Course Information 2024
The Middlebury Chinese School’s graduate-level classes, projects, and instruction will enhance linguistic facility and build knowledge of and experience with pedagogical ideas and practice to prepare for and expand upon a language teaching career. Under the guidance of experienced educators, our living laboratory will provide skill practice and opportunity to prepare and practice classroom curriculum. All required and elective courses during the Chinese School summer session in Middlebury, Vermont, are taught in Chinese by master teachers and will focus on the development of and best practices in teaching Chinese as a second (or third) language.
MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE COURSE CATALOG
Graduate Program
M.A. degree students must enroll in the required full course load of three courses each summer. Middlebury awards one unit of graduate credit (equivalent to three semester hours) for each graduate course.
SIMPLIFIED / TRADITIONAL
All instruction and class materials, as well as School newsletters, emails, announcements, posters, etc., will be presented primarily in simplified Chinese characters. Material for some courses may also be in traditional Chinese characters. Reading material for some courses may be in English. Students have the option to use either traditional or simplified characters for their work products for MA courses.
COURSE MATERIALS IN CANVAS
Each course may provide course materials, schedules, and assignments through the Canvas learning management system. Please learn about Canvas, and complete the Canvas Orientation at Tech Resources for Students.
COURSE REGISTRATION
Course advising with the Chinese School Director will take place in the Spring.
Course registration and schedule will be finalized during program orientation on campus.
COURSE TEXTBOOKS
Textbook requirements for each course level are listed below.
Do not order books until your course registration is confirmed.
Textbooks will be available at the Middlebury College campus bookstore.
GRADUATE COURSE LIST 2024
The Master in Chinese focuses specifically on Teaching Chinese as a Second Language and is designed for current teachers of Chinese or those who wish to teach Chinese as a foreign language. Any updates or changes to the current course list will be made below and provided during course advising. All classes taught in Chinese.
CHNS 6501: Principles and Practices of Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (TCFL) 汉语为二语教学导论
This is an introductory course for those who desire to be professional teachers of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL). The purpose of this course is to enable students to master the theories and methods of international Chinese education, understand the basic qualities that international Chinese teachers should possess, and cultivate talents with certain international Chinese teaching abilities. This course uses different classroom interaction methods to discuss the following contents with students: 1) International Chinese education and related subjects, 2) Theories related to second language acquisition, 3) Main schools of second language teaching methods, 4) Teaching practice and case analysis, 5) Professional quality of international Chinese teachers, etc. The teaching methods of this course include lectures, discussions, readings, class reports, teaching observations and demonstrations, etc.
课程介绍
本课程是为有志成为专业二语教师的学生开设的基础教学导论课。开设本课程的目的是让学生掌握国际中文教育的理论与方法，了解国际中文教师应具备的基本素质，培养具有一定的国际中文教学能力的人才。本课程通过不同的课堂互动方式，跟学生一起讨论以下内容：1）国际中文教育与相关学科，2）第二语言习得相关理论，3）第二语言教学法的主要流派，4）教学实践与案例分析，5）国际中文教师的业务素质等。本课程的授课方式包括讲授、讨论、阅读、课堂报告、教学观摩及演示等。
Meets M.A. Requirement: 1 unit Pedagogy.
Available for students in: G1 only (required)
Required Textbooks：
1) Zhao Yang. Second Language Acquisition. Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2015. ISBN: 9787513558372
2) Zhu Yong. International Chinese Teaching Cases and Analyses. Higher Education Press 2013. ISBN: 9787040425284
3) Textbooks and supplementary required readings will be used in this class and made available by the instructor.
Instructor:
Lijuan Feng is an associate professor at the School of Liberal Arts, University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Prof. Feng got her Master from Peking University, PhD from Beijing Normal University, majoring in linguistics and applied linguistics (Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language). She was a visiting scholar at the University of Maryland in 2019-2020. Prof. Feng published several representative books and papers, including two SSCI Q1 papers and one award-winning paper. Prof. Feng has taught at Harvard University and the summer school of Middlebury College for several years; she has offered many main courses at the University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and her teaching evaluations have all been excellent. Among them, “Modern Chinese” was rated as a National First-class Undergraduate Course by Ministry of Education of China in 2023.
