Xorijiy lingvistika va lingvodidaktika –
Зарубежная лингвистика и
лингводидактика – Foreign
Linguistics and Linguodidactics
Journal home page:
https://inscience.uz/index.php/foreign-linguistics
The notion of teaching Chinese to students of non-
philological universities in Uzbekistan
Gulbakhor RUZUMOVA
1
Uzbek State University World Languages
ARTICLE INFO
ABSTRACT
Article history:
Received September 2024
Received in revised form
10 October 2024
Accepted 25 October 2024
Available online
15 November 2024
This article describes the difficulties faced by students
learning Chinese as a foreign language. The study is based on
scientific works and textbooks by leading linguists,
methodologists, and teachers specializing in teaching Chinese as
a foreign language. The paper identifies underexplored aspects
of foreign language education for students. The lack of well-
developed methods and techniques for recreating a natural
language environment, as well as their limited application in
lessons, reduces students’ motivation. The contrastive-
comparative method, which helps overcome interlingual
interference and develop intercultural communicative
competence, is insufficiently used in lessons. Issues related to the
cultural connotation of Chinese vocabulary and the methodology
for addressing grammatical, lexical, and speech errors are also
often overlooked.
2181-3701/© 2024 in Science LLC.
https://doi.org/10.47689/2181-3701-vol2-iss6-pp299-306
This is an open-access article under the Attribution 4.0 International
(CC BY 4.0) license (
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.ru
Keywords:
phonetic skills,
logographic writing system,
terminology,
borrowings,
training stages,
authentic texts,
country-specific texts,
intercultural communicative
competence.
O‘zbekistonda nofilologik universitetlarda talabalariga
xitoy tilini o‘rgatish
ANNOTATSIYA
Kalit so‘zlar:
fonetik ko‘nikmalar,
logografik yozuv tizimi,
atamalar,
o‘zlashma so‘zlar,
o‘quv bosqichlari,
autentik matnlar,
mamlakatga xos matnlar,
madaniyatlararo
kommunikativ
kompetentsiya.
Mazkur maqolada xitoy tilini chet tili sifatida o‘rganayotgan
talabalar duch keladigan qiyinchiliklar tasvirlangan. Tadqiqot
xitoy tilini chet tili sifatida o‘qitishga ixtisoslashgan yetakchi
tilshunos olimlar, metodist va o‘qituvchilarning ilmiy ishlari va
darsliklari asosida tayyorlangan. Maqolada talabalarga chet tilini
o‘rgatishning kam o‘rganilgan jihatlari ochib berilgan. Tabiiy til
muhitini qayta tiklash uchun ishlab chiqilgan usul va usullarning
yo‘qligi, shuningdek, darslarda ulardan cheklangan foydalanish
o‘quvchilarning motivatsiyasini pasaytiradi. Shuningdek,
1
Teacher, Department of Chinese Philology, Uzbek State University World Languages. E-mail: 1904chunhua@mail.ru
Xorijiy lingvistika va lingvodidaktika – Зарубежная лингвистика
и лингводидактика – Foreign Linguistics and Linguodidactics
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xitoycha lug‘atning madaniy konnotatsiyasi va grammatik, leksik
va nutq xatolarini bartaraf etish metodologiyasi bilan bog‘liq
masalalar ham ko‘pincha e’tibordan chetda qoladi.
Преподавание
китайского
языка
студентам
нефилологических вузов Узбекистана
АННОТАЦИЯ
Ключевые слова:
фонетические навыки,
логографическая система
письма, терминология,
заимствования,
этапы обучения,
аутентичные тексты,
страноведческие тексты,
межкультурная
коммуникативная
компетенция.
В статье описываются трудности, с которыми сталкиваются
студенты, изучающие китайский язык как иностранный.
Исследование подготовлено на основе научных трудов и
учебников ведущих лингвистов, методистов и преподавателей,
специализирующихся на преподавании китайского языка как
иностранного. В статье выявлены малоизученные аспекты
обучения студентов иностранному языку. Отсутствие
разработанных методов и приемов воссоздания естественной
языковой среды, а также ограниченное их применение на уроках
снижает
мотивацию
учащихся.
Сопоставительно-
сравнительный
метод,
способствующий
преодолению
межъязыковой
интерференции
и
формированию
межкультурной коммуникативной компетенции, недостаточно
используется на уроках. Также часто упускаются из виду
вопросы, связанные с культурной коннотацией китайской
лексики и методологией устранения грамматических,
лексических и речевых ошибок.
