Cultural-Based Chinese Learning Material Design to Enhance Thai Secondary School Students’ Cultural Awareness
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Abstract
By 2020, over 100 countries had established 548 Confucius Institutes and 1,193 Confucius Classrooms to promote cultural exchange through Chinese language teaching. However, existing studies indicate that Thai Chinese teaching materials often lack updated cultural content. This study aimed to develop culture-based Chinese learning materials to enhance Thai secondary school students' cultural awareness, addressing two key questions: (1) experts' evaluations of the developed materials, and (2) the materials' effectiveness in improving cultural awareness. The research consisted of two phases: material design and experimental implementation. Results showed that three Chinese teaching experts rated the materials highly (mean = 4.56, SD = 0.32), while a paired t-test revealed a significant improvement in students' cultural awareness (p < 0.01, Cohen’s d = 1.247), confirming the materials' efficacy. The findings underscore the importance of tailored, culturally relevant teaching materials in second language acquisition and provide actionable insights for future Chinese material design in Thailand. Limitations and suggestions for further improvements are also discussed.
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