A Comparison of Vocabulary in primary education Chinese textbooks “I Love Chinese” and “Open Sesame Chinese”
Keywords:
Vocabulary, Chinese textbooks, primary educationAbstract
The purpose of this research is 1) to study the vocabulary systems of two sets of primary school Chinese textbooks and 2) to compare the vocabulary in these two textbook sets. The study employed qualitative research methods through content analysis of two textbooks: “I Love Chinese” and “Open Sesame Chinese.” The results revealed the following: 1) In terms of vocabulary quantity, the “I Love Chinese” textbooks added an average of 20.2 new words per book, while the “Open Sesame Chinese” textbooks added an average of 6.6 new words per book. Regarding vocabulary difficulty, “I Love Chinese” contained 507 words not included in the YCT table, whereas “Open Sesame Chinese” contained 198 such words. A frequency analysis showed that “I Love Chinese” included 412 frequently used words, while “Open Sesame Chinese” contained 284. Analyzing by word type, both sets of textbooks had the highest numbers of nouns, followed by verbs and adjectives. 2) When comparing the two, “I Love Chinese” contained more words overall and introduced vocabulary more consistently than “Open Sesame Chinese.” Both sets featured a relatively high number of words outside the YCT list. Additionally, both textbook series demonstrated effective selection and organization of vocabulary. Frequently used words were introduced early in the books, and less commonly used words were progressively added in later volumes.
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