CHIN29B

PATHWAY FOR CHINESE LITERACY

COURSE SYLLABUS

SPRING 2016 INSTRUCTOR: Jian Wei

——————————————————————————————————————— OFFICE: Shiffman111 OFFICE HOURS: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday 2:00PM–3:00 PM, or by appointment E-MAIL ADDRESS: [email protected] OFFICE PHONE: 781-736-3286 CLASS HOURS: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday 12:00PM-12:50PM ———————————————————————————————————————

A. DESCRIPTION Chinese 29B is a beginning through intermediate Chinese course with emphasis on reading and writing based on computerized learning. This course is designed for students of Chinese heritage who have good listening and speaking skills but whose character recognition and composition skills are very limited. Those who are not Chinese heritage but fit the condition are also accepted. You may need to take the placement test or have permission from the instructor. This course is designed to further develop students’ reading /writing proficiencies and also enhance aural/oral skills. The course will provide students with ongoing and varied opportunities to develop their oral and written proficiencies across the three communicative modes: interpersonal (speaking, listening, reading and writing skills), interpretive (listening and reading skills), and presentational (speaking and writing skills); and the five goal areas (communication, cultures, connections, comparisons, and communities) as outlined in the Standards for Foreign Language Learning for the 21st Century.

B. LEARNING GOALS 1. Students will develop Chinese reading and writing skills so that they will have a more balanced command of the language. 2. Students will master the Pinyin Romanization system and learn how to type Chinese characters on computer. 3. Students will learn some character components/structures. By the end of the semester, they are expected to be able to recognize 3000 Chinese words formed by 700 Chinese characters (either simplified or traditional). 4. Students will be able to write with computer Chinese emails, short and informal letters, and diaries, they will be able to transcribe audio recordings of the similar difficult level to the lessons in the textbook in Chinese. Students may opt hand-writing instead of computer input in some of the on-class quizzes and assignments. Students are encouraged to try hand-writing but it is not required. 5. The grammar of complex sentences will be taught. Students can use sentences, strings of sentences, and recombinations of learned words and phrases with frequency of errors proportionate to the complexity of the communicative task. 6. Success in this 4 credit hour course is based on the expectation that students will spend a minimum of 9 hours of study time per week in preparation for class.

C. TEXTBOOK Integrated Chinese, Level1 Part2, Textbook, 3rd Edition Integrated Chinese, Level1 Part2, Workbook, 3rd Edition By Tao-chung Yao et al. Cheng & Tsui Company You need both textbooks and workbooks. You do not need to buy the Character exercise book and the audio CD. After registration, you could sign in LATTE and get access to the audio.

D. GRADING PLAN Coursework will be weighted as follows: 1. Attendance and Class Participation: 10% 2. Daily Quizzes: 20% 3. Homework and Assignments: 20% 4. Presentations: 20% 5. Tests: 15% 6. Final Exam: 15% Your recorded grades will be available for your review at any time on LATTE. Do remember to keep all tests and assignments returned to you so that any discrepancies can be easily and fairly straightened out.

ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION: Regular class attendance is essential in order to benefit from this course. Frequent cutting will doubtlessly lead to DISASTER. Anyone who has more than 10 class-long, unexcused absences will receive an "F" grade for the COURSE. Class participation “points” serve as a vehicle for determining the grade of a student whose average falls near a boundary of a grade cutoff. Thus, students at a grade boundary may have their grades moved up or down depending on their class participation. During classes, I encourage you to ask and answer questions. Voluntary class participation is expected; however, I will call on individuals in class from time to time.

DAILY QUIZZES: Students are expected to take daily quiz based on the new vocabulary that is covered in each lesson. You may write either with your notebook computer or your pen. If computer is used, the quiz must be uploaded in the format of word or pdf. Document onto LATTE. All daily quizzes will be taken at the beginning of class. We will have quizzes almost every class. No daily quiz will be made up without a doctor’s note. 3 lowest grades will be dropped.

ASSIGNMENTS: Each homework assignment is worth 100 points. Any assignment which is not turned in on the due date will be marked down 20 points. All written assignments will be collected at the beginning of class. Please retain all graded assignments to guard against grade recording errors.

ORAL PRESENTATION TESTS: 1. Presentations can take the form of a one-on-one talk, a skit or a speech, depending on the topics, and students will be informed ahead. 2. Students will know ahead of time on which days they must present their presentations—it is clearly indicated on the course schedule; it is vital to arrive on time and prepared on those days. Important note: Due to scheduling constraints, no make-up speeches will be permitted without written documentation of a medical emergency.

TESTS AND FINAL: A formula sheet will be provided for each exam. Notebook computers are encouraged, but can only be used as a typewriter mostly. Students are expected to follow the rules of academic honesty in this class. Examinations are to be the work of the individual student using only the material permitted. Bear in mind that if you are absent without a legitimate excuse, the grade for test you missed will be zero. There will be no make-ups for unexcused, missed tests.

E. CLASSROOM RULES OF CONDUCT Please make sure your cellphone is turned off during class and refrain from surfing the web during class.

F. SUGGESTIONS FOR SUCCESS Attend every class session. Arrive at class on time. Prepare thoroughly for each class. Turn in all assignments on time. Be completely prepared to present on assigned day. Be prepared to ask questions when appropriate.

Students are expected to come to class well prepared. It means that you have to read the assigned text, and listen to the audio recording before the section.

If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please see me immediately.

Before each class, you are required to: 1. Work through the MP3 file that accompanies the textbook. Use it actively, not passively: always consider the meaning of what you hear and say. Successfully preparing with the MP3 will significantly impact your Chinese. 2. Thoroughly read assigned course texts, and go over the assigned sentence patterns. If you encounter new vocabulary that is not in the new vocabulary list, look up the words online. Sentence patterns are equally important; grammar is the glue that holds a language together. You are expected to answer questions from your required readings in class. 3. Memorize the assigned vocabulary. Be sure you can correctly read and write the new words, the new words’ characters will be tested on a daily quiz.