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Who is Teaching Who What? Chinese as a Foreign Language Teaching in Australian Schools

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Teacher Voices in Chinese Language Teaching

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Teaching and Learning Chinese ((PSTLC))

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Abstract

This chapter surveys the historical and current state of uptake of Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) in Australian schooling (primary and secondary). The question of whether Australia, through its education system, is develo** more Chinese language users cannot be answered through simple data analysis. Even though numbers of Chinese language learners appear high in relation to other foreign languages, the comparison is fraught with idiosyncratic issues such as the reality of large numbers of Chinese heritage background learners and low numbers of learners for whom Chinese is entirely ‘foreign’. There is growth in the number of learners, but this must be interpreted in light of who the learners are. For instance, if a majority of teachers and learners have a Chinese heritage, then ‘CFL’ might be an unhelpful term. Put another way, how can ‘Chinese teaching Chinese to the Chinese’ be counted in assessments of the growth or decline of CFL in Australia? The issue is complex for Australia, where over 500,000 residents were born in Mainland China. The chapter begins with an overview of the basis for this book. It presents the author’s personal background, as well as the research context in which the book is situated. An overview of the research methodology and participants is presented and the key concept of ‘intercultural competence’ is defined with reference to the literature.

The limits of my language mean the limits of my world

—Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951)

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  1. Morling College, Macquarie Park, NSW, Australia

    Scott Smith

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Smith, S. (2022). Who is Teaching Who What? Chinese as a Foreign Language Teaching in Australian Schools. In: Teacher Voices in Chinese Language Teaching. Palgrave Studies in Teaching and Learning Chinese. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89213-5_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89213-5_1

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