The learner between cultures: interculturality and interpreting teaching in China

This article is a reflection on the teaching of Chinese-Portuguese Interpreting in China. The point of our discussion will be: if the foreign language teaching can serve as bridges or walls of intercultural communication (see Gao, 1995), what is the space of the target language culture and the intercultural discussion in the Interpreting classes for PFL students? In this article we will defend the need of the teaching of Interpreting for PFL Chinese learners to be rethought as a fertile space for the (re) creation, discussion, and production of meanings that amplify and produce positive and inclusive attitudes towards the improvement of mutual understanding and communication between the universes of Portuguese-speaking countries and the universes of Chinese languages and cultures. To do so, we will base on and compare our discussion with the results of the two studies. The first discusses the real practices of Interpreting and their implications in the teaching/learning process of PFL in China (Jatobá, 2015) and the second regards to linguistic ideologies and individual differences in PFL contexts in China (Jatobá, 2014).


SETTING THE SCENE: THE SOUTH OF CHINA AND THE NEED FOR CHINESE-PORTUGUESE INTERPRETERS 1
In recent years, the need for Mandarin-Portuguese interpreters and translators in Southern China has grown exponentially and, in an attempt to meet some of this demand, the first Portuguese language undergraduate program in Southern China was set up in 2009. 2 The choice of setting up this undergraduate program in the city of Guangzhou had among some of its main strategic motivations to reduce the lack of Portuguese-Chinese interpreters in the economic-industrial pole of the province of Guangzhou and to bring the Chinese market more effectively to the emerging business of the Portuguese-Speaking Countries (PLP, in Portuguese: Países de Língua Portuguesa). In addition, the opening of the program in Guangdong Province contributed to the decentralization of PFL teaching in Mainland China, which until then had been concentrated almost exclusively in the North / Northeast of China. A reflection of the economic importance that Southern China has played in the relations between PFL and China, especially Brazil, is the growing search for Brazilian businessmen and professionals in Guangdong Province. According to the Brazilian Embassy in Beijing, the largest colony of Brazilians in Chinese territory lies in Dongguan, a city about 50 kilometers from Guangzhou. According to the data from the Brazilian General-Consulate in Guangzhou, it is estimated that there are approximately 3,000 Brazilians living permanently in Dongguan.
Not only that Guangdong Province is home to a large number of Brazilians, but also it is important to highlight that the city of Guangzhou hosts the largest colony of Africans in Asia, making the presence of citizens of the Portuguese-speaking African Countries (PALOP, in Portuguese: Países Africanos de Língua Oficial Portuguesa) increasingly remarkable -especially, Angola -who either visit the city on business, or as students or have already settled in Guangzhou.
Taking advantage of the economic advances of the city of Guangzhou and the considerable growth of Portuguese language speakers seeking interpretation services, and a lack of interpreters to meet this demand, undergraduate students in Portuguese language at the university that has being analyzed take action to venture, even prematurely and without sufficient training, in the practice of interpreting. In the university that has being analyzed in this article, 85% of Portuguese learners have begun to do part-time jobs in interpreting during the sophomore year, and 100% of the senior year students have already worked at least once as interpreters (Jatobá, 2015, p. 283).
Considering these brief considerations, the general objective of our research is to analyze the role of formal teaching of interpreting, in the formation of awareness on the part of students about the roles of practical experience in the training of interpreters and the need to know more about the cultures of the target language. For these reasons, we will present a brief reflection on the author's experience in teaching and (co)elaboration of the teaching program of the discipline Interpreting Chinese-Portuguese for the undergraduates in Portuguese language in Southern China. The interpreting course takes 60 hours during the senior year of university and is taught simultaneously by two teachers -one Brazilian native speaker and one Chinese native speaker. The course activities focus either mostly or exclusively on note-taking, interpreting, simultaneous and consecutive interpretation and practice simulations (i.e., the emphasis is on Conference Interpretation). The point of our discussion will be: serving the interpreter -or the intercultural speaker -as a bridge and agent to facilitate communication between such diverse cultural and linguistic universes, what is the space of the target language culture(s) and the intercultural discussion in the interpreting classes for PFL students?

