https://journal.equinoxpub.com/RTCFL/gateway/plugin/WebFeedGatewayPlugin/atomResearching and Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language2023-08-17T09:01:09+00:00---dgronow@equinoxpub.comOpen Journal Systems<p>This journal is intended for an international audience of scholars, applied linguists, educators and policy makers engaged with Chinese as a foreign language. It offers a forum for presenting work from a range of linguistic sub-fields related to Chinese linguistics, language pedagogy, second-language acquisition, assessment, teacher training and curriculum design. <a href="https://journal.equinoxpub.com/RTCFL/about">Read more</a>.</p>https://journal.equinoxpub.com/RTCFL/article/view/24922What Really Matters in Early Bilingual and Biliteracy Acquisition?2023-08-17T08:58:16+00:00Sihui (Echo) KeYuyan XiaJing Zhang
<p>Home language and literacy input (HLLI) is critical for linguistic and literacy development in bilingual children. This exploratory study investigated home oral, and print input for Chinese heritage language learners between four and six years old in the United States and aimed to identify salient types of input associated with speaking and reading abilities in the heritage language (Chinese) and the societal language (English). Fifty-three parents completed a HLLI questionnaire and rated the speaking and reading competencies in Chinese and English of their children. The relationships between HLLI and bilingual abilities were examined via principal component analysis and regression. There were two major findings: first, Chinese speaking ability mainly depended on oral language exchange between parents and their children, as well as print exposure to Chinese; Chinese reading ability was associated with oral language exchange between parents and their children, as well as pinyin/bopomofo practice at home. Second, both speaking and reading abilities in English were significantly and positively related to children’s interest in reading English only. Evidence-based recommendations are provided regarding home language and literacy practices for young Chinese heritage language learners in the United States.</p>
2023-08-17T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2023 Equinox Publishing Ltd.https://journal.equinoxpub.com/RTCFL/article/view/25190Early Bidialectal Maintenance among Chinese Heritage Learners in Canada2023-08-17T08:58:14+00:00Guofang LiSenyao Shen
<p>Research on Chinese heritage-language maintenance has predominantly focused on Mandarin as the default mother tongue and has largely ignored learners’ dialects or language varieties. As a result, we know little about dialect speakers’ beliefs and practices of maintaining their language varieties other than Mandarin, particularly in the home domain. Using family language policy (FLP) as the theoretical framework, this multiple case study examined six Chinese families’ beliefs and practices in early bidialectal (Mandarin and dialect) maintenance over three years when their children moved through kindergarten to Grade 3. Findings indicated that parents subscribed to the dominant language ideologies and placed their dialects at the bottom of the language hierarchy. However, the parents differed in their beliefs in the value of their dialects; and families who celebrated bidialectalism actively maintained their dialects while those who did not gradually gave up on passing their dialects to their children, even when grandparents were involved in the maintenance efforts. The findings have important implications for supporting and achieving bidialectalism in immigrant countries.</p>
2023-08-17T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2023 Equinox Publishing Ltd.https://journal.equinoxpub.com/RTCFL/article/view/25349Language and the Miracle Creed2023-08-17T08:58:14+00:00Noam Chomsky
<p>Since Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini’s coining of the term biolinguistics in 1974, biolinguistics research has attracted numerous attentions from the linguistic circle and its neighbouring fields, triggering various ways of pursuing it. The current paper makes clear the origin, significance, and implications of biolinguistics, especially, the reason why the biolinguistics enterprise realizes the miracle creed firstly assumed by Albert Einstein. In this way, the controversies and mis-conceptualization of biolinguistics in current linguistic literature can be clarified, paving the solid foundation for future biolinguistics research.</p>
2023-08-17T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2023 Equinox Publishing Ltd.https://journal.equinoxpub.com/RTCFL/article/view/25968Internal 'Wh'-Thought and External 'Wh'-Expressions2023-08-17T08:58:13+00:00Ning Chunyan
