DELAWARE STATE UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES
COURSE OUTLINE AND SYLLABUS
COURSE NAME:
COURSE NUMBER:
COURSE CREDIT HOURS:
PREREQUISITES:
INSTRUCTOR:
Elementary Chinese I & Lab: Language and Culture
16-101
3
None
TBA
Office Hours: TBA
TEXTBOOKS:



Kershul, K. (1999). Chinese in 10 minutes a day. Seattle: Bilingual
Books, Inc.
Williams, P. F. C., & Wu, Y. (1999). Chinese: The easy way. New York:
Barron's Educational Series, Inc.
A good English-Chinese, Chinese-English dictionary (Oxford dictionary
preferred)
2
I. COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course, for beginners, is designed to develop aural ability, oral facility, reading and
comprehension. Laboratory use is required to enhance listening and speaking proficiency.
II. RATIONALE FOR THE COURSE:
This course uses an intensive oral-aural approach to Chinese. Abundant practice in
listening, reading, writing and comprehending Chinese is provided with basic grammar
integrated in the learning process. Laboratory attendance is required to enhance basic
proficiency in Chinese. This course fulfills part of the General Education requirement in
the humanities. It is also part of the foundational course work required of all foreign
language minors and Education majors who choose Chinese as their concentration area.
The course is designed to develop aural ability, oral facility, reading, comprehension and
writing. As such, it forms part of the Professional Education Unit. The framework of the
Unit is conceptualized in the model that follows.
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK COMPONENTS (TEP) ADDRESSED IN THIS
COURSE
DIRECT (TEP)
D = Diversity (working with cultural activities and diverse populations)
I = Interpersonal Communication Skills
R = Reflections
E = Effective Teaching and assessment Strategies
C= Content and Pedagogical knowledge
T = Technology
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2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
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Delaware Teaching Standards (DTS)
Content
Human Development & Learning
Diverse Learners
Communication
Learning Environment
Planning
Instructional Strategies
Assessment
Professional Growth
Professional Relationships
Educational Technology
Professional Conduct
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NASDTEC STANDARDS
3.5.1.3 FOREIGN LANGUAGES
3.5.1.3 Standard I
The program shall require demonstrated competence in the knowledge and
understanding of the language, as spoken by a proficient speaker, at normal
conversational tempo, on non-technical general topics.
3.5.1.3 Standard II
The program shall require demonstrated competence in the knowledge of and
experiences in speaking the language with sufficient command of vocabulary,
phonology, and syntax to converse with a proficient speaker on non-technical,
general topics.
3.5.1.3 Standard III
The program shall require demonstrated competence in the knowledge of and
experiences in reading and comprehending general non-technical materials.
3.5.1.3 Standard IV
The program shall require demonstrated competency in the knowledge of and
experiences in writing the language with grammatical accuracy and clarity.
3.5.1.3 Standard V
The program shall require demonstrated competence in the knowledge of
phonology, morphology, and syntax.
3.5.1.3 Standard VI
The program shall require demonstrated competency in the knowledge of
geography, history, social structure, and artistic contributions of the target society.
3.5.1.3 Standard VII
The program shall require demonstrated competency in the knowledge,
understanding, and interpretation of the contemporary lifestyles, customs, and
cultural patterns of the target society.
3.5.1.3 Standard VIII
The program shall require demonstrated competency in the knowledge of major
literacy masterpieces and the relationship to the historical and social context of the
target society.
III. COURSE OBJECTIVES/OUTCOMES:
This course is designed to teach students basic reading, writing, speaking and
comprehension of the Chinese language, using a combination of traditional and
innovative pedagogical methodologies. Students will be able to hear spoken Chinese at
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their leisure outside the classroom and the language laboratory. The homework
assignments will help students to develop their problem solving abilities using Chinese as
the medium of communication. By the end of the course, students will develop a deep
appreciation of the cultural and linguistic diversity of the Chinese-speaking world.
