A case study of a course designed to apply the performed culture approach to help Australian primary school students become more learned in Chinese language and culture

Abstract

Increasing interactions between Australia and China highlight the need for better intercommunication and deeper understanding of the Chinese language in Australia. This demand is reflected in the Chinese K-10 Syllabus in New South Wales through two strands of outcomes, communicating and understanding (NESA, 2017). This case study investigated a course design that applied the performed culture approach to Chinese learning in Australia. The investigation was conducted through interviews with professional experts, who were asked for their opinions on the course designed for Year 5 students. The research questions focussed on how the performed culture approach could be developed for Australian primary students, and whether this approach could enrich students' learning of Chinese language and culture. Data were collected through qualitative interviews with teachers and academics working in the field of education. The aim of this study was to develop a Year 5 pedagogical Chinese curriculum that can assist practitioners to improve students' Chinese communicative skills and cultural understanding. Informed by the performed culture approach and consistent with the NSW Chinese syllabus objectives in communicative skills and cultural understanding, this project concluded with a unit of work and series of lesson plans integrating culture with language, designed to encourage Australian primary students' culturally appropriate language use.

Date of Award	2021
Original language	English