Written Chinese IA (CHIN1200)

Course overview

This is an introductory course to written Chinese for students with no prior knowledge of the Chinese language. This course introduces reading and writing Chinese characters, and includes structural analysis of both traditional and simplified characters, and important grammatical patterns. CHIN1200 starts at A1 level on theﾠCEFR language proficiency scale, and enabling you to reach a low A2 level in reading and high A1 level in writing.

There are 4 contact hours per week comprising of 2 hours of workshops and 2 hours of tutorials.ﾠ

Course requirements

Assumed background

CHIN1200 is aﾠ written Chinese course for beginners. Enrolments in CHIN1200 may be approved on the basis of knowledge or abilities which prospective students have gained other than by study at the University of Queensland, e.g., by study elsewhere, residence in a Chinese-speaking country, Chinese-speaking background. If a student enrols in a course for which they hold incompatible qualifications, they may be advised to cancel their enrolment. Any misrepresentation in the placement process may be raised as a misconduct matter.

Course staff

Timetable

The timetable for this course is available on the UQ Public Timetable.

Additional timetable information

In order to optimise the student experience, it may be necessary to reallocate students to a different class from their first choice. 

Before this happens, every effort will be made to enable students to voluntarily change into an alternative class that is suitable. 

Please note: Teaching staff do not have access to the timetabling system to help with class allocation. Therefore, should you need help with your timetable and/or allocation of classes, please ensure you email hass.mytimetable@uq.edu.au from your UQ student email account with the following details: 

• Full name, 
• Student ID, and 
• the Course Code 

Additional information and support can be found here. 

Aims and outcomes

This course provides a first exposure to written Chinese. It aims to teach (1) the reading and writing of Chinese characters including structural analysis of all new characters in terms of strokes, stroke order and radical identification, (2) elementary Chinese vocabulary; sentence structure and grammar acquired, and (3) relevant cultural features of the language that will assist students in learning the language in a more holistic manner.

Note on learning the characters: Simplified script is used, but students are required to be able to recognise, not write, traditional script, so that they can be prepared for further studies and career routes in universities and communities that use traditional script.ﾠ

Learning outcomes

After successfully completing this course you should be able to:

Assessment

Assessment summary

A hurdle is an assessment requirement that must be satisfied in order to receive a specific grade for the course. Check the assessment details for more information about hurdle requirements.

Assessment details

Course Placement Test

• Hurdle
• In-person
• Online

Mode

Written

Category

Quiz

Due date

24/02/2025 - 4/03/2025

Students who are not able to meet the due date (due to late enrolment) must contact the Course Coordinator as soon as possible to ensure they comply with this requirement.

Learning outcomes

L01, L02, L05

Task description

Hurdle requirements

Submission guidelines

Deferral or extension

You cannot defer or apply for an extension for this assessment.

Placement in this course, determined through the completion of this Placement Test, is a hurdle requirement. Completing this component is essential to confirm that you have been correctly placed in CHIN1100. Students who fail to complete this requirement cannot achieve higher than a 3 in the course regardless of performance in other assessment tasks. No assessment items will be marked until this is completed. If you enrolled late in this course, please contact the Course Coordinator as soon as possible to ensure that you are able to comply with this requirement. 

Character practice booklet and exercise sheet

• Online

Mode

Written

Category

Portfolio

Weight

20%

Due date

30/05/2025 5:00 pm

Other conditions

Longitudinal.

See the conditions definitions

Task description

Submission guidelines

Students are required to submit their completed practice booklet and worksheets through Turnitin via Blackboard

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

The maximum extension allowed is 7 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.

Submission of character booklet and exercise sheets may only be extended by a maximum of 7 calendar days as this is a progressive task designed for students to practice on a regular basis throughout the semester.

In-semester exam

• Identity Verified
• In-person

Mode

Written

Category

Examination

Weight

40%

Due date

17/04/2025

The exam duration is 60 minutes and will be completed during your allocated tutorial in WEEK 8.

Other conditions

Time limited.

See the conditions definitions

Task description

Exam details

Submission guidelines

Deferral or extension

You may be able to defer this exam.

Final exam

• Identity Verified
• In-person

Mode

Written

Category

Examination

Weight

40%

Due date

End of Semester Exam Period

7/06/2025 - 21/06/2025

Other conditions

Time limited.

See the conditions definitions

Task description

Exam details

Submission guidelines

Deferral or extension

You may be able to defer this exam.

Course grading

Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.

Additional course grading information

Marking criteria and/or marking rubrics are available in the ‘Assessment’ folder in Blackboard for this course. 

Supplementary assessment

Supplementary assessment is available for this course.

Additional assessment information

Assessment Criteria:

Students' written skills will be assessed on:

1. ability to recognize the prescribed list of Chinese characters
2. ability to write individual characters
3. ability to identify “radical” components of traditional characters and know their meanings
4. grammatical correctness in the writing of sentences and paragraphs
5. ability to read characters and to extract information from Chinese texts
6. skill in the translation of prose passages which may include some slightly unfamiliar vocabulary or grammatical constructs
7. situational and cultural appropriateness of language used

Learning resources

You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.