Listening
Comprehend Chinese spoken at a slower than normal pace
using skills and coping strategies to fill in the gaps of
comprehension (TEP- D, I, E, C DTS – 1, 4 NASDTEC –
I, VII)
Speaking
Ask and answer questions on a variety of everyday topics
(TEP – D, I, E, C DTS – 4, 9 NASDTEC - II)
Describe people, places, and things ((TEP – I, C DTS -1,
4 NASDTEC – I, II, III, VI, VII)
Narrate present and recurring present events. (TEP- C
DTS - 1 NASDTEC – II, III)
Reading
Comprehend culturally authentic material of a simple
nature (TEP – D, I, R, C DTS – 1, 4 NASDTEC – VI)
Describe and narrate (TEP – D, I, E, C DTS –1, 4
NASDTEC – II, IV)
Writing
Culture
Perform daily routines with cultural appropriateness (TEP –
D, R, C DTS – 1, 3 NASDTEC – VII)
Identify and describe general historical, social, political,
and cultural patterns of China. (TEP – I, C DTS – 1, 3
NASDTEC - VII)
IV. TOPICAL OUTLINE:
This course will cover but will not be limited to the following topics:
Greetings
Interpersonal Relations
Family and Friends
Time and Weather
V. INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS/BEST PRACTICES include but not limited to:
Group Discussion
One on with the instructor
Role Play
Performing
Pair work
Simulation
Lexical Research
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VI. STUDENT PREPARATION ROLES include but not limited to:
Active participant
Group discussion
Workbook review
Performers
Evaluators
VII. LEARNING ACTIVITIES include but not limited to:
Greeting and departing
Introducing oneself and introducing others
Describing oneself and someone else
Giving vital statistics (age, birth date, major, classification, address, phone
number etc.)
Creating a family tree
Describing a course schedule
Finding when a TV program occurs
Making a polite Request
Telling the time
Daily routine
Writing a message
Identifying a character in a story
VIII. ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION
Methods
Workbook/Lab Manual
Homework
Chapter Tests
Attendance and Participation
Mid-Term Exam
Final Exam
Grading Scale
100 - 90
89 - 80
79 - 70
69 - 60
59 and below
20%
10%
15%
15%
20%
20%
______
100 %
Common
Assessment
=A
=B
=C
=D
=F
IX. COURSE TIMELINE
This schedule is tentative and may change based on the needs of the students.
The semester’s schedule is as follows:
6
Weeks 1 - 3
Part One
Objectives: After completing part one, students will be able to introduce
themselves, greet everyday, and recognize classroom expressions in
Chinese. In the reading and writing strategies,
Students should memorize the Chinese alphabet characters, and recognize
vocabulary words containing those characters. Vocabulary words may not
be specified in the textbook.
Weeks 4- 5
Linguistic Functions: Meeting others and introducing yourself.
Everyday greeting.
Classroom expression.
Pronunciation:
Introduction
Cultural Note:
The People and their Land
Reading Strategy:
Chinese characters
Writing Strategy:
The Chinese alphabet characters
Point of Grammar: Nouns.
Part Two
Commands, Presentation, Colors and Clothing
Greet people
Introduce classmates
Respond to simple classroom commands
Describe and identify a person
Describe the colors and clothing
Confirm and contradict in Chinese
Listening Strategy:
Consider the context and pay attention to
gestures
Linguistic Functions: Classroom commands; Greetings
Formal and Informal Introductions
Leave Taking; Saying good-bye
Colors and clothing
Pronunciation:
Introduction.
