Issues on Pedagogical Grammar in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language
(Abstract)
By Jean Wu
University of Oregon
This paper explores issues related to pedagogical grammar in teaching Chinese as a
foreign language at the college level. Specifically, it attempts to address theoretical and
pragmatic questions such as the following:
1) Defining pedagogical grammar: How does it differ from theoretical grammar, and
how does it differ from those internalized by native speakers?
2) In light of the unique nature of pedagogical grammar, how to characterize it in
terms of specific content to be grasped by the learners? What topics/areas should
Chinese pedagogical grammar mainly involve at different levels of proficiency
(i.e. beginning, intermediate and advanced)?
3) What are the major challenges teachers face in terms of developing students
grammatical competence?
4) When it comes to curriculum design, where does grammar teaching stand? How
to incorporate grammar efficiently in the course of instruction? What effective
teaching methodology can be utilized to enhance students’ grammatical learning
experience? What are the good practices in dealing with grammar in the
classroom? How to integrate grammar with interactive activities of listening,
speaking, reading and writing?
Adopting the communicative competence model in teaching grammar, this paper
emphasizes the practice of incorporating grammar teaching and learning into the
larger context of teaching students to use the language appropriately while
recognizing the important role of overt grammar instruction in developing students
overall proficiency. It will provide a lexicalized approach to grammar presentation
and analysis, promoting the idea of teaching students the grammar they need to know
to accomplish defined communication tasks. It will offer insightful theoretical
perspectives and practical strategies to engage students in learning Chinese grammar
in a meaningful, fun and effective manner, which would benefit teachers of Chinese
in terms of reshaping their thinking towards Chinese grammar, with regard to what to
teach, when to teach and how to teach.