Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

School of Languages and Cultures Department of Chinese Studies

CHNS1101: Chinese 1A (For Beginners) Se mes te r 1, 2 013 Un it o f Stud y Ou tli ne

Unit Coordinators
Unit coordinators are listed on undergraduate and postgraduate coursework semester timetables, and can be consulted for help with any difficulties you may have. Unit coordinators (as well as the Faculty) should also be informed of any illness or other misadventure that leads students to miss classes and tutorials or be late with assignments Unit Coordinator: Ms Irene Shidong An (: n losh) Location: Room 626, Brennan MacCallum A18 Email address: shidong.an@ sydney.edu.au Phone: +61-2-9036-7031 Consultation Hours: Mon 11-1

Unit Teachers or Tutors: Ms. Lian Liu (: Li losh) Location: Room 626, Brennan MacCallum A18 Email address: lian.liu@sydney.edu.au Phone: +61-2- 9036-7031 Consultation Hours: By appointment Ms. Sophie Slavich Location: Room 626, Brennan MacCallum A18 Email address: sophia.slavich@sydney.edu.au Phone: +61-2- 9036-7031 Consultation Hours: By appointment Dr. Tyler Pike (: B i losh) Location: Room 626, Brennan MacCallum A18 Email address: tyler.pike@sydney.edu.au Phone: +61-2- 9036-7031 Consultation Hours: By appointment Ms Cerrina Zhang (: Zh ng losh) Location: Room 626, Brennan MacCallum A18 Email address: cerrina.zhang@sydney.edu.au Phone: +61-2- 9036-7031 Consultation Hours: By appointment

This Unit of Study Outline MUST be read in conjunction with the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Student Administration Manual (http://sydney.edu.au/arts/current_students/student_admin_manual.shtml) and all applicable University policies. In determining applications and appeals, it will be assumed that every student has taken the time to familiarise themselves with these key policies and procedures.

CHNS1101: CHINESE 1A (FOR BEGINNERS)

UNIT DESCRIPTION This unit is an introduction to basic communication skills in Modern Standard Chinese for beginners. Foundation work on pronunciation, pinyin romanisation, elementary grammar and the Chinese writing system will be followed by conversational drills, comprehension, reading and writing practice in class work and homework. This unit is the beginning-level of Mandarin Chinese for learners with virtually no prior knowledge of any Chinese language. It starts with foundation work on standard Mandarin pronunciation, the pnyn system of romanisation, elementary grammar and the writing system, then continues with an integrated program of grammar learning, vocabulary development, and training in all four communicative skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.

OBJECTIVES AND OUTCOMES This unit of study is designed to help students master the pronunciation of Modern Standard Chinese, including the tones master the pinyin romanisation system understand the basic structure of the Chinese writing system understand the basic structure of the grammar of Modern Standard Chinese communicate in Chinese in a variety of everyday situations (listening and speaking) read and write approximately 200 simplified Chinese characters and related vocabulary use basic Chinese vocabulary and grammar structures to write short paragraphs gain some understanding and appreciation of Chinese culture and customs gain some insight into, and develop interest in, Chinese studies

LEARNING STRUCTURE This unit has 4 face-to-face contact hours each week, including a 1-hour lecture on Mondays, a 1hour tutorial on Tuesdays, and a 2-hour tutorial either on Thursdays or Fridays. The following table shows the times, venues and instructors for the lecture and each of the 7 tutorial groups.
Monday 10-11 Lecture An Old Geology Lecture Theatre Tuesday 10-11 Group 1 Liu Eastern Avenue Seminar Room 115 11-12 Group 3 Slavich New Law School Seminar 100 12-1 Group 5 Liu Education Seminar Room 508 3-4 Group 7 Liu Education Seminar Room 323 Thursday 10-12 Group 1 An (2hrs) Eastern Avenue Seminar Room 115 12-2 Group 3 An (2hrs) Eastern Avenue Seminar Room 405 1-3 Group 5 Pike (2hrs) Carslaw Tutorial Room 374 Friday 11-1 Group 7 Zhang (2hrs) Education Seminar Room 527

