《虎妈战歌》中的中美家庭教育的跨文化解读_英语论文

Cross-Cultural Interpretation between Chinese and American Family Education in Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

摘要

《虎妈战歌》是美国近期的畅销书，同时使其作者蔡美儿成为公众关注的焦点。作为第二代美籍华人，其严格的中国式家庭教育理念及学术上的成功在国内外引发了诸多的争议和问题。这使得人们不禁想探索中国移民家庭教育与美国家庭教育之间的差异问题。因此，从跨文化的角度重新审视家庭教育是很有必要的。

本文拟以霍夫斯泰德的文化维度理论为基础来探索《虎妈战歌》中的中美家庭教育。笔者试图用其中的个人主义-集体主义理论来分析中美家庭教育的差异，从而提出对中国教育改革的启示。因此，正确认识并借鉴先进的家庭教育方法，对促进未来人才良好发展具有重要的现实意义。

本文第一部分主要介绍了《虎妈战歌》的作者，本书的写作背景及虎妈在家庭教育领域的思想之争。第二部分讲述了研究的理论基础。第三部分阐述了中国与美国在家庭教育的目的、理念和方法上的差异；最后一部分从不同的历史背景、经济形势和文化传统等方面分析了该差异产生的原因。

关键词：《虎妈战歌》；家庭教育；跨文化；中美差异

ABSTRACT

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, a bestseller in America recently, has made the author, Amy Chua, a center of public attention. As a second-generation of Chinese-American, her concepts of strict Chinese parenting and academic success have given rise to current controversies and issues at home and abroad. This leaves people wonder what the differences between Chinese immigrant parenting and American family education are. Therefore, it is necessary for us to take a fresh look at family education from the perspective of cross-culture.

This paper intends to explore Sino-American parenting methods based on Hofstede’s theory of cultural dimensions in Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. The author tries to use individualism-collectivism to examine Chinese and Americans way of parenting to offer some enlightenment to educational reform in China. It is of great realistic significance to understand and learn from advanced methods of family education to facilitate the well-being of future talents.

This paper first introduces who the author is, background of the book and the controversy of tiger mother’s ideas on family education. Secondly, it’s about the theoretical foundation. Then, it illustrates the differences in the aims, ideas and methods of family education between China and America. Finally, it further analyzes that the gap stems from   effects of different historical background, economic situation and cultural traditions. 

Key words: Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother; family education; cross-culture; Sino-American difference