COURSE GUIDE  xi

COURSE GUIDE DESCRIPTION

You must read this Course Guide carefully from the beginning to the end. It tells
you briefly what the course is about and how you can work your way through
the course material. It also suggests the amount of time you are likely to spend in
order to complete the course successfully. Please refer to the Course Guide from
time to time as you go through the course material as it will help you to clarify
important study components or points that you might miss or overlook.

INTRODUCTION
OUMH1403 Chinese Language for Basic Communication is one of the courses
offered at Open University Malaysia (OUM). This course is worth 3 credit hours
and should be covered over 8 to 15 weeks.

COURSE AUDIENCE
This course is offered to all OUM learners who would like to learn basic
conversational Chinese.

As an open and distance learner, you should be able to learn independently and
optimise the learning modes and environment available to you. Before you begin
this course, please confirm the course material, the course requirements and how
the course is conducted.

STUDY SCHEDULE
It is a standard OUM practice that learners accumulate 40 study hours for every
credit hour. As such, for a two-credit hour course, you are expected to spend
80 study hours. Table 1 gives an estimation of how the 80 study hours could be
accumulated.

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Table 1: Estimation of Time Accumulation of Study Hours

Study
Study Activities
Hours
Briefly go through the course content and participate in initial discussions 2
Study the module 40
Attend 3 to 5 tutorial sessions 10
Online participation 10
Revision 6
Assignment(s), Test(s) and Examination(s) 12
TOTAL STUDY HOURS ACCUMULATED 80

COURSE OUTCOMES
By the end of this course, you should be able to:

1. Pronounce Chinese (Mandarin) phonetic syllables and the four tones;

2. Communicate in simple Chinese in selected situations;

3. Read the selected short texts fluently;

4. Read and write 120 selected Chinese characters; and

5. Construct short sentences in Chinese.

COURSE SYNOPSIS
This course is divided into 10 topics. The synopsis for each topic is presented as
follows:

Topic 1 introduces some basic linguistic knowledge of the Chinese language

including the major types of dialects, the Standard Chinese, the romanised tool
for Mandarin pronunciation or the Chinese Phonetic System and some basic
knowledge in Chinese character writing. An audio-embedded pronunciation
chart is included to facilitate your learning.

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Topic 2 starts with examples of basic Chinese communication through functional

conversational texts. In this topic, you will learn how to greet one another and
introduce yourself when meeting someone for the first time. You will also learn
how to state the numbers from zero to nine, ask some simple questions and write
a few simple Chinese characters.

Topic 3 focuses on conversations in workplace situations. The contents include

the common ways of introducing others, expressions of gratitude and responses
to such expressions. It also covers the different ways of saying goodbye, how to
converse appropriately while meeting senior colleagues for the first time and to
state the calendar year in Chinese.

Topic 4 explains the kinship terms of immediate family members, ways to

introduce or inform about the location of your house, how to enquire the names
of other people as well as how to ask for and respond to questions about oneÊs
age. You will also continue to learn how to say the numbers from 10 to 99 in
Chinese.

Topic 5 is about telling time and talking about daily activities. You will also learn
how to address a stranger and how to respond politely when you are praised.
Tips on the pronunciation of aspirate sounds and some grammatical items such
as the use of negation word bとÊ (no) and the location of „time words‰ in Chinese
sentences are included. This topic also introduces to you to learning Chinese
through a song entitled What You Have to Say.

Topic 6 introduces dates and festivals. You will learn how to state the days and
dates in Chinese. Other contents include the use of question word shぞnme shぢhou
(when) as well as some time phrases to indicate the past, present and future.
Another negation word mぞi (no or not) is also explained in this topic.
Meanwhile, in the area of phonetics, you will learn the rules of the tonal change
for the word yī (one) in various applications.

Topic 7 focuses on how to ask questions about locations, directions and distances.
The content includes commonly used location words such as duつmiじn (opposite),
qiざnmiじn (in front of), zuǒbian (to the left) and many more. Common measure
words such as gだ, jiā, gōnglǐ, affirmative-negative questions, ordinal numbers in
Chinese and giving directions from one place to another are also included.

Topic 8 covers basic phrases and sentences which are commonly used during
shopping and bargaining. They include asking about the prices of goods, simple
bargaining phrases and monetary units in Chinese. Other contents are the names
of some common fruits, colour words as well as measure words for clothing and
colours. In phonetics, the discrimination of syllables with vowels ü and u is also
discussed. You will also learn the Chinese language through a lovely song
entitled Stories of a Small Town.
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Topic 9 highlights commonly used phrases and vocabularies between a

shopkeeper and customers in coffee shops and restaurants. The topic also
discusses the names of common food and drinks as well as Chinese dishes, the
use of duつbuqǐ to apologise and the appropriate responses to apologies, the use of
measure words wだi, bēi, wǎn and hて, and how to ask alternative questions.
Pronunciations of final syllables using the tip of the tongue are explained and the
topic ends with a lively song entitled Come and Have a Meal at My House.

