鳥取環境大学紀要
第 4 号（2006.2）pp147 −157

How Chinese Stands as a Cultural Course?

− An Attempt to Establish the Role of Chinese as a Cultural Study in TUES

夏

煦沁

Xia

Xuqin

これまでの大学のカリキュラムでは英語以外の第二外国語科目の役割、重要性について十分な研究が行われてこなかった。本論文は、鳥取環境大学における二年半の間の教育実践の経験にもとづき、第二外国語としての中国語教育の目的、ならびに教育方法をまとめたものである。著者のクラスでは、中国語教育を「言語」と「文化」の二つに分けて行っている。このような授業の仕方によって、限られている時間数内に、学習者のために最大限の言語知識を教授し、そして様々な文化分野に触れ合うチャンスを与えることを目指している。
中国語、第二外国語、言語、文化、能力試験
Abstract

This article is intended to illustrate the author s understanding of the general goals of Chinese, anelective subject in the curriculum of TUES, and what, in consequence, should be conducted to realize those goals. As
there is not so much research on the role and importance of the second foreign language courses (other than English)
in the university curriculum, this is a tentative attempt to exemplify the importance of Chinese as a second language
course as well as to show how to take advantage of this subject to sensitize students to the existence of China andequip themselves with the maximum possible ability in both oral and written communication.
Keywords Chinese, second foreign language, language, culture, proficiency test

1. Introduction

their employment prospects. This article is, then, a tentative

Cultural studies set in the curriculum of a university cover a

attempt to establish the general roles and stance of the language

wide range of disciplines, ranging from philosophical studies,course, Chinese, set as one of the cultural studies in TUES.

basic mathematics, social studies and even to orchestra
appreciation. However, there is a common purpose underlying

2. Pedagogical purpose

all those subjects, i.e., to equip university students withIn China, Chinese language teaching has experienced apreliminary skills to deal with their life after graduation as a

gradual change in terms of ultimate purposes of language

member of society. Among many, language courses are often

learning. In the early stages, foreign students from otherseen as a window to peep into other cultures, and to establish

developing countries came to study Chinese in order tooneself in a global context and even as a practical skill to widen

participate in Chinese university courses so that they could− 147 −

鳥取環境大学紀要

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master necessary technical or administrative skills to serve for

On top of those, dictionary skill is another must. Dictionary

the developments of their own countries. However, with moreskills are indispensable skills for learners to further their study

and more students from other developed countries coming toin Chinese on their own. Compared with speaking Chinese in a

China, a change in the purposes of Chinese teaching islocal environment, the chances are much greater for them to run

necessitated, because most of the foreign students study

into materials or manuals written in Chinese. In this sense,

Chinese either out of pure interests in China itself or to achieve

being able to use dictionary by themselves to do independent

success in their career developments in China. In view of this,research has become a prospectively critical skill.

teaching of Chinese has shifted the focus from the earlier
academic purposes to communicative purposes, so that

B. To promote intercultural understanding and enrich
students view of value

students could function successfully in economical or culturalactivities in China.

Language is said to be the embodiment of its culture, andWith the growing exchanges in different aspects of social life,

ultimate purpose of students language learning could be seen

China has come to a stronger bond with Japan as well as withas to function successfully in the target culture (Moran, 2001).

1)th

In other words, language is no more than a tool to help learners

the rest of the world . The recent establishment (June 28 ,2)2005) of Confucius Institute in Retsumeikan University has

to cope with the culture it represents, although language

shown that Chinese language has gradually come under thelearning could mean more of research values to linguistic

scrutiny in Japan. However, as an elective subject in the

researchers. A brief browsing of most of the syllabus of culture

curriculum of TUES, Chinese has only been offered 30 periods

studies in the universities in Japan reveals that many have put(about 45 hours) throughout the whole academic year, which is

deepening cross-cultural understanding

even inclusive of two examination periods. Compared withpriorities (syllabus of cultural studies in Kinki University,

as one of the top

English, the compulsory language subject that covers a total of

2004; Okinawa Prefectural Art University, 2005, etc ).

108 hours per year, time allocated for Chinese accounts for less

Although a few high schools in Japan have started Chinese as athan half of those of English. Still, with reference to HSK3), thesecond foreign language, most high schools have English as thebasic certificate would even require a minimum of 100 hours of

main foreign language option (Chinese Education Committee

intensive study of Chinese. In view of this, the time given is far

of Japanese National High Schools, 1999). This means thatfrom being enough for students to even attempt to sit the HSK

university could well be the first academic situation where

exam. Consequently, what shall be set as the course target andstudents encounter Chinese. In view of this, it stands to reason

in what ways Chinese courses shall be conducted so as toto claim more importance to the introduction of target culture.

realize this target have aroused my attention.
Many students select Chinese out of mere curiosity, such as its
A. To equip learners with survival communicative skills

unique way of pronunciation and intonation, the similarity inthe use of characters, Chinese cuisine and even their favorite

As is with all the other language courses, Chinese course also

Chinese actor or actress could trigger such choices. However,aims at enabling learners to function in a target language.

taking advantage of students initial interests in the target

Though short in the total length of class time, Chinese course

language and its culture, course designer may well lead students

has aimed at covering the basic linguistic knowledge ofto appreciate the role of underlying culture, thus coming to a

Chinese in terms of its phonological system - Pinyin, its

more complete view of the target country.

orthographical system - Chinese characters and somefundamental syntactical patterns and survival vocabulary.

