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ABSTRACT
Acculturation is significantly related to language learning. Over-seas learners of the Chinese language are handicapped as they lack a language-rich and cultural environment, so they mainly depend on the circumstances that Chinese language teachers build as cultural intermediary in the acculturative process. Through interviewing teachers of Chinese, Chinese volunteers, Thai teachers, and Thai learners, the research found that overseas Chinese language teachers tend to neglect and fail to emphasis the importance of acculturation. They especially neglect the new sub-language culture among the youth in the context of catchwords and some cultural matters related to the Chinese language. They also do not recognize the important role of cultural awareness in language communication when it comes to cross-cultural communication. Overall, this could leave the learners lacking a proper under- standing of traditional Chinese culture. Moreover, it does not provide the ideal framework of acculturation for learning Chinese. Therefore, it is crucial for Chinese language teachers to suitably reconstruct the Chinese cultural struc- ture for learners during the acculturative process of their language learning.
Keywords: Chinese as second language, Acculturation, Overseas Chinese teaching, Cultural reconstruction
INTRODUCTION
Culture as a process undermines the idea that culture can be learned through superficial aspects like food, art, costume, and holidays. Learning a second language requires learning the linguistic aspects of the target culture. Language is rooted in the culture, and transferred, adjusted, and developed with the transition in the culture. Acculturation is significantly related to language and culture learning, because language is inseparable from culture. in fact, second language acquisition is second culture acqui- sition.
Brown (1980) states that accul- turation takes place in four stages. The first stage is the honeymoon period, when everything is new and interesting. The second stage is the culture shock period. The third stage is a long period of slow recovery. Af- ter the third stage, the learners enter into the fourth stage: integration. He discusses that failure to synchronize acculturation and language learning could be a major reason for a learner’s failure to master the second language. O’Neal Cooper (2003), especially, points out that “lack of acculturation may be a more important factor in the subject’s failure to achieve com- municative competence”. Therefore, it is important that language learning and acculturation are synchronized. Second language programs should make more effort to provide accul- turation support alongside language training.
In addition, according to the theory of Krashen (1988), there are two independent systems of second language performance:
The acquired system and the learned system; the acquired system or acquisi- tion is the product of a subconscious process very similar to the process chil- dren undergo when they acquire their first language. It requires meaningful interaction in the target language nat- urally — communication in which speakers are concentrated not only in the form of their utterances, but also in the communicative act.
Schumann, j.H. (1986) suggests in his research of acculturation mod- els that learners can only become proficient to the extent that they acculturate. Schumann (1978) puts forward two sets of factors, social and psychological, based on his ac- culturation model. He asserts that the degree to which second language learners acculturate themselves toward the culture of the target language group generally depends on social and psychological factors; and these two factors will determine, respectively, the level of social distance and psy- chological distance a second language learner attains in the course of his learning of the target language. Social distance, as Rod, E. (1994) states, concerns the extent to which individ- ual learners can identify themselves with members of the target language group and, thereby, achieve contact with them. Psychological distance is the extent to which individual learners are at ease with their target language learning task.
in non–target language envi- ronments, for learners who want to interact with Chinese language and culture, acculturation that happens in the classroom or at school would help learners of Chinese to grasp some methods in order to learn the language and acquire the culture outside the classroom or school. Overseas learn- ing of Chinese should be linked with domestic development of the Chinese language and customs as soon as pos- sible so that learners of Chinese find it easier to understand the current cultural environment of the Chinese language. Chinese language teachers undoubtedly play an important role in acculturation. if the existing cul- tural structure followed by Chinese language teachers cannot meet the de- mand during the process of teaching Chinese, it would be difficult to create a suitable acculturation environment for overseas learners of Chinese in accordance with the status of Chinese language education.
Through analyzing the deficiency in the cultural structure of overseas teachers of Chinese (including Thai native teachers) and the learners them- selves during the process of teaching and learning Chinese, the objective of this study was to resolve the issue that culture acquisition has not been linked with language acquisition, and to provide the circumstance of acculturation for overseas learners of Chinese in order to let them under-stand the cultural background of the language and easily communicate with the target language group.
METHODS
Because the research is related to teaching Chinese language and culture, it focuses on Chinese lan- guage teachers and overseas learners of Chinese, so we used a literature review, interviews, and participant observations.
