Texas Tech University

Languages & Culture- Chinese Language and Area Study Major

The Bachelor of Arts in Languages and Cultures majoring in Chinese Language and Area Studies consists of 33 hours at the 2000-level and above, including CMLL 2305, a minimum of 6 hours of 4000-level Chinese courses. This major also requires 9 hours of communication literacy courses. Students must make a C or better in departmental courses to be eligible for graduation.

Please download the Chinese Major Checklist

Course Descriptions

1000-Level Courses

CHIN 1501 Beginning Chinese I (5 hours)

This course will be conducted in Chinese. No knowledge of Chinese language is required.

TTU Catalog Description: Introduction and development of the four language skills in Chinese listening comprehension, speaking, reading and writing.

Additional Description:
This proficiency-oriented course is designed for the students who are interested in learning Chinese mandarin. You will mainly focus on (a) learning Chinese pronunciation system including tones and tones changes, (b) learning the grammar points, sentence patterns, words and short phrases and (c) using Chinese in various contexts to accomplish common tasks. Meanwhile you will learn to recognize simplified Chinese characters and write short paragraphs in simplified Chinese characters. In-class activities include daily dictation, grammar patterns drill, dialogue construction and memorization, and oral exercises. Additionally, this course will help you to understand basic information about the Chinese people and their culture, such as greetings, family, education, university life in China, etc.
This course will be offered as either face-to-face or hybrid. The hybrid course will meet 50-minute classroom instruction three times per week combined with online coursework.

CHIN 1502 Beginning Chinese II (5 hours)

Prerequisites: Successful completion of CHIN 1501 with a "C" or higher.

This course will be conducted in Chinese.

TTU Catalog Description: Introduction and development of the four language skills in Chinese listening comprehension, speaking, reading and writing.

Additional Description:
This proficiency-oriented course is designed for the students who are interested in learning Chinese mandarin. You will mainly focus on (a) learning Chinese pronunciation system including tones and tones changes, (b) learning the grammar points, sentence patterns, words and short phrases and (c) using Chinese in various contexts to accomplish common tasks. Meanwhile you will learn to recognize simplified Chinese characters and write short paragraphs in simplified Chinese characters. In-class activities include daily dictation, grammar patterns drill, dialogue construction and memorization, and oral exercises. Additionally, this course will help you to understand basic information about the Chinese people and their culture, such as seeing doctor, renting house, shopping, birthday, hobbies and sports, etc.
This course can be offered as either face-to-face or hybrid. The hybrid course will meet 50-minute classroom instruction three times per week combined with online coursework.

2000-Level Courses

CHIN 2301 Intermediate Chinese I (3 hours)

Prerequisites: Successful completion of CHIN 1502 with a "C" or higher.

This course will be conducted in Chinese.

TTU Catalog Description: Reading, cultural background, grammar review, conversation, and composition.

Additional Description:
This proficiency-oriented course is designed for students who are interested in learning Chinese mandarin and have completed the beginning level of Chinese or the equivalent. You will mainly focus on (a) learning the grammar points, sentence patterns, words and short phrases, (b) using Chinese in various contexts to accomplish common conversation tasks, and (c) understanding the Chinese culture. Meanwhile you will learn to recognize simplified Chinese characters and write short paragraphs in simplified Chinese characters. In-class activities include warm-up activities, oral exercises, listening, reading, Chinese culture presentation, and Chinese projects.

CHIN 2302 Intermediate Chinese II (3 hours)

Prerequisites: Successful completion of CHIN 2301 with a "C" or higher.

This course will be conducted in Chinese.

TTU Catalog Description: Reading, cultural background, grammar review, conversation, and composition of Mandarin Chinese.

Additional Description:
This proficiency-oriented course is designed for the students who are interested in learning Chinese mandarin and has completed the beginning level of Chinese or the equivalent. You will mainly focus on (a) learning the grammar points, sentence patterns, words and short phrases, (b) using Chinese in various contexts to accomplish common conversation tasks, and (c) understanding the Chinese culture. Meanwhile you will learn to recognize simplified Chinese characters and write short paragraphs in simplified Chinese characters. In-class activities include warm-up activities, oral exercises, reading, discussion, Chinese language projects, and watching Chinese movies.