<p>This article attempts to challenge the model in which a universal <em>wh</em>-thought as represented in LF/SEM is derived from grammatical wh-expressions, and further proposes a model with a prelinguistic Conceptual-Intensional Interface, where <em>wh</em>-thoughts are generated in-language a priori to their externalization into grammatical or ungrammatical <em>wh</em>-expressions, in conformity with Chomsky’s proposal of separating thought from expressions and his dictum of ‘meaning with sound’ rather than ‘sound with meaning’. The article also highlights how the saltation from animal cognition to human cognition makes Merge workable to yield Conceptual Hierarchic Structure for internal <em>wh</em>-thought.</p>
2023-08-17T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2023 Equinox Publishing Ltd.https://journal.equinoxpub.com/RTCFL/article/view/26170Chinese Heritage Language Maintenance in the Context of Superdiversity2023-08-17T08:58:12+00:00Lin ChenDanping Wang
<p>Situated in the context of migration trends toward superdiversity in Anglophone countries, this study conceptualizes Chinese heritage language (CHL) learners as complex social beings with increasingly diverse language repertories, migration histories, and socioeconomic statuses. Failing to understand such diversity in language maintenance and language shift may lead to oversimplifying the process of Chinese language maintenance and consequently perpetuating educational inequities in overseas Chinese education. The study analysed questionnaire data from 56 CHL learners who identified as dialect speakers in a New Zealand university. Findings show that CHL learners are indeed a linguistically and socioculturally diverse group. There is a clear shift towards English among participants as they approached adulthood, with some also speaking non-Chinese languages like Khmer. While Chinese dialects remain prevalent within their homes, younger generations exhibit a decrease in the number of Chinese dialects spoken. Surprisingly, Mandarin, despite being the primary language resource for Chinese education, is underutilized and tends to remain at a low proficiency level. This study concludes by offering implications to policymakers and Chinese curriculum developers to provide genuine support for maintaining and learning the Chinese language within the increasingly diverse Chinese diaspora.</p>
2023-08-17T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2023 Equinox Publishing Ltd.https://journal.equinoxpub.com/RTCFL/article/view/26367Special Issue Editorial2023-08-17T08:58:11+00:00Yang (Frank) GongHuichao (Claire) Zhang2023-08-17T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2023 Equinox Publishing Ltd.https://journal.equinoxpub.com/RTCFL/article/view/26394A Uniform Acquisitional Path for Linguistic Recursion2023-08-17T08:58:10+00:00Tiaoyuan MaoXiangyu Chang
<p style="font-weight: 400;">While children’s acquisition of recursion has drawn extensive attention in the field, there is less research offering proper evidence for the uniform developmental path of linguistic recursion. To address this issue cross-linguistically, this study examines how 84 Mandarin-speaking children aged between three and six comprehend two to four-level <em>De</em>P recursion through a pointing task. The results reveal that two and three-level <em>De</em>P recursion is successfully generated by four-year-old children first, and then five-year-old children fully master four-level <em>De</em>P recursion. The findings are consistent with the developmental route-map of Japanese children’s acquisition of recursive possessives. Meanwhile, the analysis shows that the biological maturation of the recursive mechanism and the enhancement of computational efficiency of the linguistic mechanism mainly account for the step-by-step development.</p>
2023-08-17T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2023 Equinox Publishing Ltd.https://journal.equinoxpub.com/RTCFL/article/view/144Reflections on “Researching and Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language”2022-05-18T01:00:23+00:00Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen
<p>The launch of RTCFL, Researching and Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, under the outstanding guidance by Professor Yang Yanning is truly excellent news for (applied) linguists concerned with crucial importance of Chinese as a Foreign Language and for teachers of Chinese as a Foreign Language — but also for present and future learners of Chinese, who will benefit from new insights that will be disseminated through the journal, and for applied linguists more generally. So much of applied linguistics concerned with second / foreign language teaching and learning has been focussed on English, but RTCFL will provide new insights based on the educational engagement with another “major language”. Naturally, it is essential that “minor languages” should also be given theoretical and practical attention in this area, including minority languages in China and elsewhere in modern nation states where “small languages” and their communities of speakers are facing unprecedent challenges in extended history of “vanishing voices” and “dying words” over the last ten thousand years or so (see e.g. Grenoble & Whaley, 2006; Hagège, 2000; Harrison, 2007; Nettle & Romaine, 2000).</p>
