The Importance of Cross-Cultural Understanding for Chinese Language MGMP Teachers
State University of Malang (UM) Mandarin Language Education Study Program on Thursday (05/8/2021) carried out a service activity for Chinese MGMP teachers with the title “Strengthening Cross-Cultural (Indonesian-Chinese) Material Understanding” online through the Zoom application. This activity was attended by a total of 15 Chinese MGMP teachers. The aim was to increase the understanding of Chinese MGMP teachers regarding the importance of experiencing cross-cultural materials in learning Mandarin as a second language.
The head of the event organizer Lukluk Ul Muyassaroh, S.Pd., MTCSOL in his speech, “We know that it is not easy as a second language learner or educator. Many factors need to be considered, not only regarding mastery of vocabulary and pronunciation, but an understanding of cross-cultural material is also fundamental to know and understand. This is because in communicating and socializing, each needs to understand the culture of the interlocutor to reduce misperceptions and other obstacles, especially when communicating with interlocutors who have different cultural and linguistic backgrounds.”
The presenter in the Strengthening the Understanding of Cross-Cultural Materials (Indonesia-China) is Mr. Qiao Peng (Chinese native speaker). In the presentation of the material presented, he discussed the experiences felt by Chinese people living in Indonesia with different cultural adjustments. He also explained things considered normal in Indonesia but are not polite when applied to Chinese, for example, giving gifts of clocks or numbers with a nominal value of 4.
Things about culture must be mutually understood by both parties so that communication runs smoothly and there is no misunderstanding. In addition, for teachers, the benefit of knowing cross-cultural understanding materials is that when teaching theories about language, they can be enriched with materials on cross-cultural materials. It is intended that students’ ability is not only limited to language skills but also understanding the ethics of communication.