冯丽娟，中国社会科学院大学文学院副教授、研究生导师。北京大学硕士，北京师范大学博士，美国马里兰大学访问学者，专业为语言学与应用语言学（对外汉语方向）。（1）科研：发表著作一部（入选“中国社会科学博士论文文库”）、论文十余篇（其中SSCI Q1论文两篇，获奖论文一篇），参与国家社科基金项目两项，主持校级项目两项。（2）教学：曾在美国哈佛大学和明德大学暑期学校任教，荣获多个教学优秀奖；在社科院大学开设多门专业课程，教学评估均为优秀。其中《现代汉语》2023年被教育部评为国家级一流本科课程。
CHNS 6504: Chinese Pedagogical Grammar 课程描述
This course stems from practical applications, leading students to a full understanding of the fundamentals of Chinese grammar, as well as the principles and methods of teaching Chinese grammar. Through lectures, discussions, and micro-teaching activities, students will take the first steps toward using theory in the practical application of teaching Chinese grammar. Equipped with a higher level of active knowledge of grammar, students will enhance their abilities to predict and avoid grammatical errors, resolve grammatical problems, and put together grammar-teaching exercises.
The main content of this course can be separated into three units：
-The first unit will introduce the basic principles of teaching grammar.
-The second unit will cover the basic content of Chinese grammar to be taught.
-The third unit will focus on honing students’ skills and methods for teaching Chinese grammar.
The second unit is the centerpiece of the course; it is not a comprehensive overview of modern Chinese grammar, but was developed based upon the actual needs and requirements of teaching. For this unit, the instructor has chosen difficult grammar points, and will specifically discuss and analyze Chinese content words, words with grammatical meaning only, complements, sentence patterns, word order, compound phrases, and other such important, difficult, or easily mistaken points and educational tactics for overcoming them. Through micro-teaching activities, students will connect theoretical knowledge with the actual practice of teaching. Instructors will analyze, explain, and comment upon students’ recording teaching practice sessions to guide them toward improvement in their grammar-teaching practice.
本课程从实用性出发，通过讲授、讨论和微格教学，使学生全面系统地掌握汉语语法的基本内容、汉语语法教学基本原则、教学方法和技巧，使之能够初步运用所学理论指导汉语语法的教学实践，具备较高的驾驭语法知识、提前预见并尽量避免出现语法偏误、解决语法问题和组织语法教学活动的能力。
本课程的主要内容可以分为三大模块：
第一个模块：汉语语法的特点和语法教学的基本原则。
第二个模块：汉语教学语法的基本内容。
第三个模块：汉语语法教学技巧和方法。
核心内容是 汉语教学语法的基本内容。这一部分对现代汉语语法不是面面俱到，而是从教学实际需要出发，选择语法难点，具体讲解分析汉语词类（包括名词、动词、形容词等14类词）、句子成分（包括主语、谓语、宾语、定语、状语和补语）、常用句式（包括“比”字句、“把”字句、“被”字句、“连”字句、“是……的”句等）等教学重点、难点、习得偏误、教学策略等问题。通过微格教学使学生把理论知识和教学实践紧密结合，老师通过分析讲解点评学生的微格教学提高其实际语法教学能力。
Meets M.A. Requirement: 1 unit Linguistics
Textbooks:
1) Yang, Yuling, Modern Chinese Grammar Q&A, Volume 1, Chinese Edition. Peking University Press, 2011. ISBN: 9787301191064
教材:《现代汉语语法答问》（上下）陆俭明主编，杨玉玲 应晨锦 北京大学出版社
2) Yang, Yuling, International Chinese Teachers’ Classroom Teaching Resources Series: International Chinese Teachers Grammar Handbook, 2nd Edition, Chinese Edition. Higher Education Press, 2014. ISBN: 9787040390919
参考教材：《国际汉语教师语法教学手册》杨玉玲 高等教育出版社 ISBN ：7040390914
Instructor:
Yuling Yang, PhD，Professor of School of Teacher Education, Beijing Language and Culture University; Doctoral advisor; and Vice Director of Research Institute of Chinese Language Education. Dr. Yang received her M.A. and Ph. D. in Modern Chinese from Peking University, and has taught at George Washington University and Capital Normal University, as well as Buffalo University Summer Program in Beijing, Duke Study in China Program, and CET (Chinese Education Tour Academy Program in Beijing). Yang has published several articles and books on teaching Chinese grammar.
