Unit Outline

This is an introductory unit for students with little or no prior knowledge of Chinese. This introductory unit is for anyone who is interested in the Chinese language and/or has the need to learn Chinese for business or academic purposes. This unit provides an introduction to all four basic language skills - listening, speaking, reading and writing. It provides students with opportunities to establish essential communicative skills with a focus on practical, everyday use of the Chinese language and incorporating some socio-cultural knowledge. Selected topics and situations, such as exchanging personal information, asking about directions and telling your hobbies etc., all come from real life scenarios. This introductory level unit also provides students with the necessary skills to proceed to HMC102 Introduction to Chinese 1B. There is no prerequisite required for this introductory unit.

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

On completion of this unit, you will be able to:


1	Produce and recognise basic Mandarin Chinese sounds and tones using the phonetic system (pinyin).
2	Communicate in Mandarin Chinese in a range of simple everyday situations.
3	Write and type basic Chinese characters using the pinyin input method and understand their stroke order, radicals, and structures.
4	Acquire vocabulary and grammar structures appropriate to the beginner level of Mandarin Chinese.
5	Read and understand short dialogues or texts in pinyin and/or characters appropriate to the beginner level of Mandarin Chinese.
6	Understand the socio-cultural aspects of the language learnt.

Requisites


REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Anti-requisite (mutual excl)	XBR119

Alterations as a result of student feedback

The University of Tasmania regularly seeks student feedback through the Unit Survey process. Responses from these surveys are actively reviewed, and adjustments to unit content, learning materials, and teaching strategies are frequently implemented. This ongoing cycle of feedback and improvement ensures that units remain responsive to student needs and aligned with best practice in teaching and learning.

How will I be Assessed?

For more detailed assessment information please see MyLO.

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Assessment Task 1:	Speaking Task 1	See the MyLO site for the due date	15 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5, LO6
Assessment Task 2:	Speaking task 2	See the MyLO site for the due date	15 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5, LO6
Assessment Task 3:	Online Quiz 1	See the MyLO site for the due date	20 %	LO1, LO5, LO6
Assessment Task 4:	Online Quiz 2	See the MyLO site for the due date	20 %	LO1, LO3, LO4, LO5, LO6
Assessment Task 5:	Online Quiz 3	See the MyLO site for the due date	30 %	LO1, LO3, LO4, LO5, LO6

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Speaking Task 1

Task Description:

See MyLO site for task description

Task Length:

Due Date:

See the MyLO site for the due date

Weight:

15 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Understand the task and address clearly and appropriately	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5, LO6
2	Converse in basic Chinese using correct pronunciation, elementary words and grammatical patterns	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5, LO6
3	Interpret meaning of basic written and spoken Chinese	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5, LO6
4	Appreciate the difference between Chinese and English norms of communication in social and economic environments	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5, LO6
5	Use of communication strategies	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5, LO6

Assessment Task 2: Speaking task 2

Task Description:

See MyLO site for task description

Task Length:

Due Date:

See the MyLO site for the due date

Weight:

15 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Understand the task and address clearly and appropriately	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5, LO6
2	Converse in basic Chinese using correct pronunciation, elementary words and grammatical patterns	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5, LO6
3	Interpret meaning of basic written and spoken Chinese	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5, LO6
4	Appreciate the difference between Chinese and English norms of communication in social and economic environments	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5, LO6
5	Use of communication strategies	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5, LO6

Assessment Task 3: Online Quiz 1

Task Description:

See MyLO site for task description

Task Length:

Due Date:

See the MyLO site for the due date

Weight:

20 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Recognition of initials and finals in Pinyin	LO1, LO5, LO6
2	Recognition of combined sounds in Pinyin	LO1, LO5, LO6
3	Recognition of strokes (basic and combined) and radicals	LO1, LO5, LO6
4	Accurate pronunciation and tones	LO1, LO5, LO6

Assessment Task 4: Online Quiz 2

Task Description:

See MyLO site for task description

Task Length:

Due Date:

See the MyLO site for the due date

Weight:

20 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Recall basic elements of the Chinese language	LO1, LO3, LO4, LO5, LO6
2	Construct sentence-length units of meaning in written and spoken Chinese	LO1, LO3, LO4, LO5, LO6
3	Interpret the meaning of basic written and spoken Chinese	LO1, LO3, LO4, LO5, LO6
4	Use key cultural and linguistic points of difference between Chinese and English	LO1, LO3, LO4, LO5, LO6

Assessment Task 5: Online Quiz 3

Task Description:

See MyLO site for task description

Task Length:

Due Date:

See the MyLO site for the due date

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Recall basic elements of the Chinese language	LO1, LO3, LO4, LO5, LO6
2	Construct sentence-length units of meaning in written and spoken Chinese	LO1, LO3, LO4, LO5, LO6
3	Interpret the meaning of basic written and spoken Chinese	LO1, LO3, LO4, LO5, LO6
4	Use key cultural and linguistic points of difference between Chinese and English	LO1, LO3, LO4, LO5, LO6

How your final result is determined

To pass this unit, you need to demonstrate your attainment of each of the Intended Learning Outcomes, achieve a final unit grade of 50% or greater, and pass any hurdle tasks.

Academic progress review

The results for this unit may be included in a review of your academic progress. For information about progress reviews and what they mean for all students, see Academic Progress Review in the Student Portal.

Submission of assignments

Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.

Academic integrity

Academic integrity is about acting responsibly, honestly, ethically, and collegially when using, producing, and communicating information with other students and staff members.

In written work, you must correctly reference the work of others to maintain academic integrity. To find out the referencing style for this unit, see the assessment information in the MyLO site, or contact your teaching staff. For more detail about Academic Integrity, see Important Guidelines & Support.

Requests for extensions

If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension.

A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator.

The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.

Late penalties

Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.