從中文熱談俄羅斯的華文教育

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(1)國立臺灣師範大學. National Taiwan Normal University 華語文教學系碩士論文. 從中文熱談俄羅斯的華文教育. Study on Mandarin Fever in Russia 2008-2018. 指導教授：楊聰榮博士 (Edwin Yang) 研究生：雷娜妲 (Renata Jarmuhametova) 中華民國108年2月.

(2) ABSTRACT In recent years, due to the increasing popularity of the Chinese language in Russia and around the world, the population of Russian citizens learning Chinese as a foreign language is on the rise. Therefore, there is a growing need for further understanding of how the Russian people are learning Chinese language, why they are motivated to learn it, and what are their beliefs about learning Chinese as a foreign language and if possible, how their beliefs may affect their learning outcomes. This study examined: 1) whether in Russia there exists Chinese language fever (a.k.a. “Mandarin fever”); 2) what has faciliated Chinese language fever in Russia; 3) Whether political, touristic, diplomatic and economic relationships between Russia and China influence student motivation to learn Chinese language? It should be noted that the interest of foreigners in the Chinese language is due to various reasons. Many are motivated from a pragmatic standpoint. With the improvements in SinoRussian relations, including diplomacy, culture, and economics, there is an increasing demand for skilled Chinese speakers in Russia. Concluding the study in the past ten years, the number of students studying the Chinese language has increased dramatically compared to those learning other languages. At the present stage, the Confucius Institute, an internationally well-known organization, also plays an important role in spreading the Chinese language in Russia. Language and culture of the country is a “soft power” that plays a key role in international relations, influencing directly or indirectly world politics. Russia has become one of the most prominent countries in the world, promoting the Confucius Institutes. Keywords: Russia, Chinese language promotion, Mandarin fever, Confucius Institute. i.

(3) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In these acknowledgements, I will take the opportunity to express my gratitude and appreciation to everyone that have helped me achieve the conclusion of my Chinese as a Second Language studies and the research for this thesis. First of all, I would like to thank my dear advisor Professor Yang Tsung-Rong (Edwin) for his guidance, patience, understanding, and support in all of my activities, as well as his trust in me. I want to thank my parents, Marat Jarmuhametov and Rezeda Jarmuhametova (to whom this dissertation is dedicated), for their constant support during my journey, and for their love and financial support during my studies. They were always there cheering me up even at my lowest; they taught me to never give up in life and to always believe in myself. I want to thank National Taiwan Normal University for giving me this opportunity to study in this program. Since the Chinese language is a foreign language for me, I also want to thank all the professors during my studies for helping, understanding, and always giving me a chance to become a better student. I especially want to thank my dear friends Jose Salazar and Danuta Salazar for guiding me during the course of writing this thesis. Without them, this journey would have been much harder and more stressful. I am very grateful for their constant support, positive vibes, and great food. I could not have achieved such results without them. I hope that our friendship will always remain even if we will live in different parts around the world. I want to thank my classmates and friends, 福美 from Indonesia and 玉梅 from Vietnam, for all of their support and help during my studies. It would have been impossible for me to finish my studies without them. I enjoyed their company during my studies and felt much ii.

(4) safer with them. I am very grateful for such friends from different parts of the world. It was the biggest advantage for me living in Asia.. iii.

(5) Резюме Глава 1 В настоящее время важно говорить на иностранном языке не только потому, что он может дать новые возможности для карьерного роста, но также и потому, что он может помочь в понимании другой культуры и расширить возможности путешествовать по всему миру. Обучение иностранному языку набирает популярность во всем мире, со второй половиы 20-го века и до сегодняшнего дня. Для многих экономический фактор играет главную роль при изучении иностранного языка (Chen, Li, Ma, Tong, & Wee, 2016). В последнее время резко возрос спрос на восточные языки, особенно на китайский язык. Число иностранцев, изучающих китайский язык, выросло с 30 миллионов в 2005 году до 100 миллионов на сегоднящний день (Jie, 2017). Китайский язык является одним из самых распространенных современных языков, с наибольшим количеством носителей языка в мире. Это официальный язык Китая, Тайваня и Сингапура. Стоит отметить, что почти в каждой экономически развитой стране есть китайский город, начиная с США и заканчивая Австралией, а также многими европейскими странами (Гордон, 2005). Поскольку китайский язык является важным языком и экономика Китая растет, для некитайцев становится крайне важно понимать культуру и язык этой страны. На сегодняшний день Китай становится мощным геополитическим игроком в мире и принимает активное участие в мировых делах (Григоренко, Ключников, Гридчина и Литвиненко, 2016). С улучшением китайско-российских отношений с точки зрения дипломатии и экономики, растет спрос на квалифицированных русскоговорящих переводчиков. (Dacishen, 2015). iv.

(6) Несмотря на сложность изучения китайского языка, в последнее время наблюдается спрос в его изучении, особенно среди молодежи. Число людей, которые хотят изучать китайский язык и китайскую культуру в России растет настолько быстро, что университеты и языковые центры, где преподают китайский язык, часто не могут справиться с таким наплывом людей (Баохуа, 2010). В настоящее время у российских студентов есть возможность сдать ЕГЭ на четырех иностранных языках: английском, французском, немецком и испанском. По данным Федеральной службы по надзору в сфере образования и науки, в ближайшие 2-3 года в России будет введен единый государственный экзамен по китайскому языку. Китайский язык в последнее время также стал популярным среди детей крупных чиновников, миллиардеров и других влиятельных людей России. Несколько лет назад в Московской Школе Экономики дети представителей крупных бизнес-компаний, а также министров, губернаторов и т.д., смогли начать изучать китайский язык. В 2015 году премьер-министр России Дмитрий Медведев, выступая с речью в Университете нефти и газа в Москве призвал российских студентов изучать китайский язык, сказав, что это открывает новые возможности для карьеры и принесет «совершенно новые жизненные перспективы» (Чанг, 2015). Китай является четвертым по величине торговым партнером России и первым среди партнеров в Азиатско-Тихоокеанском регионе (Григоренко, Ключников, Гридчина и Литвиненко, 2016). Взаимодействие между Китаем и Россией на всех уровнях не может продолжаться без переводчиков. На фоне глобализации Китай и Россия, как две мировые державы, проводят частые языковые и культурные обмены, которые имеют большое значение для укрепления дружбы между этими двумя странами, развития китайско-российского стратегического партнерства, сотрудничества и взаимного политического. доверия,. а. также. расширение. сотрудничества (Savic, 2017).. v. двустороннего. практического.

