“Paddling through Language Diversity”: A Case Study of a Taiwanese Teacher’s Mandarin Class in the US Higher Education

Abstract

Sociolinguistic differences take place in both daily conversations and written works. Examples of this phenomenon include different people using different vocabulary to express the same thing or using the same word to mean different things. Competent adult native speakers detect these variations and can navigate through conversations when speaking with other social groups (Hymes, 1972). However, L2 adult learners with limited exposure to variations and explanations may miss the opportunity to develop such sociolinguistic knowledge. This case study examines the language variations a Taiwanese teacher encountered in her Mandarin class at a U.S. higher education institution. As the textbooks adopted in the language program set the tone as “Standard Mandarin,” the Taiwanese teacher’s Taiwan-based Mandarin was constructed as a variety that deviated from the standard. Through a qualitative research approach, this study found how the Taiwanese teacher negotiated her sociolinguistic deviance into an opportunity and used her teacher’s talk to make language variations sociolinguistic input for the students. This case demonstrates a language teacher’s active role in handling language variations, with the teaching goal of enabling students to use the language competently in different social contexts outside of school.