Syllabus

Course Meeting Times

Lectures: 4 sessions / week, 1 hour / session

Course Description

This is the continuing instruction in listening, spoken, reading, and written Chinese, with particular emphasis on consolidating basic conversational skills and improving reading confidence and depth. Lab work is required. Intermediate Chinese I, II and III form a sequence; the Fall semester subject 21G.103 is prerequisite for the Spring. Students who have completed the streamlined sequence 21G.107 - 21G.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, and language games.

Required Learning Materials

Zhang, Phyllis N. with Yuann-yuann Meng, Donald K. Chang, and Irene R. Liu. "David and Helen in China -- An Intermediate Chinese Course." East Asian Languages & Culture. New York. U. S. A.:Columbia University. Part 1 and 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, 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 website.
6. Supplementary video or film presentations in Chinese, as available.
7. Detailed weekly schedules will be posted every Friday that indicate what will be covered in class and what you need to prepare for each period.

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 on the due date.

Grading Criteria

This course final grade will be 100 points, based on class performance, homework, 9 quizzes, a mid-term, a mid-term oral test, and an end-term presentation.

The weighing of the various factors is, roughly, as follow:

Final Grade

Above 94=A
90-93=A-
86-89=B+
83-85=B
80-82=B-
76-79=C+
73-75=C
60-72=C-
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 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.

Advice on Approaching 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.