(7) Исследовательская мотивация С ростом глобализации изучение иностранных языков набирает популярность во всем мире. Поскольку Россия и Китай имеют огромный потенциал для экономического сотрудничества, многие молодые люди начали заниматься изучением китайского, а не английского языка. Тем не менее, на данный момент существует очень мало литературы на тему мотивации изучения китайского языка в русском контексте. Путем анализа литературы и интервью с нынешними профессорами и изучающими китайский язык в России студентами, автор рассмотрит вопрос о том, что вызывает интерес к изучению китайского языка у российских студентов. Кроме того, в диссертации будет показано, как китайско-российские отношения в политической, дипломатической, туристической и экономической областях влияют на интерес студентов к изучению китайского языка. Вопросы исследования Для достижения ранее представленных целей исследования этой диссертации, исследователь предлагает найти ответы на следующие вопросы, которые могут предоставить этому исследованию необходимые инструменты и информацию для достижения этих целей.. 1. Есть ли в России «лихорадка» изучения китайского языка? 2. Что способствовало популярности китайского языка в России? vi.

(8) 3. Влияют ли политические, туристические, дипломатические и экономические отношения между Россией и Китаем на мотивации студентов к изучению китайского языка?. Глава 2 Политические и дипломатические отношения между Россией и Китаем Поскольку Российская Федерация и Китайская Народная Республика были давними союзниками и географическими соседями, между двумя странами сложились тесные отношения. Развитие политических отношений между этими двумя странами на данный момент достаточно стабильны (Лукин и Иванов, 2011). В 2017 году посол Китая в России выступил с речью о российско-китайских отношениях. Он прокоментировал: «Китайско-российские отношения стратегического сотрудничества и партнерства являются важнейшими двусторонними отношениями в мире и, кроме того, лучшими отношениями между основными странами. Китай и Россия неизменно поддерживают усилия друг друга по защите ключевых интересов, таких как их собственный суверенитет, безопасность и территориальная целостность» (Риа, 2017). По материалам Горовикова и Кормильцина (2017), Китай является очень важным партнером, которым Россия очень дорожит. Отношения России с Западом были и остаются напряженными, особенно со странами Прибалтики и Польшей, которые чувствуют угрозу со стороны России. Также большинство стран раскритиковали Россию за ее действия на Украине. В то время как другие страны осуждали участие России в Украинском кризисе, Китай не хотел участвовать ни в каких санкциях и даже пытался расширить свои торговые отношения с Россией на тот момент (Горовикова & Кормильцина, 2017). vii.

(9) Эволюция китайско-российских отношений на сегодняшний день - это история успеха. Однако, как долго эти «хорошие» отношения могут длиться? Китай развивается гораздо быстрее, чем Россия, и это может изменить соотношение силовых потенциалов. На данный момент Россия с ее «односторонней энергетической структурой экспорта», и ухудшением отношений с ЕС и США в основном зависит от Китая (Moshes, 2011).. Экономические отношения между Китаем и Россией Россия и Китай - соседи, имеющие давнюю историю взаимного сотрудничества. На данный момент торговый обмен достиг самого высокого уровня в истории. Отношения между двумя странами никогда не были лучше. Россия и Китай планируют увеличить торговый обмен до 200 млрд. К 2020 году. В течение 2012-2015 годов Китай оставался крупнейшим торговым партнером России (Аршинова & Лин, 2015). И на основании статистики из CIA Factbook в 2017 году Китай по-прежнему оставался крупнейшим торговым партнером России, в то время как Россия даже не входила в пятерку партнеров Китая (CIA, 2018). По мнению многих экспертов, экономические отношения между двумя странами все еще остаются очень слабыми. По словам Лексины (2015), торгово-экономический уровень отношений отстает от уровня политических связей. В 2013 году товарооборот Китая с США составил 521 млрд долларов, с Японией - 312,55 млрд долларов, с Россией - 89,21 млрд долларов. Это число намного выше, чем раньше, однако из этого ясно, что Китай является более важным партнером для России, чем Россия для Китая (Лексина, 2015). Обучение китайского языка в России Предпосылки сотрудничества в изучении языков между двумя странами были заложены в 2000-х годах. В 2003 году между двумя странами было подписано viii.

(10) соглашение об изучении русского языка в КНР и китайского языка в Российской Федерации. (Самойлова, 2017).. График 5: Динамика роста количества изучающих китайский язык в России (19972017). Источник: (РЦЛИ, 2017).. Китайский язык в русских университетах 20-21 века На рубеже 20-21 веков, в связи с расширением и экономическими связями русскокитайской торговли, возникла потребность в специалистах со знанием китайского языка. Однако в 1990-х годах, когда распался Советский Союз, китайский язык не был популярен, и число студентов, изучавших китайский язык в российских университетах, не превышало 1000 человек. После 2005 года количество студентов стало увеличиваться. ix.

(11) График 6: Динамика увеличения количества высших учебных заведений. Источник: РЦЛИ (2017). Китайский язык наиболее популярен в университетах Москвы, Владивостока, Читы, Благовещенска и Иркутска (Арефьев, 2017).. Институты Конфуция Россия находится на третьем месте с самым большим колличеством Институтов Конфуция и классов Конфуция в Европе. Может возникнуть вопрос, почему Китай создает эти институты, особенно в этих странах. Но ответ можно увидеть при сравнении торговых партнеров Китая. Из всех крупнейших европейских торговых партнеров Россия находится на четвертом месте после Германии, Великобритании и Нидерландов. x.

