Teaching and learning
of Mandarin as a foreign
language in South African
schools

Abstract
Globalisation has influenced the demand for the acquisition of
Mandarin. As a proactive response, the South African Department
of Education included Mandarin as a second additional language
in the National Curriculum Statement grades R–12 in March 2015.
The research reported on in this article was context specific. It
entailed a case study of a school in Gauteng that had introduced
Mandarin as a foreign language. Chomsky’s language theory,
the interactionist theory and Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory
are acknowledged. A qualitative inquiry strategy was employed;
individual and focus group interviews, questionnaires and
observations were used as data gathering tools. Content analysis
was done manually. Themes, categories and subcategories were
identified. The research culminated in a case study narrative
elaborating on the main themes, namely motivation and beliefs,
teaching Mandarin, and learners’ learning experiences.

Keywords: Mandarin; foreign language; teaching; learning

1. Introduction
“The nation [China] has a booming economy and one of
the biggest consumer markets in the world; it’s clear that
now is a good time to know Chinese” (Grasso, 2007: xi-xii).
It is apparent that Chinese is becoming the second most
demanded language globally and will ultimately become
almost indispensable to business professionals in the next 20
years (Grasso, 2007: xi). As a result of the increasing frequency
of “international exchanges with China in economics, trade,
science, technology, culture, education, art and tourism”
nowadays (Wang & Lemmer, 2015: 35) the world’s demand
for Chinese learning has increased sharply (Hanban, 2014).
Importantly, Ping (2009: 85) emphasises the role parents play
in the increasing demand for Mandarin Chinese as they think
it will be useful in the future careers of their children.

It is thus important that we realise globalisation has an
influence on foreign language teaching such as communi
cative pedagogies, which allow for participatory electronic
chatrooms and videos, internet, tele-collaboration and social
networks and that offer learners increased access to native
speakers in their cultural environments (Kramsch, 2014: 296).

Prof Norma Nel
University of South Africa

DOI: http://dx.doi.
org/10.18820/2519593X/pie.
v34i2.4
ISSN 0258-2236
e-ISSN 2519-593X
Perspectives in Education
2016 34(2): 43-56
© UV/UFS

Perspectives in Education 2016: 34(2)

South Africa has recognised the importance of introducing Mandarin in schools. The
Department of Education made amendments “to the regulations pertaining to the National
Curriculum Statement Grades R–12 to provide for the listing of Mandarin as a second additional
language” (Government Gazette, 2015: 3). In January 2016, an incremental implementation
of the rollout of Mandarin as a nonofficial, second additional language in South African
schools (grades 4–10) will take place and in 2017, grade 11 and in 2018, grade 12 (AllAfrica
Global Media, 2015). To date ten schools in Gauteng have introduced Mandarin as a second
additional language. The teaching of Mandarin in South African schools started with one
school in 2014 and nine more schools in 2015 (as part of a pilot project) with the assistance
of the Chinese Culture and International Education Exchange Centre. South Africa currently
has six Confucius institutions and together with the Chinese government, a curriculum will be
developed to teach Chinese in schools (South Asia Media network, 2016) and to use “flexible
teaching patterns”, which have been adapted to cater for local primary and secondary schools
(Hanban, 2014).

Despite the surge for learning Chinese as a foreign or second language (CFL/CSL), little
research has been conducted in this area, particularly on the learning styles and strategies
used by these learners (Chu et al., 2015: 2). There is thus a need for immediate (and ongoing)
proactive research into the teaching and learning of Chinese in South African schools to
ensure that challenges are overcome before they become insurmountable. We need to be
vigilant of contextspecific gaps that may emerge. With this background in mind, the aim of
this research is to explore and describe the emergence of Mandarin teaching and learning in
South African schools1.

2. The teaching and learning of Mandarin as a foreign language
The traditional way of teaching a foreign language was grounded in behaviourist theories of
learning. Foreign language learning was a “mimetic” activity where learners had to repeat
or imitate new information. The major determinants of language learning success were the
quality and the quantity of the language feedback. In 1959, Chomsky reviewed this approach
and claimed that children are biologically programmed for language, that they have an innate
ability to find out for themselves what the underlying rules of a language system are (Moeller
& Catalano, 2015: 327). Chomsky (2003: 70-71) also adds that language development
is determined by the nature of the environment, as an appropriate environment that is “a
stimulating environment is required to enable our natural curiosity, intelligence and creativity
to develop, and to enable our biological capacities to unfold”. An emerging theoretical position,
namely interactionist, emphasised the role of the “linguistic environment” which needs to be
combined with the learners’ innate abilities to learn a language. Language development thus
results from a “complex interplay” between the innate language abilities of the learners and
their environment and the language needs to be modified to suit the ability of the learners.
The learner must be “active co-constructive participants instead of just listening to input, and
rather interact and negotiate that input which they receive” (Moeller & Catalano, 2015: 328).

