CHIN110 Syllabus 2010 Spring

Instructor: Xu Wang, email contact: xwangl@gmu.edu, or xuwang215@yahoo.com

Class meeting time and Location

7:20-10:00pm, Tuesdays and Thursdays

West Building # 1007

Course Materials

  1. Integrated Chinese Level I, Part I (3nd edition): Textbook, Workbook, Character    Workbook (required).
  2. Audio CDs or tapes for Integrated Chinese Level I, Part I (3nd edition) (optional).

Course Description

This course is designed for students with no prior knowledge of Chinese. CHAPTER 1 – CHAPTER 7 of the main textbook are covered. The course focuses on developing basic four skills in language and culture necessary to communicate orally and in writing with native Mandarin Chinese speakers. It includes practice in writing Chinese characters using essential vocabulary and elementary grammar for oral and written communication, exploring aspects of Chinese culture and society, and comparing between the Chinese language and culture and those of the students. In addition, authentic text or audiovisual materials are used to enhance development of communicative competence.


Course Objectives

Language Objectives:

·       Read and write pinyin form premier Chinese and to recognize around 300 characters.

·       Understand and use words and expressions introduced in Chapters 1 to 7.

·       Understand and use basic sentence structures introduced in Chapters 1 to 7.

Communication Objectives:

·       Communicate in writing and speaking in a culturally appropriate manner.

·       Understand authentic texts or audiovisual materials presented in class.

 

Culture Objectives:

·       Understand different aspects of Chinese culture such as manners and daily life of Chinese people.

·       Appreciate the richness and beauty of Chinese culture.

Course Requirements

As students, your strong commitment, hard work, and consistent cooperation will be the key to the success of this course; otherwise, it not only hurts your own individual progress, but also can negatively affect the morale and progress of the entire class. In order to ensure your learning experience enjoyable and fruitful, it is imperative and highly recommended that you meet the requirements and follow the rules outlined below. 

1.  Attendance. Attendance of class sessions is crucial. Students should keep in mind that part of their grade is based on attendance; and absences count against them regardless of the reasons. There will be no penalty for the first two missed classes. After that, however, each absence will reduce the final grade by one percentage point.

2.  Preparation & In-Class Performance. Students are required to preview and review the materials covered in each session. A detailed session-by-session schedule is provided for this purpose.  Besides, students are also expected to participate in all class activities. Students' in-class participation and performance will be graded on a 15-point scale for each session. Absence, of course, scores a zero. Pagers and cell must be turned off before the beginning of class.

3.  Quizzes and Tests. At the beginning of each session, there will be a quiz on a ten-point scale on speaking, listening, vocabulary and character recognition. After each lesson, a test on a 100-point scale will be given. There will be no make-up quizzes or tests. Students are allowed to drop two quiz grades and one test grade (including zero for a missed quiz or test).

4.  Homework Assignments. Homework will be due on the due day as marked in the session-by-session syllabus. We’ll do the listening and speaking exercises in the workbook together in class. Students are responsible for sections of the reading comprehension, grammar and usage, and translation for which help is available from the course website (http://mason.gmu.edu/~kzhang/homeworkanswers.html). The last section of essay writing listed in the workbook is optional and just for extra credits. Late homework will be corrected, but penalized 50% of the possible score.

5.  Oral Presentations and Oral Test. In order to encourage students to use what they have learned and also to improve their speaking, students are required to give an oral presentation after each lesson. Students are expected to incorporate as much of the studied material/ grammar/vocabulary as possible, be creative in terms of the form and content of their presentations. For example, the presentation can be a role-play, the telling of a story, the description of a picture or scene related to what is covered in each lesson. At the end of the semester, in addition to a final oral presentation in front of the class, there is an oral test. Students are required to have a one-on-one meeting with the instructor. The conversation covers the topics we have learned in class. Besides, students are asked to read a dialogue/text of their choice, followed by another dialogue/text of instructor’s choice.