CHNS 6510: Introduction to Chinese Linguistics
This course is a basic theoretical course for graduate students majoring in Chinese. Through a brief introduction and analysis of the basic linguistic facts of modern Chinese, it lays a theoretical foundation for the teaching and research of Chinese as a second language. This course will cover the basic elements of modern Chinese such as Chinese pronunciation, vocabulary, Chinese characters, and grammar, and discuss the two major schools of Chinese linguistic theory: structural linguistics and functional linguistics. The course will be conducted through lectures, discussions, class reports, and other methods.
本课程是汉语专业研究生的基础理论课，通过对现代汉语的基本语言事实做扼要介绍和分析，为汉语作为第二语言的教学与研究打下理论基础。此课程将涵盖汉语语音、词汇、汉字、语法等现代汉语基本要素，并讨论汉语语言学理论的两大流派：结构语言学和功能语言学。课程将通过讲课、讨论、课堂报告等多种方式进行。
Meets M.A. Requirement: 1 unit Linguistics
Textbooks:
1) Borong Huang & Xudong Liao. Modern Chinese (Volume 1), Beijing: Higher Education Press, 1990.
2) Borong Huang & Xudong Liao. Modern Chinese (Volume 2), Beijing: Higher Education Press, 1990.
3) Textbooks and supplementary required readings will be used in this class and made available by the instructor.
Instructor: Prof. Lijuan Feng
CHNS 6609: Writing Chinese and Chinese Character Pedagogy 汉字学与汉字教学
This is a core course for teaching Chinese as a foreign language. This graduate course focuses on cultivating the practical skills necessary to teach Chinese characters. The course objectives are as follows:
1) Students will gain a systematic and comprehensive understanding of the nature and characteristics of Chinese characters, the formation and development of Chinese characters, the structure of Chinese characters, the evolution of Chinese characters, the theory of Chinese character structure, the simplification and arrangement of current Chinese characters, and the characters’ relationship with the Chinese language. Students will master the basic theoretical knowledge of Chinese characters so as to improve the ability to understand, analyze, and use Chinese characters.
2) Students will understand the factors affecting Chinese character teaching, mastering the basic theory of Chinese character teaching, and cultivate the ability to combine Chinese character construction theory and Chinese character teaching theory to analyze problems in Chinese character teaching.
3) Students will understand the principles, methods, key points, and difficulties of Chinese character teaching, especially in regard to cultivating graduate students’ practical ability to teach Chinese characters to language learners.
课程名称：汉字学与汉字教学
本课程是对外汉语专业的核心课程，强调研究生（将来作为汉语教师）汉字教学实践能力的培养。课程的目的以将来应用于教学为主旨，主要有以下几个方面：
1) 要求研究生系统全面地了解汉字的性质、特点、汉字的形成和发展、汉字的结构、汉字形体的演变、汉字形体构造理论及现行汉字的简化与整理、与汉语的关系等。掌握好汉字的基础理论知识，从而提高理解、分析和使用汉字的能力。
2)了解影响汉字教学的因素，掌握汉字教学的基础理论，培养研究生将汉字构造理论和汉字教学理论结合分析汉字教学现象的能力。
3)了解汉字教学的原则、方法及重点、难点，特别是培养研究生把汉语作为外语的实际汉字教学能力。
Meets M.A. Requirement: 1 unit Linguistics and Pedagogy
Required Texts: Provided by instructor.
