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PALGRAVE STUDIES IN
TEACHING AND LEARNING
CHINESE
Teacher Voices in
Chinese Language
Teaching
Personal Reflections on Culture
Scott Smith
Palgrave Studies in Teaching and Learning Chinese
Series Editors
Michael Singh
Centre for Educational Research
Western Sydney University
Penrith, NSW, Australia
Jinghe Han
School of Education
Western Sydney University
Penrith, NSW, Australia
Palgrave Studies in Teaching and Learning Chinese is a Pivot series
designed for teachers, teacher education candidates and teacher educators
working in the field of Chinese language education. Despite the world-
wide growth in school-based Chinese language education it has not yet
been accompanied by a strong program of educational research for teacher
professional learning. This series provides an internationally significant
forum by bringing together research from around the world to inform
school-based Chinese language education. Specifically, this series draws on
a wealth of evidence from studies of Chinese learning and teaching, weav-
ing together theoretical study of language education and real-world expe-
rience of student-centred, learning-focused practices. The series uses
theoretically-informed and empirically-grounded evidence to inform the
professional knowledge and practices of teaching, learning and using
Chinese.
Scott Smith
Teacher Voices in
Chinese Language
Teaching
Personal Reflections on Culture
Scott Smith
Morling College
Macquarie Park, NSW, Australia
ISSN 2946-2479 ISSN 2946-2487 (electronic)

Palgrave Studies in Teaching and Learning Chinese
ISBN 978-3-030-89212-8 ISBN 978-3-030-89213-5 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89213-5
© The Author(s) 2022

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of
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This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature
Switzerland AG.
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Contents
1 Who
is Teaching Who What? Chinese as a Foreign
Language Teaching in Australian Schools 1
2 Intercultural
Competence as a Goal of Language Learning:
What Are Chinese Teachers Doing with Culture? 33
3 A Way to Discover Culture in Language 63
4 Teacher
Voices on Thoughts About Language and Culture
Teaching 93
5 The Way Forward129
Appendix A: Online Survey for CFL Teachers137
Appendix B: Interview Questions (Part A)141
Index143
v
List of Figures
Fig. 1.1 Quality Teaching Framework (https://education.nsw.gov.au/

teaching-and-learning/professional-learning/scan/past-issues/
vol-36%2D%2D2017/quality-teaching-in-our-schools) 8
Fig. 1.2 Interculturality and pedagogy in flux amongst teachers of
Chinese in Australian schools 17
Fig. 1.3 Shifts in Chinese language learner enrolments in Australian
schools (visual representation only) 18
Fig. 1.4 Journeys of second language and heritage Chinese language
learners20
Fig. 1.5 Presentation of cultural practices, cultural values, and cultural
identity in two fields of learning 22
Fig. 2.1 Misalignment of identity and cultural layers 51
Fig. 2.2 Alignment of identity and cultural layers 52
Fig. 2.3 Awareness and adjustment of self, identity, and culture 52
Fig. 2.4 Sharing and shifting as a result of communities of practice
participation53
Fig. 4.1 Deconstruction of Chinese character: ‘樓’ (building) 103
Fig. 4.2 Deconstruction of 繁 into its component parts 107
Fig. 4.3 The relationship between idiom, belief, and practice 110
vii
List of Tables
Table 1.1 Distribution of participants 9

Table 1.2 Eight areas of development in intercultural competence 13
Table 1.3 NESA eligibility for Stage 6 (Grades 11&12) language courses 19
Table 1.4 Number of primary and secondary students of Chinese in
each Australian state/territory in 2008 and 2015 23
Table 1.5 Number of students studying Year 12 Chinese in NSW and VIC 25
Table 1.6 Proportion of Year 12 tertiary-recognised language
enrolments by language, Australia 2006–2019 26
Table 1.7 Languages spoken at home (by household), Australia,
2011, 2016 26
Table 3.1 Frequencies of selected types of compliment responses in
Chinese65
ix
CHAPTER 1
Who is Teaching Who What? Chinese

as a Foreign Language Teaching
in Australian Schools
Abstract This chapter surveys the historical and current state of uptake of
Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) in Australian schooling (primary and
secondary). The question of whether Australia, through its education sys-
tem, is developing more Chinese language users cannot be answered
through simple data analysis. Even though numbers of Chinese language
learners appear high in relation to other foreign languages, the comparison
is fraught with idiosyncratic issues such as the reality of large numbers of
Chinese heritage background learners and low numbers of learners for
whom Chinese is entirely ‘foreign’. There is growth in the number of learn-
ers, but this must be interpreted in light of who the learners are. For instance,
if a majority of teachers and learners have a Chinese heritage, then ‘CFL’
might be an unhelpful term. Put another way, how can ‘Chinese teaching
Chinese to the Chinese’ be counted in assessments of the growth or decline
of CFL in Australia? The issue is complex for Australia, where over 500,000
residents were born in Mainland China. The chapter begins with an over-
view of the basis for this book. It presents the author’s personal background,
as well as the research context in which the book is situated. An overview of
the research methodology and participants is presented and the key concept
of ‘intercultural competence’ is defined with reference to the literature.
Keywords Chinese as a foreign language • CFL • Intercultural

competence • Quality Teaching Framework
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature 1

Switzerland AG 2022
S. Smith, Teacher Voices in Chinese Language Teaching, Palgrave
Studies in Teaching and Learning Chinese,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89213-5_1
2 S. SMITH
The limits of my language mean the limits of my world

—Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951)
Why This Book?

The motivation for this book comes from personal observations made
from within the language teaching community, and from experiences liv-
ing in Australia and China. As a non-Chinese background teacher of
Chinese language, my perspective is different from that of my Chinese
colleagues. As an L2 learner of Chinese I have a specific viewpoint from
which to reflect and comment on the role of culture in Chinese language
teaching and what it might mean to develop intercultural competence. L1
Chinese speakers generally grow up within a Chinese cultural context, and
over 90% of Chinese language teachers in Australia possess this heritage
(Orton, 2016). I, however, studied Chinese language and learned about
the diverse culture of Chinese people as an adult L2 learner in China over
a nine-year period between the ages of 32 and 40. Having grown up in
Australia and having worked as a secondary teacher prior to living in
China, my own pedagogy has been shaped by Australian teacher education
and Australian public schooling. Following my return from China, and
until now, I have experience teaching Chinese at all levels, including pre-
K, primary, secondary, and university level. With this background, I find
myself in the so-called third place (Kramsch & Zhang, 2018), having the
sense of not belonging completely in either context, and yet possessing a
unique appreciation of each context from within and without. In other
words, given the extended period living and working in China, I have
taken a middle ground perspective (Leung et al., 2018), where, without
wanting to essentialize the two positions, Chinese and Australian perspec-
tives on interactions and language learning are held in tension. Chen
(2002, p. 183) discusses the notion of ‘middle’ in Chinese thought as
follows:
The term’s (middle ground) philosophical origins are deeply rooted in the
“middle way” teachings of such influential philosophers as Confucius and
Lao Tzu (the founder of Taoism), where we find its true meaning. In its
intended sense, the word “middle” conveys a dynamic concept, an active
“harmonious integration” of opposites rather than a reactive compromise
between them.
1 WHO IS TEACHING WHO WHAT? CHINESE AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE… 3
In this sense, I also find myself pedagogically in a third place, viewing

Chinese language teaching as a process of drawing learners into the mid-
dle ground where they may begin to not only understand the culture of
the other, but also reflectively take on appropriate languages and behav-
iours, and ‘be’ the other as interactions take place. Neither may cast aside
their own or the other’s culture, but they may stand in each other’s shoes,
de-centre from their own culture, and perhaps make more culturally
informed linguistic choices when communicating with each other.
Researchers have often commented on the limited success of Chinese
language pedagogy in Australian schools (Harbon & Moloney, 2017;
Moloney, 2013; Moloney & Xu, 2015; Orton, 2011, 2016), and indeed
in other international contexts where Chinese is being taught as a foreign
language (Dervin & Machart, 2017; Jin, 2020; Zheng, 2019). Chinese
government authorities and educationalists defend their right to be the
leaders of Chinese teaching to the world (Lien et al., 2012), and this is
especially evident under the Confucius Institute brand, beginning in Korea
in 2004, and spreading to Europe and across the globe over the next
decade (Starr, 2009). Now, Confucius Institutes exist in partnership with
many universities around the world, with the stated purpose of providing
centres of Chinese language and culture learning.
My own educational background is essentially constructivist in think-
ing. I was trained as a secondary teacher in Australia, using pedagogy
which strives to be stimulating, learner-centred and relevant to the learn-
er’s interests. These elements are expressed in the Quality Teaching
Framework (QTF) (Collins, 2017; Department of Education, 2008),
where the pursuit of significance is emphasised as one of three key indica-
tors of quality teaching. Elements of the QTF had conflicted with my
experience as a foreign language student in China, where Chinese lan-
guage pedagogy in 1999–2001 was teacher-centred and required much
rote learning and drilling. I experienced some tensions in my acquisition
of this new language. On the one hand, I acquired a shift in identity and
outlook, which enriched and changed my life. But my study in China also
caused me to question my fundamental understanding of the nature of
learning, and my personal epistemology inherent in the learner/teacher
role. Were my thinking, expectations, and teacher beliefs limited by the
limits of my first language, English? And, by corollary, were the thinking,
expectations, and teacher beliefs of Chinese teachers limited by the nature
and demands of their first language, Chinese?
4 S. SMITH
A question arose in relation to the perceived efficacy of rote learning,

deemed necessary to retain and conquer Chinese characters. There seemed
no way around this. Now, as a teacher of Chinese in Australia, I continue
to question the extent to which writing skills are emphasised over other
learning outcomes in Chinese study. A second and more pervasive ques-
tion is: How does cultural understanding inform language teaching and
learning? Given my close relationships with Chinese teachers in Australian
schools, and the nature of these tensions, I was motivated to investigate
the beliefs about culture and language teaching in the Australian context.
Contextual Background to the Book: The Status

of Chinese as a Foreign Language in Australia
Since the 1970s, there have been several initiatives in Australia to support
an increasing uptake of Asian languages in schools (Commonwealth
Advisory Committee, 1970; Henry, 2016; Slaughter, 2011). A White
Paper published by the Gillard government in 2012, ‘Australia in the
Asian Century’, promoted the learning of Asian languages as one way to
achieve the ‘capabilities to deal confidently with the challenges of the
Asian century and to make the most of its extraordinary opportunities’
(Henry, 2016, p. 136). In 2016, the Australia-China Relations Institute
(ACRI) published a report explaining the very particular demands of
Chinese language study in Australian schools and a way forward to achieve
increasing uptake and proficiencies (Orton, 2016). In NSW between 2012
and 2016 the Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards
(BOSTES) redeveloped its approach to languages education. For the first
time it explicitly referred to two learning strands: language awareness and
language learning. This appears to be in recognition of the cultural aspects
of language structure and use. Other states and territories made similar
moves to review and improve language education, for example Australian
Capital Territory’s ‘Many Voices’ (2012–2016), Northern Territory’s
‘Changing the conversation’ (2015), Queensland’s expansion of compul-
sory language education into Years 5–8 (2015), and Victoria’s highly elab-
orated ‘Languages: Expanding your world’ plan (2013–2025) (Kohler,
2017). South Australia, Western Australia, and Tasmania remain without
a dedicated languages education policy framework and rely on more global
curriculum documents to guide their teaching of languages.
Despite these efforts, it is evident that Chinese language courses in

