The effects of Chinese CLIL-based online culture lessons on cultural awareness and vocabulary learning

Abstract

Although a teaching design based on CLIL methodology has been proposed in the Teaching Chinese ad Second Language (TCSL) area, still little to no attention has been paid to the teaching of Chinese Culture and Chinese as a Foreign language (CFL) through this approach. For this study we embrace the CLIL methodology in the delivery of six lessons of Chinese culture to a group of 15 second-year Italian university students with an intermediate level Chinese proficiency. The research was guided by two questions: (1) How effective is the CLIL method for learning Chinese specific vocabulary? (2) To what extent may CLIL-based teaching enhance Chinese FL learners’ cultural awareness? Data, collected through pre- and post-test focusing on learners’ cultural and linguistic knowledge of Chinese dining manners and etiquette rules seem to back up our initial hypothesis of CLIL providing students with the necessary skills to study and work in a globalized environment thanks to their constant exposure to more authentic materials and the instructor’s focus on the scaffolding of cultural awareness and understanding