INTRODUCTION
The Chinese language differs significantly from Western European languages,
primarily in its phonetic structure. The phonetics of Standard Chinese (Putonghua) is
considered extremely difficult for Europeans to master. Phonetic skills are developed over
several years of continuous practice in pronunciation. The syllable structure in Chinese is
rigid, with a maximum of four sounds arranged in a strict sequence. Modern Standard
Chinese (Putonghua) has slightly more than 400 syllables that differ in their sound
composition. Most simple words representing basic concepts are monosyllabic, making
Chinese one of the most homonymous languages in the world. Additionally, Chinese
syllables are pronounced with fixed etymological tones (melodic pitch patterns
characterized by changes in pitch), which also serve a meaning-distinguishing function.
This is a unique aspect of the Chinese language that is not immediately grasped by foreign
learners. These specific phonetic features of Chinese are the reason why students develop
proper auditory skills much later than those studying European languages and require
significantly more time to practice them. Another distinguishing feature of the Chinese
language, even among other Eastern languages, is its logographic writing system. Chinese
characters are based on the semantic representation of words – they convey meaning
rather than pronunciation or phonetic representation. The number of Chinese characters
far exceeds the standard 26–30 letters of European alphabets, with some characters
consisting of 15–20 strokes or more.
Xorijiy lingvistika va lingvodidaktika – Зарубежная лингвистика
и лингводидактика – Foreign Linguistics and Linguodidactics
Issue – 2 № 6 (2024) / ISSN 2181-3701
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MAIN PART
The first stage of learning is an adaptation period, during which students must
develop visual and motor familiarity with handling Chinese characters. This stage presents
significant challenges, especially until the correct stroke order of each character becomes
a reflexive, automatic process. However, learning characters is an ongoing process
throughout the entire language course – new vocabulary means learning new characters
since each new word is typically a new character.
To read newspapers, a student needs to know approximately 3,000–4,000
characters, and for scientific literature, an even greater number is required. This makes
learning Chinese considerably more labor-intensive than learning European languages.
The logographic system also poses challenges in developing reading and writing
skills. The pace of acquiring new vocabulary – and thus new characters – is understandably
slower compared to European languages. Memorizing 20 new alphabetic words is
relatively easy, but learning 20 new Chinese characters (including their pronunciation and
writing) takes significantly more time.
This is why students learning European languages progress much faster in reading
texts of various genres, while those studying Chinese lag behind – simply because they lack
the necessary number of learned characters to read such texts fluently. It is well known
that eight- or nine-year-old Chinese schoolchildren have significantly less knowledge in
natural sciences compared to their European peers. Their school textbooks at this age are
also simpler in content than those used by European children of the same age. The reason
is simple: by this age, Chinese children have not yet learned a sufficient number of
characters to read popular science texts.
For example, in elementary school, Russian children can already read aloud
unadapted works of Russian classical literature, while Chinese children of the same age
typically do not yet read literary works in their original form – again, due to their limited
knowledge of characters. Thus, acquiring a sufficient number of characters to work with
specialized texts takes significantly more time than learning to read European languages
that use alphabetic writing systems.
Terminology as a Challenge in Professionally Oriented Chinese Language Learning.
Another major challenge in professionally oriented Chinese language learning is
terminology. Professional language primarily involves the mastery of specialized
terminology.
It is well known that many Uzbek terms in fields such as medicine, banking,
chemistry, and IT are international words, often phonetic borrowings.
For example, words like virus, infection, pandemic, vaccine, clinic (medicine) or
percent, traffic, tranche, operator, credit (banking) are easy for Uzbek-Russian-speaking
students to remember when learning a European language because these terms sound
similar in Russian.
However, due to the rigid structure of Chinese syllables, reproducing foreign
pronunciation for such terms is impossible. As a result, borrowing in Chinese occurs
mainly through calquing (word-for-word translation) or the creation of entirely new
Chinese terms.
Additionally, learners must memorize the specific characters that represent these
terms. In other words, learning specialized terminology in Chinese takes much longer and
is significantly more difficult compared to European languages. All these factors make
Xorijiy lingvistika va lingvodidaktika – Зарубежная лингвистика
и лингводидактика – Foreign Linguistics and Linguodidactics
Issue – 2 № 6 (2024) / ISSN 2181-3701
302
learning Chinese a significantly longer process for students of non-linguistic faculties. At
the same time, the number of hours allocated for foreign language study is much lower
compared to the hours provided in educational programs for linguistics students.
