An exploratory intervention program on Chinese culture among CFL students at a Vietnamese University

This article reports on a study of an intensive three-week culture intervention program, delivered via VooV Meeting (an online meeting platform) as an additional opportunity for CFL students at a Vietnamese university in December 2021. The primary aim was to explore students’ perceptions and experiences of learning about Chinese culture in a non-target language environment since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Two hundred and nine mixed-level undergraduate CFL students participated in a survey administered via Google Forms. Overall results indicated that students valued the opportunity offered by this program to learn Chinese culture and acknowledged the importance of cultural study in CFL. There appeared to be different preferences among male and female students and the different year groups in choosing the contents and methods of cultural learning. Additionally, students expressed concerns about using technology in language and culture learning despite its benefits, especially in the absence of real-life human interactions and communications due to travel restrictions. One significant finding was that students recognised teachers’ essential role in learning culture. The survey results, in particular the participants’ responses to open-ended questions, are discussed in this paper. The understanding gained from this study is expected to provide Chinese language professionals and practitioners with insights and suggestions on how Chinese culture can be better integrated into CFL through appropriate and effective teaching strategies in a post-pandemic era.