3000-Level Courses

CHIN 3301 Chinese Pronunciation: History, Development, and Comparison (3 hours)

This course will be conducted primarily in English. No knowledge of Chinese language is required.

TTU Catalog Description: Survey of the history and development of Chinese pronunciation and investigation of the phenomena of phonetics, phonology, and sociolinguistics.

Additional Description:
This course provides students with an overview of history and development of Chinese pronunciation from the diachronic and synchronic perspectives. It will help student understand the key questions addressed in phonetics, phonology, sociolinguistics, and historical comparative linguistics regarding Chinese pronunciation. The topics from the diachronic perspective include Fan Qie, the ancient Chinese spelling system, Lu Fayan and Qie Yun (601 AD, the first rhyming and pronouncing dictionary in China), old Chinese pronunciation, Bernard Karlgren who reconstructed middle Chinese, Youguang Zhou who invented Chinese Pinyin, the Latinization Movement of Chinese language in the 19th century, Wade-Giles system, the historical influence of English in Chinese. The topics from the synchronic perspective will cover, but not limited to, Chinese Pinyin system (vowels, consonants, tones, neutral tone, changes of the tones), Chinese dialects, the comparison of Chinese pronunciation with other language, and the speech technology in the digital age. The course will be conducted primary in English through lectures combined with classroom discussion on the assigned readings, activities, oral presentations, assignments, and final projects. Sound files, video/film clips, and other multimedia materials may be presented in class for analysis and discussion.

CHIN 3305 Advanced Chinese (3 hours)

Prerequisites: Successful completion of CHIN 2302 with a "C" or higher, have the equivalent language proficiency, or with instructor's approval.

This course will be conducted in Chinese.

TTU Catalog Description: Develop advanced Chinese language skills through authentic materials, like films, newspapers, magazines, literary works, TV programs, etc. Repeatable for up to 12 credit hours with different content.

Additional Description for Advanced Speaking:
This is an advanced Chinese language course, aiming to develop advanced spoken Chinese language competency. Besides learning linguistic patterns in terms of function and structure, students will be provided abundant scenarios to develop spontaneous responses in rich communicative contexts. In the student-centered classroom, students will be encouraged to actively engage in meaningful communicative tasks to practice the new vocabulary, grammatical patterns, discourse devices, culture information, etc. In this class, students will learn how to tell a story, describe an event, express abstract concepts, and explain a complicate situation in the Chinese language. The classroom activities cover but are not limited to interview, investigation, presentation, discussion, debate, etc.

Additional Description for Advanced Composition:
This is an advanced Chinese language course, aiming to improve students writing skill through reading and viewing authentic Chinese works. Besides learning basic language knowledge (e.g. vocabulary and grammar), students will learn Chinese writing skills and strategies, as well as different writing styles in Chinese language, such as narrative, descriptive, expository, and argumentative. In the classroom, students will read and view works, holistically analyze and deconstruct the model composition, and carry out writing tasks.

Additional Description for Chinese Press Reading:
This is an advanced Chinese language course, aiming to develop students' advanced Chinese reading skills through authentic and up-to-date news. Different Chinese newspapers, like China Daily, People's Daily, Global Times, Southern Weekend, etc., will be used as learning materials. The subjects of the news cover but not limited to politics, economy, education, technology, entertainment, and culture. Besides the basic language knowledge (e.g. vocabulary and grammar) and reading skills, this course will help students better understand the features of Chinese press by comparing to the US press. Various reading activities include skimming and scanning, grasping the theme, identifying the details and facts, guessing the meanings of the new words in the context, reading comprehension, discussion, presentation, etc.

