This paper is an introduction to a research and the database consequently built. The research collected discourses from textbooks and subtitles from movies to build a resource database for teaching spoken Chinese based on the concept of topics, communicative schema, constructions, commonly used words and sentences. The database contains words, sentences, constructions and texts classified by topics and schemas. It serves as a good reference for Chinese teaching, textbook compilation and online Chinese learning.

Keywords: Chinese teaching, topic, schema, construction, commonly used word and sentence

China's first self-compiled textbook came into being in 1897, followed by the burgeoning of textbook research. This paper employs a historical research method to present an overall picture of textbook research in the period of 1897-1949. 708 journal literature on textbook research have been retrieved and analysed. The study finds that textbook research from 1897 to 1949 mainly focused on five issues: 1. the essential attributes of textbooks; 2. whether textbooks should be abandoned; 3. systems of textbook compilation and selection; 4. the adaptability of textbooks; 5. the criteria to assess the quality of textbooks. This historical review provides a reference to the current textbook research in two aspects. On the one hand, textbook research should learn from foreign examples, though it is also important to trace its root to traditional experience. On the other hand, the historical continuity of textbook research is worthy of attention. Therefore, textbook research should consider real-world problems in the context of historical review.

Keywords:

textbook, from late Qing to the Republic of China, newspapers and periodicals, textbook research, historical experience

Reading and writing Chinese are the major barriers for non-Chinese speaking (NCS) students learning Chinese in Hong Kong. The long-standing lack of suitable Chinese textbooks makes it necessary to design tailor-made learning materials and adopt innovative teaching strategies to support NCS students in learning Chinese. Based on the discussion and analysis of typical grammatical errors made by NCS students as well as the pros and cons of mainstream textbooks, this study develops Chinese character lists, a grammar learning system, evaluation points and teaching strategies, which leads to the compilation of the Chinese supporting materials. As part of the design rationale, the association of word structures and grammar can systematically increase the vocabulary size of NCS students. Each unit of the materials consists of three major parts, namely character learning, word combinations and sentence building, and each learning point is designed as a task incorporated with games and activities. This study aims to accommodate the learning needs of NCS students and enhance their effectiveness in learning Chinese.

Keywords:

non-Chinese speaking (NCS) students, supporting materials for learning Chinese, design rationale, teaching strategies, learning and teaching second language

This paper identifies the difficulties of ethnic minority students in reading and writing Chinese as a second language in Hong Kong through an analysis of their Chinese learning background. It then presents two research studies where Cooperative Learning Strategy and Reading to Learn Pedagogy were adopted to teach reading reports and job application letters to ethnic minority students. The researchers proceed to evaluate the effectiveness of the two pedagogies through class observation, semi-structured interviews and text analysis. The comparison of pre- and post-test results showed significant improvement in the students' performance. All participating teachers and students gave positive feedbacks on the teaching process and its effectiveness. The two studies highlighted that Cooperative Learning Strategy and Reading to Learn Pedagogy can effectively help second language learners improve their Chinese reading and writing skills. Suggestions on how to teach Chinese as a second language in Hong Kong are also made in the concluding part of the paper.

Keywords:

Chinese as a second language, teaching strategies for reading and writing, ethnic minority students, reading report, job application letter

Task-based pedagogy has prevailed in language teaching since the end of the 20th Century, as it enables students to come into frequent contact with the language in their daily lives. This paper aims to explore: (1) whether task-based learning is suitable for teaching oral Chinese in Singapore; (2) how to design productive taskbased oral lessons for pre-university students in Singapore. Two classes of students were selected as samples and were taught by traditional pedagogy and task-based approach respectively. Apart from the qualitative and quantitative comparison of the test results, the research also analyzed the effect of task-based pedagogy in the classroom. The findings show that task-based approach can cultivate students' interest in learning Chinese, and engage them in class activities. It is believed that task-based pedagogy has an advantage in teaching Chinese oral skills, and should be promoted in the classroom.

Keywords: Task-based pedagogy, Singapore, pre-university Chinese, oral teaching