Course Syllabus

CHIN 1010 Elementary Chinese I

Course Description

This course provides an introduction to the Chinese language and the cultures of Chinese-speaking peoples. It is designed for students with no previous Chinese study. During the course, students develop basic oral and listening communication skills by participating in activities that require them to use Chinese in a variety of situations. As a result of developing these skills, they also acquire the ability to read and write Chinese at a basic level. Students learn to communicate about topics that are most familiar to them (e.g., self, family, home, school, daily and recent activities), and they learn to appreciate ways of life different from their own. This course is interactive with a focus on learner participation and basic conversation practice in Chinese.

Justification

This course is a pre-requisite for CHIN 1020, which satisfies the foreign language requirement for the Associate of Arts degree at Snow College. It is also a prerequisite for intermediate and advanced study of the language. Students are introduced to the language, cultures, and values of Chinese-speaking peoples, the largest linguistic group in the world. Globalization has increased the influence of the Chinese language and its culture in many areas, including business, communication, manufacturing and technology, art, and education. A knowledge of Chinese and Chinese culture benefits college students in their future personal lives, as well as in their academic and professional careers.

Student Learning Outcomes

1. Upon successful completion of CHIN 1010, students will be able to understand some everyday words, phrases, and questions about themselves, their personal experiences, and their surroundings, when people speak slowly and clearly or there is repetition.
2. Upon successful completion of CHIN 1010, students will be able to understand some familiar words and characters, phrases, and simple sentences.
3. Upon successful completion of CHIN 1010, students will be able to interact with help using words, phrases, and memorized expressions. They will be able to answer simple questions on very familiar topics.
4. Upon successful completion of CHIN 1010, students will be able to provide information about themselves and their immediate surroundings using words, phrases, and memorized expressions.
5. Upon successful completion of CHIN 1010, students will be able to write and read a small number of Chinese characters.
6. Upon successful completion of CHIN 1010, students will be able to seek opportunities to learn about and experience new cultures outside of class.
7. Upon successful completion of CHIN 1010, students will be able to demonstrate a basic knowledge of cultural traditions, customs, and values in one or more Chinese-speaking countries.

Course Content

This course will combine a communicative approach with a more structured approach based on textbook, workbook, and audio materials. During this semester, approximately the first half of the text will be completed. This course will cover commonly used vocabulary, a certain number of Chinese characters, basic grammar rules, and practice with Pinyin and tones. There will be greater emphasis on oral skills than on written skills. This content is delivered through interactive lecture, multimedia presentation, partner and group work, and instructor modeling of concepts. This course addresses cultural differences overtly during cultural lessons (see topics above) and indirectly via images presented to the class during everyday lessons that represent Chinese-speaking peoples from different ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, abilities, etc.