Chinese language teachers' perceptions and pedagogies of intertextuality in Chinese language composition in preparing for College Entrance Exam (Gaokao) 2021

Abstract

In the present thesis, I report an exploratory study of a group of Chinese language teachers’ perceptions and pedagogies of intertextuality in preparing students for Chinese composition writing in the College Entrance Exam (Gaokao) 2021. Much research has been conducted to explore Chinese students’ English writing with an explicit focus on the intertextual transgression in their texts; intertextual practices and conventions in the Chinese educational culture are much less known. In particular, a focus on schoolteachers’ pedagogies in teaching intertextual practices in the context of Chinese composition writing is limited. The extensive Chinese literature on teaching Chinese composition to school students in China is dominated by schoolteachers’ teaching reflections and sharing of teaching strategies; empirical research is lacking. On the basis of interviews with a group of Chinese language teachers, class observations of one focal teacher teaching senior three students in a high school in mainland China, and collection of a range of qualitative documents (e.g., exemplars, handouts, slides), the present qualitative study investigates Chinese practices of intertextuality in the cultural context of Gaokao preparation in the academic year of 2020-2021.

The present study yields a finding of three aspects of the manifestations of Chinese intertextuality, showcasing the role of Chinese language, ideological guidance assigned to Chinese language education, and Gaokao as a high-stakes exam in Chinese intertextual education. It is also found that the Chinese pedagogies of intertextuality crucially help to fulfil the function of ideological guidance assigned to Chinese language education and are greatly influenced by Gaokao. This study highlights the importance of studying Chinese intertextual education in situ, complements previous studies concerning Chinese practices of intertextuality by taking a perspective from Chinese language teachers. It probes into the learning process of intertextual practices in the school context, which helps generate pedagogical implications for literacy education in Chinese schools and sheds light on students’ intertextual preparedness when they transition from secondary school to university education.