(12) Институты Конфуция организуют следующие мероприятия: обучение китайскому языку, подготовка и аттестация учителей китайского языка, поддержка исследований в области изучения китайского языка, проведение исследовательских и образовательных мероприятий, направленных на пропаганду китайского языка и китайской культуры. (Бельченко, 2010). Существует много исследований, в которых анализируется, как Китай использует институты Конфуция как инструмент «мягкой силы» страны. Институты Конфуция не предоставляют высшее образование иностранным студентам, а предоставляют только языковые курсы. Институты Конфуция привлекают много студентов, а также предоставляют много стипендий для языковых курсов. Китай очень прагматичен, и эти институты являются «долгосрочным планом» внешней политики страны. С помощью Институтов Конфуция Китай готовит иностранных студентов для поступления в китайские университеты в Китае (Леонтьева, 2016). Через систему институтов Конфуция Китай готовит людей для обслуживания российско-китайских отношений, исходя из китайской оценки ситуации, которая не всегда отвечает политическим и экономическим интересам России. Китайский язык и культура уже стали важным фактором «мягкой силы». (Самойлова, 2017). Есть много сомнений относительно реальной миссии этих учреждений. Китай пытается открыть эти институты в лучших университетах, и это часто воспринимается как способ получить доступ к технологиям и важной информации. Тем не менее, количество студентов растет, а количество учебных заведений растет крайне быстро. (Леонтьева, 2016).. Глава 3 Стратегия исследования xi.

(13) Основной целью данного исследования является углубление понимания «китайской лихорадки» в России. Исследование требует понимания перспектив мотивации обучения. Исследователь считает, что методологический подход является наиболее подходящим. Дизайн интервью Автор провел интервью продолжительностью 60-90 минут, которые были записаны, расшифрованы и переведены в аудио и видеоматериалы. Вопросы интервью были посвящены изучению педагогического образования, представлений о китайском языке, китайско-российских отношениях, их роли, практике, идентичности и развитии.. Участники Участниками данного исследования являются десять преподавателей китайского языка из России и пятнадцать студентов, изучающих китайский язык. Исследователь связался с ними через местные российские университеты и веб-страницы. С этими участниками были проведены интервью, дабы больше узнать о китайском языке в России.. Глава 5 Заключение Выводы Отвечая на вопрос исследования номер один, ясно, что китайский язык стал очень популярным в России за последние десять лет, и это очевидно из-за многих фактов, таких как увеличение числа студентов, поступающих в университеты для обучения на китайских факультетах. Кроме того, китайский язык также скоро будет введен в xii.

(14) качестве второго языка для обучения в школах, а в конце средней школы будет предложен ЭГЭ по китайскому языку. Было проведено множество мероприятий, посвященных китайскому языку, таких как олимпиада по китайскому языку в России, год Китая в России и наоборот. На основании всех этих фактов становится ясно, что в России развивается «китайская лихорадка», также известная как «мандариновая лихорадка», которая развилась за последние десять лет. Отвечая на второй вопрос исследования, такой рост популярности китайского языка в основном связан с улучшением дипломатических отношений между Китаем и Россией. Другой момент, который осознал автор, заключается в том, что такой интерес к китайскому языку также связан с продвижением китайского языка Китайским правительством. Правительство Китая много делает для продвижения своего языка, и это видно из примеров, таких как институты Конфуция, которые, по мнению опрошенных, являются политическим инструментом китайской «мягкой силы» и «долгосрочным планом» по расширению китайского влияния в России. Китай также предоставляет много стипендий и грантов российским студентам, и в последние годы Китай принял много российских студентов. Тем не менее, эти отношения кажутся очень процветающими на декларативном уровне, но на самом деле реальность другая. Российские новости показывают, что у России и Китая прекрасные взаимоотношения, однако у Китая всегда был очень прагматичный подход в политике, и Россия не может надеяться на то, что станет ее «лучшим другом». Самым большим фактом, отражающим реальную ситуацию, являются экономические отношения между этими двумя странами. Китай имеет гораздо лучшие экономические отношения с США, чем с Россией, и это является основным фактором, почему Россия не должна быть настолько «наивной» и чрезмерно преувеличивать выгодные отношения между двумя странами.. xiii.

(15) Отвечая на вопрос исследования номер три, согласно ответам студентов на основные мотивы, почему они изучают китайский язык, основной резонанс очень очевиден, и это все еще экономический фактор. Почти все студенты видят процветающие отношения. между Китаем и Россией и надеются, что в будущем благодаря этому знание китайского языка поможет им найти лучшую работу.. xiv.

(16) TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................... i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................... ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................ xv. List of Tables ................................................................................................................. xviii List of Figures .................................................................................................................. xix List of Maps ...................................................................................................................... xx Chapter 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Research Background ........................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Research Motivation ............................................................................................................ 3 1.3 Research Goals ..................................................................................................................... 3 1.4 Research Objectives ............................................................................................................. 4 1.5 Research questions ............................................................................................................... 4 1.6 Thesis structure .................................................................................................................... 4. Chapter 2 Literature Review .............................................................................................. 6 2.1 Economic Relationships between China and Russia .............................................................. 6 2.2 Political and Diplomatic Relationship between Russia and China ........................................ 11 2.3 Tourism Relationship between Russia and China ................................................................ 15 2.4 China’s Cultural Diplomacy ................................................................................................. 19 2.5 Chinese language education in Russia ................................................................................. 21. xv.

