The Research Into The Design Of The Task In International Curriculum For Chinese Teaching

The promulgation of the "International Curriculum for Chinese Teaching" marks that in this discipline——Teaching Chinese as A Second language, Task-based Language Teaching(TLT), enters into a new stage, in which this teaching method is widely used. The research on TLT is deeper and wider than before. Especially the research into the design of task, is more important.It has two years since "International Curriculum for Chinese Teaching"has been promulgated, which is written by outstanding scholars from China and abroad. However, no scholars have done the research into the design of task until now. So an idea occurs to me, that is:the author analyses the design of task, finds where we should notice, then concludes its traits, regulations of design and some problems. All these things are based on the teaching practice and the research into some related references.This thesis is divided into five parts, as following:The First Chapter is introduction of this thesis. The First part is about the aim of choosing this title. Then, the author talks about the contemporary situation of research in detail. Including what TLT is, its theoretical basis, the teaching principles, the main characteristics, the teaching pattern, etc. Especially, the author gives a detailed introduction about the design of task from the angle of designing regulation. In Teaching Chinese as A Second Language world, the research is about the compile of textbook on the basis of TLT and its application in teaching.The Second, and Third, Fourth Chapters are the key parts of this paper:In the Second Chapter, we show 97 tasks in the curriculum, they are the foundation of this paper. The author classifies these tasks into several parts according to task types and performing forms, then a data analysis would be made to find its traits. This classification is on the different levels, because every task may be different in the type and performing forms. On the same level, the author takes some tasks as examples to analyse, from its input, conditions, process, results, in the light of the framework of Ellis. Because every task is composed of input, conditions, process, results.The Third Chapter is based on the Second Chapter, is a further analysis of the aforementioned classifications. To sum up, from the task types, the Problem solving is the most; from the performing form, the oral task is the most. In detail,the author found that the topics in the curriculum can be divided into two categories:the first category is about the material life, its content is the learners most want to know in the reality, and it requests the learners to have more interactions while studying. For example, seeing doctor, having meal in the restaurant. The second category refers to cultural life, for example, religion, customs and culture, is the learners aren't anxious to grasp. It has no requests for interactions. Some similarities and differences in task types and performing forms of the two kinds of topics deserve attention. For instance, the proportions of Problem Solving Tasks in two kinds of topics are close. But there is a big gap in the proportions of Creative Tasks. The oral task is more than a half, but the written task is a few. The author does research into the designing tasks, including its characteristics, problems and causes.In the Fourth Chapter, in line with the result of aforementioned research, the design of task in Teaching Chinese as A Second Language based on the TLT and the inspiration from the International Curriculum for Chinese Teaching is studied. Firstly, the author gives the definition of the task on the basis of studying of the other scholars'definitions. Then, the author distinguishes the activity, the task, and the exercise. According to these studies, the author raises some notable problems while designing tasks. Finally, some suggestions about the application of TLT in spoken Chinese and synthetical Chinese are advanced by comparisons of some teaching plans. Because their steps are the same, and there is no difference in the the way dealing with the texts. This doesn't highlight differences in types of lessons. So the author puts forward a potential solution.By the analysis of Second and Third Chapter, we find that the oral tasks in the curriculum are a little more. It has something to do with the trait of TLT. This trait is the reason why there are so many studies about the application of TLT in spoken lessons. This trait is not only an advantage but also a disadvantage. If we apply this teaching method correctly, we will get ideal results, conversely, will get the bad results. So, we should take topics and types of lesson into consideration while designing tasks. Because some topics are not fit for this teaching method, and in the listening and reading classes, we should use fewer oral tasks.