Terms defined
‘Chinese language teachers’ in this research refers to Chinese volunteers, teachers of Chinese dispatched by Hanban1, Chinese teachers who are employed by the Thai government, and Thai native teachers. ‘Learners of Chinese’ refers to learners who study Chinese in a non-target language country, especially, those striving to attain an intermediate or advanced level.
Case study location
Khon Kaen university, Thailand was selected as the case study location. The Confucius institute, the Chinese and business Chinese programs in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sci- ences, and the affiliated middle school are all at Khon Kaen university. Chi- nese volunteers, teachers dispatched by the Chinese government, and the Thai native language teachers work there.
Participants
Participant observation occurred over three years – from 2012 to 2015. The selected participants included:
- Twenty Chinese volunteers and teachers whom the Chinese govern- ment dispatched from 2012 to 2015 were interviewed.
- Fifty Thai native teachers teach- ing Chinese were located in north- eastern Thailand. They joined the project of Chinese language training for Thai teachers in northeastern Thai- land, which was sponsored by the Confucius institute at Khon Kaen university in 2012. They came from intermediate and advanced Chinese training classes.
- Sixty undergraduate students in the second and third year of the Chinese program were interviewed at Khon Kaen university from 2013 to 2015.
Theoretical structure
Overseas learners of Chinese, as a special second-language group, learn Chinese in schools, universities, or other training schools; use their Chinese through multi-channels; rarely communicate directly with members of the target language group; and have limited opportunity to enter into Chinese society. it is worthwhile to shorten the psychological distance more than the social distance in their country. Because of the above-men- tioned factors, Chinese language teachers need to recognize the im- portance of acculturation in language teaching by themselves, and positively reconstruct the new cultural system combined with their professional quality. During the teaching process, the learners would be able to achieve better language acquisition through the acquired system and the learned system by virtue of acculturation (see Figure 1).
Figure 1. Comparison of acculturation in target and non-target language environments.
RESULTS
The interviews revealed that language acquisition is closely related to culture acquisition. However, over- seas Chinese language teachers seem to neglect the function of accultur- ation in teaching Chinese language; they especially neglect the new sub- language culture appearing as an in- ternet phenomenon among the youth and some cultural matters related to Chinese language in modern society, and they do not seem to recognize the important role of cultural aware- ness in language communication, especially cross-cultural communi- cation. in addition, they lack proper understanding of traditional Chinese culture, which foreign students are familiar with and interested in. That is to say, as important intermediaries who spread Chinese language and culture, Chinese language teachers do not seem to be attempting to create acculturation circumstances through their own Chinese cultural structure. Therefore, it is critical that Chinese language teachers abroad reconstruct their own Chinese cultural structure, and then help the learners to construct their cultural structure for their ac- culturation.
DISCUSSION
The building of cultural structure during acculturation by Chinese language teachers and learners is an interactive process. At present, Chinese language teachers have some problems with regard to their cultural structure, which does not help learners grasp in-depth knowledge regarding Chinese language and culture.
Problem of cultural structure in the context of catchwords
Lack of proper guidance and explanation of cultural phenomena contained in contemporary Chinese catchwords. in China, many popular words often contain a lot of cultural meaning. Obviously, it is important to understand the cultural meaning contained in these words and phrases. For example, the color white represents purity, cleanliness, and no stains in Chinese culture. Considerable vocabulary, including the Chinese character 白, reflects cultural characteristics, such as 一清二白 (yī qīng èr bái)and 洗白 (xĭ bái); also, white animals are viewed as being pure or sacred. So, 小白兔 (xiăo bái tù / small, white rabbit) refers to a person who is pure and a little silly, and 小白 (xiăo bái) becomes a metaphor for the kind of person who is pure and does not know others’ ideas in some ways. if learners of Chinese understood that much of Chinese culture revolves around color, they would better understand the meaning of these kinds of words. in 2013, a new word 绿茶婊 (lǜ chá biăo) became popular among Chinese youth. in Thailand, the phrase 绿茶婊 can be easily misunderstood. Forty undergraduates majoring in Chinese at Khon Kean univeristy in their second or third year were interviewed on April 6, 2015 (Table1).
Table 1. The meaning of 绿茶婊.
