Abstract This study investigated how 22 college-level Chinese as a second language (CSL) learners used reading strategies when reading essays of various genres in a strategies-based reading instruction program, in which they were explicitly taught ten top-down reading strategies. In addition to strategy use frequency and preference, this study explored the interrelationships among multiple strategies and whether strategy use frequency correlated with reading proficiency. Qualitative and quantitative data analyses revealed that the most frequently used strategies included previewing, anticipating, making a summary, and attending selectively. They were used in combination with other strategies in an orchestrated way. This study did not find a significant correlation between reading proficiency and total strategy use frequency or the frequency of using any single strategy. Strategy use frequency alone, without considering strategy use accuracy and appropriateness, might not be a good indicator of reading proficiency. This study provides an in-depth analysis of how CSL readers used single strategies and blended multiple strategies. Its findings shed light on second language learners’ reading process, reading difficulties, and the rationales behind their strategy use. Pedagogical implications are provided for CSL teachers regarding how to embed explicit strategy training into reading classes.

Abstract This study proposes that when parents are involved in providing learning support, the success rates for language acquisition are significantly higher. This paper explores the pedagogical strategies employed by non-Mandarin speaking parents through interactions to support their children’s language development. A cross case analysis carried out with five high achieving children and their families showed that parents were involved personally in their child’s education. They took it upon themselves to read with the child, play with the child, learn the language together with the child, assess the child and create opportunities for the child to practise the language. The study revealed that the support and psychological tools parents used helped to mediate their children’s language development process within family practices. These psychological tools could be adopted in classroom settings to supplement language acquisition pedagogies used by teachers.

Abstract With the advent of information and communication technology, telecollaboration projects in foreign language education have received growing attention. This study critically reviews telecollaboration practices in the context of Chinese as a second language. Our objective is to identify the inherent problems associated with existing programs and suggest a comprehensive framework for new telecollaborative practices, encompassing aspects such as language partner-matching, research topics, in/pre-service teacher-related issues, and overall benefits, adverse effects, and limitations of such. The study employed VOSviewer and CitNetExplorer to visualize partial results and followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocol (PRISMA-P) for screening literature. The findings indicate a pressing need to address the rationale behind selecting and matching language partners for Chinese as a second language. The predominant research topics concern student perception and learning gains resulting from telecollaboration projects, with scant attention given to teacher perception and requisite training, specifically among pre-service Chinese teachers. Additionally, the researchers examined the implications for future research, notably the establishment of a shared resource platform designed to enhance writing, reading, interpreting, and translating skills within the scope of informal Chinese language learning contexts, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract The current study examines the influence of experience, reading and writing anxieties, and self-assessed proficiency on foreign language anxiety in the context of learning Chinese as a foreign language. Data were collected using questionnaires from 93 learners of Chinese and analyzed using correlational and multiple regression methods. Results indicated that learners at level 200 (i.e., intermediate low/mid) were more anxious compared to those at level 400 (i.e., advanced low/mid). Foreign language anxiety, foreign language reading anxiety, and foreign language writing anxiety were significantly correlated with each other. Foreign language reading anxiety, foreign language writing anxiety, and self-assessed proficiency (listening and reading) were shown to significantly predict foreign language anxiety in the context of L2 Chinese.

Abstract Second language (L2) reading is a complex construct, and there is no consensus about its dimensionality. The investigation of the dimensionality of L2 reading ability is of great significance since it can provide important implications for teaching and testing. Understanding of the factor structure, subskills, and sub-knowledge of L2 reading is the starting point for language teachers and test developers to plan a syllabus, describe students’ reading proficiency, and develop reading assessments. This study investigated the factor structure of Chinese L2 reading, which has been less commonly studied compared to alphabetic languages. Three hypotheses derived from the literature review have been tested: 1) L2 reading is a unitary skill; 2) L2 reading is bi-divisible; 3) L2 reading is tri-divisible. A series of confirmatory factor analyses shows that the correlated three-factor model is the most appropriate for explaining the factor structure. L2 Chinese reading comprehension can be conceptualized as consisting of three inter-correlated components: lower-level decoding, interim-level textbase construction, and higher-level situation-model building. This study also explores subcomponents of each factor, highlighting Chinese-specific linguistic features and corresponding cognitive processes. Implications for future research, teaching, and testing are provided.

