Utilising languaculture/linguaculture as a conceptual approach, this study seeks common ground in the disciplines of sinology and foreign language education and argues for the inclusion of classical Chinese teaching in the development of curricula for Chinese studies in the New Zealand higher education sector. It firstly reviews the development of Chinese studies at New Zealand universities, with a focus on the Victoria University of Wellington (VUW). Then I discuss classical Chinese teaching from both sinological and linguacultural perspectives and elaborate on why knowledge of classical Chinese affords a crucial tool for Chinese language students to gain new insights into Chinese culture and society. By exploring the classical Chinese course content at VUW and how students relate what they learn from the course to modern studies in various disciplines, this chapter offers further insight into the accessibility of the classical Chinese world and the relevance of such knowledge to the study of modern Chinese language and to subjects in Chinese/China studies.
History
Preferred citation
Bai, L. (2023). Teaching Classical Chinese at New Zealand Universities: A Languacultural Perspective. Multilingual Education (44, pp. 71-85). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35475-5_5