Analysis of chinese vocabulary ability through chinese food culture and intercultural communicative competence of chinese as a foreign language learners

Abstract

Intercultural communication competence (ICC) is essential to language learning; naturally, cultural learning is inseparable from the Chinese learning process. Chinese culture is extensive and profound, as scholars have increasingly emphasized its role in Chinese teaching. Therefore, this study combined Chinese food culture with Chinese as a foreign language teaching, which can significantly improve students' learning interests and improve intercultural communicative competence skills. This study was a mixed-method approach based on internet-mediated research (IMR) conducted online research on third-year students and teachers majoring in Chinese as a foreign language at Chiang Mai University in Thailand. There are three research objectives: (1) to overview the conceptual ideas of intercultural communicative competence and Chinese food culture; (2) to study Chinese vocabulary ability through Chinese food culture of Chinese as a foreign language learner; (3) to explore intercultural communicative competence of Chinese as a foreign language learners. The researcher designed the questionnaire and the semi-structured in-depth interview based on the theoretical concept of Byram's intercultural communicative competence. The conclusive remarks of the study indicated that CFL students' and teachers' acceptance and perception of enriching students' Chinese vocabulary ability and ICC through Chinese food culture was a positive trend. However, food culture and its changes are a complex phenomenon; due to the sample selection, research design, and other research limitations of this study, research results may get influenced.