Chinese 1
World Languages Department
(Mr. Fairfield)
Classroom 105, x257
Course Syllabus
v This form should be placed in the front of the student’s binder for reference throughout the year.
Overview
This course is designed to teach the four basic skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing in Chinese, with a focus on listening and speaking skills. The study of the Chinese Language will provide students with the knowledge, skills and attitudes essential to becoming an effective participant in an increasingly diverse society. We will establish a foundation for the continued study of the language and provide students with a basic understanding of China’s geography, citizens, current issues, and culture. Students will be aware of the cultural differences between China and America, one example of which will be to correctly use “polite words” in appropriate situations.
Course Materials
Text: Zhēn Bàng!, EMC Chinese 1, EMC Publishing, LLC
*At no point will students be allowed to write in the textbook, as they are in limited supply and must be used by next year’s students! You must come up with the answers yourselves, so allow others the privilege of doing the same.
Recommended but optional:
Dictionary:
Oxford Chinese Dictionary. Manser, Martin H. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
ABC Chinese-English Comprehensive Dictionary. DeFrancis, John, ed. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2003.
Commonly-used Chinese Proverbs:
ABC Dictionary of Chinese Proverbs. Rohsenow, John D. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2002.
Web Resources:
NCIKU: www.nciku.com
MDBG: www.mdbg.net
Zhongwen: www.zhongwen.com
Skritter: www.skritter.com
Growing up with Chinese: http://cctv.cntv.cn/lm/learningchinese/program/index.shtml
Course Content
In the first year Chinese, students learn to communicate orally through selected functions and topics. The students learn to communicate through the three modes of communication: Interpersonal, Interpretive, and Presentational modes. Students learn to apply grammatical principles of the language to form new sentences in meaningful exchanges and real world situations. Cultural information about China is integrated through various language-based activities focusing on the perspective, practices, and products of the Chinese language.
Specific Content Skills: Chinese Level 1
Demonstrate knowledge of the basic structure of the foreign language, such as characters, components, and radicals.
Master the phonetic system and tones (that is to say that they will be able to distinguish the initials and finals and pronounce the four tones plus the neutral tone correctly).
Communicate orally on selected topics related to self, family, school, friends, leisure, and food in the target language.
Distinguish between the vowel and consonant sounds and symbols of English and those of the foreign language—and the use of the character system
Listen to the target language using the interpretive mode of communication.
Interpret text and conversation while responding orally with proper pronunciation in the FL to: teacher or recorded questions based on text, curriculum topics, themes, authentic materials, interactions initiated in the classroom relating to everyday situations in the foreign culture.
Read with understanding materials in selected text, dialogues, magazines, selected poems and poetry, reading selections, as well as those reading s created by the teachers using familiar vocabulary and grammar.
Recognize the meaning of some new words in reading passages through context as found in beginning level magazines, poems, and selected reading passages.
Write sentences from oral practice, dictation, selected real-life scenarios using correct spelling, including accent marks.
Write several sentences giving information about oneself or a friend.
Describe a friend and basic objects that are selected by the teacher.
Discuss in English or the FL similarities and differences between American and the foreign culture with respect to customs, holidays, foods, education, etc.
Use discussion and authentic materials to help students refine their perspective on the target culture and to interpret meaning of current events, historical moments, cultural practices and products.
Comprehend simple statements and questions to gain a general understanding of the main idea of extended but simple narratives and conversations.
Ask and answer questions using the open, closed, and “ma” forms of questions and to initiate and respond to simple statements and engage in simple face-to-face conversation within the vocabulary and structure appropriate to the communicative situations and functions.
Read and understand simple signs, numbers days, weeks, months and sentences with limited vocabulary. To read specially prepared paragraphs containing learned grammatical patterns and basic vocabulary items.
Write learned characters with mostly correct stroke orders and to recognize radicals. Also, students will write the mastered vocabulary and structures in simple sentences and phrases. (Although errors may sometimes occur in character production, writing can be understood by native speakers.)
Use affirmative and negative structures and to express what they like or dislike with “” and “”.
Describe someone, using a limited number of words for body parts and appropriate adjectives.
Utilize some basic functions of a Chinese word processing system.