THE CHINESE LEARNER AND THE TEACHING OF INTERPRETING
When comparing to other PFL graduates in non-immersion contexts in Portuguese-Speaking Countries, the Chinese learner presents a peculiarity when referring to issues that affect the definition of the target language and culture (TLC): the mobility between the different variants of the Portuguese language. This peculiarity stems from the fact that the PLP learner in China almost never knows in what "culture", cultural context or with which variant of the Portuguese language they will work in the future. As an example, a student from a university where only the European standard is taught, later, after graduation, gets a job to work in Brazil, or, eventually, works in Mozambique, Angola or Macao. This mobility and oscillation between variants, norms and cultures of the universe of the Portuguese language is one of the striking features of the Chinese who acquired the Portuguese language in a university context. Given this incredible potential for cultural exchanges and re-significances of discourses in common and divergent aspects between PLP members themselves and / or between PLPs and China, for a newly arrived PFL teacher -or even for a teacher with years of experience in China -certain issues of PLP language and culture teaching may initially seem contradictory. For example, for learners with such great potential for mobility among the most different universes of the Portuguese language, why do topics such as PFL culture and intercultural competence usually appear decontextualized, vague, or even why are the discussions restricted to stereotypes about Brazil and Portugal? Or, what is the space of culture and PLP representation in the teaching materials that are used in China?
It is not our intention to answer such queries without involving other questions that would extrapolate the limits of this brief reflection. However, we can raise from these enquiries possibilities and ways for a reflection in the place of "culture" in the teaching of PFL in China. Nor do we have the boldness to discuss possible limits and frontiers of the application of interculture and communication to the teaching of foreign languages. However, for contextualization purposes, we will adopt a bias that does not think of culture only with the purpose of defining and labeling behaviors,

Original article
Jatobá, J. R. | The learner between cultures but rather a bias that proposes to reflect culture as the interactions between macro and micro social, or, in the small and large cultures paradigm proposed by Holliday (1999Holliday ( , 2011. Within a large culture approach, (…) scenarios are problematized on the basis that they are international, involving ideas, practices and expert personnel who come from other national locations -hence inter-cultural in the sense of (...) in contrast to this, a small culture approach through an applied ethnographic analysis, demarcates social groupings which facilitate an understanding of the pertinent dynamics of a situation, whether or not it is characterized by ethnic, national or international difference (Holliday, 1999, p. 257, original italics).
Applying this paradigm to the learning / acquisition of the TLC, it is necessary to point out that, in our view, in a small culture, even if it is a small and apparently homogeneous group, each member brings with its fossilized structures from its old schools, classes, colleagues, family, and experiences in general and in life, so it is these individual and collective experiences that have preponderant roles in the construction, deconstruction or reconstruction of our discourses, that is, in the manifestations of our linguistic ideologies. It is in these circumstances that we find the keys to analyze how ideological representations can become naturalized and taken to be normal, common, not ideological (Fairclough, 1995).
As far as China is concerned, because it does not know in which cultural context or which standard / variant they will work in the future, in the initial stages of learning / acquisition, the learner may feel disoriented or helpless in relation to Portuguese norms and variants. Therefore, the imagery created between the "bapu" (巴 葡, commonly used by learners to refer to Brazilian Portuguese) and the "pupu" (葡 葡, commonly used for European Portuguese), may reflect speeches, motivations, beliefs, investments and attitudes of learners and actors involved in education about learning / acquisition of Portuguese, PFL and what it is to be a Portuguese speaker from the perspective of superdiversity. Moreover, if not treated with caution and from a perspective of fostering respect for diversity and plurality, the choice of the Portuguese variant taught by the university may, in possible contexts and scenarios, limit or reduce the discussion on interculturality within the Portuguese language.
Even though the European Portuguese is taught traditionally in China, China's economic interest in Brazil and the African Portuguese-speaking Countries, together with the growth of academic exchanges and the departure of professors to Brazil to do their postgraduate studies, there is an increase in universities that no longer adopt the European Portuguese as the standard of Portuguese language teaching. From a practical and pedagogical point of view, universities have chosen to keep the teaching of a single variant (Brazilian or European Portuguese) or, in the case of the university that has being analyzed in this article, choose to teach the different variants according to the year of entry of learners (e.g., one year it opens entrance exams for Brazilian Portuguese, the following year for European Portuguese). In this case, the university subdivides the department into Brazilian Portuguese (with Brazilian lecturers and Chinese teachers who use the Brazilian variant) and European Portuguese (with Portuguese lecturers and Chinese teachers using the Portuguese variant).
