ABSTRACT
The preceding chapters have explored a range of issues of critical interest in relation to ‘interculturality’ and the teaching and learning of Chinese. They have provided critical discussion of the complex concepts impacting on understandings of interculturality, including ‘ideology’, ‘intercultural competence’, ‘culture’ and ‘identity’, in order to explore how the field of Chinese language education in British universities has developed over the last 70 years. This concluding chapter returns to the three objectives stated at the beginning of the book: 1) the identification of a specific field of study, namely, interculturality in Chinese language education; 2) the provision of a critical discussion on the complexity of ‘culture’ and the idea of ‘Chinese culture’; and 3) the presentation of a critical intercultural approach towards the teaching and learning of Mandarin Chinese. This final chapter also considers implications for Chinese language education and advocates paths for future consideration and action by academics, lecturers, course designers and writers of policies.