Muñoz (2014: 24) resonates with the above as she found in her study that learners
“showed early awareness of foreign language learning and learning conditions as well as
the influence of the learning environment and experience on the changes that reshaped their
views” during their primary education. Further to this, Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory “views

1 Different references in the text use Chinese, Mandarin Chinese or Mandarin as the language under discussion.
For the purpose of this article, Mandarin will be used as it is used in the Government Gazette, (2015:3).

Nel Teaching And Learning Of Mandarin As A Foreign Language In South African Schools

cognition as a social faculty”, which means that it is essential that the learner participates
in culturally organised activities where social dialogue takes place. Ortega (2009: 218-219)
explains that Vygotsky reconceptualised cognition and consciousness to be fundamentally
social and is the only social approach to second language (L2) learning which is fully accepted
as a second language acquisition (SLA) theory by SLA researchers. It is therefore imperative
for foreign language (FL) teachers to employ second language orientated learning strategies,
which focus on understanding the overall meaning in communication, to use Chinese in a
natural and authentic context and to monitor learners’ progress (Chu et al., 2015: 1).

The Chinese written form is not directly related to its pronunciation. A Scheme for the
Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, known as the pinyin system which means “arranged sounds”
uses the alphabet to transcribe Chinese sounds “and four diacritical tone marks to indicate the
different tones of the Chinese characters (Schmidt, 2002: 35).

3. Pronunciation tones

1st
High Tone

2nd - High Rising
Tone

3rd - Low Falling
Rising Tone

4th - High Falling
Tone

Zhilong, F. 2000. Essential Chinese for travelllers. Hong Kong: Regent

When different tones are indicated on a syllable then each will have a different meaning
(Hau-Yoon, 1999: 3). For example, “医doctor” is marked as “yī” in high level tone, “移move” is
marked as “yí” in high rising tone, “蚁ant” is marked as “yǐ” in low rising tone and “亿a hundred
million” is marked as “yì” in high falling tone.

Chinese characters take the place of an imaginary square space and are “made up of
multiple reusable components that fit into the square space” (Tse et al., (2007: 377). Pinyin
(a phonic system) is used for learners to know the sound and their pronunciation of the
characters. This makes it easier for them to attach sounds to ideographs and to the meaning.
Pinyin cannot stand on its own in place of the characters but supplements the characters by
being written next to the characters and thereby supports children in learning the characters
(Tse et al., 2007: 376, 381) for example:

Speaker: Nǐ hǎo (你好) (English pronunciation: nee how) You fine (honorific form) Hello!

Respondent: Nǐ hǎo (你好) (English pronunciation: nee how) You fine. Hello!

Speaker: Nǐ hǎo ma?(你好吗？) (English pronunciation: nee how ma) How are you?

Respondent: Wǒ hěn hǎo , nǐ ne ?(我很好，你呢？) (English pronunciation: wo hen how
nee ne) Fine. And you?

Speaker: Wǒ hěn hǎo , xiè xiè (我很好，谢谢) (English pronunciation: wo hen how
shieh shieh) I am fine thank you.

Perspectives in Education 2016: 34(2)

It is thus important that phonic symbols should not be learnt before the characters. Chinese
characters are usually learnt by copying them repeatedly until the learner can reproduce the
form and the pronunciation by memory (Tse et al., 2007: 375, 376, 381). Explicit teaching of
radicals helps Chinese foreign learners (CFL) to learn characters (Tong & Yip, 2015: 173–177).

Maluch et al., (2015: 76–77) found that the strongest predictors for learning a foreign
language are the teacher’s proficiency in the instructional language and background
characteristics of learners. Furthermore, Li (2013: 294–305) established that learners’
enjoyment of Chinese lessons is closely related to teachers’ knowledge and background.
These include knowing the learners, their routines and the activities and classroom
practices they enjoy and the teachers’ enthusiasm and their knowledge of China and the
Chinese culture.