(17) 2.5.1 History of Chinese language education in Russia .............................................................. 25 2.5.2 Chinese language in Russian general education school ..................................................... 27 2.5.3 Chinese language learning in Russian universities in the XX-XXI Centuries ....................... 33 2.5.4 Study materials in Russian Universities ............................................................................ 34 2.6 Confucius Institutes ............................................................................................................ 43 2.6.1 The establishment of Confucius Institutes in Russia ......................................................... 46 2.6.2 Confucius institutes in Russia ........................................................................................... 48 2.6.3 Study materials in Russian Confucius Institutions ............................................................ 53 2.6.4 Confucius Institutes as a Tool of China’s Foreign Policy .................................................... 56 2.7 Russian Students in China ................................................................................................... 60 2.8 Definition of the “Mandarin Fever” .................................................................................... 65. Chapter 3 Research Methodology .................................................................................... 66 3.1 Research Strategy ............................................................................................................... 66 3.2 Interview Design ................................................................................................................. 66 3.3 Participants ........................................................................................................................ 67. Chapter 4 Data Analysis .................................................................................................. 73 4.1 Professors’ interview analysis ............................................................................................. 73 4.1.1 Theme one: Development of Chinese language in Russia ................................................................. 73 4.1.2 Theme two: Professors beliefs on student’s motivations ................................................................. 81 4.1.3 Theme three: Russia- China relations ................................................................................................ 83 4.1.4 Theme four: Future trends ................................................................................................................ 89. 4.2 Part two: Students interview analysis ................................................................................. 91 4.2.1 Theme one: Development of Chinese language in Russia ................................................................. 91 4.2.2 Theme two: Motivations .................................................................................................................... 96 4.2.3 Theme three: Future opportunities ................................................................................................. 101. xvi.

(18) Chapter 5 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 104 5.1 Findings ............................................................................................................................ 104 5.1.1 Findings on question one ................................................................................................................. 104 5.1.2 Findings on question two ................................................................................................................. 105 5.1.3 Findings on question three .............................................................................................................. 106. 5.2 Discussions ....................................................................................................................... 107 5.3 Research Contribution ...................................................................................................... 109 5.4 Research Limitations ........................................................................................................ 109 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................... 110 APPENDICES ........................................................................................................................... 113 Appendix A: questionnaire for professors .............................................................................. 113 Appendix B: questionnaire for students ................................................................................. 115 Appendix C: Historical events ................................................................................................. 117 Appendix D: Interview Transcripts .......................................................................................... 120. xvii.

(19) List of Tables Table 1 Indicators of the study of foreign languages as a subject in general education institutions of the Russian Federation in 2011/2012 and in 2015/2016 academic years . 28 Table 2 Distribution of the number of secondary schools with the teaching of Chinese language and the number of its students in 2012/2013 in the Russian Federation .......... 29 Table 3 The following textbooks are used in schools for learning Chinese ............................ 30 Table 4 Confucious Institutes in Russia................................................................................... 49 Table 5 Study materials that are used in Confucius Institutions in Russia .............................. 53 Table 6 The leading countries in terms of the number of foreign students studying in the universities of the PRC in 2006-2015 academic years, (people) ..................................... 60 Table 7 The number of Russian citizens who studied in Chinese universities in 2003-2015, and their share in the total contingent of foreign students in China ................................ 62 Table 8 Specialties studied by Russian citizens in the universities of the PRC within the framework of various programs in 2014, (people) .......................................................... 63 Table 9 Intervieews information (professors) .......................................................................... 69 Table 10 Intervieews information (students) ........................................................................... 68. xviii.

(20) List of Figures Figure 1: The percentages of oil and mineral fuel that China buys from other countries ......... 7 Figure 2: Russia’s main export partners in 2017 ...................................................................... 9 Figure 3: China’a main export partners in 2017 ...................................................................... 10 Figure 4: The number of tourists visiting Russia 2013-2014 (by country).............................. 15 Figure 5: The dynamics of the increase in the number of learners of Chinese language in Russia (1997-2017) .......................................................................................................... 22 Figure 6: Distribution of Chinese language by type of institution........................................... 23 Figure 7: Dynamics of increasing the number of higher educational institutions ................... 34 Figure 8: Chinese textbook used in Russia’s universities ........................................................ 38 Figure 9: Chinese textbook used in Russia’s universities ........................................................ 39 Figure 10: Chinese textbook used in Russia’s universities ...................................................... 40 Figure 11: Chinese textbook used in Russia’s universities ...................................................... 41 Figure 12: Confucius Institutes and classes in Europe ............................................................ 45. xix.

(21) List of Maps. Map 1: Cities with largest number of educational institutions teaching Chinese languages (2016-2017)...................................................................................................................... 24 Map 2: Confucius Institutes and classes around the world ..................................................... 44. xx.

(22) Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Research Background Nowadays, it is essential to speak a foreign language not only because it can provide new career opportunities, but also because it can help in understanding different culture and increase the opportunities to travel all over the world. Foreign language education has been gaining popularity across the globe, especially in the last part of the 20th century and up until today. While some people are required to take language classes to graduate, many are motivated by the increased economic opportunities of acquiring foreign languages (Chen, Li, Ma, Tong, & Wee, 2016). Recently, there has been a sharp increase in demand for eastern languages, especially Chinese. The number of foreigners learning Chinese has grown from 30 million in 2005 to 100 million today (Jie, 2017). Chinese is one of the most common modern languages, with the largest number of native speakers in the World. It is the official language of China, Taiwan and Singapore. It is worth noting that almost every economically developed country has a China town starting from the United States to Australia as well as many countries in Europe. (Gordon, 2005). Since Chinese is an important language and China’s economy is growing, the importance for non-Chinese to understand the culture, and language is becoming essential. Today, China is becoming a powerful geopolitical player in the world and tries to take an active part in world affairs (Grigorenko, Klyuchnikov, Gridchina, & Litvinenko, 2016). With the improvements of Chinese and Russian relationship in terms of diplomacy, culture and economics, there is an increasing demand for skilled Russian Chinese speakers. (Dacishen, 2015).. 1.

(23) Chinese is a fairly complex language to learn. However recently, there has been a rapid increase especially among young people in studying Chinese language. The number of people who want to learn Chinese and Chinese culture in Russia is growing so rapidly that universities and centers where Chinese language is already taught are often unable to cope with such an influx of people (Баохуа, 2010). Currently, Russian students have the opportunity to take the Unified State Exam1 in four foreign languages: English, French, German and Spanish. According to Federal Service for Supervision of Education and Science in the next 2-3 years a unified state exam of Chinese language will be introduced in Russia. Chinese language recently has also become popular among the children of major officials, billionaires and other powerful people in Russia. A few years ago at the Moscow school of Economics, children of representatives of large business companies, as well as ministers, governors, etc. were able to start to learn Chinese. In 2015, Russian’s ex-president Dmitry Medvedev encouraged Russian students to learn Chinese language, while making a speech at the Oil and Gas University in Moscow, saying that it opens gates for a new career and brings “completely new life prospects” (Chang, 2015). China is the fourth-largest trading partner of Russia, and the first place among the partners in the Asia-Pacific region (Grigorenko, Klyuchnikov, Gridchina, & Litvinenko, 2016). Ying (2016) points out that Beijing hopes that these two countries can maintain their relationship. 1. Unified State Exam is an exam in the Russian Federation. It is a series of exams every student must pass after graduation from school to enter a university or a professional college.. 2.

