101. ELEMENTARY CHINESE I. This first-year course is designed to lay a foundation for those who are interested in using Mandarin Chinese as a linguistic tool to communicate and further appreciate the Chinese culture. It aims at developing learners’ overall competence in speaking, listening, reading, writing, and culture awareness with special emphasis on oral-aural skills for true beginners. A learner-centered, task-based, and proficiency-driven approach will be employed. Christian value will be integrated throughout the semester. Students will learn hymns in Chinese immediately. Class is highly interactive. Visual aids, authentic materials, and multimedia language resources will be incorporated to enhance learning effectiveness. Regular and active participation in class is expected. Grade is based on daily performance, homework, quizzes, lesson tests, oral and written exams. Prerequisite: None. Fall semester only, three hours.
102. ELEMENTARY CHINESE II. This first-year course is designed to continue to lay the groundwork for the study of modern Chinese. It aims to develop learners’ overall Chinese competence in speaking, listening, reading, writing, and intercultural communication with special emphasis on oral-aural skills. A learner-centered, task-based, and proficiency-driven approach will be employed. Christian value will be integrated throughout the semester. Hymns and Chinese Bible verses (in Pinyin) will be used as instructional tools. Students will have opportunities to talk about their lives, perform skits, read signs, and write journal entries in Chinese. Visual aids, authentic materials, and multimedia language resources will be integrated to facilitate classroom learning as well as independent learning. Regular and active participation in class is expected. Grade is based on daily performance, homework, quizzes, lesson tests, oral and written exams. Prerequisite: Chinese 101. Spring semester only, three hours.
105. BUSINESS CHINESE I. is a beginning Mandarin Chinese course with a special focus on business communication. It is the first level of a three-level series, covering basic daily corporate interactions and business-related social exchanges such as: socializing, establishing and maintaining good relations (guānxì, a key word for doing business in Asia), scheduling meetings, visiting a company, inquiring about products, business etiquette, etc. Christian values will be integrated throughout the course. It is designed for learners with no prior knowledge of the Chinese language and culture. Ample authentic materials are provided for learners to visualize contemporary China. Classes are conducted mainly in Chinese, with clear grammatical and cultural highlighting in English. Students will be assigned to perform simple tasks to enhance language use. Active participation in class is required. Grade is based on class performance, homework, quizzes, oral and written tests. Prerequisite: None. Spring semester only, three hours.
201. INTERMEDIATE CHINESE I This second year course is designed to build on the foundation of first year Chinese to help learners achieve greater fluency in the spoken and written use of the Chinese language, as well as to increase their vocabulary and familiarity with common sentence patterns. Topics and scenarios shift from college daily life here in the US to daily tasks that one needs to fulfill in China. A learner-centered, task-based, and proficiency-driven approach will be employed. Christian value will be integrated throughout the semester. Regular and active participation in class is required. Grade is based on daily performance, homework assignments, quizzes, oral and written tests. Prerequisite: Chinese 102 or consent. Fall semester only, three hours.
202. INTERMEDIATE CHINESE II. This second-year course is designed to further develop learners’ overall language proficiency. Students will have opportunities to talk about their lives, perform skits, read simple stories, and write journals. Christian value will be integrated throughout the semester. Visual aids (on everyday life in China), authentic materials, and multimedia language resources will also be incorporated to enhance learning effectiveness. Towards the end of this course, students will be able to achieve the following: understand simple paragraph-length utterances and over longer stretches of some connected discourses on a number of topics beyond basic survival needs; handle successfully most communicative tasks and social situations and support one’s opinions using simple discourse strategies; read consistently with full understanding simple connected text; write short letters, brief synopses, summaries, biographical data of work and school experience in some details. Regular and active participation in class is required. Grade is based on daily performance, homework assignments, quizzes, oral and written tests. Prerequisite: Chinese 201 or consent. Spring semester only, three hours.