This has helped to create a new understanding of the Portuguese language in China and has brought new challenges to the teaching and organization of the Portuguese language teaching programs. Access to the different variants of Portuguese enriches the linguistic and cultural repertoires of the learner, however, as we pointed out above, if there is no sensitivity of teachers and actors involved in education, there may be a polarization in the teaching of the Portuguese language. In this way, teachers should have responsibility and attention to address the cultural and linguistic differences of Portuguese in an inclusive and enriching way, in order to offer the learners greater awareness and positive attitude about the diversity of the Portuguese language(s). Regarding the variants of the Portuguese language, let us see how some learners (re)construct their representations on Portuguese language or PLP according to their experiences: 3 The "bapu" has a more relaxed grammar and the phonetics are easier. I think it's easier to learn. The "pupu" is more plausible and difficult to understand the sounds, but it's nice to hear too. I think it's better to learn the pupu. It's better to learn the hardest first, right? (Li, during the 4th year. Brazilian Portuguese student).
At first, I thought it would be difficult, but in Portugal everybody understands my "bapu". The Portuguese are friendly and very fond of talking to foreigners. But I still do not quite understand "pupu". If I go back to do masters in Coimbra I think I'd better just say "pupu" because the teachers there do not like "bapu" very much. (Chen, during the exchange in Bragança, Portugal).
It is confusing to study the two grammars. One teacher says he can, the other says he cannot. One book says it can, another says it cannot. (Wang, during the 2nd year. European Portuguese student).
Although decontextualized, the excerpts above reflect learners' beliefs and discourses in relation to the Portuguese language. In the case of the learner Chen, it is interesting to note how the experience in the context of immersion in the TLC helps deconstruct (or reinforce) stereotypes in relation to the TLC. For Chen, it was a good surprise to note that "ordinary Portuguese people are more outgoing and friendlier than I thought and everyone understands", but also, according to the learner Chen, "Portuguese teachers in Portugal and China do not like it very much when we use bapu". In this context, considering that Chinese learners begin to study Portuguese with little or no knowledge about PLPs, the imaginary and stereotypes about TLC may be either positive or negative, or, in Gao's (1995) opinion, they represent the paradox of intercultural communication, as they create bridges or walls in communication between peoples and nations.
In this way, the teacher -whether native or non-native to the target language -should be critical and careful enough to know how to contextualize 6 / 11

Original article
Jatobá, J. R. | The learner between cultures stereotypes in order to help elucidate sensitive points and divergence between the cultures in contact and also to deconstruct false generalizations. Therefore, (…) It is up to Portuguese as a Foreign/Second Language professors and researchers, assuming that intercultural issues are central to acquiring a second language, to understand that our student already comes to us with a vision of Brazilianness ["Portugueseness" or "Africanness"] constructed through stereotypes, and therefore, use this fact in his favor, helping him to deconstruct this false idea so that he can, eventually, construct generalizations closer to reality and consequently more favorable to the necessary construction of his identity as a speaker of Portuguese (Meyer, 2013, p. 31). 4. With the awareness that in order to promote TLC acquisition, the knowledge addressed in the classroom should extrapolate the linguisticgrammatical limits -because communication happens through intonation, gestures, body language, attitudes, agreements and disagreements of worldviews -teachers of PFL, whether of Interpretation or Grammar, can use the cultural diversity of PLP as an element that will give meaning to "grammatical knowledge". Thus, learners and teachers will understand that the intercultural speaker will not only be prepared to deal with large culture issues, but above all will be engaged in accepting, respecting and knowing how to handle consciously and responsibly with the disruptions, disagreements and frictions between the most varied facets of culture, discourses and ways to be (small culture) in the TLC.

REALITIES OF INTERPRETING IN CHINA
The interpreter, acting mainly as the mediator and agent of communication between different linguistic and cultural universes, its role in the approaching and understanding between cultures is fundamental. Unlike translation work, Interpretation usually requires contacts and interactions between the two (or more) parts in loco. Thus, the Interpretation offers a more restricted space of "defense" in relation to possible clashes between the cultural universes involved. In this way, it requires the interpreter more "resourcefulness" for promptness and agility to unravel barriers in communication. This, of course, requires not only the skill and aptitude of the linguistic knowledge, but also the skill and ingenuity to deal with rules of pragmatics, labels, and be prepared to work on the most varied registers. Therefore, "Interpreters have to be able to work anywhere, requiring them to develop the ability to create the productive mental state regardless of external conditions" (Robinson, 2003, p. 54).
