Interculturality in Learning Mandarin Chinese in British Universities

Tinghe Jin joined the School of Education and Lifelong Learning, University of East Anglia (UEA) following the award of a postdoctoral fellowship from the British Academy. She completed her PhD as a Centenary Scholar at University College London (UCL) Institute of Education. She then became an assistant professor in research at Durham University with the British Academy postdoctoral fellowship award. Her research specialises in intercultural education, specifically in relation to the teaching and learning of Chinese. She has published several articles and book chapters on Chinese language education and teachers’ professional development and has co-edited books and journal special issues which address issues and developments in Chinese educational research. She is also the founding president of the Chinese Educational Research Association in the UK.

• ContentsChapter 1 Introduction: Interculturality and the learning of Mandarin ChineseKey themes and perspectives of interculturalityThe contextual perspective‘Small cultures’A critical turnChinese language studiesResearching interculturality through perspectives of students of ChineseThinking ecologicallyThe research undertakenStructure of the bookReferencesChapter 2 Changing ideologies, institutions and contexts: the rise of Chinese and ‘foreign’ language policyInterculturality and ideologyDevelopments in wider contextsBritish Chinese and Chinese residents and visitors in the UKInitiatives at school levelHanban and the Confucius InstituteUK ‘Foreign’ language policyOn-going concerns about national language capabilitiesHEFCE initiatives on Chinese studiesThe rise of China and Mandarin ChineseEmerging theme of ‘intercultural’Concluding remarksReferencesChapter 3 Changing ideologies, institutions and contexts: university students, courses and textbooksThe changing ideology of learning Chinese: students’ perspectivesDevelopments of the teaching and learning of Chinese within British universitiesUniversity provision of Chinese languages courses in the UKApproaches to teaching cultural elementsChinese language learning materialsAuthors and learning materials in geo-historical contextIdeological influences of textbooksCritical views of studentsExamples of textbooks of ChineseA different approachConcluding remarksReferencesChapter 4 Moving towards interculturality: Students’ understandings of ‘culture’Interculturality and the concept of ‘culture’Critical reflections on ‘Chinese culture’Evolving understandings of the concept of ‘culture’Moving towards ‘interculturality’Researching cultural specifics with studentsCultures, languages, dialects – Mixed multilingual and multicultural landscapes Students’ perspectives to culture-related questionsDeveloping critical cultural awarenessConcluding remarksReferencesChapter 5 Emerging identities: Students as ‘intercultural individuals’Interculturality and identityCultural self-awarenessThe ‘intercultural individual’The Chinese language identity of learnersConcluding remarksReferencesChapter 6 Moving beyond ‘intercultural competence’: Students talk about their learning experienceInterculturality and intercultural competenceIntercultural responsivenessRespect and transnational cooperationDecentring perspectivesDecentring of cultural prejudices and assumptionsAdopting global perspectivesAttitudes toward learning the local languageConcluding remarksReferencesChapter 7 An intercultural approach to teaching and learning ChineseInterculturality and intercultural educationEducation ideologies on language teaching and learningThe role of culture in an intercultural approach to teaching and learning ChineseIncluding cultural and intercultural elements: Perspectives of students and lecturersAcquiring language proficiency as the primary goalThe translation-grammar approach and beyondIndividual autonomy in the use of teaching approachesA focus on learning process and teacher-student relationshipsOpenness to interpretation and learningEthnographic approachConcluding remarksReferencesChapter 8 Conclusion: Looking to the futureComplexity of the field of studyChanging ideologiesMoving beyond ‘intercultural competence’Cultural understanding and identityTaking account of disruption, confusion and challengesIntercultural individuals, superdiversity and translanguagingLegacy of orientalism and promoting a decentred viewIntercultural approach and British universitiesInterculturalization of higher education and student mobilityPerspectives derived from other languagesLooking to the futureImplications for university coursesSupport for lecturersGovernmental and institutional policy implicationsReferencesAbbreviationsAppendix – Biographical details of student intervieweesIndex