With the great development of China's economy, and the globalization of China, more and more Nigerian students have begun to cultivate interest in learning Chinese language. Many seek to study Chinese in Nigeria or study aboard especially in China, with the goal of learning Chinese, cross-cultural understandings, achieve personal academic goals, or obtain personal independence. For Nigerian students of Igbo origin, there are lots of problems they tend to encounter in the process of learning Chinese language. Through critical analysis, this paper finds out the influence of Igbo language on Chinese language learners of Igbo origins, and some challenges encountered in learning Chinese language which includes; pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, Chinese character writing, and so on. According to the results of this survey, both positive interference and negative interference exist in the process of learning Chinese. Igbo language has both positive and negative effects on Chinese learners. This study also puts forward effective teaching and learning strategies for students and teachers, and theoretical suggestions for further enriching and improving Teaching Chinese Language in Nigeria. This study is quite significant as it will enrich the research on Chinese teaching, improve the Chinese level of students, provide beneficial help for the mutual translation of Chinese and Igbo, promote cultural exchanges between China and Igbo people of Nigeria, and facilitate economic and trade development.

This paper, which drew on quantitative and qualitative data, was mainly aimed at examining the perceptions of higher institution lecturers in Nigeria concerning the effectiveness, facilitators, and inhibitors of CPD activities provided by their higher institutions and/or the Ministry of Education. The researchers employed and adapted the data collection instrument by Sywelem & Witte (2013) designed to collect data on perceptions of teachers regarding professional development opportunities and activities that exist in Saudi schools. The interview questions were designed by the researchers to access lecturers' evaluation of the professional development programs and activities in their institutions. Research survey was sent to lecturers in 3 representative higher institution in Anambra state, 213 survey responses and 15 interviews were received and analyzed. Results showed that the participants did recognize the importance and usefulness of CPD activities and expressed how CPD activities has impacted them as professionals. Lecturers expressed their expectations with regards to program content, time management, financial and moral sponsorship and support, etc. It was recommended that for lecturers to be effective at their jobs in the higher institution system, their professional development and in-service training programs must be given good attention by the management.

The universality of linguistic taboo suggests that almost all languages have words and expressions that are regarded as unsuitable for general use; or themes and topics that are generally not supposed to be mentioned. Therefore, this paper explores the Igbo and Chinese linguistic taboos in cross-cultural communication based on the theories of context and cross-cultural communication. The main objective of this study is to explore all the linguistic taboos that exist in Chinese and Igbo language, and further unfold how to establish a healthy and efficient cross-cultural communication with others to reduce misunderstanding. A descriptive research design was adopted; the data collection was by personal observation (being an Igbo and have lived in China for 6 years), oral interview, and review of literature. Chinese linguistic taboos examined include taboos relating to death, numbers, appellation, eating, gender, sex/ sex organs, disease taboo, and excretion, while Igbo linguistic taboos are related to disease/calamity, dead/death, animals, religion, appellation, and sex/parts of the body. To help reduce or avoid the violation of Chinese or Igbo taboos and improve cross-cultural communication, there is great need to strengthen the study and accumulation of the target culture, gradually enhance the awareness and sensitivity of cultural differences, pay attention to the cultivation of cross-cultural thinking

A document by Okafor Miracle Uzochukwu. Click on the document to view its contents.

With the advancement of the Chinese economy and increasing win-win cooperation between China and Nigeria, Chinese language teaching and learning in Nigeria has made rapid growth in recent years. There has been the establishment of many Confucius institutes, Chinese language centers, and Chinese cultural exchange centers across Nigeria. Some States and educational institutions have started including Chinese studies in their curriculum. Therefore this paper through the use of questionnaires, interviews, observations, and participation methods, surveyed the current situation of Chinese language teaching and learning in the Chinese Studies Department, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka (NAU). The study investigates the Department's current situation of teaching and learning, courses/curriculum, teaching and learning materials, and other challenges. Finally, the paper suggested ways of how to improve Chinese teaching and learning in the Department.

Colour contains rich cultural, mythical, historical, religious, political, and linguistic connotations. In the field of human cognition, there are some differences in the selection and semantic association of colour and colour words among different nationalities. As the economic and educational co-operations keep increasing between Chinese and Igbo people, there is a great need to explore linguistic and cultural connotations of color as to help reduce misunderstanding, culture shock and thus facilitate healthy cross-cultural communication. Most of Igbo people have little or no knowledge about various significance of colors in Chinese. Particularly, they know little about the application and usage of various Chinese color word. Therefore, this paper uses observation and descriptive methodology to examine the symbolism of colour/colour words in the Chinese language and culture, from ancient and contemporary usage, pointing out its significance to Igbo people. The colours selected are: white, black, red, green, and yellow. Red signifies success, prosperity, and popularity. The original symbolism of white is bad and black is good in China，however, due to the influence of western culture，the reverse became the case. Black is now seen as omen, plague, disasters, death, evil, and crime while white is adored as purity, superior, beauty, and goodness. Green colour has a significance of the good and the bad while Yellow symbolizes power, majesty, obscene, and pornographic contents. This paper has not only presented different Chinese colour symbolism that can inspire Igbo people, but also minimized the cross-cultural communication gap between Igbo and Chinese people.

In the process of second or foreign language acquisition, the learner's mother tongue or dominant language directly or indirectly affects the acquisition of the target language, and plays a positive or negative role in promoting or interfering respectively. This paper adopts an analytic and a descriptive approaches in analyzing the positive and negative language transfers of Nigerian students' Chinese language essay writing in the Department of Chinese Studies, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, from four aspects: grammar, syntax, vocabulary, and mechanical accuracy. This paper puts forward recommendations for learners and teachers on the use of effective teaching and learning strategies to reduce the negative language transfer.

Proverbs exist in every nation's language and it is one of the vehicles carrying her culture. Proverbs do not only reflect people's ideas and thoughts but also preserve their world view and values in traditional society. This paper analyzes sexism found in Chinese and Igbo proverbs. Prejudice or discrimination against women exists in both Chinese and Igbo proverbs, mainly on female social status, marriage, cultural responsibility, behavior, and personality. Some of these proverbs intend to portray women as weak, chattering, gossipers, nosy, and of low social status. Others emphasize that women have bad-temperament and are acrimonious, which are not easy to cope with, and if women are in charge, things will be out of order. In marriage, the husband dominates and dictates the fate of the wife. The reasons for gender discrimination in Igbo and Chinese are due to cultural/traditional values, socioeconomic development, gender identity, and physiological factors. However, due to globalization and awareness creation, there are trends in female gender consciousness and awakening in China and Nigeria.