The Baidu Encyclopedia in Chinadefines 绿茶婊 as: “A girl with good looks who pretends to be pure but who likes money, a luxurious life, and shenanigans, and sells sex to find a rich man”. Apparently, most of the students had misunderstood the phrase. They only considered 绿茶, which means ‘green tea’, and neglected the meaning of 婊, which is ‘a prostitute’. Sometimes, they use these new words to communicate with their friends in order to show off their language skills, but doing so inappropriately and embarrassing themselves.
Moreover, the connotation of some words, including 同志 (tóng zhì), 小姐 (xiăo jiě), and 呵呵 (hē hē), are changing with cultural phenomena in modern society. Although these expressions do not usually appear in Chinese language textbooks, they are important expressions for communicating in Chinese today. When ten undergraduates in the second or third year were interviewed, 80% of the respondents thought that their Chinese language teachers had not explained the cultural meanings implied by these words. Chinese language teachers should incorporate these cultural changes in the language into their teaching so that learners properly understand and can appropriately use words like these.
Neglecting the Internet phenomenon of slang phrases during teaching and learning in the context of the Internet. Language is a social communication tool and a product of social activities; it should reflect the culture of the specific community. However, with rapid socioeconomic development and the internet, youth are destined to have a broader communication space than others in society. Consequently, a unique youth subculture has formed in cyberspace, and an internet phenomenon about language has become more fashionable among Chinese youth. Overseas learners of Chinese are not familiar with the internet subculture that has appeared in the milieu of the Chinese language. This, however, is a major way to make friends and, thus, improve their language level through the internet. The internet phenomenon has become more abundant and complex, while its richness and complexity are apparently difficult for learners of Chinese to understand. many slang phrases exist only in the internet environment, and most of them cannot be used in spoken or written language, so learners of Chinese are at a loss when they encounter this internet slang. Popular examples of internet slang are shown in Table 2.
These phrases are usually homogenous with the Pinyin liaison or English phonetics; users then replace them with other Chinese characters to express the same meaning. How- ever, these phrases are not allowed in formal situations, and may turn out to be a fleeting internet phenomenon that disappears with time.
On the other hand, when internet slang phrases are suitable according to basic grammatical norms, they are gradually accepted by the public, and become catchwords that are frequently used in daily life (Table 3 provides some examples).
Table 2. internet Slang.
Table 3. Additional internet slang.
These phrases and sentences have spread widely among the public. For example, 土豪 is often used among friends in daily communication, and even Apple inc has designed a special golden color for the iPhone 5S named 土豪金 (tǔ háo jīn) to appeal to young Chinese customers.
The diversity in modern society has made the link between culture and common people more fragile. internet phenomena are closely related to contemporary society, and their appearance has a connection with cultural events. Twenty Thai teachers teaching Chinese in advanced classes who joined the project of Chinese language training for Thai teachers in march 2012 were interviewed regarding the internet phenomena (Table 4).
In fact, when five Chinese volunteers and teachers were interviewed in April 2014, most of them expressed similar viewpoints. They seldom in- troduced any information about the internet phenomenon because of the limitations of the textbook and the course syllabus. As a result, most of the undergraduate students were unable to understand new internet slang phrases.
It may be that Chinese language learners fall into a ‘cultural trap’ when they encounter the above-mentioned internet phenomenon. They can- not decipher this internet phenomenon, and thus do not properly understand the meaning of the internet slang phrases; consequently, they are unable to use them correctly in their interactions with others. it is easy to make mistakes and misuse these internet phrases and slang. Therefore, Chinese language teachers should re-construct the cultural structure as regards the internet phenomenon when teaching Chinese, thereby making it easier for Chinese language learners to comprehend the language phenomenon and correctly understand the meaning of catchwords, slang phrases, and sentences appearing on the internet.
Table 4. interview question: Paying attention to internet phenomenon of slang phrases.
Not paying attention to the relationship between language and culture.
The role of cultural awareness should be highlighted in cross-cultural language communication. Confucian- ism, with its emphasis on denying self and returning to propriety in daily behavior, has influenced the Chinese for thousands of years. modesty has become a virtue in Chinese daily life, and is often embodied in spoken language; overseas learners of Chinese are often surprised by the degree of modesty practiced by the Chinese.
How do Chinese language learners understand the modesty implied in the Chinese language? Twenty undergraduate students in the second year at Khon Kaen university were interviewed on April 6, 2015 (Table5).
