Chinese Language Teaching: 
Means and Standards

III. Learning Objectives

III.1. Elementary Level

Students who have completed the first semester of Elementary Chinese at Stony Brook are expected to be able to

  • comprehend short dialogues and passages read or spoken by Chinese natives at normal speed with familiar vocabulary
  • talk about simple everyday activities and be able to handle simple survival situations (initiating conversations, shopping, asking for directions, etc.)
  • comprehend short written dialogues and reading passages with familiar vocabulary
  • write Chinese phonetic symbols (pinyin), be knowledgeable of the principles (e.g., stroke orders, basic radicals, etc.) of writing Chinese characters, and be able to write short sentences

Students who have completed the second semester of Elementary Chinese at Stony Brook are expected to be able to

  • comprehend dialogues and passages read or spoken by Chinese natives at normal speed with familiar vocabulary
  • discuss orally topics of general interest beyond daily routines (e.g., presenting a short story, describing cultural traditions in general terms)
  • comprehend short written dialogues and reading passages with familiar vocabulary 
  • master Chinese phonetic symbols (pinyin), apply the principles (e.g., stroke orders, basic radicals, etc.) of writing Chinese characters, and write short paragraphs

Students who have completed Elementary Chinese for Chinese Speakers at Stony Brook are expected to be able to 

  • comprehend short written dialogues and reading passages with familiar vocabulary; 
  • write Chinese phonetic symbols (pinyin), be able to apply the principles (e.g., stroke orders, basic radicals, etc.) of writing Chinese characters, and be able to write short paragraphs; 
  • discuss orally topics of general interest beyond daily routines (e.g., presenting a story, presenting an argument, etc.). 

III.2. Intermediate Level

Students who have completed the first semester of Intermediate Chinese at Stony Brook are expected to be able to

  • comprehend ordinary dialogues and passages read or spoken by Chinese natives at normal speed 
  • talk about topics beyond everyday activities (e.g., narrating an event, presenting an argument, etc.)
  • comprehend ordinary written dialogues and reading passages with familiar vocabulary
  • write short essays

Students who have completed the second semester of Intermediate Chinese at Stony Brook are expected to be able to

  • comprehend most spoken Chinese delivered by native speakers at normal speed 
  • discuss both topics of general interest and topics of selected focus
  • respond appropriately to different styles and registers of language use 
  • comprehend written texts designed for the educated public 
  • compose short-to-medium length essays

III.3. Advanced Level 

Students who have completed the first semester of advanced Chinese at Stony Brook are expected to be able to

  • analyze different styles of advanced readings in Chinese selected from Chinese 
  • newspapers and magazines
  • understand the writing concepts of different Chinese literary forms
  • compose news reports, different kinds of narrative writings, essays, and book reviews or film reviews