C. To provide learners with another chance of starting a

While being able to take the advantage of the shared use ofbrand new language for the purpose of expanding

many characters in both China and Japan, particular attention

employment prospects

should be paid to the simplified set of characters used in present
Chinese society. (See appendix I)

For some learners however, selecting Chinese as a second
language could be a way to compensate their unsuccessful− 148 −

夏 How Chinese Stands as a Cultural Course?

learning experience in the first foreign language, such asshows how the general number of applicants changes over 28

English. From my experience, some students have come to ayears. As is shown in the graph, there are less than 5,000

standoff in the learning of English and they were earnest to start

applicants in the 15th administration of Chinese Examination

up another language to regain their confidence in language

whereas an increase of 10,000 is observed at around 31 st

acquisition. At the same time, to have a certificate, even an

examination. With some ups and downs, though, the graph has

introductory certificate in a foreign language, may well enhance

revealed a steady growth in the number of applicants as with

their job-hunting potentials. With the ever increasing culture

the progress of the number of examinations.

and trading exchange between Japan and China, more and more
Japanese enterprises have set up their head office and plants in
China. And the demand for those who could function in
Chinese is remarkably on the increase. In view of this, it could
be well argued that, elective cultural subject as it is, Chinese
may as well receive enough attention to function as a subject
that may help to contribute to the students employment
prospects in the near future.
To have certificates of different levels in Chinese language
proficiency test is one of the proofs of one s language
proficiency in job-hunting. There are mainly three nation-wide
Chinese proficiency tests in Japan, respectively, HSK4), Chinese
Examination (日本中国語検定, or 中検), and Chinese
Japanese Business Communication Test（中日通検 or BCT）.
HSK is a Chinese Proficiency Test (Han Yu Shui Ping Kao Shi),
which is directly authorized by the Educational Committee ofChinese government. It offers two kinds of certificates, required
either in applying for studying in the university or working in
China. It is a worldwide test and anyone who has Chinese as
their second or foreign language could sit HSK. Chinese
Examination is a test organized by Japanese government toevaluate Chinese language proficiency of learners inside ofJapan. BCT is hosted by Japanese Interpretation Association（ 日 本 通 訳 協 会 ） , aiming at evaluating learners
communication ability under business context.
In the case of HSK, the overall number of examinee is seen to
be on a steady increase from the year HSK was first conducted.
Up to 2003, there have been more than 140,000 examinees who
have sit HSK worldwide. And in Japan, the accumulative
number shows more than 34,000 candidates have sit HSK in
Japan since it was first administered in Japan in 1984.
Another look at the total number of Chinese Examination (seeTable I) also elucidates that Chinese is enjoying a
vicissitudinous increase of popularity within Japanese learners.
As the exam is carried out twice a year, the number of exams− 149 −

鳥取環境大学紀要

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Table 1 Progress of the total number of applicants of Chinese Examination(Chinese Examination, 2005)

As a relatively new comer of the proficiency test, BCT is now

A.Language skill part

gaining popularity as its English counterpart TOEIC. The
number of applicants for the year 2005 (the first

In this part of the course, learners are to be taught some basic

implementation of BCT in Chinese-Japanese) is 365. (Japanese

linguistic facts about Chinese and some communicative skills.

Interpretation Association has started similar exams in English-

In detail, the following items are to be covered:Japanese for over 32 years since year 1973; however, theimplementation of BCT in Chinese-Japanese was started ina.

Chinese phonological system

spring, 2005) The introduction of Business dimension in音), is a set of written alphabetic system that

Chinese has foregrounded the importance of Chinese as a

Pinyin (means of business transaction.

represents the phonetic features of Chinese. This may also
be the most difficult starting-up stage for most of

The brief listing of statistics has insinuated that Chinese is

beginners in Chinese. It has taken me more than fivereceiving more and more attention as a media to participate inperiods of class time to cover all Pinyin sections. As aChinese cultural and economical life. And this world wave

result of repetitive imitation and gradual hardening of their

could have exerted its powerful influence over Japan, and it ismouth muscles, most of the learners got quite exhausted

particularly true in view of much geographical and culturalwhen Pinyin section came to the end, and some students

affinity between these two countries. Therefore, we have every

even became so frustrated as to have given up at thisreason to believe that being able to function successfully instage.

