COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
CHIN 101 Introduction to Chinese Studies
Students will be introduced to the Chinese (Mandarin) language through the Pinyin phonetic
system which is the Romanised transcribed form of standard Chinese. This subject will also
involve studying the rudiments of Mandarin pronunciation and listening, with emphasis on
communicative ability. At the end of the semester students should be able to know the main ways
of learning Chinese.
CHIN 102 Oral Communication Skills
This course is composed of elementary reading comprehension and conversation. Students will
learn basic conversational skills such as introducing themselves, greeting other people, talking
about one’s family, talking about one’s school, asking for the location of a school, a bank, a
hospital and a post office. Students should be able to carry out simple one sentence conversations
on everyday topics.
CHIN 103 Elementary Chinese Grammar I
This course will introduce at least 300 Chinese characters and related compounds. Students will be
introduced to the basic syntax of Mandarin Chinese. Emphasis will equally be placed on the
acquisition of the most useful expressions and sentences about family, friends as well as
information about age and nationality.
CHIN 104 Elementary Chinese Grammar II
This course will help students to expand the basic grammatical notions acquired in the first
semester. Many of the grammatical constructions studied in CHIN 103 will be repeated with
higher level of complexity in style and usage. All students will learn how to ask questions and the
different ways of answering questions, as well as how to use certain measure words for different
categories of nouns.
CHIN 201 Chinese Grammar and Translation I
The purpose of this course is to encourage students’ acquisition of active vocabulary, expressions
and grammatical structures through the practice of translation as a pedadgogical tool. Through this
course students will learn more phrases of Chinese vocabulary such as “de phrase” and so on.
Some basic skills in translation will also be introduced to them. The course will be text based with
elementary level difficulties. Additional characters will be introduced.
CHIN 202 Chinese Grammar and Translation II
This course involves the translation of simple passages taken from varied sources including
business, literary and newspaper texts, and their vocabulary will be expanded. The students will
learn how to analyze complex sentences. Through this translation practice, students will learn the
main skills of translation from English into Chinese and vice versa.
CHIN 203 Orals and Composition I
This course is intended to teach the linkage between oral and written Chinese. Emphasis will be
placed on oral-written comprehension. Students will be required to transpose into writing what
they can say in Chinese up to the paragraph level. Some basic knowledge about formal and
informal Chinese will be also introduced to help the students know the difference between orals
and composition.
CHIN 204 Orals and Composition II
This course will comprise intermediate listening comprehension and conversation. In this course
students will be made to listen to appropriate audio tapes and CDs of average difficulty. The levels
of their comprehension will be measured in question-and-answer sections. Students should be able
to discuss daily routines, ask for and give simple directions as well as talk on the phone.
CHIN 205 Chinese History and Civilization
Basic knowledge about Chinese history and civilization should be introduced to the students. This
course will take students through the geographical frontiers of the language, the cultural diversity
and unity of China as well as the salient historical events that led to the development of Mandarin
as the dominant language of China today.
CHIN 206 Introduction to Chinese Literature
This course will introduce the development of Chinese literature to the students: Chinese literature
in English translation or literary works in English produced by Chinese writers from 11th Century
BC to 20th Century AC. It will introduce the historical and cultural context of modern Chinese
writing as well as various critical appproaches to its study.
CHIN 301 Intermediate Chinese Usage I
The purpose of this course is to deepen students’ command of active vocabulary, expressions and
grammatical structures and their ability to use them to write cohesive and coherent short prose
such as summaries and essays. Active vocabulary acquired by students will be increased by 500
additional characters.
CHIN 302 Intermediate Chinese Usage II
This course is designed to improve upon students’ command of active vocabulary, expression and
grammatical structures and their ability to use them appropriately for communication. Students
will also be introduced to media Chinese (television, radio, newspaper etc.). Students taking this
course will be asked to write 200 words composition at the end of the semester.
CHIN 303 Comprehension and Oral Expression I
This course will build on CHIN 301. Students will be made to listen to appropriate audio tapes
and CDs or to watch films of above average difficulty. They will also be required to carry out
simple face-to-face conversations with ease as well as narrate simple stories or describe familiar
events.
CHIN 304 Comprehension and Oral Expression II
This course involves intermediate listening comprehension and oral practice. Students will be
engaged in more materials of listening comprehension to ensure that they can understand more
complicated sentences. Through conversation and discussion based on general topics in an
interactive fashion, students will express their ideas and defend their points of view clearly and
coherently.
CHIN 305 Language and Translation Skills
This course will involve the translation of more complex passages taken from varied sources.
Students will be introduced to translation techniques, and encouraged to identify translation
problems and apply such techniques to the translation of texts containing idiomatic expressions.