Australian schools have been struggling to attract and retain students,
with 95% of Chinese language learners dropping out of study before
reaching the end of secondary school, for many years (Orton, 2008,
2016). This is in stark contrast to the feverish uptake in Asian countries
(Scrimgeour, 2014) and strategic curriculum programming of daily
Mandarin Chinese classes and immersion programmes in the growing
number of international schools across Asia (Wang, 2016).
In the last decade, the need for innovation in Chinese language educa-
tion in Australia has been recognised (Dervin et al., 2020; Harbon &
Moloney, 2017; Orton, 2008; Wilson & Scrimgeour, 2009; Moloney &
Xu, 2012; Moloney, 2013; Orton, 2016), and yet this has only been mar-
ginally achieved. Orton (2016) reported evidence of Chinese programmes
closing in schools due to falling levels of motivation, due, she claims, to
teachers’ failure to engage learners with relevant pedagogy. This suggests
a failure to establish significance in Chinese teaching and learning. In addi-
tion, Australians’ negative attitudes to foreign language learning have
been frequently chronicled in the literature (Lo Bianco, 1987; Clyne,
2005; Crozet, 2008; Moloney & Xu, 2012; Orton, 2008, 2016). Hence,
relevance and significance are key factors in learner engagement and
success.
Another barrier to Chinese language learning is an inadequate alloca-
tion of learning time in the curriculum. In the state of New South Wales
(NSW), foreign languages are non-compulsory subjects, with the excep-
tion of a compulsory 100 hours of a language other than English in the
junior secondary years. To satisfy this requirement students are taught
whatever language is currently on the timetable, and this is determined by
what language teachers are on the staff. This barrier is heightened by the
fact that, for L1 English speakers, Chinese requires a learning period 3.5
times that of some of the European languages to reach the same level of
proficiency (Orton, 2016, p. 92). This highlights the need for maximum
engagement and efficiency in Chinese as a foreign language teaching and
learning.
The desire and capacity of the incumbent Chinese teacher community
of practice to achieve greater learning outcomes in an increasing number
of students now hangs in the balance. Hence, even though political rheto-
ric exists to support a focus on Asian language development, and Chinese
language teacher associations support teacher professional learning and
active participation in communities of practice, the evidence of declining
6 S. SMITH
numbers of senior secondary students matriculating with an Asian lan-

guage proves the need for research and alternative approaches to the
problem.
As Australia adopts a national curriculum (Australian Curriculum and
Reporting Authority, 2016) built upon constructivist educational expecta-
tions, the use of authentic localised texts and online resources in Chinese
teaching needs to be prioritised (Oubibi et al., 2022; Scrimgeour, 2014).
This entails, for instance, purposeful inclusion of Australian content in
Chinese teaching materials. It also necessitates inclusion of digital media
resources capable of engaging digital native language learners. Modern
constructivist pedagogy demands a shift in the way teachers teach, an issue
further complicated by the fact that over 90% (Orton, 2008) of Chinese
teachers working in NSW schools have been educated in China. Research
examining teachers’ resistance to innovation in other areas has underlined
the need to address the beliefs which shape and direct the response
(Moloney & Xu, 2015). This book takes up this challenge, at a critical
moment in the teaching of Chinese, both in Australia and internationally.
We know that teacher beliefs shape teacher practice (Ben-Peretz, 2011),
and thus student learning. And yet, the beliefs of teachers of Chinese,
especially their beliefs about culture and teaching, have received only lim-
ited research attention. Understanding the cultural context of language
use is recognized today as essential to language learning. Kramsch (2014)
and Kramsch and Zhang (2018) have maintained that culture is insepara-
ble from language, and therefore should be purposefully placed in the
foreground of foreign language pedagogy. The understanding of what
‘culture’ represents has changed (Dervin, 2011; Dervin et al., 2020). In
the current approach to language pedagogy in Australia, which has been
influenced by sociocultural theory, the teaching of culture has moved from
being an isolated ‘extra’ element of language learning, to being reflective,
integrated, and embedded. It has been suggested, however, that current
Chinese teaching in Australian schools, influenced by the pedagogy of
foreign language education in China, is perpetuating isolated culture
learning (Orton, 2011; Moloney & Xu, 2015; Harbon & Moloney,
2017), where culture is often essentialized. It is critical that for an engag-
ing contemporary pedagogy of Chinese as a foreign language to be devel-
oped in the Australian context, teacher beliefs about pedagogy in culture
must be addressed.
Wang et al. (2013) report that the individual teacher’s voice is largely
absent in current research on Chinese language teacher education
programmes in both China and elsewhere. Therefore, it was important for

this study to ‘listen’ to some of the voices of those who work as Chinese
language teachers in Australian secondary schools. The research reported
in this book emulates Wang et al.’s (2013) efforts to empower the role of
a sample of Chinese language teachers by including excerpts from their
narratives, as well as Kramsch and Zhang’s (2018) multilingual instructor
memories and tales of experience.
The primary focus of this book is to examine Chinese language teach-
ers’ beliefs about ‘culture’ and how these beliefs impact their pedagogy in
Australian secondary schools. In New South Wales (NSW), Chinese is
studied as a compulsory 100-hour course in Year 7 or 8 (the first two years
of secondary school) (NESA, 2017), as well as elective language courses
from Year 9 to 12. In most schools offering Chinese language courses
across Australia, the inclination to continue with Chinese in the final two
years and sit for the examination for the Higher School Certificate drops
away significantly. This phenomenon naturally concerns teachers and edu-
cation administrators. Several explanations have been offered to explain
the dearth of Year 12 non-Chinese background (or second language)
learners. Pedagogy that lacks necessary levels of engagement and the pur-
poseful facilitation of broader intercultural competence in language stu-
dents, coupled with a corpus of textbooks that remain characterised by
isolated references to essentialized cultural content, is still prevalent
(Harbon & Moloney, 2017; Moloney & Xu, 2015; Orton, 2016;
Scrimgeour, 2014).
This book hopes to contribute to the emerging broader research effort
in language teaching and learning, to explore what intercultural language
learning may look like. Liddicoat (2004, p. 20) noted that in the context
of language teaching we do not have descriptions of what intercultural
competence looks like. The observations made in this book will provide
useful data from which to describe and enrich the wider context of Chinese
language teaching. The desired outcome, therefore, will be a research-
based foundation for the development of intercultural pedagogy for
Chinese language. This potential development rests upon the capacity of
Chinese language teachers to identify and explicitly facilitate in students
the ability to make culturally informed linguistic choices when receiving
and producing Chinese language.
This book seeks to shed light on the beliefs held by teachers of Chinese
language in a defined educational context—beliefs in relation to culture as
it relates to language, and the teaching of language. I argue this is a
8 S. SMITH
necessary first step in describing the interculturality of language teachers,

which can then lead to an inquiry about how interculturality impacts lan-
guage teaching pedagogy, that is, what they do with culture. It would be
unwise to assume all language teachers and readers of this book agree on
the definition of ‘culture’. Hence, the first question to ask is: What beliefs
do teachers of Chinese language in Australian schools hold about culture as it
relates to language and the teaching of language? From this starting point
the book overlays current notions of interculturality, or increasing inter-
cultural competence, as defined in the literature, and describes Chinese
language teacher interculturality. A second question—How can the inter-
culturality of teachers be understood from the way they describe themselves
and their beliefs about culture, teaching, language, and values?—seeks to
provide a description of Chinese teacher interculturality. From this, the
impact of interculturality upon language teacher pedagogy is examined
with reference to the QTF. It is within the significance element of the QTF
(Fig. 1.1) that aspects of intercultural competence development are
captured.
Significance in the QTF refers to ‘pedagogy that helps make learning
meaningful and important to students. Such pedagogy draws clear con-
nections with students’ prior knowledge and identities, with contexts
Intellectual Quality Learning Significance

Quality Environment
Deep Explicit quality Background
knowledge criteria knowledge
Deep Cultural
Understanding Engagement knowledge
Elements
Problematic High Knowledge

knowledge expectations integration
High-order
thinking Social support Inclusivity
Metalanguage Students’ self- Connectedness

regulation
Substantive Student Narrative
communication direction
The NSW Quality Teaching model has 3
dimensions and 18 elements
Fig. 1.1 Quality Teaching Framework (https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-

and-learning/professional-learning/scan/past-issues/vol-36%2D%2D2017/
quality-teaching-in-our-schools)
outside of the classroom, and with multiple ways of knowing or cultural

perspectives’ (NSW Department of Education and Training, 2003, p. 9).
Teachers of Chinese language in NSW secondary schools were asked
questions in a survey about culture and language teaching. This group
(n=68) are seen to be representative of who teaches Chinese, how Chinese
is taught, and what is generally believed about culture-in-language-
teaching in Australian schools where Chinese language courses are offered.
Participants were recruited through the NSW Chinese Language Teachers
Association. Of the total number of Chinese language teachers across
Australia, most are members of their local association, as evidenced
through participation in annual conferences. NSW is the largest state by
population and the NSW branch of the Chinese Language Teachers
Association accounts for approximately 60% of association membership
nationally. Responses to the survey from a broad group representing
teachers of Chinese inform the bigger picture of teacher beliefs about cul-
ture and language teaching.
In addition to the broader survey, four teachers in three schools partici-
pated in interviews and classroom observations. The researcher requested
and received permission to visit the schools and spent focused time with
their Chinese language teachers. Interviews were undertaken in situ with
four teachers, and each interview lasted approximately 60–90 minutes.
Interviews were semi-structured, and questions were consistent across all
interviews to afford comparative analysis. They were also carried out with
enough flexibility to allow for worthwhile tangential discussions. In addi-
tion to using question-and-answer-style interview techniques, the
researcher also generated five scenarios, in the form of stimulus dialogues,
and asked for participants’ reactions to these. Dialogues were designed to
elicit responses relating to the connections between language and culture.
The researcher also spent three lessons with each teacher in their class-
rooms, while they were teaching, and made field notes relating to teacher
pedagogy and references to culture–language links. Table 1.1 details the
participants and their birthplace/hometown and their respective schools.
Table 1.1 Distribution of participants

Jiang Chen Song Fan
(Henan) (Taiwan) (Guangdong) (Hong Kong)
School 1 X X
School 2 X
School 3 X
10 S. SMITH
Teacher Interviews
Face-to-face 60–90-minute interviews of four teachers were chosen as the
focal point of data collection. The interviews were semi-structured, in that
questions were prepared in advance, yet they were also conversational in
nature, allowing for free expression, spontaneous discussion, and tangen-
tial inquiry. I allowed for switching between English and Mandarin to
ensure maximum comfort and ease of the participants. This allowance was
also seen to promote accuracy in responses. I acknowledge myself as a co-
participant in the inquiry, as I was facilitating, reacting, and responding in
discourse with my teacher participants. I also acknowledge my position as
a colleague in the wider community of practice of Chinese language teach-
ing and as an executive member of the Chinese Language Teachers
Association. Questions prepared for the interviews are presented in
Appendix B.
An ethnographic approach incorporating data from semi-structured
interviews and classroom observations of four teachers provides depth to
the study. Purposeful sampling was used to identify four teachers in three
schools, enabling a representation of single-sex and co-educational
schools, as well as academically selective and comprehensive schools.
School #1 was a non-government, independent, co-educational interna-
tional school with a focus on languages. School #2 was a non-government,
independent, boys’ grammar school, and School #3 a non-government,
independent, girls’ school. Teacher #1, the most experienced in terms of
years taught, migrated to Australia over 25 years ago and has experienced
what he terms ‘significant cultural adjustment’ as he learned to follow the
cultural norms in Australia, whilst maintaining his own Chineseness. He
grew up and was educated in central Mainland China. Teacher #2, a
younger female teacher (approximately 35 years old), migrated to Australia
more recently from Taiwan. She had approximately five years’ experience
teaching Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) in Australia. Teacher #3,
from southeast China, grew up in what she refers to as a ‘Cantonese cul-
tural and linguistic environment’. In addition to over ten years of CFL
teaching experience, she has presented professional development work-
shops to other teachers, and is generally well respected in the CFL com-
munity of practice. Teacher #4, a migrant from Hong Kong, described
herself as tri-lingual in Cantonese, Mandarin, and English. Arriving in
Australia over 20 years ago, and while she was still young, she became rela-
tively immersed in a rural setting and married an Anglo-Australian. This
experience, she said, has given her unique insights into intercultural devel-
opment, and has helped her become an excellent language teacher to
those students with and without Chinese heritage. This selection of
teacher participants provides broad geographic, linguistic, and cultural
diversity to the book. It also served to substantiate the depth of diversity
that exists between people who call themselves Chinese, as well as to iden-
tify what beliefs they hold in common.
The origins of ethnography can be traced back to early twentieth-
century anthropology and the small-scale studies of societies by renowned
researchers such as Malinowski, Radcliffe-Brown, and Boaz. The main
attraction was gaining an understanding of the ‘exotic other’ (Hammersley,
2018), usually in exotic locations around the world. The Chicago School
of Sociology in the 1920s and 1930s adopted this approach and it became
mainstream under the influences of Everett Hughes, Robert Park, and
Louis Wirth, and was applied to more localised issues such as homeless-
ness and immigration (Hammersley, 2018, p. 1367). Ethnography com-
bines a foundation of empiricism, as well as naturalism. It requires the
collection of data in the native context of those being observed. It does
not, however, seek to test a hypothesis, but instead is exploratory in nature.
Although ethnography is generally defined by the fieldwork, and hence
undirected by previously determined research questions, this chapter
evokes ethnography as one of several items in the methodology toolbox.
People quoted within these ethnographies are ‘real’ people grappling with
the routine, mundane issues that make up a teacher’s day (Woods, 1985,
p. 53). It has therefore been essential that this work involves observations
and interactions in situ. I acknowledge that there is a certain degree of
power and status afforded me as an Anglo-Australian male researcher.
Given that much of the dialogue was conducted in English, the researcher
held considerable power as a native speaker.
The purpose of the observations was to seek evidence of how teachers’
beliefs were manifested in the classroom (their natural setting), and how
pedagogy is influenced by beliefs. Adding observational data to the
research methodology enabled the generation of both corroborating and
contradictory evidence. Overall, this approach aimed to yield a rich seam
of ethnographic data characterised by an inquiry into what Chambers
(2000) refers to as the place of culture in human affairs. Contemporary
ethnographic approaches allow for a focus on ways in which people create
culturally meaningful expressions in contexts where culture is consistently
under revision. Brewer (2003) emphasised the capturing of social
12 S. SMITH
meanings through the study of people in naturally occurring settings.