Chinese will help students in TUES to bring in new
perspectives in their lives as well as to expand their prospective

However, I choose not to skip this Pinyin section, because

employment possibilities.

if so, the Katakana style of interpreting the real Chinese
pronunciation could result in irrevocably devastating
results. To show how different real Chinese pronunciation

3. How to set the syllabus

and Japanese Katakana interpretation could be, I have

− 150 −

夏 How Chinese Stands as a Cultural Course?

chosen one Chinese song, with one Katakana style of its

expected in the interpretation process. Besides, even the

lyrics. After having students to listen to the Chinesesame Pinyin could result in a number of candidates andoriginal CD recording, they are then asked to listen to thestudents will need to locate the correct candidate by fitting

reading of Katakana version, using special audio software.

it into the interlocutory context. However, more often,

By doing so, my students could easily feel the differences

students will make use of Radical approach, which is

between real Chinese pronunciation and Katakana

similar to that of Kanwa4) dictionary. As long as students

interpretation, realizing that by trying to rely on Katakana

could recognize simplified radicals, they could then, locate

is by no means an effective method to get them across.

the character easily in the dictionary.

(The version of this song lyric is attached as appendix II.)
Some exercises to practise dictionary skills could be foundb.

The comparison and contrast of charactersin appendix III, with 1) characters with the same looking
having interestingly different meaning in both Japanese

Most of my students wrongly believe that Chinese is easy

and Chinese, and vice versa; 2) some Chinese-specificto acquire because Chinese and Japanese share mostusages.

usages of characters. However, this opinion is only
partially true. In 1956, Chinese educational committeed.

Basic syntactic rules and vocabulary

released a set of simplified characters in the interest ofenhancing the general efficiency of writing in Chinese. On

For Chinese course, I have chosen 24 Tools of

the one hand, Chinese seems a lot familiar to JapaneseConversation (会話ツール２４) as the standard text inlearners to start up with; however, vocabularies used inclass. One reason is that this text book has its equivalent

daily life situation are very different from those applied inelectronic version so that student could study on their own

other social and natural scientific disciplines. In otheroutside class time. The basic syntactic rules that arewords, in the initial stages, learners may not encounter ascovered are attached as Appendix IV.

many characters of precisely the same usage as they
expect. Rather, they may meet up with very many

In addition, there are also some essential vocabularies tosimplified characters, which would only puzzle Japanese

be introduced so that students could rise up to thelearners as being somehow familiar but not exactly what

everyday situation. According to the minimum

they know about. In this way, it seems rather practical torequirement of HSK, a minimum of 400 words is necessary

give my students a list of characters, compared andfor the issue of an introductory certificate. Therefore, acontrasted within both Chinese and Japanese contexts, so

total number of more than 1,000 words are introduced inthat they could get used to the simplified characters as used

the set textbook.

in the road boards. (Also see appendix I)
B. Culture partc.

Dictionary skills
Culture, is an enormously huge concept, with a rich variety of
As an indispensable skill to assist students in theirdefinitions. Teaching of culture may sound too arrogant or justindependent research work, dictionary skills are taught

ignorant. Yet, language and culture is obviously interdependentright after the instruction of Pinyin and the introduction ofand language is the embodiment of its culture whereas culture

simplified set of characters.

is inevitably reflected in language itself. It then makes every
sense to sensitize learners to the culture that gives birth to its

There are usually two ways of using a dictionary: Pinyin

language.

approach and Radical approach. By Pinyin approach,students need to interpret the audio input into correct

Within a total of less than 45 hours allotted to Chinese subject,

Pinyin and then locate this Pinyin in the dictionary. This is

how to weave the introduction of culture into language

usually the harder part, since various mistakes could beclassrooms in order that students may be able to see where they

− 151 −

鳥取環境大学紀要

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stand in relation to the target culture? Moran (2001) has given

possible so that they could construct an image of China out ofout five culture dimensions, namely, products, perspectives,

their own understanding.

persons, practices and communities. It may be easier to explain
the definition of five cultural dimensions by setting the scene

An illustration of one of the cultural topics - loan words - iswith, for instance, an automobile. Product refers to automobile

described as below. Given the similarities in the usage of

itself as a tangible cultural product; practice could refer to how

characters, it could arouse more interest, for example, toautomobile functions as a means of transportation in the target

compare and contrast the use of loan words in both China andculture (such as rules governing which side of the road

