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Chinese Language Program
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 Ratings
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| Reviewed: |
Nov 17, 2008 by World Languages Editorial Board |
| Overview: |
This site provides an alphabetical list of Chinese business vocabulary. |
| Learning Goals: |
A reference source page to consolidate what learners of business Chinese may or may not have learned; to review and to contrast among at least 300 business terms in alphabetical order; to meet the needs of self-paced learners. |
| Target Student Population: |
College students of business Chinese at the intermediate and advanced level. |
| Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills: |
Intermediate level of Chinese with knowledge of traditional Chinese characters. |
| Type of Material: |
A list of vocabulary as reference material |
| Recommended Uses: |
For looking up definitions and word usage, especially those related to trading businesses. |
| Technical Requirements: |
Web browser |
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| Strengths: |
This site provides a comprehensive list of common business Chinese vocabulary that can be very useful to learners for this specific purpose. The vocabulary words are arranged according to the English alphabet, and there is a panel of buttons from A through Z at the top of the page that take the users to their corresponding sections. There is also a Back to Top button at the end of each section to take the users back to the top of the page. The word categorization is reasonably effective. |
| Concerns: |
The list of words needs to be checked for translation in business context. For example, the word resume is translated into Chinese as 摘要，小傳 which means abstract, brief/short biography. However, it should at least include the Chinese equivalent word 履歷表, especially given that there is a sample resume entitled 履歷表 in a Chinese Business Letters site developed by the same author. |
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Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool |
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| Strengths: |
Teachers and students can use this site to look up specific words and their definitions like looking up words in a dictionary. They can also review approximately 300 business terms in a quick way. |
| Concerns: |
The vocabulary list will be much more user friendly if the words are accompanied by pinyin, parts of speech, and audio files to help users learn to pronounce the words. Since business vocabulary use can vary from regular use, it will be more helpful to users to include sample sentences in which each word is used in context related to business matters. The module can be enhanced by including interactive exercises that help to assess learning outcome. Simplified characters should also be available to make this module useful to more learners. |
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Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty |
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| Strengths: |
The panel of buttons from A through Z is very useful to reach each section quickly. Users can also search by scrolling down the page. |
| Concerns: |
It is not necessary to include the forward and backward buttons at the bottom. They simply bring the user back to the top of the same page. They should be replaced with a top button to be more informative. There is a problem when users click the main menu button that links to the USC Chinese Language Program homepage because they will not be able to return to this site, even by clicking the back button of the browser. There are also some broken links. The background color and the overall page design are not very attractive. There is too much empty space between sections. The D button is inactive, it doesnt take the user to section D. The X and Z buttons are also inactive since sections X and Z do not exist due to the fact that there are no words that begin with these two letters. |
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