A Comparative Analysis Of Chinese And Korean Textbooks On Spoken Chinese For Beginners In Business

Over the past few decades,the status of business Chinese has constantly risen in worldwide Chinese teaching,especially valued in South Korea.In contrary to the great learning demand,however,there is a lack of high-quality business Chinese textbooks.Therefore,more attention has been paid to the researches of business Chinese textbooks,but most of them focus on advanced or comprehensive textbooks,while the academic researches on elementary and oral business Chinese textbooks are insufficient.Therefore,in order to promote the optimization of elementary business spoken Chinese textbooks in China and South Korea,this study takes two textbooks — Business Chinese Conversation(Elementary)and Nothing to Fear(Life)— as the research subject with text analysis,comparative analysis and quantitative analysis to compare them from several perspectives.First,there will be a comparison of their overall designs,such as layout and structure.Then,data statistics and comparative analysis will be made on the text contents,including vocabulary,grammar,culture and topics.Based on the above analysis,this study will compare the two textbooks from the compiling principles of practical,contemporary,entertainment,pertinence,professionalism.Through the comparison,the learning difficulty and intensity of these two textbooks accord with the requirements for elementary learning.Besides,they also have different characteristics.The overall style of the Chinese published textbooks Business Chinese Conversation(Elementary)is a little rigid,it’s more systematic,scientific,and professional,but it is not entertaining and colloquial enough.The South Korean published Nothing to Fear(Life)is more lively,specific and practical,whereas not systematic enough in Chinese learning.Also,both of the two teaching materials lack in communicative after-school exercises and professional introduction of business culture.According to the analysis results,this study puts forward the following four suggestions for the compilation of elementary business spoken Chinese textbooks: 1.Clearly identify the target group and enhance the pertinence of the textbooks.2.Highlight the characteristics of commercial economy in daily life topics with transition and integration.3.Strengthen communication and cooperation between Chinese and South Korean editors,and promote the localization and nationalization of teaching materials.4.Take users’ practice and feedback as reference to enhance the practicability of the content.