Learning English and Chinese as Foreign Languages: Sociocultural and Comparative Perspectives

Wen-Chuan Lin

Published by Multilingual Matters 2019

Learning English and Chinese as Foreign Languages

Sociocultural and Comparative Perspectives

Wen-Chuan Lin

In the series New Perspectives on Language and Education

https://doi.org/10.21832/9781788925150

Overview
Contents

About this book

Enhances our understanding how young people in Taiwan and England recognise, access and value English or Chinese as foreign languages

This book compares English as a Foreign Language teaching in Taiwan with Chinese as a Foreign Language education in England and highlights how classroom activities are embedded within ethnic or social group cultures, family resources and school visions or goals, and it highlights the potential for a perpetuation of social inequality as a result.

Author / Editor information

Lin Wen-Chuan :

Wen-Chuan Lin is Associate Professor, Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages, Taiwan. His research interests include intercultural studies, computer-mediated language learning and foreign language learning issues from the perspectives of Vygotskian Sociocultural Theory. He is co-editor of Internationalizing English Language Education in Globalized Taiwan (with I.J. Weng and R. Godwin-Jones, 2018, Tung Hua).

Reviews

Lin’s important book draws on Vygotskian sociocultural theory to compare the dynamics and challenges of language learning in secondary schools – English in Taiwan’s multilingual context, and Chinese in the UK. Students’ language choices and experiences offer crucial insights on language learning social inequalities in these two contexts. Essential reading for educationalists, policymakers, and scholars!

This book provides a closely argued and detailed ethnographic account of why young people in high schools succeed in learning a foreign language, English in Taiwan and Chinese in the UK. Through extensive classroom observations and interviews it provides fascinating insights into culture and contributes to scholarship that charts the ever-increasing divide between the highly paid global players and those who remain tied to local jobs and relative poverty.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Abbreviations Publicly Available Download PDF	vi
Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Foreword Michael Byram Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
1. Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2. A Theoretical Insight: Sociocultural Views on Language Learning Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	30
3. Learning English/Chinese as Foreign Languages: The Contexts Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	39
4. Getting Access to English and Chinese: Everyday Practice Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	71
5. Classroom Life and Pedagogical Comparisons Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	90
6. Language Learning and Identity: Communities of Practice Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	129
7. Synthesis and Cross-Cultural Comparisons Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	173
8. Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	196
Appendix Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	206
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	207
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	213

Language: English
Publisher: Multilingual Matters
Keywords: equality of opportunity; Foreign language learning; Pedagogy; Socio-cultural theory; Chinese; EFL; Chinese as foreign language

eBook

Published: September 19, 2019
ISBN: 9781788925150