10-11 Group 2 Zhang Quadrangle McRae Room S418 11-12 Group 4 Zhang Carslaw Tutorial Room 374 12-1 Group 6 Slavich New Law School Annexe SR 444

10-12 Group 2 Pike (2hrs) Eastern Avenue Seminar Room 406 12-2 Group 4 Zhang (2hrs) Eastern Avenue Seminar Room 406 2-4 Group 6 Zhang (2hrs) Education Seminar Room 323

12-1 Chinese Table Xiaowei Zhang laoshi

Quadrangle Building, The Refectory

Students also need to spend SEVEN HOURS MINIMUM EACH WEEK for self-study including TWO HOURS MINIMUM online study (see next section for details). The five hours offline self-study includes completing the Character Workbook, practising writing Chinese characters, studying vocabulary and grammar in each dialogue, completing Workbook exercises. Please refer to your class schedule for details. ONLINE COMPONENTS Online learning is an important part of this unit of study which supplements the face-to-face teaching and learning. This unit requires weekly use of Blackboard Learn, the Universitys e-learning platform, so you will need reliable access to a computer and the Internet. You need to download Quick Time player to listen to the audio files in the site. You may find important information and useful learning resources in the Blackboard site which help you manage your overall learning and improve your language skills. You are required to log on to the site regularly to complete various kinds of activities. All your activities will be track-recorded by the system. To access the Blackboard Learn site: go to the University homepage (www.sydney.edu.au) > choose MyUni > choose USYD eLearning or Bb/LMS > enter Unikey to access your eLearning sites. Alternatively, you can bookmark the login page directly at http://elearning.sydney.edu.au/ . If you have any difficulties logging in or using the system, visit the Student Help area of the Sydney eLearning site: http://sydney.edu.au/elearning/student/. You are required to use the resources in this site on a regular basis and do the following activities: Follow the Learning Modules to prepare the lessons (See below under assessment). Detailed learning guide and tasks are provided in the learning Modules (starting in Week 3). You will find the Learning Modules link on the menu bar on the left in Blackboard. Listen to audio recordings as frequently as possibly. This is crucial for your listening, pronunciation, especially tone development. Please listen to the textbook recordings and practice reading the dialogue aloud after you learn each dialogue and listen to workbook recordings when you complete the Listening Comprehension questions in you workbook. You will find the audio files in the Integrated Chinese Audio folder. (*Note: Due to copyright reasons, you can only listen to the recordings online and cannot download them. You may choose to buy your own CD from the publisher if you want). Complete Self Tests and Online Quizzes after you finish each lesson. There are altogether 12 of them. While individual test marks will not be counted, your participation will account for 10% of your final mark (See below under assessment). Answers and feedback are provided for you to check immediately after you complete a test or quiz. Its a useful tool to review the lessons you have just learned and check your own learning progress. You can repeat a test or quiz as many times as you like. You are recommended to do the Self Test first for each lesson before you do the Quiz. You may find the Self Tests through the Self Tests link on the menu and the Quizzes through the Quizzes link on the menu. Check Workbook exercise answers after you finish each lesson. You may access these answers through both the Unit of Study Content link and the Answer Keys link on the menu. Those answers are downloadable. Mini Drama is part of the listening material for this unit. Watch the videos and listen to the recordings after each scene is introduced in class with the help of the resources provided in the Mini Drama_ folder. All the resources except for the videos are downloadable. Focus on

