Program Goals

C1A/B

Upon completion of the courses, students will:

Listening

• Students are able to recognize and understand high-frequency and highly contextualized words.
• Students are also able to identify key words and understand topics in basic conversations related to a range of topics such as time, location, direction, weather, hobbies, shopping, etc.

Speaking

• Students are able to handle uncomplicated conversations and straightforward social situations, request and provide basic personal information, express and ask simple follow-up questions.
• Students are able to express personal preferences or opinions on highly familiar topics, request simple services, and satisfy immediate communication needs that are typical in daily life.

Reading

• Students are able to comprehend basic texts written in simplified characters on topics related to simple everyday life, wants, needs and interests.
• Students can identify topics and basic supporting facts in straightforward, prepared texts.

Writing

• Students are able to write and type high-frequency simplified characters on practiced and highly familiar topics.
• Students understand Pinyin, character composition and stroke order.
• Students can write at the sentence and paragraph level expressing simple logical relations and connections between ideas.

C10A/B

Upon completion of the courses, students will develop:

Listening

• Proficiency in understanding simple, everyday speech on familiar topics, employing strategies such as redundancy and contextual clues in controlled settings.
• Emphasis will be on accurate comprehension and engagement in routine listening tasks.

Speaking

• Competence in expressing personal meaning on familiar subjects, encompassing the ability to ask simple questions and navigate straightforward survival situations.
• Students will produce clear sentence-level language.

Writing

• Skills to meet practical writing needs, including crafting simple messages, letters, and responses to questions.
• The focus will be on effectively communicating simple facts and ideas in a series of loosely connected sentences using basic vocabulary and structures.

Reading

• Skills to understand information in simple, predictable, loosely connected texts. Proficiency will be demonstrated through reliance on contextual clues, particularly in familiar text formats.
• Students will excel in comprehending basic information with a focus on highly familiar everyday contexts.

C100A/B

Upon completion of the courses, students will develop:

Listening

1. Developing the listening skill for authentic Chinese conversations.
   • Being sensitized to interactive functions, moves, discourse cohesion and coherence, and information structuring.
   • Becoming attuned to speakers' manipulation of sound features.
2. Developing the ability to understand spoken Chinese across various accents and registers, ranging from formal to informal and from specialized to everyday language.
   • Understanding the use of complex vocabulary and sentence structures in challenging contexts, including idiomatic expressions and specialized terminology relevant to the texts.
3. Identifying the main ideas in authentic verbal communications, such as news reports, interviews, discussions, and narratives.
4. Gaining insights into Chinese cultural norms, values, and practices through listening to authentic materials such as stories, music, and media.
   • Becoming sensitive to perceptions, emotions, attitudes rooted in Chinese culture.

Speaking

1. Improving the accuracy and fluency of standard pronunciation to facilitate clear and effective communication.
2. Developing the speaking skill for authentic Chinese conversations.
   • Negotiating epistemic and affective stances.
   • Leveraging alternative resources in communicatively challenging situations.
3. Engaging in verbal communications and in class discussions on a wide range of topics.
   • Using language appropriately to the context, with an awareness of cultural nuances and the potential for language to convey multiple layers of meaning.
   • Using metaphors, analogies, and culturally specific references effectively.
   • Applying speaking strategies for debating, reporting, and storytelling.

Reading and Viewing

1. Understanding complex texts, such as news reports, narratives, modern prose, and classical excerpts, while building up close reading skills.
   • Identifying and analyzing text organization and ways of reasoning rooted in culture.
   • Interpreting texts beyond their surface meaning, constructing meanings based on background knowledge, linguistic choices, and rhetorical strategies.
   • Identifying and interpreting metaphors, similes, symbolism and other figurative language that convey meanings not explicitly stated.
   • Analyzing and interpreting power dynamics and symbolic power through language use in discourse.
   • Making inferences, justifying them, and posing critical questions.
2. Interpreting and constructing meaning from visual texts, such as TV shows, advertisements, films, videos, and images.
   • Recognizing cultural, social, and historical contexts.
   • Understanding the symbols and visual metaphors.
   • Interpreting films through the use of film language.
3. Understanding language use in a multilingual and multicultural society.
   • Exploring the interactions of languages with social and cultural elements in public spaces.
   • Investigating what language use reveals about the linguistic diversity, sociolinguistic dynamics, and cultural identity of a space.

Writing

1. Transforming between informal and more formal forms.
2. Composing narratives, expository essays, reports, and reading summaries, with consideration for the audience and purpose.
   • Using advanced vocabulary and structures while employing stylistic devices.
   • Conveying complex and nuanced ideas and emotions.
   • Organizing in a coherent structure, formulating persuasive arguments, and maintaining an appropriate style and tone.
3. Engaging creatively with texts through adaptations or artistic responses to explore its themes, characters, or situations from new perspectives.
4. Conducting a sociocultural analysis in the real world and writing a report to share findings.

