INCORPORATING CHINESE TRADITIONAL CULTURE IN PRIMARY SCHOOL CHINESE TEXTBOOKS

Abstract

"Where there are Chinese people, there is Chinese education". The Malaysian Chinese ancestors practised Chinese education in Malaysia since their arrival and with their efforts, Malaysia has the most comprehensive and systematic Chinese education in Southeast Asia. It is also considered the country that has preserved Chinese culture the best (Qian, 2017). Since 2011, the Chinese language has been offered as an elective subject in the standards-based curriculum for primary school (KSSR) syllabus. Since introducing Chinese into classrooms, there have been two versions of Chinese textbooks for the national primary schools: (KSSR) National Primary School Chinese Textbook from grade 1 until grade 6. Its subsequent revision in 2017 KSSR (Semakan 2017) National Primary School Chinese Textbook has been applied up to grade 5. By studying these two versions of the textbooks, this paper will discuss how Chinese culture is depicted in Malaysian national primary school Chinese textbooks. It will also analyse the elements of Chinese culture and subsequently investigate whether cultural content is necessary to be reinforced in national primary school Chinese textbooks for its text to be enriched. The research objective is determined using integrated studies done within and beyond Malaysia and includes relevant materials, research reports, literature, and dissertation papers. Through literature review, this paper summarises, categories, and analyses content about traditional Chinese cultural elements that can be found in both versions of the Chinese textbooks in national primary school. The traditional Chinese cultures found in both versions of textbooks are listed under seven elements which are: Traditional Chinese Festivities, Traditional Chinese Folk Games, Traditional Chinese Family Appellations, Traditional Chinese Food Culture, Traditional Chinese Arts, Traditional Chinese Customs, Chinese Literature. The collected content is then categorised, arranged, and analysed. A deduction can then be made to provide conclusive recommendations. It can be deduced that the textbooks are pretty packed with relevant and related Chinese cultural elements, but primarily, it is apparent that the Chinese culture is mainly influenced by local cultural elements, which are very close to our daily life. National primary school Chinese language education plays a role in cultural dissemination. It enables pupils of different ethnic backgrounds to learn Chinese and gain a deeper understanding of Chinese culture. As well as can help prevent misunderstandings caused by cultural differences.