CHINESE LANGUAGE 1 MOD.2

This course is one of the core educational activities of the Bachelor's Degree Programme in Language, Culture and Society of Asia and Mediterranean Africa. It aims at providing students with a general knowledge of written and spoken Chinese at elementary level, at providing training in both reading and oral skills, and at developing elementary linguistic and translation skills. At the end of the course students will know about 950 characters and 1200 words, and the basic grammatical structures, and will be able to engage in simple conversation and to handle the most common communicative situations, as well as to read and understand elementary-intermediate level texts.

Through the attendance of the course and individual study students will achieve a level of language proficiency equivalent to level B1- of the CEFR (Common European framework of reference for language proficiency). In particular, students will:

1. Knowledge and understanding
• Get to know and understand the basic grammatical structures of modern Chinese.
• Get to know and understand about 950 characters and 1200 words (active competence).
• Get to know and understand the appropriateness of Chinese structures and expressions in a given context.

2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding

• Know how to handle the most common communicative situations.
• Be able to read and understand elementary-intermediate level texts.
• Be able to translate simple sentences into Chinese.

3. Communication skills
• Be able to communicate the specificities of linguistic analysis using appropriate terminology.

There are no prerequisites.

The course provides students with an overall knowledge, at an elementary level, of written and spoken modern Chinese. The course is structured as follows:
• Grammar and lexicon (30 hours): consolidation and development of grammar and vocabulary. Translation of texts from Chinese into Italian, and translation of sentences from Italian into Chinese.
• Language practice A – conversation (60 hours): conversation practice to provide training for linguistic interaction in the most common communicative situations.
• Language practice B: conversation in small groups.

Compulsory readings:

• Abbiati M., Grammatica di cinese moderno, Cafoscarina, Venezia 1998.
• Abbiati M., Materiali ed esercizi per l'apprendimento della grammatica cinese moderna, Cafoscarina, Venezia 2010, also available on the Moodle learning platform (https://moodle.unive.it/ ), in the section “Lingua cinese 2 mod. 2 Cognomi A-C [LT007I] - prof. F. Gatti”. Further grammar and translation exercises are also available on the Centro Multimediale website (http://www.unive.it/cmm ).
• Abbiati M. and Zhang Ruoying, Dialogare in cinese: corso di lingua colloquiale, vol. 2, Cafoscarina, Venezia 2011.
• Abbiati M., La lingua cinese, Cafoscarina, Venezia, 1992.
• One of the following dictionaries:
o Zhao Xiuying, Il dizionario di Cinese. Dizionario Cinese-Italiano, Italiano-Cinese, Zanichelli, Bologna, 2013.
o Dizionario cinese-italiano italiano-cinese, Hoepli, Milano, 2007
o Casacchia G. and Bai Y., Dizionario Cinese-Italiano, Cafoscarina, Venezia, 2013.
o Wenlin Software for Learning Chinese, 4.2.2 (per Windows e Mac): www.wenlin.com;
o Pleco Software (for iPhone/iPad e Android), available for free download at www.pleco.com

The exam is structured as follows:

1) a written test to assess grammatical knowledge, written comprehension and translation skills;
2) a listening test to assess oral comprehension;
3) a speaking test to assess oral expression skills.

The written test is structured as follows:
1) a multiple-choice question to assess the knowledge of the topics included in Abbiati M., La lingua cinese, Cafoscarina, Venezia, 1992;
2) translation of two sentences from Italian into Chinese;
3) translation of a short text from Chinese into Italian.

During the tests the use of dictionaries is not allowed.

Written and listening test samples are available on the Moodle learning platform (https://moodle.unive.it/ ), in the section “Lingua cinese 2 mod. 2 Cognomi A-C [LT007I] - prof. F. Gatti”.
In order to pass the exam students must obtain at least 12/20 in the written test and at least 6/10 in the oral examination (listening + speaking): the final mark will be the sum of the scores obtained in the two parts.

written and oral

The lecturer has a duty to ensure that the rules regarding the authenticity and originality of exam tests and papers are respected. Therefore, if there is suspicion of irregular conduct, an additional assessment may be conducted, which could differ from the original exam description.

18-22 range: Sufficient knowledge of basic grammatical structures and Chinese characters. Sufficient listening skills and ability to interact in simple communicative contexts.
23-26 range: Fair knowledge of basic grammatical structures and Chinese characters. Fair listening skills and ability to interact in simple communicative contexts.
27-30 range: Good or excellent knowledge of basic grammatical structures and Chinese characters. Good or excellent listening skills and interaction in simple communicative contexts.
Honors: Outstanding knowledge of basic grammatical structures and Chinese characters. Outstanding listening and interaction skills in simple communicative contexts.

The course includes grammar classes, drills and conversation classes (see section ‘contents’).