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2020/2021

Chinese I: Introduction to Chinese Language and Writing

Code: 105860 ECTS Credits: 12
Degree Type Year Semester
2504012 Spanish and Chinese Studies: Language, Literature and Culture FB 1 1
The proposed teaching and assessment methodology that appear in the guide may be subject to changes as a result of the restrictions to face-to-face class attendance imposed by the health authorities.

Contact

Name:
Mireia Vargas Urpi
Email:
Mireia.Vargas@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
catalan (cat)
Some groups entirely in English:
No
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
Yes
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
No

Other comments on languages

The subject is taught in Catalan and Spanish, but Chinese will also be used as much as possible in classes.

Teachers

Pau Viladiu Illanas
Helena Casas Tost

Prerequisites

None.

Objectives and Contextualisation

The aim of this subject is to provide an introduction to the most basic elements of the Chinese language and develop the four communication skills. It is important that students assimilate its content in order to keep on studying the language in the subsequent term and academic years.

On successfully completing this subject, students will be able to:

  • Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of Standard Chinese phonological, morphological, lexical, syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic structures.
  • Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the principles that govern language variation: traditional and simplified orthographies.
  • Apply linguistic, cultural and thematic knowledge to communicate both orally and in writing in Standard Chinese about topics related to areas of the most immediate relevance.
  • Apply strategies to solve comprehension problems related to areas of the most immediate relevance.
  • Develop autonomous learning strategies.

Competences

  • Analyse the phonetic, phonological, morphological, syntactic, lexical and semantic properties of the Spanish language and the Mandarin Chinese language.
  • Demonstrate the capacity to work autonomously, engaging in self-analysis and self. Criticism.
  • Describe the linguistic foundations on which the standards of Spanish and mandarin Chinese are based.
  • Produce written texts in Mandarin Chinese at a basic level (A1, A2).
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Take sex- or gender-based inequalities into consideration when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
  • Understand and produce spoken texts in Mandarin Chinese at a basic level (A1, A2)
  • Understand written texts in mandarin Chinese at a basic level. (A1, A2).

Learning Outcomes

  1. Apply lexical, morphosyntactic, textual and rhetorical knowledge and knowledge of linguistic variation.
  2. Apply strategies for producing written texts at a basic level (A1, A2) in different fields and with different specific communicative purposes.
  3. Apply strategies to produce spoken texts in different fields and for different specific communicative purposes.
  4. Apply strategies to understand spoken texts in different fields at a basic level (A1, A2).
  5. Apply strategies to understand written texts in different fields at a basic level (A1, A2).
  6. Communicate using language that is not sexist or discriminatory.
  7. Consider how gender stereotypes and roles impinge on the exercise of the profession.
  8. Describe Chinese writing according to the different types of characters.
  9. Describe linguistic aspects of Chinese using a non-specialist informative tone.
  10. Describe linguistic aspects of Chinese using specialised terminology.
  11. Ensure quality standards for your own work.
  12. Produce spoken texts at a basic level (A1, A2) (A1, A2) in different fields and for different specific communicative purposes.
  13. Produce spoken texts at a basic level (A1, A2) that are linguistically correct and appropriate to the context.
  14. Recognise basic structures in Chinese and describe them using adequate terminology.
  15. Recognise the communicative intention and meaning of spoken texts in different field at a basic level (A1, A2).
  16. Recognise the communicative intention and meaning of written texts in different field at a basic level (A1, A2).
  17. Resolve interferences between working languages.
  18. Solve problems of intercultural communication.

