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In the past few decades, the demands for coping with the rapid development of information communication technology, internationalization and globalization worldwide have shifted the focus of Chinese as a second language (CSL) towards intercultural communication competence in which the role of culture in the acquisition of CSL and in the pragmatic use of the language is emphasized and promoted. This standpoint is highlighted explicitly in the recently issued official documents of CSL education in China, 2008.

However, most of the present research in this academic area still remains only on a theoretical level. Additional practical research related to how culture affects the acquisition of CSL; how culture should be integrated into present CSL courses, as well as how intercultural communication theories should be implemented in this education, remain an open field for scholars and teachers to explore.

In order to explore the possibilities and limitations of integrating Chinese culture and implementing intercultural communication theory into CSL education, an action research has been conducted since the beginning of 2013 to review an actual course for beginners. The first phase of the research focuses on: (1) what the cultural elements explicitly and implicitly integrated into this language course are, and (2) how these cultural elements affect students’ acquisition of CSL.

This paper will present the findings of the data collection from 2013. By applying the theoretical framework of intercultural communicative competence, the findings indicated that the existing CSL course provided limited information explaining the cultural elements that are reflected in the Chinese language. The findings also suggested that the cultural skills acquired in the students’ first language do influence their acquisition of CSL. This is demonstrated in the students’ written tasks such as introducing themselves and presenting other people, making phone calls, responding to compliments, etcBased on the findings of the first phrase, the second stage of the research aims to implement intercultural communicative theory in the existing CSL course and examines the effectiveness of such modification of the course.