48
Languages and Literature of China and South East Asia
UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI NAPOLI "L'ORIENTALE"
Overview
Date/time interval
Syllabus
Course Objectives
EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES
The course aims to provide the student with advanced level linguistic knowledge that allows the understanding and production, through the use of the dictionary, of written texts of a specialized nature, as well as an understanding of the spoken language sufficient to carry out conversations fluently in various areas of social life.
ABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
Upon completion of the course, the student will have improved his/her understanding of Chinese by familiarizing himself/herself with the reading of essayistic texts on contemporary Chinese culture and society, increasing his/her textual analysis skills and in particular translation skills through reflection on the theoretical and practical problems of translation from Chinese to Italian. By consolidating and deepening his/her syntactic and lexical notions, he/she will be able to distinguish and master the specific communicative and rhetorical strategies of various types of written and oral Chinese texts.
FURTHER EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Autonomy of judgment:
The student must possess the ability to manage the skills acquired with a critical attitude and autonomy of judgment, using the linguistic functions learned in the appropriate context.
Communication skills:
The student must be able to formulate ideas and present topics of a specialized field with competence and punctuality.
Learning ability:
At the end of the course, the student will have the tools to independently carry out specialized work of translation and writing of texts.
Course Prerequisites
To successfully follow the course, it is essential to have intermediate level communication skills and valid skills in reading and analyzing Chinese sentences acquired in previous years.
Teaching Methods
The course will consist of 48 hours of lectures, supplemented by 120 hours of exercises held by native language experts, during which students, guided by the teacher, will be able to discuss the issues raised by the comparison with the texts. At the end of the first semester, students will be able to deepen their translation experiences through group exercises supervised by the teacher.
Assessment Methods
The exam is divided into 1) an entrance test taken on the university e-learning platform, containing tests on listening (tingli), grammar, text comprehension and composition, followed by a conversation in Chinese; 2) an oral exam aimed at assessing the ability to understand and translate texts in Chinese through a) the discussion of a translation chosen by the student, on cultural topics close to those investigated during the course, delivered to the teacher a few days before the exam b) the verification of in-depth knowledge of the texts read, analyzed and translated during the course c) the translation on the spot of a text in Chinese, aimed at verifying the actual textual comprehension skills of the students.
Passing the entrance test, which must be passed in all its parts in order not to be repeated, is preparatory to the oral exam.
Languages in which the exam is held: Italian and Chinese
During the year, students will also have the opportunity to take some tests in between, specifically: 1) a double self-assessment test at the end of the first semester, relating to exercises and translation practice
2) a self-assessment test relating to exercises followed by a simulation of the entrance test close to the end of lessons
Texts
Students will be provided with the reading texts at the beginning of the course (readings available on Microsoft Teams)
Luisa Paternicò, Serena Di Fusco, Xiaomo Mo, Tiziana Lioi, Il cinese per il lavoro, Hoepli, Milano, 2024.
Dizionari consigliati:
Recommended dictionaries:
Xiandai Hanyu Cidian (monolingue), Commercial Press, Beijing, edizioni recenti.
Han Ying Cidian, a Chinese-English Dictionary, Waiyu Jiaoxue yu Yanjiu Chubanshe, Beijing, edizioni recenti.
Giorgio Casacchia e Bai Yukun, Dizionario Cinese-Italiano, Cafoscarina, Venezia, 2013.
Concise English-Chinese Chinese-English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Oxford, edizioni recenti.
Xinhua Zidian, Shangwu Yinshuguan, Beijing, edizioni recenti.
Dizionari online consigliati: Youdao https://www.youdao.com e Zdic https://www.zdic.net
Software consigliati: Wenlin Software for Learning Chinese, Wenlin Institute www.wenlin.com
e Pleco Chinese Dictionary www.pleco.com
Contents
1. Reading of texts focused on the cultural analysis of modern and contemporary Chinese society.
2. Analysis of specific Chinese rhetoric strategies
3. Comparative study of source language and target language syntactic behaviours
4. Observation of different strategies of translation
5. Discussion of selected topics related to contemporary Chinese culture and society.
6. Reflections on literary translation
7. Development of listening and speaking skills focused on specialist and professional topics
8. Practice in creating specialist and professional texts in Chinese.
Course Language
Italian