Additional Description for Cinema and Chinese Language:
This is an advanced Chinese language course, aiming to develop students advanced Chinese language skills through authentic and interesting learning resources. Students are expected to improve speaking, reading, listening, and writing skills by immersing in selected movie clips and TV programs. In the classroom, students will watch different genres, such as animation, comedy, drama, historical, and war. Besides improving Chinese language proficiency and competence, students will explore Chinese culture and compare the differences with US culture. The classroom activities include watching movie, voice-over, role-play, games, discussion, and presentations.

CHIN 3306 Chinese Culture (3 hours) (fulfills multicultural area)

This course will be conducted primarily in English. No knowledge of Chinese language is required.

TTU Catalog Description: Explores the foundations of brilliant Chinese civilization and various dimension of Chinese culture. Provides students with a deeper knowledge of Chinese culture and society.

Additional Description:
This is an introductory course to Chinese language and culture. This course aims to provide students the fundamental knowledge about Chinese's past and present through language, history, culture and society, as well to inspire students for further in-depth studies on the related topics about China and Chinese culture. In this course, the topics cover, but not limited to geography, demographics, history, Chinese language, religion, philosophy, literature, traditional arts, etc.

This course is a complete online course. Students do not need to meet in the classroom.

CHIN 3310 Chinese Characters and Culture (3 hours) (fulfills Language, Philosophy, and Culture area)

This course will be conducted in English. No knowledge of Chinese language is required.

TTU Catalog Description: Understand Chinese culture through learning about Chinese characters.

Additional Description:
This course is designed to help students to understand Chinese culture through learning the basic and high frequently used Chinese characters. Students will acquire a unique window by deconstructing Chinese characters aiming at understanding how Chinese people interpret the nature and society and visualize the world. The course will illustrate the etymology of Chinese characters by the intuitive visual aids and analyze Chinese culture presented by Chinese characters. This course covers other interesting topics which explore the relationships of Chinese culture and characters, such as, nature and characters, human body and characters, Chinese architecture and characters, Chinese folk customs and characters, Chinese philosophy and characters, Chinese arts and characters, clothing and characters, food and characters, transportation and characters, etc..

CHIN 3311 Chinese Business I (3 hours)

Prerequisites: Successful completion of CHIN 1502 with a "C" or higher, have the equivalent language proficiency, or with instructor's approval.

This course will be conducted in both Chinese and English.

TTU Catalog Description: Development of Chinese business culture, etiquette, and Chinese language skills for the communication in Chinese business environment.

Additional Description:
This course primarily aims at developing students understanding of Chinese business culture, etiquette and manners, and their ability to compare the differences of Chinese and American business practices from the social-cultural perspective. The cultural topics will cover, but not limited to, Chinese people's "mianzi (face)", personal relationship in the business rooted in the Confucianism, Chinese table manner, wine culture, rejecting politely, expressing humbly, etc. This course requires students have mastered the basic Chinese language knowledge and have learnt completed at least one year of Chinese language studies. This course will cultivate Chinese language skills pertinent to the world of business. The business-oriented language topics include meeting the company manager, discussing company type and size, inquiring about someone's profession, setting up an appointment, introducing products and plants, dining invitations, nightlife and cultural events, showing gratitude, etc. The activities in the classroom involve lectures, discussion, activities, exams, assignments/project, and presentation.

CHIN 3312 Chinese Business II (3 hours)

Prerequisites: Successful completion of CHIN 3311 with a "C" or higher, have the equivalent language proficiency, or with instructor's approval.

This course will be conducted in both Chinese and English.

TTU Catalog Description: Deeper development of Chinese language skills and understanding the Chinese social norms and modes of interaction in the business context.

Additional Description:
This course aims at developing students' Chinese language skills for business communication and practices in China, while provides students with an understanding of Chinese traditional culture, contemporary ways of doing business and societal norms at large. The business-oriented language topics which will be taught in Chinese cover: relocating to a new post, confirming a travel itinerary, reporting for work, office arrangement, renting an apartment, media and publications at the office, etc. The relevant cultural topics explore various aspects of business practice in China, focusing specifically on business communications, interpersonal relations, and overall social-cultural competence. The activities in the classroom involve lectures, discussion, communicative language activities, exams, assignments and presentation.