listening for this self-study. Try to recognize as many Chinese characters in the scripts as you can. You are not required to write the characters which are not included in your textbook. The two Listening and Written tests will contain questions directly relating to the Mini Drama (only for listening comprehension). You are strongly encouraged to use some expressions and structures you have learned from the Mini Drama in your two oral assessments. Use the Lecture/Grammar Notes to study and review grammar and sentence structures. The notes are downloadable. Browse the Web links in the site. These show you several useful links to some tools and Chinese websites (See below). You may use these to guide your self-study to expand your cultural knowledge and language skills. 1) ChinesePod This is an online Chinese learning service for learners of different levels. We strongly recommend it to you. Their website is: http://chinesepod.com/. 2) http://www.yellowbridge.com/: well worth exploring, especially the FlashCard function, http://www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/flashcards.php, a part of which is directly linked to the lessons in your textbook this semester. Make use of it to help you master new vocabulary! 3) On-line dictionary: www.nciku.com 4) Confucius Institute Online: http://www.chinese.cn/ and its English version: http://english.chinese.cn/ Watch out for Announcements and check Whats New for newly updated materials. Students who do not log onto the site for 7 days will receive a warning. Repeated warnings will result in penalties.

When you encounter technical issues online please contact eLearning help desk directly at: http://sydney.edu.au/elearning/student/help/emailUs.php .If you have questions to ask about the questions in the quizzes or about your marks or if you spot some errors in the questions or in the feedback provided, please contact the eLearning coordinator/tutor of this unit, Cerrina Zhang at: cerrina.zhang@sydney.edu.au

COMMUNICATION IN THIS COURSE: The main tools we use to contact you are your university email and Announcement in the Blackboard site. You are welcome to email the coordinator/tutors or visit us in our office during our office hours. If the office hours do not suit you, you are welcome to make appointment with us. We will be pleased to help you. UNIT SCHEDULE Please refer to separate file for a detailed class schedule, which is available on Blackboard in the Course Information folder. Please make sure you download a hard copy and bring it to class so as to keep track of your study throughout the semester.

STUDENTS RESPONSIBILITIES Students' responsibilities include: Being familiar with the requirements and guidelines for the course as published in the Undergraduate Handbook, this course outline, or any other published departmental, faculty and University guidelines Satisfying attendance and assessment requirements prescribed by the University, faculty and department Committing an appropriate amount of time to the course. This includes coming prepared to lectures, by studying the new lesson in advance, and to tutorials, by learning vocabulary, dialogues and grammatical patterns, and completing in advance all material scheduled to be covered, as well as, by Thursday/Friday, all the pages in the CWB and WB for the lesson of the week. Checking your university email regular in order not to miss important messages. Your university email is an important tool the instructors use to communicate with you. Bringing to the instructors' attention difficulties you may be experiencing with the course or in your life that prevent you from satisfying course requirements

EFFECTIVE PREPARATION An absolutely vital aspect of effective learning in CHNS1101 is preparation; that is, the work you do in advance of each of the four contact hours per week. You cannot expect to learn a language thoroughly if you depend passively on the lecture and tutorials both to introduce new material from scratch and to ensure that you retain it. That is not the purpose of language classes. They are designed to consolidate the learning you have already embarked on by preparing parts of each lesson in advance. You are expected both to attend 4 hours of language learning per week and to be adequately prepared for the specific learning activities scheduled for each hour of the semester. The Learning Modules in the Blackboard site are designed to help you with this preparation work for each of the textbook dialogues. The 5% of your total assessment assigned to the category Participation is directly related to this preparation. We assess your participation both by online tracking and your class performance.

ATTENDANCE 100% attendance at all class hours is expected. All classes, lectures and tutorials begin in First Week; if you are enrolled, you are expected to be in class. Attendance is taken at every class, usually through an attendance sheet circulated at the beginning. It is your responsibility to sign the sheet and it must be signed by yourself. If fake signature is found, all students involved will be recorded as absent for that lesson. Repeated case of forging signature will result in double penalty for absence (see below). If a record of your attendance is not made during class, you can expect to be marked absent. We cannot accept later claims that you were present but missed the attendance sheet. The department automatically deems students who, for whatever reason, attend less than 50 percent of the scheduled class (and/or lecture) hours for a given unit of study not to have fulfilled unit requirements. If employment commitments and/or timetable clashes make it impossible for you to meet this minimum requirement, you should not remain enrolled. If you know that you will not be able to achieve at least 75 percent attendance, you stay enrolled at your own risk. Penalties One percentage point of overall Unit of Study mark will be deducted for each absence without a valid excuse (e.g. documented illness) after 3 unexcused absences. Those who have clashes with other units of study need to consult the coordinator in WEEK ONE to explore the possibility of exemption from attendance.

