MANDARIN CHINESE LANGUAGE TEACHING IN BOTSWANA: UNIVERSITY OF BOTSWANA

Abstract

Good relations between Botswana and China have led to many developments in diplomatic relations and in commerce and trade. This has resulted in the presence of Chinese in Botswana and in the need to learn Chinese. The teaching of Mandarin Chinese language outside China has become popular for many years now. Recently in Africa there is significant growth in the number of people interested in learning Mandarin Chinese. The northern part of Africa has made a lot of progress in the area of teaching Chinese language and culture, for instance Egypt and Sudan are seemingly doing well in their establishments of Chinese Studies. However, in southern Africa, developments in Chinese language teaching and learning are much more recent and Botswana like many countries across the world, has also taken the initiative to heed the call and introduce the teaching of Mandarin Chinese at the University of Botswana. Some of the primary and secondary schools were also not left out in embracing this initiative, particularly private schools. Globalisation and internationalisation process contributed towards the University of Botswana launching the Confucius Institute in 2009 and later on, establishing a Chinese Studies Programme in 2011. This research entailed a case study of the University of Botswana and focused on discussing the teaching of Mandarin Chinese and Chinese language instructors.  A qualitative inquiry strategy was engaged and individual interviews were used to collect data. Data analysis was done manually. The teaching of Mandarin Chinese language is relatively new in Southern Africa including Botswana. There has been little research in this area, as such, this paper seeks to contribute to related research along the area of teaching Mandarin Chinese in Southern Africa, particularly in Botswana.