CHNS 403W
Level Four Chinese A (4) Continuation of CHNS 402. Aims to improve students' proficiency in all four language skills, with a special emphasis on writing.
CHNS 403W Level Four Chinese A (4)
This is a four credit course designed for those who have completed Level Three Chinese B or the equivalent. The course aims to further develop students’ proficiency in all four language skills, with a special emphasis on writing. Students will study several topics on current social issues in modern Chinese society, such as education and housing issue, woman’s status, through a selected textbook, news reading, and by interviewing native speaker of Chinese from different regions. Via all the debatable topics, students will be guided to explore and practice various writing styles, such as description, narration, argumentation, and expository writing throughout the semester. Comparison of rhetorical strategies between Chinese and English writing will also be introduced to help students think and write more like a native when using the target language. The majority of reading and writing assignments will be done outside of class, with some guidance from the instructor. Class time will be used mainly for discussions of content, feedback on writing. All class activities will be conducted in Chinese.
Writing exercises include short response papers on topics, summarizes of the readings, and short essays. Through the writing exercises, students will reflect more deeply on certain topics, synthesize information from course materials, provoke critical thinking and express their opinions and support ideas by referring to and citing from source texts. This will help students be prepared for a longer thesis in the next course in the sequence.
This course will help students further advance their writing skills by continuously building their vocabulary, understanding the target culture, and its social issues through various sources of structured and authentic materials. Students will also write a resume and formal letter that help them start building their career in Chinese.
General Education: None
Diversity: None
Bachelor of Arts: None
Effective: Fall 2012
Prerequisite:
CHNS 402
Note : Class size, frequency of offering, and evaluation methods will vary by location and instructor. For these details check the specific course syllabus.