Abstract This study aimed to investigate the effect of reading components (including Chinese character knowledge, morphological knowledge, vocabulary knowledge, grammar knowledge, and lexical inference) on the reading comprehension of 44 Malaysian child learners of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL). Measures of Chinese character knowledge, morphological knowledge, receptive vocabulary, vocabulary synonym, lexical inference, word order, grammatical judgment, and reading comprehension were used. Drawing upon ridge regression, the study found that grammar knowledge (measured by word order and grammatical judgment) had the largest effect on reading comprehension, followed by morphological knowledge and vocabulary knowledge (measured by receptive vocabulary and vocabulary synonym). Lexical inference and Chinese character knowledge had the least effects on reading comprehension. The findings of the study are discussed with pedagogical implications and future research suggestions.

AbstractThis article investigates the acquisition of null subjects (henceforth NSs) in (radical pro-drop) Chinese by learners whose native language is (non-pro-drop) English – henceforth ELs – working within the ‘topic chain’ information-structural approach. Our main goal is to verify whether a learner’s proficiency level can have an impact on the interpretation and acceptability of embedded NSs when more than one head is proposed for the relevant topic chain in different structural contexts (i.e., complements of bridge and factive verbs). The results of a pilot experimental test suggest that the requirement for a minimal overt link (MOLC) in the relevant chain plays an important role for ELs with a lower proficiency level. Conversely, MOLC restrictions do not affect ELs with a higher proficiency. Furthermore, the results show that ELs can correctly distinguish between complements of bridge and factive verbs already at an HSK 3 level. As for interpretation, results suggest that contextual information cannot supersede structural constraints for ELs. However, since a clash with contextual information seems to not affect acceptability for ELs, contrary to Chinese Native Speakers, we propose that even HSK 5 students have not fully acquired the competence for managing NSs in a radical language such as Chinese.

Abstract The current study examines how L2 Chinese learners develop their topics in spoken and written discourse. Currently, researchers have mainly analyzed topical progression features in written texts. Topical progression in speech is rarely examined. We know little about whether learners may advance their topics differently in spoken and written discourse. The current study investigates how advanced Chinese learners apply topical progressions, such as parallel or sequential progression, in argumentative spoken and written discourse, respectively. The study also examines how various topical progressions may relate to the holistic qualities of spoken and written discourse. Topical progression features were analyzed using the Topical Structure Analysis framework. The results showed significant differences in the use of new sequential and related sequential progressions between the two types of discourse. The case study analysis results revealed a multi-Z and single-Z topical movement pattern for higher-score and lower-score performances, respectively.

Abstract Set within the context of teaching and learning Chinese at two secondary schools in the North of England and adopting a case study research design, the aim of this study was to develop research-informed insights into the nature of the pronunciation challenges facing beginner learners of Chinese. Data collection activities included recording the spoken Chinese of 20 L2 learners during a read-aloud task and a question-answer activity. Forty L1 raters were subsequently interviewed as they rated and transcribed the learners’ randomized speech samples. Distinguishing between the key constructs of accentedness, comprehensibility and intelligibility, it was found that heavily accented tones did not necessarily lead to lower levels of comprehensibility and intelligibility. Furthermore, many intelligibility breakdowns – i.e. when raters failed to correctly transcribe the learners’ intended utterances – could be traced to problems with individual words which usually implicated segmental sounds as well as tone. Findings are interpreted in terms of indicating a need for more nuanced classroom priorities aimed at the promotion of intelligible speech as opposed to an unrealistic focus on developing a native-like accent.

Abstract For both second and foreign language students, mastery of the Chinese writing system typically presents itself as a special learning challenge. This report begins with a summary of relevant aspects of an exploratory study of East Asian immigrant language learners. It serves to set the stage for a discussion of theoretical problems that hopefully will lead to new directions in research focused on second language (L2) learners of Chinese in general. In particular, the discussion will highlight the circumstances of that population of learners who come to the task of L2 Chinese literacy as already literate in their first language. In this regard, what is the role of language awareness in learning to read and write, in particular regarding the link between characters and their pronunciation? The participants in the study were young adult immigrants from Vietnam who today look back on their experience of language learning in the host country over the course of the last 20 years.