4. Research questions
The main research question is “How is Mandarin taught and learnt in a primary school in
relation to a learner’s innate ability and social learning environment?”

The sub-questions are:

1. Why do learners want to learn Mandarin?

2. How can a learner’s innate ability be unfolded when teaching Mandarin?

3. How does the learning environment influence the teaching and learning of Mandarin?

3. What are the learners’ experiences of learning Mandarin?

4. How can the teaching and learning of Mandarin experiences (opportunities and challenges)
inform future Mandarin teaching and learning in South African schools?

5. Method
In order to answer the research questions and explore the relationships between the teaching
and learning of Mandarin in primary schools and a learner’s innate ability and learning
environment, a qualitative inquiry strategy, namely a case study was employed in this study.
Purposive sampling was used to identify the participating school that offers Mandarin as an
extramural activity. The school is situated in Tshwane South. Seventeen learners enrolled for
extramural Mandarin classes. All these learners as well as the principal, a teacher facilitator
and one Mandarin teacher participated in the study. Ethical clearance was obtained from
Unisa’s Ethics Committee.

6. Data collection
Three focus group interviews were conducted. Groups 1 and 2 consisted of six learners each
and group 3 consisted of five learners. Each focus group interview lasted approximately
30 minutes. Seeing that so many learners in the school volunteered but only one Chinese
teacher did, the teachers selected only top academic achievers from grades 4-7. The principal
and teachers decided that only the top achievers in each grade could participate in the
Mandarin classes.

Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with the principal, the teacher
facilitator and the Mandarin teacher. These interviews lasted approximately 45 minutes each.

Nel Teaching And Learning Of Mandarin As A Foreign Language In South African Schools

The interviews were recorded with the permission of the participants. The researchers also
observed two Mandarin lessons. The researchers wrote field notes and took photographs of
learners’ workbooks.

The parents of learners participating in the study completed a questionnaire containing
open-ended questions.

7. Data analysis
The contents of transcripts of the interviews with learners and educators were analysed
manually and core meanings, patterns or themes (Patton, 2002: 442, 453), together with
refined categories and subcategories relating to the research topic, were identified. The
researchers’ observation field notes were combined and added detail to the themes,
categories and subcategories. Parents’ responses to open-ended questionnaires were
reflected on a template. The template made provision for a parent’s biographical information,
the 11 questions included in the questionnaire and the parent’s response to each question.
The parents were numbered from (a) to (p). Their responses contained their perspectives and
added further detail to the identified themes, categories and subcategories. The data from the
focus group interviews with learners formed the core of the discussion. A case record “pull(ed)
together and organise(d) the voluminous case data into a comprehensive, primary resource
package” (Patton, 2002: 449). A final case study narrative reflects the findings for public
reading (Patton, 2002: 450). Separate feedback sessions with the principal and learners were
held and a post-research meeting with parents was planned.

8. Case record
Three themes (together with their categories and sub-categories) emerged during the manual
data analysis namely: Theme 1: Motivation and beliefs, Theme 2: Teaching Mandarin and
Theme 3: Learners’ learning experiences. These themes, with their categories incorporated
are discussed below.

Key:
P1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 – learners in focus groups
FG (1, 2 & 3) – focus group
Principal
TF – teacher facilitator

Theme 1: Motivation and beliefs
Why would primary school learners want to learn Mandarin? “For FL learners, developing their
own voice increasingly means developing an ear for the voices of others – no doubt a crucial,
if lifelong, educational goal” (Kramsch, 2014: 309).

The general feeling of the learners in the Mandarin class was that they had been given an
opportunity to learn another language and that it would benefit them to learn Mandarin. They
felt that knowledge of Mandarin might lead to interesting job opportunities and would stand
them in good stead should they visit China. They enjoyed learning the language because it
was interesting and different. The learners in the study expressed their views, with particular
reference to job opportunities, for example:

Perspectives in Education 2016: 34(2)

FG3-P5: [I want to learn Mandarin] because I want to be an international accountant, so
if I travel places, if I go to China, [I] want to speak the language.

Gardner (1985) in (Ping, 2009) believes that learners are motivated to learn a language
as they may have an instrumental or integrative orientation towards another language and as
Chomsky states that children are biologically programmed and have innate abilities to learn
a language.