Hammersley (2018, pp. 7–8), in taking up the challenge of defining what
ethnography is and is not, concludes there are two distinct roads to follow.
One he terms ‘thick’, which is a narrowly defined ethnography requiring
us to ‘lay down what are appropriate theoretical and value commitments
for ethnographic work’, and he warns this choice will lead to more dis-
agreement from those who call themselves ethnographers. The second
option, ‘thin’ ethnography, a more all-encompassing approach, treats eth-
nography ‘simply as a research strategy that can be employed by research-
ers adopting a wide variety of potentially conflicting commitments’, and in
this case ‘ethnographic approach’ is a more suitable term to describe the
research methodology. This research took an ethnographic approach to
qualitative data collection as it commits to participant observation, which
is viewed as the core of ethnography (Hammersley, 2018, p. 8), but it also
relies on more formal semi-structured interviews which are somewhat
removed from the natural setting of the classroom. In terms of scale, eth-
nographic research tends to focus on a small number of cases, thus facili-
tating more depth in analysis. This analysis is then characterised by
descriptions, explanations, and theories, and quantitative analysis plays a
secondary role. Atkinson (2015) explains that everyday life is skilful, phys-
ical, symbolic, enacted locally, and performed; it unfolds over time, it takes
place in specific locations, and it is conducted through material artefacts
(2015, pp. 16–19). Thus, in ethnography, it is vital that the researcher is
in proximity to the ‘performers’. Data collected comes from various
sources, including field notes from observations and informal conversa-
tions, when I was able to be in proximity with Chinese teachers, and tran-
scripts of interviews that include teacher reflections on stimulus dialogues.
As a study that inquired about what teachers of Chinese language
understand ‘culture’ to be, and how they use it in their teaching, it is
qualitative in nature, because it is concerned with understanding what
human beings are doing or saying (Schwandt, 2000). In designing the
research process I was mindful that as a language teacher I am also part of
the world, or context, of inquiry (Vidich & Lyman, 2000). In their work
on finding realities in interviews, Miller et al. (2020) identify insiders and
outsiders. To some degree I am an ‘insider’, because as a language teacher
practitioner I move within the same world as my research participants
(Silverman, 2020, chapter 4, p. 53). This allows for empathy with partici-
pants, and more immediate understanding of what is happening, but it
also necessitates critical distance. In another sense, I am still an ‘outsider’,
in that I do not work alongside any of the participants, that is, as a school
colleague, and I am not of Chinese heritage. This facilitates a degree of
objectivity.
This research is significant as Australia maintains its position eco-
nomically and geopolitically in Asia, as well as historically in the Asian
Century (Asia Education Foundation, 2013). Having young Australians
interculturally competent in using the Chinese language is of politi-
cal, economic, and strategic significance to Australia. For Chinese to be
upheld as a major foreign language in Australian schools (Henry, 2016),
the teaching of Chinese language must be characterised by best practice,
which can be measured against the Quality Teaching Framework and new
National Curriculum (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting
Authority, 2016), and this includes a determined focus on intercultural
understanding.
Intercultural Competence
This book tables a synthesised definition of intercultural competence
based on a review of the literature. Table 1.2 describes eight areas of
increasing intercultural competence based on literature spanning the past
30 years.
Table 1.2 Eight areas of development in intercultural competence
Decentre from one’s own culture to Byram (1997a), Dervin and Dirba (2006),
appreciate that of another Crozet (2012), Jin (2020), Jin and Dervin
(2017)
See ‘culture’ through the discourse Camilleri (1993), Byram (1997a), Holliday
patterns of individuals rather than static (2013), Kramsch (2011), Jin (2014), Kramsch
culture and language systems and Zhang (2018)
Acknowledge limitations of self to allow Byram (1997a), Byram and Wagner (2018),
for agency in others Ma (2014)
Collaborate with others in meaning Bird and Osland (2005), Byram and Wagner
making (2018)
Reflect on one’s own culture and identity Abdallah Pretceille and Prat (2001), Byram
to a point where ‘me’ and ‘other’ fade (1997a), Holliday (2013), Jin (2020),
into ‘us’ Kramsch and Zhang (2018), Moloney (2008)
Reject essentialism Deardoff (2006), Guilherme (2000), Holliday
(2013), Kotter (1996)
Focus on ‘being’ as well as knowing Hall (2010), Holliday (2013), Jin (2020),
Meighan (2021)
Allow for self-discovery in self and others Masterson (2018)
14 S. SMITH
Byram (1997b, p. 56) describes the decentring process as the ability to

observe, collect data, and analyse how people of another culture perceive
and experience their world. Jin and Dervin (2017, p. 11) talk about this in
terms of individuals questioning their views of the ‘other’ and the ‘self’,
the wider discursive space and ideologies in their encounters. Holliday’s
(2013, p. 56) formation of ‘small cultures’ describes the process in which
individuals create culture on a daily basis through engagement with oth-
ers. Based on this view, no one perpetuates static language or cultural
systems, but rather they live out culture that is linked to language as dis-
course and construct new realities that shape peoples’ opinions (Kramsch
& Zhang, 2018). The ability to acknowledge one’s own limitations and
step out of one’s comfort zone to examine what might be foreign, Byram
and Wagner (2018) suggest, represents a skill associated with intercultural
competence. They also argue intercultural competence involves speakers
in context creating shared meanings (Byram & Wagner, 2018) or sense
making (Bird & Osland, 2005). Intercultural competence has been spo-
ken of as requiring potential assaults on identity (Holliday, 2013), mem-
bership of two languages and cultures (Moloney, 2008), and frequent
reflections on who you are, who you were, and who you are becoming
(Kramsch & Zhang, 2018). Essentialism represents ‘people’s individual
behaviour as entirely defined and constrained by the cultures in which they
live so that the stereotype becomes the essence of who they are’ (Holliday,
2011, p. 4). The antithesis of this is described above: an acknowledgement
of culture as dynamic, shared, and co-constructed through discourse, an
increasing willingness to decentre from one’s own culture to understand
and give agency to another, and a degree of reflection on self. And it is
likely that unless we are bi- or multilingual (Meighan, 2021, p. 79) our
‘self’ will have been less exposed to alternative ways of being, and is thus
more likely to accept the cultural status quo imposed upon us by our own
language (Goatly, 2018, p. 228). Thus, in addition to new knowledge,
intercultural language learning also involves new ways of being. Currently,
intercultural competence development is seen as a further step beyond
pragmatic language development. Crystal’s (1997) definition of pragmat-
ics bears a resemblance to some of the areas listed in Table 1.2. For
instance, ‘the study of language from the point of view of the users’ (Yang,
2018, p. 261) echoes the call to decentre from one’s own culture to appreci-
ate that of another (Byram, 1997a; Crozet, 2012; Dervin & Dirba, 2006;
Jin & Dervin, 2017).
Disparate pedagogies have created ongoing issues between the aspira-

tions for the expansion of Chinese language studies in Australia and the
reality of student participation. As noted above, Orton (2008, 2011,
2016) has already pointed to the 96% drop-out rate from Chinese lan-
guage studies after the compulsory years of languages education, and she
points to teacher pedagogy as one cause. Urgent reform is thus needed in
Chinese language teaching, one aspect of which addresses current peda-
gogy and intercultural language learning. A constructivist pedagogy is well
established in the Australian schema, and yet it has been suggested that the
pedagogies of over 90% of Chinese language teachers in Australian schools
may be resistant to this expectation (Moloney & Xu, 2016), given their
own personal education backgrounds. Having said this, the Chinese lan-
guage is unique, and the integrity of its long history of learning and teach-
ing should not be overlooked. A tension exists between what Australian
best practice in teaching dictates for Chinese language teachers, and that
which has successfully produced over a billion literate users of Chinese in
the current era. Grappling with this tension lies at the core of this book.
I rely on this synthesis of elements of increasing intercultural compe-
tence to interpret the data collected from interviews and surveys returned
by teachers. I am also mindful of the ensuing limitations this imposes on
the discussion. The final chapter will raise the issue of reliance on largely
English-language-origin, ‘Western’ literature to define a concept that has
been applied to a Chinese as a second language teaching context in which
people of Chinese heritage make up the participants of the research.
Who is Teaching Who What?

There was an overall decline of 20% in the number of Year 12 L2 Chinese
learners between 2008 and 2015, and this has been attributed to pressure
from unfair competition. A report commissioned by the Australia-China
Relations Institute (ACRI) at the University of Technology Sydney, enti-
tled ‘Building Chinese Language Capacity in Australia’ (Orton, 2016),
revealed that ‘…senior classes in some long-running L2 Chinese programs
have been decimated; this is largely due to the presence of crushing num-
bers of home speaker learners being assessed as L2, who fill the high score
quotas’ (p. 18). Orton (2016) argues no one truly benefits from this phe-
nomenon because students who speak Chinese at home and who enrol in
the lowest-level course to gain the highest possible marks will not develop
their limited language skills and or a rich and stable bilingual, bicultural
identity (Orton, 2016, p. 18).
16 S. SMITH
A New Metaphor: Building a House or a Home?

Evidence suggests that the CFL teachers are caught pedagogically between
a heritage language approach and a foreign languages approach, and that
a third intercultural approach has been blurred by teachers’ enduring
beliefs about culture. This can be likened to the differences between the
concepts of a house (住宅) and a home (家园). Construction of a high-
quality house requires rigorous adherence to well-drawn plans, the use of
quality materials, and skilled craftspeople. The expected result is a building
of sound structure and a pleasing and functional aesthetic. The concept of
a home, however, requires reference to a strong sense of belonging
between individuals and to place (Moore, 2000). With belonging comes a
degree of common understanding, agreed values, and agreed identity. As
a metaphor for language acquisition, a house represents a well-planned
language curriculum that introduces the complexities of a language in
logical stages, just as a building is constructed from the ground up. As
language construction takes place, the parts of language come together
and more holistic proficiency is achieved—language acquisition as house.
By contrast, language acquisition as home involves more social and affec-
tive identification with the language and its other users (Leeman, 2015;
Makoni, 2018; Yang & Tochon, 2022).
Chinese language teachers in Australia may see themselves in similar
ways to teachers of other community heritage languages. Studies of such
teachers (Van Deusen-Scholl, 2003; King, 2000; Ardakani, 2015) show a
desire to preserve and protect the integrity and respect of the language
and how it should be taught in its original educational and cultural con-
text. In the case where community languages are taught outside regular
school hours (e.g. on weekends), this desire to build a home can be freely
pursued, as it is not in conflict with mainstream school curricula. In the
case of Chinese, however, the language has moved from a status solely as
a diaspora community or heritage language, to a new dual status, both as
a high-profile ‘foreign language’ for beginners to learn and as a highly
valued ‘mother-tongue’ for heritage learners and background speakers to
learn, incorporated in the school curriculum, and the latter sets up an
expectation of a pedagogy aligned with the rest of the Australian curricu-
lum. Teacher beliefs and interculturality, hence, may be caught, or be in
transition, in a negotiation of optimal pedagogy, between the heritage
language field and the foreign language field. They are frequently seen to
be teaching Chinese as house and home.
Figure 1.2 illustrates how both interculturality and pedagogy can be in

flux for teachers of Chinese. If they teach classes with a mix of second
language learners and heritage language learners, teachers are constantly
faced with multiple fields of learning. This phenomenon, common in
Australian schools that offer Chinese language classes, has created a dual-
istic environment in which teachers are constantly in transition between a
settled identity and a newly evolving one. In reality, teachers feel more
comfortable when teaching heritage learners and more challenged when
faced with learners from other backgrounds who have no prior experience
with Chinese language or culture. This then directly influences pedagogy
as they modify their teaching to match their expectations of the learners in
the two fields.
The dilemma that exists is not merely the difficulty of teaching more
than one proficiency level in the same classroom, which is often a voiced
concern of language teachers, but more fundamentally about the intercul-
tural posturing of the teacher, and their capacity to effectively bridge the
knowledge and skill gaps of their students. Chinese language classrooms in
Australian schools are full of people in transition. Each learner is on their
own journey towards greater proficiency and most begin from different
starting points to the person sitting beside them. And they are being
guided by teachers who may be experiencing more complex transitions.
Beliefs about culture

(heritage)
Interculturality in flux
(heritage/foreign)
Pedagogy in flux
(heritage language /foreign language)
Fig. 1.2 Interculturality and pedagogy in flux amongst teachers of Chinese in

Australian schools
18 S. SMITH
The vast majority of Chinese language teachers in Australia can be

described as having Chinese heritage (Orton, 2016), which contrasts
markedly with teachers of other languages, and this book argues that many
see themselves as insider protectors and promoters of Chinese language
and culture. Hence, their default approach to language teaching is a heri-
tage approach, that is, building homes for their heritage background stu-
dents, while managing the construction of houses for those outside
this cohort.
Another complication occurs as teachers interact with heritage learners
of widely varying language proficiencies. They feel a responsibility to teach
language and culture in a purposeful way to those who ‘need to know’. It
is still a challenge, yet a challenge largely accepted by the community of
practice. Statistically it is their core business because most Chinese lan-
guage learners in Australian schools are either heritage or background
speakers. Orton (2016) has reported that the pattern of declining enrol-
ments in the senior years, especially for second language learners, clearly
indicates a steady shift towards Chinese teaching Chinese to the Chinese. In
Year 12 in 2015, it was estimated that a mere 400 of the 4149 Chinese
language learners were second language learners (Orton, 2016).
There is only a small window of opportunity in the 13-year NSW cur-
riculum to welcome and nurture L2 language learners. Figure 1.3 illus-
trates the shifts that take place over the 13 years of primary and secondary
FOREIGN LANGUAGE HERITAGE HERITAGE

HERITAGE FOCUS
+HERITAGE FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS
ENROLMENTS
PRIMARY YEARSK-6 LOTE YEARS 7-6 YEARS 9-10 YEARS 11-12
Fig. 1.3 Shifts in Chinese language learner enrolments in Australian schools