Japan. Japanese loan words usually have close pronunciation as

automobiles run in the target country); persons could be thosethe original word while Chinese loan words are often

who manufacture automobiles with their own identities andcharacterized by both approximating pronunciation and5)

their life experiences (such as those introduced in Project X );imaginable implication. By explaining loan words, students

and communities relates to any social institutes that have rules

could be more prepared to approach Chinese loan words andof their own governing the operation of automobile, (such as

enjoy their imagery association. An example of this is attachedpolice who carry out traffic laws); and perspective could meanas Appendix V. Also, the year-out syllabus for Chinese isgeneral belief or attitude of persons within the target cultureattached as Appendix VI for references.

taken towards automobile (whether they view automobile as adaily necessity or just an item of luxury). Oversimplified,

4. Conclusion

though, the above could be understood as applications of five

This paper has presented how the author understands thecultural dimensions in the case of an automobile. Among those,

purposes of Chinese as an elective cultural study on the basis ofproduct, person and practice may be more readily included in

the interrelationship between language and culture it represents.

the introduction of Chinese culture. Because product refers toMoreover, it has also depicted how to set Chinese syllabus toany visible or invisible items that are particular to the target

best realize its pedagogical purposes as the author believes.

culture. Practice refers to any customary actions or operations

An elective second language course as it is, Chinese course

within a culture. Person refers to individuals whose ID typifies

should not only be dismissed as nothing more than second

that culture. If classroom materials are selected to reflect theforeign language course; rather, it had better be viewed withabove three aspects, students could have a base to come up withreasonable expectations and treated with more importance.

their own understanding of the target language culture, thus
coming to understand, eventually, how they stand in relation to

Notes

it.

1） So far, there are about more than 300 Chinese teachingorganizations in the world. (，2005)As a complimentary part to language-skills part, cultural

2） Confucius Institute is an organization sponsored byintroduction only takes up 30 minutes of class-time, which is

Chinese government for the purpose of promoting Chinese

apparently far from enough to, ideally, cover all five culture

language teaching overseas.

dimensions. In view of this, Chinese syllabus in TUES has

3） HSK is the standard examination sponsored by Chinese

included, for the main part, cultural products (such as Chinese

government to measure the language proficiency offood, idioms, songs, ancient poems, famous tourist spots,

learners of other languages. HSK issues the only officiallyhistoric relics, etc) and some common practices (such as therecognized certificate that certifies learners language

major national festivals and wedding ceremonies, etc.) as wellability in terms of admission to study in any of the tertiary

as some community scenes (such as one-day of a Shanghai

level schools in China.

family). The author has attached more importance on the4） Project X is a Japanese national TV program introducing

introduction of the above three dimensions due to time limit aspains-taking struggles of people involved in major projects

well as out of assumed efficacy of material selection andacross a variety of industries during the beginning of theapplication. So is the cultural part of syllabus set, this part ofeconomical development in Japan.

the course will try to spread in front of learners as much of
Chinese daily life and its underlying morals (perspectives) as− 152 −

夏 How Chinese Stands as a Cultural Course?

Thomson Learning

References

外Chinese Examination (2005)

网 http://hanyuwang.com

情報誌 小渓 http://www.tjf.or.jp/xiaoxi/ij200koko.htm

http://www.chuken.gr.jp/test/result/applicant.htm
Chinese Education Committee of Japanese National High

中日通検ニュース (2005) http://www.jipta.net./cj

Schools (1999) 全国高等学校中国語教育研究会
Moran, P (2001) Teaching Culture Heinle & Heinle,（2006 年 1 月 11 日受理）
Appendix I: (1) Simplified characters: radicals− 153 −

鳥取環境大学紀要(2) Simplified characters

Appendix II: Song lyrics
The original Chinese lyrics:

Katakana interpretation of the above Chinese lyrics:
パオマー

リゥリゥディ

イートゥオ

シャンシャン,

リゥリゥディ

トゥアントゥアン

ユンヨー.

リゥリゥディ

カンティン

リゥリゥディ

ユエリアン,

ワン- ワン-,カンティン

リゥリゥディ

チャオツァイ,チュンヨー.
チュンヨー.

− 154 −

第4号

夏 How Chinese Stands as a Cultural Course?

Appendix III
Same characters with different meanings in Chinese and Japanese
Use dictionaries to check out the meaning in Chinese of the following Japanese characters

Some Chinese-specific usages
Use dictionaries to check out the meaning of the Chinese phrases− 155 −

鳥取環境大学紀要

第4号

Appendix IV: Syntactical structures covered in 24 Tools of Conversation

Appendix V: Chinese loanwords
Unlike Japanese, there is no Katakana in Chinese to indicate loanwords as they are phonologically are. Chinese loanwords are also
expressed with characters. There are generally two types of loanwords in Chinese, i.e.
１. Transliteration type ：２. Transliteration with imageable indication ：Still, there are the direct importation from Japan, such as: 新登場

出前一丁− 156 −

吉野屋

人気

資生堂

豊田

夏 How Chinese Stands as a Cultural Course?

Appendix VI: Syllabus for the first term:

Syllabus for the second term:− 157 −