Learning objectives
The main goal of the course is to provide students with knowledge and competences at an elementary level (comparable with the HSK1 level) in standard Chinese, both in writing and in oral interaction. As regards writing, students are asked to be able to write about 200 Chinese words and to read 250 Chinese words at the end of the course. The communicative functions that students are expected to develop concern everyday interaction in informal contexts.
Prerequisites
No specific language-communicative competence in Chinese are required to start attending the course.
Course unit content
According to the teaching and learning goals of Chinese as a foreign language elaborated both by the office for the promotion of Chinese Hanban and within the European context, this course aims at supporting students in learning Chinese at a basic level, with particular regard to its writing system, its grammar and the communicative functions related to everyday interaction.
Following an integrated approach, the pinyin system of transcription will be introduced, together with information about sounds and tones of standard Chinese, and some basic rules for characters writing will be explained.
Moreover, some grammar notions will be presented (the construction of affirmative, negative and interrogative sentences, the multi-functionality of various Chinese words, nominal determination, verbs in series and verbs with an internal object, words showing time and space).
As regards the dimension of interpersonal communication, some communicative functions related to informal interactional contexts will be introduced.
Furthermore, basic information about the early developments of Chinese literature and mainstream thought will be presented.
Bibliography
Chinese language:
Mandatory manual:
Federico Masini, Zhang Tongbing, Bai Hua et al., Il cinese per gli italiani – Corso base, Milano: Hoepli, 2010
Mandatory reading:
M. Abbiati, La scrittura cinese nei secoli. Dal pennello alla tastiera, Roma, Carocci, 2017
Non mandatory readings:
Chiara Romagnoli e Wang Jing, Grammatica d’uso della lingua cinese, Milano: Hoepli, 2016
V. Alleton, La sfida della scrittura cinese, Carocci, Roma, 2012
Chinese literature (mandatory):
A. Cheng, Storia del pensiero cinese, Einaudi, Torino, 2000, vol. I, Introd. and Chapt. I; II; III; IV; VI, VII and VIII
M. Sabattini, P. Santangelo, Storia della Cina, Laterza, Bari, pp. 1-116
Non mandatory readings:
G. Bertuccioli, La letteratura cinese, L’Asino d’oro, Roma, 2013, pp. 9-139.
Confucio, Dialoghi, a cura di Tiziana Lippiello, Einaudi, Torino, 2003 (Introd. and Chap. 1; 2; 4; 6; 7; 11; 12; 13; 15)
E. Bianchi, "Taoismo. Ediz. illustrata", Electa, Milano, 2009.
F. Jullien, "Essere o vivere. Il pensiero occidentale e il pensiero cinese in venti contrasti", Feltrinelli, Milano, 2016.
F. Jullien, "Pensare l'efficacia in Cina e in Occidente", Laterza, Bari, 2008.
Laozi, Daodejing, a cura di Attilio Andreini, Einaudi, Torino, 2003.
E. Said, "Orientalismo", Feltrinelli, Milano, 2019.
M. Scarpari, Il confucianesimo. I fondamenti e i testi, Einaudi, Torino, 2010.
Sun Wu (Sunzi), Sun tzu. L'arte della guerra, a cura di A. Andreini M. Scarpari et al., Einaudi, Torino, 2013.
Teaching methods
Lectures; individual and group exercises on the different abilities related to language-communicative competence in Chinese, with a specific focus on writing, reading and oral interaction.
Assessment methods and criteria
Evaluation through final written and oral exam. Written exam: it aims at verifying grammar and writing knowledge. Oral exam: it aims at verifying language-communicative competences (reading and interaction). The oral exam also includes a section dedicated to Chinese ancient literature and history of thought. The final mark will be calculated taking into account the mark of the writing exam and that of the oral exam.