C101/102

Upon completion of the courses, students will:

Listening

• Understand narrative and descriptive texts in familiar language patterns, extracting main facts and supporting details.
• Demonstrate increased language proficiency, relying on situational and subject-matter knowledge for comprehensive understanding.

Speaking

• Handle diverse communicative tasks confidently, actively participating in informal and some formal exchanges on concrete topics.
• Narrate and describe events in past, present, and future with a full account and good control of aspect, using circumlocution when faced with complications.

Writing

• Meet work and academic writing needs, narrating and describing with detail in all major time frames and incorporating good control of aspect.
• Write straightforward summaries on general-interest topics, utilizing cohesive devices in texts of several paragraphs.

Reading

• Understand narrative and descriptive texts, predicting main ideas and details in standard linguistic conventions.
• Derive meaning from more complex texts using a combination of situational, subject-matter, and language knowledge.

C111

Upon completion of the courses, students will:

Listening

• Understand narrative and descriptive texts of any length and complex factual material confidently.
• Recognize speaker-intended inferences typical of the Superior level.
• Follow essential points of complex or argumentative speech.
• Derive meaning from oral messages on unfamiliar topics.

Speaking

• Perform Advanced-level tasks with linguistic ease and confidence.
• Explain and narrate accurately in all time frames.
• Use communication strategies to compensate for limitations.
• Discuss abstract topics and construct arguments effectively.

Reading

• Understand narrative, descriptive, and complex factual texts fully.
• Recognize author-intended inferences and essential points in argumentative texts.
• Comprehend parts of texts on unfamiliar topics.

Writing

• Write with precision, detail, and ease of expression.
• Handle informal and formal correspondence proficiently.
• Write factual summaries and reports.
• Discuss topics of interest with emphasis on concrete aspects.
• Narrate and describe with solid control of aspect.

C1X

Upon completion of the courses, students will develop:

Listening

1. Understanding the tonal nature of the Chinese language and the differences between standard and regional spoken Chinese.
   • Differentiate between different tones.
   • Distinguishing between standard and colloquial speech.
2. Comprehending spoken Chinese in various settings.
   • Identifying the topic and context of verbal communication.
   • Observing various elements in interactions, such as roles, attitudes, interpersonal dynamics, and unexpected occurrences.
3. Contextualizing culture.
   • Developing the ability to grasp cultural references and historical contexts embedded in spoken Chinese.
   • Interpreting and appreciating nuances, idioms, and cultural references unique to the heritage language.
   • Becoming sensitive to culturally rooted perceptions, emotions, attitudes, and values.

Speaking

1. Enhancing the ability to speak fluently and accurately across various contexts, including both formal and informal conversations and speeches.
   • Improving precision and fluidity in standard pronunciation to ensure clear and effective communication.
   • Expanding communication skills in Chinese beyond the domestic environment.
   • Converting auditory input into spoken output.
   • Developing proficiency in formal speaking styles, moving beyond casual conversation.
   • Articulating familiar concepts through novel expressions.
   • Analyzing and discussing discursive interactions within texts.
   • Delivering semi-formal speeches.
   • Performing creative recitations.
2. Engaging in cultural discussions to enhance the ability to conduct culturally specific communications.
   • Expressing and exploring cultural concepts, making comparisons and contrasts.
   • Describing cultural norms and communication etiquettes within the heritage culture.
   • Detailing characters’ experiences and emotions, as well as authors' intentions and motivations.
   • Sharing written accounts of personal experiences and perspectives.

Reading and Viewing

1. Developing skills in character recognition.
   • Understanding the relationship between Pinyin (the Romanized system) and Chinese characters and between the meaning and sound components of characters.
   • Applying knowledge of character formation and the functions of meaning and sound components when learning new characters.
   • Recognizing Chinese characters in lesson texts, short readings, and idiom stories.
   • Mapping between familiar sounds and visual forms.
2. Understanding the meanings conveyed in a variety of texts.
   • Interpreting various elements in written communications: contexts, roles, attitudes, interpersonal dynamics, and unexpected patterns in interactions.
   • Interpreting stories conveyed through filmic language.
   • Analyzing linguistic and visual elements, their functions, purposes, and justifying their presence.
3. Exploring cultural insights. 
   • Gaining deeper insights into the heritage culture, history, and societal issues through text analysis of printed and visual texts.
   • Comparing and contrasting cultural values and practices between Chinese and English.
4. Encouraging critical analysis.
   • Analyzing and interpreting the power dynamics and symbolic power through the lens of language use in discourse.
   • Utilizing analytical and critical thinking skills to interpret texts, media, and visual culture from a heritage language perspective.