(visual representation only)
education regarding enrolments and curriculum focus of Chinese lan-

guage learners, and where L2 learners fit in. In the early years pedagogy
has a heritage focus (through the government-funded Community
Languages Program). It then shifts to a combination of foreign language
and heritage language teaching during the compulsory LOTE (Languages
Other Than English) years (Year 7 or 8), and then gradually returns to a
re-emphasis on heritage and first language teaching, as second language
learner enrolments drop away between Years 9 and 12.
In Australian Languages other than English (LOTE) education, and
especially Chinese language education, there are sub-categories of learners
based on whether they claim a heritage background for the language.
These students, commonly known as ‘heritage learners’, are ideally
enrolled in the ‘Language in Context’ course. The National Education
Standards Authority (NESA) defines eligibility criteria in relation to stu-
dents with a background that might give them advanced knowledge/skills
in the target language, thus distinguishing them from other learners.
Table 1.3 is an excerpt from the NESA guidelines.
The resulting pedagogical landscape sees Chinese language teachers
guiding several disparate groups of learners towards significantly different
learning outcomes. Figure 1.4 has been provided to illustrate these
journeys.
Table 1.3 NESA eligibility for Stage 6 (Grades 11&12) language courses
Courses Target candidature Eligibility criteria
[Language] in Students typically have been brought up Students have had no

Context in a home where the language is used, and formal education in a
Where there is a they have a connection to that culture. school where the language
[Language] and These students have some degree of is the medium of
Literature course understanding and knowledge of the instruction beyond the
language. They have received all or most year in which the student
of their formal education in schools where turns 10 years of age
English (or another language different (typically Year 4 or 5 of
from the language of the course) is the primary education).
medium of instruction. Students may have
undertaken some study of the language in
a community, primary, and/or secondary
school in Australia. Students may have had
formal education in a school where the
language is the medium of instruction up
to the age of 10.
20 S. SMITH
Graduating students
Second language learners

Commencing students
C
L C
Heritage learners Graduating students
Fig. 1.4 Journeys of second language and heritage Chinese language learners
In Fig. 1.4, as learners approach from the left to commence their

Chinese studies, they are routinely separated into heritage and second lan-
guage learners based upon their language education experience and family
background. Heritage learners are offered a programme of study that
more purposefully integrates language and culture learning (L and C). We
see heritage learners sitting in a ‘field’ in which they can access language
and culture learning that incorporates knowledge of visual culture as well
as linguistic links with Chinese cultural values (language as home). Second
language learners are sitting in another ‘field’ in which language (L) is
taught (language as house) to a basic level and the culture learning (c) is
largely separate from language and appears as visible representations of
customs and traditions such as cuisine, festivals, and the animal zodiac.
This illustration also captures the fact that both groups of students may
indeed have contact with each other (in the same classroom), yet they are
clearly labelled heritage on one side and beginners or continuers on the
other. They are most often seen to be either physically separated in the
classroom or in separate classes.
The choices teachers make in these environments are determined by
their beliefs about culture, about teaching and the teaching of language
and culture. Their own interculturality determines how they approach
both homogeneous and hybridised classes of students. This book suggests
that teachers of Chinese in Australian schools may not fit the mould of a
Euro-centrically defined interculturality, yet they do remain true to their
beliefs in the need to protect and promote Chinese language and culture
in the Chinese diaspora. Their stated belief in a teacher-centred approach,
characterised by teacher explanations of language and culture, is consis-
tent with their pedagogy. Hence, their identities are positively aligned
with their practice. Alongside this, they also promote the Chinese lan-
guage, as well as aspects of visible Chinese culture, to second language
learners. In this sphere, teachers face the challenge of making something
foreign familiar, and it can be argued that taking this step is indeed an
intercultural one. They are building houses for L2 learners—in the form of
structurally sound, logically presented, and intellectually challenging lan-
guage pedagogy.
Given the interculturality and identity expressed by Chinese language
teachers in this book, two language learning fields are perpetuated. One is
the heritage learner field that invites learners into the teacher’s world, and
the other is the foreign learner field that instructs learners about the teach-
er’s world. Figure 1.5 illustrates how cultural practices, cultural values,
and cultural identity are presented in each of the two language learn-
ing fields.
In the foreign learner field, teacher identity and learner identity are at a
distance from each other as the teacher projects, ‘We Chinese …’ and
learners hear, ‘In China, they …’. Cultural identities are nationalistically,
geographically, and linguistically opposed. Teachers routinely present cul-
ture as ‘different’ visible cultural practices and learners thus equate Chinese
culture with food, festivals, and visible icons such as dumplings, lanterns,
chopsticks, and red envelopes. In this sense, second language learners are
acquiring new culture-based knowledge.
In the heritage learner field, teacher and learner identity are proximate
to each other. Even though some heritage learners may be living in
between the two worlds, the teacher projects cultural expectations as they
include these students in the ‘We Chinese …’ world. There is often an
expectation that heritage learners will identify with a ‘hometown’ in
China, often the place of birth of their parents or grandparents. In the
heritage learner field, culture-based knowledge is taught, but in addition,
language founded in cultural values is also included. Heritage learners are
expected to learn how to speak like Chinese people. Given this polarised
presentation of language and culture teaching, it is no surprise that second
language learners are demotivated to continue into the non-mandatory
stage of Chinese language learning (Orton, 2016). Chinese language
teachers in Australia represent a rich resource for the learning of language
and culture, indeed for the development of intercultural language users.
22 S. SMITH
Foreign learner field

Student identity:
Foreign language learner
Culture-based
“in China they......” Teacher identity:
knowledge
“We Chinese.....”
“In my home town ....”
Cultural Practices Cultural

(visible) Identity
Heritage learner field
Cultural
Cultural Values Teacher identity:
Identity
(invisible) “we Chinese....”
“In my home town....”
Culture-based
knowledge
Student identity:
Heritage language learner
values based “we Chinese....?”
knowledge “In my hometown....?”
Fig. 1.5 Presentation of cultural practices, cultural values, and cultural identity
in two fields of learning
Yet, given the way Chinese teachers identify themselves, the ways they
define culture, and the ways in which learners are divided by cultural and
linguistic background, this resource is being mis-spent.
A focus on family background, which is visible, may create certain
expectations of learners in each field. A focus on language as distinct from
culture, often presented in Chinese as a foreign language textbooks and in
classroom practice, works to lock some learners out of richer learning
experiences.
Teachers of Chinese language in Australian schools appear to lack the
knowledge required to make (their) Chinese language and (their) Chinese
culture ‘real’ for all learners. Their own limited intercultural competence
limits the development of interculturality in those others that they have a
daily influence over in the classroom. Even though they have so much to
offer second language learners, they appear to be anchored to a limited
perception of culture and a pedagogy that accepts textbook representa-
tions of visible culture, and they make limited references to the ‘why’ of
visible culture.
In the next section a selection of available school data is offered to illus-

trate the anomalies between growth in numbers of Chinese language
learners and any aspirational or perceived advancement in CFL education
in Australia.
Numbers of Students of Chinese

To begin, Table 1.4 reports numbers of Chinese language students in
schools across Australia. The data is reported by state/territory and by
primary/secondary schooling for 2008 and 2015. There are minor
Table 1.4 Number of primary and secondary students of Chinese in each

Australian state/territory in 2008 and 2015
State/territory + Primary Primary Secondary Secondary Total Total
primary/secondary 2008 2015 2008 2015 2008 2015
configurations
ACT 46 1048 579 548 625 1796

P = K-7
S = 8–12
NSW 17,197 24,340 5614 8766 24,136 33,106
P = K-6
S = 7–12
NT 500 471 102 161 602 632
P = P-6
S = 7–12
QLD 19,327 25,542 2975 9568 9015 34,997
P = P-6
S = 7–12
SA 4097 7826 1489 1782 9133 9608
P = R-7
S = 8–12
TAS 59 1788 469 1713 528 3501
P = P-6
S = 7–12
VIC 16,848 57,584 16,248 21,451 33,096 79,035
P = P-6
S = 7–12
WA 210 7909 108 2294 318 10,203
P = K-7
S = 8–12
Total 58,293 126,508 27,584 46,283 90,740 172,878
Source: Orton (2016, p. 44)

24 S. SMITH
differences between the numbers of primary and secondary years in each

state/territory. In each state/territory there has been growth in the num-
bers of Chinese language students. The overall growth for Australia was
48% over the seven-year reporting period. In relation to primary versus
secondary growth for all of Australia, numbers grew by 93% in primary
schools and 40% in secondary schools. In relation to the two largest edu-
cational jurisdictions (New South Wales and Victoria), total numbers grew
by 27% and 58% respectively. Other states/territories have a shorter his-
tory of Chinese language delivery, with comparatively low numbers in
2008, and so growth rates appear higher for the given period, for example
Western Australia, 318 (2008) to 10,203 (2015).
Numbers of Students of Year 12 Chinese Courses

Table 1.5 shows the number of students studying Year 12 Chinese in NSW
over the same period with data for all years in between. Data is divided by
Chinese course, for example Background Speakers (L1), Beginners,
Continuers, Extension, and Heritage. It is at this level of the data that we
see more clearly who the Chinese learners are. A focus on the higher num-
bers reveals background speakers (L1) are by far the largest cohort of
Chinese language students. Looking again at the two largest jurisdictions,
NSW numbers ranged between 655 and 1141 students, and for Victoria
the numbers ranged from 1566 to 1879 students. These numbers are in
stark contrast with 27 beginners and 102 continuers in NSW in 2015. It
is of note that Victoria has long been the most successful state in
Table 1.5 Number of students studying Year 12 Chinese in NSW and VIC
State Chinese language course Number of students
2008 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
NSW Background Speakers (L1) 1077 1141 963 756 689 655 679
Beginners 32 42 27 41 52 54 27
Continuers 85 120 101 64 67 84 102
Extension 31 37 31 13 18 26 24
Heritage N/A N/A N/A 90 94 121 127
VIC First language – 1879 1801 1744 1566 1618 1920
Second language – 952 941 917 970 972 840
Second language advanced – 352 410 440 481 478 514
Source: Orton (2016, p. 45)

promoting and supporting the learning of Chinese for second language

learners. This may be linked to their more mature 2013–2025 ‘Languages:
Expanding your world’ plan.
What is evident from these figures is that in the jurisdictions incorporat-
ing Australia’s largest two cities (Sydney and Melbourne), there has been
consistently increasing demand for background speakers (L1) courses in
secondary schools. This reflects demographic trends of higher concentra-
tions of families claiming Chinese heritage who live in these two cities.
Comparisons between Languages

Table 1.6 reports selected data from the Australian Curriculum, Assessment
and Reporting Authority (ACARA) showing proportional differences in
enrolments between the top three Year 12 language courses (2006–2019).
In 2006, 19.8% of all Year 12 language students chose to study Japanese.
This was followed closely by Chinese (18.9%) and French (18.2%). These
three languages remained in the top three over the reporting period and
by 2019 Chinese ranked first at 21.9%.
Bearing in mind the data reported in Table 1.5, it appears Chinese has
grown in popularity with background speakers and heritage learners,
whereas Japanese and French are the two most popular with second lan-
guage learners. To investigate this further we turn to Table 1.7.
It is logical to assume that high numbers of households migrating from
Chinese-, Japanese-, and French-speaking countries would suggest a cor-
relation with high numbers electing to continue their L1 language study.
This appears only true in the Chinese case. With 55,969 households nom-
inating Japanese as the language spoken at home and 70,872 households
speaking French in 2016, there were still equally high proportions of
Table 1.6 Proportion of Year 12 tertiary-recognised language enrolments by

language, Australia 2006–2019
Language 2006a 2011a 2016a 2019
Japanese 19.8 19.7 20.5 20.2

French 18.2 20.1 19.9 18.1
Chinese 18.9 19.7 19.7 21.9
Source: ACARA (2020)

denotes census year
a
26 S. SMITH
Table 1.7 Languages

Language 2011a 2016a
spoken at home (by
household), Australia, Japanese 43,691 55,969
2011, 2016 French 57,739 70,872
Chinese (Mandarin) 336,410 596,713
Chinese (total) 651,327 927,944
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2017)

a
denotes census year
students electing to study Japanese, French, and Chinese, while the num-
ber of Chinese-speaking households was close to 600,000, and almost one
million if all Chinese dialects are counted. This further supports the case
of Chinese teaching Chinese to the Chinese, a context in which intercul-
tural challenge and development are less likely. Further investigation is
required to confirm a causal relationship between Chinese household
numbers and background speakers and heritage Chinese enrolment data.
Other data absent from this discussion are proportions of heritage back-
ground teachers of French and Japanese currently teaching these lan-
guages. This would provide a more direct comparison of who is teaching
who what for the three most popular foreign languages in Australian sec-
ondary schooling.
In the case of whether CFL programmes are succeeding in attracting,
retaining, and graduating proficient language users from a foreign back-
ground, the devil is in the details. What appears at first glance to be bur-
geoning growth in the numbers of Chinese language learners is in fact a
demographically driven growth in heritage and L1 learners of Chinese
from a growing migrant base. Unfortunately, the vast majority of those
who are introduced to the Chinese language for the first time in primary
school, or indeed at the beginning of secondary school, elect not to con-
tinue beyond the compulsory phase.
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0.2018.1561642
CHAPTER 2
Intercultural Competence as a Goal

of Language Learning: What Are Chinese
Teachers Doing with Culture?
Abstract In intercultural studies it is common to move from an approach

that questions ‘what is culture?’ to ‘what do we do with culture’ (Sarangi,
Intercultural or not? Beyond celebration of cultural differences in mis-
communication analysis. Pragmatics, 4(3), 409–427, 1994). By associa-
tion, in Chinese language teaching, how culture is understood and used
by teachers to explain people’s thoughts and speech acts (Dervin, 2012) is
pivotal to the development of intercultural competence in learners.
Cultural essentialism, the preclusion of cultural attributes from flowing
between societies (Holliday, Understanding intercultural communication.
Routledge, 2013) as if cultures are distinct and separate from each other,
creates expectations as to behavioural patterns often linked to national
culture or nationality. This chapter addresses the nature and extent to
which four interviewees and a wider surveyed group of Chinese language
teachers in Australia exhibit or lack intercultural competence and how this
might influence their approach to language teaching and learning. It
describes what they do with culture.
Keywords Essentialism • Intercultural competence • Culture in

language teaching • Teacher voices
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature 33

