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2021/2022

Foreign language C for translators and interpreters 1 (Chinese)

Code: 101475 ECTS Credits: 9
Degree Type Year Semester
2500249 Translation and Interpreting FB 1 1
2500249 Translation and Interpreting OT 4 0
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:
Sara Rovira Esteva
Email:
Sara.Rovira@uab.cat

Use of Languages

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

Prerequisites

None

Objectives and Contextualisation

The aim of this subject is for students to begin acquiring the most basic linguistic knowledge about Chinese, to prepare them to translate from the language into their mother tongue. It is important that they 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:

  • Recognise the basic graphic and lexical system and understand basic written expressions related to their specific immediate environment.
  • Use the basic graphic and lexical system and produce basic written expressions related to their specific immediate environment.
  • To be familiar with knowledge related to sinophone culture.

Competences

    Translation and Interpreting
  • Producing written texts in a foreign language in order to translate.
  • Understanding written texts in a foreign language in order to translate.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Applying lexical, morphosyntactic, textual, rhetorical and linguistic variation related knowledge: Applying graphic, lexical and morphosyntactic basic knowledge.
  2. Applying lexical, morphosyntactic, textual, rhetorical and linguistic variation related knowledge: Applying graphic, lexical and morphosyntactic knowledge.
  3. Applying lexical, morphosyntactic, textual, rhetorical and linguistic variation related knowledge: Applying graphic, lexical, morphosyntactic and textual related knowledge.
  4. Applying lexical, morphosyntactic, textual, rhetorical and linguistic variation related knowledge: Applying graphic, lexical, morphosyntactic, textual and linguistic variation related knowledge.
  5. Comprehending the communicative purpose and sense of written texts of several fields: Comprehending information of short and simple written texts about subjects related to the immediate environment.
  6. Comprehending the communicative purpose and sense of written texts of several fields: Comprehending the communicative purpose and sense of a diverse typology of written texts about general topics from a wide variety of fields and registers.
  7. Comprehending the communicative purpose and sense of written texts of several fields: Comprehending the communicative purpose and sense of a diverse typology of written texts about general topics of well-known areas.
  8. Comprehending the communicative purpose and sense of written texts of several fields: Comprehending the communicative purpose and sense of written texts of a certain complexity about personal and general topics of well-known areas.
  9. Comprehending the communicative purpose and sense of written texts of several fields: Comprehending the essential information of written texts about general topics.
  10. Implementing strategies in order to produce written texts of different fields and with specific communicative purposes: Implementing strategies in order to produce a diverse typology of written texts of a certain complexity about general topics of well-known areas.
  11. Implementing strategies in order to produce written texts of different fields and with specific communicative purposes: Implementing strategies in order to produce really short and simple written texts about topics related to the immediate environment.
  12. Implementing strategies in order to produce written texts of different fields and with specific communicative purposes: Implementing strategies in order to produce written texts about general topics.
  13. Implementing strategies in order to produce written texts of different fields and with specific communicative purposes: Implementing strategies in order to produce written texts about topics related to the immediate environment.
  14. Implementing strategies in order to produce written texts of different fields and with specific communicative purposes: Implementing strategies in order to produce written texts of a certain complexity about personal and general topics of well-known areas.
  15. Implementing strategies in order to produce written texts of different fields and with specific communicative purposes: Implementing strategies to use the basic graphic and lexical system in order to produce simple written expressions related to the immediate environment.
  16. Implementing strategies in order to understand written texts from different fields: Implementing strategies in order to comprehend a diverse typology of written texts about general topics of well-known areas.
  17. Implementing strategies in order to understand written texts from different fields: Implementing strategies in order to comprehend a diverse typology of written texts of a certain complexity about general topics from a wide variety of fields and registers.
  18. Implementing strategies in order to understand written texts from different fields: Implementing strategies in order to comprehend information of short and simple written texts related to the immediate environment.
  19. Implementing strategies in order to understand written texts from different fields: Implementing strategies in order to comprehend verbal texts of a certain complexity about personal and general topics of well-known areas.
  20. Implementing strategies in order to understand written texts from different fields: Implementing strategies in order to comprehend written texts about general topics.
  21. Implementing strategies in order to understand written texts from different fields: Implementing strategies in order to understand basic written expressions related to the immediate environment.
  22. Producing written texts from different fields and with specific communicative purposes: Producing simple academic texts, following standard models of discourse.
  23. Producing written texts that are appropriate to their context and possess linguistic correctness: Producing a diverse typology of written texts about general topics of well-known areas with specific communicative purposes and following standard modes of discourse.
  24. Producing written texts that are appropriate to their context and possess linguistic correctness: Producing basic written expressions related to the immediate environment with linguistic correctness.
  25. Producing written texts that are appropriate to their context and possess linguistic correctness: Producing really short and simple texts about topics related to the immediate environment with linguistic correctness.
  26. Producing written texts that are appropriate to their context and possess linguistic correctness: Producing written texts about general topics that are appropriate to their context.
  27. Producing written texts that are appropriate to their context and possess linguistic correctness: Producing written texts of a certain complexity about personal and general topics from well-known areas and with specific communicative purposes, following standard modes of discourse.
  28. Solving interferences between the working languages: Solving interferences from the language combination with a certain degree of control.