For Question 3, we cannot simply judge the reply of the 60 percent as inappropriate, as they responded according to their cultural understanding; but, obviously, the response is not in line with the pattern of spoken Chinese. As for Question 4, apparently, they do not understand why the Chinese say, “it is a small token” when they give expensive gifts. in fact, the expression demonstrates the virtue of modesty that is part of Chinese culture.
This modesty is captured in the following common uses of language. When a Chinese person is praised, he often says 哪里，哪里 (nǎlǐ,nǎlǐ / not at all), 是吗 (shì ma / is it true?), or 过奖了 (guò jiǎng le / you are flattering me). When a Chinese person invites you to dinner, even if he has spent the whole day preparing a full table of delicious dishes, he would still be polite enough to tell you, 家常便饭， 请随便享用 (jiā cháng biàn fàn,qǐ-ng suí biàn xiáng yòng / this is homemade food; please feel comfortable to enjoy). When someone openly appreciates and comments about his work, even though he has done very well, he would always say, 我们的工作 仍需改进 (wǒ mén de gōng zuò réng xū gǎi jìn / much improvement has to be made in our work).
Table 5. interview question: When a Chinese person praises you, how do you respond?
Thus, to properly communicate cross-culturally, it is very important for learners of Chinese to understand the expressions that are involved in speaking Chinese in accordance with the habit of the Chinese to practice modesty and humility.
Not correctly grasping and understanding the relationship between the Chinese language and customs. Compared to the amount of language offered, the amount of culture offered lags behind. When teaching learners of Chinese or training native Chinese language teachers overseas, curriculums and training programs are typically focused on Chinese language skills rather than culture, especially with regard to oral expression and application, and writing of Chinese characters. Chinese culture is of secondary importance. in fact, some Chinese customs are closely related to the Chinese language. it is necessary to help learners of Chinese to better understand Chinese customs and communicate with Chinese people by comprehending the relationship between Chinese culture and language. in cross-cultural communication, some common Chinese customs and the Chinese language are linked. As Chinese culture changes, it is some- times misread. For example, the method of pasting 福 (fú / blessing) is a basic cultural item that helps foreigners understand the Chinese spring festival. Now, the method of pasting 福 upside down is very popular, but we can still see that most Chinese families paste 福 the right way up. How to paste 福 is an issue Chinese language teachers often encounter while teaching Chinese culture abroad.
In 2012, the project of Chinese language training for Thai teachers was conducted by the Confucius institute at Khon Kaen university; 50 Thai teachers of intermediate and advanced Chinese classes were inter- viewed (Table 6).
Chinese scholars have different views on sticking 福 upside down or the right way up; the behavior of sticking 福 upside down is attached to some legends, and it seems to have become the convention of the Chinese spring festival. But from the perspective of Chinese traditional culture, Chinese people pay attention to 正(zhèng / righteousness), emphasize speaking and behaving righteously, have a positive attitude toward learning, and champion righteousness. ‘Righteousness’ is to be promoted and spread, while ‘negativity’ is not to be accepted, as conveyed by the sayings 本末倒置 (běn mò dào zhì / put the cart before the horse) and 舍本逐末 (shě běn zhú mò / sacrifice the substance for the shadow).
Table 6. interview question: How do you think the Chinese character “福” should be pasted?
Righteousness is important in Chinese culture; in the orthodox spring festival, it is believed that advocating ‘righteousness’ brings good luck. So, why do some people paste 福 upside down? According to some Chinese legends, this came about because a servant who could not read Chinese characters placed 福 upside down, but the servant was finally forgiven by way of the blessing word. A ‘blessing word’ is a way to pursue fortune and auspiciousness by way of it being a homophone4. in China, a host usually places 福 upside down in the beginning, and then lets a child glance at it; the child usually tells the host that 福 is pasted upside down (福倒了 / fú dào le), so it sounds like fortune is forthcoming (福到了 / fú dào le). The host is happy to hear that, and then pastes 福 the right way up again. in fact, it is considered correct and popular to paste 福 the right way up.
This kind of folklore and custom contains language culture. Chinese language teachers and learners should correctly realize the relationship between language and folklore; this is especially important for Chinese language teachers, as they should bring the relationship between language and folklore into their cultural structure, let it penetrate into their teaching, and let the learners grasp more language skills while studying culture. This is a crucial factor in strengthening the acculturation of the learner.
