Imparting China: some reflections on five decades of Chinese language teaching in New Zealand

Abstract

Since its introduction in the mid- 1960s , the teaching of the Chinese language in New Zealand has staked a claim at the table of arts and humanities by emphasizing , first , the importance and antiquity of Chinese civilization and then China's political and economic relevance. In spite of the increasingly close ties between the two countries, Chinese language teach­ing in New Zealand seems to be at odds with the direction of the country it­self. One glaring puzzle has been the ebb that followed the surge in Chinese language teaching and related initiatives in the mid to late 1990s.Why is this so? A historical survey of a half-century of Chinese language teaching .in New Zealand may help to explain the conundrum.