George Mason
University Prerequisites,
Course Description & Objectives Textbook
(available in the GMU Bookstore) Course
Requirements & Rules Quizzes &
Final Exam Oral
Exam Grades Grading
Scale Session
Schedule Date Class
Homework Week
1 Introduction&L1
Vocabulary Thurs,
August 28 L1Vocabulary&Text Week
2 L1
Text & Discussion Thurs,
September 4 L1
Grammar (Supplementary Vocabulary) Week
3 L1Quiz L
1 Homework Due Thurs,
September 11 L
2 Vocabulary Week
4 L
2 Text & Discussion Thurs,
September 18 L
2 Grammar (Supplementary Vocabulary) Week
5 L
2 Quiz L
2 Homework Due Thurs,
September 25 L
3 Vocabulary Week
6 L
3 Text & Discussion Thurs,
October 2 L
3 Grammar(Supplementary Vocabulary) Week
7 L
3 Quiz L3
Homework Due Thurs,
October 9 L
4 Vocabulary Week
8 Tuesday
Classes Do not Meet this Week Thurs,
October 16 L
4 Text & Discussion Week
9 L
4 Grammar (Supplementary Vocabulary) Thurs,
October 23 L
4 Quiz L4 Homework
Due Week
10 L
5 Vocabulary Thurs,
October 30 L
5 Text & Discussion Week
11 L
5 Grammar (Supplementary Vocabulary) Thurs,
November 6 L
5 Quiz L5
Homework Due Week
12 Thurs,
November 15 L
6 Text & Discussion Week
13 Thurs,
November 22 L
6 Quiz &L7 Vocabulary L6 Homework
Due Week
14 Thurs,
November 27 Happy
Thanksgiving! (No Classes) Week
15 L7
Grammar (Supplementary Vocabulary) Thurs,
December 4 Final
Oral Presentation & Review L7 Homework
Due Tuesday,
December 16 FINAL
EXAM (in our classroom)
Department of Modern & Classical Languages
Fall
2008: CHINESE 480 – Fourth Year Chinese I
Class Meeting Time: T &
Th 12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.
Class Meeting Place:
RB103
Instructor: Chen,Xi
Office Location: Thompson Hall 234A
Office
Hours: T & Th 10:45 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. or by appointment
E-mail:
xchen8@gmu.edu
Phone: 703-9931631
This course is designed for advanced students of Chinese.
Completion of the Elementary and Intermediate Chinese courses or equivalent is
required. The course is open to students who have fulfilled this prerequisite at
other institutions.
With a focus on oral proficiency, this course also
strongly emphasizes the further development of reading, writing, and listening
skills. Specifically, students are expected
· to develop a solid grasp of
more complex Chinese syntax through the intense study and practice of grammar
and common idiomatic expressions
· to broaden their vocabulary and active
character knowledge
· to learn and appreciate various unique aspects of
written and spoken Chinese
· to employ effectively all four skills (speaking,
listening, reading, writing) in classroom activities and homework
assignments
· to appreciate Chinese culture as an integral part of the
Chinese language
Beyond the
Basics: Communicative Chinese for Intermediate/Advanced Learners Textbook by
Jianhua Bai, Juyu Sung, and Janet Zhiqun Xing; Cheng & Tsui,
1995.
Recommended Dictionary:
The Oxford
Chinese Dictionary. New International Edition.
Chinese-English/ English-Chinese. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1999.
1.
Attendance. Attendance at class sessions is crucial.
Students should keep in mind that part of their grade
is based on attendance and that absences count against them regardless of the
reasons. There will be no penalty for the first three missed classes. After
that, however, each absence will reduce the final grade by one percentage point.
(That is, thirteen absence over the course of the semester will result in a
ten-percentage point subtraction from the final grade, so even perfect scores on
all tests and homework will result in a "B").
2. Preparation &
in-class performance. Thorough preparation of the materials to be covered in
each session as well as in-class performance will be graded on a four-point
scale. Students who come in well prepared and perform well will get four points
each day. Those who are not well prepared, do not participate, do not pay
attention, or disrupt the class, will receive lower
scores accordingly. Absence, of course, scores a zero. Students are expected to
prepare beforehand the material to be covered in class, such as new
vocabulary, grammar, and sentence patterns. A detailed session-by-session
schedule is provided for this purpose. Short vocabulary quizzes may be given
from time to time at the beginning of class to test the level of preparation.
Pagers and cell phones should be turned off before the beginning of class.
3. Quizzes. There will be a quiz after each lesson(L1-L6). The lowest score on a quiz (including zero for
a missed quiz) will be dropped when calculating the final grade. There will be
no make-up quizzes or quizzes taken in advance, unless the student has a
legitimate reason and informs the instructor in a timely fashion.
4. Homework. Homework will be due no later than the day of the
quiz. Late homeworks will be corrected, but no credit will be given for
it.
5. Honor Code. The George Mason University Honor Code is in
effect throughout the entire duration of the course and applies to all course
work carried out inside and outside the classroom. It is the responsibility of
each student to be familiar with the GMU Honor System and Code as laid out in
the Student Handbook.
Please refer to
http://www.gmu.edu/mlstudents/handbook/honor.html for detailed
information.
We will study Lessons 1 through 7 in the textbook. There will
be six quizzes that cover Lessons 1 to 6 respectively. Material of Lesson 7 will
be incorporated in the final exam. All quizzes will test listening, reading, and
writing skills, as well as knowledge of grammar and cultural aspects.
There will
be a final oral in-class presentation at the end of the semester. Each student
is required to give a presentation of approximately 5 to 10 minutes in front of
the class on a topic of his or her choice but based on the material we studied
in class. Students should try to incorporate as much of the studied material/
grammar/ vocabulary as possible, but they can be creative in devising form and
content of the presentation. For example, the presentation can be a role-play,
the telling of a story, describing a picture or scene, or a discussion of
socio-cultural issues related to the lessons covered during the semester.
Students are required to submit a draft of the proposed presentation to the
instructor in advance. More details will be given in class.
Final grades
are composed as follows:
In-Class
Performance 20
%
Homework
20
%
Quizzes
30 %
Oral
10 %
Final
20 %
A
100-93
A-
92-90
B+
89-87
B
86-83
B-
82-80
C+
79-77
C
76-73
C-
72-70
D
69-60
F
59-
0
Tue, August 26
Tue, September 2
Tue, September 9
Tue, September 16
Tue, September 23
Tue, September30
Tue, October 7
Tue, October 14
Tue, October 21
Tue, October 28
Tue, November 4
Tue, November 13
L
6 Vocabulary
Tue, November 20
L
6 Grammar (Supplementary Vocabulary)
Tue, November 25
L
7 Text &Discussion
Tue, December 2
10:30 a.m. - 1:15 p.m.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
J