Fall 2010 Course Descriptions

Chinese Language and Literature Courses

A beginning (Mandarin) Chinese class developing listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in modern standard Chinese, using pinyin and simplified characters. Five hours in class, two hours in the language laboratory, and one required half-hour tutorial meeting every week. Prerequisites: None.

Please note: Chinese 1A is for students who: 1) are of non-Chinese origin and were not raised in a Chinese-speaking environment; or 2) are of Chinese origin but do not speak any dialect of Chinese and whose parents do not speak any dialect of Chinese. Students are responsible for enrolling in the appropriate level and section. They must also accurately inform instructors about their language proficiency level. Any student who enrolls in a class below his/her level will be dropped from the class. The required tutorial sections will be scheduled once classes begin.

This course is designed specifically for heritage Chinese students who possess speaking skill but little or no reading and writing skills in Chinese. It introduces functional vocabulary and provides a systemic review of grammar through various cultural related topics. The course teaches and uses pinyin and traditional/simplified characters. Prerequisites: Consent of instructor.

Please note: Chinese 1X is for students who: 1) were born in a non-Chinese-speaking country but were raised in a home where Mandarin was spoken and possess little or no reading and writing skills in Chinese, or 2) were born in a Chinese-speaking country and received zero or limited formal education in that country up to the second grade. All students must take the online Chinese Language Placement Test at ealc.berkeley.edu before enrolling. Any student who enrolls in a class below his/her level will be dropped.

This course is designed for students who have had exposure to a non-Mandarin Chinese dialect but possess little or no reading and writing skills in Chinese. Students will gain fundamental knowledge of Mandarin Chinese. While there is training in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, prominence is given to listening and speaking. This course will help students meet their basic needs in functioning in Mandarin-speaking environments, while exploring aspects of their Chinese heritage. Prerequisites: Consent of instructor.

Please note: Chinese 1Y is for students who: 1) were born in a non-Chinese speaking country but were raised in a home where a non-Mandarin Chinese dialect was spoken and possess little or no reading and writing skills in Chinese, or 2) were born in a Chinese-speaking country in a home where a non-Mandarin Chinese dialect was spoken and received zero or limited formal education in that country up to the second grade. All students must take the online Chinese Language Placement Test at ealc.berkeley.edu before enrolling. Any student who enrolls in a class below his/her level will be dropped. The required tutorial sections will be scheduled once classes begin.

This course is designed to develop student's reading, writing, listening and speaking abilities in (Mandarin) Chinese, and teaches both simplified and traditional characters. Additional time is required for tutorials and language lab. Prerequisites: Chinese 1A/B; or consent of instructor.

Please note: The required tutorial sections will be scheduled once classes begin.

The goal of the course is to introduce modern Chinese culture while developing competence in reading, speaking and writing standard modern Chinese. The readings and conversation include stories, essays, and plays, mostly by leading writers of recent decades. Students prepare in advance, then read and discuss texts and sentence patterns in their literary, social, and cultural contexts. A half-hour tutorial meeting is required every week. Prerequisites: Chinese 10B; or consent of instructor.

Please note: The required tutorial sections will be scheduled once classes begin.

This course helps students to further develop their Chinese language competence. More sophisticated linguistic forms are used and reinforced while dealing with various socio-cultural topics. Close reading knowledge and skills, formal and informal registers, discourses in speaking and writing, and different genres of Chinese reading and writing are introduced and practiced. Students learn to recognize a second version of Chinese characters. Prerequisites: Chinese 10X or 10Y; or consent of instructor.

The goal of the course is to assist students in attaining high levels of proficiency in listening, speaking, reading and writing. The primary instructional tool will be comparative studies of contemporary works of Chinese literature in conjunction with the movies that are based upon them. This multimedia approach serves to cultivate skills in all four areas listed above. Three hours of lecture/discussion per week. Prerequisites: Chinese 100B or 100BX; or consent of instructor.

Japanese Language and Literature Courses

Japanese 1A is designed to develop basic speaking skills and to learn hiragana, katakana, and approximately 150 kanji. At the end of the course, the students should be able to describe themselves, their family and friends, and to talk about everyday events with basic vocabulary and structures. They also should be able to read simple passages in Japanese. Prerequisites: None.

In this course, students will learn how to integrate the basic structures and vocabulary which they learned in Japanese 1A/B in order to express a wider range of ideas and will study the new structures and vocabulary necessary to express such ideas in a manner appropriate for many social situations. Students are expected to participate fully in classroom activities and discussions. Although the main emphasis will be aural/oral skills, an increasing amount of reading and writing will also be required. Prerequisites: Japanese 1A/B or equivalent; or consent of instructor. Students who have not taken Japanese 1A/B at this University may wish to contact the instructors during Phase I Tele-BEARS to have their language proficiency assessed.

This course aims to develop further communicative skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing in a manner appropriate to the context. It concentrates on enabling students to use acquired grammar and vocabulary with more confidence in order to express functional meanings, while increasing linguistic competence. Course materials include the textbook, supplemented by newspaper and magazine articles and short stories to provide insight into Japanese culture and society. There will be a project which will give students the opportunity to interact with Japanese university students. Active student participation is not only encouraged but required. Prerequisites: Japanese 10B or equivalent; or consent of instructor.

Tibetan Language and Literature Courses

Tibetan Buddhists view the moment of death as a rare opportunity for transformation. This course examines how Tibetans have used death and dying in the path to enlightenment. Readings will address how Tibetan funerary rituals work to assist the dying toward this end, and how Buddhist practitioners prepare for this crucial moment through tantric meditation, imaginative rehearsals, and explorations of the dream state. Prerequisites: None.

The seminar will provide an introduction to the available Tibetan historical sources. The course will proceed chronologically, from the early imperial period to the twentieth century. Genres consulted with include topical histories (lo rgyus), religious histories (chos ‘byung), clan histories (gdung rabs), monastic histories (gdan rabs), biographies (rnam thar), and more. Students will also be asked to supplement these primary sources with readings in relevant secondary scholarship. Prerequisites: Graduate standing.