Further Information

前言

Introduction

Features of the course

The Routledge Course in Business Chinese 《求实商务汉语：语言训练与学习指导》 is intended to consolidate and expand learners’ existing foundations, which typically means three or more years of Chinese language study in a US university or college on a five-hour-per-week basis. It differs from many other Chinese textbooks at this level in that it provides language training in business contexts, and it teaches language for business as well as general purposes. The textbook begins with a warm-up lesson to prepare learners for their work in the course. Each of the twelve lessons that follow the Warm-up is comprised of five parts:

●   Text 1, a short article

●   Text 2, a brief dialogue

●   Exercises

●   Tasks

●   Learning Guide

The second edition of this book has been enhanced with two Round-up lessons for assisted self-study, review, and check-up, following the twelve lessons in the main body. For details on the structure of the course, please refer to the Warm-up lesson.

As a Business Chinese textbook, The Routledge Course in Business Chinese 《求实商务 汉语》 is unique in two special features. First, its main texts are based on common business knowledge, which should be both familiar and useful to learners. As it is based on common knowledge, its content is relatively stable and will not be greatly affected by the fast-changing world. At the same time, it can stay current as its business topics can be updated through task-based activities every time it is used. It is hoped that this feature will allow the textbook to remain in active use for many years. Second, this textbook prepares learners for self-sustained continuous learning. The learning guides throughout the book cover learning strategies as well as important characteristics of formal-style Chinese in business contexts. All the issues are crucial for the further development of learners at this proficiency level. In this sense, The Routledge Course in Business Chinese 《求实商务汉语》 will not just contribute to learners’ present studies but also benefit their future careers.

The Routledge Course in Business Chinese 《求实商务汉语》 is not meant to be a course of business knowledge, although it is content-based and oriented toward cultural literacy. While business knowledge in the texts serves as a means of facilitating learning and teaching, the training provided is focused on language skills with emphases on formal styles and business terminology. Much weight falls on the comprehension of Business Chinese texts and the acquisition of relatively formal language in oral applications. Writing in formal Chinese is not explicitly required. This is in accordance with the result of a national survey on Business Chinese courses at US universities and colleges, which ranks writing at the very bottom in both needs analysis and instructional design.

The Routledge Course in Business Chinese 《求实商务汉语》 is supported by a companion website (www.routledge.com/cw/chen) with free access to a pinyin version, an English version, and an audio file of all the main texts and reading articles in the exercises. The website also includes photos, exercise keys, and other supplementary materials.

Suggested use of the textbook

As mentioned above, The Routledge Course in Business Chinese 《求实商务汉语：语言训练与学习指导》 was developed with a target audience in mind. Even so, it can easily be adapted to a class of students with heterogeneous backgrounds. While approaches vary, one possibility is to give individualized assignments to different categories of students. Highly proficient Chinese-speaking students, for example, can be challenged with more demanding and comprehensive tasks, such as updating a business topic with a search for recent information in a written report or oral presentation. On the other hand, The Routledge Course in Business Chinese 《求实商务汉语》 is designed to suit a series of two 3-credit courses offered in two regular semesters. It can be adapted for use in just one semester, however, depending on the course’s attributes, students’ proficiency levels, and the instructor’s preferences. Making selective use of course materials, including what is provided at the companion website as well as in the book itself, is also possible. Emphasis, for example, can be placed on particular topics or a certain language aspect, such as reading or speaking. Of course, the final instructional design rests in the hands of teachers, who can tailor requirements and the materials in the book to suit the needs of their classrooms.

Language is learned rather than taught. With this understanding, a learner’s manual is provided in the form of the Business Chinese Warm-up, a preparatory lesson at the very beginning of the course. An important responsibility of the instructor is to help students with a thorough study of this lesson and make sure that they are well prepared for the challenges of the course. It is suggested that the first class meeting be devoted to this warm-up alone, and that this class include a presentation of the lesson and a discussion on the course syllabus, as prepared by the instructor. Those parts of the book that are presented in English, such as the learning guides, can be left to student self-study, provided that instructors conduct check-ups on a regular basis and arrange help sessions when a need arises. Also, we suggest that assessment of student achievement is better centered on practical applications than on linguistic forms.

