Module: Chinese Language 1A

Latest Module Specifications

Current Academic Year 2025 - 2026

Module Title	Chinese Language 1A
Module Code	CHN1000 (ITS: ZH107)
Faculty	SALIS	School	Humanities & Social Sciences
NFQ level	8	Credit Rating	10

Description

This module is designed for beginners in Chinese language, starting with pronunciation and guiding students in grasping essential Chinese vocabulary and the skills of simple conversations on daily life topics. The module will introduce the Chinese phonetic system and the basic principles behind Chinese characters, which are distinct from most learners’ linguistic backgrounds. It will also draw upon on some key principles of Chinese grammar. Students will be very familiar with the concept of tone insofar as it relates to Chinese phonology.

Learning Outcomes

1. Correctly identify any arbitrary combination of Chinese pinyin (the official romanization system for standard Mandarin Chinese in mainland China) initials, finals and tones, when spoken slowly and in isolation.
2. Read pinyin phonetic notation with a comprehensible accuracy.
3. Read basic Chinese characters, such as pronouns and simple verbs.
4. Write basic Chinese characters when provided with a definition and/or pinyin.
5. Form simple grammatically correct sentences on daily life topics such as greetings, self-introduction, family, friends, countries and work.
6. Demonstrate familiarity with the correct forms of address and titles for teachers, family members etc., especially familial terms not distinguished in English.
7. Comprehend, as the receptive competence, short texts and dialogues, in both written and spoken forms, concerning daily life topics with which they are reasonably familiar.
8. Produce, as the productive competence, short texts and dialogues, in both written (Chinese characters) and spoken forms, concerning daily life topics with which they are reasonably familiar.

*Type*	*Hours*	*Description*
Workload	Full time hours per semester
Lecture	15	Synchronous online sessions
Assignment Completion	50	Asynchronous group work/study for home assignments, online class preparation, consultation with teachers and CA project(s)
Independent Study	185	Home assignments, interaction with the textbook and online learning resources/tools; CA preparation and completion, individual consultation with teachers
Total Workload: 250

Section Breakdown
CRN	10277	Part of Term	Semester 1
Coursework	0%	Examination Weight	0%
Grade Scale	40PASS	Pass Both Elements	Y
Resit Category	RC1	Best Mark	N
Module Co-ordinator	Weiming Liu	Module Teacher	Lijie Shao, Qi Zhang

Type	Description	% of total	Assessment Date
Assessment Breakdown
Oral Examination	CA 1 Oral Examination (1 assessment)	30%	Week 7
Assignment	CA 2 Writing Composition	30%	Week 10
Assignment	CA 3 Reading Comprehension	20%	Week 8
Assignment	CA 4 Completion of character book and workbook practice (divided into four sub-assessments)	20%	As required

Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories; RC1: A resit is available for both^* components of the module. RC2: No resit is available for a 100% coursework module. RC3: No resit is available for the coursework component where there is a coursework and summative examination element. ^* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a coursework/summative examination split; where the module is 100% coursework, there will also be a resit of the assessment

Pre-requisite	r,
Co-requisite	None
Compatibles	None
Incompatibles	None

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Reading Skills
A variety of texts on topics such as family, everyday life, and nature will be read, analysed and discussed in a group setting.

Listening Skills
a variety of monologues and dialogues will be listened, analysed, discussed and repeated.

Writing Skills
students will write short texts, in Chinese characters, on given topics.

Oral and Aural Skills
Students will participate proactively in interactive classroom sessions, either with teachers or with peers, implement new grammatical structures and speak freely on given subjects/topics.

Role Play
a variety of everyday situations will be planned, acted out and discussed, either in groups or by individual learners.

Indicative Reading List

Books:

Kai Zhang, Shehui Liu, Xi Chen, Shandan Zuo, Jiawei Shi, Xun Liu: 2004, New Practical Chinese Reader Vol. 1 (Textbook, Workbook, Character Book, CD), 3rd edition, Beijing Language and Culture University Press, Beijing,
2010: Oxford Chinese Dictionary: English-Chinese, Chinese-English., Oxford University Press, Oxford.,

Articles:
None

Other Resources

None