Library resources

Find the required and recommended resources for this course on the UQ Library website.

Own copy required

You'll need to have your own copy of the following reading resources. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.

Additional learning resources information

Library Resources:

BILLETER, Jean Fran￧ois: The Chinese Art of Writing. Quarto NK3634.A2 B54 1990

GAO, Mobo C. F.: Mandarin Chinese: An Introduction. PL1129.E5 G26 2000

GAO, Mobo C. F.: A Reference of Modern Chinese. PL1129.E5 G36 2000

LI, Charles N. and Sandra A. Thompson: Mandarin Chinese: A Functional Reference Grammar. PL1107.L5 1981

LINDQVIST, Cecilia: China, Empire of the Written Symbol. DS721.L625 1991

NEWNHAM, Richard: About Chinese. PL1111.N4 1971

TIEE, Henry Hung-Yeh: A Reference Grammar of Chinese Sentences. PL1129.E5 T54 1986

TUNG, P. C. and D. E. Pollard: Colloquial Chinese. PL1125.E6 T8 1982

YIP Po-ching: Chinese: An Essential Grammar. PL1107.Y57 1996

YIP Po-ching: Basic Chinese: A Grammar and Workbook. PL1111.Y56 1998

Useful Web Sites: A number of useful web sites related to Chinese language acquisition will be provided in Weekﾠ5 and listed on Blackboard.

A General Guide to Successful Study in This Course (written by Dr Simon Patton)

1. You need to spend a lot of time working on characters, especially at the beginning of your study of Chinese. The Chinese writing system is very different from alphabetic systems such as English, so there is a lot of new information and concepts to get your head around. However, the more you use the characters, the more familiar you will become with their structure and their "logic". Just remember that every new character you master brings you just that little bit closer to achieving a grasp of the overall system.
2. It helps to develop a conscious understanding of the structure of Chinese characters. You will be provided with an introduction to structure in class as part of your study. For every Chinese character in lessons 0.1-6 it is absolutely vital that you learn: (i) pinyin (including tone); (b) basicﾠmeaning(s); (c) stroke order (you may need to learn two sets of stroke order when the traditional form of a character is different to the simplified form); (d) radical. In addition, you will also need to build up knowledge of how a particular character combines with others to form compound words. Bear in mind, too, that the form of Chinese characters can only give you, at best, a rough guide to pronunciation, so you will need to make a special effort to link the written form of a Chinese character with its pronunciation.
3. Constant regular practice of the characters is necessary. However, writing the characters with a pen is only one form of practice. Some students may find visualization of the writing of Chinese characters is an effective learning strategy. Writing the characters in the air ("air calligraphy") not only saves paper but can also help develop a "body memory" of the characters. It is important that the correct stroke order is followed whenever you write the characters; correct stroke order will contribute to the harmonious shaping of the characters and will also help you to use a dictionary efficiently. If you find you have particular trouble writing the characters, you may find it helpful to trace the form of the characters using tracing paper. In addition to writing the characters, you can get plenty of practice reading the characters in your textbooks and doing the reading exercises in the weekly handouts.
4. Many students find it helpful to create a file for new characters arranged in alphabetical order based on pinyin. This file can include all the basic information you need to know about any particular character (outlined in point 2 above). New compound words using a particular character can be added to the file as you come across them in your study of Chinese, as well as examples of sentences or phrases in which the character appears. Such a file can also be useful for the completion of homework and for revising for tests and exams.
5. Use the reading exercises in the weekly handouts to check your understanding of the characters and for revision. Remember, it is vital to maintain your knowledge of the characters we have already covered in class at the same time as you are leaning new characters. If you find anything in these exercises that you don't understand (especially in theﾠreading passages) then please bring your questions to class.
6. You may find it helpful to look at the following books. Richard Newnham has a chapter on Chinese script in his book About Chinese. China, Empire of the Written Symbol by Cecilia Lindqvist is a beautifully presented book on Chinese characters and some of the most commonly used radicals. Finally, for a detailed description of how Chinese characters work and how they relate to the art of calligraphy, please refer to Jean-Francois Billeter's The Chinese Art of Writing.
7. Always ask questions if you are not sure, whether it is pronunciation problems, usage problems, grammar problems or whatever.ﾠBecause classes are quite large, the time the lecturer can spend with each student individually is very limited, so it is impossible for him/her to pick up all of students' individual problems unassisted. Often your problem is also being experienced by other members of the class, so raising it helps everybody - don't be afraid to ask.
8. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes and trying things out.ﾠAlways have a try.ﾠIt does not matter if you are wrong.ﾠIn fact you will learn more by making a mistake and finding out why it is wrong and what IS right than you will by getting something right by chance, or not having a go in the first place.
9. Try to learn consistently throughout the semester, don’t leave things until the last minute beforeﾠexams.

Learning activities

The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.

Policies and procedures

University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:

• Student Code of Conduct Policy
• Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Procedure
• Assessment Procedure
• Examinations Procedure
• Reasonable Adjustments - Students Policy and Procedure

Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.