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Representations of Chinese Language Learning in Contemporary English-language News Media: Hope, Hype, and Fear

对外汉语教学在英语新闻媒体中的表述:期冀, 炒作和恐惧
  • Patricia A. Duff

    Patricia (Patsy) Duff is a professor in the Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of British Columbia (UBC), where she teaches applied linguistics courses and conducts research on the teaching, learning, and use of English and Chinese in various local and global settings.

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    , Tim Anderson

    Tim Anderson is a doctoral candidate in Language and Literacy Education at UBC. He teaches courses in applied linguistics for teachers and conducts research on the teaching and learning of English and Chinese as additional languages. His dissertation focuses on academic discourse socialization for Chinese doctoral students at a Canadian university.

    , Liam Doherty

    Liam Doherty is a doctoral student in Language and Literacy Education at UBC. His research examines agency, socialization, and mobile technologies in Chinese language learning and use. Recent research topics have included Chinese learner agency and narrative language socialization through popular television dramas.

    and Rachel Wang

    Rachel Wang is a doctoral student in Language and Literacy Education at UBC. Her research and teaching focus on Chinese language education and instructional technologies for children, adolescents, and adults in Chinese second-language and foreign-language contexts.

From the journal Global Chinese

Abstract

The growing body of research on Chinese as an international (or “global”) language examines linguistic, psycholinguistic, social-psychological, and orthographic aspects of acquisition primarily. There has been relatively little critical discussion or analysis of the larger social context and discourses in which Chinese language education is embedded. However, recently sociocultural, discursive, and critical aspects of the teaching, learning, and use of Chinese as an additional language have begun to receive more attention. This study analyzes circulating discourses, ideologies, and tropes related to Chinese in news media, as one means by which information and perspectives are spread by media and by which public attitudes and policy decisions are (recursively) shaped or reproduced. To this end, a large sample of English-medium news reports of Chinese language education in three Anglophone countries was created and analyzed for the years 2004 to 2012.

The findings revealed that reports dealing with Chinese education tended to fall into one of several major tropes, which we have roughly classified as “hope,” “hype,” and “fear,” distinctions that parallel existing models of cyclical or amplified media coverage of innovations or otherwise newsworthy events. The sociopolitically and socioeconomically motivated occurrence of these tropes in the media, combined with the novelty of the Chinese language itself, a historically less frequently taught language in comparison with various European languages, constituted a consistent and recurring narrative. Thus, the shifting representations of Chinese learning in the media tended to appear as corollaries or “side stories” servicing the needs of larger geopolitical events and perceived or desired changes in public sentiment. These trends and their significance are illustrated and discussed in relation to Global Chinese.

提要

在学术研究方面,中文作为国际(或 “全球化”)语言的研究不断发展。但到目前为止,学者们主要关注从语言学、心理语言学、社会心理学以及汉字特征等角度探讨语言习得问题。相对而言,宏观的对汉语教育所处的社会现状与话语进行批判性分析的研究尚属罕见。所幸的是,近年来已有一些研究者在这些层面对汉语作为第二语言的教授、学习及使用问题给予了一定关注。本研究分析了 2004 到 2012 年间三大英语国家(加拿大、美国和英国)报刊、杂志以及电视节目中有关汉语教育的大量新闻报道。着重解析新闻媒体中有关汉语的话语、意识形态及重复主题的传播,以证明媒体在传播信息和反映大众观点的同时,也能起到影响公众态度及左右政策的作用。

研究结果显示,与汉语教育相关报道可大致划分为“期冀”, “炒作” 和 “恐惧” 的重复主题,这种划分与媒体对其他新事物或要闻的周期报道模式基本吻合。 媒体中这些重复主题背后的社会政治及社会经济动机,加上汉语本身的新奇性 (相较于欧洲语言,汉语在西方国家历来未被广泛教授),构成了一个 2004 到 2012 年间媒体中不断重复的故事。由此看来,媒体对汉语学习报道的 “爱憎” 变化,似乎是为更重大的地域政治事件,以及观察到的或者期待的民众情绪变化的需要而服务的衍生品。我们将结合全球化汉语这个议题,讨论和分析这些趋势及其重要性。

About the authors

Patricia A. Duff

Patricia (Patsy) Duff is a professor in the Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of British Columbia (UBC), where she teaches applied linguistics courses and conducts research on the teaching, learning, and use of English and Chinese in various local and global settings.

