- UCAS course code
- RT11
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
BA French and Chinese
Gain specialist language and culture skills with a focus on France and China.
- Typical A-level offer: ABB including specific subjects
- Typical contextual A-level offer: BBC including specific subjects
- Refugee/care-experienced offer: BBC including specific subjects
- Typical International Baccalaureate offer: 34 points overall with 6,5,5 at HL including specific subjects
Course unit details:
Chinese Language 5
Unit code | CHIN51050 |
---|---|
Credit rating | 20 |
Unit level | Level 2 |
Teaching period(s) | Full year |
Available as a free choice unit? | Yes |
Overview
Chinese 5 is intended for first-year students who have substantial experience studying Chinese, second-year students who have already completed Chinese 3 and 4, and final-year students who require additional support for their final year. This course is designed to develop students’ comprehensive language skills that are important for practical use. The course continues to develop students’ linguistic and cultural awareness by emphasising the links between a higher level of linguistic competency and socio-cultural literacy. Students will interpret texts related to Chinese popular culture, social change, cultural traditions and more. Students will discover and develop more in-depth knowledge of Chinese culture and society, and gain an insight into inter-cultural sensitivity within a view to successful communication in real situations with Chinese native speakers or people in Chinese-speaking countries. By the end of the year students should be prepared to take and pass HSK level 5.
Pre/co-requisites
Unit title | Unit code | Requirement type | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Chinese Language 4 | CHIN51042 | Pre-Requisite | Compulsory |
Pre/Co/Antirequisite units | Prerequisite: CHIN51042 (Chinese 4) |
Medium of language | Mandarin Chinese |
Aims
This course aims to:
- Further reinforce and develop students' linguistic knowledge and skills acquired before starting university or in Chinese 3 and 4
- Expand students’ knowledge and understanding of modern and contemporary China
- Guide students in their appreciation of important Chinese-language literary texts and topics related to a range of social, political and cultural issues
Learning outcomes
By the end of this course students will be able to:
- Be able to understand a range of everyday Chinese texts and audio-visual materials
- Feel confident navigating real-life, practical Chinese-language situations
- Have continued to build upon their existing vocabulary and grammatical knowledge
- Be approaching a total vocabulary of 3000+ Chinese characters
- Have strengthened their listening, reading, speaking and writing skills across a broad range of subject matter
Syllabus
Topics may change from year to year, the following is an indicative list of topics that may be covered in a given year:
Semester 1:
Weeks 1&2: Chinese folk art
Weeks 3&4: The Development of transportation
Weeks 5&6: Chinese theatre and plays
Weeks 7&8: Attitudes towards life
Weeks 9&10: Behind the name: popular culture names
Week 11: Review
Week 12: Oral test
Semester 2:
Week 1: On Chinese Folk Art
Week 2: On the Development of a Modern Technology (transportation)
Week 3: On Chinese Theatre and Plays
Week 4: Attitudes Towards Life
Week 5: Behind the Nmes: Popular Cultre
Week 6 : On Wild Animal Protection
Week 7: On Food and Drink Culture
Week 8 : On Leisure
Week 9: Carrer Talks
Week10: On Festivals
Week 11: Review
Week 12: Oral test
Teaching and learning methods
A combination of lectures, seminars and tutorials, totalling three contact hours per week.
Knowledge and understanding
By the end of this course students will be able to:
- Compose and connect short passages to form a logical and coherent discourse
- Employ idiomatic expressions and circumlocution to get meanings across
- Translate sentences/passages accurately between Chinese and English
- Conduct communication adequately in oral and written forms
Intellectual skills
By the end of this course students will be able to:
- Develop learning strategies, including online learning and independent learning
- Apply communicative strategies to real-life situations
- Demonstrate problem-solving skills for communication
- Acquire knowledge via various media about recent development in China
Practical skills
By the end of this course students will be able to:
- Synthesise complex information from a wide range of different sources
- Make good use of various resources for communicative purposes
- Be familiar with social media for communicative purposes
- Demonstrate accomplished note-taking and summarising skills in Chinese
- Reach, or be close to reaching, HSK level 5
Transferable skills and personal qualities
By the end of this course students will be able to:
- Apply, in the process of acquisition, analysis, evaluation, and assimilation of information, a full range of learning skills, including information retrieval and autonomous learning.
- Demonstrate an ability to take part effectively in debate and present complex ideas and sustained arguments in a clear and fluent form
- Make good use of resources for support
- In a self-critical way, exercise initiative and independence of mind in the identification of their own learning needs, and in the planning and execution of their own learning
Employability skills
- Other
- Verbal communication skills: be able to express ideas clearly and confidently in presentation and speech Written communication skills: be able to express oneself clearly in writing Motivation: be able to act on initiative, identify opportunities Drive: determination to get things done, make things happen and look for better ways to do things
Assessment methods
Assessment task | Formative or Summative | Weighting within unit (if summative) |
S1 Coursework | Summative | 10% |
Participation and Discussion | Summative | 5% |
Essay | Summative | 10% |
S2 Coursework | Formative/ Summative | 5% |
Essay | Summative | 10% |
Oral exam | Summative | 10% |
Written exam | Summative | 50% |
Resit Assessment:
Video and Essay
Feedback methods
- Comments made during class discussion regarding the relevance and coherence of student participation in discussion
- Comments made during oral presentation regarding the relevance and coherence of the presentation, including word choice, sentence structure and content
- One-to-one feedback before oral presentation
Recommended reading
New Practical Chinese Reader, Books 5, 6 (Beijing: Beijing Language and Culture University Press, 2010) and additional texts
Study hours
Scheduled activity hours | |
---|---|
Seminars | 33 |
Independent study hours | |
---|---|
Independent study | 167 |
Teaching staff
Staff member | Role |
---|---|
Ablimit Elterish | Unit coordinator |
Minjie Xing | Unit coordinator |
Additional notes
Exceptions to word-processed assignments: Assessed coursework and the essay should be hand-written.
Students may take a one-volume Chinese-English-Chinese dictionary provided on the examination date.