Instructor:
Dr. Levente Li, PhD, earned his degree in linguistics and applied linguistics from Beijing Normal University. His main research focus is teaching Chinese as a foreign language, especially Chinese character writing pedagogy. He formerly taught at Tsinghua University (China), the University of Massachusetts, Boston, Eötvös Loránd University (Hungary), Tufts University, and Middlebury Language Schools. Currently he is an advisor for Master’s Candidates for International Chinese language education in the Department of Literature at Guangxi University (China). Dr. Li also teaches at Tufts University.
CHNS 6610: Chinese Pragmatics 课程描述
Through lectures and language practice surveys, this course enables students to understand the basic theories and methods of Chinese pragmatics. Students will learn to master the rules of Chinese pragmatics in combination with day-to-day Chinese, so as to observe and analyze some pragmatic phenomena in Chinese. This course will also cultivate students’ awareness and ability to observe, analyze, study and explain some pragmatic phenomena, characteristics and rules in Chinese. Students will have a strong foundation for further research and discovery of Chinese pragmatic rules in the future. This course will comprehensively introduce the basic theories and methods of pragmatics and its application in Chinese research and teaching.
The main content of this course can be separated into four units：
1. Pragmatics and its development history；
2. The basic theory of pragmatics: instruction, cooperative principle and politeness principle; context; speech act; redundant information and code-switching;
3. Pragmatic failure in cross-cultural communication;
4. The unique pragmatic phenomenon of Chinese and its teaching (word order, function words, mood, tone, focus, stress, special sentence patterns, etc.)
The main purpose of this course is to closely combine the basic theory of pragmatics with Chinese, cultivate students’ ability to study Chinese by using pragmatic research methods, and enhance pragmatic awareness in the process of Chinese teaching.
本课程通过讲授和语言实践调查，使学生了解语用学基本理论和方法，并结合汉语实际，了解掌握汉语语用的某些规律，以此来观察、分析汉语某些语用现象，培养学生运用语用学的基本理论、原则、方法，观察、分析、研究、解释汉语某些语用现象、特点和规律的意识与能力，为日后进一步研究和发现汉语的语用规律打下基础。
本课程将较为全面地介绍语用学的基本理论和方法以及在汉语研究和教学中的应用。
这门课主要有四大模块：
第一个模块：语用学及其发展历史
第二个模块：语用学基本理论：指示、合作原则和礼貌原则；语境；言语行为；冗余信息和语码转换
第三个模块：跨文化交际语用失误
第四个模块：汉语特有的语用现象及其教学（语序、虚词、语气、口气、焦点、重音、特殊句式等）。
课程主要目的是把语用学的基本理论和汉语紧密结合，培养学生运用语用学的研究方法对汉语进行研究的能力、增强汉语教学过程中的语用意识。
Meets M.A. Requirement: 1 unit Linguistics
Required Text:
Yongping Ran. Pragmatics – Phenomena and Analysis (Linguistics and Applied Linguistics Reader Knowledge Series). Peking University Press, 1991. ISBN: 9787301093832
Instructor: Yuling Yang
CHNS 6631: Curriculum and Materials Development for Teaching Chinese as a Second Language 中文课程设计与教材编纂汉语教学之课程和教材设计
This course starts from the 21st century foreign language curriculum framework and textbook compilation framework theory, provides an in-depth understanding of the understanding-focused curriculum design principles and examples, and explores the relationship between acquisition results and Chinese teaching. We will also refer to the material compilation examples of K-12 teachers and college teachers to share in-depth understanding and design of teaching material compilation principles and curriculum design content focusing on second or foreign languages.
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
>>Have a preliminary knowledge and understanding of the main topics in the field of curriculum design research on textbook compilation and emphasis on understanding
>>Have a further understanding of the relationship between various aspects of Chinese teaching materials and second language acquisition.