Switzerland AG 2022
S. Smith, Teacher Voices in Chinese Language Teaching, Palgrave
Studies in Teaching and Learning Chinese,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89213-5_2
34 S. SMITH
This chapter discusses an issue that has generated much debate between
language teachers and between language teaching researchers for decades,
namely, the role of ‘culture’ in language teaching. It draws on primary
data from teacher interviews (n=4) and a broader survey of teachers
(n=68). Fundamentally, it answers the question, ‘What are Chinese teach-
ers doing with culture?’
The Survey
Appendix A contains the survey used to investigate teacher beliefs about
the role of culture in language teaching. In the first instance (Question 1
of the survey), teachers were asked to indicate their degree of agreement
or disagreement with various statements defining ‘culture’. The polysemic
nature of the term ‘culture’ has been the most salient factor in confusion
over how to understand and implement intercultural language teaching
(Dervin, 2011). Question 2 of the survey asks teachers to indicate their
beliefs about language learning. Beliefs about the process of language
acquisition is one factor determining expectations teachers hold for their
students. These expectations will influence teacher pedagogical choices.
Question 3 of the survey asks teachers to indicate their beliefs about the
relationship between language and culture. For decades, the literature has
affirmed the close connection between language and culture (Kramsch,
2014). Language gives expression to culture, and every utterance may be
deemed a cultural act. There is evidence to suggest that, for many lan-
guage teachers, linguistic knowledge and cultural knowledge are two sepa-
rate bodies of knowledge, and this is still manifest in contemporary
teaching materials and textbooks (Smith, 2014).
Question 4 of the survey asks teachers to indicate their beliefs about
teaching. What teachers believe about the teaching process will have a
direct impact on the many choices they make on a daily basis, both in the
classroom and in the staff room, as they plan lessons and develop new
teaching materials. Teacher identity is shaped by cultural, historical, and
social structures (Lasky, 2005), and the sum of these influences make up
each unique individual who steps into the classroom on a daily basis to
teach. Question 5 in the survey asked teachers to indicate their beliefs
about culture teaching.
It has been long understood that language teaching involves the teach-
ing and learning of culture. Moran and Lu (2001) use the metaphor of the
elephant and the blind men to describe the complex situation surrounding
2 INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE AS A GOAL OF LANGUAGE LEARNING… 35
language and culture teaching. Just as the six blind men touch each part
of the elephant and guess six different things, expressing an aspect of truth
in each guess, culture in language teaching is also described from varying
viewpoints, each stating the truth in part, yet never the whole. Question 5
thus focuses on how language teachers perceive culture teaching and the
application of cultural knowledge as teachers of Chinese in Australian
schools. Question 6 in the survey asked teachers to indicate their beliefs
about cultural values. It acknowledges a lot of commentary today about
values changing in China (Xu & Hamamura, 2014), with changing socio-
economic status and a burgeoning middle class. In addition it acknowl-
edges the universal demographic referencing system that serves to
distinguish what might be referred to as generational difference in
Australia. Whereas Australians might use labels such as ‘baby boomers’,
‘Generation X, Generation Y’, and ‘Millennials’, categories which vary in
time length, modern-day Chinese refer to decades of difference—他是八
零后 (born in the 1980s), 九零后 (born in the 1990s), 零零后 (born after
2000). This indicates that in addition to the acceleration of economic
change, cultural change is also accelerating. A quick search of these phrases
in Chinese reveals articles such as‘谈谈九零后的班级管理—做好迎接零零
后的准备’. ‘A discussion on how to manage students born in the 90s—
preparing for the 2000s generation’ (Ruan, 2015).
Statements making up this survey question are based largely on the
researcher’s experience living in China, as well as several prominent
Confucian teachings that have endured as ‘Chinese values’. It was expected
that some polarisation may take place, in that some of the teacher partici-
pants would retain a more traditional position than others. The survey
data also provided a comparison with the four interview participants who
were asked to reflect on similar themes.
Survey Question 1 found that the highest level of agreement (strongly
agree + agree) was achieved on item 5, ‘Culture is long-established cus-
toms and traditions of a specific group of people. (eg) festivals, marriage
customs, funeral customs, eating habits, music and dance traditions’, at
94% agreement. Teachers’ response on this item suggests a fixed notion of
Chinese culture continuous over centuries. Following closely behind this
was item 4, ‘Culture is all the ways of living built up by a group of human
beings and transmitted to the next generation’, at 93% agreement. This
response corresponds with a Geertzian (1973) view that culture is a
dynamic concept in that its elements are identifiable as creating unique
contexts.
36 S. SMITH
In relation to language learning, teachers surveyed generally agreed

that language learning is achievable for most students and that adults learn
differently from children. This indicates confidence in the field and an
awareness that second language acquisition requires different strategies. A
deliberately provocative statement in the survey, ‘some parts of language
have no cultural meaning’, generated disparate results with two-thirds of
teachers agreeing with the statement. This suggests a significant propor-
tion of teachers may be unconvinced about the integrated nature of lan-
guage and culture and its potential for informing better teaching practice.
This aligns with the eclectic approach (Rivers, 2018; Morain, 1983) to
language and culture teaching involving random references to culture
when convenient. The integrated approach to culture learning occurs
when culture is explicitly incorporated into the curriculum (Stern & Allen,
1992), which aligns more closely with the one-third who hold the view
that all language has cultural meaning. Further to this, teachers of Chinese
agree that language carries culture and that learning a new language
involves learning a new culture. When asked whether some languages have
more culture than others, over 70% agreed, and when a focus was placed
on Mandarin vs English, over half of those surveyed agreed Mandarin has
more culture. This is interesting because the common tongue, 普通话
pǔtōnghuà, as an ‘artificially constructed hybrid form, or a linguistic
patchwork of compromises based upon expediency, history and politics’
(Moser, 2016, p. 27), cannot ever hope to exclusively represent Chinese
culture. In fact, one of the teachers interviewed clearly indicated that it is
when she speaks Cantonese with her friends that her true culture is being
expressed, even though her professional identity is ‘Mandarin teacher’.
Reflection on the role of teaching and teacher identity also informs this
discussion because when teachers make statements about themselves and
their roles, they are expressing personal beliefs that can reveal degrees of
intercultural competence. For instance, strong overall agreement that the
teacher is the ‘China expert’ in the classroom and/or that the textbook is
a valuable resource would work against the establishment of teacher-
student co-construction of knowledge and collaboration in meaning mak-
ing, which are characteristics of increasing intercultural competence.
Much has been written about the ‘necessary’ shift from teacher-centredness
to student-centredness when a Chinese teacher, who has been educated in
China, steps into the constructivist Australian classroom to teach (Orton,
2008, 2016; Moloney, 2013; Wang et al., 2013; Moloney & Xu, 2015;
Moloney & Wang, 2016; Singh et al., 2014). Yet, this question may still
2 INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE AS A GOAL OF LANGUAGE LEARNING… 37
be problematic for teachers, given their backgrounds in teacher-centred

classrooms when they were students in China. A study looking at student
views of teacher-centredness and student-centredness reveals both can
exist together (Elen et al., 2007). Findings from Elen et al. (2007) suggest
that in the minds of students, the two methods may coexist independent
of each other. In the light of this, therefore, a finding that 66% of teachers
believe they are the ‘China experts’ in their classrooms necessitates a more
cautious interpretation of the data.
The next section in the survey, beliefs about culture teaching, hones in
on what Chinese language teachers believe about the possibility of inter-
cultural language teaching. Listed below are the statements put to partici-
pants in Question 5 of the survey. They were asked to what extent they
agree or disagree.
1. Chinese culture is difficult to define for my students.

2. I allow my students to discover what Chinese culture is as they
learn the language.
3. Chinese culture should be explained by the teacher.
4. All Chinese language learning textbooks should have sections
about Chinese culture.
5. Learning about culture takes up too much time in the curriculum.
6. Chinese culture is constantly changing.
7. Native speakers of Mandarin have an advantage when teaching
because they know the culture.
8. Visiting China is the best way to learn about Chinese culture.
9. It is difficult for non-Chinese background students to understand
Chinese culture.
10. It is difficult for Chinese heritage students to understand
Chinese culture.
Six of the statements attracted high levels of agreement—namely,

Statements 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8. Over 90% of teachers indicated they allow
their students to discover what Chinese culture is as they learn the lan-
guage. This suggests a constructivist approach to culture teaching.
However, in the next statement a contradiction is revealed in that over
almost 70% of respondents agreed that Chinese culture should be explained
by the teacher. Whether or not these two beliefs are mutually exclusive, or
whether they can exist side-by-side, is untested, yet these results point to
a possible degree of duplicity in the minds of respondents. There was also
38 S. SMITH
strong support (over 80%) for the necessity for all Chinese language text-
books to have sections about Chinese culture, and this also points away
from a constructivist pedagogy and towards one which relies on fixed con-
tent sources, such as textbooks. Statement 7, ‘native speakers of Mandarin
have an advantage when teaching because they know the culture’, was also
well supported, as two-thirds of respondents either agreed or strongly
agreed. Statement 6, ‘Chinese culture is constantly changing’, also drew a
high level of agreement, and this raises further questions as to what
respondents really believe about the teaching of culture. If, on the one
hand, they support the use of textbooks and culture explanations from
teachers who have, on the most part, been away from Mainland China for
many years, and on the other, they acknowledge the changing nature of
Chinese culture, then there is an impasse in relation to who is authorised
to teach culture and how it is learned.
Statement 8, ‘Visiting China is the best way to learn about Chinese
culture’, supported by over 78% of respondents, reveals yet another factor
complicating this issue. Cultural immersion is attractive in many ways, yet
out of reach for most Chinese teachers because of the costs and complexi-
ties involved in international travel with students. Generally, cultural
immersion by visiting Mainland China is only pursued by elite private
schools and some government schools in high socioeconomic areas. The
other alternative, attempted by some teachers in the larger cities around
Australia, is day trips to Chinatown or associated cultural sites, such as the
Chinese gardens in Darling Harbour, Sydney, or perhaps an Asian art exhi-
bition at a large gallery. Here we see a default towards visible culture where
products and relics are viewed and appreciated. This lies in stark contrast
to those students who experience homestays in China and need to deal
with intercultural communication challenges on a daily basis for an intense
period of time. It appears from these results that teachers of Chinese in
Australian schools are confused about (a) what view of ‘culture’ should be
taken, (b) what elements of Chinese culture should be presented or taught
to students, and (c) how they are to be presented.
There were two statements that showed almost equal splits between
respondents. Statement 1, ‘Chinese culture is difficult to define for my
students’, attracted close to a 50–50 response. About 53% disagreed it is
difficult and 47% agreed. This result is further elaborated upon below as
Statements 9 and 10 focused on who the students are. Statement 9, ‘It is
difficult for non-Chinese background students to understand Chinese cul-
ture’, showed 44% of respondents believe that if their learners originate
Another random document with
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Constant indulgence in alcohol did not pull him together as before; and although
previously he had been able to indulge in large quantities of alcohol, a very little
now affected him adversely.
The first epileptiform attack was in July, and in November he commenced to
have delusions, was restless, suspicious.
On admission to the asylum he showed marked cachexia. Weight, 8 stone 7
pounds; height, 5 feet 9 inches. There was present well-marked oral sepsis and
blue line.
Mental Condition.—Restlessness; disorientation; remitting delirious state;
periods of shouting coincident with colic, worse at night; auditory hallucinations.
Physical Condition.—Bilateral wrist-drop; extensor paralysis of the fingers; hand-
grip and gait impaired; reaction of degeneration of paralyzed muscles; coarse
tremors; fibrillary twitching; staccato articulation.
Sensory.—No definite change.
Reflexes.—Pupils normal. Sluggish reaction to light and accommodation.
Organic.—Deglutition difficult. Micturition and defæcation not under control.
Vaso-motor.—Tâche cérébrale marked.
Eye neuro-retinitis. Unequal amaurosis.
Heart.—Increased action, variable; alteration during exacerbations of colic.
Second sound in aortic area accentuated. High pressure, variable. Majority of
arteries thickened.
He suffered gradual mental change; the whole of the mental symptoms
increased in severity until the patient looked like the final stages of a case of
general paralysis. He died on December 1. Colic was present at intervals during
the whole time.
Post-mortem made the next day. Septic bronchitis. Hæmorrhage at the base of
epiglottis and left vocal cord.
Lungs.—Septic broncho-pneumonia.
Pericardium.—Small amount of fluid.
Heart.—Striated, bluish. Weight 11¹⁄₄ ounces.
Ventricles.—Slight hypertrophy of left ventricle.
Valves.—Competent.
Aorta.—Atheroma near its bifurcation.
Arteries.—All more or less thickened.
Peritoneum.—Retroperitoneal hæmorrhage in region outside pancreas.
Mesenteric glands enlarged, indurated, bluish on section.
Stomach.—Normal.
Intestines.—Vessels congested. Large bowel constricted at irregular intervals.
Cæcum.—Mucosa slate-coloured.
Colon.—Dark-greenish mass.
Liver.—Blue on section; pale yellow areas; soft in consistency. Weight, 47³⁄₄
ounces.
Spleen.—Normal.
Kidneys.—No fat. Cirrhotic, adherent, atrophic cortex, granular.
Muscles.—Generally dark in colour; wasted.
A very complete histological examination was made of the brain and spinal cord,
and throughout the particular changes noticed were proliferation of the glia, hyaline
thickening of the walls of the vessels, both arteries and veins, and presence of
congestion; and here and there rupture of the smallest vessels, causing miliary
microscopic hæmorrhages into the perivascular sheaths and the substance of the
brain. There was no infiltration with lymphocytes and plasma cells, as is found in
general paralysis. The neuroglia showed a formative hyperplasia resulting from
chronic irritation.
In the cortex there was neuroglia proliferation in the polymorpho layer and the
molecular layer. Changes were seen in the Betz cells, particularly in the Nissl
substance, with perinuclear chromatolysis, such as is generally found in chronic
peripheral neuritis, whether due to lead, alcohol, or other toxic causes.
There was no coarse atrophy or degeneration of the fibres of the cortex. Neither
the cerebellum nor the spinal cord at any of the levels examined showed fibre
atrophy or degeneration, except possibly a slight diffuse sclerosis in the crossed
pyramidal tracts of the lumbar region.
Microscopical examination was made of the heart, spleen, kidney, liver, lung,
and suprarenal gland. There was a general condition of angiosclerosis; in the liver
a fibrotic overgrowth around the vessels; in the kidneys well-marked interstitial
fibrosis.
A chemical examination of the brain was also conducted by the copper
potassium nitrite method, but no lead was found.
Excretory System.—A large number of observers have shown

