Why China?

China is one of the world's great powers, one of the world's fastest growing economies and the source of one of the world’s great cultural traditions. As China plays an ever more important role in the world, the study of China and the Chinese language will open windows of opportunity for you to take advantage of the jobs and careers that develop.

Why Sheffield?

Chinese Studies at Sheffield University has received major funding from the British government to develop and expand our courses (we were one of only five universities to have received the maximum amount available). We are now one of the world's leading teaching and research centres for Chinese Studies with strong links to major institutions in China, such as Nanjing University and Beijing Language and Culture University, and a prestigious Confucius Institute which provides a wealth of degree-related support and resources as well as a wealth of extra-curricular activities.

The quality of our Chinese language teaching, in particular, has been recognised by both the Independent Evaluation of Teaching and the University itself through the Senate Award for Excellence in Learning and Teaching. On the back of our experience in teaching Chinese, we have been able to set up the MA in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, the first of its kind in the UK.

The Degree Programme

The single honours and dual honours degrees in Chinese Studies are all four years in length (see table at bottom of this page for details of all the degree programmes we offer). If you are doing a dual honours degree in Chinese (e.g. in Chinese and Management, or Chinese with French) you will be required to take modules from those other departments. Some degrees also give you the opportunity to take ‘unrestricted’ modules - these are modules which are of interest to you but which do not necessarily relate to China. Below is an outline of the core elements of the programme:

Your First Year

In the first year you will be required to take core modules in Chinese language during both semesters. Entry is streamed. Students with little or no prior knowledge of Chinese will spend about 8 hours each week in Chinese-language classes, covering grammar, writing, speaking and other skills, all supported by our innovative CD-Rom programme which is also being used by other universities around the world. Those students with more substantial prior study of the language (such as A level) are classed as accelerated entry and may be able to start the language course at a higher level.

As well as language modules, you will also be required to take ‘studies modules’—i.e., social science and humanities modules which are not language-based. If you are doing a single-honours Chinese Studies degree, for example, you will be given a choice of doing modules on Chinese politics, culture, or history. Such modules involve lectures on specific themes, and seminars or tutorials in which you discuss these themes with tutors. Studies modules involve less class time than language modules, but also require you to work in your own time to complete essays or prepare for class presentations.

Your Year Abroad

The second year of the Chinese Studies degree is spent at the University of Nanjing in China, one of the top universities in China, and is a core requirement of your degree. In Nanjing, you will continue to take intensive courses in Chinese language, building on the skills you learnt during your first year. There are a range of courses available for both streams of students, all of which are determined by a placement test on arrival at the university.

Prior to leaving for Nanjing, the School will hold a number of workshops to help you arrange for your Year Abroad and advise you on all relevant issues, from visa applications to student life in China. A substantial number of competitive scholarships are available to cover a large proportion of the costs of this year.

Your Third Year

Following your return to Sheffield for the third year of your degree, language will continue to form an important part of your studies. We have developed a unique thematic approach which means that each and every language class within a week, whether reading, translating, writing, speaking, listening or interpreting, is topic-focused with all materials drawn from a wide variety of sources (e.g. newspapers, literature, white papers, blogs, films or radio broadcasts).

You will also be required to take more studies modules in this year—those relating to more specialised areas such as Chinese political economy or contemporary Chinese society if you are doing a single honours degree, or those relating to other areas if you are doing a dual honours degree.

Your Final Year

In your fourth and final year, the language programme continues its thematic approach, but now you will branch out into area such as interpretation while continuing to improve in reading, writing and speaking Chinese. This coherent topic-based method develops an extensive ability in Chinese language that is relevant to almost any workplace. You will also take a range of more specialised studies modules on topics such as modern-day Taiwan, late-imperial China and Chinese literature, for example. Again, dual honours students will take modules in their partner department.

If you are doing a single honours Chinese degree, then an important component of your degree in this final year will be a 15,000-word dissertation on a topic relating to China. You will work on the dissertation over the course of the year with a supervisor from the department, and will use both your Chinese language skills as well as the analytical skills you have gained through your studies modules in earlier years, to produce a high-quality piece of research relating to any aspect of the Chinese world. If you are doing a dual honours degree, you may choose to do a shorter version of this dissertation (approximately 7,000 words in length) if you wish, though this is not obligatory.

How good will my Chinese be?

Through this intensive four-year degree, you are given the opportunity to reach an advanced level of Chinese language ability. Final year students regularly take the highest level of the Chinese Proficiency Test HSK.

We have an excellent success record in the UK heats of the International Chinese Bridge Competition where our third year students have all been placed in the top three positions or have received a special commendation for exceptional oral ability or performance skill. In 3 of the past 8 years our students have been selected to represent the UK in the finals in China, with one student eventually being ranked among the top 30 in the world (see p.10 of the SEAS Newsletter December 2009).

In 2003, four of our final year students were chosen, from over seventy applicants nation-wide, as the four British participants in a bilingual ‘adventure challenge’ series for Chinese state television. Challenge UK was coordinated by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as part of its Think UK initiative (see p.1 of the SEAS Newsletter November 2003).