Tcfl Concept Development From Elementary Textbooks

This essay makes a survey of the changes of the two elementary TCFL textbooks compiled by the same scholar and published in 1980s and 21st century respectively, analyzes the compiler's teaching theory and its specific embodiments in the textbooks, and in return looks forward to the focus of TCFL textbooks' editing in the future.Each of the two textbooks, as a representative one in its era, is highly spoken of according to the survey, and the compilers has reached out for the latest foreign language teaching theories of their times and has tried to introduced these theories into their textbooks, nevertheless, these theories are nothing less than some concepts which fail to be represented as the compilers' teaching theory in the textbooks.Both of the two textbooks put emphasis on language structure, they advocate that sentence pattern should be the centre around which the teaching of the language knowledge and skills evolves, and even the authenticity of language should be ignored for the sake of the completeness of language structure. Though the two textbooks are claimed to be functional, knowledge is the main thread of them in which function is just an extension affiliated to knowledge.Both of the two textbooks put great emphasis on the practice of basic skills, they both believe that foreign language study is noting but the process of stimulation—reaction—habit forming, listening and speaking should be given priority in practicing, and the way to help the learners to master Chinese is through a great deal of practice on language structure. And they also pay much attention to the correctness of language structure, pronunciation and intonation; they believe that the correctness should be more important than the communicativeness in language study. They also encourage the learners to master Chinese by imitating, memorizing, repeating, talking, etc., and to form a new language habit through practices.A New Course of Practical Chinese aims to be learners-oriented, but most of its exercises are designed to be done around the language structure, and only a few them are designed to meet the communication demands of the learners. Thus, there is still much left to be improved in the book to exert the learners' self-studying, actively-studying and creative studying.There is some distance between the theory and the content of the two textbooks, however, the present survey of this essay fails to arrive at a conclusion whether it results from the teaching theory or the failure of the teaching philosophy's well representation in the textbooks for lack of the techniques in textbooks editing,It is my view that more attention should be paid to studying process, language function and meaning, language authenticity and naturalness, the cultivation for the ability of intercultural communication, the individuality of the learners, and the learning strategies in the compilation of the future TCFL textbooks.