that great stress is thrown on the kidney in the excretion of lead.
Discussion has taken place as to whether the effect is a primary
interstitial or a parenchymatous nephritis. Most observers are agreed
that the histological changes found in the kidneys of lead workers
have very little by which they may be differentiated from the effects
of alcohol.
Although the kidney suffers directly from the effect of circulating
lead, the amount of lead excreted by the kidney in chronic cases is
usually small, variable in quantity, and very rarely exceeds more than
5 milligrammes in the twenty-four hours.
The chemical estimations of the quantity of lead found in the
kidney of persons who have died of lead poisoning given by different
observers, vary exceedingly. Even in cases of definite lead
poisoning, where there can be no reasonable doubt as to the
diagnosis, many cases are on record where no lead at all has been
discovered in the kidney.
It is not acute nephritis which is seen in lead poisoning, but the
chronic cirrhotic variety. This probably takes a very long time to
develop; indeed, animals kept under the influence of lead for two
years show very little kidney destruction. It is quite possible that in
the kidney disease met with in lead-workers the combined effect of
alcohol with lead is really the causative factor. There is not sufficient
statistical evidence to make a definite statement on this point, and it
would only be possible by comparing the records of the autopsies of
a number of persons working in lead who do not die from lead
poisoning, and who were non-alcoholic, with a similar number of
persons who, in addition to their lead absorption, were alcoholic
subjects.
It is unusual to find blood in the urine, and the condition of the
kidney does not suggest that it would be present.
Gull and Sutton[42] have described arterio-capillary fibrosis in
which the intima of the larger vessels became greatly hypertrophied,
and many of the smaller vessels are practically destroyed by
obliterative arteritis. The production of arterio-sclerosis, with
attendant thickening of the vessel walls and with the various
symptoms commonly associated with arterio-sclerosis, were
regarded as secondary symptoms of lead poisoning. The action of
lead on the vessel walls themselves thus independently proved by a
large number of observers working at different aspects of the
problem suggests the pathological change in the vessels as the
common element in the cause of these diverse symptoms of lead
poisoning—colic, paralysis, mania. Generally speaking, however, the
attention of most has been rather focussed on the kidney and the
degenerative changes occurring in that organ due to the irritative
action of lead in the process of excretion than on the vessels
themselves.
Lead in the urine is by no means so common nor so definite a
symptom of lead poisoning as might be supposed, considering the
extreme manner in which the kidneys suffer in old-standing cases.
Of particular importance in this respect is the case referred to by
Zinn[43], where a woman aged thirty-three received 20 grammes of
lead acetate in error. After the first acute symptoms had passed off,
the case drifted on to one of chronic poisoning, with the usual
symptoms of colic, anæmia, and cachexia. During the whole period
of the disease, both acute and chronic stages, examinations of the
urine for lead were made, using the method of Fresenius Babo[44];
yet lead was only detected in the urine during the early stages, and
directly the acute symptoms had passed off no further lead could be
detected. This point is of some importance, particularly when taken
together with the experiments quoted by Blum[45], who, injecting
animals with lead iodide, was unable to recover lead from the urine.
The iodide only passed through the kidney, the lead being retained in
the body.
Jaksch[46] states very definitely that lead is not found in the urine
in chronic cases, but only in the acute cases, and then quite early.
With regard to the kidney two views are held—the one regarding
the disease of the kidney as primarily affecting the bloodvessels, and
the other as an initial parenchymatous change causing secondary
obstruction and alteration in the vessels themselves. There is
therefore much evidence to show that, whether the bloodvessels be
primarily or secondarily affected, almost all observers are in accord
in the opinion that at one time or another, either sooner or later, the
bloodvessels become affected through the action of lead.
Kobert[47] points out that in no case was distinct cirrhosis of the
kidney produced in experimental lead poisoning in animals;
inflammation certainly was to be seen, either interstitial or
parenchymatous, but apparently the poisoning had not progressed a
sufficient length of time for definite cirrhosis to be produced. On the
other hand, kidney changes have been found of various types, all of
which may be the precursors of the ultimate cirrhotic and fibroid
change occurring in the kidneys seen in chronic poisoning by lead as
well as in chronic alcoholism. Particular stress must be laid on the
fact that cirrhotic kidneys are so frequently the direct result of long-
continued alcoholic excess, and, from what has been demonstrated
in the experimental researches on predisposition to lead caused by
alcohol, the condition of cirrhosis of the kidney in a lead-worker is by
no means indicative of lead poisoning, as it may be an old alcoholic
effect long antedating that due to lead.
Oliver[48], Charcot[49], Gombault[50], Hoffer[51], and others, found a
certain amount of parenchymatous degeneration. Von Leyden[52],
however, was able to produce a granular condition of the kidney with
glomeruli shrunken and an arterio-capillary fibrosis. Gayler[53], on the
other hand, thinks that the arteritis of the smallest arteries is the
preliminary effect upon the kidney, whereas more recently Glibert[54]
published plates of the kidney showing definite sclerosis as well as
interstitial nephritis.
Cornil[55] and Brault[56] think the vessels are affected only
secondarily, and that parenchymatous changes are the primary
lesion. Hoffer[57], by feeding guinea-pigs with lead, produced very
definite obliterative arteritis. Klemperer[58] claims to have produced
inflammation and definite necrosis of portions of the kidney
substance.
The whole of the kidney is not necessarily affected. Only portions
of it may show changes, while Kleinenberger[59] notes that in chronic
lead poisoning, at the time of acute exacerbation of the disease,
granular casts as well as red blood-cells are found; and, further, that
in cutting through them crystallized masses are occasionally found,
consisting of urates, and sometimes containing lead.
Gayler[60] considers that the effect on the kidney commences in
the muscular coats of the smaller vessels, in which endarteritis
followed by obliterative arteritis is set up.
Practically all observers, therefore, are in agreement that the
kidney suffers to a very considerable extent in chronic poisoning,
and the majority of observers are also in agreement that the
bloodvessels themselves are the primary seat of the change.
Further, the presence of blood in the urine is exceedingly rare in
chronic lead poisoning, despite Kleinenberger’s[61] statement to the
contrary. It certainly may occur during a very acute attack, but we
have never seen this symptom.
Circulatory System.—Arterio-sclerosis occurring in lead-
workers has been known for some time, and the anæmia of
saturnism has been known for an even longer period. For some time
no definite type of anæmia was associated with lead cachexia, and
the anæmia was generally regarded as one arising from general
malnutrition. Here and there through the literature of the pathology of
lead poisoning are to be found remarks which suggest that the action
upon the bloodvessels may be a primary instead of a secondary
effect. Obliterative arteritis is described by Uhthoff[62], Pflueger[63],
Oeller[64], and Pal[65], and in other cases obliterative retinitis has
been considered to be associated with the action of the lead upon
the vessel walls.
Heubel[66], and later Rosenstein[67], found that, in dogs poisoned
with lead, definite cerebral anæmia was produced, due to vaso-
constriction, and consider it to be due to the direct action of lead
upon the intima of the vessel walls. Associated with such poisoning
were symptoms of eclampsia and uræmia, and the latter author
considers that the uræmia is due to vaso-constriction of the kidney
vessels.
Oliver[68] and others have also pointed out the alteration in the
pulse-rate associated with exacerbations of colic, and a number of
observers have noted that certain drugs, such as atropin and amyl
nitrite, which are known vaso-dilators, have a distinctly calming effect
upon the paroxysms of pain.
One or two other observers have actually noted the presence of
hæmorrhages in the lesions; thus, in the case quoted by Mott[69]
definite yielding of the vessel walls and signs of old hæmorrhage are
described amongst other lesions in the brain. Seifert[70] also
describes the presence of hæmorrhages amongst the ganglion cells
in the anterior columns of the cord, both in the case of persons who
have died of lead poisoning and animals to which lead had been
given experimentally. In addition, Sajous[71] describes a case of
paralysis of the superior laryngeal nerve, associated with
hæmorrhages, in the region of the abductor muscles of the larynx.
Mott’s case also showed this laryngeal hæmorrhage.
More recently Elschnig[72], in his observations upon the eye, has
determined a close association between vaso-motor affections,
constrictions, and dilatations, and various eye lesions, such as
amaurosis and amblyopia, occurring in lead poisoning.
Rambousek[73], in summing up Elschnig’s work, points out how much
his observations tend to bridge over the gap between the action of
lead upon the blood, the bloodvessels, and the nerves. He points out
that the eye is a peculiarly favourable organ for watching the effect of
a poison so insidious as lead. The bloodvessels, the nerves, and the
muscles, are all open to inspection and actual observation to a
degree not to be found in any other part of the body. Elschnig[74], in a
typical case of sudden lead amaurosis associated with acute lead
colic, found that very definite motor spasm of the vessels of the eye,
conjunctiva, and the retina, were associated with the amaurosis. He
argues from this that the action of lead is probably directly upon the
unstriped muscular fibre of the vessel walls; that such an action may,
and does, extend to the vessels of the eye muscles, producing
paralysis of the muscles of accommodation, and a dilatation of the
pupil, which may be observed in a large number of persons
employed in conditions subjecting them to lead absorption. Elschnig
further considers that the transitory amaurosis which is often
associated with lead poisoning may be due to vaso-motor
disturbances in the brain itself, as well as in the eye.
Still more recently, and due, no doubt, to a great extent to the work
of Elschnig, further attention has been drawn to the vascular system
in lead poisoning. Elschnig’s work has carried the question another
stage forward by showing the association of vaso-motor
disturbances with eye disease, whilst in this country Oliver[75]
pointed out the effect upon the pulse of abdominal colic.
At the beginning of the researches on this point described in the
next chapter, this clue running through the whole of the pathology of
lead poisoning was not appreciated. At the commencement of the
investigations there seemed to be no main general line of symptoms
or histological findings that could be adduced as characteristic of
lead poisoning; in fact, the initial experiments were performed, with
the object of examining the association of lung-absorbed lead
compounds as a possible cause of lead poisoning, as against the
entrance of lead by the alimentary canal; but as the experiments
proceeded it became clear that the stress of the initial intoxication
was undoubtedly falling upon the bloodvessels, and more particularly
upon the minuter bloodvessels, and less on the arterial side of the
capillaries (although the capillaries were to a large extent associated
with the process) than upon the venous radicles.
A general consideration of the pathology shows that lead causes
changes in the nervous system affecting both upper and lower
segments, degeneration of the ganglion cells in the cord and in the
brain, interstitial inflammation of the neuroglia, cortical degeneration,
distinct neuritis, both axial and peri-axial, of the peripheral nerves,
and also signs of change in the sympathetic nervous system in
chronic lead poisoning. Later work has, however, all tended to point
out that the chief and first effect of lead is upon the blood.
Moritz[76] first pointed out the presence of basophile granules in
the red blood-cells. The work was followed up by Emden[77],
Gravitz[78], Zinn[79], Otto[80], Silbert[81], and by Escherich[82]. All these
authors found basophilic erythrocytes in the blood associated with
blood-destruction, and Escherich in addition describes early changes
taking place in the intima of the bloodvessels associated with vaso-
constriction. The Italian author Mattirolo[83], as well as Marchet[84]
and Jores[85], came to a similar conclusion. Glibert of Brussels[86],
carrying the observations somewhat farther, and although working
with guinea-pigs, which normally show basophilic staining in their
blood-cells, was able to demonstrate one further point of
considerable value—namely, the increase in the viscosity of the
blood, with blood-corpuscles of greater toughness, elasticity, and
power to resist destruction when making films, than in normal blood.
There is thus very striking continuity in the observations of all the
various observers, despite the fact that at first sight their descriptions
may appear discordant. There seems no doubt that practically all
authors who have given attention to the subject are agreed that the
circulatory system, and primarily the blood circulating in the vessels,
is affected by lead, and, further, that the vessels themselves undergo
degeneration of various types, many of the cases examined showing
complete obliterative arteritis as the result of long-standing irritation.
Others describe no obliterative changes of this type in the vessels,
because attention was given mainly to the nervous system, where
the cells were found degenerated and showing chromatolysis. But,
on the other hand, careful observers, such as Mott, have noted the
presence, in passing, of these apparent yieldings of the vessels here
and there in the region of the degenerated nervous tissue. Again,
even the histological action of a drug such as amyl nitrite points to
involvement of the vaso-motor system. Perhaps this curious
association through all the described pathology and bloodvessel
infection would not appear so clear but for the more recent
investigations described in the following chapter.
REFERENCES.
[1] Kobert: Lehrbuch der Intoxikationen, 2te Aufl., 1906, p. 361.
[2] Oliver, Sir T.: Lead Poisoning. 1891.
[3] Dixon Mann: Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, p. 495.
[4] Stockvis: International Congress of Industrial Hygiene. Brussels, 1910.
[5] Ménétrier: Meillère’s Le Saturnisme, pp. 131-136.
[6] Kussmaul and Meyer: Deutsches Archiv für Klin. Med., ix., p. 283.
[7] Tanquerel: Traité des Maladies de Plomb, ou Saturnines. Paris, 1839.
[8] Bernard: Meillère’s Le Saturnisme, p. 155.
[9] Bokai: Trib. Med., June 11, 1891.
[10] Riegels: Kobert’s Lehrbuch der Intoxikationen, p. 363.
[11] Galvini: Rivista Clinica, fasc. iii., 1884.
[12] Tanquerel: Ibid.
[13] Pal and Mannaberg: Revue Générale de Villaret, Gaz. des Hôp., Fév.
16 and 19, 1903.
[14] Westphal: Archiv f. Phys. u. Nervenkr., 1874.
[15] Dejerine: Mém. de la Soc. de Biologie, 1879, et Exposé de Titres, p.
58, 1894.
[16] Eichhorst: Ueber Bleilähmung. Virchow’s Archiv, 1890, p. 217.
[17] Ramond: Maladies du Système Nerveux, t. xi. 1895, 1896.
[18] Marie and Babinski: Meillère’s Le Saturnisme, p. 193.
[19] Vulpian and Steiglitz: Archiv für Psych., 1892, xxiv., p. 1.
[20] Erb: Berl. Klin. Woch., 1884, p. 110.
[21] Hitzig: Studien über Bleiverg. Berlin, 1868.
[22] Boerwinkel: Virchow’s Archiv, Bd. cxx., 1890.
[23] Eichhorst: Ibid.
[24] Potain: Bull. Med., 1887.
[25] Vulpian: Maladies du Système Nerveux. 1879.
[26] Oppenheimer: Zur Kennt. der Exp. Bleiverg. Berlin, 1898.
[27] Oeller: Path. Anatom. der Bleilähmung. München, 1883.
[28] Steiglitz: Archiv für Psychiatrie, Bd. xxiv., 1892.
[29] Hitzig: Ibid.
[30] Westphal: Archiv für Psychiatrie, Bd. xix., 1888.
[31] Chvostek: Neurol. Centralblatt, 1897.
[32] Kolisko: Die Bekämpfung der Bleigefahr in der Industrie, von Leymann,
p. 21. 1908.
[33] Quensel: Archiv für Psychiatrie, Bd. xxxv., 1902.
[34] Nissl: Allgemeine Zeitschrift für Psychiatrie, Bd. xlv., 1892; Bd. iv. 1897.
[35] Berchthold: Die Bekämpfung der Bleigefahr in der Industrie, von
Leymann, p. 23. 1908.
[36] Sorgo: Wien. Med. Woch., 1900.
[37] Steiglitz: Archiv für Psychiatrie, Bd. xxiv., 1892.
[38] Prévost and Binet: Revue Médicale de la Suisse Romande, ii., 1889.
[39] Mott: Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry, vol. iv., p. 117.
[40] Glibert: Le Saturnisme Expérimental: Extrait des Rapports Ann. de
l’Insp. du Travail, 1906.
[41] Mott: Ibid.
[42] Gull and Sutton: Kobert’s Lehrbuch der Intoxikationen, 2te Aufl.,
1906, p. 370.
[43] Zinn: Berl. Med. Woch., 1899.
[44] Fresenius Babo: Liebig’s Annalen, vol. xlix., p. 287. 1844.
[45] Blum: Wien. Med. Woch., No. 13, 1904.
[46] Jaksch: Klinische Diagnostik.
[47] Kobert: Ibid., p. 369, and general Literature, p. 376.
[49] Charcot: Leçons sur les Maladies du Foie et des Reins. Paris, 1882.
[50] Gombault: Archiv für Physiologie, 1881.
[51] Hoffer: Dissertation, Freiburg, 1883.
[52] Von Leyden: Zeit. für Klin. Med., 1883.
[53] Gayler: Ziegler’s Beitr., ii., 1888.
[54] Glibert: Ibid.
[55] Cornil: Journal de l’anat. et physiol., No. 2, 1883.
[56] Brault: Loc. cit.
[57] Hoffer: Loc. cit.
[58] Klemperer: Kobert’s Lehrbuch der Intoxikationen, 2te Aufl., 1906, p.
370.
[59] Kleinenberger: Münch. Med. Woch., No. 8, 1904.
[60] Gayler: Loc. cit.
[61] Kleinenberger: Loc. cit.
[62] Uhthoff: Handbuch der Aug. Lief. Leipzig, 1901.
[63] Pflueger: Die Bekämpfung der Bleigefahr in der Industrie, von
Leymann, p. 21. 1908.
[64] Oeller: Ibid.
[65] Pal: Zentralbl. f. innere Med. Leipzig, 1903.
[66] Heubel: Path. und Symp. Chron. Bleiverg. Berlin, 1871.
[67] Rosenstein: Virchow’s Archiv. 1897.
[69] Mott: Ibid.
[70] Seifert: Berl. Klin. Woch., 1884.
[71] Sajous: Archiv für Laryng., iii., 1882.
[72] Elschnig: Wien. Med. Woch., 1898.
[73] Rambousek: Die Bekämpfung der Bleigefahr, von Leymann, p. 15.
1908.
[74] Elschnig: Loc. cit.
[76] Moritz: St. Petersb. Med. Woch., 1901.
[77] Emden: Die Bekämpfung der Bleigefahr, von Leymann, p. 19.
[78] Gravitz: Deutsche Med. Woch., No. 36. 1899.
[79] Zinn: Berl. Klin. Woch., 1899.
[80] Otto: Revue Méd., 1892.
[81] Silbert: Ibid.
[82] Escherich: Die Bekämpfung der Bleigefahr, von Leymann, p. 18.
[83] Mattirolo: Ibid., p. 19.
[84] Marchet: Ibid., p. 19.
[85] Jores: Ziegler’s Beitr., Bd. xxxi., 1902.
[86] Glibert: Ibid.
CHAPTER VI
PATHOLOGY—Continued[A]
[A] This chapter is the work entirely of one of us (K. W. G.)
It was thought that some light might be thrown on chronic

