Introduction

Situating “the self” in both globalised Chinese and Australian social contexts, Zhang uses a reflexive auto-ethnographic story to illustrate how her personal learning journey becomes a powerful resource for pedagogical understanding in language teaching. She questions if grasping the English language propels her onto the global stage, can teaching the Chinese language influence Australian students’ perceptions about China, Australia and the world? Most importantly, how does the Chinese language learning experience shape those students’ ways of living, working and being? As an important background of Zhang's autoethnographic inquiry, she examines different dimensions of globalisation and China's progress of stepping onto the global stage. To survive in this globalised world, one has to be reflexive while enduring the emotional costs of globalisation. Chinese language teaching is more than a linguistic practice. Living in the blurred boundaries between work and personal life, Zhang deals with the complex relations between self, Australian society and China. As an introductory chapter, the main structure for each of the following chapters are outlined.