1 Introduction

It emphasizes Xi Jinping's concept of mutual learning and exchange among civilizations, which posits that civilizations are diverse, equal, and inclusive, and that different civilizations should respect each other and coexist harmoniously. Foreign language education, as a key battleground for ideological exchanges between China and the West, serves as an important bridge in overcoming civilizational barriers and achieving mutual understanding in language and culture. The Ministry of Education has underscored the importance of Chinese language and cultural knowledge in relevant documents, urging educators to guide students in understanding socialist core values and promoting China's excellent traditional culture. However, in China's foreign language teaching practices, there has long been an overemphasis on target-language culture at the expense of local culture, leading to a prominent phenomenon of "local culture aphasia" among foreign language learners. The lack of native cultural content in foreign language textbooks and exams, insufficient native cultural knowledge among foreign language teachers, and teaching models that narrowly focus on language skill enhancement are all contributing factors to students' "local culture aphasia." Foreign language teaching must break the stereotype of "prioritizing foreign over domestic" by not only disseminating global information but also telling China's stories well, facilitating mutual learning between Chinese and foreign civilizations, and cultivating students' ability and literacy in cross-cultural communication and dissemination.

2 Bidirectional Cultural Teaching and Production-Oriented Approach

**Translation:**

This study explores the application of bidirectional cultural teaching in the foundational stage of German language majors, emphasizing its effectiveness in addressing the issue of native cultural aphasia among foreign language learners. Lü Lipan and Yu Liming propose that bidirectional cultural teaching should balance target-language and native cultural instruction to cultivate students' reflective and integrative abilities. Pei Xishan's analysis highlights the scarcity of empirical research on integrating Chinese culture into foreign language teaching, along with insufficient attention to other languages. Wen Qiufang's Production-Oriented Approach (POA) aims to resolve the disconnect between learning and application, with its pedagogical principles of "cultural exchange theory" and "key competencies theory" providing guidance for bidirectional cultural teaching, emphasizing cultural respect and learning from essences. The enabling phase in POA’s teaching process is central, directly impacting instructional outcomes. Under the guidance of the concept of mutual learning among civilizations, this research employs action research to integrate native culture into foundational German teaching, achieving the goals of bidirectional cultural instruction.

*(Note: The translation strictly adheres to the original paragraph's content and structure without external additions.)*

3 Research Design

This paragraph introduces a bidirectional cultural teaching action research conducted with 29 second-year undergraduate students majoring in German. The participants' language proficiency ranged from A2 to B1, and they possessed a certain level of autonomous learning ability and interest in learning. The study points out that teachers at the foundational stage often neglect the integration of native culture, leading to students experiencing "local cultural aphasia." To address this, the researchers used the "Contemporary College German" textbook series in the "Comprehensive German" course, exploring pathways to achieve bidirectional cultural teaching through the design and implementation of POA (Production-Oriented Approach) facilitation. The study employed an action research methodology, with each cycle consisting of three phases: instructional design and implementation, teaching analysis, and teaching reflection. A pilot study focused on the "Luck and Happiness" unit, applying POA instructional design to enrich the cultural dimension of content facilitation, thereby enhancing students' understanding and production abilities regarding Chinese and German cultures. However, students had not yet developed a conscious awareness or sense of identity toward their native culture. Therefore, subsequent action research needs to further explore how to deeply integrate native culture into German language teaching to facilitate the transition from superficial cultural awareness to deep cultural consciousness and identity.

4 First Round of Action Research (Note: The translation maintains the original format as requested, presenting only the text without additional descriptions or explanations.)

This paragraph introduces the first round of action research on bidirectional cultural teaching in the foundational stage of German language majors from the perspective of civilizational exchange and mutual learning. Addressing the issue of students' insufficient awareness and identification with their native culture, the study selected the "Austria and Switzerland" teaching unit, focusing on the theme of "hometown." Three sub-objectives were designed to guide students from introducing foreign cultural features to presenting the characteristics of their own hometowns. The teacher facilitated this process by designing online driving tasks and eight enabling activities, leading students from concrete understandings of hometown composition to abstract conceptualizations of hometown, followed by an emotional transition, thereby deepening discussions and reflections on the topic. Teaching practice demonstrated that bidirectional cultural teaching effectively enhances students' cultural awareness and identification. However, some students showed inadequate recognition of their direct contribution to the final output tasks. Therefore, subsequent research needs to further explore flexible integration of native culture to improve students' cultural communication skills and cultural confidence.

5 The second round of action research

Here is the English translation of the provided paragraph, maintaining the original format:

**The second round of action research aimed to address insufficient confidence and competence among German majors when disseminating their native culture. The instructor integrated native culture into POA-based instructional design, adopting "European Art" as the theme to compare European and Chinese paintings while describing and appreciating Chinese artworks in German. Pre-class driving tasks were designed, but students' initial outputs revealed shortcomings. The instructor then employed facilitation activities to clarify the three components of painting introductions and implemented sub-cycle chains for teaching. Instructional analysis demonstrated that incorporating native culture improved the quality of student outputs, expanded their growth potential, and heightened their interest and motivation toward native culture. Teaching reflections noted that bidirectional cultural instruction should flexibly integrate native culture while considering the impact of material difficulty on students.**

(Note: "POA" stands for "Production-Oriented Approach," a teaching methodology, and is retained as an acronym in the translation.)

6 Discussion and Implications

Under the guidance of the concept of mutual learning among civilizations, this action research on bidirectional cultural teaching implemented through the POA theory effectively addressed students' aphasia in native culture and provided foreign language teachers with innovative pedagogical approaches. The study validated the inclusivity of the POA theory while expanding its scope of application. Across two rounds of action research, instructors guided students to analyze cultural phenomena from an external perspective before re-examining their native culture through a self-reflective lens, thereby enhancing students' cultural awareness and sense of identity. During the second phase, comparative studies of Chinese and German cultures strengthened students' cultural confidence and narrative skills, contributing to the international dissemination of Chinese culture. Educators should progressively advance bidirectional cultural teaching by enriching cultural knowledge, fostering cultural consciousness, building cultural confidence, and developing cultural communication skills, while adjusting instructional focus according to students' cognitive levels.

(Note: The translation strictly adheres to the original format as requested, with no additional commentary outside the paragraph text.)