序 师范大学国语教学中心成立于 1956 年,是台湾历史最悠久、规模最完备、教学最有成效的华语文教学机构。每年培育三千名以上的外籍学生,学生来自世界一百二十余国,至今累计人数已达五万余人,在国际间享誉盛名。
本中心自 1967 年开始编制教材,迄今共计编写五十余本教材,在华语教学界具有举足轻重之地位。而现今使用之主教材已有十五年之久,不少学生及教师认为现行教材内容需要更新,应新编配合时代需求的新教材。因此,本中心因应外在环境变迁、教学法及教学媒体的创新与进步,筹画编写《当代中文课程》6 册,以符合海内外华语教学的需求,并强化台湾华语文教学教材之品牌。
为了让理论与实务结合,并落实发扬华语文教学的精神与理念,本中心邀请了华语教学界的大师—邓守信教授担任主编,率领 18 位极富教学经验的第一线老师进行内容编写,并由张莉萍副研究员、张黛琪老师及教材研发组成员蔡如珮、张雯雯担任执行编辑,进行了这项《当代中文课程》的编写计画。
这是本中心历经数十年深厚教学经验后再次开发的全新主教材,更为了确保品质,特别慎重;我们很荣幸地邀请到美国的Claudia Ross教授、白建华教授及陈雅芬教授,担任顾问,也邀请了台湾的叶德明教授、美国的姚道中教授及大陆的刘珣教授,担任审查委员,并由本校英语系李樱教授和毕永峨教授分别协助生词和语法的翻译。此教材在本中心及台湾其他语言中心,进行了一年多的试用;经过顾问的悉心指导、审查委员的仔细批阅,并参考了老师及学生提出的宝贵意见,再由编写老师做了多次修改,才将版本定稿。对于所有在编写过程中,努力不懈的编辑团队、给予指教的教授、配合试用的老师及学生,我们都要致上最高的谢意。
在此也特别感谢联经出版事业股份有限公司,愿意投注最大的心力,以专业的制作出版能力,协助我们将这套教材以最佳品质问世。
我们希望,《当代中文课程》不只提供学生们一套实用有效的教材,亦让老师得到愉快充实的教学经验。欢迎老师在使用后,给予我们更多的指教与建议,让我们不断进步,也才能为海内外的华语教学,做更多更好的贡献。
国立台湾师范大学国语教学中心主任 陈浩然
Foreword The Mandarin Training Center (MTC) at National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) was established in 1956, and is the oldest, most comprehensive, and most pedagogically effective educational institute of its kind in Taiwan. Every year over 3,000 international students are trained at MTC, and to the present day over 50,000 students representing more than 120 countries have walked through its doors, solidifying international renown.
MTC started producing teaching material in 1967, and has since completed over 50 textbooks, making it a frontrunner in the field of teaching Chinese as a second language. As the core books have been in circulation for 15 years already, many students and teachers agree that updates are in order, and that new materials should be made to meet the modern demand. Changes in the social landscape, improved teaching methods, and innovations in educational media are what prompted the production of MTC’s six-volume series, A Course in Contemporary Chinese. The project responds to Chinese teaching needs both at home and abroad, and bolsters Taiwan’s brand of teaching material for Chinese as a second language.
With the goal of integrating theory and practice, and carrying forward the spirit of teaching Chinese as a second language, MTC petitioned one of the field’s most esteemed professors, Shou-Hsin Teng, to serve as chief editor. A Course in Contemporary Chinese has been compiled and edited under his leadership, together with the help of 18 seasoned Chinese teachers and the following four executive editors: Associate Research Fellow Liping Chang, Tai-chi Chang, and Ru-pei Cai and Wen-wen Chang of the MTC teaching material development division.
