:
EALC 204 (Chinese III)
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Instructor: Yan Li
Office: THH 356H; THH 356 (mailbox)
Phone: (213) 740-3715
E-mail: liya@usc.edu
Class Meetings: MTWThF, 12:00-12:50 VKC161
Office Hours: 1:00~2:00 MTW and by appointment
Program director: Dr. Audrey Li
Office: THH 356M; THH 356 (mailbox)
Phone: (213) 740-3717
E-mail: audreyli@usc.edu
Office Hours: by appointment
Texts:
1. Liu, Yao, Shi, & Bi. 1997. Integrated Chinese, Level 1 Part II; and Level 2: Textbook. Boston, MA: Cheng & Tsui Company.
2. Liu, Yao, Shi, & Bi. 1997. Integrated Chinese, Level 1 Part II; and Level 2: Workbook. Boston, MA: Cheng & Tsui Company.
Course Objectives:
To consolidate the foundation which students have built in Chinese I and Chinese II and to develop language and cultural studies further. At the end of the semester, students are expected to be competent in the following areas:
a) Listening and speaking:
Ability to initiate a dialogue and converse with a Mandarin speaker on simple topics of daily life with relative ease, as well as to formulate and understand structurally more complicated sentences. Ability to gather the general ideas within a paragraph-length speech, as well as to narrate and describe with a paragraph-length discourse on familiar subjects;
b) Reading and writing:
Ability to understand short essays written with various combinations of approximately 600 characters, and to produce compositions (a letter, a story, a complaint or an argument for a political debate) for the length of several paragraphs.
Class Meetings:
It is essential to prepare for each class in advance, to assure the most beneficial and rewarding use of contact time with your instructor and classmates, and to establish proper habits for effective language learning. Accordingly, preview of new lessons before coming to the lecture is required. In class, students are expected to have already studied the new vocabulary and understood the general idea of the relevant text. Please note that your class performance, which includes attendance, preparation, and class participation, will be part of your course grade.
- Attendance is an essential course requirement. Active participation in classroom activities is expected. In addition to the discussion of materials from the textbook, classroom activities include practice of vocabulary and patterns, simulated activities and group-based tasks.
- Please come to class on time. Arriving 10 minutes late or leaving 10 minutes early will be considered as an absence.
- Absences and lack of preparation and participation in classroom activities will definitely affect the final grade.
- Course syllabus, Daily Schedule, all announcements and handouts will be posted at http://totale.usc.edu . The instructor is not responsible for students not being informed of homework or not receiving the handouts due to absence from checking the website.
- Please turn off your cellular phones and/or pagers in the classroom.
Quizzes and tests:
- There are two pre-unit quizzes and one post-unit test for each unit. Pre-unit quizzes are short quizzes on vocabulary, which will be administered at the beginning of the first-half unit and the second-half unit. The post-unit test is a review test following completion of each unit.
- One section in a post-unit test requires writing characters. In other sections, both characters and pinyin (including correct tones) are acceptable.
- Be sure to be on time for quizzes/tests. Quizzes/tests missed will be graded as zero point. If any students miss the listening comprehension part in the beginning of a test, it will not be repeated.
- The pre-unit quizzes and post-unit tests not taken at the scheduled time may be made up only if advance arrangement has been made with your instructor, or if a documented emergence is received. Please note make-ups will have 20% taken off the initial marks for pre-unit quizzes and 10% off for post-unit tests. Make-ups for pre-unit quizzes must be completed within 3 days. Make-ups for post-unit tests may be completed within a week.
Oral Evaluation:
- There are four oral tests, including two oral presentations/interviews, one mid-term oral evaluation and one final presentation (before the final exam).
- The mid-term oral evaluation involves performing a dialogue with another student. Several topics will be given one week before the evaluation. In the oral evaluation, one of these topics will be randomly assigned to a pair of students who will perform a dialogue on the topic. Students will be evaluated on the fulfillment of the task.
