Aspects of cultural intelligence in idiomatic Asian cultural scripts

Abstract

This discussion explores cultural intelligence in Chinese and Malay idiomatic expressions. In terms of intercultural communication, non-Chinese speakers use different cultural intelligence schema to decipher particular aspects of Chinese culture - of which language is a component. For example, the knowledge that the numeral 8 is a symbol rife with positive connotations would help one understand the Chinese government's rationale for staging the Beijing Olympic Games' opening ceremony on the 8 August 2008 at 8.08 pm. Academic studies (Matthews & Yip 1994; Zainon Hamzah & Mat Hassan 2011) have suggested that Chinese and Malays engage linguistic, rhythmic, and mathematical intelligences to communicate. In fact, idiomatic constructions such as reduplicated phrases are considered useful teaching material for learners in Chinese conversation (So & Harrison 1996) and written Malay communication (Sew 1998). In this vein, data consisting of 14 Malay and 14 Mandarin idiomatic expressions are examined and the collative patterns involving numbers and words serializing different kinds of information analyzed. A foreign-language curriculum could thus incorporate these cultural elements together with teaching grammar rules. The addition is a value-adding component, as it leads to enhanced cultural intelligence in foreign-language learners.