LRC Grant Project Presentations (Part II)

Supplementing Classroom Input for Intermediate Chinese Learners
Authors: Shaoyan Qi & Yike Li
Affiliation: East Asian Languages and Cultures Department

Summary:
Input is paramount to language acquisition (Gass & Mackey, 2015). Without primary linguistic data available to learners within their environment, the initiation of language learning is infeasible. In foreign language contexts where L2 input is limited, textbooks often serve as the predominant source of this essential input (Tomlinson, 2012; Ur, 1996). However, relying solely on textbooks is insufficient. Numerous language educators have turned to the internet in search of high-quality input to enhance classroom learning experiences.

A challenge emerges when many of these online materials aren’t directly transferable to classroom instruction, particularly for beginner and intermediate learners. The primary objective of this project is the development of a corpus of supplemental input materials. These can be audio-visual or text-based, tailored for the first five chapters (approximately one-third of the textbook) of the Second-Year Chinese class. Concurrently, the project endeavors to pioneer a systematic approach for the creation or modification of input materials. This approach would ensure the content adheres to four core criteria for premium quality input: comprehensibility, authenticity, appropriateness, and representativeness.

Given the project’s success, our intention is to replicate the same methodology, creating additional supplemental materials for the entirety of the textbook.