Duke University
Fall 2020
CHN131 First Year Chinese for Bilingual Learners 
 CHN131 First Year Chinese for Bilingual Learners
A. Course description and learning outcomes:
CHIN 131 is designed for students who have been exposed to Chinese at home and can
communicate orally at a very basic level with minimal reading and writing skills.
Therefore, this course aspires to enhance the students’ reading comprehension and written
communication while continuing to improve learners’ aural understanding and speaking
competency of Mandarin Chinese. Major themes covered include cultural traditions and
changes in Chinese immigrant families, immigrant identity, Chinese cultures in the USA,
and selected topics on contemporary Chinese life and civilization in greater China.
Instructor’s permission and a placement test are required in order to register for CHIN 131.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of term, students will be able to:
▪ Read linguistically appropriate materials and reformulate stories/dialogues in their
own words on covered topics.
▪ Recognize and write by hand approximately 600 characters and be familiar with
the etymology of the basic radicals.
▪ Create grammatically linked sentences and short paragraphs to describe their
immediate surroundings and situations with accuracy and in some detail.
▪ Get the gist of conversations and listening materials at a normal speech pace and
carry out a variety of communicative tasks with coherence and accuracy on familiar
topics.
▪ Express personal opinions verbally about familiar topics and cultural practices
relevant to the student’s home community with some degree of confidence and
ease.