6. Final Exam. There will be no midterm but  a final written exam. 40% of the  the final exam will cover Lessons 1-6, and 60% of the final exam will cover L7. The comprehensive exam will test each student’s listening, reading, and writing skills, and knowledge of grammar and cultural aspects. More details will be given in class.

7.  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.

8. Policy on Disabilities. Students with disabilities who seek accommodations in a course must be registered with the GMU Disability Resource Center (DRC) and inform the instructor, in writing, at the beginning of the semester. Please see www.gmu.edu/student/drc or call 703-993-2474 to access the DRC.  

Coursework Breakdown

Students’ final grades are composed as follows:

                                    Class Participation      10 %
Homework                  20 %
Quizzes and Tests       30 % (Quizzes 10%；Tests 20%)
Oral Presentations      15 % (Presentations for L 1-6 9%; final presentation 6%)
Individual Oral Test   10 %
Final Exam                 15 %

Grading Scale

A+         100-97
A            96-93              
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

Session Schedule

 

Date

Class

The Homework Due

Note

 

1

1/19, Tue.

Introduction & Chinese Pronunciation

  Workbook exercises in class

 

 

2

1/21, Thu.

Chinese Pronunciation

 

 

 

3

1/26, Tue

Quiz + Chinese Pronunciation and Chinese Writing

 Character writing practice in class

 

 

4

1/28, Thu.

Pinyin Test + L1 Dialogue I

Introduction Character Workbook

 

 

5

2/2, Tue

Quiz and L1 Dialogue II

 L1 Dialogue ⅠCharacter Workbook

 

 

 

6

2/4, Thu.

L1 Review, Workbook check, and Test

L1 Dialogue II Character Workbook
L1 Workbook

 

 

7

2/9, Tue

L2 Dialogue I

 

 

 

8

2/11, Thu.

Quiz+L2 Dialogue II

L2 Dialogue Character Workbook

 

 

9

2/16, Tue.

 

L2 Review, Workbook check, and Test

L2 Workbook 
L2 Dialogue II Character Workbook

 

 

10

2/18, Thu.

L3 Dialogue I

 

 

11

2/23, Tue.

Quiz + L3 Dialogue II

L3 Dialogue I Character Workbook

 

 

12

2/25, Thu.

L3 Review, Workbook check, and Test

 L3 Workbook

L3 Dialogue II Character Workbook

 

 

13

3/2, Tue.

L4 Dialogue I

 



 

 

14

3/4, Thu.

Quiz + L4Dialogue II

L4 Dialogue ⅠCharacter Workbook

 

 

 

3/8—3/12

 Spring Break, No Class

 

 

 

 

 

15

3/16, Tue

L4 Review, Workbook check, and Test  

L4 Workbook, 

L4 Dialogue II Character Workbook

 

 

16

3/18, Thu.

L5 Dialogue I

 




 

 

17

3/23, Tue.

Quiz + L5 Dialogue II

L5 Dialogue ⅠCharacter workbook)

 

 

18

3/25, Thu.

L5 Review, Workbook check, and Test

L5 Dialogue ⅡCharacter Workbook L5 Workbook

 

 

19

3/30, Tue.

L6 Dialogue I

 

 

 

20

4/1, Thu.

Quiz +L 6 Dialogue II

L6 Dialogue ⅠCharacter Workbook)

 

 

21

4/6. Tue.

L6 Review, Workbook check, and test

L6 Dialogue ⅡCharacter Workbook L6 Workbook 

 

 

22

4/8, Thu

 L7 dialogue I

 

 

 

23

4/13, Tue.

Quiz and L7 Dialogue II

L7 Dialogue I Character Book

 

 

24

4/15, Thu.

L7 Review, Workbook check

L7 Dialogue II Character Workbook

L7 Workbook

 

 

 

25

4/20, Tue.

General Review and Preparation for Final Oral Presentation

Sign up for Individual Meeting

 

 

26

4/22, Tue

General Review and Preparation for Final Oral Presentation

 

 

27

4/27

Final Oral Presentation

 

 

28

4/29

Review for Final

 

 

 

5/6, Wed.

Final Exam

7:30-10:15pm