CHINESE STAGE 3 - 2025/6

Module code: CHIL013

Module Overview


This is a module of the Global Graduate Award in Languages programme. It is taught over 19 weeks in the autumn and spring semesters, two contact hours per week, and covers the four core skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing in the target language. It also offers an introduction to the cultures and societies in which the target language is spoken and aims to raise a sense of cultural awareness. Students prepare for everyday communication in the target language and for work or study periods abroad.

A weighted aggregate mark of 40% is required to pass the module.

Module provider

Literature & Languages

Module Leader

RECASENS Cristina (Lit & Langs)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: Global Graduate Award

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Overall student workload

Independent Learning Hours: 46

Seminar Hours: 38

Guided Learning: 57

Captured Content: 9

Module Availability

Year long

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

Chinese Stage 2 or equivalent.

Module content

Indicative content includes:

Topic areas


  • Daily routines of students, feelings and preferences, descriptions of activities and events in  diary entry

  • Weather and weather forecast, seasons and clothes to wear

  • Home visits and Chinese festivals, Chinese New Year

  • Directions, transport and distance in a travel guide

  • Hotel accommodation, check-in procedures and room facilities

  • Museums, history and cultural relics

  • Eating out, food and drinks, Chinese dishes

  • Shopping for souvenirs, sending a package by post

  • Sightseeing at places of natural beauty

  • People’s appearance, sportswear and sizes

  • Seeing the doctor, illness, healthy life styles

  • Friends and personal characteristics



Grammar


  • The auxiliary word “de”

  • Particle “le” and as an auxiliary word

  • Using “yi … jiu …” to express succession of actions

  • Expressing similarity using “A and B + cha bu duo / yi yang”

  • Making comparisons in sentence “A bi / mei you B + adjective”

  • Future actions with “yao / hui”

  • Actions in progress using “zheng zai” ¿sequences with “xian … ran hou …”

  • Talking about distance using “li / duo yuan”

  • Expressing distance between two locations using “cong A dao B”

  • Possession, existence or location with “you”

  • Sentence with “gou / bu gou” to express adequacy

  • Questions about size with “you duo da / chang / kuan”

  • How to use passive voice “bei”

  • Expressing a continuing action or state with “zhe”

  • Speech pattern “shi … de …”


Assessment pattern

Assessment type Unit of assessment Weighting
Oral exam or presentation ASSESSMENT 1 50
Online Scheduled Summative Class Test ASSESSMENT 2 50

Alternative Assessment

A timed assessment covering the relevant skills, to be completed  online.

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate


  • their linguistic progress over the duration of the course;

  • their growing ability to understand and produce the language at the relevant level;

  • their increasing awareness of the culture(s) associated with the language;

  • the level of language they have achieved at the end of the course.



 

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

Two assessments, covering productive and receptive skills.

Both assessments to take place in semester 2.

 

Formative assessment and feedback

Students will receive in-class verbal feedback on homework tasks and in-class performance.   

 

Module aims

  • In terms of linguistic and cultural competence, the module aims to encourage students to further develop their communicative competence in the four language skills (reading, writing, speaking and listening)
  • consolidate the use of basic grammatical structures and explore new structures
  • increase the Mandarin Chinese vocabulary used in everyday communication and some specific contexts
  • encourage students to develop their awareness of some main aspects of the Mandarin-speaking world
  • In terms of intercultural awareness, this module aims to encourage students to take a different perspective and view the world from different cultural viewpoints
  • Analyse and understand linguistic and cultural barriers
  • Reflect on the influence of cultural values on behaviour
  • Become conscious of stereotypes and prejudices
  • Communicate with others in culturally appropriate ways
  • In terms of study skills and transfer of skills and competencies, this module aims to encourage students to self-assess their progress
  • Support students in acquiring language learning strategies and techniques
  • Inspire independent learning and facilitate the acquisition of other foreign languages

Learning outcomes

Attributes Developed
001 Interact in Mandarin Chinese in a range of predictable and some unpredictable situations KPT
002 Understand and interpret spoken and written Mandarin Chinese in a range of topics in familiar and some unfamiliar contexts  KCP
003 Categorise a broader range of text types KC
004 Organise and present ideas on predictable and some unpredictable topics PT
005 Demonstrate the ability to retrieve and handle information from appropriate sources PT
006 Understand and use the grammatical terminology relating to the topics covered KC
007 Demonstrate a degree of grammatical accuracy in their use of Mandarin Chinese at this level KC
008 Pronounce individual sounds of Mandarin Chinese with a degree of accuracy KC
009 Use language reference materials such as grammars and dictionaries PT
010 Show cultural awareness by interacting in a culturally appropriate way for speakers of Mandarin Chinese KPT

Attributes Developed

C - Cognitive/analytical

K - Subject knowledge

T - Transferable skills

P - Professional/Practical skills

Methods of Teaching / Learning


The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

 



  • Enable students to acquire explicit knowledge of the linguistic structures, grammar and vocabulary through attending classes regularly;


  • Encourage student participation and learner autonomy, through small group work, reading and practicing/preparing outside contact hours, and participating in class activities;


  • Develop ability to use linguists’ tools, such as dictionaries and IT resources;


  • Enable students to engage in analytical and evaluative thinking, to analyse and interpret texts and other cultural products, through attending classes and engaging in individual study;


  • Develop communication skills through interactions in class.



 

The learning and teaching methods include:

 


  • Two contact hours per week over 19 weeks in Semesters 1 & 2


  • Teaching will be in the target language as far as possible.


  • Classes will include group work, such as role play, and short presentations in the language.


  • Consolidation of learning will be by the practice of language skills inside and outside the classroom, using a variety of means, including computer-assisted language learning.


  • Students are expected to complete regular homework tasks in order to practice new structures and to prepare for in-class activities.


Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: CHIL013

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2025/6 academic year.