Chinese (Mandarin) for Character Background Students

Mandarin is spoken by more than 1.5 billion people in the world and is one of the six official languages of the UN. China has a 5000 year history and culture, boasts the fastest-growing economy in the world and is widely regarded as the potentially biggest global market in the twenty-first century.

This major in Chinese (Mandarin) is for students who have education background in Chinese language .  It provides a course of study which allows students to specialise in Chinese language and culture so that they are able to:

express themselves clearly and accurately in spoken and written Mandarin for formal and informal exchanges including communication in  academic contexts;

discuss and evaluate different registers and their use in different contexts;

gather, synthesise and evaluate information on socio-political topics of current interest from Chinese  texts in different media including the internet , the press and academic journals.

recognise the differences between Chinese culture and other cultural heritages such as Anglo-Australian by analysing film, poetry and other cultural products, and mediate between these cultures;

Write evaluative essays on selected literary works including e-media works.

Understand Chinese language as a system and compare English and Chinese at lexical, grammatical and discursive levels through translation and interpretation practice.

analyse and critique selected classical Chinese texts (annotated) and link Chinese cultural heritages to contemporary Chinese society.

Students without background in characters should enrol in the major Chinese (Mandarin for non-background students) and should consult the Convenor of Chinese if they are uncertain of their status.

Major Study

A major in Chinese (Mandarin) for students with a background in Chinese characters consists of 66 credit points, and must include:

• 18 credit points at 100-level (MAND 161, MAND 162 and ELL 110),

• 24 credit points at 200-level (MAND261, MAND262 and ELL 210 or HIST252),

• 24 credit points at 300-level (MAND 361, MAND 362 and a 300 level subject with appropriate content as approved by the Convenor of Chinese and the Director of the Language Centre).

Minor Study

A minor study in Mandarin consists of four sequential subjects in Mandarin. The minor will consist of 28 or 32 credit points of language study (28 credit points for students beginning at 100-level and 32 credit points for students beginning at upper levels). Students may not cross-count any subjects from the minor in any other minor or major study.

Example: A student beginner could take a minor by studying MAND161, MAND162, MAND261 and MAND262.

An advanced student who has a background in characters and who speaks some Mandarin or another dialect when commencing university Mandarin at second year level could take a minor by studying MAND261, MAND262, MAND361 and MAND362.

Whilst the minor will not be stipulated on the student's testamur at graduation, it will be recorded on the academic transcript.

Diploma in Languages (Mandarin)

To qualify for award of the Diploma in Languages (course code 1002) a student must complete a total of at least 48 credit points from subjects listed from the Mandarin study program below.

Students will complete a minimum of 6 subjects. These subjects will predominantly be language acquisition subjects and may include study abroad as part of an exchange or study abroad program. Other subjects may be included with the permission of the Convenor of the Mandarin program and the Director of the Language Centre.

Students entering at 100 level may include one culture subject; students entering at 200 level may include 2 culture subjects and students entering at 300 level may include up to 4 culture subjects.

Example: A student beginner could take the Diploma by studying MAND161, MAND162, MAND261, MAND262, MAND361, MAND362, and ELL 110 or ELL 210.

A student who has knowledge of characters and speaks Mandarin or another Chinese dialect when commencing university Mandarin at upper level could complete the Diploma in Languages in Mandarin by studying MAND261, MAND262, MAND361, MAND362 and MAND253 or ELL 110 or ELL 210 or HIST252 or another 300 level subject with appropriate content as approved by the Convenor of Chinese (Mandarin) Studies.

Other subjects from the Mandarin program may be included with the permission of the Director of the Language Centre.

Subjects can be counted only in one course, that is, subjects counted towards the Diploma cannot be counted towards another degree. Students who complete the Diploma will not receive a testamur or attend a graduation ceremony specifically for the Diploma. However, when students do the Diploma concurrently with a Bachelors Degree course, they will have the Diploma listed in their Bachelors degree subject transcript upon graduating.

Click here for more information on the Diploma in Languages

Honours

See Bachelor of Arts (Honours)

Other Information

Further information is available at:
UOW Course Finder
Email: lha-enquiries@uow.edu.au