The vocabulary of the texts to be translated should be around 1500 Chinese characters.
CHIN 306 Translation Exercises
This course will focus on the translation of business documents mostly related to China. Passages
will be chosen from sources such as newpapers, brochures and books. The vocabulary of the texts
to be translated in relation to this course should be around 2000 Chinese characters. The
translation of these texts will enable students enhance their ability to translate semi
specialised/technical texts.
CHIN 307 Special Topics I
This course is designed to cover broad areas of Chinese culture and civilisation such as the
Chinese educational system, its philosophy and practice. The course instructor is at liberty to
choose from a wide range of topics relevant to his/ her area of competence and of interest to the
Chinese curriculum.
CHIN 308 Special Topics II
This course is intended to broaden the scope of CHIN 307 without necessarily making the latter a
pre-requisite. New areas not previously treated will be considered. With the help of this course the
students will study more social phenomena of Chinese culture and delve deeper into certain
aspects of Chinese culture.
CHIN 310 Language Immersion I
This is a 3 credit long vacation specially packaged intensive study in a university in any Chinese
speaking country. In lieu of that, students may undertake a language immersion course at the
University of Ghana during the long vacation between levels 200 and 300. The emphasis in this
course will be on language and culture (cinema, culinary, arts, sports, etc.).
CHIN 311 Aspects of Ancient Chinese Literature
This course introduces students to the English translations of ancient Chinese literature. It involves
ancient poems, prose and fiction from the 11th century BC to the beginning of the 20th century.
Students will learn the basic knowledge about the history of Chinese ancient literature. Some
classical works will be studied.
CHIN 312 Aspects of Modern Chinese Literature
This course will introduce the historical and cultural context of modern Chinese writing as well as
various critical approaches to its study. About two novels and two plays should be studied to help
the students acquire the basic knowledge about Modern Chinese Literature.
CHIN 313 Newspaper Chinese I
Newspaper Chinese presents certain characteristic linguistic features that students at this level
should be conversant with. This course is intended to develop students’ skills in reading Chinese
newspapers by focusing on these distinctive features of the Chinese language. This course will
help every student accumulate 500 Chinese words to augment their vocabulary and to improve
their skills in reading a Chinese newspaper.
CHIN 314 Newspaper Chinese II
This course proceeds from CHIN 313 and involves the reading, analysis and discussion of the
different linguistic aspects of Chinese newpaper styles at a deeper level. This course aims at
adding another 500 Chinese words to learner’s vocabulary. One’s speed when reading a Chinese
newspaper will be improved at the end of this course.
CHIN 315 Business Chinese I
This course concentrates on the training of students in their acquisition of the basic specialised
vocabulary required in oral and written communicative skills in the conduct of business in
Chinese. It also deals with conventions in modern business. Most of the course materials available
for this course will be selected from different business sites.
CHIN 316 Business Chinese II
This is an intermediate course covering the areas of Chinese financial business, correspondent
skills and Chinese business practices. Certain business negotiation skills will also be added in this
course to help the students know how to learn operate a successful business. It is also intended to
broaden students’ knowledge of modern Chinese business terminology.
CHIN 400 Long Essay
This is a research paper or a creative work on a topic of a student’s choice undertaken under a
lecturer’s supervision in partial fulfillment of an undergraduate programme. The long essay should
not be less than 5000 Chinese characters in fluent Chinese.
CHIN 401 Advanced Chinese Language Proficiency I
This course is intended to increase to the highest level students’ knowledge of the Chinese
characters, idiomatic expressions and colloquialisms as well as expand the range of their active
vocabulary and more especially deepen their mastery of more complex grammatical structures.
The student’s ability of using Chinese will be practised and improved in this course.
DMLA 401 Research Methods
This course takes students through the practical steps necessary for carrying out and independent
research work on Foreign Languages and Literatures. It will cover types of research methods,
research processes, including the selection of a topic, data collection, abstracts, introductions,
conclusions, review of literature, bibliography compilation etc. Students are required to submit
independent research projects at the end of the course.
This is a required course for students in the Department of Modern Languages who have not taken
a Research Methods course in another Department.
CHIN 402 Advanced Chinese Language Proficiency II
By the end of this course, students will be able to write coherent and cohesive prose. Their
knowledge in grammar and their skills in reading and in writing will all be able. They should have
mastered the use of further idiomatic expressions as well as expanded their range of active
vocabulary expressions amd grammatical structures.
CHIN 403 Oral for Academic and Professional Purposes I
This course involves the reading and discussion of texts from varied sources including newspaper
articles, literary selections and academic essays as well as materials on business and commercial
communication. The students’ vocabulary in the academic field will be expanded to help them
perform more effectively in carrying out Academic conversations.