(24) that can provide safe environment for both of them so they can achieve mutual goals and support each other through the beneficial cooperation, offering a model of how two grand powers can benefit of strengthening the international system. The interaction between China and Russia at all levels cannot move on without language talents serving as the bridge. Against the backdrop of globalization, China and Russia, as two world powers, have carried out frequent and profound language and cultural exchanges, which are of great significance for the reinforcement of friendship between these two countries, the promotion of the SinoRussian strategic partnership of cooperation and mutual political trust, as well as the enlargement of bilateral practical cooperation (Savic, 2017). Economic trade between Russia and China, in spite of all the problems caused by the economic crisis, totals to $95 billion (Kostyuk, 2015).. 1.2 Research Motivation With increasing globalization foreign language education has been gaining popularity across the world. Since Russia and China have huge potential for economic cooperation many young people have started to focus on learning Chinese rather than English. However, there is few literatures that has explored the motivations behind learning Chinese language as a foreign language in a Russian context. The author will tackle the research of defining what causes Russian students the interest to learn Chinese through literature analysis and interviews with current Chinese professors and Chinese language learners in Russia. Furthermore, thesis will try to present how Chinese – Russian relationship in political, diplomatic, tourism and economic fields influences the interest of students to learn Chinese language.. 1.3 Research Goals 1. Consolidate existing research literature on this topic. 2. Create a piece of research that will serve as a starting point and source of reference for 3.

(25) interested parties in the future.. 1.4 Research Objectives Within this master thesis project, the overall objective of this research is to explore the new phenomenon “Mandarin fever” in Russia. Starting point and guidelines are historical and current evidence found in literature and followed by collaborations with Chinese language professors and students in Russia on defining Mandarin fever, its origins and evolution. In details, this research project will consist of three consequtive steps: 1. Analyse the Mandarin fever from the existing literature viewpoint 2. Conduct and analyze interviews with Chinese language professors and Chinese learners in Russia 3. Analysis and summarize all the findings from the sources mentioned above. 1.5 Research questions In order to achieve the previously presented research objectives of this study, the researcher proposes finding the answers to the following questions that can provide this study with the necessary tools and information to achieve these objectives. 1. Whether in Russia there is Chinese language fever, i.e. “Mandarin fever”? 2. What has facilitated Chinese language fever in Russia? 3. Whether political, touristic, diplomatic and economic relationships between Russia and China influence student motivation to learn Chinese language?. 1.6 Thesis structure This research will be divided into 5 chapters. The chapters are organized as follows:. 4.

(26) Chapter 1: Presents a short-introduction about this research, the researcher’s motivation to conduct this study, the research objectives with the respective research questions that must be answered in order to achieve these objectives, as well as an explanation of the significance and contribution of this study. Chapter 2: Presents the literature review necessary for any reader to understand the historical background of China and Russia relationships in terms of education, economy, politics. Chapter 3: Provides the researcher’s proposed approach to obtain data for this research and the proposed research analysis methodology. In this chapter, the researcher will also present the theoretical background and sources of data, the proposed approach on how to design the interviews for relevant target candidates that can provide valuable information on the “Mandarin fever” phenomenon. Chapter 4: Presents an analysis of the obtained data, illustrating the most pertinent findings of this study. Chapter 5: Answers the research questions and discusses other relevant findings. This final chapter also includes the theoretical implications of this study and suggestions for further research.. 5.

(27) Chapter 2 Literature Review 2.1 Economic Relationships between China and Russia Russia and China are neighbors having long history of mutual cooperation. At the moment, commodity exchange has reached the highest level in history. Relations between the two countries have never been better. Russia and China plan to raise trade exchange to 200 billion by 2020. Through 2012- 2015 China remained the biggest trade partner of Russia (Аршинова & Лин, 2015). And based on statistics from the CIA Factbook in 2017 China was still the biggest trading partner of Russia while Russia wasn’t even in the top five partners for China (CIA, 2018). 80.00% 70.00% 60.00%. 70.49%. 50.00% 40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00%. 7.96%. 4.19%. 4.17%. 2.96%. 3.31%. Figure1: The Structure of Russian Exports to China in 2014 6. 1.96%. 1.81%. 2.13%. 1.02%.

(28) Source: (Аршинова & Лин, 2015). China is already one of the strongest economies which has huge skilled labor resources, however it is not rich in natural resources. Therefore, it is dependent on imported energy and raw materials like oil and gas. The export of oil and other sources of mineral fuel from Russia to China is 9.4%, (See the following picture) and it plans to expand the energy flow from Russia to 20%.” (Karitskaya, Sitnikova, & Markasova, 2017).. The percentages of oil and mineral fuel that China buys from other countries. 12% 10%. 37%. 9% 3% 4%4% 7% 7%. 7%. Saudi Arabia. Angola. Russia. Oman. Iran. Irak. Arab Emirates. Australia. Venesuela. Other countries. Figure 1: The percentages of oil and mineral fuel that China buys from other countries Source: (Karitskaya, Sitnikova, & Markasova, 2017). 7.