Topic 10 discusses the phrases and sentences in relation to travelling. The topic
covers the names of a few tourist spots in Beijing, information on halal food,
lodging and transportation in Beijing, the use of number words such as bǎi, qiān
and wじn, the use of the measure word cつ to express the number of times one has
done certain things, and the use of dānxīn to express oneÊs concerns over certain
things. The use of grammar particles leÊ and guo, and the way to introduce
additional information by using the expression chてle ⁄ yǐwじi will be explained.
For pronunciation drill, your attention will be drawn to syllables which have the
final ao. In addition, information on The Great Wall is also included.

APPENDIX A ă A step-by-step guide on how to add the Chinese language as an

input method into your computer.

APPENDIX B ă 汉语水平考试 Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (Chinese Language

Proficiency Test)

TEXT ARRANGEMENT GUIDE

Before you go through this module, it is important that you note the text
arrangement. Understanding the text arrangement will help you to organise your
study of this course in a more objective and effective way. Generally, the text
arrangement for each topic is as follows:

Learning Outcomes: This section refers to what you should achieve after you
have completely covered a topic. As you go through each topic, you should
frequently refer to these learning outcomes. By doing this, you can continuously
gauge your understanding of the topic.

Self-Check: This component of the module is inserted at strategic locations

throughout the module. It may be inserted after one sub-section or a few sub-
sections. It usually comes in the form of a question. When you come across this
component, try to reflect on what you have already learnt thus far. By attempting
to answer the question, you should be able to gauge how well you have
understood the sub-section(s). Most of the time, the answers to the questions can
be found directly from the module itself.

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Activity: Like Self-Check, the Activity component is also placed at various

locations or junctures throughout the module. This component may require you
to solve questions, explore short case studies, or conduct an observation or
research. It may even require you to evaluate a given scenario. When you come
across an Activity, you should try to reflect on what you have gathered from the
module and apply it to real situations. You should, at the same time, engage
yourself in higher order thinking where you might be required to analyse,
synthesise and evaluate instead of only having to recall and define.

Summary: You will find this component at the end of each topic. This component
helps you to recap the whole topic. By going through the summary, you should
be able to gauge your knowledge retention level. Should you find points in the
summary that you do not fully understand, it would be a good idea for you to
revisit the details in the module.

Key Terms: This component can be found at the end of each topic. You should go
through this component to remind yourself of important terms or jargon used
throughout the module. Should you find terms here that you are not able to
explain, you should look for the terms in the module.

References: The References section is where a list of relevant and useful

textbooks, journals, articles, electronic contents or sources can be found. The list
can appear in a few locations such as in the Course Guide (at the References
section), at the end of every topic or at the back of the module. You are
encouraged to read or refer to the suggested sources to obtain the additional
information needed and to enhance your overall understanding of the course.

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
No prior knowledge is required.

ASSESSMENT METHOD
Please refer to myINSPIRE.

REFERENCES
Chong Ah Kow. (2014). Conversational Mandarin for workplace (Unpublished
Draft edition used for a course organised by UMP Holdings). Universiti
Malaysia Pahang.

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Fu, Hai-Yan. (2007). Chinese essentials: What and how (Volume one)
汉语教与学必备：教什么？怎么教？(上). Beijing: Language and Culture
University Press.

Kan Qian. (2015). Colloquial Chinese: The complete course for beginners (2nd ed.).
London: Routledge.

Liu Xun 刘珣, (2015). New practical Chinese reader 新实用汉语课本, Volume 1
Textbook (3rd ed.). Beijing: Language and Culture University Press.

Ross, C., & Jing-heng Sheng Ma. (2015). Modern Mandarin Chinese grammar: A
practical guide (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.

TAN SRI DR ABDULLAH SANUSI (TSDAS)

DIGITAL LIBRARY
The TSDAS Digital Library has a wide range of print and online resources for
the use of its learners. This comprehensive digital library, which is accessible
through the OUM portal, provides access to more than 30 online databases
comprising e-journals, e-theses, e-books and more. Examples of databases
available are EBSCOhost, ProQuest, SpringerLink, Books247, InfoSci Books,
Emerald Management Plus and Ebrary Electronic Books. As an OUM learner,
you are encouraged to make full use of the resources available through this
library.

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Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)