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Syllabus

Course Meeting Times

4 sessions / week, 1 hour / session

Course Description

This course is designed to consolidate the foundation built in Elementary Chinese and continue developing students' skills in aural comprehension, reading, and writing. Lab work required. Intermediate I and II form a sequence. The Fall semester subject 21F103 is prerequisite for the Spring. Students who have completed the streamlined sequence 21F107-108 are not normally eligible for this subject.

Upon completion of the course, students should be able to speak Chinese with some fluency on basic conversational topics, achieve a basic level of reading competence within simplified and traditional characters learned plus common compounds, and be able to write short compositions.

Classes consist of a combination of lecture, drill practice, discussion, reading comprehension practice, listening comprehension practice, situational dialogue practice.

Required Learning Materials

  1. 大 為 和 海 琳 在 中 國 David and Helen in China --- 中级漢語教材 An Intermediate Chinese Course (Phyllis N. Zhang with Yuann-yuann Meng, Donald K. Chang, and Irene R. Liu. East Asian Languages & Culture. Columbia University. New York. U. S. A.).
  2. Hand-out readings (will be given beforehand).

Procedures

  1. Reading and discussion of grammatical problems from the texts.
  2. Active practice with the learning through class conversation.
  3. Work with sentence-pattern drills, phrases, and exercises from the texts and handouts.
  4. Practice in listening, speaking, reading, comprehension, and translation using the texts and other sources.
  5. Working on writing in Chinese with the use of patterns, drills, and characters.
  6. Supplementary video or film presentations in Chinese, as available.
  7. Detailed weekly schedules will be handed out every Friday that indicate what will be covered in class and what you need to prepare for each classes.

Students Responsibilities

Students are expected to preview, read the assigned reading(s) and learn the assigned characters, paragraphs, patterns before classes, and to participate actively in class discussions. Students are encouraged to discuss on reading assignments. Students will be expected to hand in assigned homework and portfolio on the due date.

Grading Criteria

This course final grade will be 100 points, based on class performance, homework, bi-weekly quizzes, a mid-term, a reading project, portfolio, and end-term presentation. The weighing of the various factors is, roughly, as follow:

A: Class performance (15 points)
Which include:

  1. class attendance (5 points)
  2. class preparation (5 points)
  3. class participation (5 points)

B: Assigned homework (15 points)
C: By-weekly quizzes (20 points)
D: Mid-term (20 points)
E: Reading project (10 points)
F: Portfolio (10 points)
G: Presentation (10 points)

Final Grade
Above 94=A
93-90=A-
89-86=B+
85-83=B
82-80=B-
79-76=C+
75-73=C
72-70=C-
60-69=D
Below 59=F

Factors involved in the class grade include being on time and prepared, completing written assignments carefully and on time, and participating enthusiastically in class activities. Other factors may come in to play, e.g.: improvement versus deterioration over the course of the semester, and progress relative to starting level.

  • No make-up quizzes unless you have permission from the lecturer beforehand. If you are sick or unable to make to the class due to unexpected situation, you should contact the lecturer.
  • Homework or portfolios handed in late will be corrected but receive no credit.
  • Attendance in this class is extremely important. If you were absence without any permission from your lecturer, then your final grade would be affected.
  • You have to prepare a folder for collecting all of your written work which includes revisions of all your written homework assignments and quizzes. Turn in your portfolio once every two weeks.

Advice on Approacting the Class

Engaging in a foreign language class shouldn't feel like a chore that you resent having to perform. If it does, you should probably do some serious thinking about why you are enrolled. A foreign language is a discipline to be studied with attention and dedication. It requires a high level of concentration, and a systematic, steady approach. It is in fact a never-ending process, which involves a consistent accumulation of data (vocabulary) to be applied within a complex framework (grammar). As such, learning a foreign language is often frustrating and so it should be dealt with patiently. But the result of understanding of a foreign language provides lifelong satisfaction. If you approach this course by wondering how little work you can do and still get by, or if you approach this class by thinking only about what grade you are getting instead of what you are learning, then you will not succeed. If, however, you approach this class with dedication and a positive attitude, I guarantee that you will be rewarded with the satisfaction that comes from the genuine acquisition of knowledge and skill.