CHIN 404 Oral for Academic and Professional Purposes II
In this course students will build on the skills acquired in CHIN 403 and will practise spoken
Chinese in complex and sophisticated comunication situations. Their vocabulary will be stronger
to help them understand more Academic conversations. The listening ability will also be improved
with the help of this course.
CHIN 405 Advanced Translation Skills I
This will involve the translation of scholarly articles and selections in the humanities and social
sciences, mostly related to China. Emphasis will shift from general translation-translation as
another means of language acquisition-to introducing students to translation of semi specialised
texts.
CHIN 406 Advanced Translation Skills II
This course will focus on the translation of business documents, mostly related to China. It will
build on the previous knowledge of students in this area.Passages will be chosen from sources
such as newspapers, magazines, brochures and books and would present higher levels of
difficulties than the previous courses. The translation of these texts will help students to improve
their ability in translating specialised/technical texts.
CHIN 407 Selected Topics I
This course involves the treatment of specific topics in various academic fields and other areas of
special interest to the teaching faculty/course instructor. It aims at catering for any undesigned
course that may need to be taught with the availability of a new/visiting member of staff but is not
catered for in the syllabus. New areas such as China-Africa relations, Chinese business
environment as well as information on intercultural communication will be treated.
CHIN 408 Selected Topics II
To further broaden the domain of selected topics, this course may consider areas relating to
Chinese linguistics, lexicology and lexicography. The choice of topics will depend on the field of
competence and interest of the course instructor. Students may also be required to prepare on
interested fields of study and present them in class for discussions.
CHIN 410 Language Immersion II
This course comes to complement Language Immersion I and is intended to be part II of
intensive study in any university in any Chinese speaking country. Students who could not benefit
from this international experience would undertake a higher language immersion course at the
University of Ghana during the long vacation between levels 300 and 400.
CHIN 411 Readings in Modern Chinese Literature
This course will focus primarily on Chinese fiction written in Chinese and published since the
beginning of the 20th century. At least three works by prominent and world acclaimed writers will
be studied. Famous writers such as Luxan, Guomoruo, Maodun, Bajin, Lao she, Caogu will be
studied. Students will be introduced to their masterpieces.
CHIN 412 Further Readings in Modern Chinese Literature
This course will focus primarily on Chinese drama and poetry written in Chinese and published
since the beginning of the 20th century. Some famous songs and quyi works will also be studied to
help students appreciate and acquire the modern spirit of Chinese literature. At least three works
by prominent and world acclaimed writers will be studied.
CHIN 413 Advanced Newspaper Chinese I
This course will further help students to develop their skills of reading Chinese newspapers by
moving beyond the special linguistic characteristics to their application to thematic areas. At the
end of this course, students will be expected to acquire a skill in reading Chinese Newspapers.
They should be able to read a hundred (100) characters per minute.
CHIN 414 Advanced Newspaper Chinese II
This course proceeds from CHIN 413 and involves the reading, analysis and discussion of the
different linguistic aspects of Chinese newspaper styles and their application to specific themes at
a higher level. At the end of this course, students will be expected to have developed the skill of
reading Chinese newspapers at a speed of 150 characters per minute.
CHIN 415 Advanced Business Chinese I
The course involves the study in to details of topics learnt in level 300 such as establishing trade
relationships, buying and selling, pricing, modes of payment, delivery and shipment, packing,
insurance, customs and commodity inspection, contract signing, claim and arbiration and ebusiness.
The students should be able to exhibit proficiency in the above topics.
CHIN 416 Advanced Business Chinese II
This course is designed to develop in students an enhanced ability to function in the Chinese
business environment and to further deepen their knowledge of Chinese business correspondents,
telecommunication, advertising, foreign trade, capital markets, bonds and stocks, property rights
and franchises. The students will also increase their vocabulary in different business fields.
CHIN 417 Classical Chinese I
Classical Chinese is the language of the bulk of the Chinese textual tradition from early historical
and philosophical writing down to the early 20th century. The course introduces the basic
grammmatical structure and vocabulary of classical Chinese through the analysis of selected
passages from the classics.
CHIN 418 Classical Chinese II
In this course, students will be required to do additional readings of selected famous classical texts
in their original language such as Confucius’ Analects, Laozi, early histories and Tang poetry as
well as some selected pre modern texts, with focus on special grammatical features. This will help
students acquire additional knowledge of classical Chinese grammar and lexicon.
CHIN 420 Study Abroad
Study abroad is a two-semester 6-credit course in Chinese language, literature and culture to be
undertaken in a university in a Chinese speaking country. Students will return from the foreign
university with raw marks (over 100) which will be converted into grades according to University
of Ghana grading system.