Even within the field of interpreting and its teaching, the features of the types of work and performance of the interpreter may vary. In this sense,

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Original article Jatobá, J. R. | The learner between cultures based on the proposition of models and methods of research in Interpretation (Mason, 2000, p. 216), we divided the possibilities of performance for the Chinese learner into two groups: face-to-face Interpretation and conference Interpretation. The first group is marked by dialogue, usually between two parties plus the interpreter himself. This group is characterized by unplanned discourse (spontaneous speech), constant and unorganized shift exchanges and physical proximity between the parties involved. On the other hand, the Interpretation of lecture is marked by monologue, pre-planned speech (with possibility of prior access to speech content), well-defined turn exchanges and, at first, physical distance between the parties involved.
Having defined these main characteristics in the field of acting as interpreters, a primary question is, if they become interpreters, where and in what area Portuguese learners will perform their work in China, especially the learners from Guangzhou. According to the research carried out on the employability and field of work for newly graduated students in Portuguese in the cities of Guangzhou, Beijing, Xi`an and Nanjing (Li, 2014), it was observed that, despite the commercial vocation of Guangzhou, interpreting is not a reality for students graduated in Guangzhou; unlike Beijing, where learners are more likely to work directly with Portuguese-Chinese Interpretation. The annual reports on the employability and area of training of graduates in Portuguese from the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies confirm this trend for graduates in Guangzhou. In the classes established since 2013 (the first class established in Guangzhou), there are no records of alumni who work directly with any mode of interpreting. Even for the former students who work in Chinese companies that have commercial relations with PLPs, there is no need for direct interpreting services, the Portuguese language is being used only to receive clients on occasional visits and to maintain communication via e-mails. In these companies, businessclient mediation is done almost always in English. The only cases in which there is a potential need for interpreting services are for the alumni working in construction companies in Mozambique or Angola.
What has been observed among PFL learners in Guangzhou is that interpreting (especially escort / travel and consecutive interpreting) is a fairly common practice during graduation, particularly during 4 th grade. Some learners get to work from 7 to 15 days per semester as interpreters for delegations and commercial commissions. But after graduation, as stated by one of the interviewed students, working as interpreter is not "gorgeous" as they would have expected.
Despite the increase of Portuguese speakers in China, there has not been yet a satisfactory number of professional interpreters (autonomous or linked to translation and interpreting agencies) in Guangzhou. Thus, in the interpreting market in Guangzhou there have been some trends, namely: lack of professional interpreters; escort/travel services usually performed by learners; conference Interpretations or political and diplomatic meetings held by university professors of Portuguese (inside or outside the Guangdong Province).
With regards to the teaching of Interpreting in the university analyzed, the program teaches the use of technical requirements for interpreting conferences as the basis. Throughout 16 weekly meetings of 160 minutes each, learners develop note-taking techniques, techniques and principles of simultaneous and consecutive interpretation, and from the first class on, they conduct intensive training and simulations in Interpretation booths (Portuguese-Chinese and Chinese-Portuguese). During the semester, the Canton Fair 5 is held, with a large number of PLP entrepreneurs and merchants. On this occasion, the university would grant the leave of absence of the students working as interpreters.
It is from this experience and real practice of interpreting that affinities and divergences are born with speakers of the TLC. As demonstrated in the research conducted on the practice of interpreting at the Canton Fair by PFL learners , prior to this experience as interpreters, learners saw linguistic issues as the main constraints of customer relationships. However, after working at the Fair, the greatest points of difficulty orbited in the cultural sphere. To the learners, food, punctuality, greetings and corporal contact were described as points of divergence and left them initially puzzled on how to react or behave. Learners became much more aware of how to act positively and try to take advantage of getting to know the other culture better. According to one of the learners, "it is difficult to get used to them, Brazilian customers are often late, which may irritate the Chinese [...] understanding the lifestyle of Brazilians is good to work with them in the future. In addition, I learned more about Brazil from clients rather than in school".
The dilemma, therefore, of the interpreting teaching in Guangzhou (and China) is to try to address more characteristics of intercultural communication and, at the same time, to follow university guidelines for the highly technical teaching requirements. As for Guangzhou, although the interpreting market may offer significant financial returns, it is still unstable, making it a doubtful choice for newly graduates. What is observed is that potential interpreters and translators have opted for other occupations. For example, a sought-after interpreter, during her graduation became an accountant in Brazil; another most sought-after translator became a bank clerk in Macao. Neither of them works with the technical and theoretical knowledge that they had gained in translation and interpreting classes, but the challenges of intercultural communication are presented in their daily working duties.

