Chinese 1109: Beginning Chinese Reading & Writing for

Students of Chinese Heritage I, Fall 2014

Classroom
STM 206
RCK 183
RCK 183

Instructor
Qingfang Song
Yufen Lee Mehta
Qingfang Song

Office
RCK 344
RCK 383
RCK 344

Email
QS33
YL43
QS33

Office Hours

3:30-4:30W,Th
1-2M,3-4W; OBA
3:30-4:30W,Th

1. Course Objectives: Chinese 1109 is an accelerated course for students of Chinese heritage whose oral abilities usually exceed
their literacy skill. The main course objective is to provide students with ongoing and varied opportunities to further develop
their proficiencies in oral and written communication in three communicative modes: interpersonal (speaking, listening,

reading and writing skills), interpretive (listening and reading skills), and presentational (speaking and writing skills);
and the five goal areas (communication, cultures, connections, comparisons, and communities), as outlined in the
Standards for Foreign Language Learning for the 21st Century. Students will first master the pinyin Romanization system,
identify character components, reproduce characters*, read Chinese text and write short essays, and present their research on
Chinese history, geography, arts, and social issues associated with their own lives and family experiences. Students
will also develop an appreciation of classical Chinese through selected Chinese poems.
*You must be able to read BOTH traditional and simplified fonts but may choose to write in only one within an assignment.

2. Texts: a. Colloquial Chinese Reader, by Yufen Lee Mehta (@ Language Resource Center)
b. Chinese Poems, by Yufen Lee Mehta (@ Cornell Bookstore)
Audios for both are available on the course page above and at [Link] (Go to Media Library, click on
Chinese and then Colloquial Chinese Reader or Chinese Poems. User name and password will be announced in class.)

3. Approach: Activities and assignments for this course are designed to enable you to learn tools of analysis through which you
may discover the properties of language and the complexity and beauty of texts. You will be immersed in Chinese language and
culture through integration of cultural content knowledge and language skills. The goal is to maximize your Chinese language
skills and interest in Chinese culture. The overall linguistic, communicative and cultural competences, learned via the use of
selected texts through which you will become enthusiastic and dynamic learners independently, is the desired outcome.
Classroom time will be used mainly for exposure to comprehensible Chinese in communicative settings, and opportunities to
practice using Chinese. Therefore, you are responsible for preparing the vocabulary, listening to the audio, and viewing related
videos on your own prior to the class. Study time should also be applied to additional opportunities, such as attending campus
activities, reading Chinese articles, and watching films related to Chinese language, people and culture.
4. Attendance: Tardiness and absences will directly affect your grade. For every three unexcused absences your grade will be
lowered by one level.
5. Class Language: Chinese will be used exclusively in class. Each time you read and listen to what you know will help you
learn about what you don't know. Read and listen to key words and words that you already know. Look for the general idea,
rather than trying to "get" every word. Think about what you already know about the topic. Guess about the meaning, but be
ready to modify your ideas as you get more information.
6. Journal: You will keep a daily (Mon-Fri) journal, in which you should handwrite on various topics related to the lessons in
the worksheets provided. You can write in different formats: essays, dialogues, free style narrations, monologues, or letters. This
is your opportunity to refine creatively your language structures and vocabulary and reflect on the materials. Submit the journals
upon arrival on Mondays (this year Sep 3 will be the first collection because of Labor Day). Your journal grade will be based on
the quality and quantity of your writing, the effort you make, and the progress you demonstrate. When submitting journals you
must also at the same time resubmit your previous entries with the appropriate corrections, otherwise the grade for your previous
ones will not be registered. This is because the assignment will not be considered complete until you correct and resubmit it.
Late submissions will not be allowed.

7. Oral Presentations: You will do three 10-12 minute presentations on Chinese geography, history, culture or social issues
followed by general discussions. A typed outline is due by 12 noon on the Thursday prior to your presentation. If you fail to do
so you will not be allowed to do your presentation and will not receive a grade for it. Email the outline to your teacher with the
subject: 1109 your Chinese name. You may choose any topics related to the current lesson and apply the vocabulary, idioms and
grammatical structures of the lesson; any new vocabulary you introduce should be limited to 5 items. The 3 presentations must
be progressing from 1. yourself, 2. Chinese as a community, to 3. Chinese in the global context. The presentations will be
evaluated on accuracy, fluency, organization, richness of vocabulary and sentence patterns, creativity, depth of ideas, connection
to the lessons, time management, and interaction with the audience. Meet with your teacher individually for the feedback.
8. Videos of your choice: You are required to find a Chinese drama online which contains multiple episodes. You will watch the
videos on your own (at least 1 episode per week) and write about it once per week in the journal as it develops over the semester.
Check with your family, friends, relatives and course website for resources and information.
9. Tests and Quizzes: Quizzes given at the beginning of the class are mostly in the forms of dictation to evaluate your
proficiency in pinyin and characters. Two entire class sessions are designated to the 2 tests assessing thorough comprehension of
the lessons. You will not be allowed to make up quizzes and tests.
10. Films: Two films are scheduled in the weeks of Sep 21, and Oct 19. You can watch them at the Language Resource Center
or in Uris Library. To access the streaming movies in the Language Lab at Noyes Lodge, open a browser on any computer and
choose the "Movies for Courses" bookmark, then your course. In Uris Library, movies can be watched on Internet Explorer in
the Tower Room and Computer Classroom (Rooms B03 and B05), the bookmark there is "LRC Videos." Your login and
password are identical: chinese1109 (all lowercase, no spaces). Please note: movies cannot be accessed wirelessly from your
own laptop. They must be accessed through the lab computers.
Language Lab Hours:

Uris Library Hours:

Monday - Thursday 9am - 10pm

You have to write a report (an analysis, comment, or personal reflection, but not a mere retelling of the story) on each one.
These reports will be in lieu of the Friday journal requirements for those two weeks.
11. Course Page: All announcements, assignments, information, related issues, discussion and supplementary materials will be
posted on the course page. Various topics for discussion will be posted regularly and online participation in the course page is
given equal weighting as class participation. You need to put your name and date for each of your postings. See the course page
for log in information.
12. Portfolio: File all your corrected homework, presentation outlines, quizzes and tests, related course materials, and submit it
in class on Dec 1 for the teacher to evaluate your individual progress in writing.
13. Final Project: This project includes two components: written and filming. With an assigned partner, you will produce a
video integrating the lessons, poems, films, research, online discussion, homework, class discussions, and oral presentations,
which fully demonstrates your acquired Chinese knowledge and proficiency. You will later submit a full script with all details
by 12:00 noon on Dec 10. You will be graded on the variety of themes and issues, fluency and complexity of language, use of
vocabulary and idioms, and creativity. A rubric will be provided.
13. Grading:
Participation (in-class and online forum):
Oral Presentations:
Daily Homework:

10%
20%
30%

Quizzes:
Tests:
Final Project:

10%
20%
10%

15. Academic Integrity: Each student in this course is expected to abide by the Cornell University Code of Academic Integrity.
Any work submitted by a student in this course for academic credit will be the students own work. Collaboration is allowed only
when it is specified. The Code of Academic Integrity and Acknowledging the Work of Others is found in the Policy Notebook for
the Cornell Community and also at the web at: [Link]
16. University Policy: From Chair of Department of Asian Studies: Together with all the members of this department, we
respect and uphold University policies and regulations pertaining to racial or ethnic discrimination, sexual harassment, assistance
available to handicapped, visually and/or hearing impaired students, the observance of religious holidays, and plagiarism. All
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students are advised to become familiar with the respective University regulations and are encouraged to bring any questions or
concerns to our attention.