Analysis of Dietary Culture Content in Chinese Textbooks from a Cross-Cultural Perspective: A Case Study of Thailand's "Elementary Chinese" and "Intermediate Chinese" Textbooks
Keywords:
Cross-Cultural Communication, Dietary Culture, International Chinese Language EducationAbstract
This study examines the dietary culture in “Elementary Chinese” and “Intermediate Chinese” textbooks to explore their contribution to cultivating cross-cultural communication competence. Using content analysis, the research classifies and summarizes dietary-related vocabulary, lesson texts, and cultural contexts to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their cultural design.
The findings indicate that these textbooks exhibit the following features: 1. Vocabulary progression aligns with learners’ language proficiency development by adopting a gradual increase in difficulty; 2. Dietary culture is integrated into realistic scenarios through dialogues, making the learning process more engaging and practical; 3. The content emphasizes the similarities and differences between Chinese and Thai dietary cultures, aiding students in understanding and adapting to cross-cultural communication. However, the study also identifies several limitations, including limited representation of diverse Chinese dietary cultures, uneven vocabulary distribution, insufficient variety in presentation formats, and inadequate depth of cultural background information. To address these issues, the study suggests enriching dietary culture content, optimizing vocabulary design, increasing material diversity, and deepening cross-cultural comparisons. These improvements aim to enhance textbook design and provide higher-quality resources for international Chinese language education.
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