初级华文汉字教材中“字本位”运用设想

Proposed Application of “Character-Based” Approach in Elementary Chinese Character Textbooks

摘要: 语言学中的本位问题，从20世纪60年代一直讨论到21世纪初，最大分歧就是词本位和字本位：是沿用西方的研究思路和教学思路，还是确立一套具有汉语特色的研究思路。以语言中的哪一级单位为本，直接影响着汉语句法分析的思路、怎么划分句子以及怎么认识汉语，也影响着对外汉语教学的教学设计、教材编写、教师培养和测评考核等。“字本位”重视汉字教学、并主张以汉字作为贯穿教学过程的始终，让学生能通过汉字建立起对汉语的体系感知。“字本位”不宜直接出现在学习内容中，但贯穿在学习内容中，尤其是初级华文教学的阶段。因为汉字在初级阶段可以更好地树立汉文字意识，用汉字带动其他语言要素的学习可以便利省事。中高级阶段还是应该以语法和语言使用为纲。笔者认为，以汉字为出发点进行教材编写，可以训练海外华裔群体的中华文化意识，与一般的汉语二语学习者树立更亲近祖语的学习风格。笔者回顾以往的围绕这个问题进行的学术讨论，从中借鉴观点，期望对当下的华文汉字教学能有所益处。

Abstract: The issue of linguistic paradigm in linguistics has been debated from the 1960s to the early 21st century, with a major divergence being between word-based and character-based paradigms: whether to follow Western research and teaching approaches or establish a research paradigm with Chinese characteristics. Which level of unit in language is taken as the basis directly affects the approach to Chinese syntactic analysis, how sentences are divided, and how Chinese is understood. It also affects the teaching design, textbook compilation, teacher training, and assessment and evaluation of teaching Chinese as a foreign language. “Character-based” emphasizes the teaching of Chinese characters and advocates using Chinese characters as a thread throughout the teaching process, allowing students to establish a systematic perception of Chinese through Chinese characters. “Character-based” should not appear directly in the learning content, but should be integrated throughout, especially in the initial stages of Chinese language teaching. Because Chinese characters can better establish a sense of Chinese writing at the initial stage, using Chinese characters to facilitate the learning of other language elements can be convenient and efficient. At the intermediate and advanced stages, grammar and language use should still be taken as the main focus. The author believes that using Chinese characters as the starting point for textbook compilation can cultivate a sense of Chinese cultural awareness among overseas Chinese communities and establish a learning style that is closer to the ancestral language for general second language learners of Chinese. I review previous academic discussions on this issue and draw on their perspectives, hoping to benefit current Chinese character teaching.