On Business Chinese Teaching for Beginners

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On Business Chinese Teaching for Beginners

• Li Bailing
• Shanghai Jiao Tong University
• For the Business Chinese Language and Culture
  Conference
• at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana,
  USA
• on Sept. 21-22, 2007

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Abstract

• It has been controversial in the Chinese
  teaching circle whether Chinese beginners can
  learn business Chinese. Generally speaking, the
  negative viewpoint takes an overwhelming
  majority. This paper, by an analysis of the close
  relationship between business Chinese and the
  general Chinese, the weakness of the negative
  viewpoint in inference, and market demand for
  business Chinese teaching for beginners, argues
  that business Chinese teaching for beginners is
  of urgent needs, realizable in practice, and
  theoretically grounded,

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• and as well suggests that business Chinese
  curriculum including the program for beginners
  should be designed on diverse needs of students,
  and that the teaching principles and methods
  should be decided on diverse students such
  variables as linguistic and cultural backgrounds,
  cognitive styles, learning stages, and learning
  availabilities.

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Introduction

• What stage the business Chinese teaching should
  start at? With or above the elementary level? Or
  in other words, can Chinese beginners learn
  business Chinese?
• In current academic researches, the positive
  viewpoints are few to find but the negativism is
  often found in the literature.

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Positive viewpoints

• The textbook Elementary Economical and Commercial
  Spoken Chinese compiled by Huang Weizhi in 1993
  tried the business Chinese for beginners earlier
  but was viewed as a failure by a paper in 2006.
• Lu (1998) suggested that business Chinese should
  be mixed into the basic Chinese gradually from
  the very beginning for those students who aim at
  the business Chinese.
• Zhang Li (2007) makes a clear claim in his book
  for the first time that business Chinese can
  start for beginners and argues that the basic
  Chinese proficiency shouldnt be a prerequisite
  for a business Chinese course.

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Points in negativism

• Business Chinese is a special Chinese course
  based on general Chinese. (Lou 2004)
• Business Chinese is based on basic Chinese and
  for students of some basic Chinese proficiency.
  (Zeng 2006)
• Business Chinese must be taught on the base that
  the students have had a basic master of Chinese
  listening, speaking, reading and writing. (Wan
  2004)
• Only when a learner have some Chinese proficiency
  can he learn business Chinese. (Zhang 2005)
• Most of business Chinese students are those who
  have basic Chinese proficiency. (Liu 2004)
• The starting language proficiency of business
  Chinese learners should be fixed at the
  intermediate level. (Yuan 2004)
• Business Chinese may be offered at the
  intermediate and advanced stages. (Yang 2003)
• Most people agree not to offer business Chinese
  to beginners. (Lu 2006)

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My objections to the negativism

• The negativism ignores the demand of business
  Chinese learners the most in-service learners in
  China are badly in needs of short term study of
  business Chinese.
• The negativism rushes to a depreciation to the
  practices of business Chinese for beginners.
• The negativism makes an inconvincible inference.

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The essence and nature of business Chinese

• Business Chinese is a language for special
  purpose (CPS) which is closely related with the
  economical life of the Chinese people.
• Compared with other CSPs such as electronic,
  chemical, medical or physical Chinese, business
  Chinese is less professional because of its open
  border on the general Chinese.

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The character of business Chinese

• Business Chinese is more universal. Of all CSPs,
  it is the closest related with the general
  Chinese.
• Business Chinese is more communicative. Of all
  social activities, business activity is the
  closest approaching Chinese peoples daily life.
• Business Chinese is hierarchical. The hierarchy
  exists not only between the intermediate and
  advanced levels, but also between the elementary
  and intermediate levels and between the first
  elementary (of beginners) and the second
  elementary (the basic) levels.

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The relationship of business Chinese and the
general Chinese

• The triangle business Chinese
• The square the general Chinese
• A advanced
• B intermediate
• C basic
• D beginning

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How to design a business Chinese curriculum

• First stage for the beginners Chinese language
  in the general business background, less
  professional and focused on the skills in
  speaking and listening and the linguistic
  knowledge.
• Second stage for the learners of basic
  proficiency more professional, focused on some
  special business area.
• Third stage for the learners of intermediate and
  above proficiency focused on the core skills for
  the business activity including communicative
  strategies.

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Conclusion

• It is necessary to try our best to meet the
  demand of business Chinese for beginners.
• It is necessary to strengthen the experimental
  research on business Chinese teaching for
  beginners in future.
• It is necessary to have a clear understanding of
  the nature of business Chinese and its
  relationship with the general Chinese.

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• Thank you !