Volume 7, Issue 1 -

This journal issue contains a number of papers/teaching units that are dedicated to the review and analysis of some ways in which authentic language materials can be used for the teaching and learning of Mandarin Chinese from the beginning to advanced levels. We first describe the rationale for the expanded use of authentic language data in classroom instruction, and then we present four exploratory units to showcase some of the effective classroom teaching procedures that are useful to make learners aware of (and eventually use) important features of language interaction in Chinese. The units use two types of authentic materials: natural conversations and entertainment media (TV and movies). Some of the materials, due to the nature of the communicative settings associated with them, raise important theoretical questions about norms and expectations of (intercultural) communication and goals of language learning. This introduction provides a brief review of the theoretical foundations of the sample units and an overview of the units presented here.

The Mandarin utterance-final particle le is among the most difficult and elusive grammatical features that learners of Chinese often encounter, owing to its rich interactional pragmatic functions and the lack of a counterpart in many first languages. In this article, we use media clips to illustrate a beginning-level language teaching unit for this feature. We show that authentic materials can be used to address pedagogical issues with some of the most difficult grammatical phenomena in Chinese and that this can be accomplished via material design, classroom activities, and assessment methods – all at the beginning level. (All relevant video clips used in this article can be found from this website: http://clicresearch.rice.edu/caslar-authentic-spoken-language/#le)

This teaching unit aims to develop beginning students’ interactional competence in using linguistic resources to show one’s active listenership in conversation. The unit uses naturally occurring conversation as teaching materials and guides students to examine the interactional practices between interlocutors. The activities developed in this unit lead students to notice recipients’ responses toward prior talks, to analyze the actions achieved by verbal responses, and to apply the interactional resources and knowledge when conversing with L1 speakers. The unit was designed based on the research findings of interactional competence (IC) and Conversation Analysis (CA).

A doctor’s ability to communicate with patients to ensure high-quality health care and the limited spoken materials available to teach this ability in a Chinese for Medical Purpose class call for teaching pedagogies that include authentic doctor-patient conversations to allow the access to the type of language data that properly define language use in medical professional settings. This paper introduces a teaching lesson for a Chinese for Medical Purpose course in which students are provided with a real doctor-patient conversation and guided to explore the doctor’s various ways of displaying recipiency of information from the patient as well as the socio-cultural meanings behind them. Six in-class and out-of-class activities are described in detail which include reflection on English recipient styles, comparison and analysis of Chinese and English spoken data, discussion on the social-cultural meanings and application of the learned recipient styles in oral practice. Issues and recommendations of designing and implementing the lesson plan as well as the outcomes of the lesson are discussed.

提要 “是…的” 句是初级汉语教学常见语法格式。该句式语义语用功能较抽象，句法上也常有 “可用可不用” 的情况，是汉语习得难点之一。本文通过基于影视会话的 “是…的” 句教学设计，例示如何使用真实语料教初级汉语，尤其是语法。本文将 “是…的” 句最典型的表确信的构式作为教学重点，展示如何将含有目标语法格式的真实语料转化为面向初级阶段的教学材料、课堂活动设计和测试材料。本文表明，初级阶段可使用真实语料来教二语难点语法。

提要 本文旨在探討若呈現隱喻映射原則，顯示展現詞彙之相關理據，藉此提升二語學習者之隱喻意識於詞彙學習，此輔助方式對於其戰爭類商業詞語學習及記憶留存之效應為何？我們以「商場如戰場」（BUSINESS IS WAR）映射原則為主題，選取十個常見高頻戰爭類相關之商業隱喻詞語為內容，調查了 31 名日籍中級以上之華語學習者。實驗組接受隱喻映射圖指導，透過連結「來源域（戰爭）」與「目標域（商業）」之對應關係，學習相關隱喻詞彙，控制組則以一般詞解和例句學習詞語，其後進行即時後測、及一週後之延時後測。結果發現：(1) 實驗組即時後測之整體詞彙學習成效明顯優於控制組（ M =8.34 vs. 7.57, t (29)=2.07, p =0.024），此情況同樣見於延時後測（ M =8.53 vs. 7.50, t (29)=2.24, p =0.017）； (2) 即時後測中，實驗組文意理解表現顯著較佳（ M =7.19 vs. 6.40, t (29)=1.87, p =0.036）；(3)實驗組於即時後測的隱喻動詞整體表現較好，兩組達顯著差異（ M =5.00 vs. 4.30, t (29)=2.76, p =0.01），而未曾教授之隱喻名詞表現則相約。

摘要 完成体和经历体 “过” 是汉语语法里用来表示事件内部时间结构的重要工具，两者在语法结构和功能上有许多差异。然而当前的主流教材在初级和中级课本的编写上，多半只着重教授经历体 “过” 的用法，忽视完成体 “过” 的介绍，造成课堂语法教学无法反映语言现实的情况。本文针对两种 “过” 的教学进行了一系列研究，首先讨论两种 “过” 的区别，再综述教学语法的基本原则以及体貌标记的习得研究，然后具体分析三套在美国广受欢迎的汉语教材在教学次序、语法解释及练习活动上对两种 “过” 的处理，最后以样例示范形式提出针对 “过” 的对教材编写及教学活动的建议。