Newcastle University

Pre Requisite Comment

Students who have an A-Level in Mandarin cannot take this module.

Co Requisite Comment

None

Aims

1. To establish the most basic foundation in the language systems (grammar, orthography and phonetics) of Mandarin Chinese, upon which students can build language competence with a view to further study.
2. To allow students to begin to develop receptive (reading and listening) and productive (writing and speaking) skills.
3. To begin to provide students with skills necessary to become better language learners.

You will learn how to use use the pinyin transliteration system and to recognise and form more than 250 Chinese characters. By the end, you will be communicating orally in very simple situations.

Outline Of Syllabus

Every week you will have 6 contact hours which are divided as follows:

Vocabulary, Grammar, Speaking, Listening and Writing. All the classes are delivered in-person.

We shall cover the grammatical points and items of vocabulary relating to the Lessons 1-8 of Integrated Chinese Book 1. The topics include: meeting new people, family, date and time, hobbies, visiting friends, making appointments, studying languages, school life.

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

By the end of the module, students will be familiar with the most basic grammatical structures and vocabulary, and the orthographic and phonological systems of the language. This will act as a foundation upon which they may build language skills later on. Students will have received a thorough grounding in the Pinyin romanisation system and will have learned around 200-220 Hanzi (Chinese characters) for both recognition and productive purposes.

Intended Skill Outcomes

1. Listening: the ability to have partial understanding of basic conversational Chinese if spoken clearly and slowly
2. Speaking: the ability to communicate in a very simple manner using the most basic grammatical structures and vocabulary
3. Reading: the ability to understand very simple everyday descriptions and dialogues
4. Writing: the ability to compose very simple everyday descriptions and dialogues in written form using Pinyin and Chinese characters
5. Language learning: the ability to employ basic self-study skills

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Key grammatical structures and vocabulary are introduced and practised using an integrated communicative
approach. Oral and aural skills (i.e. speaking and listening) as well as reading and writing skills are practised throughout the course in task-based activities.

In order to ensure that 85 hours of independent guided study takes place, each contact hour is followed by
homework assignments (many derive from the workbook and character workbook accompanying the core textbook). There is a minimum homework submission requirement of 70%, with this percentage being calculated every 6 weeks. Where appropriate, individualised formative feedback is provided (e.g. for writing assignments involving a creative element).

THIS MODULE IS TAUGHT AND ASSESSED IN ENGLISH AND CHINESE (SIMPLIFIED CHARACTERS).

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Regular vocabulary and grammar tests are necessary in order to allow students to acquire competence steadily. It
also provides students with the opportunity to have constant feedback on their performance. *Alternative: weekly online vocab and grammar tests.

The written examination enables the assessing of the overall performance of the student in each of the knowledge and skill outcomes. *Alternative: 24 hour take-home exam.

General Notes

N/A