, newspaper articles and discussing topics in social issues, popular culture, traditions, politics, and history, students will be asked to express more refined and sophisticated ideas, and to process sentences with complex structures used mainly in formal speech and writing.

 

Objectives

  • Learn communication skills in Chinese language through intensive formal instruction and cultural involvement

  • Develop an advanced level of proficiency in reading and writing formal Chinese

  • Write compositions (400 characters)

 

Texts

Danna Huang. Road to Success-Lower Intermediate 1. China: Beijing Language & Culture University Press

Yan Sui. Road to Success-Lower Intermediate 2. China: Beijing Language & Culture University Press

Junyi Wang. Road to Success-Intermediate 1. China: Beijing Language & Culture University Press

CHIN 402: Advanced Chinese II

This course is designed to perfect students' skills in understanding spoken and written Chinese in speaking and writing. Students will speak the language with sufficient accuracy to participate effectively in most formal and informal conversations on practical, social, professional, and abstract topics.

 

Objectives

  • Develop advanced communication skills in spoken and written Mandarin Chinese through intensive formal instruction and cultural involvement

  • Read more Chinese newspapers and academic publications

  • Write compositions (500 characters)

 

Texts

Junyi Wang. Road to Success-Intermediate 1. China: Beijing Language & Culture University Press

Zhang Wei. Road to Success-Intermediate 2. China: Beijing Language & Culture University Press

CHIN 485: Selected Topics

This course is designed for students to further improve their language proficiency. Emphasis will be given to help students gain greater language skills on speaking fluency and accuracy with more complexed sentences in formal occasions and business environments. Real cases of big multinational corporations and issues including banking, marketing, branding, finance and investment will be used as its texts.

 

Objectives

  • Gain greater language skills on accurate comprehension and processing sentences with complex structures used in formal speech and writing

  • Get familiar with Chinese business operations in the Chinese-speaking communities, and gain the in-depth knowledge about China’s macro and micro economic situations.

  • Propel students to creative, critical, and integrative thinking; allowing them to incorporate information from different sources to inform a coherent work

  • Write compositions (800 characters)

 

Texts

Shengli Feng. Comprehensive Chinese: Advanced Chinese 1. Higher Education Press

Yuan Fangyuan. Business Chinese for Success: Real Cases from Real Companies. Peking University Press

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