54
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 intends to provide students with a basic linguistic competence that allows the understanding and production of simple written texts, as well as communication in routine activities that require a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine topics. The student will be able to know and recognize the basic peculiarities of Chinese culture also in relation to other East Asian cultures. At the end of the course the student will be familiar with a vocabulary of about 500 words and will reach a level of competence comparable to that obtained by passing the HSK2 certification exam.
ABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
Upon completion of the course the student will have obtained a knowledge of the basic vocabulary and the main grammatical structures to carry on simple oral and written communications and everyday and familiar topics.
FURTHER EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Making judgments:
The student must have the ability to evaluate and manage the skills acquired with a critical attitude and independent judgement, using the linguistic functions learned in the appropriate context.
Communication skills:
The student will be able to introduce herself and other people, to follow and provide simple directions and to master the basic language necessary to satisfy immediate and daily life needs (in written and oral form).
Learning ability:
The student will develop the necessary skills to undertake further studies with a good degree of autonomy
Course Prerequisites
Indispensable: knowledge of grammatical terminology (in one's native language)
Indispensable for self-study: basic skills in the use of multimedia teaching materials
Teaching Methods
The course will be divided into 54 hours of lessons led by the teacher, supplemented by 120 hours of exercises conducted by collaborators and linguistic experts/native speakers, and a minimum of 350 hours of individual study. Additionally, students will have the opportunity to access supplementary materials on the university's e-learning platform (Moodle), where they can further practice the four skills.
Assessment Methods
Two intermediate tests will be carried out during the year (approximately at the end of each semester) which will test progress in written and oral skills through writing and composition, listening and speaking exercises. The results of these intermediate tests (if both carried out and passed) will be taken into account at the time of the final exam.
The final exam is divided into a linguistic assessment test (online) and an oral exam (in presence):
- online test: phonetic transcription test of words and phrases in characters; exercises on radicals; translation of sentences from Italian into Chinese; grammar exercises (insert words, complete and rearrange sentences); reading passages and comprehension questions. The questions are both open-ended and multiple-answered. For those who have not taken/passed the intermediate tests: conversation in Chinese on familiar topics studied, with simple words and known and basic grammatical structures;
- oral exam: reading, translation and analysis of a passage from Chinese into Italian; questions on the Chinese language, in particular: historical and typological framework and history of writing (from Arcodia-Basciano 2024); morphology and syntax (Paternicò-Varriano-Tian 2021); phonology and pronunciation (Raini-Wang 2023); for those who have not taken/passed the intermediate tests: short composition of 100 characters.
Language in which the exam is held: Italian and Chinese.
Evaluation criteria:
- online test: the passing threshold is 60% of correct answers on the total questions.
- oral exam: the results of the intermediate tests, pronunciation, understanding and interaction skills, the ability to read and translate a passage with words and grammatical structures already studied, to recognize these structures and to apply them to similar examples will be taken into account .
Texts
- Arcodia, G. F., and B. Basciano. 2024. La lingua cinese. Carocci.
- Masini, F. et al., Il cinese per gli italiani - Corso base (rosso), Milano, Hoepli, 2010.
- Paternicò, L.M., Varriano, V., Tian H., Grammatica della lingua cinese, Torino, UTET 2021.
- Paternicò, L.M., Varriano, V., Tian H., Grammatica della lingua cinese, Eserciziario, Torino, UTET 2022
- Raini, E., Wang R., La pronuncia del cinese, Milano, Hoepli 2023 (capp. 1-2 e 5-6; più capp. 3-4 per consultazione).
Extra exercises on pronunciation
- Sepe, A., Tian H., Impariamo a pronunciare il cinese, Roma, Orientalia 2020.
For Students who cannot attend the course
- Lioi, T. - De Benedittis, A., Introduzione alla scrittura cinese. I radicali e i caratteri cinesi dei livelli 1 e 2 dell'esame HSK, Milano, Hoepli 2016.
Contents
CHINESE LANGUAGE I
1. A brief introduction on the history of Chinese language;
2. Chinese dialects and typological characteristics of standard Chinese (morphology and syntax);
3. Syllables, articulation of initials and final sounds and the four tones in Chinese putonghua.
4. Radicals and stroke order; characters classification; word formation; phonetic transcription systems and pinyin;
5. The simple sentence, parts of speech, verbal predicates and verbal phrase;
6. The noun phrase and the measure words;
7. Serial verbs; ditransitive constructions; pivotal sentences; separable verbs;
8. Prepositional phrase;
9. The duration and the frequency of an action;
10. Modal particles;
11. The progressive aspect.
Course Language
Italian and Chinese
More information
Students who do not attend the lessons are invited to check the notice board frequently and to contact the teacher via email some days before the chosen exam date.