Chinese as a Second Language. The journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association, USA - Volume 52, Issue 1, 2017

This study explores the relationship between the prosodic features for time delay, self-monitoring in speech production, and perceived dysfluency. In this study, twenty native and non-native speakers of Chinese took a speech test. Each speech was transcribed, prosodic features were assigned symbols, and the coding system traced self-monitoring. An additional twenty-eight native speakers assessed the fluency of the speech samples, and then the researcher matched assessment results with symbols and coding, and analyzed them. The results indicate that uh/um and self-monitoring influence perceived dysfluency in most cases while other prosodic features do not; that the filled pause in non-native speech is a salient feature of perceived dysfluency; and how a dysfluency is perceived. The study also finds the native speakers’ perception bias.

This study examines how native English speakers perceive and produce intonation and tone in Mandarin statements and unmarked questions. The results showed, as predicted, that English speakers had less difficulty perceiving intonation and sentence-final tone when the pitch movement of both was in the same direction than when it was not. On the production side, English speakers performed much better at producing tone than intonation. The intelligibility of their question intonation was especially compromised, likely due to their narrow pitch range. The English speakers also consistently produced more final rising pitch in Mandarin unmarked questions, suggesting phonological influence from their native language. Findings highlight the role of language experience in language learning, and the importance of pedagogical awareness.

This study examines stylistic variation patterns in L1 and L2 Chinese, focusing on two linguistic structures: morphosyntactic particle DE and subject pronoun. The data were from thirteen native speakers, four Chinese instructors, twenty-three L2 Chinese learners, and four Chinese textbooks. Results from variation analysis with frequency description show four general patterns. First, instructors used overt forms of stylistic variants in class significantly more frequently than native speakers did in conversations. Second, learners tended to overuse the overt forms compared with their native speaker peers. Third, learner patterns of stylistic variation aligned closely with those of their teachers. Finally, unlike teacher input, textbook input demonstrated mixed results compared with learner patterns. For DE use, learners’ patterns aligned significantly with those in textbooks, but did not for subject pronoun use. The implications for stylistic variation in conversational and written Chinese are discussed and suggestions are offered for Chinese and foreign language instruction.

当今众多语言教学法的主要目标是对学习者的语言能力培训。因此，衡量教学的成功与否大都通过语言技能来体现，尤其是语言交流能力。这一趋势不但反映在课堂教学上，而且也反映在语言教学研究、教师培训、教程和教材上。 Kinoshita & Zhang 于 2014 年提出重新审视高等教育中语言教学的目的。她们认为，高等教育中的语言课应被视为一种“人文教育” (liberal arts education) ，目的是智能开发和超语言的知识传授。也就是说，高等教育中的语言课的重点之一应该是提高学习者的普遍认知水平，培养其思辨能力，使其对目的语国家和当今世界不但“知其然”、而且“知其所以然”。

本文将从人文教育这一视角来审视一个将“培训”和“教育”齐头并进的教学实践和体验，重点探讨人文教育在中高级汉语课中的体现，包括课程理念及一系列旨在使学习者深层次、多方面、零距离地探讨和思考今日中国的课堂活动，培养其全面、均衡的思辨能力，从而促使其对目的语国家（中国）的了解不但“知其然”, 而且“知其所以然”。