Course Catalogue

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This is an introductory course in Chinese language (modern standard Chinese) for students with no prior knowledge of Chinese. It will introduce them to the fundamentals of grammar, Chinese characters and the tonal structure of the language. Students will develop their awareness of Chinese culture.

The course will be comprised of 6 contact hours per week over 10 weeks:

■ grammar, reading and writing (3 hours)

■ listening comprehension and spoken Chinese (3 hours).

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End-of-course examination:

■ Reading comprehension (weighting 20 per cent)

■ Translation (weighting 20 per cent)

■ Listening comprehension (weighting 15 per cent)

■ Spoken Chinese (weighting 15 per cent)

Assessed coursework (three written assessments each weighted at 10 per cent; total weighting 30 per cent)

The course aims to:

■ Give students a foundation in spoken and written standard Chinese (Mandarin).

■ Introduce students to key features of Chinese grammar, around 150 Chinese characters, and the

tonal system.

■ Provide students with an introduction to the structure of Chinese characters and how to work with a

dictionary.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Demonstrate a reading and writing knowledge of around 150 Chinese characters

■ Demonstrate the ability to translate simple texts from Chinese into English

■ Demonstrate the ability to hold a basic conversation involving greetings, as well as ask and answer simple questions.

■ Read short texts in Mandarin

■ Demonstrate awareness of cultural and linguistic differences between the use of Mandarin and English

Students must submit (successfully complete) at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.