The TF was asked whether she believed the primary school is where Mandarin should first
be taught and her answer was:

TF: Well, yes I do believe that primary school is actually the first place where you need to
go because that is where they learn language best, they are much more open to language
when they are smaller than when they are grown up. So when they are small they pick it
up like a sponge. I see them in the class and I see me.

The Chinese teacher was asked whether young children would be able to learn Mandarin
and she answered:

Yes. I think so because the young kids [are] learning the foreign language easier for them.
I think so. Very smart. Oh. I also enjoy the class, the children.

Furthermore, during our classroom observations, the grade 4 learners were equally active
and participated in the lesson activities. They were able to converse in Mandarin, with the
teacher and their classmates and spontaneously volunteered to write Pinyin and the Chinese
characters on the board and their workbooks were evidence of their ability to write Pinyin and
Chinese characters. The principal added that

… what they are teaching them is basic for everybody in the class, whether you are grade
3 or grade 4, doesn’t matter, everybody learns the Chinese figures and everything so, it
is a step by step, it worked out well.

Many of the learners we interviewed in the focus groups indicated that their parents wanted
them to learn Mandarin, for example parents said: My neighbour [advised] me to [place] my
son [in the] Chinese school because China is a member of BRICS and is rapidly becoming
one of the world’s first countries”. The Chinese teacher also attested to the parents’ eagerness
that their children should learn Mandarin: “No parents (none of the parents) have a problem
with Mandarin classes”

The interviews with the principal and the teacher facilitator made it clear that the
teachers, learners and parents had been enthusiastic about the teaching of Mandarin since
the introduction of the project by the Department of Education and that they recognised the
advantages of learning Mandarin. The principal explained: “[Mandarin] is their fourth language
and they love it. I think because it is a challenge … and because our attitude is we are like
visionaries … we think ahead, we plan ahead”.

The following drivers of learning for primary school learners (grades 4–7) were identified
during the interviews: intrinsic motivation, their parents’ enthusiasm and approval, opportunities
to travel to China and job opportunities, the ability to communicate with Chinese people and
the head start that knowledge of Mandarin would give. The principal confirmed these findings:
“[L]ike I said earlier, it comes from the inside motivation as well, not only leaving it to the
children or parents and worked for the child, when the child understands why he is doing this”.

Nel Teaching And Learning Of Mandarin As A Foreign Language In South African Schools

Theme 2: Teaching Mandarin
During two Mandarin lessons, the researchers observed that the learners participated
enthusiastically in dialogues, role-plays and activities that required them to write in Pinyin on
the blackboard. Learners were given opportunities to express themselves without interruption
and to engage in short conversations in Mandarin. The learners were also able to respond in
unison to greetings and express everyday courtesies.

There was good interaction between the teacher and the learners. The teacher asked many
questions and explained grammar rules where the need arose and the learners had already
discovered grammar rules for themselves, as they were able to use the language correctly
both orally and in writing. She used chorus responses from learners, individual questions for
individual learners and the pairing of learners to practise conversations and to demonstrate
language usage in front of the class. The learners enjoyed the activities and were alert at
all times. The teacher had a friendly yet firm disposition and often praised the learners. She
corrected learners in a diplomatic way and she seemed to know most of the learners’ strengths
and weaknesses because she sometimes allowed learners to assist and correct their peers.
The teacher had a sound knowledge, understanding and use of the Mandarin language. She
was also able to speak, read and write English and although limited, the learners understood
what she was saying. The interaction between the teacher and learners was very good, as
most learners were able to respond to the teacher’s questions and some even volunteered
to write Chinese characters on the board during an activity. Learners had workbooks, which
showed that plenty of progress had been made, especially with the writing and drawing of
Chinese characters.

Figure 1: Example of a learner’s written work in Pinyin and corresponding Chinese characters

The classroom environment was relaxed, the teacher was friendly and patient and the
classroom was spacious and equipped with technology.

