Classes: 4:00pm--5:30pm, M W; 3527 Frieze Building
Instructor: Qinghai CHEN
Office: 3083 Frieze Building (Tel: 764-9111; E-mail: chenq@umich.edu)
Office Hours: 2:00pm -- 3:00pm T, Th or by appointment
Prerequisites: Three years of Chinese study or permission of instructor.
General Objectives:
Chinese for the Professions (Business Chinese) focuses on practical language skills that are most helpful in actual business interactions with Chinese-speaking communities. Classroom activities, TASK-BASED and largely in the form of real world simulation, will be based on authentic documents and correspondence as well as a textbook. Some highlights are: business negotiation in international trade, business letter writing, business documents comprehension/translation, business oral presentation, commercial language and word processing. Through intensive practice in the listening, speaking, reading and writing of the Chinese language for business purposes, students will enhance their cultural awareness and acquire vocabulary, phrases and sentence patterns commonly used in typical Chinese business contexts. Classes are conducted in Chinese. Please be advised that this could be a very BUSY course particularly if you do not yet have a desirable language foundation
Texts: Course Pack Chinese 416 (Kolossos Coursepacks, 310 E. Washington, Ann Arbor, Tel: 994-5400)
Requirements and Activities:
Business Chinese is a PRACTICE course involving various aspects of language use. Within the business contexts provided by the materials, you will be organized and guided into a big variety of language activities. You will also learn how to use the computer for certain business purposes. If you keep working hard to meet the requirements, you will make progress every week to build up a practical and useful FOUNDATION for future improvement.
You are all experienced language learners, so you must know that lessons should be prepared in advance, materials should be practiced consistently and persistently, and assignments should be completed in a careful and timely manner. Although we meet only twice a week, you actually need to work on your own more often. There will usually be a QUIZ at the beginning of a class meeting to help you with preparation and review.
Find a classmate to be your "business associate." Together, you should devise a fictional Chinese company and a fictional American company. These would be the "companies" you represent throughout the fifteen weeks for your language practice. A draft of the relevant business cards should be submitted at the second class meeting.
NO make-ups will be given on quizzes or dialogue performances although the lowest grade will be dropped, including a zero for non-attendance. If your dialogue partner is absent, you are expected to do a monologue instead.
Unless otherwise specified, a reading and/or writing assignment is due
at the beginning of the following class meeting. Late submission
will be accepted within a week with a 20%-off penalty. When you submit
anything in the written form, be sure it is marked on the top left corner
with the course number and the name of the assignment (in English), and
on the top right corner with your name (in Chinese). For example:
You have to have an U-Mich e-mail account because, after you have learned how to do it, you will be required to send in or exchange messages in Chinese from time to time. You need a special disk for this purpose.
Every student is required to do a 10 to 12-minute oral presentation in Chinese on a self-chosen topic of CHINA-RELATED BUSINESS. Presentations are scheduled towards the end of the semester. A written outline is due on the same day of your presentation.
Grades:
20% Quizzes (drop one): given at every class meeting with
a few exceptions
(1) Vocabulary (preview):
10 words and/or phrases from new lessons; or
(2) Listening comprehension
(review): 5 sentences from previous lessons.
20% Dialogue Performances (drop one): prepared with partner, based
on recently learned lessons;
Assessment criteria: coverage
50%, fluency 30%, accuracy 20%.
20% Reading and Writing Assignments: due at the beginning of next meeting unless otherwise specified.
15% Oral Presentation: with a written outline, in turn as scheduled
25% Tests: Listening comprehension (1): 50 items
Listening comprehension
(2): 100 items, computer-administered
Reading comprehesion/translation
(1): a business letter (dictionaries allowed)
Reading comprehension/translation
(2): a business document (with preparation), and
a business letter (dictionaries allowed)
Business negotiation:
with preparation on a given topic (notes allowed, partner randomly assigned
at test)
All your grades from a specific category of requirement will be added and converted to a percentage according to the designated weight. The sum of the five percentages will lead to your final grade as follows:
A+ 96-100
A 91-95 A-
86-90 B+ 81-85
B 76-80 B-
71-75
C+ 66-70
C 61-65 C-
56-60 D+ 51-55
D 46-50 D-
41-45
Schedule:
12
W
Video (Video Viewing Room, LRC)
Information (1): internet,
o Business Information Collecting/Processing
with Chinese abstract
19
W
L.1: The First Meeting
Information (2): library,
L.2: At the Dinner Table
with Chinese abstract
o Business Presentation
Presentation topic
26
W
L.4: Inquiry
Letter (1):
L.5: Offer
inquiry and offer
Feb. 2 W
L.6: On Price (I)
Revision of Letter (1)
L.7: On Price (II)
9 W
L.8: Placing an Order
Letter (2):
Sample: Sales Confirmation
order and confirmation
o Business Documents
16
W L.9:
Discount
Resume due
L.10: Commission
Preparing for tests
Sample: business faxes
23
W Listening
Test (1)
Presentation source
Reading/Translation Test (1)
material due
March 1 W
SPRING BREAK
8 *W
Presentation outline: draft
15 *W
Ad due
22 *W
Start preparing for your
oral presentation
29 *W o Business
Negotiation (wrap-up)
Presentation outline:
revised and sent to the
group via e-mail
5 W
Reading/Translation Test (2)
Negotiation Test
12 W
Oral Presentation
Present. Outline due