Current Approach to CL2 Classroom Language
At present，Chinese textbooks for English background beginners which cover a segment on classroom language include:Integrated Chinese by Yuehua Liu and Tao-chung Yao，Beginning Chinese by John DeFrancis，Basic Spoken Chinese:An Introduction to Speaking and Listeningfor Beginners by Cornelius C.Kubler，Standard Chinese:A Modular Approach by Defense Language Institute，and Fundamental Spoken Chinese by Nora Yao and Robert Sanders.
These textbooks present the classroom language in a similar approach，that is，to enumerate a list of the phrases or sentences used in the classroom[1].However，relevant information on the language user and the communicative functions of the classroom language is lacking in these textbooks.The following examples of classroom language in Table 5.2 are quoted from three Chinese textbooks for illustration:
Table 5.2 Examples of classroom language trom three chinese textbooks
②The column on“User”is added by the author.
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One noticeable observation in the study of classroom language presented in these textbooks is the dominance of teacher talk.Expressions for teacher talk made up more than 75%，whereas expressions for learner are less than 25%.Some classroom language is suitable for both teacher and learners，for example，“Zhègèzhōngguó-huàjiào-shénme?”(What’s this called in Chinese?)and“Shì shénme yìsi?”(What does it mean?)as cited in the table above.
Though the approach to the compilation of classroom language is designed with the target user in mind:use of Hanyu Pinyin as language code for spoken Chinese without recourse to Chinese characters，and provision of corresponding English translations，the main purpose of providing classroom language in these textbooks is to assist beginner learners in listening to teacher talk and understanding the teacher’s oral instructions.