"Enter for new line, no translation needed, return as is. Other Chinese text to be translated into English: English Speaking Essentials"

Author: Liang Chengjin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1998-11-01
Features: This book is a new type of English teaching material that boldly adopts a different approach compared to conventional English textbooks. The entire book is organized around the concept of "notion," which means it uses the communicative function of language as the guiding principle for structuring the material. To date, most English textbooks are organized either around grammar, situational contexts, or a combination of both. The former focuses on selected grammatical forms and structures, with vocabulary largely unrestricted; the latter centers on specific hypothetical situations or contexts, breaking down grammatical material into smaller parts, with vocabulary determined by the chosen situation.
Organizing material around notion or communicative function involves selecting and organizing language based on the intended meaning when speaking. The term "notion" refers to general ideas, such as "need," "preference," "description," "location," "permission," "suggestion," "condition," "apology," "warning," "agreement," "satisfaction or dissatisfaction," "sympathy and encouragement," and so on. The expression of these notions often allows for multiple grammatical forms and structures, making them adaptable to different situations and suitable for various vocabularies. Once students master these expressions, they can handle various situations with ease.
Each of the three organizational principles has its advantages and disadvantages. This book adopts the notion-based approach, which has the major advantage of being more closely aligned with learners' actual needs for expressing ideas, unlike the grammar-based approach, which can be too rigid, and the situational approach, which can be too limited. The same situation may evoke multiple notions, and the same notion may arise in different contexts. Situations vary widely, but basic notions can be categorized and summarized. Mastering the expressions of several basic notions is sufficient to cope with many different situations.
An approach based on grammar helps students grasp the structural rules of language but often leads them to focus on form over content, resulting in common problems like "say one thing and mean another" or "words failing to convey meaning." A situational approach encourages students to use language appropriately for specific communicative contexts but may neglect the internal connections and patterns of expressions, often leading to rote memorization with poor adaptability. An approach based on notion emphasizes using meaning to guide language and content to shape form, enabling students to think first and then seek the most suitable expressions. This aligns with the goal of "say what you mean," truly expressing their thoughts.
Another important assumption underlying this book is that learners of a language do not need in-depth analysis or understanding of grammatical structures to absorb, process, and eventually use complete sentences to express their ideas. In real-world language communication, common phrases often contain highly complex structural patterns that have been debated by grammarians for centuries. General learners neither need nor can they afford to analyze them all in detail. Through specific exercises showing various sentence patterns for the same notion, students can fully grasp the communicative function of English sentences, which is the primary objective of learning a foreign language.
A major feature of this book is the absence of grammar explanations. The entire book consists of listening, reading, speaking, and viewing exercises. Carefully arranged single sentences and dialogues clearly demonstrate the meaning and communicative function of English words, phrases, and sentences, gradually guiding students toward mastery. The addition of Chinese-English translation helps students better and faster grasp the meaning of sentences.
While the book is notion-based, within each unit, grammar structures and common vocabulary are still introduced step by step, with continuous review, reinforcement, and deepening. The tasks required of students are relatively simple: listening, watching, and speaking. Each unit generally follows this sequence:
1. Introducing typical sentence patterns;
2. Listening to or reading dialogues (in classroom settings, listening can be used; for self-study, reading is recommended);
3. Listening to or reading narratives;
4. Oral narration (repeating after listening or reading);
5. Q&A;
6. Viewing tables summarizing learned sentence patterns;
7. Flexible application (speaking in relation to one's own situation).
This follows a process: first, absorption; then repetition; followed by Q&A; and finally, free expression within a defined range. The sentences created in this book are all genuinely common expressions used in daily communication and are very concise, easy to learn and remember. The two parts together comprise fifty units, introducing nearly seventy common expressions for basic notions. Mastering this material can largely meet daily communicative needs and lay the foundation for further improvement.
Each unit is self-contained, so teaching or learning does not have to follow the book's order. However, some structures and vocabulary from earlier units may reappear in later units, providing opportunities for review. Before using this book, it is advisable to familiarize yourself with the unit arrangement table at the beginning of each part. The vocabulary index at the end of the book can be used for review and reference.