Correctly use a number of measure words and use and understand time words and adverbs in correct positions. To master verb-object compounds.
Grading
The foreign language grading policy for the Charles H. Flowers High School is as follows:
100-90 A
89-80 B
79-70 C
69-60 D
59-below E
Breakdown of Final Grade
Grading in this class will be broken down into three sections: Assessment (45%), Class Work (35%) and Homework (20%). Warm-ups will fall under the Class Work section. The final exam at the end of the year is 100 points, but entered twice into School Max, so it will have double the impact on a student’s grade. This is a mandate for all World Language courses.
The World Languages Department asks its teachers to use what we call the 5 C’s when creating or grading any assignment. While these categories do not affect a student’s grades directly, it is important to understand what is looked for by the instructor.
Communication
The Communication portion encompasses any activity having solely to do with speaking the language. For example: oral presentations, discussions, conversations, etc.
Cultures
The Cultures portion encompasses any activity whose primary concern is with the target country’s food, music, celebrations, art, etc.
Connection
The Connection portion encompasses current events, geography, mathematics, biographies, history, etc.
Comparisons
The Comparisons portion encompasses any and all comparisons made between our own culture and China’s culture, including foods, vocabulary, holidays, etc.
Communities
The Communities portion encompasses surveys, videos, simulated community activities, etc.
Quarterly Topics:
By the end of quarter one, students will:
· Learn and identify the benefits and careers relevant to the study of the Chinese language.
· Develop an understanding of the strategies for learning Chinese.
· Follow simple classroom instructions in Chinese.
· Locate China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan on a map and recognize geographical areas.
· Create a Chinese name:
a. Recognize their Chinese name orally and in written form.
b. Write their Chinese last name and first name in both characters and Pinyin.
c. Describe the meaning of their name in Chinese. Read Chinese words in the Pinyin system.
· Read Chinese words in Pinyin pronunciation system.
· Describe and distinguish four tone marks used in the language system.
· Greet friends.
· Say farewell to friends.
· Introduce yourself and family members.
· Express gratitude.
By the end of quarter two, students will:
· Describe the Chinese educational system and a typical school day in a Chinese-speaking country.
· Describe the origins of the Chinese language, differences between certain dialects, and Mandarin/Putonghua.
· Demonstrate knowledge of the basic structure of Chinese characters.
· Write basic strokes and know the stroke order of Chinese characters.
· Recognize and describe some traditional Chinese characters and their simplified evolutions.
· Write words in the Pinyin pronunciation when words are spelled through dictation.
· Identify themselves by country of origin.
· Count and write numbers 1-100, 1,000, and 10,000.
· Identify classroom members and relationships in Chinese.
· Introduce others.
· Inquire about the sports activities of friends.
By the end of quarter three, students will:
· Communicate on the topic of Chinese festivals and compare these festivals to holidays in the United States.
· Write and express congratulations and vocabulary associated with the Chinese New Year.
· Write more extensive phrases and sentences in Pinyin pronunciation when words are dictated.
· Write the simple and the most commonly used components and radicals of Chinese characters.
· Describe and identify the different colors in Pinyin pronunciation.
· Use numbers 1-100 in a functional way (money, dates, age, etc.).
· Speak phrases using counting and measurement words (ge, ben, zhi, etc.).
· Talk about friends and ask about the languages that they are learning.
· Inquire about the quantity of items.
· Communicate possession and inquire about the owner of property.
By the end of quarter four, students will:
· Use the Chinese-English/English-Chinese dictionaries to look up words.
· Introduce oneself in a skit that includes: a greeting, age, nationality, interests, and gathering information from others.
· Use birthday congratulatory phrases and sing the birthday song in Chinese.
· Describe the relationship between birth dates and the Chinese zodiac.
· Express that they are looking for someone.
· Express their personal mood and feelings.
· Review and demonstrate competency in objectives presented from first quarter to fourth quarter.
Special Days
If the class continues on schedule, there will be special days incorporated to enhance the course curriculum. These may include, but are not limited to: course-related films, picture slides and film clips, guest speakers, mini-lessons on Chinese painting and/or calligraphy, an exploration of Chinese music and musical instruments, the celebration of Chinese holidays, and a day for Chinese snacks and games.