JIN Hong Gang

International Journal of Chinese Language Education; Dec 2017; Issue No. 2; p.1 - 27

Department of Chinese Language Studies, The Education University of Hong Kong

Chinese Language Program, Columbia University

Chung Hwa Book Co. (H.K.) Ltd.

Thematic approach is a language teaching and class presentation method, which emphasizes the use of a theme or a topic to string together different parts of the classroom teaching, especially the mapping between form and function through communicative interaction. Such an approach was first proposed by Jin & Liang (2004) about 15 years ago. Since then there have been a series of paradigm changes in the field of foreign language education. The approach naturally needs to integrate the new ideas and directions in order to reflect new changes. This article will focus on three important aspects of the thematic approach: 1. The theoretical framework and curricular design principles; 2. The dual class functions and pedagogical procedures; and 3. The best classroom practices and presentation formats.

theme topic communicative task pedagogical task main topic subtopic

Chinese

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