Finally, it should be reiterated that learners with The Routledge Course in Business Chinese 《求实商务汉语》 are expected to advance on a dual track: language ability and language-learning ability. The ultimate goal of this course is to bring learners to a new starting point, from which they can move on to continuous learning by themselves. We can claim the success of the course only when students have acquired self-sustainability in Chinese learning and are able to tackle language tasks in the real business world.

Qualifications of authors

The authors of this textbook are professional educators with rich experience in teaching Chinese as a foreign or second language. 

Dr. Qinghai Chen (陈青海), the primary author of this book, is a lifelong language professional. With a PhD in Instructional Science (Language Acquisition) from Brigham Young University, he has had vast teaching experience in both China and the United States. A pioneer of Business Chinese teaching and research in the US since 1992, he has authored numerous publications and conference presentations and has chaired several national events for Business Chinese instructors. While directing the Chinese Language Program at the University of Michigan before his retirement, he served on the Board of the US Chinese Language Teachers Association (CLTA); the Board of the Inter-University Program of Chinese Language Studies (IUP); and the advisory committee of the Center for International Business Chinese Education and Resources Development at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics (SUFE). In 2013 he received CLTA’s Walton Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest honor for outstanding contributions to Chinese education in the United States.

(The following author names are listed in an alphabetical order.)

Qiuli Levin (赵秋篱), one of the first-edition authors, joined the University of Michigan in 2008 with an MA in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language from Beijing Language and Culture University (China). She has been teaching Business Chinese at the University of Michigan since then. At the third Business Chinese Workshop in 2010, she gave a well-received presentation on task-based approaches in Business Chinese classrooms.

Dr. Kening Li (李可宁), currently Director of the Chinese Language Program at the University of Michigan, has worked with Qinghai Chen on the second edition of this book. She earned her BA in International Economics from Peking University (China), and received an MA as well as a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Washington. Before she joined the University of Michigan in 2015, she had been preceptor of Chinese language at Harvard University and resident director of Inter-University Program for Chinese Language Studies (IUP), Beijing, China. Her academic interest covers a wide range of linguistic and instructional topics.

Le Tang (唐 乐), one of the first-edition authors, became a member of the University of Michigan Chinese faculty in 2008 with an MA in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language from Renmin University (China). Before that she headed a CET language program in Beijing and taught at Middlebury College Summer Chinese School as well as Wake Forest University. She has also directed the Summer Intensive Chinese Program at the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS) and chaired a number of regional conferences for Chinese teachers in the United States. Business Chinese is among the courses she has taught or coordinated. She is currently teaching Chinese at Stanford University.             

Acknowledgments

The development of Business Chinese as a college language course has been a collective endeavor in the United States for the past three decades. Dozens of colleagues have made their contributions through course design, teaching practice, materials development, publications, and/or field coordination. The University of Michigan sponsored four Business Chinese Workshops (BCW) from 2003 to 2013, which provided a regular platform for exchange among Business Chinese instructors. After that, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Hawaii sponsored the fifth and sixth BCW in 2016 and 2018, respectively. The development of The Routledge Course in Business Chinese 《求实商务汉语：语言训练与学习指导》 has directly benefited from valuable issues raised and discussed on these and other occasions.

The development of the first edition of this textbook received partial funding from the US Federal Government’s Title VI Fund through the University of Michigan. This funding was used in the support of a number of activities such as business context consultation, text translation, and photo preparation. The funding for creating audio files and the general illustration of people characters came from the publisher Taylor & Francis Group/Routledge, while free facility and personnel support was provided by the U-M Language Resource Center (LRC), and other costs, such as the illustrations in individual lessons, were covered by the U-M Center for Chinese Studies (CCS), which is now named Lebathal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies (LRCCS) Business content consultation at an early stage of development was received from Xiaolei Wang, a PhD candidate recommended by SUFE. Translation of the main texts from Chinese into English was undertaken by Robyn Wang, a former student of the U-M Ross School of Business, who referred to assignments completed by the 2010 U-M class on Chinese Translation and Presentation. In addition to the three authors, participants in the recording project were U-M graduate students Ercha A, Jingchen Wu, Yueyang Zhong, Boyang Chai, Yuhua Wang, Liu Ming, and U-M audio engineer Phillip Cameron. Photos were mainly taken by Bingkang Xiang but were also contributed by Xiangrong Chen, Xiaoxian Zeng, Zixiang Cao, and Jennie Chen Volet. The illustrations of people characters were made by Yuxin Kong. English editing was conducted by Emily Goedde, a U-M PhD candidate, and Brian Goedde, a freelance writer.