2015-07-09T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) https://journal.equinoxpub.com/RTCFL/article/view/147Investigating second language learners’ usage of Mandarin numeral classifiers: A case-based study2021-08-19T11:13:35+00:00. Rosmawati
<p>This article reports on the profiles of Mandarin Chinese Numeral Classifier usage by two learners of Chinese as a second language (CSL). The data were collected from the essays they wrote in one academic semester during which they were preparing for a Chinese proficiency test. The findings suggested that the two CSL learners used the general classifier? ge to a relatively higher proportion than the native speakers did. Apart from the general classifier? ge, the two CSL learners also used a variety of specific classifiers. The learner with higher proficiency used more types of classifiers than the learner with lower proficiency although the learner with lower proficiency used more tokens than the learner with higher proficiency. Interestingly, the accuracy rate in the usage of specific classifiers in both learners’ essays was quite high.</p>
2015-07-09T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2015 Equinox Publishing Ltd.https://journal.equinoxpub.com/RTCFL/article/view/149The Pragmatic Competence of Chinese L2 Learners of Different L1s2018-10-16T11:47:54+00:00Wen Xiong
<p>Research studies have shown there is growing attention on the importance of developing the learners’ L2 pragmatic competence. The article focus mainly on discussion how L2 learners of Chinese understand and use Chinese modal auxiliary verbs (Neng Verb Group) to achieve related pragmatic functions. It contains results and analyses from a quasi-survey of elicitation tasks designed for 70 college level Chinese second-language learners from three language backgrounds (English 19, Japanese 25 and Korean 26), all are at different Chinese language proficiency levels. The results show that the learners from different L1s have different patterns of Appropriateness and Replacement uses. There is significant difference between the learners’ Chinese language levels, which is there are significant differences between the basic level and the intermediate level, between the basic level and the advanced level, but not between the intermediate level and the advanced level. This “plateauing” provides insights from pedagogical perspective on how to interwoven the pragmatic knowledge into the language teaching.</p>
2015-07-09T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2015 Equinox Publishing Ltd.https://journal.equinoxpub.com/RTCFL/article/view/151The Use of ICT in Singapore’s Primary Chinese Lessons2018-10-16T11:47:58+00:00Yang Ronghua
<p>This paper examines how information and communication technology (ICT) is utilized for the purpose of teaching Chinese language in Singapore’s primary school. From the analysis of 17 Chinese lessons, conclusions regarding the role of ICT in Singapore’s Chinese language teaching emerge, showing how various types of ICT tools and materials are manipulated for different purposes of teaching, how ICT is combined with pedagogies widely used in Chinese language teaching, how ICT is incorporated into classroom interaction, and how ICT works together with textbook in Chinese classroom. This paper also attempts to explain the findings of data analysis in terms of teachers’ attitude to ICT use, the problems of policy initiatives and the limitation of technology itself.</p>
2015-07-09T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2015 Equinox Publishing Ltd.https://journal.equinoxpub.com/RTCFL/article/view/152The Characteristics of Chinese Grammar and the Grammatical Information in Chinese Dictionary for Second Language Learners2021-08-19T11:15:48+00:00Xu Feng
<p>This paper discusses the Configuration and the Presentation of Grammatical Information in Chinese Dictionary for Second Language Learners on the basis of two Chinese dictionaries: one is the Commercial Press Learner’s Dictionary of Contemporary Chinese, the other one A Chinese Dictionary for Learners and Teachers. It emphasizes that the tagging of the sub category of Chinese part of speech should be considered in accordance with the characteristics of Chinese grammar. The features of rhythm restriction to Chinese syntax should also be included in grammatical information. It is important to make full use of the existing corpus for more suitable examples. It is also important to pay more attention to systematical consistency of grammatical tagging and the explanations of symmetrical words.</p>
2015-07-09T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2015 Equinox Publishing Ltd.https://journal.equinoxpub.com/RTCFL/article/view/23164The Ideal Foreign Oriented Definition Model of Words with Chinese Characteristics2023-03-20T14:42:23+00:00Wanling Guo