9. The Chinese teacher
Zhang and Li (2010: 94) explain that teachers are a decisive and guiding factor in the teaching
and learning of Mandarin as a foreign language. The limited availability of qualified and

Perspectives in Education 2016: 34(2)

experienced teachers was a constraining factor in the teaching of Mandarin in the school in
this study. Rhodes (2014: 118) explains that highly qualified language teachers are a priority
in foreign language teaching because good instruction leads to higher success rates. Rhodes
emphasises clear programme goals and states that a well-articulated programme is of the
utmost importance. Halliday (2014: 1) found that the best teachers to teach Chinese are those
who speak the same language as the learners, in this case English. The Chinese teacher’s
home language (in this study) is Chinese. She completed a twoyear certificate training course
to qualify as a Chinese foreign language teacher in Wisconsin, USA, where she lived for
three years.

Ja, during I stay in the America, United States I teaching the young kids. I also have a
teaching, I am for the middle school teacher experience teaching mathematics for ten
years [in China]. Ja, workshops also in teaching in some school. In a local school and
I also been teaching Chinese as a second language in university, in China. Yes, I have
take the tests for Mandarin.

The teacher came to South Africa at the beginning of 2015 on a two-year contract and
says: “First I enjoy the teaching Mandarin for the kids, I love it and also is I was chose by the
Chinese government to teaching Mandarin for South Africa public school”.

The focus groups had the following to say about the Chinese teacher:

FG2-P4: Although she can’t speak English properly, we kind of understand what she is
saying. She is always to the point and makes you understand.

FG3-P3: Well, our teacher, XXX, she teaches us in a very exciting and fun way, you
actually want to learn more Mandarin. So that is why for me Mandarin is fun to learn.

FG3-P4: I like watching the videos and songs that she teaches us.

FG1-P1: What I enjoy the most is that the teacher is kind.

When the Chinese teacher was asked how she went about preparing her lessons, she
responded as follows:

Everybody can learn, I think anybody can learn. If they are interested. Ah, yes, so that is
why before why I make the lesson plan, I also think how can I do for the students easy to
memorise, easy for learning the Mandarin. Good memory is important. Because Mandarin
is a language and also the write the character is hard for them. Yes, it is very difficult for
memorise a lot, and also for pronunciation is the tone, the tone is hard for the students.
Ja, we also have other teachers. Sometimes we discuss with her lesson plan. Plan before
the class. Every day. Or may last week. I also think about to teach. For the week. We
have a theme, to talk about their family… taught about relation about your house. To do
like some activity, more funny, motivate the students for more interesting. If they hear
they memorise. Ja, if they pay attention for a classroom, if they do the homework, more
practise attending the class activities, they will be better.

10. Chinese lessons
In the words of the teacher facilitator:

Nel Teaching And Learning Of Mandarin As A Foreign Language In South African Schools

She had everything on the laptop, but she always printed it out and then the children just
had the PowerPoint handouts [and] notes … Once she started working with that, it was
really great. She uses a lot of tools to help her. I think she is a very creative person. She
presents the English, the phonetic, the words as well as the symbol, all at once. Last
week we learned about family and all of that. For me it was easier to learn the characters
at that stage because I could make links to what the character means by looking at the
character. So I think, ja, the way she is doing it at the moment it works for our children.

When the Chinese teacher was asked how she went about teaching Mandarin she
responded as follows:

I first pay attention, it is the listen and then speak. And then they write. The first they listen,
I also teach them for if they can’t understand language the meaning and then speak.
There is some basically their textbook, listen, read and the write all together. I do this
during the whole class I do like, but if I no more time, may be the write for next class. First
the listen and speak. If they not school in the primary school, if they can write, I will teach
them how to teach. The most important I think is listening and speak.

Halliday (2014: 5) emphasises that teachers who teach Chinese should be well versed in
the phonemic script of the language; they should read and write Pinyin accurately and fluently.

Zhou and Li (2015: 18, 25–26) suggest that CFL teachers need to design activities to cater
for different learning styles. The learners in this study indicated their preferences regarding
certain aspects of the Mandarin lessons, which was an indication of how their various learning
styles influenced their preferences:

FG2-P5: I love learning new words and learning how to write the different characters.

The learners agreed that the lessons were fun as they played games, learned new words,
were taught how to write characters for example, FG3-P3 said: “I like the different obstacles
in learning how to write the Chinese characters and how to pronounce the words and the tone
the different Pinyin and the characters…”

They also learnt about the Chinese culture and about homework, FG3-P No 3: said: “…
I was researching about China, I actually like the culture and learned a lot of things while
writing it and it was just a great experience. I felt like I was in China myself”.

