This chapter discusses the increasing diversity in US schools and the need for educators to be prepared to address the cultural, ethnic, and linguistic differences among students. Culturally responsive teaching is considered critical to student success and can facilitate better learning outcomes and class engagement. Ignoring students' cultural needs can lead to conflicts and increase the likelihood of student failure. As Chinese is recognized as a critical language, Chinese language teachers also need to exercise cultural responsiveness in the classroom. The chapter aims to provide an overview of research on culturally responsive teaching, with a focus on Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (TCFL), and make suggestions for improving culturally responsive teaching in TCFL.

Culturally Responsive Teaching in TCFL: Towards an Overview

The chapter discusses the limited findings on cultural responsiveness in Chinese language teaching, highlighting concerns with Chinese language teachers' cultural adaptation and responsive teaching in the United States. It also examines the lack of cultural awareness and responsive skills among Chinese language teachers and proposes strategies for developing culturally competent teachers. Additionally, the chapter identifies two studies on strategies for culturally responsive teaching and emphasizes the need for further research in this area.

Defining Culturally Responsive Teaching in TCFL

This chapter discusses the definitions of culturally responsive teaching provided by various researchers, and argues for a more inclusive and practical definition. It proposes a definition that encompasses all instructional activities, including class and course preparation, in- and after-class teaching, and in- and after-class interactions. The next section, based on this definition, discusses Chinese language classroom cultures and culturally responsive teaching strategies.

Chinese Language Classroom Cultures and Culturally Responsive Strategies

This chapter discusses the definition of culture and its importance in Chinese language teaching. It also outlines three main types of Chinese language classroom cultures: content area culture, student culture, and teacher culture. The content area culture includes Chinese cultural topics and behaviors, while student culture covers biological, psychological, and social statuses of students. Teacher culture refers to the culture that teachers bring to the classroom. Finally, the chapter offers strategies for teachers to cope with their own culture and teaching approach.

Conclusion and Discussion

The paper discusses the need for more effort in culturally responsive practice in Chinese language teaching and calls for future research to be theoretical, empirical, or both. It also defines or redefines critical concepts such as culture, classroom culture, and culturally responsive teaching. New perspectives are proposed, including looking at mixed cultures in a foreign language classroom and redefining cultural responsiveness to incorporate all three culture types identified. The research also points to the need for specific strategies for culturally responsive teachers to consider using and calls for empirical studies to test the theoretical proposals.