Chinese Learning Culture

I’m interested in the expectations that Chinese students arrive at English Universities. I’m particularly interested in how these expectations colour their perceptions of the classroom environment. One theory is that each culture is socialized into a different ‘culture of learning’ – where they become familiar with, and expert in (at least the good students will) the teaching methods and techniques particular to their country/region. What then is the Chinese Learning Culture?

I’m also interested in how Chinese students acculturate when they arrive. In my experience, the Chinese students tend not to integrate so well with students from Britain or from other nationalities. Is this due to cultural differences? Is the gap too wide?  Is it simply because we do not have the same interests/sense of humour?

These, broadly, are the areas I hope to be researching in my dissertation.  If interested, watch this space. 

Language Death

I am currently reading up on the loss of languages around the world, and it turns out we are losing them at quite a rate. It’s estimated that there are currently 6000 languages in the world today, but at the current rate, there will only be 600 by the end of the century. That’s a huge decrease in such a short period.

Of course, some of those languages are in a stronger position than others. There are 8 languages with over 100 million speakers (accounting for 2.4 million speakers). These are Mandarin, Spanish, English, Bengali, Hindi, Portuguese, Russian and Japanese. If you look at the top 20 languages combined, you’ll find they account for 3.2 million speakers, which is over half of the world’s population.

At the other end of the scale, 96% of the world’s languages are spoken by only 4% of the people. In fact, a quarter of the worlds languages have less than 1000 speakers.

The key to language survival is the continuing inter-generational transmission of the language. Without this, they become moribund.

The question I’m going to be looking at is whether or now we should care about the loss or not. What do you think?

Language Planning in Catalonia

Revival of the Catalan language can only add to the cultural richness of the area. Its chances of survival depend largely on -

1) whether the sizable non-Catalan speaking population can be integrated and taught the language,

2) and Spain’s maintaining its policy of acting as a multi-lingual state.

Of course, for Catalan to expand its usage outside family settings, it also needs to be viewed as a language of education, of the media and of economic opportunity.

Yesterday the Catalan regional government certainly gave the Catalans something to talk about by deciding to fund a series of blue movies. Can you see Tony proposing the same moves for the Welsh?

Noam Chomsky and Ali G interview

Chomsky confronts his intellectual equal in this meeting of minds -