Moreover, it should be noted that non-linguistic students do not have courses in lexicology
or stylistics – subjects that contribute to language competency development.
University graduates must meet the requirements of Federal State Educational
Standards (FSES) for their respective specialties. According to these standards, graduates
of non-linguistic specialties must be able to conduct business communication and
professional interactions in a foreign language. This includes the ability to read specialized
literature, draft relevant documents in a foreign language, and more.
This is an extremely difficult goal to achieve, as most students start learning Chinese
from scratch at university, as previously mentioned. Even the introduction of the Unified State
Exam (USE) in Chinese is unlikely to result in the formation of “continuing” groups in the near
future for specialized fields such as “Legal Support for National Security”.
RESULTS
Methodological Approaches to Teaching Chinese at Non-Linguistic Faculties
To meet the FSES requirements for foreign language education, most Chinese language
instructors at non-linguistic faculties have developed specialized teaching methods.
The training is conducted in stages, which are divided into:
1. Initial (Basic) Stage
2. Main (Intermediate) Stage
3. Final (Advanced) Stage
At the initial stage, students undergo an intensive introduction to basic phonetics
and the fundamentals of Chinese characters. Due to the limited number of study hours, the
phonetics course is significantly condensed:
Pinyin transcription (a system that records the approximate pronunciation of
Chinese syllables using Latin letters) is taught in a shortened timeframe.
Overall, this introductory block is covered in half the time compared to linguistics
students. At the initial stage of learning, it is also recommended to reduce the time spent
on introducing new grammatical and lexical material. This is largely achieved by lowering
the requirements for mastering grammar and Chinese characters.
For example, linguistics students complete significantly more written exercises and
also memorize traditional Chinese characters (which are still used in Singapore and
Taiwan, unlike in mainland China, where a simplified writing system has been adopted for
especially complex characters).
It must be acknowledged that this approach affects the quality of material retention
for most students. However, the most diligent and motivated learners already begin to
stand out at this stage due to their higher level of proficiency in phonetics, character
writing, vocabulary, and grammar.
After completing the basic grammar course, students studying European languages
– whether linguistics or non-linguistics students – can already transition to reading simple
authentic texts at home.
However, students learning Chinese at this stage can only speak on basic everyday
topics such as family, studies, visiting a café, etc. This is due to the specific nature of the
Chinese language – students must learn not only new words but also the corresponding
Chinese characters, as well as memorize how they are pronounced.
Xorijiy lingvistika va lingvodidaktika – Зарубежная лингвистика
и лингводидактика – Foreign Linguistics and Linguodidactics
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As a result, the vocabulary of a student who has completed the initial Chinese course
is still insufficient for reading professionally oriented texts.
Intermediate Stage of Learnin
g. At the intermediate stage, students begin to work directly
with professionally oriented texts in Chinese, with a focus on actively developing foreign
language communication skills across all types of speech activity. The transition to authentic
texts on socio-political and professional topics often becomes a kind of shock for students. They
suddenly encounter a large number of words outside of everyday vocabulary, along with a huge
number of new Chinese characters that must also be learned.
Because of this, teachers must carefully select study materials, ensuring that the
texts are both challenging and manageable for students. At this stage, it is recommended
to start with authentic texts on country-specific topics. Familiarizing students with a
certain amount of cultural and geographical information, as well as elements of the culture
of native speakers, is essential for successful communication, including in professional
contexts.
Why Country-Specific Texts?
1. Bridging the gap between general and specialized texts
These texts are no longer purely conversational, yet they are not highly technical or
scientific either. They help students accumulate vocabulary and master Chinese characters
related to socio-political and popular science concepts.
This prepares students for the next stage, where they will work with specialized
terminology and read professional academic texts.
2. Cultural knowledge enhances language learning. Understanding key aspects of
Chinese culture, history, and society is crucial for any student learning Chinese language
and characters. Among Sinologists, there is even a strong belief that without immersion in
Chinese culture, mastering Chinese characters is impossible.
3. Supporting general educational and developmental goals
Exposure to cultural knowledge helps optimize learning by making the language
more meaningful and engaging for students.
ANALYSIS
Insufficient Attention to Research on the Origins of Various Types of Errors and
Ways to Correct Them. E.N. Solovova classifies potential difficulties and errors in teaching
foreign languages based on interlingual and intralingual interference:
“The simultaneous study of the native and foreign language inevitably leads to a
certain degree of interlingual interference, where rules from one language are
mechanically transferred to another, resulting in errors”. [7, p. 107].