205 BUSINESS CHINESE II. is the continuation of Chinese105 (Business Chinese I). It focuses on practical language skills that are most helpful in actual business interactions with Chinese-speaking communities (i.e. China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore). Chinese and Kingdom culture will also be integrated throughout the course. Classroom activities are task-based and largely in the form of real world simulation. Students will work mainly in groups throughout the semester, with each group represents a company. Some highlights include: business negotiation in international trade, short business letter writing, simple business documents comprehension, business oral presentation, commercial language and word processing. Through intensive practice in the listening, speaking, reading, and writing of the Chinese language for business purposes, students will enhance their cultural awareness and acquire vocabulary, phrases and sentence patterns commonly used in typical Chinese business contexts. Classes are conducted mainly in Chinese. Active participation in class is required. Grade is based on class performance, homework assignments, quizzes, oral presentations and written tests. Prerequisite: Chinese 105, 102, or consent. Spring semester only, three hours.
301. ADVANCED CHINESE I This third-year course is conducted entirely in Chinese. It is learner-centered, content-based, and proficiency-driven. It seeks to further develop learners’ overall language proficiency through extensive reading of modern texts in various styles. Students will have opportunities to narrate personal experience, discuss current social problems, and explore cultural issues at discourse level. Topic includes Chinese food, holidays, education, traditional Chinese medicine, leisure and entertainment. Christian perspective on these topics will be the focus of class discussion. Strategies in serving God with our life and profession will be integrated in this course. Regular and active participation in class is required. Grade is based on daily performance, homework assignments, quizzes, oral presentations, and written tests. Prerequisite: Chinese 202 or consent. Fall semester only, three hours.
302. ADVANCED CHINESE II This third-year course aims at further vocabulary expansion, consolidation of essential sentence structures of contemporary Chinese through extensive reading and related conversation. Students will start learning phrases of written/formal language (shūmiàn yǔ) which is different from daily colloquial/informal language. There will also be plenty opportunities for learners to express their personal opinions on current social and cultural issues at discourse level. Topics are very culture-oriented. Learners will discuss in the Chinese language contemporary China social and cultural trends such as: marriage then and now, population, economics policies and reforms, government and politics, and environmental protection. Christian value will be integrated throughout the semester. Regular and active participation in class is required. Grade is based on daily performance, assignments, quizzes, oral presentations, and written tests. Prerequisite: Chinese 301 or consent. Spring semester only, three hours.
305. BUSINESS CHINESE III is an advanced Chinese language course designed for students who are interested in international business with Chinese enterprises in Chinese-speaking communities. Classroom activities, task-based and largely in the form of real world simulation, will be based on authentic documents and correspondence as well as a course packet. More specifically, students will increase knowledge of business and professional terminology; learn business practices and customs; practice giving formal presentations; read business related articles and statistical information; review business documents including invoices, shipping documents, bank statements, sales and purchase contract, brochures introducing new products, and other business letters involving import and export trade; write basic business letters; develop the ability to distinguish the stylistic differences between formal and informal correspondences, colloquial and written Chinese, and be able to write formal business letter in the appropriate format with the correct register. Strategies in serving God with our life and profession will be integrated in this course. The course will be conducted entirely in Chinese. Students are expected to fully participate in discussions in Mandarin Chinese. Grade is based on class performance, assignments, quizzes, oral presentations, and written tests. Prerequisite: Chinese 205, 301, or consent. Spring semester only, three hours.
320. INTRODUCTION TO CHINESE CIVILIZATION. A survey of Chinese history and civilization including social, political, economic, and cultural developments. Prerequisite: Chinese 302 or by permission. Offered periodically, semester course, three hours.
321. MODERN CHINA. A study of the cultural, political, economic, and social issues of contemporary China. Prerequisite: Chinese 302 or by permission. Offered periodically, semester course, three hours.
350. INTRODUCTION TO CHINESE LITERATURE. A study on China’s history, society, culture, and philosophies through traditional and modern Chinese literature. Prerequisite: Chinese 302 or by permission. Offered periodically, semester course, three hours.
390. STUDIES IN CHINESE. Readings and discussion of topics in literature or language. Subject matter varies. Prerequisite: Chinese 302 or by permission. Offered periodically, semester course, three hours.