A Study On The Application Of The Situational Approach When Teaching Synonyms To CSL Students

Mastering the meaning and usage of vocabulary is essential for communicating with language.In the field of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language,after completing the elementary level and gaining foundational vocabulary,students will reach the level that they have to learn synonyms and utilize them correctly.However,because the Chinese language contains many synonyms,each with delicate shades of meaning,differences of usage,etc.,teaching synonyms has been considered as an emphasis and difficulty in the field of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language.For developing more effective methods of teaching synonyms,this article adopted the situational approach.Situations can be very effective means to train communication skills of foreign students.The situational approach utilizes situations from real or simulated life.Creating and developing situations,teachers have to consider them to be vivid and visualized.These vivid and visualized situations allow students to simulate associations and imagine,inspire them to have interests for learning and these situations can increase effectiveness of leaning.This article has adopted the situational approach to the new words in the textbooks,Comprehensive Course series of "Developing Chinese",and suggests teaching scenarios for a couple of pairs of synonyms found in "Developing Chinese".Hopefully these scenarios can give a sense of the effectiveness of this teaching method,and improve the teaching of synonyms in real classrooms for Teaching Chinese as a Second Language.This article is divided into the introduction,main text and conclusion:The introduction explicates the significance of the research topic,the review of related research,research methods,and so on.There are three chapters in the main text.Chapter one summarizes teaching synonyms in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language and includes information related to characteristic of synonyms of Chinese,the emphases and difficulties of teaching synonyms and problems in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language.Chapter two explains the situational approach and how to apply the situational approach to the practice of teaching synonyms in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language.Chapter three proposes the situational method and develops teaching scenarios for teaching synonyms in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language.Finally the conclusion emphasizes the importance of the situational approach applied to teaching synonyms in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language.