The second edition of this course was developed with funding support from the University of Michigan Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies (LRCCS) as well as the publisher Taylor & Francis Group / Routledge. English language editing was conducted by Dr. Laura Grande, a U-M Chinese language faculty member. Facility and personnel support for audio file creation and modification was again offered by U-M’s Language Resource Center (LRC) with audio engineer Phillip Cameron’s direct participation. New recordings, wherever needed, were made by Kening Li, Qian Liu, Fei’er Wu, Yuzheng Guo, and Fan Yuan, along with people in the original crew. Prof. Xiaoming Zhu, former president of China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), Shanghai, provided valuable references of various kinds.

Finally, neither edition of The Routledge Course in Business Chinese 《求实商务汉语》 would be what it is without the pertinent and thought-provoking comments from the anonymous reviewers, or without the timely and patient guidance of Routledge editors Andrea Hartill, Sonja Van Leeuwen, Samantha Vale Noya, Sarah Mabley, Camille Burns, and Claire Margerison.

The authors of this book are indebted to all those mentioned above and would particularly like to extend their heartfelt thanks to the former U-M CIBE director Bradley Farnsworth for his long-term generous support to Business Chinese education. The authors also want to express in advance their appreciation to users of this textbook. We look forward to comments and suggestions from them.

致商务汉语教学同行

To fellow instructors of Business Chinese

本人在美国高校从事高年级商务汉语教学逾二十载。值此《求实商务汉语：语言训练与学习指导》出版之际，谨将有关心得跟同行们分享如下。

一、商务汉语课的性质

商务汉语是一种为特殊目的而开设的汉语语言课程，从语言教学的角度而言，其性质和目的与普通汉语课无异，只是在内容上使用了商务题材的载体而已。所谓的“商务”内容，无论是狭义还是广义，通常在高年级的教学中才能得到充分的体现。事实上，学生的“商务”汉语能力并非只能通过商务汉语课来习得，同样地，他们从商务汉语课所获得的语言能力也应能转换到其他领域去应用。如果学生在商务汉语课上只是增加了一些知识而并无语言能力的实质性提高，这样的商务汉语课只算得上是走过场的语言课，有人称之为“无源之 水”和“无本之木”。

其实，商务汉语的“源”和“本”还应包括对语言学习能力的培养，在授之以“鱼”的同时授之以“渔”，使学生获得在今后继续自行学习的能力。一切汉语课，尤其是商务汉语课，都应将汉语学习的可持续性作为自己的努力方向。

二、高年级商务汉语课的特点

典型的高年级商务汉语课的学生，其语言能力正处于从中级向高级过渡的阶段，他们所面临的是与高年级普通汉语课学生相同的任务：一是熟悉正式语体，二是扩大词汇量并掌握正确的词语用法和搭配，三是理解和接受与语言学习相关的文化和专业知识。然而，普通汉语课强调的是全面的语言基础，而商务汉语课却必须注重实用性并有可能突出语言运用的某一个或几个方面。再换一个角度，把高年级的商务汉语课跟低年级的商务汉语课相比：低年级的商务汉语课不可避免地要同时承担低年级普通汉语课打好语言基础的任务，而高年级的商务汉语课则必须与现实的“商务”世界相联系，帮助学生提高运用汉语去解决实际问题的能力，包括通过汉语获取信息的能力和使用汉语完成特定任务的能力。

高年级商务汉语课所通常具有的另一个特点是：在同一个班上学习的学生背景迥异，实际语言能力严重参差不齐。因此，如何在同一门课里让不同的学生都受到适当的挑战并都在各自原有的基础上有所得益，是一个在日常教学中时刻存在的问题。

三、理想的高年级商务汉语教材

高年级商务汉语课必须与时俱进，跟上时代的脉搏。但经验证明，越是企图通过课文内容来具体反映当时现实世界的教材越不具有时效性，因为一切事实和数据在飞速发展的商务世界面前都会很快过时。随着教材的效用迅速降低，教师将不得不整天忙于补充、更新和更换书中的内容而难以将精力集中到教学上来。正因为如此，理想的商务汉语教材必须是相对稳定的，时效性的问题应留到教学的过程中由学生和教师共同合作去解决。