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
The PFL classroom is not -and should not be -in itself sufficient to meet the challenges of acquiring a foreign language, whether these are challenges of acquiring language competence or the challenges of acquiring intercultural competence. It is in the interaction and practice with elements, subjects and discourse embedded in the context and realities of the TLC that tensions and ruptures may arise, which put to test the sense of learning to negotiate values, to defend principles and call into question our identities. However, since the classroom is a microcosm with intra and intercultural elements, it is the ideal environment for the expropriation of our beliefs, values and discourses about and for the TLC, that is, an environment conducive 9 / 11 Original article Jatobá, J. R. | The learner between cultures to the conscious exteriorization of our ideologies (and identities). In other words, (…) is the awareness of teachers and learners about some of the constituent parts of linguistic ideologies that will inevitably bring about a rupture with our own conceptions, truths, beliefs, identities, etc., about and for the target language and culture, and consequently about the processes involved in learning / acquiring the target language and culture; therefore, this new awareness will make our tacit theories about learning / acquisition of FL [and target culture] evolve, enhance, and be highly productive making foreign language learning a hybrid and comforting space for the exercise of our personal and social voices. (Jatobá, 2014, p. 128) Consequently, with this awareness of the challenges of acquiring the TLC, being intercultural will not be seen by the learner as behaving like a native of the TLC, but rather, according to their own values and principles, how to deal with points of convergence and, especially, with the points of divergence between cultures in a wise, agile and diplomatic manner. In this way, learners and teachers will make teaching a place of respect to difference and, in the case of China, the teaching of one or another variant of Portuguese will not be a constraint, but rather a stimulus for debating the diversity of the Portuguese language(s) cultural universe.
Nevertheless, in practice and on the day-to-day basis of the classroom, there are always considerable differences between what would the ideal be and what effectively the reality is. From the point of view of the teaching of grammatical structures and phonetics, as for the Chinese learner in the initial stages of learning, the delimitation of clear boundaries between the variants of Portuguese brings security and gives self-confidence (to learners and teachers) in the use of the language. However, this apparent comfort should not mean avoiding or restricting the discussion of cultural aspects to one or another country according to the variant chosen. Thus, keeping a focus on a variant does not mean reducing it to the cultural context of your country, but rather by providing the learner with possibilities to increase his "cultural plasticity" and his intercultural knowledge. Hence, the insertion of cultural elements from the most different PLPs enriches the intercultural competence of the learner and prepares him better for the challenges of being a Portuguese speaker in China.
Regarding the teaching of interpreting, the teaching program of the university that has being analyzed successfully meets the technical and training requirements for the initial training of conference interpreters (consecutive and simultaneous interpretation). However, according to the actual need for work of the future Portuguese speakers trained in Guangzhou, we believe that the teaching program of the university that was Original article Jatobá, J. R. | The learner between cultures analyzed could better exploit the vocation of Guangdong Province to promote commercial and cultural exchanges between PLPs universes and China (e.g..: Angolans represent one of the largest foreign colonies in Guangzhou, the largest Brazilian colony in China is in Dongguan, a city located 50 km from Guangzhou, Guangzhou hosts annually the Canton Fair, an event with a large participation of Angolans, Brazilians and Mozambicans). Taking into consideration that the absolute majority of interpreting and contacts with native speakers were made by undergraduates or they will likely do Interpretations in their future careers face-to-face, a teaching proposal (for Interpreting, Translation and other courses) that brings challenges of intercultural communication in contexts, closer to reality, and that does not focus only in linguistic and technical aspects, will bring teachers and learners the stimulus for the creation of more refined trading of values strategies and production of meanings in the TLC.
It was from the attendance of the learners at the Canton Fair that some provocative elements and themes about differences and cultural etiquette emerged in the performance of the interpreter, who reflected and suggested the need to become an intercultural speaker. These topics have been addressed in the interpreting course. Due to the fact that the discipline is extremely technical and oriented to the Interpretation of unspontaneous texts and lectures, the suggestion of the teachers is that "intercultural" themes are not only restricted to PLPs Culture and Society or interpreting classes, but also present more effectively in most courses.
As a conclusion, from a perspective of the continuous increase of PLPs-China relations, rethinking the place of culture and intercultural approaches in China's PFL classroom is inevitable and urgent, as some manuals and teachers are still discussing whether it is more appropriate to take "o pequeno almoço" or "o café da manhã", while the learners who have graduated from among many Portuguese language destinations are going, for example, to Mozambique or Angola to "tomar o mata-bicho". 7