Проблемы китайского и общего языкознания. К 90-летию С. Е. Яхонтова

 650  Hana Třísková   Conclusion At the present time, students of Mandarin mostly have to rely on blindly imitating their teachers (rarely with some help of the IPA included) when learning the basic syllabary. We believe that a timely explanation of syllable structure in the course of teaching is essential for furnishing students with a solid pronunciation foundation. It could make the teaching of Mandarin syl- labary progress at a faster pace, be more efficient and research-based. The methodological approach suggested in this article (which has already been roughly outlined by the author of this article in yet another study [Třísková 2008: 523]) might produce good results, especially when teaching the spea- kers of languages with a notably different syllable structure (Western stu- dents in particular). Some language teachers may object that the students actually do not need this knowledge, and that supplying too much phonologi- cal and phonetic information about the Mandarin syllable at an early a stage of their studies can be counterproductive. They may also argue that such metalinguistic instruction is not needed as the students will, sooner or later, acquire the proper phonetic shapes of the syllables simply through imitation. Our standpoint is different, though. It is clear that it will have to be tested in the classroom teaching in the future. Even if the assumptions turn out to be unsound, applying the suggested procedure cannot harm a normal course of teaching: the instructions about syllable structure do not require any large amount of time; two or three lessons may suffice. References Cao, Jianfen . “Putonghua yumu /ao/ yu /ou/ de shipin xiebian duibi fenxi”. In Cao, Jianfen. Xiandai yuyin yanjiu yu tansuo. Beijing: Shangwu yinshuguan, 2007. pp. 90–100. Cao, Wen . Hanyu yuyin jiaocheng. Beijing: Yuyan wenhua daxue chubanshe, 2002. Cao, Wen . Hanyu yuyin xunlian. Beijing: Beijing daxue, 2008. Chao, Yuen-Ren . A Grammar of Spoken Chinese. Berkeley: University of Cali- fornia Press, 1968. Cheng, Chin-Chuan [ Zheng, Jinquan ]. A Synchronic Phonology of Mandarin Chinese . The Hague: Mouton de Gruyter, 1973. Chin, Tsung [ Jin, Cong ]. Sound System of Mandarin Chinese and English: a Comparison . M nchen: Lincom Europa, 2006. Cruttenden, Allan ed. Gimson’s Pronunciation of English . London: Arnold, 2001. Dow, Francis D . An Outline of Mandarin Phonetics . Canberra: Australian Na- tional University Press, 1972. Dragunov, Alexandr A., and Dragunova, Jekat rina N. Struktura sloga v ki- taiskom nacionalnom yazyke [the syllable structure in modern standard Chinese].