Comparative Study Of Prepositions In Developing Chinese And Boya Chinese

Preposition is an indispensable part of speech in Chinese discourse.Prepositions are function words,which have only grammatical meaning but no lexical meaning.Moreover,the syntactic position,grammatical meaning and pragmatic function of prepositions are very complicated,which are the key and difficult points in teaching Chinese as a foreign language.At the same time,in the process of compiling the vocabulary of textbooks in teaching Chinese as a foreign language,the number and scope of prepositions used in different textbooks are not consistent,the selection of preposition grades is not uniform,and the definition content is different,which leads to the differences in learning and mastering the meaning and usage of prepositions.The same level of Chinese learners choose different textbooks,there will be different learning effects.In view of the above,prepositions in 6 comprehensive textbooks of Developing Chinese edited by Li Quan(Beijing Language and Culture University Press,2011)and 9comprehensive textbooks of Boya Chinese edited by Li Xiaoqi(Peking University Press,2013)are selected as research objects.The preposition standard in the "Chinese Proficiency Grading Standards for international Chinese Language Education" released on March 24,2021 is used as reference.The thesis combines research methods of literature,data statistics,comparative analysis and errors analysis to research prepositions in two sets of textbooks,included quantity,grade distribution,definition,errors and so on.By comparing the similarities and differences of prepositions between the two sets of textbooks,this thesis analyzes the problems existing in the compilation of prepositions in the textbooks and puts forward corresponding suggestions for improvement.First of all,in the introduction part,this thesis introduces the reason of the topic selection,and summarizes the previous studies on prepositions from two aspects: the ontological research on prepositions and the preposition research in teaching Chinese as a foreign language.Secondly,by comparing and analyzing the arrangement of prepositions in the two sets of textbooks,we find that each set of textbooks has its own compilation features.(1)the prepositions selected in Developing Chinese are closer to the outline prepositions,and the grammatical points of prepositions are presented in the form of charts,which makes it more visual and intuitive for learners to learn.(2)Boya Chinese is more detailed and comprehensive in the interpretation of prepositions,and the repetition rate of prepositions in the whole set of textbooks is higher than Boya Chinese;(3)Compared with the International Standard of Chinese Language Proficiency in Chinese Education,the prepositions selected in the two sets of textbooks at different periods basically conform to the standard of grade distribution in the syllabus,without being too easy or too difficult;(4)The number of prepositions in syllabus is not enough;(5)The definitions of prepositions in the two sets of textbooks need to be improved,they can not be interpreted wholely in English or with one preposition to interpret another preposition;(6)The repetition rate of prepositions in the new word list and language points in the two textbooks is not high;(7)The preposition exercises are mainly designed to make sentences or complete sentences,and the questions are relatively fixed;(8)There is no comparative analysis of other uses of the same preposition in the two sets of textbooks,and there is no discrimination of near-sense prepositions in the textbook design;(9)Both textbooks include prepositions with controversial parts of speech.Finally,through statistical analysis of preposition errors in HSK dynamic composition corpus,this thesis calculates the error rate of prepositions included in the two textbook,and summarizes three common error types: misuse of prepositions,default of prepositions and addition of prepositions.In the last chapter,in order to improve the arrangement of prepositions in the textbooks,this thesis puts forward eight suggestions:(1)compared with Standard,increase the number of prepositions;(2)improve the definition of prepositions and enrich the definition;(3)according to the error rate,the repetition rate of confusable prepositions was improved;(4)other uses of the same preposition stipulated in the standard should be supplemented appropriately;(5)increase the number of preposition exercises and innovate the types of exercises;(6)change the presentation of grammatical points of special prepositions;(7)design a near-sense preposition discrimination part;(8)delete prepositions with controversial parts of speech.In addition,this thesis puts forward two suggestions for teaching of prepositions:one is comparative teaching of near-sense prepositions;the other is to combine the form and function of prepositions in teaching.Hoping this thesis can provide some reference value for the compilation and teaching of prepositions in the future textbooks in teaching Chinese as a foreign language.