The South African media's framing of the introduction of Mandarin into the South African school curriculum

[摘要] This research report examines the way the media framed the introduction of Mandarin to the SouthAfrican school curriculum, and the relationship between frame sponsors and the frames employed bythe media.The dramatic growth of Chinese investment and its related social and political influence in Africa hasbeen greeted by a mixed response. The media has often characterised the relationship in a binary way,as either Chinese imperialism or a developmental relationship. To improve China’s image, theChinese government has embarked upon a policy of soft power, which extends into influencingeducational language policy, to encourage more people to learn Mandarin and understand Chineseculture. To explore the media articulation of the China-South Africa relationship media framingtheory was employed.The frame analysis was conducted by analysing the content of 50 articles published in the SouthAfrican press between March and October 2015. The analysis found three mega-frames: imperialism,globalisation and nationalism. The imperialism and globalisation frames are consistent with otheracademic and media literature that considers the China-Africa relationship as either colonial or anatural outcome of global market dynamics.The role of frame sponsors and their influence on the framing process was also explored. The majorityof frame sponsors were official government, trade union and academic sources, suggesting an elitecontestation. Notably absent were Chinese frame sponsors and the views of teachers, parents orlearners. Government frame sponsors promoted the globalisation mega-frame while trade unionsources promoted the imperialism and nationalism frames.The results suggest that the South African media articulates the China-South Africa relationship usingthe binary of colonial predator or developmental partner, where a more nuanced reading may provemore fruitful in understanding the dynamics of their relationship.

[发布机构] University of the Witwatersrand