intoxication produced by lead salts if direct experiment were made
upon animals, resembling in the arrangement of such experiments,
as far as possible, the industrial conditions under which human
beings contract lead poisoning.
The animals chosen for the experiments were cats, as it is a fact
of common knowledge that it is impossible to keep cats in lead
works, particularly white-lead, because they rapidly become
poisoned if allowed to stray about the works. The same holds good
in the case of dogs.
From the statistics already given in Chapter IV., and from the
remarks in the chapter on Ætiology, there was no doubt whatever
that dust played a most important rôle in the production of industrial
lead poisoning. In attempting, therefore, to copy the industrial
conditions, it is essential to submit the animals experimented upon to
infection by means of air in which lead dust is suspended. A large
number of experiments have been carried out in the first place, by
myself[1], and later in conjunction with Dr. Goodbody[2], and another
series of experiments were also undertaken by myself[3]. Further
experiments are still in progress in this and other directions.
1. Breathing Experiments—First Series.—A. The animals
experimented upon were placed in a large closed chamber at one
end of which an electric fan was fitted in such a way that the air was
kept in constant motion. The lead dust was introduced by means of a
funnel through the roof in a definite quantity during timed intervals.
By means of an aspirating jar and a tube inserted into the side,
samples of air were withdrawn from time to time during the
experiments, and submitted to chemical analysis to determine the
quantity of lead circulating in the air. These samples were drawn off
at the level of the animals’ heads. Great care was taken to eliminate
any swallowing of dust by the animals during the experiments, by
protecting their coats from the dust and carefully brushing them at
the conclusion of each exposure.
Second Series.—B. In other experiments a chamber containing
two separate compartments was constructed, and lead dust
suspended in air was blown into the two compartments by means of
an electric fan situated outside. The apparatus was so arranged that
the draught of air from the fan passed through two separate boxes,
in which the lead compound under experiment was kept agitated by
means of small fans situated in the boxes and driven by a second
electric motor. In this way two different samples of lead were
experimented on at one and the same time, the air current driving in
the dust through the two boxes being equal on the two sides; the
quantity of dust was therefore directly proportional to the compound
used. Samples of the dusty air were aspirated off and subjected to
analysis, as in the first series. In this series of experiments the
animals were so arranged that only their heads projected into the
dust chamber during exposure.
2. Feeding Experiments.—Feeding experiments were carried
out by mixing a weighed dose of the lead compound experimented
with, and adding this to a small portion of the animal’s first feed in
the morning. It was found that unless the lead was well incorporated
with the animal’s food it would not take the lead in the dry form; and
in dealing with white lead and other dust, it was necessary to give
the compound in a similar form to that in which a man would obtain it
under industrial conditions, which of course precluded the use of a
solution.
The amount of lead given by the mouth as a control to the
inhalation experiments was from seven to ten times the dose which
could be taken by the animal during its exposure in the cage, and the
dose was given daily, and not every third day as in the inhalation
experiments. All the compounds used in the inhalation experiments
were given to animals by the mouth, the animals’ weights being
carefully noted.
In a further series of feeding experiments a soluble salt of lead
was added to the animals’ food (water or milk), the salt in this case
being the nitrate. The quantity added was much smaller than in the
dust experiments. 0·1 gramme was given daily.
3. Inoculation Experiments.—As a further control to both the
breathing and feeding experiments, the various lead compounds
similar to those used in the other experiments were inoculated into
animals. The insoluble salts gave some difficulty in the technique of
injection, but by using a large needle, and making the suspension of
the material in the syringe, the difficulty was overcome. The quantity
of material inoculated varied; it was calculated in fractions of a
gramme per kilogramme body weight, the quantity of fluid used
being the same in all cases—namely, 10 c.c.—and inoculations were
made subcutaneously and intramuscularly in the muscles of the back
after previous shaving. In only one case was localized inflammation
produced, and this was when the acetate was the salt employed.
None of the animals exhibited any signs of discomfort during the
experiments from the presence of lead dust in the air; once or twice
sneezing was noticed, but this was an uncommon occurrence. This
point is of practical importance, as the lead dust contained in the air
in white-lead and other factories is not of itself irritating to the
mucous membrane of the lung. The animals subjected to this form of
experiment were no doubt absorbing much larger doses of lead than
are persons engaged in the manufacture of lead compounds.
The only ascertainable difference in the ultimate pathological
lesions produced in animals, whether inhaling large quantities or
minimal quantities of dust, was the rate at which the poisoning took
place. In certain experiments it was found that the animals
maintained a kind of equilibrium, much as do workmen engaged in
dusty lead processes. It was found, moreover, that some animals
showed a certain amount of tolerance to the effect of lead dust, in
that their weights remained almost constant, but an increase in the
quantity of lead present in the air immediately produced progressive
diminution in the body weight; and as this diminution in the body
weight approached to one-third of the animal’s initial weight, so
symptoms of chronic poisoning supervened.
In addition to the animals inhaling lead dust over prolonged
periods, certain other inhalation experiments were made for the
determination of lead dust in the lung as opposed to the stomach. In
the inhalation experiments proper, where the animals were exposed
to inhalation every other day or every third day, for only an hour at a
time, the quantity of lead present in the air was not very large, and it
was thought essential to determine if, in exceedingly dusty
atmospheres, any appreciable amount of lead could be found in the
stomach. Ten animals were submitted to the inhalation of air heavily
charged with various types of lead dust. The animal was exposed to
the dust for an hour and a half to two hours; at the end of this time it
was anæsthetized, and when the respirations had ceased, and the
animal was dead, sulphuretted hydrogen was blown into the lung
and into the stomach. The animal was then rapidly dissected and
staining looked for. The tissues were further treated with acid and re-
exposed to sulphuretted hydrogen gas. In one animal only out of the
ten was any staining noticed in the stomach. In none of the others
was any such staining found, but very definite blackening was found
in the larynx, trachea, and macroscopically even in some of the
bronchioles. Sections of the lung were further submitted to
histological examination, and by means of micro-chemical tests with
chromic acid and with iodine, and also by comparing sections of the
experimental animals and animals which had not been subjected to
lead dust inhalations, a very much larger quantity of material was
found present in the lungs of the inhalation animals than in the
normal animal. The dust was situated in the alveoli and the alveolar
cells, and often in the lymphatics. On examining microscopically
sections of the lungs of those animals exposed to graduated
inhalation over extensive periods, a far larger number of blackened
granules, dust, pigment, and other substances, was found than in
similar sections of animals which were under normal conditions and
had not been exposed to lead dust, although it is true such animals
show a very fair proportion of carbon particles taken up by the lung
tissue.
A further important fact was noticeable in animals Nos. 21 and 22
(see p. 101), which had been exposed to a low solubility glaze such
as is used in the Potteries. Low solubility glaze is compounded with
lead frit—that is to say, a lead glaze (or lead silicate) which has been
finely ground. The particles of this substance are much larger than
those of ordinary white lead, and in addition they are much more
angular. Of three animals exposed to this glaze, one actually died of
pneumonia (acute), and the other two suffered from some bronchial
trouble, both of them showing distinct signs of pneumonic patches
and old and chronic inflammation when examined histologically;
whereas in none of the other animals exposed to white lead dust or
to the high solubility glaze, which contained white lead as opposed to
lead frit, no such pneumonic or fibroid changes were found. This
point is of some pathological importance.
The inhalation experiments also throw some light on the quantity
of lead necessary to produce poisoning. The animals in the
inhalation experiments were exposed for varying periods, and
constant estimations made of the lead present in the air. In a number
of instances samples were taken from the cage air during the whole
of the experiment, as rapidly as possible. The quantity of lead
floating in the air was found to increase as the experiment
progressed, although a large amount of the lead introduced was
caught on the side of the cage and deposited on the floor.
In the later experiments the method of taking the samples
continuously during the experiment was abandoned, and four
samples only were taken, and the average recorded. A simple
calculation will give the quantity of lead dust it would be possible for
an animal to inhale during the whole of this period of exposure. The
utmost tidal air in the case of a cat would be taken at 50 c.c. Taking
the average, about 0·27 gramme of lead was inhaled during the half-
hour of exposure.
Feeding Experiments.—Twelve feeding experiments of various
types are recorded. The method of experiment was as follows:
The compound under investigation was carefully weighed out each
day (0·5 to 1·0 gramme), the substance being some of the same
compound that was being made use of for inhalation experiments. In
the case of the white lead it was found essential to mix it with the
animals’ food; they were given white lead in a small amount of their
food, and no further food was given for some little time after the dose
of lead had been swallowed. Low and high solubility glazes were
also made use of for feeding, and as a further experiment alcohol
was given to the animals in addition to the previous course of lead
inhalation or feeding, and the exposure to lead continued after the
alcohol was given. In addition to high solubility glazes, white lead,
and flue dust, a soluble salt of lead was also used, in one series the
salt being the nitrate. 0·1 gramme was given daily; and it is these
two nitrate animals (46 and 47) which showed distinct differences
from the white lead and other feeding experiments. In one case the
lead was given mixed with water, in the other mixed with milk. The
animal which was fed with the nitrate dissolved in water developed
encephalopathy, whereas the one in which the substance was mixed
in milk exhibited no signs, though fed for a similar period. Both the
animals increased in weight, which is an unusual effect in
experimental lead poisoning. The question of the addition of milk,
which apparently prevented the absorption of lead, is of very
considerable importance, as it is highly probable, as has been
pointed out with regard to the precipitation of lead by means of
organic substances, that the albuminoid substances in the milk
precipitate the nitrate already in a state of solution; and it may be
argued from these experiments that mixing the white lead with the
food would tend to prevent the lead having a toxic or deleterious
effect, but even when the lead was given in the form of pills between
meals no poisonous effect was noticed. Further, the quantity of white
lead given was considerable, and it is highly questionable whether
the quantity of lead so taken would be dissolved by the gastric juice
excreted under normal circumstances in its entirety, as a very
considerable quantity would pass onwards through the pylorus
undissolved. Until the lead compound has become soluble it cannot
react with the albuminoid constituent of the food. Ordinary dry white
lead or litharge does not combine directly with albumin.
The majority of the experimental animals showed alteration in
weight. The most important point which is brought out by these
experiments, considering them from the point of view of inhalation, is
the enormous quantity of white lead the “feeding” animals swallowed
without producing any apparent symptoms. The quantities cited are
the amounts given per diem, whereas in the inhalation experiments
the animals were rarely exposed more than three days a week for an
hour at a time (see table, p. 101). The quantity of lead, therefore,
given by the gastro-intestinal canal was at least ten times as much,
in many cases fifteen or twenty times as much, as could be taken by
the other animals via the lung during inhalation, and yet these
animals showed little or no susceptibility to poisoning when fed with
white lead or other lead compounds, unless alcohol was given in
addition.
An examination of the stomach after death showed, in the case of
the alcoholic animals, distinct evidence of gastritis, and there is
some reason to suppose that in such animals a degree of
hyperacidity may have existed, thereby promoting the rate of solution
of the lead.
The increased susceptibility to lead poisoning through the agency
of alcohol is interesting. No. 6 received, in addition to its inhalations
or period of exposure in the dusty air, 50 c.c. of port wine per diem.
Symptoms of lead poisoning appeared a day sooner than in any
other animal, and if we eliminate this experiment, as the dust (flue
dust from blast-furnace) contained also arsenic and antimony, three
days sooner than the litharge animal, and twenty-five days sooner
than the other animals exposed to white lead dust. In addition, this
animal was the only one which actually died during the period of
experiment; all the other animals were killed at the end of two
months and submitted to histological examination; but the animal
which had received alcohol died with symptoms closely simulating
lead encephalopathy in man. The predisposing action of alcohol is
still further emphasized by the subsequent experiments with three
animals exposed to white lead dust; one was exposed thirty-seven
and the other thirty days before symptoms appeared, whereas when
alcohol was given poisoning was apparent within twelve days, and
after only four inhalations.
In the case of animals fed with white lead, one after eight months,
and the other a year and a half, showed no signs of lead poisoning
at all, while the weights remained constant. At the end of this time
alcohol (50 c.c. of port wine) was added to the animals’ diet, and one
month after the addition of alcohol to the diet, the dose of white lead
being continued constant, encephalopathy ensued. In a second case
the animal was started on alcohol in addition to the white lead. In a
month it was showing signs of slight paresis. Again, an animal fed on
a low-solubility frit consisting of ground-up lead silicate, showed no
ill-effects after receiving a daily dose of this compound. At the end of
this time alcohol was added to its diet, and six months later the
animal developed symptoms of cerebral involvement, which
continued at intervals until a fatal attack of encephalopathy at the
end of a year. There is thus definite evidence to show that the
addition of alcohol to the animal’s diet undoubtedly hastened and
determined the appearance of lead poisoning, and this, taken in
conjunction with the inhalation experiments previously cited, is very
strong evidence of the increased susceptibility to lead poisoning
produced by alcohol. This supersensitiveness to lead through the
medium of alcohol is a matter of clinical experience to most persons
who have had experience of industrial lead poisoning, particularly
those who have been engaged in the routine examination of persons
working in factories.
Inoculation Experiments.—In order to control both the feeding
and the inhalation experiments, and more particularly to obtain direct
information of the effect of lead upon the body tissues, resource was
had to the inoculation of the various lead compounds tested—
namely: (1) White lead, (2) litharge, (3) lead frit. These three
compounds are the three types of lead salt which are used in the
Potteries, whilst white lead and litharge are the compounds causing
industrial poisoning in the largest proportion of cases in other
industries. As a further control, the more soluble lead salts were also
made use of—namely, acetate, nitrate, and chloride—mainly for the
purpose of establishing some standard of poisoning both in rate and
dose.
Several rather unexpected results were derived from the
inoculation experiments, which will be referred to.
The method of inoculation was to suspend the lead compound to
be tested in normal saline solution or distilled water. The animal was
then shaved, and the lead compound inoculated into the muscles of
the back. The corrosive action of these lead salts was avoided by
using a considerable quantity of diluent.
Lead frit is a constituent of low-solubility glaze—that is to say, a
glaze which has not more than 5 per cent. soluble lead when
subjected to the standard test of exposing 1 gramme of the glaze to
a litre of 0·04 per cent. hydrochloric acid for an hour at room
temperature. The frit which was the constituent of this glaze is
produced by heating together litharge or lead and silica, the
production being a yellow, hard, glaze-like material looking very
much like sugar-candy. It is not by any means a compound of lead
and silica of simple composition, as different samples show a wide
variation in their lead content; whilst, in addition, the mode of its
formation closely resembles that of an alloy or amalgam, and allows
of the formation of a eutectic entangling in its meshes both of the
constituents of which it is formed, so that a certain amount of free
lead, in addition to the silicates of various descriptions, are present.
At the same time the compound is highly resistant to the action of
mineral acids, and, of course, much more insoluble and refractory
than white lead, litharge, or other lead oxides. The body fluids,
however, particularly the fluids in the subcutaneous and muscular
tissue, definitely exert some action upon this fritted lead, and it was
found experimentally that symptoms of poisoning could be produced
in the experimental animals when even small doses were
administered. A gramme of frit was inoculated, and in all but one
case the animals showed definite signs of lead poisoning, and in two
instances actually died with symptoms of encephalitis.
By washing the frit with distilled water, a slight diminution in the
poisonousness was found, but by washing the frit with two or three
changes of dilute acetic acid (3 per cent.), and then with distilled
water, no pathological results followed inoculation. Water-washing frit
alone definitely reduces the poisonous effect, but not to the same
extent as the preliminary washing with acetic acid. On the other
hand, washing with hot water had a much greater effect than cold-
water washing.
Further evidence given by the inoculation experiments shows the
relationship between the more soluble and the insoluble lead salts.
The dose of acetate required to kill an animal was about 0·1 gramme
of acetate per kilogramme body weight. On the other hand, 0·1
gramme of white lead produced no ill-effects, 0·5 gramme per
kilogramme body weight produced death in about two months. In
addition, those animals suffering from the more acute forms of