>>Effectively design teaching plans based on the understanding of external and internal factors affecting language acquisition in different projects
课程目标
本课程从21st 世纪外语课程框架及教材编纂框架理论出发，深入了解重理解的课程设计原则和实例，探讨习得成果与汉语教学之间的关系。我们也将参考学习K-12和大学教科书教材编纂内容的不同及材料编纂实例分享深入体认与设计以二语或外语为主的教材编纂原则与课程设计内容。
课程结束时，学生应该具备以下能力：
- 对教材编纂与重理解的课程设计研究领域中的主要课题具有初步的认识与了解
- 对汉语各方面教材与第二语言习得之间的关系有进一步的体认
- 根据不同项目对影响语言习得之外在及内在因素的认识有效地设计教学方案
Meets M.A. Requirement: 1 unit Pedagogy
Required Texts:
1) Clementi, Donna, Keys to Planning. 2nd Edition. ACTFL, 2017.
2) Wang. Life, Cognition, and Teaching Chinese. Taiwan, 2014.
Instructor:
Prof. Jinhuei Enya Dai, Program Head, Chinese Language Studies, Middlebury Institute of International Studies.
Prof. Dai is a practitioner and researcher who believes that pedagogy is theory in practice, and has dedicated herself to innovative pedagogy, an ecological perspective, content-based instruction, and teacher education. She has initiated a number of innovative projects, teacher development programs and symposia during her time at the Institute, including the Monterey Bay Foreign Language Education Symposium, Nonproliferation Beijing Immersive Module, Taipei-Shanghai Cross-Strait Immersive Module, Chinese Innovation Forum, and others. Professor Dai is the author of three books and several journal papers. She believes that teaching and learning promote and enhance each other and strives to be a life-long learner and innovator. Dai approaches language education using a cognitive, intercultural and individualized approach. She is passionate about implementing innovative methods to deepen learners’ understanding and further appreciating different frames of reference and value systems. Dai believes that language education is about reaching beyond the physical boundary, reaching beyond the cross-discipline, reaching beyond the intercultural labyrinth – and she has come to realization that the art of teaching and learning is about cultivating a greater awareness of and understanding toward ourselves. Then, a true facilitator is born, an educator who creates and maximizes opportunities for learning to happen.
CHNS 6633: Dream as a Literary Mode
Through a survey of the “dream” stories in various genres, this course examines how a recurrent literary theme evolves into a powerful mode of expression and narration, a convenient and effective tool for authors from different ages to represent the ethos of their times. This “case study” of a literary mode provides a vivid example of how a literary tradition reinvents and revitalizes itself through its development. Students can also expect to become more sensitive to the distinctive generic features as well as the conventions of the major genres in Chinese literature.
中国文学传统中有一个说不完的老故事，那就是“梦”。通过对不同时期表现于不同体裁之“梦”的观察，本课程将考察一个作为文学题材的老谱如何不断翻新，甚而至于演变成文学创作者手中一个反映社会生活体现时代精神的程式化表现模式。“梦题材”之绵延不绝的创新性演进为研究文学传统所具有的自我更新的顽强生命力提供了一个绝佳例证，其意义已经远远超出“旧瓶装新酒”的范围。
Meets M.A. Requirement: 1 unit Culture
Required Text: Course materials will be provided, and no textbooks required.
Instructor:
Xinda Lian, professor of Chinese language and literature, Denison University.
Dr. Lian received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1995, and has been teaching at Denison since 1994. His research interests include Song dynasty literature, the stylistic analysis of the Zhuangzi text, and the study of literary criticism. He is the author of The Wild and Arrogant: Expression of Self in Xin Qiji’s Song Lyrics and The Complete Interpretive Commentary on the Zhuangzi by Lü Huiqing, as well as a variety of book chapters and journal articles on Song dynasty literature, Literary criticism, and the study of the Zhuangzi text.