(29) “It becomes important for Russia to accelerate investment cooperation, to step up the transition to macroeconomic cooperation and integration, to develop scientific and technical exchange, and to expand the financial infrastructure. Today, the main export flow to China continues to be the organic chemical fertilizers, oil and roundwood needed in China, for example, for the production of chopsticks and furniture items.” (Karitskaya, Sitnikova, & Markasova, 2017). Regardless of all this demeed succes to some scholars the economic relationship between the two countries is still a weak point. According to Лексина (2015) the trade and economic level of relations is behind the level of political ties. In 2013, China’s trade with the US amounted to 521 billion dollars, with Japan - 312.55 billion dollars, and with Russia - 89.21 billion dollars. This number is much higher than before, however from this it is clear that China is more important partner for Russia than Russia is for China (Лексина Е. , 2015). Chinese side has an opinion that Russian-Chinese economic relations are still weak because: •. Russian infrastructure is not developed, especially in Siberia and Far East;. •. Russian citizens are not aware about the successes of China in the field of new developments (Лукин & Иванов, 2011).. Russia has a large land and relatively low population density and is rich in natural resources and China has a large population, but lacks many natural resources. They trade not only goods, but also exchange money and investments (Горовикова & Кормильцина, 2017).. 8.

(30) Figure 2: Russia’s main export partners in 2017 Source: (Statista, 2017).. 9.

(31) Figure 3: China’a main export partners in 2017 Source: (Statista, 2017).. When analyzing Russia’s main esport partners in 2017 it is clear that China is the top export partner, however on the other hand, when analyzing China’s main export partners even though Russia is in top list however it is only on the 9th place. From this graphes it is obvious that Russia believe that China is important for their economy and that they depend more on China that the other way around (Statista, 2017). Chinese Ambassador in Russia Li Hui in his speech mentioned that China’s direct investment in Russia grew by 34.1% in 2017 and turned out to be in the forefront of China’s investments in the world’s major economies. The governments of the two countries identified 73 priority projects with a total volume of bilateral investments of about $100 billion. For example, one 10.

(32) of the projects, the representative office of the Russian Central Bank was opened in China (Риа, 2017). It is clear that the trade between China and Russia has grown a lot in the last ten years, however, some of scholar’s doubt if it is always beneficial for Russia. According to Gorovikova and Kormiljcina (2017) the main problem of trade relations between the two countries is that the sectoral structure of Sino-Russian trade is extremely unfavorable for Russia. Russia has assumed the role of a supplier of natural resources for the growing Chinese economy, but China increases the volume of sales of products for production, machinery and vehicles, and this has become an important part of China’s exports to Russia. This poses a threat to the development of many industries of Russian economy, which creates problems for the economic security of the country (Горовикова & Кормильцина, 2017).. 2.2 Political and Diplomatic Relationship between Russia and China Since Russian Federtion and People’s Republic of China have been long time allies and geographical neihbours, the two countries have developed a close relationship. Development of a politic relationship between these two countries has been quite stable (Лукин & Иванов, 2011). In 2017 the Chinese ambassador in Russia made a speech about Russia-Chinese relations. He said: “The China-Russia relations of strategic cooperation and partnership are the most important bilateral relations in the world and, moreover, the best relations between the major countries. China and Russia are steadily supporting each other's efforts to protect key interests such as their own sovereignty, security and territorial integrity.” (Риа, 2017). Based on Горовикова & Кормильцина (2017) China is a very important partner which Russia cherishes a lot. Russia’s relations with the West have been and remain tense, 11.

(33) especially with Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland who feel threatened by Russia. Also, most of the countries criticized Russia for its actions in Ukraine. At the same time, while other countries were condemning Russia’s involvement in the Ukrainian crisis, China did not want to participate in any sanctions and even tried to increase its trade relations with Russia (Горовикова & Кормильцина, 2017). According to Vladimir Putin these relations are the model of relations between two major countries in today’s world. Since 2013 these two countries have had more than 20 official meetings and sent to each other more than 50 official letters. China and Russia have direct engagement in many international organization groups like the G20, APEC, BRICS, SCO, East Asian Cooperation, among others (Риа, 2017). Western and USA based scholars assume that these relations won’t go anywhere further than partnership and are not a threat to USA because China and Russia do not share enough strategic interests thus the relations between these two coutnries are primarily utilitarian and instrumental (Blank, 2011). According to Miheev, Shvidko and Lukonin (2015) Russia does not fully trust China and with the growth of its economic, military and innovative power this untrust will grow. Also, these two countries are not ready to fully support each other. For example, China did not provide full political support to Russia on the issue of the Crimea, and Russia is also not ready to sacrifice its interests in relations with Japan or Vietnam for China (Михеев, Луконин, & Швыдко, 2015). Russia offers to China many things like energy and some raw materials, though as time passes China is not so dependent on Russian supplies as before. If Russia uses “pipeline diplomacy” against China than it can lose everything. Another fact is that in the past Russia supplied China with its military equipment’s, however these years China made advances on developing its own equipment and is not dependent on Russian technology anymore. Another example is that Chinese entrepreneurs and state-owned financial institutions actually are not 12.

(34) willing to invest into Russian market due to corruption and also discrimination against Chinese people, in other words for the Chinese businessman Russia has “low standards of business ethics” (Nojonen, 2011). E. A. Leksina in her article analysed the main aspects of interaction between Russia and China as well as positive and negative aspects of mutual cooperation. She also questions whether the relationship between the two countries can really be viewed as positive or if all the common slogans about the success of the relationship are only of a declarative nature and whether it is a good choice for Russia to continue developing close relations with China. She noted that the main reason why Russia has such a close relationship with China is due to Crimea issue, because China unlike Europe, stayed neutral during the takeover of the Crimean Peninsula (Лексина Е. , 2015). The evolution of Sino Russian relations as of today is a a success story. However, how long these “good” relations can last? China is developing much faster than Russia and this can change the correlation of power potentials. As of right now, Russia with its “one-dimensionenergy-based structure of exports”, worsening relations with the EU and US mostly depends on China (Moshes, 2011). The relation has limited sense of shared values. Though in the past few years a modest success between the two countries has been the Russian year in China and the China year in. 13.

