Chinese language is quite different from other languages in language types and the thinking habit and cultural background between Chinese students and foreign students are also differed. To compile textbooks should consider the diverse requirements of people who are learning Chinese Mandarin all over the world. It is tightly related to the issues that how to make Chinese textbooks adapt to the local teaching environment, how to match the design of textbooks to the local education tradition and let the content of textbooks be accordance with the local national situation and customs.
It is a long-term and careful job to research deeply the changeable teaching environment overseas, comply with all kinds of teaching environment and compile suitable and practical Chinese textbooks for students who are learning Chinese Mandarin or even going to learn Mandarin in China. We can completely reform and renovate the textbooks overseas students use after making clear the overseas teaching environment.
The author has analyzed the complex overseas teaching environment and different requirements to Chinese textbooks of students who are learning Chinese Mandarin, as well as raised some compiling thoughts of Chinese textbooks which comply with teaching environment. Here are some conclusions about it.
Firstly, textbooks for overseas students to learn Chinese Mandarin should be able to cover most countries and areas in the world and the textbooks should have their own characteristics for every country or area. That is to say, Chinese textbooks must have nationalism and regionalism.
Secondly, textbooks for overseas students to learn Chinese Mandarin should contain more than 100 languages of the world, combine the language cultural background so that the Chinese textbooks can correspond with the language types.
Thirdly, textbooks for overseas use should meet the different study requirements of people who learn Chinese Mandarin in every level and pattern. The Chinese textbooks should be diversification and pluralism.
Fourthly, textbooks for overseas use should meet the requirements of people who learn Chinese Mandarin in every age. Regular educations: kindergarten, elementary school, middle school and university. Social education institutes: weekend school, summer school, spare-time school, overseas Chinese language training school and even Chinese school for overseas students to learn Mandarin in China.
Finally, textbooks for overseas students to learn Chinese Mandarin should take care of the education tradition and study habit, such as the different needs for language skills, whether to translate the textbooks in mother tongues, whether to pay attention to translation teaching, the proportion of language knowledge and language practice and the position of Chinese character in textbooks, etc. These characteristics can structure the localization and individualization.
Considering these, we can summarize these viewpoints to two proposals: 1. To solve the problem that Chinese textbooks are accordance with teaching environment, we should advocate compiling Chinese textbooks which are suitable for overseas students to learn Chinese Mandarin with the cooperation of foreign countries. 2. To adapt to the overseas teaching environment, Chinese textbooks should firstly be regionalization, then diversification and pluralism, finally localization and individualization.
As for the first proposal, we have had the successful example of cooperating with foreign country to compile textbooks. The 汉语 LINGUA CINESE published by Beijing Language College Press in 1994 is the Chinese textbook compiled by the cooperation of China and Italy for Italian students to learn Chinese Mandarin. This set of textbooks is quite popular in Italy. Its copyright has even been bought by Romania which belongs to Romance language with Italy.
As for the second proposal, the good model of regional textbooks is New Thinking Chinese which was compiled for foreigners whose mother tongue is Spanish. The chief journalist of Spanish EFE in Peking Paloma and the journalist of Mexican Reformer Pilar once mentioned that this textbook quite matched their thinking and Spanish speakers could easily accept it after their interview for the author of the textbook. It has been proved that this set of textbooks have been used for lots of times in Spain and Cuba and the teaching effect is quite good.