Chinese
Program Overview
Teaching Philosophy
Placement Information
Language Courses
Summer Courses
Major(s) in Chinese
Study Abroad
Resources
Faculty
Program Overview
The Chinese program offers a sequence of courses from beginning through advanced levels. Our goal is to equip students to become well spoken and literate in this language. With this goal in mind, students who successfully complete the foundational sequence (Chinese 1-6, or equivalent) in a timely way can gain confidence reading and discussing Classical prose and poetry (Chinese 107-108) as well as topics in Chinese literature and history (Chinese 104-105), which are offered in alternating years. Interested students should come to our office hours early in their careers to discuss their aspirations.
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Teaching Philosophy
The Chinese Language Program is committed to excellence in undergraduate teaching. Its mission is to bring students of various backgrounds to the point of communicative competence in Chinese and to equip them with the language skills and cultural knowledge necessary to pursue their further academic, professional, and personal goals. Language courses at UCSC are taught solely by language teaching specialists. These are individuals who are hired and retained based on their proven record of effective teaching. The primary focus of all Chinese language lecturers is the teaching and advising of undergraduates. From the beginning level through the advanced courses, students are taught by the regular faculty. This enables more consistent, personalized instruction to occur than is possible at many larger institutions.
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Language Courses
Each year, a full series of foundational courses is offered for beginning students (Chinese 1,2,3), and intermediate students (Chinese 4,5,6). In all of these courses, emphasis is placed on devleoping competence in all four skills: reading, writing, speaking and understanding the language.
The intermediate courses further develop skills acquired in the first year and Heritage courses, deepen and broaden students' understanding of contemporary Chinese culture, and help students make the transition from reading the mostly prepared texts of the first and second years' language instruction to reading authentic texts of various lengths in the third year. Orally, the intermediate courses seek to help students master the oral proficiency skills appropriate to the intermediate-mid and intermediate-high levels as measured by the ACTFL oral proficiency scale.
At the advanced level, the Chinese language faculty normally offer three courses each year. These courses, Readings in Chinese Literature and History and Introductions to Classical Chinese Prose and Poetry, enable students to practice the language intensively while becoming conversant with key topics in the field of Chinese studies and gaining confidence reading in a diverse range of Chinese writing.
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Summer Courses
Berkeley and UCLA normally offer intensive Chinese language courses in the summer. These courses are designed for students who wish to make more rapid progress than is possible during the regular academic year, or who were unable to fit Chinese into their regular course schedules.
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Major(s) in Chinese
There are four pathways for majoring in Chinese at UCSC:
1) Applied Linguistics with an emphasis in Chinese. This major examines how languages are learned, how multilingual individuals process language, how language functions in society and how they are taught most effectively.
2) Language Studies with an emphasis in Chinese. This major is designed to give students a foundation in theoretical and applied linguistics while they simultaneously pursue course work in the fields of Chinese language, culture, and literature.
3) Literature with an emphasis in Chinese Literature. This major is designed for students wishing to emphasize the study of Chinese literature. In addition to the training afforded all literature majors at UCSC, which includes work in the areas of literary history, literary analysis, and literary theory, students in this major emphasize course work within the disciplines of Chinese literature, culture, and film.
4) East Asian Studies is designed to take advantage of the teaching and research skills of faculty in various disciplines who share a common interest in the culture of the Chinese-speaking countries. History, Politics, Philosophy, Art History, History of Consciousness, Chinese Literature, and Chinese Language are some of the disciplines contributing to this major. It is designed for students who wish to work within the field of Chinese in a truly interdisciplinary way.
Note: Students interested in economics, business, and Chinese may wish to major in Global Economics. Within this major, students may choose Chinese as a language of concentration.
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Study Abroad
The University of California currently offers Chinese language programs in Taiwan, Hong Kong and China. Students' progress in the language can be greatly accelerated if they are able to conduct their new friendships in Chinese. For this reason, we strongly recommend six quarters of Chinese as a minimum before studying on Chinese campuses. For information on these and other study opportunities abroad, contact the International Programs Office, Classroom Unit Bldg., Room 103. Tel. 831-459-2858 or visit their website: https://global.ucsc.edu/index.html.
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Internet Resources
Marjorie Chan's China Links Tips for using Chinese on PCs
Games to reinforce learning Chinese
A pinyin table with sound
Character lookup with sound
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Ting-Ting Wu, Lecturer, 135 Humanities Bldg 1
Elu Tu, Lecturer, Cowell College
