High School Chinese Syllabus Acknowledgement
Chinese 1 Lawrence Free State High School
I have read and understood the content of the syllabus for Chinese 1.
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If the Chinese instructor has questions or additional information to provide me that
would help me support my student in this Chinese class, I can be contacted at
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High School Chinese I Syllabus 2015-2016
School: Lawrence Free State High School
Instructor: Ms. Liu (Pronounced “lyeo”); CHLiu@usd497.org; (785) 330-4317
Time: Mon., Tue., Fri.: 8:05 - 8:57; Thu.: 8:05 - 9:40
Location: Room 314
Required Student Supplies: Each student will need a three-ring notebook, a flash
drive (at least 1g), a notebook for taking notes, and a pen or pencil.
General Course Description: This course is designed for high school students with no
background in Chinese language. It is assumed that the students will attend class for
approximately 36 weeks, with approximately five class periods per week, to complete at
least the minimum contact hours to earn one high school credit over the course of two
semesters. The goals of this course are to enable students to achieve mastery of the
Kansas World Language Curriculum Guideline Benchmarks for Novice Low in Chinese
(draft), with some attention to the Novice Mid Benchmarks. The course is taught using
the communicative approach with additional focus on form (both oral and written) where
appropriate. Classroom instruction is conducted in the target language (Mandarin
Chinese). The curriculum materials include teacher-developed materials (including
appropriately adapted authentic materials) and online materials available on the course
Blackboard site (URL and login details to be provided).
Standards: This course is based upon the five “C”s (Communication, Cultures,
Connections, Comparisons, and Communities), outlined in the Standards for Foreign
Language Learning: Preparing for the 21st Century (National Standards in Foreign
Language Education Project), developed by the American Council on the Teaching of
Foreign Languages (www.actfl.org): as further elaborated in the Kansas World
Languages Standards (http://www.ksde.org/Default.aspx?tabid=3511#wlStd). The
course content is designed to enable students to master the proficiency criteria outlined
in the Kansas World Languages Curriculum Guideline Benchmarks for Novice Low in
Chinese (draft) (http://www.ksde.org/Default.aspx?tabid=3512#WL and some content
that reflects the Kansas World Languages Curriculum Guideline Benchmarks for Novice
Mid in Chinese.
Assessment: For both formative and summative assessment, students will be asked to
perform language tasks to demonstrate all three modes of communication: interpersonal,
presentational, and interpretive, in both oral and written language. Students will also be
asked to perform rote tasks to demonstrate mastery of form. In addition to teacherdeveloped assessments, students may also be asked to participate in standardized,
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externally developed assessments, e.g. STAMP (avant.com). Students will also be
required to collect and record evidence of their learning progress in LinguaFolio portfolio
notebooks (to be reflected in the participation-communication grade).
Examples of Novice Low Assessment tasks:
Novice Low Interpersonal Speaking: Respond to interview questions about family, pets,
academic subjects, likes and dislikes in hobbies, music, sports, and interests, single
words, memorized phrases and short sentences.
Novice Low Interpretive Listening: Watch short video (in Chinese) of Chinese high
school student talking about his likes and dislikes in music, sports and hobbies. Answer
questions (in English) about the Chinese student’s preferences.
Novice Low Interpretive Reading: Examine weather forecast from newspaper or website.
Answer questions (in English) about the weather forecast.
Novice Low Presentational Speaking: Prepare and deliver a short (2-4 minute) speech
about self and school life in Chinese (context: to familiarize new Chinese exchange
student with U.S. high school life)
Novice Low Presentational Writing: Write a short letter to new Chinese pen pal
describing your family, using simple sentences.
Grading: Grades will be assigned by the Chinese instructor. The conversion of final
grade percentage points to a letter grade will be based upon school policy.
Grades will be based on the following weighted categories: 25% in-class communication
in Chinese (see below), 25% homework, 20% quizzes and exams, 20% unit projects,
and 10% semester final exam and projects.
Attendance: Attendance will be taken by the Chinese instructor. Excused absences will
be recorded, in keeping with the school policy. Students with assignments due on days
when the student has an excused absence will be given two days to make up the
assignment.
Participation: The participation grade will include the daily communication grade and
LinguaFolio portfolio preparation and review. The daily communication grade will use a
5 point system, with points deducted for use of English in class (without permission).
The point system will be reviewed and rehearsed in class before implementation.
Homework: Students will be expected to complete homework as assigned, typically at
least three days per week, by the deadline specified by the instructor. To complete
some of the homework assignments for this course, students will need to access the
course website (URL to be provided). To get an account on the course website, each
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student will need to provide a valid email address. Instructions on email addresses will
be provided in class. In addition to online exercises, homework will also include written
work to be submitted to the facilitator for transmission to the instructor by fax or mail.
Late homework: the scores for homework submitted one day late will be reduced by
25% and for two days late by 50%. Homework submitted three days late, without
special permission from the instructor, will be scored as zero.
Classroom rules: Students are expected to adhere to the following classroom rules (in
addition to school rules):
 Students will treat the instructor and facilitator with courtesy and respect.

Students will treat fellow classmates with courtesy and respect.

Students will refrain from eating, chewing gum, or drinking in the classroom (with
the exception of water in clear water bottles when permitted by the school).

Students will be attentive and actively engaged in learning the course content.

Students will not use cell phones, mp3 players, or other electronic devices in
class, unless given permission by the instructor.
Consequences for inappropriate behavior: will follow the relevant school rules and
procedures.
Course Materials: teacher-developed materials, including authentic language materials;
homework and supplementary materials on the course website.
Learning Chinese: The U.S. government lists Chinese as one of the most difficult
foreign languages for English speakers to learn, estimating that it takes about four times
as much instructional time for a native speaker of English to achieve the equivalent
proficiency that the student would achieve in a Category I language (e.g. Spanish). The
greatest challenge for most English-speaking students of Chinese is the writing system,
which requires many hours to master. In this course, students will be encouraged to
invest time in learning the Chinese writing system (characters) to give students access
to authentic written language materials. Reading (of characters in context), and
recognition (of characters in word bank lists), as well as accurate copying of characters
with correct stroke direction and order, will be emphasized over writing characters from
memory, but students will need to memorize a short list of basic characters. Students
will also learn to record Chinese syllables using the Latin alphabet, using the official
standardized system of Romanization used in China known as Pinyin. The other main
challenge for English speakers in learning Chinese is the tone system. The tone of each
Chinese syllable is directly linked to the meaning of that syllable. In addition to
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participating in ear training exercises in class, students are encouraged to listen to the
audio materials on Blackboard frequently, to develop familiarity with Chinese tones.
Instructional Philosophy: The instructional philosophy is based upon the
communicative approach to language learning, an approach that is reflected in the
Kansas World Language Benchmarks. Instruction will primarily focus on helping
students learn to use Chinese language to communicate meaningfully, with appropriate
instruction on form as needed. To avoid confusion over the phonetic values of the Latin
alphabet, the Pinyin system of writing Chinese with the Latin alphabet will not be
introduced until after the first few days of class, during which the students will gain some
familiarity with the Chinese sound system. To give students as much opportunity to
practice listening and speaking Chinese, classroom instruction will be primarily in
Chinese.
Curriculum Themes
Curriculum Sequence (pacing may vary, depending upon actual student needs and
performance).
Unit 1: Me and My Friends
Unit 2: Who is that?
Mid-term Review and Assessments
Unit 3: A Day in China
Unit 4: My School Life
Semester Review and Final Assessments
The instructor reserves the right to amend any part of the syllabus at any time.
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