Figure 2: Examples of learner’s work on the culture of China

Rhodes (2014: 127) states that a significant impact is made on proficiency by instructional
methodologies such as content-based and thematic instruction, using the target language
when teaching, having set benchmarks and assessing learners’ proficiency. In this study,
however, the TF explained: “I have my doubts that we will still … have a formal assessment
[this year], but I do see that she really takes her list and she asks the children different things
and she does make notes”.

Perspectives in Education 2016: 34(2)

The principal was convinced that the project (the Mandarin lessons) was a great success:

I think it is successful. I sat there twice, they were already writing little figures and they were
singing the songs. The day I went there, they were reading, singing, talking, everything …
From April to now it is unbelievable. It is either the technology or the lecturer, or we are
working with the guys with the right minds.

The Chinese teacher added:

Hopefully they can speak some basic Chinese language and they make the greeting and
conversation? Yes, I want them to write characters and the Pinyin also. Today I made time
for teaching the Pinyin. They learn to speak the standard Mandarin, the pronunciation
be good.

Figure 3: Learner example of writing in Pinyin

It was evident that leaners enjoyed their Mandarin classes, although some learners felt
that they needed more and longer classes.

Theme 3: Learners’ learning experiences
Learners’ enjoyment of Mandarin lessons was regarded as very important. The following
responses from FG1P3 were significant and encompassed all the responses recorded during
the focus group interviews, in parents’ questionnaires, during interviews with the principal, the
teacher facilitator and during our own observations:

FG1-P 3: I honestly love Mandarin, there is nothing I don’t like about the lessons.

McEown, Noels and Saumure (2014: 227) explain that teachers should know the reasons
why learners want to learn a language (e.g. Mandarin) and address these reasons in their
lessons. By doing so, teachers can foster learners’ “motivation by supporting their sense of
competence, relatedness and cultural understanding”. The learners in this study expressed
their experiences of the Mandarin classes in terms of the teacher’s pedagogy and what they
have learned so far (from April 2015 to August 2015).

The learners’ impression of the teacher was very positive. They experienced her as
being kind, caring, supportive, patient and willing to help them and she allowed for mistakes.
Responses to this effect were:

FG1-P1 said: She prepares something on her laptop just to show us and to give examples
of what we are going to do and we are going to learn, so that helps a lot.

Nel Teaching And Learning Of Mandarin As A Foreign Language In South African Schools

FG3 -P 5 said: We are taught Mandarin. She usually shows us, like on the board. First she
would show us a video from the TV on how the basics are and then she will rephrase it …
and if … you want [her to repeat something] … she may write it down then and we take
notes on that and then she teaches us how pronounce the words and the tone.

The learners had different opinions about learning the language itself:

FG1-P4: I wouldn’t say I don’t like it, but … it is a bit of a challenge to write the Chinese
characters… because there is a specific stroke order that you make to follow so if you
forget that…!

FG2-P3: It was relaxing, it was like talking to a friend.

FG2-P5: I have already spoken about groups. It was nice discussing this in groups,
because I also learn something new from other people. It was great because we shared
our feelings in my group.

FG3- P2: I think I am good at Mandarin because we write down nouns and we get to learn
while we are at home and they give us websites to go through to watch some videos while
we are at home and learn like the number counting and the other things.

FG3-P6: Yes. She even provides extra information, not only just telling us about, she
makes us to play, she gives us voice notes and videos and she uses it as well as TV.

Parents were also very supportive of their children learning Mandarin: FG2-P5: “Yes,
because my mother already downloaded apps on her phone – four apps actually, two on her
phone and two on her tablet, so I sometimes learn it when she is here”. The parents felt that
they would like their children to speak, read and write the language fluently because it would
open up opportunities for them.

The TF had the following to say:

They love learning Mandarin and the reason why I say so, is because you can see how
committed they are and they are very excited and I can see that they put in extra effort
and they do extra. I think what they like is that they can speak to each other and other
children don’t understand them. They love flaunting the language ... So they do like it and
I can see them working with her all the time. You know, sometimes I think maybe I should
quiet them down, but then I see, they are just talking about the language and they are
talking to her.

This is in keeping with Chomsky, the interactionist and Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theories,
that the learning environment should be appropriate and conducive for the learner to learn the
language and where social dialogue takes place spontaneously.

