Course Description

This course is the second of a two-semester sequence in first-year modern Chinese. It continues to introduce elementary Mandarin pronunciation, grammar, and orthography (in both Pinyin and characters) to beginners with no prior exposure to the language (students who are heritage speakers of Chinese are advised to take CHN 1016 ACCELERATED BEGINNING CHINESE). Chinese 1012 consists of two lectures per week, plus discussion sections on a daily basis. Lecture is aimed at introducing new sentence structures and language points. The main purpose of discussion sections is to reinforce students’ understanding and mastery of the teaching materials through practice. Lectures and discussion aside, students are expected to spend ten to twelve hours per week on this course. ** Please note that before class preparation is critical in this course. Before each lecture, you are required to listen to the text online three times. You are also required to have a basic knowledge of the new vocabulary of the text. **

Course objectives

Upon the completion of the course, the learners should be able to acquire the following skills:

Pronunciation: Accurate pronunciation of all Chinese sounds and all the words and characters learned in this semester.
Listening: Ability to understand everyday Chinese on the topics covered in and relevant to the textbook.
Grammar: Correct use of grammatical patterns introduced in Level 1, Part 2 of Integrated Chinese (see below – Required Texts).
Reading: Ability to understand and read aloud correctly texts in both Pinyin and Mandarin characters covered in Level 1 Part 2 of Integrated Chinese and understand reading materials with the characters they will have learned.
Conversation: Ability to converse in Mandarin on subject matters covered in Level 1 Part 2 of Integrated Chinese.
Orthography: Ability to recognize at least 330 new Chinese characters, and to write accurately a minimum of 120 characters from memory with correct stroke order.

Required Texts:

* Integrated Chinese (Traditional Character Edition, 2^nd Edition) Level 1, Part 2 in three volumes (Textbook, Workbook, and Character Workbook) edited by Tao-chung Yao, YuehuaLiu, et al. (Cheng & Tsui Company, 1997). Available in the bookstore of University Minnesota.

Audiovisual Resources

There are several resources available to students of a second language here at the University:

The Language Center has an extensive library of useful audio and video materials which can be used to supplement all levels of language study in their Multi-Media Lab (Jones Hall 135). Staff will be on hand to help direct you to what you need, and to assist with any technical problems you might encounter. Please see their website (http://languagecenter.cla.umn.edu/lc/hours.html) for hours and further information.
This course has a website to facilitate learning. The following URL will bring you to the website. (http://www.all.umn.edu/chinese_language/)

Auditory information for each lesson of the textbook is provided in the course website.

Ground Rules

Attendance & participation. This course consists of two parts: lecture and discussion. The attendance and participation grade will be based on preparation, regular attendance, participation and efforts. During the whole semester, only five hours unexcused absence are allowed. Each additional unexcused absence will cost 1 point of the full percentage of the Attendance & Performance portion of the final grade. Entering the classroom 5 minutes after the class starts is considered tardiness and three tardiness will be considered as one absence.

Excused and Unexcused Absence. Absence from class with a physician’s note is excused absence and will not result in any deduction of point from the Attendance and Performance portion of the final grade. Notification of absence by email or telephone without a physician’s note will not be accepted as excused absence, and will count toward the five hours unexcused absences, and result in deduction of point from the Attendance & Performance portion after the first five unexcused absences are taken.

Permission for Absence. Since all instructors, including both the lecturer and recitation leaders, will be responsible for determining the Attendance & Performance portion of the final grade, students should ask permission for absence from both the lecturer and recitation leader. Failure to contact both the lecturer and the recitation leader may result in deduction from the Attendance & Performance portion of the final grade. Students who are absent for 1/3 of the semester will fail the course.

Grading Policy for Homework. Homework is assigned on a daily basis and should be turned in on time, not before or after the due date. Late homework handed in will be corrected but will receive only 50% of the deserved credits. Late homework as a result of medical reasons, only when accompanied by a physician’s note, will be accepted as homework finished on time. Homework overdue for two days will be corrected but not graded.

Requirement for Recording Assignment. Each student should prepare a computer- compatible microphone for recording.

Make-Up Tests and Quizzes. All students are expected to take tests and quizzes as they are scheduled. No make-up test or quiz is allowed unless there is a physician’s note to certify that the student cannot take the test or quiz at the scheduled time.

Please keep all your graded homework. Please keep all your graded homework, in case that you want to check your grades. In doing so, it can also help you to review what you have learned.

Registration for Next Semester. As students’ achievements for this course will greatly impact continuing Chinese language learning, those whose final grades for this class are lower than D are strongly advised not to continue into Chinese 3022 next semester unless they get permission from the department.

Grading

Attendance 10%

Performance: 10%

Homework: Characters 5%

Recording 10%

Written 10%

Vocabulary Quizzes: 5%

Quizzes: 10%

Tests: 15%

Mid-term: 10% (Oral 50%, Written 50%)

Final: 15% (Oral 50%, Written 50%)

Total: 100%

Teaching Staff

Lead Teacher: Wang, Ling wangx333@umn.edu

Instructors: Jiang, Liping: jiang174@ umn.edu

Stone, Jin : jinx0017@umn.edu

Hao, Ji: haoxx015@umn.edu

Qu ,,Wanling: quxxx010@umn.edu

Jesse Field: fiel0165@umn.edu

Office Hours

Monday: 10:30-11:30 Wang, 3:30-4:30 Jin

Tuesday: 11:00-12:00 Jessica, 1:15-2:15 Jin, 4:50-5:50 Liu

Wednesday: 11:10-12:10 Hao, 2:30-3:30 Wang, 2:30-3:30 Li

Thursday: 11:10-12:10 Liu, 12:20-1:10 Qu, 4:30-5:30 Jiang

Friday: 11:15-12:15 Jiang, 12:00-1:00 Li, 1:15-2:15 Jesse

Office: 444 Folwell Hall