67053 - Chinese Language 2 B

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students will deepen and complete their intermediate level skills in the Chinese language; they will be able to deepen their knowledge of the relevant literature and related issues, referring to the most up-to-date bibliography.

Course contents

This course is in continuity with the Chinese course 2A.
It is possible to attend the two courses (Chinese 2A and 2B) in the same academic year.

Language
Elements of specific languages will be introduced, in particular for the study of history and geography.
The written language register 書面語.

The following grammatical elements will be studied in depth:

verbal complements (complement of degree; result complement; directional complement; potential complement)

- lexical and figurative use of 起来

- causative verbs: 请，让，叫， 使

- durative aspect particle 着

-  把 and 将  phrase

-high numbers

- expressing fractions and percentage (fenzhi)

- 除了.... 以外 (之外)

- Il passivo con 被 e 所

- morphological suffixis: 场, 所, 化, 性, 代...

Texts:

Reading and translation of passages of the following types of texts:

- 5 short texts as an introduction to the lexicon for the study of history, geography and anthropology:

UD 1 Readings for language study: Big and small narratives about characters and events in Chinese history

-UD 2 History and Geography of China (中华人民共和国 and 名胜古迹)

-UD 3 Deng Xiaoping's policy of reforms and openings (有中国特色社会主义 (excerpt from Masini, Zhang, Sun, De Troia, Liang Il Chinese per italiani, Vol. 3)

-UD 4 Cultural Heritage in China and Italy (Original excerpts from Chinese media)

All the texts will be provided by the teacher in class and will be available on the dedicated section on Virtuale platform after the lesson.

Paper
Students are requested to submit a 5-page paper (10 pages for MA students), complete with notes, bibliography, glossary in Italian-Chinese (simplified and traditional) of keywords, proper names and place names; chronological table of events or names cited in Italian, and Chinese (simplified and traditional).

The topics of the paper can be agreed with the teacher personally or by email.

Students in Erasmus or Overseas Project can submit the paper in English.

Readings/Bibliography

Language:

For the language program, authentic materials will be delivered by the teacher.

For grammar and the paper dictionary, students can refer to the manuals in use in Chinese 1 and 2A courses, as well as to

Wong (2020). Fonologia, UTET

Madaro (2016) La parola - lingua cinese moderna standard, Cafoscarina.

Romagnoli, Wang (2016) Grammatica d'uso della lingua cinese, Hoepli.

Paper
The student may choose one among the following general topics for the paper:

-Classical literature: the great novels (reading of one novel, in translation)
-Modern and contemporary literature: the authors of the twentieth century (reading at least one author, in translation)
-Schooling in twentieth-century China
-Being a woman in today's China
-The Rural issue
-The  minorities issue


The following texts are recommended, depending on the topic chosen by the student:

Chen, G., Wu, C., Può la barca affondare l'acqua?: vita dei contadini cinesi, Marsilio, 2007

Croll, E. Changing identities of chinese women, Hong Kong University Press 1995

Evans, H. "Past, perfect or imperfect: changing images of the Ideal Wife", in Chinese Femininity, Chinese Masculinity - A reader (Brownell, Wasser Wasserstrom ed.), 335-360. University of California Press, 2002

Gallelli, B. La Cina di oggi in otto parole, Il Mulino, 2021.

Han, Y., Ardizzoni, S. Mao Zedong. Dalla nascita alla grande rivoluzione, Bononia University Press, 2018

Hershatter, G., Women in China's Long Tentieth Century, University of California Press, 2007

Hong-Fincher, L. Leftover women: the resurgence of gender inequality in China, 2014

Jacka, Tamara 2013. Contemporary China: Society and Social Change

Louie, K. (a cura di) 2008. Modern Chinese Culture, New York: Cambridge University Press

Mao Z., Inventare una scuola: Scritti giovanili sull'educazione (a cura di Russo, A. Lanzia, F.), ManifestoLibri, 1996

Miyazaki, I., L'inferno degli esami: Studenti mandarini e fantasmi nella Cina imperiale, Bollati-Boringhieri, 1988

Pascucci, A. Potere e società in Cina: Storie di resistenza nella grande trasformazione, Edizioni dell'Asino, 2013

Pesaro, N., Pirazzoli, M. La narrativa cinese del Novecento, Carocci, 2019.