高年级商务汉语课的特点也要求教材具有鲜明的实践性，体现学以致用，学用结合。教材中的语言训练必须最终落实到任务型的要求，而实践任务的确定、提出和执行不但关系到语言能力的培养，也是确保课程时效性的关键，应受到编写者的充分重视。

高年级的商务汉语教材还应旗帜鲜明地开展对语言学习能力的培养，如对汉语主要特点的归纳和提示，对学习方法的介绍和示范，等等。该方面的内容应紧密配合语言能力从中级向高级发展的需要，对动机强烈、高度认真的学生尤其具有不可忽视的意义。

最后，高年级商务汉语教材必须是从美国高校目前的汉语教学实际出发的，无论在形式、内容还是难度上都要兼顾各种不同的教学对象，方便教师酌情处理。

《求实商务汉语》正是根据上述高年级商务汉语课的特点和理想编写的。书中的短文（课文一）语体较为正式，均系大商务概念的基本知识，既符合一般学生的兴趣和需要又能保持相对稳定。各课中的对话（课文二）使用连贯的人物反映了美国学生在华学习的各种经历，为正式语体在口语中的应用提供了生动的范例。书中的练习部分形式多样且难度各异，不但满足了语言学习的一般需要，而且着意加强和突出了任务型的要求。至于每课中的学习指导，其特点是简明扼要，完全从加强学生自学能力的实际效果出发。凡此种种尝试，皆以“务本”和“求实”为指导思想，希望能为美国的商务汉语教学带来一丝新鲜的活力。

四、试用本教材的效果和体会

《求实商务汉语》已在密歇根大学（也称密西根大学或密执安大学）四年级商务汉语课的学生中试用，其中有母语非汉语的学生，也有母语为汉语的学生，甚至有少数在汉语国家或地区高中毕业的学生。他们普遍对本教材表示欢迎，并分别在语言能力上取得了不同程度、不同性质的进步。事实证明，本教材的预期效果是可以实现的，课程时效性的问题和提高语言实用能力的问题是可以通过实践任务的途径获得解决的。我们对用好本教材的体会是：第一，要在起始阶段组织学生认真学习书中的热身课并对全学期的实践任务作出安排，让学生明确要求，充满期待。第二，要鼓励自学，安排学生之间的互动和合作，将教师的“陪练”作用最大限度地集中在组织和引导上。第三，要在考核和评分中突出对预习及语言实用的要求，并酌情对不同背景和能力的学生实行区别对待，重在他们从各自原有基础上的提高。第四，要花大力气上好前三课，尤其是上好第一课，以便为全书的学习树立信心，建立规范。总而言之，要想方设法地使课程成为对所有学生都行之有效的一种真正意义上的助学系统。

语言教学中的各种变量使我们不可能也不应该在一种教材的使用中追求刻板的模式。对于《求实商务汉语》，我们也主张“教无定法”和“教亦多术”。 教材本身只是为语言教学提供了一个带有理想色彩的平台，相信同行们的教学实践和批评指正将会给我们带来诸多宝贵的启迪。愿美国高校高年级的商务汉语教学能在本书的推动下更上一层楼。

美国密歇根大学 陈青海

2012年1月

再版说明

Foreword for Second Edition

《求实商务汉语：语言训练与学习指导》问世以来受到了汉语教学同行们的普遍欢迎和好评。它所获得的最突出的肯定是：一、教材的编法和作者提倡的教法解决了困扰同行们多年的商务汉语教材的时效性问题，使教材得以相对稳定而教学得以自动紧跟商务世界的形势发展。二、该教材率先提出了汉语学习的可持续性问题，在提供系统语言训练的同时着意加强了对学生语言学习能力的培养，在编写上具有新意，在教学中效果明显。三、教材的适应性较好，既便于教师根据教学目标和学生情况灵活掌握要求和做法，也利于调动学生的学习主动性和积极性。四、课程的辅助网站为教学提供了方便。总之，《求实商务汉语》把教师从“寻”和“编”的压力下解放了出来，使他们把精力集中到了“教”和“导”上面来。与此同时，它也增强了学生的“教学主体”意识，使他们学得生动活泼，有成就感。我们这次对本教材的修订工作正是在同行们这样的鼓励和支持下完成的。