Not accurately understanding the connotation of Chinese customs and folklore. Chinese culture may have spread overseas via mass media and other channels. it is important, however, that what is spread is proper Chinese traditional culture. Of course, for Chinese language learners overseas, many channels are available for understanding traditional Chinese culture. Chinese language teachers abroad are working in the forefront of teaching Chinese language and culture; hence, they are the direct propagators of Chinese language and culture. The question is whether the Chinese language teachers explain the origin and significance of the traditional culture that the Chinese language learners should know. Some familiar aspects of Chinese culture are misread and misunderstood overseas. Twenty Chinese volunteers that the Chinese government dispatched from 2012 to 2015 were interviewed about this issue (Table 6).
It is clear that a majority of Chinese volunteers do not know the correct way of drinking cross-cupped wine at a wedding. According to traditional records, the correct way is to divide the gourd into two, after which the groom and the bride would hold a piece of the gourd ladle to drink the wine5. in fact, in modern weddings it would be more appropriate to call this method of drinking wine ‘cross-armed wine’ drinking, rather than ‘cross-cupped wine’ drinking.
Overseas learners of Chinese have a certain cultural background themselves. Some of them are interested in Chinese culture and accept it from mass media, especially customs and folklore, such as wedding celebrations, New Year’s celebrations, and mid-autumn festivals. They hope to learn more about traditional cultural matters, and understand the true connotation of traditional culture. Therefore, overseas Chinese teachers should directly address the issues regarding how to understand Chinese culture properly during their teaching, and take upon themselves the responsibility of enabling the learners to grasp the authentic connotation of Chinese cultural matters, especially traditional culture, to prevent any possible misinterpretation of Chinese culture in order that a proper acculturation environment is constructed for overseas Chinese language learners.
Table 6. interview question: How is cross-cupped wine (交杯酒) drunk in a Chinese wedding?
Suggestions and strategies
In practice, how can a Chinese language teacher reconstruct the cultural structure in the process of teaching the Chinese language? The cultural structure involved in this process is as shown in Table 7.
The above-mentioned cultural levels should be involved in the cultural structure of Chinese language teachers overseas. in this way, the teachers not only keep pace with the times, but also spread proper Chinese culture, and further create better circumstances of acculturation to help language learners improve their level of Chinese communication and enhance their confidence in learning Chinese.
CONCLUSION
Acculturation is beneficial for second language acquisition when Chinese is studied as the second language. However, overseas learners of Chinese rarely get the chance to study in China, so have no language circumstance to process the acculturation. it is necessary for Chinese language teachers to provide an authentic cultural environment for Chinese language learners abroad.
An important duty of Chinese language teachers is to teach learners of Chinese to use the Chinese language properly; however, they should not neglect to teach Chinese culture. in fact, language acquisition together with cultural acquisition brings out the best in these two significant aspects of learning. Learn- ers strengthen the acquisition of culture, in a virtuous circle. However, if teachers ignore the culture acquisition of Chinese language learners, they may encounter obstacles during times of cross-cultural communication.
Table 7. Reconstruction of cultural structure while teaching Chinese.
Therefore, it is crucial to reconstruct the cultural structure of contemporary Chinese teachers, and the reconstruction should be aimed at providing an environment of acculturation for Chinese language learners that is convenient and beneficial to help them understand and grasp the Chinese language and culture more easily and strengthen their confidence. Overseas Chinese teachers should properly take into consideration the youth language subculture prevalent as an internet phenomenon, or correctly understand the traditional Chinese culture inherent in the modern Chinese language and the relationship between language and custom. This would have a multiplier effect for Chinese language learners overseas, and would help them better understand the Chinese language, which is crucial in cross-cultural communication and exchange. Through the Chinese language teacher’s cultural reconstruction, learners of Chinese may achieve higher levels of acculturation, shorten the social distance and the psychological distance with target language groups, and achieve more progress in language acquisition.
In addition, as overseas flag bear-ers of the Chinese language, Chinese language teachers, besides recognizing the relationship of mutual benefit between language acquisition and cultural acquisition, have to possess correct understanding of some Chinese cultural matters, and be responsible enough to prevent Chinese language learners from understanding Chinese language and culture incorrectly or being mislead by some China mass media. Therefore, overseas Chinese language teachers should continue to strengthen their in-depth training in Chinese culture in order to enhance their role as torchbearers in properly disseminating traditional Chinese culture.
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