Teacher Voices in Chinese Language Teaching Personal Reflections On Culture Scott Smith Full Chapter

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Teacher Voices in Chinese Language Teaching Personal Reflections On Culture Scott Smith Full Chapter

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Teacher Voices in Chinese Language

Teaching: Personal Reflections on

ISSN 2946-2479 ISSN 2946-2487 (electronic)

© The Author(s) 2022

3 A Way to Discover Culture in Language 63

5 The Way Forward129

Appendix A: Online Survey for CFL Teachers137

Appendix B: Interview Questions (Part A)141

Fig. 1.1 Quality Teaching Framework (https://education.nsw.gov.au/

Table 1.1 Distribution of participants 9

Who is Teaching Who What? Chinese

Keywords Chinese as a foreign language • CFL • Intercultural

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature 1

The limits of my language mean the limits of my world

Why This Book?

In this sense, I also find myself pedagogically in a third place, viewing

A question arose in relation to the perceived efficacy of rote learning,

Contextual Background to the Book: The Status

Despite these efforts, it is evident that Chinese language courses in

numbers of senior secondary students matriculating with an Asian lan-

programmes in both China and elsewhere. Therefore, it was important for

necessary first step in describing the interculturality of language teachers,

Intellectual Quality Learning Significance

Problematic High Knowledge

Metalanguage Students’ self- Connectedness

Fig. 1.1 Quality Teaching Framework (https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-­

outside of the classroom, and with multiple ways of knowing or cultural

Table 1.1 Distribution of participants

meanings through the study of people in naturally occurring settings.

Table 1.2 Eight areas of development in intercultural competence

Byram (1997b, p. 56) describes the decentring process as the ability to

Disparate pedagogies have created ongoing issues between the aspira-

Who is Teaching Who What?

A New Metaphor: Building a House or a Home?

Figure 1.2 illustrates how both interculturality and pedagogy can be in

Beliefs about culture

Fig. 1.2 Interculturality and pedagogy in flux amongst teachers of Chinese in

The vast majority of Chinese language teachers in Australia can be

FOREIGN LANGUAGE HERITAGE HERITAGE

PRIMARY YEARSK-6 LOTE YEARS 7-6 YEARS 9-10 YEARS 11-12

Fig. 1.3 Shifts in Chinese language learner enrolments in Australian schools

education regarding enrolments and curriculum focus of Chinese lan-

[Language] in Students typically have been brought up Students have had no

Second language learners

Heritage learners Graduating students

In Fig. 1.4, as learners approach from the left to commence their

Foreign learner field

Cultural Practices Cultural

In the next section a selection of available school data is offered to illus-

Numbers of Students of Chinese

Table 1.4 Number of primary and secondary students of Chinese in each

ACT 46 1048 579 548 625 1796

Source: Orton (2016, p. 44)

differences between the numbers of primary and secondary years in each

Numbers of Students of Year 12 Chinese Courses

2008 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Source: Orton (2016, p. 45)

promoting and supporting the learning of Chinese for second language

Comparisons between Languages

Table 1.6 Proportion of Year 12 tertiary-recognised language enrolments by

Japanese 19.8 19.7 20.5 20.2

Source: ACARA (2020)

Table 1.7 Languages

3 A Way to Discover Culture in Language 63

5 The Way Forward129

Appendix A: Online Survey for CFL Teachers137

Appendix B: Interview Questions (Part A)141

Table 1.1 Distribution of participants 9

Fig. 1.1 Quality Teaching Framework (https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-