COURSE OBJECTIVES

The Intermediate Chinese class is designed for students who have had one year of Chinese or an equivalent experience. Besides consolidating their mastery of elementary Chinese, this course aims to develop students’ skills in the target language by introducing them to more advanced grammar, vocabulary, and idiomatic expressions. Upon completion of this course, students should be able to speak Chinese with some fluency on basic conversational topics, read authentic materials of reasonable degree of difficulty, and write simple compositions in Chinese characters. In addition, with course materials organized on culture-related topics, this course will enable students to achieve a better understanding of Chinese culture and society.

COURSE ORGANIZATION

We will spend approximately six sessions on each lesson in the main textbook. Each session involves a major task focusing on one aspect of the lesson, such as studying new vocabulary, analyzing the text, discussing grammatical problems generated by the text, pattern drills, exercises in listening and reading comprehension, and oral practice in life-like communicational situations in the form of mini-dialogue and role-play, etc. In addition, we will spice our leaning process with some supplementary materials and activities such as viewing Chinese films and using Chinese software to surf on the Web, depending upon their suitability and availability. With the help of the detailed schedule for each lesson, students are expected to prepare for the material of each session the day before it is taught, such as memorizing characters, familiarizing themselves with grammatical points and idiomatic expressions.

COURSE MATERIALS

1. Yuehua Liu et al. Integrated Chinese Level 1 Part 2: Textbook. Boston: Cheng & Tsui, 1997.

2. _____. Integrated Chinese Level 1 Part 2: Workbook.

3. _____. Integrated Chinese Level 1 Part 2: Character Workbook (These textbooks are available at the University Bookstore).

4. Concise English-Chinese Chinese-English Dictionary. New York and Hong Kong: Oxford UP (Available at the University Bookstore).

5. Audio tapes for the texts are available for listening in the Language Lab and online.

6. Supplementary materials will be handed out in class.

EVALUATION

In addition to two quizzes (usually in the form of dictation), there will be a comprehensive written test for each lesson. There will be a final exam consisting of both oral and written elements. Here is the breakdown of the course grading, which will be eventually converted into a letter grade for your final grade on this course:       

ATTENDANCE AND REQUIREMENTS

Students must attend each class. No absence will be honored unless it has been permitted in advance by the instructor or recommended by a physician in the case of sickness.  A student who incurs an absence must make up all work missed during the absence except for quizzes, and must submit assignments on the due dates. Unauthorized absence and frequent late arrival will adversely affect your final grade in the following way: each unauthorized absence (or five 5-minute late arrivals) will cause the deduction of one point from your percent score. For example, John Smith has a percent score of 92. He has accumulated 2.8 deductible points because of two absences and four late arrivals. After the deduction, his final percent score is 89.2. While a percent score of 92 may be converted into an A-, a score of 89 is a B+ instead.

It is useful to note that this course adheres to the FSU STUDENT HONOR CODE as described in the student handbook.