4000-Level Courses

CHIN 4300 Individual Problems in Chinese : Chinese Language and Culture Teaching Practicum

Prerequisite: CHIN 2302 or consent of instructor and department chairperson.

This course is designed for Chinese minor and major students who are interested in teaching Chinese language and Chinese culture in K-12 and offering students the experience to service in the local communities. It will introduce the Chinese linguistic and culture knowledge, the theories of foreign language acquisition, the pedagogical methods of teaching Chinese as a foreign language, teaching plan design, and Chinese culture projects organization. Students will have the hand-on experience in observing Chinese classroom, designing teaching plans, teaching Chinese language and culture in the Chinese language classrooms, and organizing Chinese culture activities in the local K-12 schools.

CHIN 4306 Chinese Literature and Cinema (3 hours)

This course will be conducted primarily in English. No knowledge of Chinese language is required.

TTU Catalog Description: Survey of modern and contemporary Chinese literature and movies from the beginning 20th century to present day

Additional Description:
This course survey the 20th-and 21st-century Chinese literature and movies aiming to familiarize students with masterpieces and influential works which have shaped modern Chinese culture and thoughts. Students do not need to have any prior knowledge in Chinese language, since all literary works have been translated in English. Through readings, lectures, discussions, reflection, presentations, and papers, students will explore the representative literature of various genres, including short stories, novel, poetry, sci-fiction, etc. Selected documentaries and feature films will supplement the literary texts.

CHIN 4301 Chinese Characters and Calligraphy (3 hours)

This course will be conducted primarily in English. No knowledge of Chinese language is required.

TTU Catalog Description: Survey of the history and development of Chinese writing system and development of the Chinese calligraphy knowledge.

Additional Description:
This course aims to provide students with an overview of the history and development of the Chinese writing system from the diachronic and synchronic perspectives. The topics from the diachronic perspective will cover the origin of Chinese character (oracle bone scripts), historical evolution of Chinese characters, Shuo Wen Jie Zi (100 AD-121AD, the first Chinese dictionary), the development of Chinese calligraphy, language reform in China (simplified characters vs. traditional characters), etc.. The topics from the synchronic perspective includes, but not limited to, the composition of Chinese characters, classification of Chinese characters, Chinese characters' writing rules, common character radicals, the radical indexing method in Chinese dictionary, the art of Chinese calligraphy, Chinese minority writing systems, and Chinese Internet language and deviant writing. The course will be conducted through lectures combined with classroom discussion on the assigned readings, activities, oral presentations, assignments, and final projects.

CHIN 4308 Chinese Grammar (3 hours)

Prerequisites: Successful completion of CHIN 2302 with a "C" or higher, have the equivalent language proficiency, or with instructor's approval.

This course will be conducted in both Chinese and English.

TTU Catalog Description: An overview of various linguistic levels of Chinese language – phonology, morphology, syntax, and writing system.

Additional Description:
This course is designed for undergraduate students who wish to gain a deep understanding of Chinese language, specifically Mandarin Chinese, from a linguistic perspective. Students will investigate various linguistic levels of Chinese Mandarin: phonology, morphology, syntax, and writing system. Besides listening to the instructor's lectures, students will conduct classroom discussion on the assigned readings, assignments, quizzes, research project, and presenting your research.

CHIN 4300 Individual Problems in Chinese (3 hours)

Prerequisite: CHIN 2302 or consent of instructor and department chairperson.

Contents will vary to meet the needs of the student. Independent work under the guidance of a faculty member. May be repeated once for credit with consent of instructor.

Communication Literary Requirement

CHIN 3305 Advanced Chinese (3 hours, repeatable up to 12 hours)

Prerequisites: Successful completion of CHIN 2302 with a "C" or higher, have the equivalent language proficiency, or with instructor's approval.

This course will be conducted in Chinese.

