Personal valuation of Chinese language for social functions among senior high school learners

Abstract

In recent decades, the Chinese language experienced an increase in educational demand, which calls the academic institutions to integrate basic Chinese language subjects into their curriculum. The spike in Chinese language use resulted in the expansion of language studies focusing on Chinese as a second and foreign language. Given the broad scope of research in Chinese language learning, there was a need to expand the understanding of the personal valuation of the learners in learning the Chinese language. Hence, this study aimed to assess the extent of the subjective valuation of Filipino students in the Chinese language, particularly for social functions. An exploratory approach was carried out to extract narrative data from the study participants. Eight secondary students were interviewed on the personal valuation of the Chinese language within social functions. The findings demonstrated that the Chinese language was commonly used within social instances for specific sociocultural and psycholinguistic patterns. The participants valued the use of the Chinese language because of its instrumentality in their future careers; it enabled them to be culturally sensitive and engaged in sociocultural communication. Theoretical analysis also highlighted that language socialization became a major driving force in language learning. Language socialization encompassed learning beyond academic purposes while underscoring the need for social interaction and interpersonal orientation. Nevertheless, personal valuations reflected learners' beliefs towards the instrumentality of the Chinese language, especially in social functions.