Written by six experienced Chinese language instructors, Chaoyue: Advancing in Chinesehelps students to reach the pre-advanced proficiency level within two semesters, or approximately 150 to 180 hours of course time. The pre-advanced stage is comparable to a fourth-semester college Chinese course, or 250 hours of instruction. Unlike other language texts, Chaoyueis printed in both simplified and traditional Chinese characters as well as the phonetic systems used in China ( pinyin) and Taiwan ( zhuyin fuhao). It also includes a CD-ROM with additional assignments and review as well as an online teacher manual.Chaoyueincludes the five Cs described in the National Standards for Foreign Language Education-communication, cultures, comparisons, connections, and communities-and follows the three communicative modes in the design of the lessons: interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational. The goal is to develop students' language proficiency and appreciation of Chinese culture within a global context. The authors have arranged the lessons around four topics of intrinsic interest to students: the self, schooling, social customs, and the global village. The exercises are designed to follow the ACTFL Foreign Language Standards and Performance and Proficiency Guidelines. Each lesson contains a cultural unit, examples of sentence patterns, and a vocabulary list. Two review lessons are geared specifically toward synthesizing and reinforcing the language and culture skills taught throughout the book, and footnote glossaries assist in reading comprehension.Lesson sections include: Warm-up activities that articulate the lesson's theme and activate students' prior knowledgeShort readings in the form of letters, e-mails, reports, dialogues, stories, and interviewsDialogue practice with key vocabulary and sentence patternsInteractive activities such as surveys, debates, and small group discussionsConversational relays that ask pairs to complete minidialoguesAuthentic readings in the form of advertisements, Web sites, maps, and signs, with multiple-choice review questionsSections with common expressions that relate to the lesson theme