杜柏丝是加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚大学 (UBC) 语言文化教育系的教授,她在该大学教授应用语言学课程,并研究英语与汉语在不同地方与全球背景下的教授、学习和运用。

Tim Anderson

Tim Anderson is a doctoral candidate in Language and Literacy Education at UBC. He teaches courses in applied linguistics for teachers and conducts research on the teaching and learning of English and Chinese as additional languages. His dissertation focuses on academic discourse socialization for Chinese doctoral students at a Canadian university.

安亭牧是加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚大学 (UBC) 语言文化教育系的博士候选人。他教授师资培训应用语言学, 并研究英语与汉语作为其他语言时的教学和运用。他的博士论文关注加拿大大学的中国博士生群体内学术话语的社会化。

Liam Doherty

Liam Doherty is a doctoral student in Language and Literacy Education at UBC. His research examines agency, socialization, and mobile technologies in Chinese language learning and use. Recent research topics have included Chinese learner agency and narrative language socialization through popular television dramas.

杜宇恒是加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚大学 (UBC) 语言文化教育系的博士研究生。他研究汉语学习与使用中的主体、社会化、移动通讯技术。近期的研究课题包括汉语学习的主体与流行电视剧中的叙事语言社会化。

Rachel Wang

Rachel Wang is a doctoral student in Language and Literacy Education at UBC. Her research and teaching focus on Chinese language education and instructional technologies for children, adolescents, and adults in Chinese second-language and foreign-language contexts.

王天璇是加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚大学 (UBC) 语言文化教育系的博士研究生。她的研究与教学的重点是中文二语与外语语境下的儿童、青少年、成人的汉语教育与教学技术。

Acknowledgments

This research was funded by a UBC Hampton Fund Grant (P. Duff, Principal Investigator) and was carried out under the auspices of the UBC Centre for Research in Chinese Language and Literacy Education. We thank Duanduan Li for her assistance editing the Chinese synopsis.

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Chinese Synopsis (中文简介)

对外汉语教学在英语新闻媒体中的表述:期冀, 炒作和恐惧

自从美国著名期刊《时代杂志》载文强调西方人学习汉语的必要性之后, 英美加各国的新闻媒体似乎都受到启迪, 逐渐关注汉语与汉语教学的相关议题。于是, 这两个在 “中国崛起” 之前几乎无人问津的题材忽然间成了热门话题。在学术研究方面, 中文作为国际(或 “全球化”)语言的研究亦不断发展。但到目前为止, 学者们主要关注从语言学、心理语言学、社会心理学以及汉字特征等角度探讨语言习得问题。相对而言, 宏观的对汉语教育所处的社会现状与话语进行批判性分析的研究尚属罕见。所幸的是, 近年来已有一些研究者在这些层面对汉语作为第二语言的教授、学习及使用问题给予了一定关注 (Duff et al., 2013)。本文着重分析新闻媒体中有关汉语的话语、意识形态及重复主题的传播, 以证明媒体在传播信息和反映大众观点的同时,也能起到影响公众态度及左右政策的作用。

为此, 我们研究并分析了2004 到 2012 年间三大英语国家(加拿大、美国和英国)报刊、杂志以及电视节目中有关汉语教育的大量新闻报道, 着重探讨如下两个问题:

  1. 汉语和汉语教育在这些媒体中是如何被描述的?汉语在 21 世纪初期所扮演角色的潜在含义和意识形态是什么?