COURSE TEXTBOOKS 1. Yao, Tao-chung and Liu, Yuehua et al. Integrated Chinese Level 1 Part 1 (Simplified Character Edition) Textbook (TB), Workbook (WB) and Character Workbook (CWB) Third edition (3 separate books, the first two in simplified characters only). Cheng & Tsui Company, Boston, 2009. Available at the Coop Bookstore and for short term loans in the Fisher Library. 2. CDs and a DVD for Integrated Chinese 1.1 are held in the Fisher Library. All your Textbook and Workbook audio recordings are available on Blackboard as well. You are expected to go online every week for self-instruction. We require a minimum of two hours of self online learning per week. To master even elementary speaking and listening, you must make regular use of the online listening resources. 3. Mini Drama. Available on Blackboard in the Mini Drama Folder. Please download the scripts and bring to class from Week 3 on. TUTORIAL GROUPS In order to optimize the learning experience for all students in the small-group sessions, please observe the following two rules: 1. Please remain in the same tutorials for the duration of the semester. Remember your own tutorial number and your tutors name. Any changes to your tutorial timetable must be approved by the course coordinator; no changes may be made after Week 3. If you have timetable clashes, go to see the coordinator in Week 1. 2. If students are not reasonably evenly distributed among the tutorials, the coordinator reserves the right to require some students in overcrowded tutorials to move to other times. If you have been assigned to one time but attend a different tutorial, you will be marked absent for that day. Unfortunately, this is the only way we can prevent over-crowded tutorial sessions at the most popular times. ASSESSMENT TASKS AND DUE DATES Oral presentation (equivalent to 1000 words) Oral interview Online self tests and quizzes 10% 15% 10% Due 18/19 April 2013 in Week 6 Due 30/31 May 2013 in Week 12 Two after each learning unit, Pronunciation/L1/L2/L3 (8 tests) Due 30 April 2013 in Week 8 L4/L5 (4 tests) Due 4 June 2013 in Week 13 Listening and written test 1 Listening and written test 2 Vocabulary quizzes Written Homework Participation 20% 20% 10% 10% 5% Due 2/3 May 2013 in Week 8 Due 6/7June 2013 in Week 13 One after each lesson Due after each lesson Throughout semester

All assessment tasks are compulsory and must be attempted to be eligible to pass. This means you fail this unit of study if you miss any of the oral assessment tasks or written tests; you also fail the unit if you do not attempt any of the online tests, do not submit any of the vocabulary quizzes or homework assignments. ASSESSMENT CRITERIA This unit uses standards referenced assessment for award of assessment marks.

1. For oral assessments, marks will be determined by:

your efforts in preparation and in using what you have learned how well you communicate in Chinese through the performance whether the performance is spontaneous, creative and fluent accuracy in both grammar and pronunciation (including tones).

Further details, including sample mark sheets, will be distributed before the assessment.

2. For Online self tests and quizzes , your marks will be determined by: whether you complete the relevant self tests and quizzes by the two due dates respectively whether you make a genuine effort to complete all the questions in each test whether you re-attempt the self tests or quizzes if you fail to get 50% of the total mark (ie. 12/24)

Notes: You are allowed unlimited attempts, so as long as one of your attempts meets these criteria, it will be enough. Your final 10% is not the average mark of all your completed tests . The individual test mark is not your actual mark for the online tests. It is your participation that counts. Please try to complete the tests in test conditions without looking at your textbooks. This is designed as a study tool for you to self monitor your own learning progress. Do not try to get a high mark just for the sake of marks. Your quiz attempt will not be counted if you complete it after the due date you leave more than 5 questions unanswered (please report to Cerrina Zhang Laoshi if technical problems prevent you from answering some questions properly). you receive below 50% of the total mark without re-attempt.

