A Study of Chinese-Only Approach to Teaching Materials and Methods for Beginners

Chinese learners who study Chinese in Taiwan often face two difficult situations. First, the textbooks are usually written in English, which is hard for non- native English speakers. Second, the language they learn from the class is different from the language that they hear from the daily life outside the classroom. Although the learners are studying in an all- Chinese environment, it is still not easy for beginners to find a proper way to fit in the live in Taiwan. The aim of this study is to design an all-Chinese teaching material, which suits beginners who live and learn Chinese in Taiwan. The material is designed for 120 learning hours per book, so that it could be used in language centers in Taiwan. Besides, the learning materials it provides are useful and adequate. Through this Chinese-only teaching materials and methods, learners should be able to immerse in the local life. First, the study summarizes the all-Chinese approach to teaching Chinese as a second or foreign language. Second, the study explores what writing strategies should be applied in designing a language textbook for beginners. After the literature review, the study analyzes three popular Chinese textbooks in Taiwan, China and Hong Kong and two French textbooks, which are both written in French only. By analyzing and comparing these materials we could know the common ground how these language textbooks for beginners were designed. There are three main features of Chinese-only teaching materials for beginners. First, the content in the materials should be practical and be based on communication stratgie. The content show every kind of typical communication situations and include as many authentic materials as possible, so that learners cannot only learn standard Chinese but also able to practice it in daily life. Second, in order to decrease learners’ learning anxiety, the size and the content of each unit in textbooks for beginners should be minimize in case the input is too much at a time. Last but not the least, the all- Chinese textbooks should contain a huge amount of icons, pictures, charts or even multi media resource, so that leaners can understand the textbooks better without the help of using another language to explain. As for teaching method, the concept is basically the same. The Communication approaches should be the first consideration. And Teachers can use teaching aids, multi media resource or simply acting skill instead of using another language to explain. With the Chinese-only approach, learners can cut down the negative transfer from other languages and learn Chinese in a more efficient way. At the same time teachers can also solve the problem that it is hard to find a lingual franca when students are from all over the world. By learning from the Chinese-only approach, beginners can enhance the advantage of being in an immersion environment and improve their Chinese rapidly.