Chinese Courses

LANG1426 helps students strengthen advanced Chinese communication skills through the study of film and literary texts. By analyzing how language constructs characters, relationships and thematic meaning, students learn to express ideas more fluently, critically and persuasively in both spoken and written Chinese. The course also develops students’ rhetorical sensitivity, cultural awareness and humanistic literacy, enabling them to communicate with greater confidence and depth in academic, cultural and public communication contexts.

• Film and Literature as Communication Labs — Explore how dialogue, character and storytelling reveal meaning, values and relationships.
• From Close Reading to Clear Expression — Turn textual and visual evidence into focused discussion and persuasive writing.
• Open and Interactive Learning — Deepen your understanding of film and literary works through open discussion, idea exchange and collaborative activities.

• Host a group webcast film forum to analyze characters, discuss themes, and respond to audience questions in Putonghua.
• Write an individual column article comparing character construction in a literary text and its film adaptation.
• Other assessments: Complete reflective task, peer evaluation and online exercises.

• Native speakers of Chinese
• Those interested in film and literature
• Exclusions: LANG 1101-1103, LANG 1120-1127 (prior to 2022-23), LANG 1411-1415, LANG 1511-1515

Course outcomes 

• Critically analyze language use and meaning in film and literary texts across different cultural contexts. 

• Make full use of effective communication skills to express ideas clearly and appropriately in spoken and written Chinese. 

Student testimonial

“This course gave me not only knowledge of literature and film, but also a more rigorous approach to Chinese communication: starting from details, supporting viewpoints with evidence, and presenting judgments persuasively in clear Chinese.”

“Now, when I watch a film or read a novel, I am no longer a viewer who can only say that it is ‘good’; I can propose viewpoints, find evidence, and develop an argument. This is my greatest gain.”

“The biggest change this semester was that I no longer see language and texts simply as ‘content expression’; I have learned to understand them through context, character relationships, social identity, and power structures.”

“This not only gave me a deeper understanding of film and literature; more importantly, this way of analysis brought me genuine enjoyment and helped me gradually fall in love with the feeling of understanding words.”