- Department: Language and Linguistic Science
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: I
- Academic year of delivery: 2024-25
Learning a language can be a transformative and enriching experience. Both the process and the outcomes are beneficial at various levels, from increased neuroplasticity to improving your overall academic performance, fostering empathy and intercultural awareness, and enhancing your career opportunities. This course is aimed at students who have no previous knowledge of Chinese. Over the course of a semester, it will steadily build the knowledge, skills, and strategies necessary to learn Chinese and communicate in basic situations. It will focus on developing a communicative competence from beginner level and provide a foundation for further study.
Occurrence | Teaching period |
---|---|
A | Semester 1 2024-25 |
B | Semester 2 2024-25 |
The aims of this module are:
to build up basic skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing
to develop strategies for learning Chinese
to develop interactive skills in familiar situations
to introduce and practise the writing system and orthography
Students will engage, individually and in groups, in activities and tasks emphasising three core communicative skills:
reception activities (oral, audio-video and reading comprehension);
production activities (oral and written production);
interaction activities (oral, written and online interaction).
The mediums of instruction are English and Chinese.
By the end of the module students should be able to:
Understand basic expressions and short, simple informational material and texts on familiar everyday subjects.
Produce short phrases and series of simple sentences about familiar everyday subjects.
Interact in a simple way, and ask and answer questions on familiar daily topics.
Recognise basic cultural differences and to establish basic social contact by using everyday polite forms of greetings, farewells and introductions.
Grasp a basic knowledge of the writing system and orthography of Chinese and begin to apply them appropriate to the level.
Reflect upon language use and justify linguistic choices.
Self-monitor and self-regulate their own learning and resources.
Topics may include:
greetings and general polite forms;
exchanging personal information;
talking about one's daily routine;
celebrating one's birthday;
talking about one's university and major;
expressing likes and dislikes.
Task | % of module mark |
---|---|
Closed/in-person Exam (Centrally scheduled) | 60 |
Oral presentation/seminar/exam | 40 |
None
The written exam will include one or two questions aimed at assessing students’ ability to reflect on language use and justify their responses and choices when using the language (in English), and a task related to students’ ability to monitor their own learning.
Task | % of module mark |
---|---|
Closed/in-person Exam (Centrally scheduled) | 60 |
Oral presentation/seminar/exam | 40 |
Feedback on exams and essays as per University regulations.
Course materials and guided readings will be provided by the module convenors via the VLE at the start of the semester.