A Comparative Study Of Elementary-level Textbooks A Course In Chinese And Interchange

Great achievements have been made in the study of Chinese Language Teaching (CLT) textbooks in recent years. However, there is still a big difference between the research on CLT textbooks and that on English Language Teaching (ELT) textbooks and there has been much comparative analysis of these two different but related types of language teaching textbooks. The present research will engage in a comparative analysis of the elementary textbooks of Interchange by the Cambridge University Press and the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press and A Course in Chinese by the Beijing Language University Press. I shall examine these textbooks in terms of syllabus, methodology, topics, texts, exercises, vocabulary and illustrations with a view to identifying particular strengths and weaknesses in them.The thesis employs a combination of qualitative research and quantitative research, and mainly applies Cunningsworth’s textbooks evaluation guideline and check list to analyze the textbooks.120 questionnaires and 3 interviews were conducted to learners’attitude towards A Course in Chinese.The research findings has implications for A Course in Chinese in the following aspects:1) More useful, interesting information about the real world in the Chinese textbook is needed and the topics should be rearranged in order to cut down similar topics and to add more updated and popular topics.2) The contents of the textbook should avoid cultural bias as far as possible.3) The authors should give more considerations to self-study learners.4) It would be better to add some pictures which are attractive, interesting, well-organized and supportive to the contents.5) A Teacher’s book, workbook, audio and video CD should be integrated with the textbook.