Chinese: Second Language Learner 7–10 Sequence / Levels 7 and 8 / Understanding / The role of language and culture
Content description
Discuss how language choices reflect cultural practices, including clarifying roles and relationships between participants in interactions
Elaborations
discussing cultural values reflected in language use (for example, in relation to celebrations) and how they influence interactions, for example, by asking: In the colloquial phrase 合家团圆, what is 团圆？ Why wish people 团圆？ Does this have the same meaning in Australian culture? What’s the relationship between the language use and the Chinese values in this phrase?
identifying aspects taken for granted in communication (for example, a shared understanding of gesture, body movement and word meanings), and comparing ways people interact across cultures, asking, for example: How do Chinese people use gesture? Which non-verbal cues are shared with English speakers? Do they mean the same thing in both cultures? How does not understanding these differences impact on how we perceive each other?
exploring the nature of the concept of ‘family’ in Chinese culture and how this influences relationships between individuals, for example, addressing adults as 叔叔 or 阿姨
experimenting with multiple ways of expressing similar meanings in Chinese (for example, 你叫什么？ 你叫什么名字？ 你几岁？你多大？) and discussing the differences in the context of use
discussing how different roles and relationships are reflected in or impacted by word choices, for example, whether/when it is appropriate to ask someone’s age, when to say 你几岁？ or 你多大了？or when to use 你属什么?
considering the different ways of addressing people in authority (李老师；王校长) and how this reflects the importance of respect and hierarchy in Chinese culture