TTU Catalog Description: Develop advanced Chinese language skills through authentic materials, like films, newspapers, magazines, literary works, TV programs, etc. Repeatable for up to 12 credit hours with different content.

Additional Description for Advanced Speaking:
This is an advanced Chinese language course, aiming to develop advanced spoken Chinese language competency. Besides learning linguistic patterns in terms of function and structure, students will be provided abundant scenarios to develop spontaneous responses in rich communicative contexts. In the student-centered classroom, students will be encouraged to actively engage in meaningful communicative tasks to practice the new vocabulary, grammatical patterns, discourse devices, culture information, etc. In this class, students will learn how to tell a story, describe an event, express abstract concepts, and explain a complicate situation in the Chinese language. The classroom activities cover but are not limited to interview, investigation, presentation, discussion, debate, etc.

Additional Description for Advanced Composition:
This is an advanced Chinese language course, aiming to improve students writing skill through reading and viewing authentic Chinese works. Besides learning basic language knowledge (e.g. vocabulary and grammar), students will learn Chinese writing skills and strategies, as well as different writing styles in Chinese language, such as narrative, descriptive, expository, and argumentative. In the classroom, students will read and view works, holistically analyze and deconstruct the model composition, and carry out writing tasks.

Additional Description for Chinese Press Reading:
This is an advanced Chinese language course, aiming to develop students' advanced Chinese reading skills through authentic and up-to-date news. Different Chinese newspapers, like China Daily, People's Daily, Global Times, Southern Weekend, etc., will be used as learning materials. The subjects of the news cover but not limited to politics, economy, education, technology, entertainment, and culture. Besides the basic language knowledge (e.g. vocabulary and grammar) and reading skills, this course will help students better understand the features of Chinese press by comparing to the US press. Various reading activities include skimming and scanning, grasping the theme, identifying the details and facts, guessing the meanings of the new words in the context, reading comprehension, discussion, presentation, etc.

Additional Description for Cinema and Chinese Language:
This is an advanced Chinese language course, aiming to develop students advanced Chinese language skills through authentic and interesting learning resources. Students are expected to improve speaking, reading, listening, and writing skills by immersing in selected movie clips and TV programs. In the classroom, students will watch different genres, such as animation, comedy, drama, historical, and war. Besides improving Chinese language proficiency and competence, students will explore Chinese culture and compare the differences with US culture. The classroom activities include watching movie, voice-over, role-play, games, discussion, and presentations.

CHIN 3306 Chinese Culture (3 hours, Multicultural requirement)

This course will be conducted primarily in English. No knowledge of Chinese language is required.

TTU Catalog Description: Explores the foundations of brilliant Chinese civilization and various dimension of Chinese culture. Provides students with a deeper knowledge of Chinese culture and society.

Additional Description:
This is an introductory course to Chinese language and culture. This course aims to provide students the fundamental knowledge about Chinese's past and present through language, history, culture and society, as well to inspire students for further in-depth studies on the related topics about China and Chinese culture. In this course, the topics cover, but not limited to geography, demographics, history, Chinese language, religion, philosophy, literature, traditional arts, etc.

This course is a complete online course. Students do not need to meet in the classroom.

CHIN 4306 Modern Chinese Literature and Cinema (3 hours)

This course will be conducted primarily in English. No knowledge of Chinese language is required.

TTU Catalog Description: Survey of modern and contemporary Chinese literature and movies from the beginning 20th century to present day

Additional Description:
This course survey the 20th-and 21st-century Chinese literature and movies aiming to familiarize students with masterpieces and influential works which have shaped modern Chinese culture and thoughts. Students do not need to have any prior knowledge in Chinese language, since all literary works have been translated in English. Through readings, lectures, discussions, reflection, presentations, and papers, students will explore the representative literature of various genres, including short stories, novel, poetry, sci-fiction, etc. Selected documentaries and feature films will supplement the literary texts.

Classical & Modern Languages & Literatures

  • Address

    CMLL Building, 2906 18th St, Lubbock, TX 79409
  • Phone

    806.742.3145