Description: This course is designed to further develop students’ proficiency in Hindi language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) at an advanced level and it aims to increase students’ awareness and ability to use the Hindi language in different settings and registers. Emphasis is placed on the application of complex grammatical structures, vocabulary expansion, and cultural understanding through authentic materials and contexts. The goals of this course are to offer opportunities for students to report about current events, create narratives and arguments, express opinions and participate in debates about different issues related to Indian culture, literature, history, politics and economy. This course focuses also on developing higher proficiency through variety of texts, articles related to Indian economic, historic, social and cultural issues and short stories by Premchand, Yashpal, Kamleshwar and other writers. Online resources and selected movies will be used to address the variety of topics.
Text: Reading Packet (handouts) includes newspaper articles, short stories and several video clips; Oxford Hindi English Dictionary (paperback edition), by R.S. McGregor; The Modern English-Hindi Dictionary by I.N. Anand.
Note: Actual course content can change to take advantage of unique learning opportunities. Content Component: The purpose of this component is to help students acquire socio-economic and historical content as well as the appropriate ways of discussing them in various contexts.
- Reagional, Religious, Language Identities
- Globalization Processes
- Gender Inequality
- Independence Movement, Gandhi and Partition
- Government Administration.
- Mughal History and Architecture.
Week 1-2: Constitution Day. Gandhi and Violence.
- content — Gandhi Unit; Republic Day Lesson; 3 texts (packet), videos: Nathuram Godse’s last speech (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0qRm-ayvfY), Gandhi (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao43GrKvkD4 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O_TcG3sS8Q )
- language — media language and cliches; idioms
- task — (a) jigsaw activity; (b) debate: Can Violence be ever justified?
Week 3-4: The Partition.
- content — TobaTek Sigh Unit and Film Review Lesson ; 2 texts (तोबा टेक सिंह by Manto and जड़ें by Chughtai); video on the Partition (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3lRbIxw4ks and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHiGK0kXeA0&feature=related)
- language — high register vocabulary and conjunct verbs
- task — (a) jigsaw activity; (b) group work: viewing (film), participation in a Talk Show Bolo ji (main characters from the stories invited to justify their actions)
Week 5-6: March 8. The Partition. Women’s Roles.
- content — March 8 Unit and We Sinful Women Lesson; chapters from पिंजर by Amrita Pritam (packet) and the film based on the novel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZQ3_EQPomw)
- language — using high-register language to report the Partition based on regional contexts, passives and causitives
- task — round-table discussion: Benefits and disadvantages of the तबादला (the controversial decision to exchange women after the Partition)
Week 7-8: Kashmir, Telangana State: Separatism and Ethnic identity.
- content — 3 articles (packet), video clip ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_3i0Hf8KMI and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBKn6TFDVxQ) and a glossary
- language — introductory phrases and clauses to express opposing or supporting opinion
- task — (a) jigsaw groups, (b) debate: Separatism or the Right for Identity.
Week 9-10: Globalization and Ethnic Identity.
- content — 2 texts (articles from packet) and video clips on aadivasiis (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k626IA8bBNw&t=45s
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8HZlSjWCqU
- language structures — use of participles to form extended predicates and passive compound subjunctives
- task — (a) jigsaw pairs, (b) news report in the role of a husband or wife describing how and why the chipko andolan started; news report on the movement with emphasis on its environmental impact today.
Week 11-12: Mughal History and Heritage.
- content — 3 articles (packet) and 2 video clips on Akbar (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ozTYJIfjAU and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zmmrqu7e6Y) and 2 video clips on Aurangzeb (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dW582Q4_HA and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT-qpqJiM3M)
- language — terminology and vocabulary related to history and architecture.
- task — (a) jigsaw activity, (b) report (ppt) on an event or place related to Mughal history/art in India.
Week 13-14: Self-, Language-, Regional-Identity.
- content — 1 story (packet — सतह से उठा आदमी by Muktibodh), a film (भाग मिल्खा भाग ), a film review and a vocabulary list
- language — discussing personal convictions and beliefs; use of aspects
- task — (a) viewing parts of the movie and comparing with story to discuss how events define main character, (b) debate: Life circumstances shape the individual
Grading: Percentage
- A 94-100%
- A- 90-93%
- B+ 87-89%
- B 84-86%
- B- 80-83%
- C+ 77-79%
- C 74-76%
- C- 70-73%
Grading/Assessment:
- Class Participation: 20%
- Projects: 20%
- Homework: 20%
- Midterm: 20%
- Final: 20%
The points for class participation are assigned for each day of class and any other outside class activity (required or recommended). Participation in class refers to attendance, punctuality, attentive and active engagement in all Hindi language activities, discussions and assignments. An absent student is responsible for contacting the instructor, the FLTA, and/or fellow students to be prepared for the assignments s/he missed and the ones scheduled for the next class.
Rules and regulations regarding student rights and responsibilities:
Academic misconduct is an act in which a student:
- seeks to claim credit for the work or efforts of another without authorization or citation;
- uses unauthorized materials or fabricated data in any academic exercise;
- forges or falsifies academic documents or records;
- intentionally impedes or damages the academic work of others;
- engages in conduct aimed at making false representation of a student’s academic performance;
- assists other students in any of these acts.