Note: 1% is deducted from the 10 % for each of the non-attempted tests. This means when you miss 10 of the 12 tests, you lose all the 10%. This also means if you are aiming for a full mark in this category, you need to complete all of the 12 tests. 3. Listening and written tests, marks will be determined on the basis of accuracy and appropriateness of the vocabulary, grammar, characters, content and the organization of your answers. A detailed sample test format will be available online before the tests. 4. For vocabulary quizzes, marks will be determined on the basis of accuracy of the Chinese characters, Pinyin, tones and English translation you provide. A detailed quiz format is available online. Please go to check in the Course Information folder. 5. Written Homework , marks will be determined on whether you have completed all the questions required whether you submit the homework on time the quality of your answers

Written homework includes 5 Workbook assignments and 1 Chinese Character Workbook assignment. Please pay attention to the respective due dates and required pages shown in the class schedule. Homework must be submitted in your Thursday or Friday tutorials. Late homework will not be marked (i.e. = 0). If you are sick on the due day, your homework may be accepted later if you can hand in the documentary evidence.

6. Participation, marks will be determined by: your preparation before each class hour (Learning Modules and CWB, WB exercises) your class performance in lectures and tutorial sessions based on your preparation

Please keep a copy of all your marked written assignments and assessments until all your results are finalized at the end of the semester.

Make-up tests and oral assessments are only possible if you have: applied for Special Consideration(See below) provided sufficient well attested evidence of serious illness or misadventure in your Special Consideration application

Note: the following excuses for missing a class, a test, a quiz or an oral performance are not acceptable: missed buses, slept-through alarms, non-emergency medical appointments, minor ailments, other tests in the same week or on the same day, the non-emergency needs of friends, and time-table clashes.

No make-up vocabulary quiz will be arranged under any circumstances. If you have documented evidence for missing a particular quiz, show it to your tutor at the earliest time possible. You might be exempt from that quiz.

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY AND PLAGIARISM Academic honesty is a core value of the University. The University requires students to act honestly, ethically and with integrity in their dealings with the University, its members, members of the public and others. The University is opposed to and will not tolerate academic dishonesty or plagiarism, and will treat all allegations of academic dishonesty or plagiarism seriously. The Universitys Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism Policy 2012 and associated Procedures are available for reference on the University Policy Register at http://sydney.edu.au/policies/ (enter Academic Dishonesty in the search field). The Policy applies to the academic conduct of all students enrolled in a coursework award course at the University. Under the terms and definitions of the Policy, academic dishonesty means seeking to obtain or obtaining academic advantage (including in the assessment or publication of work) by dishonest or unfair means or knowingly assisting another student to do so. plagiarism means presenting another persons work as ones own work by presenting, copying or reproducing it without appropriate acknowledgement of the source.

The presentation of another person's work as one's own without appropriate acknowledgement is regarded as plagiarism, regardless of the authors intentions. Plagiarism can be classified as negligent (negligent plagiarism) or dishonest (dishonest plagiarism). All work that you do for this unit of study must be your own. Students are not allowed to work as a group, sharing ideas, in any assignment unless otherwise stated (e.g. for the group presentation). The copying of assignments or borrowing of ideas from others is considered plagiarism. Academic dishonesty will lead to severe penalties and may result in your failing the unit of study. If a group of students have identical answers (including mistakes) in a homework assignment, everyone in the group will receive no mark and repeated copying of homework will result in the loss of all homework marks for the semester. Where dishonesty is suspected when a student produces a piece of work well

beyond his/her language proficiency in any assignment, the instructor reserves the right to require the student to undertake a different assessment task.