MTC is presenting this brand new core material after half a century’s worth of educational experience, and we have taken extra care to ensure it is of uncompromised quality. We were delighted to have American professors Claudia Ross, Jianhua Bai , and Yea-fen Chen act as consultants, Professor Teh-Ming Yeh from Taiwan, Professor Tao-chung Yao from the U.S., and Professor Xun Liu from China on the review committee, and professors Ying Cherry Li and Yung-O Biq of NTNU’s English department help with the respective translation of vocabulary and grammar points. The material was first trialed at MTC and other language centers around Taiwan for a year. The current version underwent numerous drafts, and materialized under the careful guidance of the consultants, a sedulous reading from the review committee, and feedback from teachers and students. As for the editorial process, we owe the greatest thanks to the indefatigable editorial team, the professors and their invaluable input, and the teachers and students who were willing to trial the book.
An additional and special thanks is due to Linking Publishing Company, who put forth utmost effort and professionalism in publishing this set of teaching material, allowing us to deliver a publication of superior quality.
It is our hope that A Course in Contemporary Chinese is not merely a practical set of teaching materials for students, but also enriching for teachers and the entire teaching experience. We welcome comments from instructors who have put the books into practice so that we can continue improving the material. Only then can we keep furthering our contribution to the field of teaching Chinese as a second language, both in Taiwan and abroad.
Hao Jan Chen
Director of the Mandarin Training Center
National Taiwan Normal University
主编的话
From the Editor's Desk Finally, after more than two years, volume one of our six-volume project is seeing the light of day. The language used in A Course in Contemporary Chinese is up to date, and though there persists a deep ‘generation gap’ between it and my own brand of Chinese, this is as it should be. In addition to myself, our project team has consisted of 18 veteran MTC teachers and the entire staff of the MTC Section of Instructional Materials, plus the MTC Deputy Director.
The field of L2 Chinese in Taiwan seems to have adopted the world-famous 'one child policy'. The complete set of currently used textbooks was born a generation ago, and until now has been without predecessor. We are happy to fill this vacancy, and with the title ‘number two’, yet we also aspire to have it be number two in name alone. After a generation, we present a slightly disciplined contemporary language as observed in Taiwan, we employ Hanyu Pinyin without having to justify it cautiously and timidly, we are proud to present a brand-new system of Chinese parts of speech that will hopefully eliminate many instances of error, we have devised two kinds of exercises in our series, one basically structural and the other entirely task-based, each serving its own intended function, and finally we have included in each lesson a special aspect of Chinese culture. Moreover, all this is done in full color, the first time ever in the field of L2 Chinese in Taiwan. The settings for our current series is in Taipei, Taiwan, with events taking place near the National Taiwan Normal University. The six volumes progress from basic colloquial to semi-formal and finally to authentic conversations or narratives. The glossary in vocabulary and grammar is in basically semi-literal English, not free translation, as we wish to guide the readers/learners along the Chinese 'ways of thinking', but rest assured that no pidgin English has been used.
I am a functional, not structural, linguist, and users of our new textbooks will find our approaches and explanations more down to earth. Both teachers and learners will find that the content resonates with their own experiences and feelings. Rote learning plays but a tiny part of our learning experiences. In a functional frame, the role of the speaker is often seen as prominent. This is natural, as numerous adverbs in Chinese, as they are traditionally referred to, do not in fact modify verb phrases at all. They relate to the speaker.
We, the field of Chinese as a second language, know a lot about how to teach, especially when it comes to Chinese characters. Most L2 Chinese teachers world-wide are ethnically Chinese, and teach characters just as they were taught in childhood. Truth is, we know next to nothing how adult students/learners actually learn characters, and other elements of the Chinese language. While we have nothing new in this series of textbooks that contributes to the teaching of Chinese characters, I tried to tightly integrate teaching and learning through our presentation of vocabulary items and grammatical structures. Underneath such methodologies is my personal conviction, and at times both instructors' and learners' patience is requested. I welcome communication with all users of our new textbooks, whether instructors or students/learners.
Shou-hsinTeng