Learning English and Chinese as Foreign Languages : : Sociocultural and Comparative Perspectives / / Wen-Chuan Lin.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter EBOOK PACKAGE COMPLETE 2019 English
• VerfasserIn: Lin, Wen-Chuan,
• MitwirkendeR: Byram, Michael,
• Place / Publishing House: Bristol ;, Blue Ridge Summit : : Multilingual Matters, , [2019]; ©2019
• Year of Publication: 2019
• Language: English
• Series: New Perspectives on Language and Education
• Physical Description: 1 online resource

Learning English and Chinese is becoming increasingly important to the prospects of young people. This book compares English as a Foreign Language teaching in Taiwan with Chinese as a Foreign Language education in England in order to highlight how classroom activities are embedded within multiple settings, including ethnic or other social group cultures, family and community resources and school visions or goals. The book illustrates how in Taiwan different ethnic groups recognise, access and value English language learning to varying extents. Its findings illuminate why some ethnic groups are highly motivated to learn English and are able to gain privileged economic positions in the job market. In England, access to Chinese is marked by social class, and the book argues that this could augment an ‘educational apartheid’ that already exists in language teaching in secondary schools, thereby exacerbating existing inequality.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Abbreviations -- Acknowledgements -- Foreword -- Preface -- 1. Introduction -- 2. A Theoretical Insight: Sociocultural Views on Language Learning -- 3. Learning English/Chinese as Foreign Languages: The Contexts -- 4. Getting Access to English and Chinese: Everyday Practice -- 5. Classroom Life and Pedagogical Comparisons -- 6. Language Learning and Identity: Communities of Practice -- 7. Synthesis and Cross-Cultural Comparisons -- 8. Conclusion -- Appendix -- References -- Index