George Mason University
Department of Modern & Classical Languages
Spring 2007
CHINESE 102-002 – Elementary Chinese II

Class Meeting Time:     T R 10:30  a.m. -- 11:45 a.m.
Class Meeting Place:     Krug Hall 210
Instructor:                     Dr. Esther Lee
Office Location:            Thompson Hall 234-A
Office Hours:                T R 11:45 p.m. -- 12:15 p.m.
Office Phone:                (703) -993-1631
E-mail:                          leeandxu@yahoo.com

Course Objectives

This course is a sequel to Elementary Chinese I.  It will emphasize communicative activities and stress the learning of both receptive and productive skills.  Students are expected, by the end of the semester, to be able to communicate fluently in Chinese in some basic socially interactive situations such as making an appointment, shopping, and talking about weather, etc.  To achieve such a goal, students need to learn Hanyu Pinyin system well, to become modestly proficient in using approximately 400 words, to know how to use the basic grammatical structures, and to learn how to read and write approximately 200 characters.

Textbooks

Integrated Chinese Level 1 Part 1 (Simplified Character Edition) by Tao-chung Yao & Yuehua Liu (et al.), Cheng & Tsui Company, 2004 (including Textbook, Workbook, and Character Workbook, available at the GMU Bookstore)

Tests and Quizzes

1.      Two oral exams: One will be in the form of a presentation in class. Each student is required to give a presentation of approximately 5 minutes in front of the class on a topic of his or her choice but closely relating to the topics we studied during the semester. 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/ experience, the description of a picture or scene, or a re-enactment of the dialogs in our textbook. Students are encouraged to submit a draft of the proposed presentation to the instructor in advance. More details will be given in class. The other exam will be an individual meeting with the instructor. In that meeting, reading aloud, short recitation, and basic conversation will be tested.  More details will be given in class.

2.      Chapter Quizzes and Pop-up quizzes: Chapter quizzes will take place at the end of each chapter. No make-up chapter quiz will be offered unless legitimate emergency. We will also have numerous simple pop-up quizzes in most of the other class meetings (i.e. non-chapter quizzes days). Students are allowed to drop 3 of the lowest grades, including the missing ones, of their pop-up quizzes.

3.      Final Written Exam
The written test will be a comprehensive test on your knowledge of characters, grammar, reading and writing skills.  More details will be given in class.  

Attendance Policy

Students are required to attend all classes. There will be no penalty for the first two missed classes.  After that, each absence will reduce your final grade by one percentage point.  (That is, twelve absences in one semester will result in a 10% point deduction from your final grade.  So even if you get perfect scores on all tests and homework, you will get a "B" for the course due to your absence).

In-class Performance

Students are encouraged to actively participate in the classroom activities, such as dialogue practices with instructor or classmates, responding to instructor’s questions, etc. Preparation for the lesson is strongly recommended in order to effectively participate in class room activities.

Homework

Homework in the Workbook is due on the same day of chapter quiz. Late homework will result in reduced grade. You may use this link for answers to the “translation” section of your Workbook:

Grading

In-class Performance                10%
Homework                               20%
Pop-up Quizzes                        10%
Quizzes                                    30%
Oral Exam                                10%
Final Exam                               20%
___________________________________
                                                100% minus attendance penalty, if any

Your letter grade is given based on the following point scale:      

A         100-93             C+       79-77
A-        92-90               C         76-70
B+       89-87               D         69-60
B          86-83               F          59-0
B-        82-80

Session Schedule

 

Date	Class	Homework
Week 1 Tue, Jan. 23	Introduction to the Course&  Review  L1-L5 & L6  Vocabulary
Thurs, Jan. 25	L 6 Dialogue I
Week 2 Tue, Jan.  30	L 6 Dialogue II
Thurs, Feb. 1	L 6 Grammar & Pattern Drills
Week 3 Tue, Feb. 6	L 6 Review & Quiz	L 6 Homework Due
Thurs, Feb 8	L 7 Dialogue I
Week 4 Tue, Feb. 13	L 7 Dialogue II
Thurs, Feb. 15	L 7 Grammar & Pattern Drills	Feb. 18 Happy Chinese New Year!
Week 5 Tue, Feb.  20	L 7  Review & Quiz	L 7 Homework Due
Thurs, Feb. 22	L 8  Dialogue I
Week 6 Tue, Feb.  27	L 8  Dialogue II
Thurs, March 1	L 8  Grammar & Pattern Drills
Week 7 Tue, March   6	L 8 Review & Quiz	L 8 Homework Due
Thurs, March  8	L 9  Dialogue I
Week 8 March 11 - 18	SPRING BREAK
Week 9 Tue, March 20	L 9 Dialogue II
Thurs, March 22	L 9 Grammar & Pattern Drills
Week 10 Tue, March 27	L 9 Review & Quiz	L 9 Homework Due
Thurs, March 29	L 10 Dialogue I
Week 11 Tue, April 3	L 10 Dialogue  II
Thurs, April 5	L 10 Grammar & Pattern Drills
Week 12 Tue, April  10	L 10 Practice & Review
Thurs, April 12	L 10 Quiz	L 10 Homework Due
Week 13 Tue, April   17	L 11 Dialogue I
Thurs, April   19	L 11 Dialogue II
Week 14 Tue, April   24	L 11Grammar & Pattern Drills
Thurs, April  26	L 11 Review & Preparation of Oral Presentations	L11 Homework Due
Week 15 Tue, May  1	Oral Presentations & Course Evaluations
Thurs, May 5	Review
Thurs, May 10 10:30a,m. - 1:15 p.m.	FINAL EXAM (in our classroom) Have a great summer!:)