SPECIAL CONSIDERATION The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences assesses student requests for assistance relating to completion of assessment in accordance with the regulations set out in the University Assessment Policy 2011 and Assessment Procedures 2011. Students are expected to become familiar with the Universitys policies and Faculty procedures relating to Special Consideration and Special Arrangements. Students can apply for: Special Consideration - for serious illness or misadventure Special Arrangements - for essential community commitments Simple Extension an extension of less than 5 working days for non-examination based assessment tasks on the grounds of illness or misadventure.

Further information on special consideration policy and procedures is available on the Faculty website at http://sydney.edu.au/arts/current_students/special_consideration.shtml OTHER POLICIES AND PROCEDURES RELEVANT TO THIS UNIT OF STUDY The Facultys Student Administration Manual is available for reference at the Current Students section of the Faculty Website (http://sydney.edu.au/arts/current_students/). Most day-to-day issues you encounter in the course of completing this Unit of Study can be addressed with the information provided in the Manual. It contains detailed instructions on processes, links to forms and guidance on where to get further assistance. STAYING ON TOP OF YOUR STUDY For full information visit http://sydney.edu.au/arts/current_students/staying_on_top.shtml The Learning Centre assists students to develop the generic skills, which are necessary for learning and communicating knowledge and ideas at university. Programs available at The Learning Centre include workshops in Academic Reading and Writing, Oral communications Skills, Postgraduate Research Skills, Honours, masters Coursework Program, Studying at University, and Workshops for English Language and Learning. Further information about The Learning Centre can be found at http://sydney.edu.au/stuserv/learning_centre/ The Write Site provides online support to help you develop your academic and professional writing skills. All University of Sydney staff and students who have a Unikey can access the WriteSite at http://writesite.elearn.usyd.edu.au/. The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences has units at both an Undergraduate and Postgraduate level that focus on writing across the curriculum or, more specifically, writing in the disciplines, making them relevant for all university students. To find out more visit http://sydney.edu.au/arts/teaching_learning/writing_hub/index.shtml and http://sydney.edu.au/arts/teaching_learning/pg_writing_support/index.shtml In addition to units of study on writing, The FASS Writing Hub offers drop-in sessions to assist students with their writing in a one-to-one setting. No appointment is necessary, and this service is free of charge to all FASS students and/or all students enrolled in WRIT units. For more information on what topics are covered in a drop-in session and for the current schedule, please visit http://sydney.edu.au/arts/teaching_learning/writing_hub/drop_in_sessions.shtml.

Pastoral and academic support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students is provided by the STAR Team in Student Support services, a dedicated team of professional Aboriginal people able to respond to the needs of students across disciplines. The STAR team can assist with tutorial support, mentoring support, cultural and pastoral care along with a range of other services. More information about support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students can be found at http://sydney.edu.au/current_students/student_services/indigenous_support.shtml. The Koori Centre also provides a culturally safe space for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and staff. It is a facility where students can enjoy culture identity and in which they can engage their fellow students and colleagues in a respectful and honest conversation about the issues, values and pride and place of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture in contemporary Australian identity and life. The Centre provides access to computers, common room, study space, an Indigenous Research Library, and an orientation program at the beginning of the year. The Library offers students free, online tutorials in library skills at sydney.edu.au/library/skills. There's one designed especially for students studying in the Humanities and Social Sciences at sydney.edu.au/library/subjects/subject.html. And don't forget to find out who your Faculty Liaison Librarians are.

OTHER SUPPORT SERVICES Disability Services is located on Level 5, Jane Foss Russell Building G20; contact 8627 8422 or email disability.services@sydney.edu.au . For further information, visit their website at http://sydney.edu.au/stuserv/disability/ . Counselling and Psychological Services (CAPS) are located on Level 5, Jane Foss Russell Building G20; contact 8627 8433 or email caps.admin@sydney.edu.au. For further information, visit their website at http://sydney.edu.au/current_students/counselling/ .

We hope that you will all enjoy the fascinating challenges of Chinese 1A. After all, learning Chinese is fun and exciting!

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