- The final presentation can be a group project involving two or three students. The script for the presentation should be typed and submitted one week before the scheduled presentation time. Discussion of the script with the instructor is required before the oral presentation. Time for each presentation is around 3-4 minutes per person. The presentation should be accompanied by effective use of visual aids (photographs, video, drawings, maps, etc.). Students will be evaluated on their command of the sentence patterns and vocabulary taught during the semester, as well as on the originality of their presentations. After the presentation, the group will also lead a short discussion on the topic presented (such as asking the audience relevant questions).
- Conversation lab: some students may be required to meet with the instructor regularly for oral practices.
Mid-term and final examinations:
- One mid-term and one final exam.
- Documented emergencies qualify for make-ups for mid-term and final exams with 10% off the initial marks awarded.
Assignments:
- Regular short assignments
- Character writing practice: Students are required to write each Chinese word in the vocabulary list 6 times and also write once the pinyin and meaning in English for each word.
- Homework from the workbook. Please note:
- The exercises must be completed in Chinese characters.
- The listening sections require audiotapes/CD that can be ordered on-line at http://www.usc.edu/go/language. The audio files are also accessible on-line at the same web site, free of charge.
- One composition: The composition needs to be typed, using NJStar, with a minimum of 250-300, double spaced, 16 points, kai3shu1ti3 font.
- Assignments (Character writing and homework) turned in 1-3 days after the due date will be accepted with 10% off the initial points awarded. Assignments more than three days late will be graded with the maximum of 5 points. Sloppily written assignment, incomplete assignment or assignment with too many errors will be returned without any points. Re-submission will be considered as more than 3 days late.
The Language Center and useful web resources:
- Students are expected to listen to the recording of the workbook in the language lab on Fridays.
- There are textbook/workbook CD’s and audiotapes, videotapes, and computer software in the Language Center (THH 3rd floor). Serious efforts should be made to take full advantage of the available audio/video materials and computer software.
- Chinese III students enjoy first priority in the use of the computers at the Language Center. Students who use the computers at the Language Center to type their assignments should bring their own zip disks. Files saved in the hard disks at the center will be deleted and lost.
- Students are strongly encouraged and occasionally required to visit our web site at http://www.usc.edu/dept/ealc/chinese, which contains valuable learning materials (such as progressive reading projects) and provides links to other related web sites.
More fun projects:
1. Extra credit: A student can create a Chinese book or write a Chinese movie review in Chinese (at least 300 characters) for an extra credit of 1%-2%. They both should be typed and include related pictures. It is due by the last class session.
2. Field trip: A field trip may be organized (details to be provided later in class).
Addendum
* Academic Integrity and Plagiarism: University policies concerning academic dishonesty will be strictly enforced, and students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with these policies. Plagiarism and/or cheating on exams are subject to the sanctions set forth in the Student Conduct Code and may include expulsion or suspension from the university. For a detailed description of plagiarism and other types of academic dishonesty and the sanctions pertaining thereto, the student is referred to the 2005 Scampus. The student publication, "Guide to Avoiding Plagiarism" (http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/student-conduct/ug_plag.htm) may also prove helpful.
* Accommodation for students with disabilities: Students who need to request accommodations based on a disability are required to register each semester with the Disability Services and Programs (DSP) office (Student Union, Room 301.) In addition, a letter of verification to the course instructor, from the Disability Services and Programs office is needed for the semester in which you are enrolled for this course. If you have questions concerning this procedure, please contact both the instructor of the course, and the Disability Services and Programs office at (213) 740-0776.
* The final exam date CANNOT be changed without first obtaining approval from the Provost's office, even if the entire class agrees to a new time or date. The students are not allowed to take final exams prior to or after the exam date, except in the case of an emergency. A student's desire to return home a few days early does not constitute an emergency.
Grading
- Assignments: 20% (homework: 10%; character writing: 10%)
- Pre-unit quizzes: 10%
- Post-unit tests: 15%
- Oral evaluation: 10%
- Mid-term Exam: 15%
- Final Exam: 20%
- Class Performance (including attendance, preparation and class participation): 10%
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Total 100%
A 94-100 A- 90-93
B+ 87-89 B 84-86 B- 80-83
C+ 77-79 C 74-76 C- 70-73
D+ 60-69 Pass: C- or above F below 60
