As I’ve said many times before, the Chinese church needs more teaching in the original biblical languages of Hebrew and Greek. For those who engage in this ministry, this is the post for you.
Recently, Scott Callaham, a professor at Baptist Theological Seminary (Singapore), published an insightful article titled:
Biblical Hebrew in Chinese:
Fostering the Rethinking of Teaching Method through Language Defamiliarization
Even if you teaching the Hebrew and Greek in other languages, I think you’ll find the article helpful.
His study examines the teaching of Biblical Hebrew in Chinese through the lens of language defamiliarization. Callaham not only highlights linguistic and cultural factors that differ from those of Western teaching traditions, but also draws out principles of Biblical Hebrew instruction that are applicable to all teaching contexts.
Callaham notes a major hindrance to the teaching of Hebrew (at least among Chinese). Chinese routinely use textbooks translated directly from English; yet English and Chinese have different linguistic frameworks such that an English textbook can convey information in ways not possible in Chinese. These translations therefore can obscure information from learners.
I hope you find his article helpful as you teaching the original languages.
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