(35) Russia2 “They can stitch together their foreign policies based upon basically similar positions on many world issues, even if the styles of implementation may vary. But unless the West, and especially the US, become overbearing, “soft power” is the main catalyst for cooperation between Russia and China.” (Ferdinand, 2011). Since the researcher was studying in Taiwan for almost nine years it is also very important to mention about China- Taiwan relations. This research is mostly about China because Russia’s relations with Taiwan are not strong, since Russia supports One China Policy. Due to the weak relationship, there are almost no education exchanges between two countries. There is no real number of how many Russian students are studying currently in Taiwan; however, it is known that every year about five russian students get scholarship from Taiwanese government. Maybe this number would be different if Taiwan would promote itself in Russia, because there is not much information about this country and scholarships. Even though the researcher is based in Taiwan, however it was essential to make research about China since it is the main education connection for chinese language learning in Russia.. 2. The parties agreed that the decision to hold the Year of the Russian Federation in the People’s Republic of China in 2006 and the Year of the People’s Republic of China in the Russian Federation in 2007 was of strategic importance. National Years have no analogues in scale and intensity of events. They strengthened political mutual trust, deepened the cooperation of the Parties in political, trade, economic, scientific, technical, humanitarian and other fields, strengthened the social base of Chinese-Russian friendship, and gave a powerful impetus to the comprehensive development of partnership relations and strategic interaction between China and Russia.. 14.

(36) 2.3 Tourism Relationship between Russia and China In 2000 an intergovernmental agreement was signed on visa-free group tourist trips between Russia and China. Such Visa-free program with China is unique for today and has no analogues in other countries (МБГ, 2014).. 400000 350000 300000 250000 200000 150000 100000 50000 0 China. Germany. USA. United Kingdom. Turkey 2013. Italy. Israel. France. Korea. Finland. 2014. Figure 4: The number of tourists visiting Russia 2013-2014 (by country) Source: (МБГ, 2014).. Tours to the Russian Federation are popular among people of the People’s Republic of China. China is ahead of Germany which for a long time held the first place in the number of tourists entering Russia (Ефремова, Чкалова, & Би, 2017). 15.

(37) For some time, the number of tourists from China to Russia has grown constantly. Chinese tourists are very interested in cultural tourism in general. In 2017, 296 thousand tourists from China within the visa-free exchange visited Moscow (for the period of 9 months), which is 15% more than during that period in 2016. 184 thousand people visited the Primorsky Krai3 which is 9% more than in 2016, Amur region4 - 93 thousand people which is 38 % more than in 2016 (Фадеичев, 2017). The flow of Chinese tourists in the Russian Federation is constantly increasing, according to official data, the total number of Chinese citizens who visited Russia in 2016 was 2.6 million people, which is 70% more than in 2015. At the same time, more than 760 thousand Chinese citizens visited Russia as part of visa-free groups which is 41% more compared to the previous year. However, this number is mostly distributed across two Russian largest cities Moscow and St. Petersburg (Джанджугазова, 2017). In addition to the famous Moscow Kremlin and the famous palaces of Saint-Petersburg, Chinese tourists are also very interested in the Soviet past of modern Russia and monuments related to communist history (Lenta.ru, 2016). The idea of the project called “Red Tourism” was developed in 2014 and it was included in the action plan for the implementation of the Strategy for the Development of Tourism in the Russian Federation until 2020. In general, the. 3 Primorsky krai- located in the South of the Far East. In the west bordered with the People's Republic of China, in the. South-West with the DPRK, and is washed by the Sea of Japan from the South and East. 4 Amur region- is a federal subject of Russia and is borders the People’s Republic of China.. 16.

(38) project is interesting for older generations. It is based on visiting the sites of revolutionary events, which are united by the “Red Route”, including memorable places associated with Lenin in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Ulyanovsk and Kazan (Джанджугазова, 2017). The growth of such a big number of Chinese tourists gives a rise to a need for qualified translators and audio guides in Chinese language. Rosturizm5 pointed out that they are already working on plan for training specialists and also working with university students (Lenta.ru, 2016). Taking into account the interest of the Chinese people in Sochi and Crimea, the possibility of opening direct flights between Chinese cities with a resort city and delivery of tourists to the Crimea by sea is now being discussed (Ефремова, Чкалова, & Би, 2017). China currently is in the third place in the world tourist rating and supplies Russia with the largest number of tourists. And while the number of Chinese tourists in Russia is growing, the number of Russian tourists in China is decreasing. What are the main factors for Chinese tourists to come to Russia? •. Visa free for travel groups. •. Weakening of the ruble. •. Favorable environment for Chinese tourists (signs in Chinese language, menu in chinese language etc.). •. Security issues in Europe. 5 Rosturizm- Russia based governmental travel organization.. 17.

(39) Among the factors hindering the entry of Chinese tourists into the Russian Federation, experts have named: •. Lack of information about Russia in China, including in the Chinese Internet space. •. Insufficient adaptation of the service to Chinese tourists, including the lack of Chinese restaurants in the regions. •. Lack of staff with knowledge of Chinese (Ефремова, Чкалова, & Би, 2017).. Russia created a program called “China Friendly”, which is the most important project of the Russian Federation to create a comfortable environment for Chinese tourists. Also, in March 22, 2016 in Moscow the Fourth Russian-Chinese Tourism Forum was held, and the topic was not only the quantity, but also the quality of the tourist flow from China to Russia. According to Deputy Head of Rosturizm Sergey Korneev the number of Chinese tourists from Russia in the last three years in a row had already exceeded 1 million, and for the last five years the increase was 21%, within the program of simplified visa regime- 63%. However, mostly elder people visit Russia who still remembers USSR, however younger generation still prefers other countries (Lenta.ru, 2016). With the positive dynamics of Chinese tourists visiting Russia, the share of the Russian Federation in the total outbound flow from China is about 1%, which shows the need for a huge range of work to attract Chinese tourists. Many countries already actively working in this direction today. For example, countries like Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Finland and other countries are conducting large-scale marketing activities aimed at targeting Chinese tourists to their countries (Ефремова, Чкалова, & Би, 2017). To sum up the points discussed above scholar Leksina provides some fair questions: “What is China for us: an ally, a strategic partner or a friend that combines both qualities? In my opinion, there is no such thing as a "friend" as such in world politics, since each state places its national interests at the center of the matter; Union can only be within a certain time interval, there is no need to talk about an eternal union”. Russia and China are strategic 18.