<p>The rapidly growing number of Chinese learners around the world requires us to seek for a more effective definition of Words with Chinese Characteristics (WCCs), which refers to the category of words that bear characteristics of Chinese ethic, life context, natural environment, customs and, religious belief, etc. They reflect the accumulation of Chinese culture. Learning Chinese language is inseparably associated with acquiring certain Chinese culture knowledge. As what Humboldt said, a nation’s language is a nation’s spirit (2005). This study aims at constructing a model for satisfactorily analyzing WCCs from foreigners’ perspective as an important preparing procedure for defining them in the foreign-oriented learning dictionaries. Based on the Ideal Cognitive Model (ICM), the means of structures by which people constantly organize their knowledge (Lakoff 1987: 85), a new model will be effective in describing the WCCs within a theoretical framework connecting language, cognition, and culture. Practically, this study provides samples of defining WCCs and sets up a model of defining them for foreign-oriented dictionaries, helpful for Chinese language learning as SLA. Theoretically, the analysis of these words offers an approach to bringing deeper insight into Chinese language and to appropriately interpreting more culture-loaded words. Furthermore, this study proves the feasibility and advantage of application of cognitive linguistic theories in construing and interpreting language.</p>
2022-09-08T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2022 Equinox Publishing Ltd.https://journal.equinoxpub.com/RTCFL/article/view/153A Systemic Functional Framework for Chinese Analysis2021-08-19T10:58:56+00:00Yang Yanning
<p>This paper attempts to develop a framework for the functional analysis of Chinese within the theoretical background of Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG). It focuses its discussion on the controversial issues emerged from previous Chinese studies, aiming to provide new insights into these uncertainties. Given that the terminology in SFG is originally created for the analysis of English, the key terms in the framework are defined by examining their functions in the linguistic environment of Chinese to prevent any distortion of the characteristics in the language. The framework consists of the systematic descriptions of Chinese clauses in experiential, interpersonal, and textual dimensions. The descriptions end up by proposing the realization statements for Transitivity, Theme and Mood systems in Chinese. The framework also includes the descriptions of grammatical categories above and below clause in Chinese. In particular, the grammatical structures of clause complex and various types of group/phrase are examined for this purpose.</p>
2016-10-04T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2016 Equinox Publishing Ltd.https://journal.equinoxpub.com/RTCFL/article/view/154The Effects of First Language in the Learning of Target Language Knowledge2021-08-19T11:01:17+00:00Aw Guat Poh 胡月宝 韩月芳
<p>Scholars have been showing great interest in the Thinking Mode, Cognition Mechanism and Information Processing during the process of second language learning. Efforts have been exerted on the figuring out of the relationship between mother tongue and target language, and the major role mother tongue plays in the whole process of cognition operation. This paper, on the basis of ‘Knowledge-Cognition-Meta cognition’ theory, conducts an investigation of 130 junior high students from four middle schools in Singapore on how mother tongue thinking monitors Chinese (L2) learning through the stimulus of textbook English notes. This survey, consisting of three parts including vocabulary, sentence and discourse learning, aims to explore the deep operation mechanism of mother tongue thinking monitoring, and they are autonomous learning intention monitoring, independent understanding monitoring, quick understanding monitoring, rapid memorizing monitoring, and quick application of learned knowledge monitoring. The result indicates: (1)the way English thinking monitoring Chinese learning appears to be obvious and apparent; (2)the students have strong intention of autonomous learning; (3)the learning effects of target language have been largely improved.</p>
2016-10-04T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2016 Equinox Publishing Ltd.https://journal.equinoxpub.com/RTCFL/article/view/155Number System of the Noun Phrases Modified by Demonstrative Pronouns in Mandarin Chinese2021-08-19T11:02:35+00:00Liu Yu 刘宇
<p>This paper aims to account for the number system of the noun phrases modified by the demonstrative pronouns in Mandarin Chinese. The cross-linguistic analysis indicates that the noun phrases modified by the demonstrative pronouns in both English and Mandarin Chinese have developed a rigorous grammatical system to represent the property of number. However, whereas the English noun phrases highlight the distinction between singular and plural forms, the Chinese ones tend to distinguish specific quantity from indefinite quantity. A new classificatory framework is proposed to analyse the ‘Demonstrative Pronoun + NP’ structure in Mandarin Chinese, and to explain its unique grammatical behaviours.</p>
