A Comparative Analysis Of Intermediate And Intermediate Textbooks For Chinese As A Foreign Language

In this thesis I offer a comparative analysis of one Chinese as a Foreign Language textbook and one Chinese as a Second Language Intermediate level comprehensive textbook, i.e., Cultural Chinese and The Bridge: A Practical Intermediate Chinese Course. In recent years, much emphasis has been placed on the importance of both Chinese as a Foreign Language and Chinese as a Second Language textbooks integrating language and culture. Both Cultural Chinese and The Bridge: A Practical Intermediate Chinese Course are textbooks that successfully integrate language and culture, but they do so in different ways. Cultural Chinese is a textbook designed for students who are in America studying Chinese as a Foreign Language. This textbook integrates language and culture through its choice of topics. By selecting topics belonging to China’s cultural heritage, it introduces students to historically important aspects of Chinese culture in an accessible way. In comparison, The Bridge: A Practical Intermediate Chinese Course takes a different approach to introducing students to Chinese culture. The Bridge is a comprehensive textbook designed for use by students in China. Many of the texts are adapted from literary works, and the texts themselves as part of China’s literary history. By analyzing the choice of texts and the types of exercises offered in both textbooks, I hope to show how the textbooks integrate Chinese language and culture. After discussing the merits of each textbook in chapter 2, in chapter 3 I move on to an analysis of the areas in each textbook that could better integrate language and culture. Chapter 4 concludes the thesis with some suggestions for future textbook compilers as they advance produce textbooks that help students not only learn the Chinese language, but also the culture embedded in that language.