Content

The subject’s content can be divided into the following types:

Phonological and graphic:

  • pronunciation and distinction of Standard Chinese phonemes, syllables and tones
  • Pinyin transcription system
  • basic principles of writing: character structure identification; division into components (radicals, phonetic and semantic components); stroke order, number and type

Lexical and morphological:

  • identification of basic common radicals
  • identification and writing of a minimum of 250 basic Chinese characters
  • understanding and usage of basic common vocabulary related to everyday life

Grammar:

  • interrogative pronouns
  • adverbs
  • coverbs
  • measure words
  • prepositions and prepositional clauses
  • modal verbs
  • different types of negation
  • different types of predicates
  • different types of interrogative sentences
  • complements
  • aspectual, modal and structural particles
  • comparative sentences
  • serial verb constructions
  • coordinate sentences
  • subordinate sentences

 Communicative and sociocultural:

  • greetings
  • self-introduction
  • family description
  • asking about who, how, when and why
  • suggesting, inviting, requesting
  • counting
  • ordering in a restaurant
  • giving opinions and arguments for and against an opinion
  • expressing completed actions and actions in progress
  • expressing present and future actions
  • expressing preferences
  • comparing

Methodology

Learning activities are organised into three categories based on the degree of student autonomy involved:

Directed activities (90 h): each unit’s content will be explained and there will be exercises involving the four basic skills (reading, listening, writing and speaking), grammar points, vocabulary, translation, revision of previous content, etc. These activities will be carried out individually or in pairs or larger groups.

Supervised activities (51 h): listening and speaking exercises and correction of exercises.

Autonomous activities (150 h): calligraphy, study of characters and vocabulary, preparation and review of texts and new grammar points, correction of exercises, self-assessment.

To achieve the established objectives students must attend class regularly, study new content in advance, carry out exercises and review previous content.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Exercise correction 20 0.8 1, 5, 4, 2, 3, 9, 10, 8, 13, 12, 14, 16, 15, 17
Master class 30 1.2 6, 9, 10, 8, 14
Oral and written comprehension activities 20 0.8 1, 5, 4, 14, 16, 15, 17, 18, 7
Oral and written expression activities 20 0.8 1, 2, 3, 6, 13, 12, 17, 18, 7, 11
Type: Supervised      
Exercise correction 30 1.2 1, 5, 4, 2, 3, 9, 10, 8, 13, 12, 14, 16, 15, 17
Oral and written comprehension activities preparation 15 0.6 1, 5, 4, 16, 15, 18
Written expression activities preparation 6 0.24 1, 2, 3, 13, 12, 17, 11
Type: Autonomous      
Learnt content revision 20 0.8 1, 5, 4, 9, 10, 8, 14, 16, 15
New content preparation 20 0.8 5, 4, 3, 9, 10, 8, 14, 16, 15, 17
Vocabulary, grammar, characters, pinyin, etc. exercises correction 70 2.8 9, 10, 8, 14, 17, 11
Written comprehension activities realization 20 0.8 5, 14, 16, 17, 18
Written expression activities realization 20 0.8 2, 17, 11

Assessment

Assessment is continuous. Students must provide evidence of their progress by completing tasks and tests. Task deadlines will be indicated in class. 

Assessment activities consist of: 

Portfolio (30%) 

  • vocabulary tests
  • written exercises (handwritten) 

Exams (70%) 

There will be two exams, a mid-term exam and a final exam at the end of the semester. 

In the case of retaking an exam (or retaking or compensating for any other assessment activity), the highest mark that can be obtained is 5/10. 

Related matters

All information on assessment, assessment activities and their weighting is merely a guide. The subject's lecturer will provide full information when teaching begins.

Review 

When publishing final marks prior to recording them on students' transcripts, the lecturer will provide written notification of a date and time for reviewing assessment activities. Students must arrange reviews in agreement with the lecturer. 

Missed/failed assessment activities 

Students may retake assessment activities they have failed or compensate for any they have missed, provided that those they have actually performed account for a minimum of 66.6% (two thirds) of the subject's final mark and that they have a weighted average mark of at least 3.5. Under no circumstances may an assessment activity worth 100% of the final mark be retaken or compensated for.  

