Coloring the Language: Teaching Chinese Culture in Language Classes

 

Hong Zhang (张泓)

Binghamton University, SUNY

 

In language teaching, culture is often seen merely as information conveyed by the language, not as a feature of language itself; cultural awareness becomes an educational objective in itself, separated from language. This presentation will introduce a new approach that distinguishes itself by treating the exquisite connection between language and culture in a systematic and structured manner. The presentations will include analyses of the cultural implications of linguistic choices and show that culture has come to color language in many and varied ways. The audience will be introduced to distinctive topics of Chinese culture, which serves as important portals to Chinese perceptions and perspectives. As a whole, this paper aims at shedding light on the inner cohesion of the language and culture pedagogy while enriching and giving deeper meaning to what is dubbed “communicative competence.