《求实商务汉语》第二版最重要的增补是在十二课主课之后添加了一个新的部分——习测课。我们在习测课中把新课文的学习跟全书中的“学习指导”挂起钩来，据此提供了各种形式的支持，并附上了任务型的检测要求。如果说初版中就已经具有的预习课是对课程学习的预热，那么这新增加的两课就可以被看作是在课程完成之后的复习和检测（见预习课中关于这一部分的说明）。事实上，“科技创新”和“互联网与数字经济”这两课反映了当前商务世界的发展动态，也是完全可以穿插在日常教学中使用的。至于是否使用、使用多少、何时使用及如何使用，都可由教师和学生酌情而定。我们衷心希望本教材在经过充实之后能把教学再推上一个台阶，进一步加强学生在现实世界中使用汉语时所需要的学习能力。

在这次修订的过程中，我们还对初版中的课文和阅读材料作了局部的修改和更换，对个别练习的要求进行了调整，对各种性质的细节进行了勘误，并对课程网站上的内容做了相应的变动。

我们期待着来自商务汉语教学第一线的反馈，并顺此对使用《求实商务汉语》这本教材的同行们和学生们致以谢忱。

                                                      陈青海

2018年7月

本书人物

People in the dialogues

马   可（男）：美国 BBA 大学生，暑假在上海一家咨询公司实习，并在上海大学选修一门经济课。

Mark Smith (male): An American BBA student who is doing a summer internship at a consulting company in Shanghai while simultaneously taking an economics course at Shanghai University.

王静文（女）：马可的朋友，美国华裔 MBA 学生，曾经在中国学习和工作过。

Jingwen Wang (female): Mark’s friend, an American-Chinese MBA student who has studied and worked in China.

张永安（男）：王静文的舅舅，上海的中学教师。

Yong’an Zhang (male): Jingwen’s uncle, a high-school teacher in Shanghai.

方海明（女）：马可实习公司的总经理，海归，曾经是马可父亲的学生。

Haiming Fang (female): General Manager of the consulting company where Mark is doing his internship. She was once a student of Mark’s father and has now returned to China.

林汉华（男）：马可选修的经济课教授。

Hanhua Lin (male): Professor of Mark’s economics class.

钱   亮（男）：马可实习公司的年轻中国同事。

Liang Qian (male): A young worker whom Mark works with at the consulting company.

李瑛瑛（女）：和马可一起修课的中国大学生。

Yingying Li (female): Mark’s classmate in the economics class.

关于本书作为一学期课程教材的使用建议
Possible Adaptations for Semester-length Courses

本书系两学期（一学年）的课程设计，但仍可通过合理安排在一学期的课程中使用。以下为一些可能采用的做法，仅供参考。

1. 使用前六课
   选用本书前六课作为一学期的教学内容，后六课由学生今后自学。此举已在密歇根大学证明可行。部分学生因故未能续上第二学期的课，但因已在第一个学期打好了基础，学会了方法，仍通过自学获得了进步。
2. 任选六课使用
   根据学生的兴趣及教学的实际情况，从本书中任选六课作为一学期的教学内容。只要在教学中注重基础，强调方法，培养自学能力，学生应能在今后完成其余部分的自学。
3. 仅选用每课中的课文一（叙述课文）
   该种安排的重点是对学生进行正式语体的读写训练，可结合使用练习7及部分实践活动（如任务1和3）来作为一学期的教学内容。
4. 仅选用每课中的课文二（对话课文）
   该种安排适合对学生进行语体较为正式的听说训练，在教学中可结合使用部分实践活动（如任务1和2），共同构成一学期的教学内容。
5. 仅选用书中部分课文和部分练习7的阅读材料
   该种安排的目的是对学生进行笔译和口译的训练，选用材料的多少取决于一学期教学要求的可行程度。本网站已提供了书中全部课文和阅读材料的英语译文，可资参考。
6. 仅选用书中若干课文及与其相应的实践活动中的任务2
   该种安排可用于对学生专门进行口头报告（或讲演）的训练。选用材料的多少取决于一学期教学要求的可行程度。

最后，请允许我们重复“致商务汉语教学同行”中的一段话：“语言教学中的各种变量使我们不可能也不应该在一种教材的使用中追求刻板的模式。对于《求实商务汉语》，我们也主张“教无定法”和“教亦多术”。教材本身只是为语言教学提供了一个带有理想色彩的平台，相信同行们的教学实践和批评指正将会给我们带来诸多宝贵的启迪。愿美国高校高年级的商务汉语教学能在本书的推动下更上一层楼。”