Writing

• Mastering the skill of writing Chinese characters correctly and fluently, with an understanding of stroke order and character structure.
• Writing Chinese characters both by hand and on the computer.

1. Developing the ability to write in Chinese.
   • Cultivating the ability to write clearly and effectively for both personal and academic contexts.
   • Adhering to appropriate Chinese styles and formats.
2. Encouraging cultural connectivity.
   • Using writing as a medium to explore, express, and reflect upon one's cultural heritage, personal identity, experiences, and perspectives through short essays, letters, and poetry.
   • Exchanging ideas and opinions through online discussions and various apps.

C1Y

Upon completion of the courses, students will:

Listening

• understand familiar questions and statements from simple sentences in conversations

Speaking

• express themselves with the theme “Young Chinese-Americans encountering Chinese culture in their home and social life in America”
• can request and provide information on familiar and everyday topics, using simple sentences most of the time

Reading

• build essential skills to function in Mandarin Chinese, meet their basic needs in Mandarin-speaking environments, and explore a number of aspects of their Chinese heritage through language

Writing

• recognize and write Pinyin as well as about 400 simplified or traditional characters

C10X

Upon completion of the courses, students will:

Listening

• understand the main idea and key information in straightforward conversations

Speaking

• can exchange information in conversations and discussions on familiar topics and some researched topics, creating sentences and asking variety of follow-up questions
• can state their viewpoint about familiar topics and give some reasons to support it, using sentences and series of connected sentences.

Reading

• develop their literacy, communicative and intercultural competence by engaging in a variety of formal and informal texts
• become more knowledgeable about Chinese heritage culture and the intricate relationship between Chinese language and Chinese culture
• become much more aware of the difference between Chinese and English and between Chinese culture and American culture
• understand the rules on the simplification of common characters and radicals

Writing

• can write short communications, compositions, descriptions and requests for information based on personal preferences, daily life, common events and other topics related to personal experience and surrounding environment
• can use grammatical and stylistic cohesive elements
• recognize and write more new words with an additional 300 new characters

C100XA/B

Upon completion of the courses, students will:

Listening

• Understand narrative, descriptive, and complex factual texts with ease and confidence.
• Comprehend more complex or argumentative speech in areas of special interest or knowledge.
• Derive meaning from oral texts dealing with unfamiliar topics or situations.
• Recognize speaker-intended inferences and comprehend facts presented in oral discourse.

Speaking

• Handle various communicative tasks with ease, participating actively in informal and formal exchanges on concrete topics.
• Employ communicative strategies like circumlocution or rephrasing for linguistic challenges, maintaining substantial flow, and conveying messages accurately.

Reading

• Grasp main ideas and some supporting details in narrative and descriptive texts with a clear underlying structure.
• Navigate and critically analyze language in various cultural and historical settings.

Writing

• Meet basic work and academic writing needs, narrating and describing with some control of aspect.
• Compose simple summaries on familiar topics, linking sentences into paragraph-length texts with some use of cohesive devices.

C3A/B

Upon completion of the courses:

Listening

• Students are able to recognize and understand high-frequency and highly contextualized words.
• Students are also able to identify key words related to a range of topics such as time, location, direction, weather, etc.

Speaking

• Students are able to handle uncomplicated conversations and straightforward social situations.
• Students are also able to satisfy immediate communication needs that are typical in school life, requesting simple service, etc.

Reading

• Be able to recognize some high-frequency Chinese characters and locate related information with technology.

Writing

• Be able to copy words with knowledge of stroke types, stroke orders, radicals, etc.
• Students are also able to write or type simple phrases and short sentences to give a short presentation. 

C3X

Upon completion of the courses, students will:

Listening

• Be able to comprehend routine listening tasks such as understanding highly contextualized messages, straightforward announcements, or simple instructions and directions.

Speaking

• Be able to handle uncomplicated conversations and discussions.

Reading

• Be able to identify Chinese characters that are unique in Cantonese (but not in Standard written Chinese) while reading Cantonese blogs, reviews online.

Writing

• Be able to write/type Chinese characters that are unique in Cantonese (but not in Standard written Chinese) to express ideas at paragraph level.

C30X

Upon completion of the courses, students will:

Listening

• Be able to understand, with ease and confidence, simple sentence-length speech in basic personal and social contexts.
• They can derive substantial meaning from some connected texts typically.

Speaking

• Be able to discuss with other interlocutors at paragraph length using connected discourse on social topics.

Reading

• Be able to identify Chinese characters or even phrases with strong cultural references that are unique in Cantonese (but not in Standard written Chinese) while reading Cantonese blogs, reviews, and subtitles.

Writing

• Be able to write/type Chinese characters that are unique in Cantonese (but not in Standard written Chinese) to express ideas at paragraph level to discuss on rather complicated topics.