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From Construction of Meanings to Meaning Design: A Literacy- and Genre-Focused Approach to Academic Chinese

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Chinese for Specific and Professional Purposes

Part of the book series: Chinese Language Learning Sciences ((CLLS))

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Abstract

Adopting the consensus view that genre- and task-based approaches are especially effective in English for academic purposes, this chapter examines the development of a Chinese for academic purposes (CAP) curriculum and assesses its potentials in light of such approaches, with particular attention paid to building learners’ academic literacy. It describes: (i) rationales for text selection, instructions of genres, and text-based interaction used to guide learners in meaning construction; and (ii) a writing instructional approach aimed at transforming knowledge gained from model texts into academic textual creations. This implementation interweaves genre- and task-focused CAP with meaning design: a dynamic process engaging learners in analysis, synthesis, and evaluation during reading and writing, thus contributing to their literacy growth in humanities disciplines.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This project was funded by a U.S. Department of Education Title VI grant for the “5th –year Chinese curriculum Development” through the National Resource Center: East Asia (NRCEA) at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa for its 2014–2018 circle.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Dr. Gay Michiko Satsuma, Principle Investigator of the National Resource Center: East Asia (NRCEA) grant at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, for inviting Dr. Song Jiang and me to develop this US Department of Education Title VI funded project and encouraging us to field-test this curriculum. I also wish to acknowledge Dr. Song Jiang for co-designing the curriculum construct, as well as the following individuals for participating in the development of the instructional units: Dr. Qiaona Yu, Dr. Liulin Zhang, Dr. Xue Xia, and Ms. Qiong Wu.

I am grateful to the editors, Dr. Hongyin Tao and Dr. Howard Chen, as well as anonymous referees for their valuable suggestions and comments.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu, USA

    Haidan Wang

Authors
  1. Haidan Wang
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Correspondence to Haidan Wang .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Hongyin Tao

  2. Department of English, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Howard Hao-Jan Chen

Appendix

Appendix

Authors and Titles of Articles in CAPc

  • (Curriculum URL can be found at: https://sites.google.com/a/hawaii.edu/chn/home)

  • Listed in the order of the actual units

  • 韩少功.《现代汉语再认识》Re-understanding modern Chinese [a speech script in 2004].

  • 王小波. 2009. 《花剌子模信使问题》The issue of Khwarizmian messengers. In 王小波《沉默的大多数》Silent majority. Beijing China Youth Publishing Group.

  • 李燕琴, 刘莉萍. 2011. 《夏威夷对海南国际旅游岛可持续发展的启示》The implications of Hawaii’s sustainable development on Hainan’s international tourism.

  • 宗白华:《中国园林建筑艺术的美学思想》Aesthetics in the art of Chinese gardening architecture.

  • 戴锦华:《可见与不见的女性:当代中国电影中的女性与女性电影》The visible and invisible feminine: The feminine in contemporary Chinese movies and feminine movies.

  • 一剑飘尘:《中国经济会不会崩溃》Will Chinese economy collapse or not?

  • 黄凯杰, 赵倩, 李丹:《从进化心理学的角度浅析男女择偶观》An analysis of the views of espousing between man and woman in terms of evolutionary psychology.

  • 李泽厚:《儒道互补》The mutual complement of Confucianism and Taoism.

  • 韩春晖:《人治与法治的历史碰撞与时代抉择》A historical clash and the choice of time: Rule of man or rule of law《国家行政学院学报》2015 (3).

  • 汤哲声:《论中国当代科幻小说的思维和边界》On the thinking and boundary of contemporary Chinese fiction novels.

  • 冯友兰:《中国哲学的精神》The spirit of Chinese philosophy.

  • 江婷, 熊英:《基于科举与学校关系的演变来看我国高考的改革》 Viewing the reform of China’s college entrance examination from the evolution of the relationship between imperial examination and schools.

  • 宗白华:《中西画法所表现的空间意识》The spatial conscious expressed in Chinese and western paintings.

  • 袁行霈:《中国文学的分期》The divisions of Chinese literature periods.

  • 袁行霈:《中华文明的历史启示》Historical inspirations of Chinese civilization

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Wang, H. (2019). From Construction of Meanings to Meaning Design: A Literacy- and Genre-Focused Approach to Academic Chinese. In: Tao, H., Chen, HJ. (eds) Chinese for Specific and Professional Purposes. Chinese Language Learning Sciences. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-9505-5_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-9505-5_1

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