  2. 2004 年到 2012年, 对汉语教育的描述有何改变?引起这些变化的原因是什么?

本文分析主要针对新闻标题 (虽然我们也阅读全文以充分理解诠释作者意图)。根据所收集的标题, 我们按照对汉语学习的描述的差异进行了专题归类分析 (如, 相对褒义或贬义), 然后探讨其背后的深层原因。

研究结果显示, 与汉语教育相关的报道主题可大致划分为 “期冀”, “炒作” 和“恐惧”。例如, 早期(2004–2006 年)的报道大多关注英语国家中汉语移民后代未能继承他们的族裔语言的问题。与此同时, 人们注意到学习汉语的非华裔学生却越来越多。汉语被描绘成充满异域风情却艰涩难学的一门外语。在英美加三国;学习汉语较学习法语或德语更加新潮。记者们常常不无惊诧地描绘年幼的孩童如何能神奇地掌握汉语这门外语。也有媒体报道娴熟的汉语使用者在职场能获得的各种良机, 并强调学习汉语对职业生涯的各种益处。

一时间, 类似的报道大幅激增, “汉语热” 情绪渐强, 几乎达到了 “炒作” 的程度, 然而这种热度没有持续多久, 媒体突然又转为大失所望甚至对汉语教育迅速扩展之势表示极度忧虑。(此时对于汉语教育的正面报道并未停止, 只是批评之声压倒了溢美之辞。)报刊杂志文章和电视节目开始更多地关注与汉语教学相关的争议和顾虑。其中特别受到密切关注的是中国政府在推广和支持国际汉语教育中所起的作用。媒体开始报道家长担忧英美加的学校课程会受到外国政府不适当的影响, 暗示语言课程可能成为政治灌输的一种渠道。与早期获得的较正面报道不同, 孔子学院开始受到三国媒体负面或正负交织的评论。因此, 在第一阶段用来描述汉语学习的英语词汇多为表现语言学习积极的一面, 如:fun (有趣), cognitive enrichment (增强认知能力), benefits(有益), ticket to success(通往成功的车票), the language of the future(未来之语), 以及new ‘must learn’ language(新的 “必学” 语言)。与此相反, 后半期常见的词汇有:controversy (争议), stirs fear(引起恐慌), spreads communist message(传播共产主义信息), worry(忧虑), raise concerns debate(引起关注辩论), 以及 American education made in China? (中国制造的美国教育?) 等等。这些词汇更着重于汉语教学特定的国际合作关系;而非汉语学习本身。

总而言之, 媒体中这些期冀, 炒作及恐惧重复主题背后的社会政治及社会经济动机, 加上汉语本身的新奇性 (相较于欧洲语言, 汉语在西方国家历来未被广泛教授), 构成了一个 2004 到 2012 年间媒体文章中持续不断地重复的故事。媒体对汉语学习报道的 “爱憎” 变化, 似乎是为更重大的地域政治事件以及预期的民众情绪变化的需要而服务的衍生品。中国日益增长的政治和经济力量, 贸易失衡, 及 “中国制造” 现象都属于此类 “更重大事件”。本文例选的新闻标题诠释了这些趋势及其影响意义。此外, 我们发现新闻媒体的这种变化在对其他新事物(如科技)的报道中也是相当典型的。最后, 我们跟踪查询了在争议声迭起时谷歌对 “孔子学院” 这一词条的搜索量, 其结果进一步支持了我们的分析--当新闻界对孔子学院作负面报道时, 网民对这一话题的关注度也相应提升。

在汉语教学日益国际化之际, 我们预测本文所讨论的意识形态和社会语言现实政治之间的互动将变得越来越普遍和明显。研究学者必须更加密切地观察, 而对大众媒体报道和陈述的分析便是研究的有效途径之一。

Published Online: 2015-4-14
Published in Print: 2015-4-1

©2015 by De Gruyter Mouton

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