Faculty of Arts Asia Institute

Chinese Language and Studies

China is a ‘rising power’ in the western Pacific region whose future importance for Australia is hard to over-estimate. China’s current levels of investment in research and development and in the tertiary sector indicate that China is poised to make a very rapid transition to a ‘knowledge economy’. This is a matter of direct relevance for the career planning of today’s undergraduates.

Melbourne is one of the few universities in Australia to offer students the opportunity to complete a major in Chinese Language, a minor in Chinese language and a minor in Chinese Studies. Undergraduate students may choose to complement their study of the Chinese language with a range of subjects on Chinese culture and society, acquiring not only a solid basis for language competence in later professional life but also the wherewithal for advancing their social and cultural literacy.

Teaching in the Chinese Program is informed by staff research in a wide variety of different fields, including Chinese language teaching and many aspects of contemporary and traditional China. One area of strong concentration is research on Chinese Regional Cultures: we have one member of staff working on the Northwest (Lewis Mayo, whose field is politics and the natural world in Tang-dynasty Dunhuang), two working on North China (Zhou Shaoming, who works on life-cycle rituals in Shandong, and David Holm, who works on local theatre in Shaanxi), and a number of people working on south China (Du Liping on the marketing of traditional medicines and local medical cultures, David Holm on ritual performance and textuality among the Tai-speaking Zhuang minority and the decipherment of the Zhuang character script, and Luo Yongxian on Tai and Sino-Tibetan linguistics). Anne McLaren works on folk performance of the
Shanghai hinterland and lower Yangzi delta as well as popular fiction of
the Ming-Qing period. Research on Chinese language teaching is pursued by all lecturers who are involved in language teaching. Gao Jia pursues a range of topics on the sociology of contemporary China and the overseas Chinese.

Chinese is available as both a major and minor sequence of study for BA students. Most Chinese majors are a standard 100 points in length.

Chinese is taught across 5 streams of study to suit the language acquisition level of students upon first enrolling. They are:

Students come to us with a great variety of linguistic skills and backgrounds, and all students are required to attend an interview at the outset of their course.

A key feature of the Chinese language program is advanced-level subjects like Chinese Economic Documents, which provide students with experience in applying their Chinese language skills to areas of major professional interest. Our intention is to encourage students to aim for Chinese-English bilingualism in their professional lives after graduation.

Overseas Study

The Chinese Program offers students a variety of opportunities for in-country study. The University has exchange programs with Peking University, Qinghua University, and Fudan University in China, and National Taiwan University in Taipei. Regular components of the undergraduate program include a 4-6 week summer course at 12.5 points. The University offers a number of exchange places every year. In addition, scholarships from the Chinese government and from the Taiwan Ministry of Education are advertised every year at the beginning of the academic year.

Ways to Study Chinese

Undergraduate students can study Chinese as:

Chinese can also be studied as:

At the Postgraduate level, Chinese Studies offer courses for:

Chinese can also a component in an Asian Studies program at both undergraduate or post-graduate levels.

Credit for Overseas Study

Please note that not all exchange programs are valid for credit. Please check this before leaving for overseas study. Also, all overseas study is subject to DFAT warnings.

The following policy on credit for study overseas is applicable for all study undertaken by students overseas, whether via an official university exchange, on government scholarships or on a self-funded basis. Students undertaking courses at non-Chinese universities (e.g the United States) will be given credit to the same level that such courses would attract here.

The maximum of 37.5 points will be recommended to the Arts Faculty for a semester of Chinese language study overseas in an approved university in China or Taiwan. This will also represent the maximum number of points that a student may have recommended for credit from overseas study towards the major or Diploma of Languages (DL) in Chinese. Credit is not available at honours level and is normally only available at levels 2/3. Students must have completed a minimum of one year's of Chinese study in the Institute before going overseas to study.

This policy will limit students seeking language credit for one semester of study in China or Taiwan during their degree. Students who wish to study overseas for longer may do so but there will be no additional credit towards the language major. Students who wish for additional credit will have to undertake discipline subjects within the university departments in China or Taiwan which will attract a maximum credit recommendation of 37.5 points (12.5 points per subject) towards the Chinese studies major. Students are also able to study subjects in China and Taiwan for credit in other departments of the University of Melbourne.

Students at National Taiwan University will need to complete more than one of its semesters in order to obtain credit.

Short intensive courses of a minimum 4-6 weeks duration will be given 12.5 points credit. However, students will be required to show proof that they attended 90% of classes and will have to submit a 1000 character essay in Chinese to the department immediately on their return in order to obtain credit. Credit (with the exception of Intensive Chinese Program: China) is ungraded.

Students who have previously completed Intensive Chinese Program: China 110-303 may also undertake a semester on exchange.

For further information please contact Dr Du Liping by email, lpd@unimelb.edu.au.

Chinese LOTE Accreditation Examination

The Institute holds examinations for LOTE accreditation for prospective teachers of Chinese in the first or second week of January and June each year. The examination consists of written and oral components. Further information on how to apply, dates and fees for 2007 can be found here.

Chinese Language-Specific Scholarships

Usually at the beginning of each year the Chinese Program is asked to nominate a student for a scholarship offered by the Chinese Government for study in China for 6 or 12 months. In the normal course of events the Program is also asked to nominate a student for a scholarship offered by the Taiwanese Government for study in Taiwan for 12 months.

Students who are nominated must be prepared to take up the scholarships in September of the same year. We welcome expressions of interest from students by the end of February.

Lions Club of Melbourne Chinese Inc Scholarship

This scholarship will enable a student of Chinese at the University of Melbourne to undertake a period of short intensive study in China through the Intensive Chinese Program: China 110-303.

The value of the award is $3,500. Applications close on Monday 15 March 2009:
Guidelines and Application form.

The University of Melbourne and the Asia Institute acknowledge the generous support of the Lions Club of Melbourne Chinese Inc. which has made this scholarship opportunity possible.

More general scholarship information can be found here.

Subjects

A full description of all subjects that contribute to a Diploma in Modern Languages (Chinese) is available on the Undergradate Handbook summary page.

Staff in Chinese Program

Name Room Telephone Email address
David HOLM, Prof 213 8344 5990 dlholm@unimelb.edu.au
DU Li Ping, Dr (Convenor) 318 8344 5393 lpd@unimelb.edu.au
GAO Jia, Dr 229 8344 8894 jia@unimelb.edu.au
LUO Yongxian, Dr 227 8344 4282 yongxian@unimelb.edu.au
MAYO Lewis, Dr lmayo@unimelb.edu.au
ANNE McLaren, A/Prof mclaae@unimelb.edu.au
ZHOU Shaoming, Mr 234 8344 4945 shaoming@unimelb.edu.au

Web Resources

This page of links provides various on-line resources for Chinese Studies.

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