Legal Chinese (4th Year Level)

Course Description

This course is designed for students who are interested in legal studies concerning China . It offers systematic descriptions of Chinese language used in legal discourse, its vocabulary, syntactic structures and pragmatic usages. Though the focus is placed on linguistic features, this course does cover the most frequently cited Chinese legal documents. The textbook comprises 13 legal cases, conversations concerning them and relevant legal documents. The cases cover a wide range of legal issues, from constitutional rights for education to divorce, from copy rights to homicide, etc.

Prerequisite

• Three years of Chinese at college level.

Textbook(s)

• Lening Liu and Jinghua Li, Legal Chinese

Course Requirements

1. Attendance: Class attendance will be counted in calculation of your final grade. (For details, please refer to Regulations for the Chinese Language Program at our website: http://ealac.columbia.edu/language-programs/chinese/ .)

2. Preparations for Class: To achieve optimal results, students are expected to work a minimum of two hours every day. Routine preparation includes listening to the recording, memorizing vocabulary, reading grammar notes, previewing the texts and dialogue, and so on.

3. Homework Assignments: exercises on vocabulary, grammar, reading and comprehension and composition.

Course Grading System

Class performance: 15%
Quizzes: 10%
Homework: 20%
Oral exams: 10%
Tests: 20%
Final exam: 25%