11. Case study narrative and conclusion
This research explored the teaching and learning of Mandarin as a foreign language in
a school in Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa. The research questions were adequately
answered as learners’ motivations were captured, how Mandarin was taught within the
learning environment was recorded, how learners’ learning experiences of Mandarin were
reported and what implications the findings have for the future. Furthermore, Chomsky, the
interactionist and Vygotsky’s theories underpinned the study as it brought into fruition their
unified beliefs that the child has an innate propensity towards learning a language within a

Perspectives in Education 2016: 34(2)

conducive learning environment, which includes Chinese cultural activities such as folksongs,
videos and visuals of the country and stimulating interactive social dialogue.

The positive experiences and achievements of the learners serve as evidence of the
learners’ motivation, the schools’ enthusiasm, organisational skills, support and involvement,
the parents’ support and the Chinese teacher’s excellent pedagogy and efforts. In addition,
the learners’ expectations were exceeded as they expressed their excitement about the
opportunity to learn Mandarin and to realise the benefits it afforded, including job opportunities
and the ability to communicate with Chinese people locally and in China. Learners felt that
learning Mandarin was challenging and required hard work and concentration. They also
realised that their study of Mandarin helped them with their studies in general and one learner
said he felt like a “hero”.

From the interviews and interaction with the principal and TF the researchers were able
to identify factors that contributed to the success of Mandarin teaching and learning in the
participating school. The principal described the school as “visionary”; the management
team planned ahead and realised the benefits of offering Mandarin to their learners in this
era of globalisation. The Mandarin project was regarded as a long-term investment. Rhodes
(2014: 129) explains that in a global society, children need to become proficient in a language
other than English, as well as the cultural knowledge and skills embodied by the language.
This would enable them to function in a “multilingual, multicultural world”. Moeller and Catalano
(2015: 327) refer to current developments in foreign language teaching and learning, which
lean towards “public pedagogy, social media, and action research as additional ways to foster
intercultural competence and language learning”. In an effort to ensure continued learning
of Mandarin, the school has collaborated with the high school closest to it, which also offers
Mandarin, to ensure that learners can continue their study of the language.

The principal, teachers, learners, parents and governing body were immediately
enthusiastic when the district office of the Gauteng Education Department approached the
school to offer Mandarin. The TF volunteered to facilitate and coordinate the Mandarin classes,
as she was also eager to learn Mandarin. The Chinese Culture and International Education
Exchange Centre (CCIEEC) became involved, provided and paid for the Chinese teacher.
The centre also provided workbooks for the learners. There were no expenses involved for
the school or the learners. Parents were also eager to learn Mandarin and the CCIEEC might
consider offering classes on Saturdays. Other stakeholders such as a nearby hotel offered
free accommodation for the Chinese teachers and breakfast vouchers to award learners who
make progress. The cooperation of the parents, board members and community members
and their understanding of the benefits of FL learning, were crucial for the project. The district
foreign language supervisor played an important role by advocating for the programme in the
district and the community at large and by collaborating with other stakeholders.

According to the principal, factors that contributed to the success of Mandarin classes
included the way the project was presented to the school community (its purpose), a suitable
venue, the way the Chinese teacher conducted the lessons, the why, the how and the what
that matters to learners. Other factors include support and praise from the principal, the
availability of progress reports to teachers and other stakeholders, buy-in and ownership by
the school and partnering schools. Academics from universities all over the world have also
visited the school because they are interested in the way Mandarin is taught there.

Nel Teaching And Learning Of Mandarin As A Foreign Language In South African Schools

The Chinese teacher’s background, subject knowledge, training, experience and
pedagogy played an important role in the learners’ acquisition of Mandarin. The learners
particularly appreciated the teacher’s personal attributes, such as her friendliness, patience,
support, her willingness to repeat things and to make the classes fun. She was able to use
the school’s facilities (technology, tablets, laptops, big screen TVs and e-learning processes),
which were already in place. Wong et al., (2011: 232) postulate that collaboratively inquiring
into the development of technology-enhanced Chinese language curricula is a way to “build
on ideas for contextually viable innovations”.

Based on the data obtained in this study, teachers of Mandarin need to capitalise on
the successes achieved during these Mandarin classes and to address the challenges that
impede the successful acquisition of Mandarin in schools that are introducing Mandarin as an
additional language.

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