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Advanced Chinese

Center: 
Shanghai
Program(s): 
Shanghai Summer - Internship
Discipline(s): 
Chinese Language
Course code: 
CN 401
Terms offered: 
Summer
Credits: 
6
Language of instruction: 
Chinese
Description: 

This class is intended to be a course as part of IES Abroad Shanghai Program for non-Chinese speaking students who have studied Chinese between three and four years (six to seven semesters or nine to eleven quarters). The semester will begin with a series of intensive “foundation building” designed to give students basic tools that are immediately useful as well as stabilize their existing foundation. It is designed to further challenge and enrich the language skill sets of students whose proficiency is approximately at the advanced Chinese level. The following lessons then encompass several hundreds sentence patterns, over 1800 new words, as well as many Chinese newspaper articles, sections from original novel or plays, video and movie clips, and commentaries. All the materials are related to contemporary issues, Chinese history, Chinese literature, as well as Chinese cultural elements carried throughout those issues. The class is designed to emphasize the fours skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening comprehension at a higher-level. Such practices will be organized during classroom teaching: (a) interviewing local people; (b) discussions of social, cultural, economic and political issues; (c) writing essays and papers on given topics; and (d) making presentations, and doing translations and interpretations. At the end of the semester, students should be able to express their opinions smoothly and hold discussions with native Chinese people on a wide range of topics. Students should also develop a sense of appreciation for Chinese literature and be able to tell the difference of formal and informal part of speech and can distinguish different styles of writing.

Method of presentation: 

Written and oral assignments.

Required work and form of assessment: 

Mid-term exam (10%), Final exam (10%), quizzes (15%); homework (10%), participation (10%), Attendance (15%), Dictation (10%), Composition or Individual Language Project (10%) and Presentation (10%)

content: 

Week 1

  • Communication: Chinese marriage in transition, the right of going to school, the harm of cell phones
  • Tasks: Establish and maintain essential foundation of Chinese language skills.
  • Culture: Modern Chinese attitudes and ways of thinking.

Week 2

  • Communication: Chinese families
  • Tasks: Interview Chinese people and discuss their views on marriage, family and love.
  • Culture: The history of Chinese cultural exchange.

Week 3

  • Communication: movie
  • Tasks: Discuss personal views on homosexuality.
  • Culture: Chinese movie language.

Week 4

  • Communication: Talk about the social ramifications of limited access to higher education in China
  • Tasks: Discuss the changes on ordinary people’s lives
  • Culture: The importance of education in unemployment.

Week 5

  • Communication: Talk about Chinese literature.
  • Tasks: Discuss the literature’s influence to people
  • Culture: The Chinese culture revolution

Week 6

  • Communication: attitude towards life and work
  • Tasks: Discuss the old assignment system under planning economy

Midterm Exam

Week 7

  • Communication: Talk about filial piety, law and morals
  • Tasks: Write a composition—interview two Chinese people—one is old and one is young—to ask their views about filial, law and social morals.
  • Culture: Changes of people’s values.

Week 8

  • Communication: politics
  • Tasks: Learn the perspectives of Chinese politics, and make a presentation—China’s role in the international marketplace; discussion—globalization.
  • Culture: Formal part of speech

Week 9

  • Communication: movie
  • Tasks: Composition- comments after watching the movie.
  • Culture: Chinese history and culture though 1920s to 1970s

Week 10

  • Communication: Talk about economic development in China and its influence on the population.
  • Tasks: Discuss freedom and right
  • Culture: The measure of success in China.

Week 11

  • Communication: people’s attitude towards money
  • Tasks: Discuss people’s attitude towards money
  • Culture: Modern social morals

Week 12

  • Communication: literature articles
  • Tasks: Discuss different views on relationships.
  • Culture: Literature language

Week 13

Final review and Exam

 

Required readings: 

IES 四年级教材

IES Level 4 Text Book


Source URL: http://www.iesabroad.org/study-abroad/courses/shanghai/summer-2013/cn-401