Identifying Cultural Elements in Chinese Language Curricula  Using the 3Ps Framework

Guangyan Chen陈广艳

 Texas Christian University  Assistant professor

论文摘要Paper AbstractForeign language (FL) researchers and practitioners generally agree that culture is important and should be taught in language education. The cultural importance is clearly stated in Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century. This document identifies culture as one of the five goal areas in FL education and categorizes culture using the framework of 3Ps (cultural perspectives, practices, and products). However, cultural instruction in FL education remains marginalized because many practitioners have limited knowledge regarding what culture refers to in a particular FL. Culture is particularly important for CFL (Chinese as a FL) education, because Chinese is a truly difficult language for English-speaking learners and relies heavily on culture to make communication successful.

This article employs examples to interpret the three aspects of culture (3Ps) within the context of CFL in the U.S. The 3Ps in CFL curricula are mainly demonstrated as (1) three fundamental values of collectivism, large power distance, and intro-group harmony, (2) patterns of Chinese social behaviors, and (3) the Chinese linguistic system. This article provides practitioners with a deeper understanding of Chinese culture in CFL curricula. Suggestions are offered about what kind of Chinese cultural knowledge CFL practitioners should integrate into their CFL curricula.

 发言人简介Presenter's BioGuangyan Chen (Ph.D., The Ohio State University) is an assistant professor of Chinese at Texas Christian University. She has taught various levels of collegiate Chinese since 1998. Her research interests span the areas of Chinese pedagogy, acquisition, and assessment. A common thread in her research is her emphasis on a culture-oriented pedagogical approach. All her publications relate to culture-oriented language pedagogy, acquisition, and assessment.