CHNS 6661: The Quest for Spontaneity in Ancient Chinese Thought
This course examines a fascinating issue that attracts the attention of all the major Chinese thinkers in ancient times: the freedom of acting without calculation or conscious effort—a state of being that can be best summarized as ziran 自然 (self-so) in Chinese, or “spontaneity” in English. Through close readings of selected passages from the original texts by such big names as Confucius, Mencius, Mozi, Xunzi, Liezi, and especially Laozi and Zhuangzi, students will learn to detect and analyze the differences—and similarities, if any—between the varied understandings and interpretations of this “spontaneity” from the perspectives of different schools of thought.
本课程所探讨的“自然”问题，指的是引起先秦思想家们高度重视的从心所欲，率性随情，无为而为，不究其然而然的精神境界。通过细读孔子、孟子、墨子、荀子、列子、尤其是老子和庄子对“自然”的有关论述，学习者将发现并分析先秦诸子对“自然”之定义的异同，进而“由一斑以窥全豹”，对中国古典哲学之大要作一提纲挈领式的把握。
Meets M.A. Requirement: 1 unit Culture
Required Text:
Zhuangzi. Zhuangzi Basic Writings. Trans. Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003.
Instructor: Xinda Lian
CHNS 6690: Language Teaching Practicum
This course is designed for students in their last summer session of the Master’s program. In this course, students will have the opportunity to reflect upon the theories of Chinese teaching that they have already learned, improving their ability to skillfully design standards-based lessons and effectively implement classroom teaching practices. Students’ assignments will include: readings on TCFL, reflections on the questions and problems brought up in readings, classroom observation, directed course design, class preparation, micro-teaching activities, and others.
Meets M.A. Requirement: 1 unit Experiential Learning/Teaching Practicum
Required for students in: G4
Required Text:
Kubler, Cornelius, NFLC Guide for Basic Chinese Language Programs
(2nd Edition). Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press. ISBN: 9780874150711
Instructors:
Cecilia Chang, Ed.D. Frederick Latimer Wells Professor of Chinese, Department of Asian Studies, Williams College. Director, Middlebury Chinese School, Middlebury College.
Dr. Cecilia Chang specializes in Chinese pedagogy and researches on the acquisition of Chinese as a foreign language, focusing on the area of reading in a second language. She holds a B.A. in Chinese Literature from Fu-Jen University in Taipei, Taiwan, an M.A. in Applied Linguistics from UCLA, and an Ed.D. in Language, Literacy, and Culture from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. At Williams, Chang teaches all levels of Mandarin courses and, when staffing allows, courses on applied linguistics. Beyond Williams, she is active in the Chinese teaching field, having served on the board of directors of both regional and national Chinese teachers associations. From 2011 to 2017, she served different roles on College Board’s AP Chinese Language and Culture Development Committee – member, the college co-chair, and the Chief Reader. She has been a returning faculty member of the Middlebury Chinese MA Program since 2008 and is now the Director of the Chinese School at Middlebury College Language Schools.
Mairead Harris, M.Ed., Lecturer, Greenberg-Starr Department of Chinese Language and Literature, Middlebury College. Associate Director, Middlebury Chinese School, Middlebury College.
Ms. Harris is a certified K-12 public school teacher, licensed in Spanish and Mandarin Chinese for grades Pre-K through 12. She built a Chinese language program at Stowe Middle & High School that still serves over 70 students in grades 7-12, offering international travel experiences, a long-term student exchange program, and a variety of local cultural opportunities through partnerships with the University of Vermont, the Vermont Chinese School, and other institutions; in addition, she initiated an on-site teaching internship program in the fall of 2019. Mairead has served on the Board of Directors of the Chinese Language Teachers Association and of the New England Chinese Language Teachers Association. Mairead was a faculty member at the Middlebury Chinese School for several years before moving into an administrative role. Most recently, Mairead has been working as a language and education consultant, providing curriculum design, teacher training, and translation & interpretation services to a variety of clients in the K-12 education sphere.