Content

The subject comprises an introductory unit to the Chinese language and 5 thematic lessons. Its 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 (sound, meaning and symbolic components); radicals, stroke order, number, and type, structure and disposition of the different constituent elements
  • simplified and traditional orthography (passive)

Lexical and morphological:

  • identification of frequently used 70 basic common radicals
  • word formation
  • identification and writing of a minimum of 200 basic Chinese characters
  • understanding and usage of 400 basic common words 

Grammar:

  • interrogative pronouns
  • numerals
  • adverbs
  • coverbs
  • measure words
  • prepositions and prepositional clauses (和; 对)
  • modal verbs (要,想,可以,会)
  • different types of negation
  • word order
  • different types of predicates
  • different types of interrogative sentences
  • verbal complements: degree, directional simple and resultative
  • aspectual (了), modal (吧) and structural (的) particles
  • comparative sentences
  • pivotal sentences
  • serial verb constructions
  • coordinate sentences: 也; 还; 不是……,而是…… ; 再说 / 而且; 还是 / 或者

Communicative and sociocultural:

  • proper names
  • greetings
  • self-introduction (name, age,nationality)
  • family description
  • talking about studies
  • asking about who, how and when
  • suggesting, inviting, requesting
  • counting
  • ordering in a restaurant
  • giving opinions and arguments for and against an opinion
  • expressing actions completed or in progress
  • expressing present and future actions
  • expressing likes or preferences
  • comparing

Encyclopedic and cultural:

  • basic general knowledge about Standard Chinese as a linguistic system
  • basic knowledge about some aspects of Chinese culture, both mainstream and peripheric
  • digital resources and writing with new technologies

Methodology

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

Directed activities (70 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 (25 h): listening and speaking exercises and correction of exercises.

Autonomous activities (118 h): calligraphy, study of characters and vocabulary, preparation and review of texts and new grammar points, correction of exercises, self-assessment.

Students will need to spend a total of around 20 hours on each teaching unit. To achieve the established objectives students must attend class regularly, study new content in advance, carry out exercises and review previous content. 

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Exercises involving the four basic skills (reading, listening, writing and speaking), grammar points, vocabulary, translation, revision of previous content, etc. 70 2.8 2, 3, 1, 21, 15
Type: Supervised      
Listening and speaking exercises and correction of exercises 25 1 2, 3, 1, 21, 14, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 24, 27, 23, 25, 26, 22, 28
Type: Autonomous      
Calligraphy, study of characters and vocabulary, preparation and review of texts and new grammar points, correction of exercises, self-assessment 118 4.72 2, 3, 4, 1, 21, 18, 19, 17, 16, 20, 15, 5, 9, 8, 7, 6

Assessment

Assessment is continuous. Students must provide evidence of their progress by completing tasks and tests. Task deadlines will be indicated in the course schedule on the first day of class. 

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. In the case of retaking or compensating for an assessment activity, the highest mark that can be obtained is 5.

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. 

The student's portfolio is excluded from reassessment.

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 penalized.

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Exam focusing on the application of grammatical knowledge 30% 3 0.12 2, 3, 4, 1, 21, 18, 19, 17, 16, 20, 14, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 5, 9, 8, 7, 6, 24, 27, 23, 25, 26, 22, 28
Exam focusing on treading comprehension and writing 40% 4 0.16 2, 3, 4, 1, 21, 18, 19, 17, 16, 20, 14, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 5, 9, 8, 7, 6, 24, 27, 23, 25, 26, 22, 28
Portfolio (vocabulary tests, written exercices handwritten on paper) 30% 5 0.2 2, 3, 4, 1, 21, 18, 19, 17, 16, 20, 14, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 5, 9, 8, 7, 6, 24, 27, 23, 25, 26, 22, 28

Bibliography

Textbook:

  • Casas, Helena; Rovira, Sara; Suárez, Anne-Hélène. 2020. Lengua china para traductores: 学中文,做翻译 (Vol. I, 6th edition). Bellaterra: Servei de Publicacions de la UAB. (Materials, 188). 978-84-490-9131-5

Reference books for the Chinese language:

  • Ramírez, Laureano. 1999. Del carácter al contexto: Teoría y práctica de la traducción del chino moderno. Bellaterra: Servei de publicacions de la UAB. (Materials, 74).
  • Rovira-Esteva, Sara (2010). Lengua y escritura china: Mitos y realidades. Bellaterra: Servei de publicacions de la UAB. 

Online resources: 

  • e·Chinese (online database of resources to learn Chinese): https://dtieao.uab.cat/txicc/echinese/?lang=ca 
  • Online resources organized by skills: https://www.symbaloo.com/mix/tic-tacxines

1. To practice phonetics and pinyin:

2.  To practice pronounciation:

3. To practice writing:

Reference books about Chinese culture:

  • García-Noblejas, Gabriel, ed. 2012. China. Pasado y Presente de Una Gran Civilización. Madrid: Alianza Editorial.
  • Gernet, Jacques. 2005. El Mundo Chino. Barcelona : Crítica.
  • Lu, Yu-ting. 2010. Taiwan : Historia, Política e Identidad. Barcelona : Bellaterra.
  • Ren, Qiliang (任启亮). 2004. Common Knowledge about Chinese Culture. Zhongguo Wenhua Changshi (中国文化常识). Hong Kong: Xianggang Zhongguo Lüyou Chubanshe.
  • Schirokauer, Conrad and Miranda Brown. 2011. Breve Historia de La Civilizacion China. Barcelona : Eciones Bellaterra. 
  • Wang, Kai (王恺). 2004. Common Knowledge about Chinese History. Zhongguo Wenhua Changshi (中国历史常识). Hong Kong: Xianggang Zhongguo Lüyou Chubanshe.

Software

You can download Ubilingua, an app with complementary materials, from GooglePlay for free.