Chinese for Business

Recommended Prerequisites

Not applicable.

Teaching Methods

At the language classes, major concepts and useful expressions of the Chinese language will be given via expositive method, combined with exercises and teamwork in which language skills are used. Film and reading sessions will be organized to clarify important aspects of Chinese culture and business environment.

Learning Outcomes

This curricular unit will offer students the ability of: understanding and use of familiar everyday expressions; communication in simple tasks related to business; requiring and exchanging information of immediate relevance; describing experiences, events, hopes and ambitions; expressing ideas, opinions and plans in Chinese. Besides, students will be able to identify major issues in Chinese business culture and society. Students will also be required to understand the complexity, creativity and potential of the multi-ethnic Chinese culture and the relations between culture, politics and economy in China.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

1.Introduction to Chinese language: history, phonetic and grammar, dialects, gestures, 20th century reforms, new tendencies.
2.Familiar everyday expressions and frequently used expressions related to business: Introduce oneself and others; ask and answer questions about personal details; require and exchange information on familiar and routine matters.
3.Conversation topics: “shopping”, “in a restaurant”, “in a commercial/industrial fair”, “at the post office”, “in a job interview”; How to make phone-calls, write e-mails and commercial letters.
4.Reading sessions on Chinese culture, history, society, business culture and consumption habits.
5.Analysis of the Chinese media’s representation of stereotypes and prejudice.
6.Different cultural manifestations of cross-cultural communication in Chinese cinema and literature.
7.Introduction to Chinese characters (Hanzi), radicals and calligraphy.

Head Lecturer(s)

Miao Zhou

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Individual presentation (20%) + participation in class (20%) + Chinese language test (20%) + final exam (40%): 100.0%

Bibliography

AA. VV. (2004) Chinese Traditional Culture and Modern Life, ed. ZHANG Ying, JIN Shunian. Beijing: Peking University Press.

AA.VV. (2005) Gateway to Business Chinese – Regular Formulas and Etiquette, ed. ZHANG Li, SHEN Shuying. Beijing: Peking University Press.

AA.VV. (2008) Experiencing Chinese: Official Communication in China, ed. ZHU Peiru, ZHU Xiaoxing, YUE Jianling. Beijing: Higher Education Press.

Buruma, Ian (2009) Bad Elements: Chinese Rebels from Los Angeles to Beijing. London: Atlantic Books.

HSIA Chih-tsing (1999) A History of Modern Chinese Fiction. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

HSIA Tsi-an (2016) The Gate of Darkness: Studies on the Leftist Literary Movement. Hong Kong: the Chinese University Press.