Chinese culture, identity and Putonghua learning anxiety : A comparison of Hong Kong and Mainland college students

Culture, identity and anxiety have been important issues in language learning research, but only few studies have investigated the interplay among students’ cultural learning, cultural identity, and language anxiety. Besides, it is not clear how local dialect and culture within a great national tradition would affect their anxiety levels and identity in learning the standard language. This study will fill the gap by investigating college students in Hong Kong and Mainland China on these issues. The research questions are: 1) How do Chinese cultural learning, students’ self-sense of identity and language anxiety interact with each other in affecting Putonghua learning? 2) What are the differences between Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese students in Chinese cultural learning and self-sense of cultural identity? 3) What are the factors underlying the concept of Chinese cultural identity? The subjects are from three universities: students enrolled in Chinese culture and Putonghua courses in a University in Hong Kong, and students from different disciplines in two universities in Mainland China. Questionnaires on students’ sense of self-identity and language anxiety, a test on Chinese culture knowledge and a demographic information sheet have been administered to students. Statistical analysis involves correlational analysis, t-tests, ANOVA and factor analysis. The results show significant correlations among Chinese cultural knowledge, self-sense of Chinese identity, Putonghua learning anxiety and self-perceived Putonghua proficiency; differences are found among students from different gender, grade level and regional groups; the Mainland Chinese students get much higher scores in both the Chinese cultural knowledge test and the Chinese cultural identity scale; three factors are identified underlying the concept of Chinese cultural identity: ambience, participation, and learning . The long-term impact and implications of this study will be discussed.