COMPARATIVE STUDY OF CULTURAL CUSTOMS: CHINESE SPRING FESTIVAL AND SINHALA AND TAMIL NEW YEAR FESTIVAL

M. M. N. M. Lakmali

Abstract


There was a gradual increase in the popularity of the Chinese language across the globe owing to China's economic and social developments. Thus, this resulted in a momentum of the teaching and learning of the Chinese language that elevated the number of Chinese language acquirers. It is obvious that culture grants a dual role in foreign language acquisition. Yet, many learners undergo obstacles in interpreting a foreign language and its cultural context by reminiscing through their native culture. On the other hand, the knowledge of the culture of the target language supports resolving misunderstandings and problems that arise within the learning context. Both learners and teachers should strive to view both the target and their native cultures from multiple perspectives, fostering an open-minded and rational understanding. In the scope of culture, festivals become a key component in every country. Therefore, this study focusses on comparing the traditional Spring festival in China with the Sri Lankan cultural festival, Sinhala and Tamil New year. The primary methodology employed in this regard is the survey method to denote a comprehensive understanding of similarities and discrepancies of these festivals. Furthermore, this study caters for three major objectives: to apply the findings of the study to Chinese language instruction, to promote cross cultural understanding between two countries and to explore the impact of technological development on festival culture.

 

Article visualizations:

Hit counter


Keywords


cultural customs, Chinese Spring Festival, Sinhala and Tamil New Year, second language acquisition

Full Text:

PDF

References


Chen, Y. (2013). Research on the dissemination of festive folk culture in Confucius Institutes (Master’s thesis). Minzu University of China.

Jayantha, A., & Amarasinghe, A. (2014). Origin of the New Year festival in Sri Lanka. International Journal of Arts and Commerce, 9(2), 181-192.

Li, J. (2012). Traditional Chinese ritual festivals and cultural teaching in teaching Chinese as a foreign language (Master’s thesis). Lanzhou University.

Lu, Y. (1994). The origins and comparisons of Chinese and Japanese folk customs. Journal of Tianjin Foreign Studies University, (01), 42–45.

Ma, X. (1995). A comparative study of seasonal customs in China and Japan: Purification, Dragon Boat Festival, and Qixi Festival. Journal of Japanese Studies, (02), 26–33.

Yang, M. (2015). The design and application of Chinese traditional festivals in teaching Chinese to Thai students: A case study of teaching at Rose Garden, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand (Master’s thesis). Yunnan University.

Yu, T. (2018). Research on the teaching of Chinese traditional festivals in teaching Chinese as a foreign language (Master’s thesis). Qufu Normal University.

Zhai, W. (2017). Research on teaching Chinese as a foreign language through Chinese traditional festival culture: Taking the Spring Festival as an example (Master's thesis, Zhengzhou University).

Zhang, Y. (1994). A Study on Cultural Teaching in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language. Chinese Language Learning, (05), 46–50.

Zhang, Y., & Jin, S. (Eds.). (2009). Traditional Chinese culture and modern life: The ultimate cultural reader for foreign students (Vol. 2). Beijing: Peking University Press.

Zhou, S. (Ed.). (1997). Teaching Chinese as a foreign language and culture. Beijing: Beijing Language and Culture University Press.

Ratnasinghe, A. Traditional Sinhala Avurudu games. Sunday Observer. Virtual Library Sri Lanka

Witane, G. Sinhala Avurudu festival. The Island. Virtual Library Sri Lanka




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejfl.v9i1.5870

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright © 2015 - 2026. European Journal of Foreign Language Teaching (ISSN 2537-1754) is a registered trademark of Open Access Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

This journal is a serial publication uniquely identified by an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) serial number certificate issued by Romanian National Library (Biblioteca Nationala a Romaniei). All the research works are uniquely identified by a CrossRef DOI digital object identifier supplied by indexing and repository platforms.

All the research works published on this journal are meeting the Open Access Publishing requirements and can be freely accessed, shared, modified, distributed and used in educational, commercial and non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).