Unfortunately, teachers do not always take into account that when learning Chinese
words, students extract them from an unfamiliar worldview and try to fit them into the
Uzbek linguistic worldview. They perceive unfamiliar words and concepts through the lens
of their native Uzbek cognition. According to many scholars, this is one of the main
challenges in mastering a foreign language. In foreign language communication, both
linguistic and cultural errors occur, with the latter being more serious. The Chinese linguist
Liu Xun highlights this issue:
“In interactions with foreigners, native speakers can usually tolerate phonetic or
grammatical mistakes. However, violating speech norms is often considered impolite, as
native speakers do not acknowledge the relativity of sociolinguistics”.
Xorijiy lingvistika va lingvodidaktika – Зарубежная лингвистика
и лингводидактика – Foreign Linguistics and Linguodidactics
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Examining, analyzing, and correcting grammatical, lexical, and speech errors in
foreign language learning can play a significant role in students' successful acquisition of
the language. According to N.A. Demina, “Errors made by learners in any field are a
valuable subject of research for developing teaching methodologies in Chinese, which can
help prevent and minimize mistakes”. [3, p. 35].
Unfortunately, only a few studies focus on the identification and classification of
errors in students’ oral and written Chinese, as well as on conflict situations. This is due to
the specific nature of the Chinese language, where deviations from the norm often fall into
the categories of character-based, lexical, or grammatical errors. According to
I.V. Kocherghin, the teacher should continuously correct words pronounced by students
with incorrect intonation, classifying this mistake in the learning process as a lexical
(semantic) violation of the language norm.
Underexplored aspects of teaching Chinese as a foreign language to students at
Uzbekistan higher educational institutions (HEIs) include the methods and techniques for
recreating a natural language environment, the connection between modern teaching
methods for Chinese language and theoretical-methodological developments in this field,
the methodology for students to research the origins and ways of correcting various types
of errors, the base of situational speech exercises, and tasks aimed at acquiring knowledge
in linguocultural studies, Chinese speech etiquette, the cultural connotation of words, and
the interpretation of non-verbal communication. It also includes comparative analysis of
communication behavior between Chinese and Uzbek and the cultural specificity of
Chinese and Uzbek languages. To address these issues, the authors of this article propose
to rethink the methodology of teaching foreign languages to students and follow these
recommendations: Conduct joint classes for Uzbek students studying Chinese and Chinese
students mastering Uzbek, aiming to immerse students in the cultural and linguistic
environment. Use the WeChat messenger to continue communication outside of class.
Actively apply innovative technologies in teaching Chinese as a foreign language. Develop
online lesson complexes in collaboration with Chinese teachers and students in China, i.e.,
actively use international cooperation for Chinese-Uzbek dialogue of languages and
cultures. Apply a comparative method for forming intercultural communicative
competence and cross-cultural education when creating teaching materials and during
lessons. Overcome cultural stereotypes of students during foreign language learning,
helping them to reject cultural discrimination. Create their own teaching materials based
on the acquired experience of foreign language teaching. Pay close attention to analyzing
errors in students' spoken and written speech, as well as intercultural and linguistic
conflict situations, so that students can become full participants in international
communication
CONCLUSION
Chinese language instructors who teach both linguistic and non-linguistic students
within the same university acknowledge the significant challenges in learning Chinese,
including:
a)
The tonal nature of the language.
b)
The complexity of Chinese characters.
c)
The lack of international terminology.
d)
The limited number of study hours.
Xorijiy lingvistika va lingvodidaktika – Зарубежная лингвистика
и лингводидактика – Foreign Linguistics and Linguodidactics
Issue – 2 № 6 (2024) / ISSN 2181-3701
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These factors make teaching Chinese to non-linguistic students far more difficult
and labor-intensive than teaching it to students in linguistic faculties. Nevertheless, a
foreign language is an essential part of professional training for specialists in regional
studies, international relations, law, cultural studies, hospitality, IT, and other fields.
Today, proficiency in a foreign language is crucial for becoming a high-level professional
in the international job market. Develop skills for professional communication in a foreign
language. Meet the modern labor market demands in their specific fields.
To achieve this goal, Chinese language instructors in non-linguistic faculties continuously
work on improving teaching methodologies, considering the specific challenges of the
language.
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Xorijiy lingvistika va lingvodidaktika – Зарубежная лингвистика
и лингводидактика – Foreign Linguistics and Linguodidactics
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