Sabattini, Santangelo, Il pennello di lacca : la narrativa cinese dalla dinastia Ming ai giorni nostri, Laterza, 1997 (o successiva)

Sorace, Franceschini, Loubere. Afterlives of Chinese Communism, ANU Press and Verso Books, Australia, 2019 (DOI: 10.22459/ACC.2019)

Yan Yunxiang, Chinese Families Upside Down: Intergenerational Dynamics and Neo-Familism in the Early 21st Century, Brill, 2021.

Wang Zheng, Finding Woman in the State, University of California Press, 2017.

The books indicated in the bibliography of the courses of previous years (Chinese 2A and Chinese 1) may also be considered as  individual study texts for the paper.

Students are invited to attend seminars related to the Chinese subject.

Teaching methods

1. Lectures and cooperative work in small groups

2. ppts, videos, listening to songs for listening reinforcement.

3. Use of websites for writing practice and character memorisation;

4. Bibliographic research and individual study.

For 30 hours of lessons, students are asked to carry out at least 50 hours of individual work.

Assessment methods

This course (6CFU) is a component of the Integrated Course "Cinese 2A LM". If the student's study plan includes the integrated course (12CFU), the final mark will be the arithmetic mean of the marks obtained in the two components ("Cinese 2A" and "Cinese 2B").

At the end of the course students must take a written exam (2 hours) without a dictionary.
In one year there will be six written and six oral sessions:

2022: giugno, luglio, settembre, novembre,

2023: gennaio, febbraio

The written exam will focus only on the linguistic-communicative part and on grammar (see programme) (50 % of the evaluation).

If the candidate passes the exam, he/she can take the oral exam.
Students who have not passed the exam or who are not satisfied with the grade cannot repeat the exam at the next session, but at the following one.

The oral exam is divided into two parts:
1. Linguistic assessment of achieved communicative skills  (dialogue in Chinese), reading and grammar skills. (30% of the evaluation)
2.Discussion on the submitted paper, from a methodological and content point of view. (20% of the evaluation). Only for non-attending students.

Students will present to the teacher the portfolio of their study activities: a folder containing the learning materials, with the exercises of hand-copying of the lessons, glossaries, exercises (grammar, readings, translations).

NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS:

Students who attend at least 75% of the lessons are considered to be attending.

Please note that they can access the complete materials in pdf form from the course website.

- Written and oral exam as attending students

- For the historical-literary part, they must also present a 5-page paper on one of the suggested topics.

The paper must be accompanied by notes, bibliography and a glossary of Italian-Chinese keywords (proper names, toponyms, concepts) and can be agreed with the teacher personally or by e-mail.

Native Chinese speakers: besides the written test as other students, students of Chinese mother tongue will be asked to translate a short piece of modern literature (Chinese-Italian) For the oral part, they are requested to follow general rules for the paper - which has to be in italian or English.

ORAL ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
The assessment of the oral test will take into account the student's ability to engage in dialogue in a language on a known topic, of an academic nature; to read a text in simplified and traditional characters; to answer questions about the text; to identify and explain the grammatical points addressed in class in the first and second year; to identify the thematic issues related to the text, as addressed in class (in Italian).
For the literary part, he or she will have to demonstrate that he or she is able to orient himself or herself within the sources and bibliographic material of the exam in order to obtain the useful information that has allowed him or her to produce the work on the chosen theme, framing it in a general perspective of the time and of the categories involved, knowing how to make connections with the wide scope of the knowledge acquired during the course of study.

They will then be evaluated on:

- The fluence and accuracy of the statement (four tones, the initials, the endings of syllables and the intonation of the sentence) - Listening competence

- Grammatical competence, on an operational and theoretical level - The ability to analyse linguistic elements in a text 

- The ability to summarise and analyse themes and concepts
- The ability to express oneself adequately and in a language appropriate to the subject being dealt with.

The achievement by the student of an organic vision of the topics addressed in the lesson together with their critical use, good expressive mastery and specific language will be evaluated with marks of excellence.

A mnemonic knowledge of the subject, together with the ability to synthesise and analyse it in a correct but not always appropriate language, will lead to discreet evaluations.

Gaps in training and/or inappropriate language will lead to grades that do not exceed sufficiency. Training gaps, inappropriate language, lack of orientation within the bibliographic materials offered during the course will be evaluated negatively.

The student who has presented the contents with particular ease, without hesitation and without errors, will be judged with top marks and praise.

Teaching tools

All teaching materials are available on the course website by clicking on the link "teaching materials".

Office hours

See the website of Sabrina Ardizzoni