2016-10-04T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2016 Equinox Publishing Ltd.https://journal.equinoxpub.com/RTCFL/article/view/156On the Reclassification and Implementation of Strategies for Teaching CSL/CFL in the Context of Globalization2021-08-19T11:06:34+00:00Peijian SunLawrence (Jun) Zhang
<p>A good design and implementation of teaching strategies is pivotal to the success of classroom teaching. Given the international promotion of the Chinese language and culture, we offer a critical review of the literature on classroom teaching strategies to address the necessity of reclassification of teaching strategies in the wider CSL/CFL context. We categorize these strategies broadly into three: Direct, indirect, and cooperative teaching strategies and propose that the design and implementation of these teaching strategies be based on Bloom’s taxonomy. Accordingly, we have also provided a sample lesson plan to embody the essence of the taxonomy. We hope that such reclassification and implementation of these teaching strategies in the promotion of CSL/CFL would enrich and diversify CSL/CFL teachers’ classroom teaching repertoire in non-target language environments.</p>
2016-10-04T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2016 Equinox Publishing Ltd.https://journal.equinoxpub.com/RTCFL/article/view/165Use of linguistic devices in conveying refusals in Mandarin Chinese2018-11-30T15:49:30+00:00Dan Jiang
<p>Previous studies that have investigated L1 refusals have focused on turn taking, frequencies of semantic formulas, and politeness, including how linguistic forms were used to achieve politeness or facework. This study, motivated by teaching and learning Mandarin Chinese as a foreign/second language, puts the focus on the role of linguistic devices in conveying refusals. Open role-plays were used to collect linguistic data. A short interview was also conducted to elicit native speakers’ views about the way refusals were carried out. Integrating the approach of discourse analysis in the analysis, I identify some critical linguistic devices and discuss how they were tied with the ways that refusals were conveyed given the contexts. The findings bring more understanding to these linguistic devices at the pragmatic level and also emphasise the importance of contextualising linguistic devices to understand them. In the context of L2 learning, in focusing on the use of linguistic devices, the study highlights the value of looking at the examples of native speakers, not as means of judging the “authenticity” of learners’ pragmatic performances, but as a means of empowering learners with the pragmatic tool kit needed to allow them to fully express their own meaning in the L2.</p>
2017-06-30T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2017 Equinox Publishing Ltd.https://journal.equinoxpub.com/RTCFL/article/view/167Bridging the gap from intermediate to advanced proficiency with higher-order thinking skills and content knowledge2021-08-19T10:55:09+00:00Michelle M. Low
<p>Traditional university Chinese programs aim to produce students who can function at what the ACTFL Language Proficiency Guidelines considers the “advanced” level. However, unless students spend significant time studying abroad, most non-heritage speakers have difficulty moving past the “intermediate” level of proficiency. In order for students to function at the advanced level, they must also develop content knowledge on a variety of topics beyond “the self,” about the community and the world. Moreover, students must also develop intellectual maturity and be able to think critically and analytically, to synthesize and connect content learned outside the language class with the course content. Finally, students need to use their language skills to express complex ideas in Chinese. This paper discusses developing Higher-Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) in students through the integration of specific assignments, in-class activities, and the introduction of course content, in order to help students move from the intermediate to advanced level of proficiency.</p>
2017-06-30T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2017 Equinox Publishing Ltd.https://journal.equinoxpub.com/RTCFL/article/view/170On Verbs Modified by “yige” in Subject or Object Position2021-08-19T10:56:49+00:00Shao Hongliang 邵洪亮
<p>Verbs modified by “yige” in subject or object position are very common in modern Chinese, which shows the nominal characteristics of Chinese verbs. However, “yige” is highlighting rather than realizing the nominal characteristics of Chinese verbs since most of Chinese verbs can directly be used in subject or object position and act as referential expressions. Whether verbs can be modified by “yige” is related to the intensity level of their mobility and the characteristics of boundedness. Weak verbs are more likely to be modified by “yige”, and verbs that can be modified by “yige” are all bounded verbs. However, whether bounded verbs can be modified by “yige” is also influenced by the inner compounding pattern of the verbs. Verbs modified by “yige” are in an open status as a result of the generalization and grammaticalization of the semantic function and the intensification of the marking function of “ge”. The purpose of using “ge” is to eliminate the timeliness and highlight the discreteness of the verbs in subject or object position.</p>