Cultural Notes:
Learn a Foreign Language
Chinese Names
Grammar:
Masculine and feminine
Definite articles
The questions
Week 6-7
Part Three
Physical Descriptions, Classroom Objects and Body Parts
Greetings
Personal Introduction
Identify the gender of nouns
Sentences beginning with nouns
Talk about classroom objects and count from 0-20 in
Chinese
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Reading Strategies:
Linguistic Functions:
Pronunciation:
Cultural Notes:
Grammatical Structures:
Utilize the social and cultural background
and context; scan for main ideas and
cognates
Speaking to others; Greetings
Classroom objects
Cardinal numbers from 0 - 20
The human body
Description of people
Introducing people
Tone in Chinese
Forms of address; Greetings
Subject pronouns
Plural of nouns and adjectives
Sentences beginning with nouns
Week 8-9 Part Four The Family, Languages, and Nationalities
Talk about family members
Count from 20 – 100
Express their age
Know the major languages and nationalities of the world
Express possession
Talk about Chinese Universities
Know how to conjugate the present tense
Listening Strategies:
Linguistic Functions:
Cultural Notes:
Grammatical Structures:
Pay attention to cognates; listen for the gist
The family; cardinal numbers (20 – 100)
Expressing age; languages and nationalities
Comparing and contrasting American and
Chinese families
Talking about families members
Possessive pronouns
Adjectives of nationality
Talking about habitual actions: The present
tense
Weeks 10-11 Part Five Personal Data, Telling the Time & Favorite Sports
Activities
Express their personal data
Give phone numbers and address
Discuss months of the year and seasons
Tell the time
Talk about favorite sports and activities
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Reading strategies:
Linguistic Functions:
Cultural Notes:
Grammatical Structures:
WEEKS 12-13 Part Six
Scan for main ideas
Days of the week; months of the year;
seasons
Dates
Personal data: telephone and address
Telling the time
Favorite sports activities
Sports in Chinese speaking nations
Hobbies
Habitual actions: The present tense
Asking questions: Question formation
Telling Time: Hours and minutes
Adverbs
Noun-Adjective phrases
Plans and Preferences, Class Subjects, the Weather
Talk about their plans
Discuss their majors and other subjects
Ask about and state preferences
Describe the weather
Express future plans
Reading Strategies:
Linguistic Functions:
Cultural Notes:
Grammatical Structures:
Weeks 14-15 Part Seven
Skim the text
Subjects, ordinal numbers, seasons, weather
expressions
Culinary Culture
The uses of “why”
Sources
Describing the weather
Places and Activities
Talk about school
Discuss daily activities
Describe origin and location
Reading Strategies:
Consider word families
Linguistic Functions:
Places
Habitual actions
Prepositions
Adjectives of nationality
Grammatical Structures:
Talking about habitual actions: Present tense
Prepositions with pronouns
Fronted predicate
Cultural Notes:
Chinese Universities
Week 16 Part Eight Final Exam
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COURSE POLICIES/PROCEDURES
Class attendance and participation comprise 15% of students’ grade in the semester. The
instructor will grant excused absences if a student is sick, has family emergencies or
some other valid excuse for being absent from class. In such cases the student must
provide the instructor with some written official excuse. Make up for quizzes and exams
will only be granted only under the above-mentioned conditions. Please refer to the
current Delaware State University policies on attendance. Class Participation is
absolutely necessary; students must participate actively in class in order to receive points
deserved.
Students will take five quizzes during the semester. They consist of listening
comprehension, vocabulary, grammatical structures, and a guided composition. In
addition, students will take one mid semester and one final exam. Both exams have the
same sections as quizzes but they also include an oral interview. All work must be
submitted on time and returned graded on time.
The Language Laboratory section of this course takes in the Language Lab located on the
second floor of the EH building to assist students improve on their listening and speaking
proficiency in Chinese. Students must turn in five 90-minute cassette tapes for recording
of aural and oral exercises.
All readings and topics are assigned for study at least 48 hours prior to quiz time with no
extensions unless for reasons stipulated under the attendance policy.
XI. GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
This course offers students the opportunity to understand the socio-cultural patterns and
linguistic diversity of the Chinese language. Students will thus learn to appreciate and
become tolerant of other world cultures.