The lecturer will inform students of the procedure involved, in writing, when publishing final marks prior to recording them on transcripts. The lecturer may set one assignment per failed or missed assessment activity or a single assignment to cover a number of such activities. 

Classification as "not assessable" 

In the event of the assessment activities a student has performed accounting for just 25% or less of the subject's final mark, their work will be classified as "not assessable" on their transcript. 

Misconduct in assessment activities  

Students who engage in misconduct (plagiarism, copying, personation, etc.) in an assessment activity will receive a mark of “0” for the activity in question. In the case of misconduct in more than one assessment activity, the students involved will be given a final mark of “0” for the subject. 

Students may not retake assessment activities in which they are found to have engaged in misconduct. Plagiarism is considered to mean presenting all or part of an author's work, whether published in print or in digital format, as one's own, i.e. without citing it. Copying is considered to mean reproducing all or a substantial part of another student's work. In cases of copying in which it is impossible to determine which of two students has copied the work of the other, both will be penalised.

More information: http://www.uab.cat/web/study-abroad/undergraduate/academic-information/evaluation/what-is-it-about-1345670077352.html

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Oral and written exams 70% (30% + 40%) 6 0.24 1, 5, 4, 2, 3, 9, 10, 8, 13, 12, 14, 16, 15, 17, 18, 11
Portfolio 30% 3 0.12 1, 5, 4, 2, 3, 6, 9, 10, 8, 13, 12, 14, 16, 15, 17, 7, 11

Bibliography

Textbooks:

¤ Casas, Helena; Rovira, Sara; Suárez, Anne-Hélène. 2009. Lengua china para traductores: 学中文,做翻译 (Vol. I). Bellaterra: Servei de Publicacions de la UAB. (Materials, 188), 5th edition. 

  • Webpage: http://sad.uab.es/xuezhongwen, with audiovisual material.
  • The rest of materials will be available at campus virtual or aula moodle: https://cv2008.uab.cat/.
  • Mobile app: OMandarin.

Reference books:

¤ Álvarez, José Ramón. 2000. La pronunciación del chino hablado (putonghua) para hispanohablantes. Taipei: Lanbridge Press cop.

¤ Casas-Tost, Helena; Rovira-Esteva, Sara (Eds.). 2015. Guia d’estil per al tractament de mots xinesos en català. Generalitat de Catalunya. Departament de Cultura. Biblioteca tècnica de política lingüística, 2. ISBN: 978-84-393-9241-5. DOI: 10.2436/15.8040.02.1. En línia:http://www.gencat.cat/llengua/BTPL/xines.

Spanish version: https://ddd.uab.cat/record/180644

¤ López Calvo, Francisco; Zhao, Baoyan. 2013. Guía esencial de la lengua china. Madrid: Adeli Ediciones.

¤ Ramírez, Laureano. 1999. Del carácter al contexto: Teoría y prácticade la traducción del chino moderno. Bellaterra: Servei de publicacions de la UAB. (Materials, 74)

¤ Ross, Claudia;Sheng, Jing-Heng. 2006. ModernChinese grammar: a practical guide. New York: Routledge.

¤ Yip, Po-ching; Rimmington, Don. 2014. Gramática básica del chino. Madrid: Adeli Ediciones. 

¤ Yip, Po-ching; Rimmington, Don. 2015. Gramática intermedia del chino. Madrid: Adeli Ediciones. 

Others:

¤ Rovira-Esteva, Sara. 2010. Lengua y escritura chinas. Mitos y realidades. Barcelona: Edicions Bellaterra.

¤ Vicente, Sergi. 2018. Xina Fast Forward. Barcelona: AraLlibres.

Online resources:

1. On phonetics and Pinyin:

2. Pronunciation practice (tones, phonemes, etc.):

3. To practise writing characters (simplified and traditional):

4. Online dictionaries:

  • https://www.pleco.com/
  • http://www.nciku.com/ 
  • http://www.iciba.com/