Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2013
Abstract
Abstract. This study explored stereotypes about China held by young Malaysians. It focused on the learners of the Mandarin language in a big public university. The study not only examined the content but also assessed the favourability and salience of the language learners’ stereotypes, which had not been done in the previous studies. The stereotypes about China provided by the participants were diverse; they referred to culture, politics,language, history, climate, landscape, economics, religion and the Chinese people. Overall, the stereotypes were favourable. Especially the stereotypes referring to Chinese traditional and popular culture and cultural symbols were among the most frequent and most salient images of China. An interesting finding was that transnational popular culture played an important role in the formation of the stereotypical images about China. The study concludes by highlighting some pedagogical implications based on these findings. Keywords: country stereotypes, salience index, university students, Mandarin language, China, Malaysia
Keywords
country stereotypes, salience index, university students, Mandarin language, China, Malaysia
Divisions
aei
Publication Title
Trames Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences
Volume
17
Issue
2
Publisher
Estonian Academy of Sciences and Tartu University