(40) partners now who’s global goals are very similar and who do not have strong disagreements (Лексина Е. , 2015). Russia is unable to manage its internal weaknesses and that means it has a need to depend on China politically and economically. It is impossible that Russia will make alliances with other powers like NATO or EU or USA against China and this is due to these alliances being much more dependent on China than on Russia. It is hard for Russia to admit becoming China’s “little brother”. All evidence shows that China is more important for Russia than the other way around (Nojonen, 2011).. 2.4 China’s Cultural Diplomacy “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting” (Sun Tzu). The term “soft power” was introduced in 1990 by an American political scientist Joseph Nye, a professor at Harvard University who later introduced the book “Soft power: the means to success in world politics”. Since 2005, cultural diplomacy has become the third pillar of China’s foreign policy after political and economic diplomacy. In October 2007, Chinese government officially proclaimed that the culture is the most important mechanism of the country's “soft power” (Solovyeva, 2012). In the last ten years China tried its best to promote itself with such activities as refining domestic and foreign policies, providing foreign aid, increasing economic investment overseas, promoting international communication and publicity. It also organized large international events such as Beijing Olympics in 2008 and Shanghai Expo in 2010. However, these soft power efforts are often doubted by scholars and commentators. Joseph Nye in his 19.

(41) book “Soft power” doubts if all Chinas investments are actually paying off and he is very sceptical about Chinas soft power (Da, 2015). Vasilenko in her journal (2015) cited British explorer Mark Leonard in his work “Diplomacy by other means” and there he pointed out the most important goals of public diplomacy in the XXI century. All of them are mainly associated with the development of cultural policy and they are: •. raising awareness of the country;. •. formation of positive ideas about the country and its values;. •. attracting people to the country for tourism and study, promotion of its goods abroad;. •. attracting foreign investment and political allies; (Василенко, 2015).. One of the main factors that influence the states cultural diplomacy is the desire to create a positive image of the country which include the spreading of country’s official language around the globe. In the framework of cultural diplomacy initiatives can be used:. •. art, including theater, cinema, music, dance, painting, sculpture;. •. exhibitions, including international exhibitions EXPO;. •. educational programs and programs of academic and scientific exchange, language programs abroad;. •. literature: the creation of libraries abroad and the translation into foreign languages of national works;. •. broadcast news and cultural programs abroad;. •. religious diplomacy, including initiatives of interreligious dialogue; (Василенко, 2015). 20.

(42) Trefor Moss (2013) in his article analyse the efficiency of soft power in the worlds image. According to Trefor Moss: “It’s also important to ask what soft power is to China. If we say that China has soft power, that means states and individuals do things China wants without any compulsion or inducement. So, what is it that China wants them to do? We can safely assume that China’s soft-power aims including being given face on the international stage: being shown respect, and being treated like a great country. It wants its policies and actions to be viewed sympathetically, and to conduct its affairs without foreign interference. It wants to draw less criticism and suspicion than it tends to today, and to attract more friendly support on issues it cares about. It wants less bad press. And, of course, it wants to open up overseas markets for Chinese products and have freer access to commercial opportunities abroad.” (Trefor, 2013). Санни Ли (2013) in her article “What is the problem of Chinese cultural diplomacy?” analysed why Chinas diplomacy is not always working and what they should do to improve it. She pointed out that in order to promote cultural diplomacy China itself makes many mistakes, and the main is that they try to do it according to their own understanding of foreigner thinking. Sunny Li is convinced that the best way to make those changes in how foreigners see China is to consult with foreigners in other words to understand psychology of the target audience. Cultur diplomacy should be directed towards the world, and not to China itself. The world has its own rules of the game. As they say in China, “Going to another country, follow its customs.” (Ли, 2013).. 2.5 Chinese language education in Russia The background to language learning cooperation between the two countries was set in the 2000s. In 2003, an agreement on the study of the Russian language in the People's Republic of China and the Chinese language in the Russian Federation was signed between two countries (Samoilova & Lobanova, 2017). 21.

(43) Figure 5: The dynamics of the increase in the number of learners of Chinese language in Russia (1997-2017) Source: (РЦЛИ, 2017).. 22.

(44) Confucius Institutions 5% Hign schools 31%. Language courses 25%. Confucius Institutions Language courses Universities Hign schools. Universities 39%. Figure 6: Distribution of Chinese language by type of institution Source: (РЦЛИ, 2017). In the further part of this literature reivew, the author will offer a more detailed reference to the history of Chines langauge in Russia.. 23.

(45) Map 1: Cities with largest number of educational institutions teaching Chinese languages (2016-2017) Source: (РЦЛИ, 2017) From Map 1 it is obvious that Chinese language is mostly popular in central Russia in big cities such as Moscow and Saint Petersburg and in cities nearby border area with China.. 24.

(46) 2.5.1 History of Chinese language education in Russia Recently the growing Chinese economy is the reason why there is huge interest in studying Chinese language in Russia. (Grace, 2015). However, such an interest in language and culture arose in Russia long time ago. It is known that the study of the Chinese language in Russia has more than 300 years of history. However, Chinese language was not always popular in Russia. According to Dacishen (2015) Peter I ordered to learn Chinese language and culture in the Russian Empire in 1700. This order met the political and commercial interests of Russia in China. During that time, Spiritual Mission in Beijing6 which was founded in 1715 was the first and the only source of reliable information about China. Members and students of Spiritual Mission were the first who promoted the study of Chinese, Manchu and Mongolian languages. Spiritual Mission created first Chinese language speakers in Russia (Головин, 2013). However, only at the end of the 18th century, during the reign of Empress Catherine II, Chinese language was most actively studied. It was very popular among Russian nobility and and a few hundreds of people could speak Chinese at that time. Ascension Irkutsk monastery. 6 The Russian Orthodox Mission in China, also known as the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission, was the effort by Church. of Russia to bring Orthodox Christianity to China. The mission originated in the seventeenth century after the forces of Chinese Emperor Kangxi (Kang Hsi) brought Russian captives, including an Orthodox priest, to Beijing, China after the capture of the Russian fortress Albasin. The Mission continued until the Church of China formed in 1956 after the Communist Chinese government required the departure of non-Chinese church officials.. 25.