Chinese IV

Course Overview

This course is a continuation of Chinese III. It focuses on enhancing students’ interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational skills by expanding their knowledge through interactive activities including discussion, debates, translation, contextualized reading, and listening and speaking assignments that were designed based on authentic resources such as films, TV series, documentaries, and interviews, and comic series.

Objectives

Student learning outcomes include attaining approximately the Intermediate-High level on the ACTFL proficiency scale; comprehending authentic and original listening and reading materials; being able to discuss in depth topics including friendship, part-time job, internet surfing, early childhood education, and geography of China and the United States, in both oral and written forms; and being able to use presentational skills to narrate and discuss a feature length movie.

Course Content

Unit 1: Making Friends

In this unit, students will learn to describe different personalities and behaviors in the context of making friends. They will also learn to give descriptions of what they look for in a friend.

Unit 2: Computer and the Internet

This unit teaches students to name the activities they do on the computer and on the Internet and discuss the pros and cons of the Internet.

Unit 3: Working Part-Time

In this unit, students learn to name and compare common part-time jobs in China and in the US. They will learn to describe the pros and cons of working part-time as a student and explain how college students fund their education in the US.

Unit 4: Education

This unit teaches students to describe some typical extra-curricular activities or programs their schedules are packed with. They will present their opinions on children’s education and discuss the pros and cons of extra-curricular programs and how they impact one’s childhood and influence their future.

Unit 5: Geography of China

In this unit, students will learn to locate major Chinese cities, provinces, and geographic features, including plain, plateau, desert, etc., on the map of China. They will compare basic geographic features and topography of China and the US. They will then discuss an itinerary for travel in the US and to China.