2017-06-30T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2017 Equinox Publishing Ltd.https://journal.equinoxpub.com/RTCFL/article/view/174Chinese Character Dictionary2018-11-30T15:49:29+00:00Zhang Xinming2017-06-30T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2017 Equinox Publishing Ltd.https://journal.equinoxpub.com/RTCFL/article/view/161Investigating the teaching of Chinese aspect markers 'zai', 'zhe', 'le' and 'guo'2021-08-19T10:53:15+00:00Qiaochao Zhang
<p>This paper presents a pilot study in teaching Chinese aspect markers, le, guo, zai and zhe, as a foreign language to university level learners. It firstly reviews theories of Chinese aspect, and then L2 Chinese aspect acquisition. Based on the research findings in these two areas, experimental teaching sessions are designed and delivered to two groups of beginners’ level learners using different teaching approaches: a grammar-translation approach and a communicative approach. The research results are compared, and it indicates that communicative approach is superior to grammar-translation approach in facilitating learners’ use of the markers in comprehensive context, but the results are not long lasting when no further treatment is given. Indeed, both groups show a strong tendency of following the natural acquisition order: perfective markers before imperfective markers as claimed by Bardovi-Harlig (2000). However, the results also reveal an inadequacy in the design of the teaching sessions, which will be adjusted in future studies.</p>
2017-07-30T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2017 Equinox Publishing Ltd.https://journal.equinoxpub.com/RTCFL/article/view/18344Teaching Chinese Characters to Second Language Learners2021-08-19T10:39:39+00:00Szandra Ésik
<p>China’s economic and military developments, as well as its political and cultural dominance contribute to its powerful global influence. It is no surprise, therefore, that a growing number of foreigners choose to learn Chinese as a second language. The increasing popularity of the Chinese language indicates that there is a constant need for new research on effective teaching methods.Chinese characters are an integral part of teaching and learning the Chinese language. However, since the Chinese writing system is so unique, it is also one of the most challenging part of the language. Scholars have long been interested in systemizing Chinese characters and finding the most effective ways of teaching. Despite a multitude of previous research, there is still no complete agreement among scholars on many aspects of Chinese characters.This paper examines various proposals on enhancing the teaching of Chinese characters. First, we will examine some universal questions that are related to every language: the connection between reading and writing and the difference between the process of learning to read and write in different writing systems. Finally, our discussion will be narrowed down to the Chinese language and the following more specific questions will be answered: Should foreign learners learn to read and write Chinese characters? Will Chinese characters eventually disappear? Simplified or traditional characters should be taught? Through the investigation and evaluation of several previous studies concerning the theory of teaching Chinese writing and reading, the second part aims to contribute to the Hanzi pedagogy.</p>
2020-10-26T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2020 Equinox Publishing Ltd.https://journal.equinoxpub.com/RTCFL/article/view/18345Empirical Studies on L2 Mandarin Chinese Production2021-08-19T10:40:20+00:00Xiaoshi LiQian LuoJie LiuCatherine Ryu
<p>This paper delineates an overview of Mandarin Chinese tone production empirical studies over the past three decades that reported the varying patterns of difficulty for L2 Mandarin learners. In this review, we investigate 19 studies chosen based on our selection criteria by analyzing the key factors in relation to the four main perspectives; namely, learners, instructors, target forms and researchers. We also analyze the patterns and issues found in this investigation. This overview aims to illuminate the current picture of L2 Chinese tone production and its complexity. In light of the insights garnered from this review, we propose a set of suggestions for future research and discuss broad implications for pedagogical approaches to tone learning.</p>
2020-10-26T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2020 Equinox Publishing Ltd.https://journal.equinoxpub.com/RTCFL/article/view/18346Chinese Language Standards of Primary and Secondary Texts2021-08-19T10:41:33+00:00Kaycheng Soh
<p>Chinese is taught as a second language in Singapore, taking up 15–20% of curriculum time in primary and secondary schools and without the support of the other subjects in the curriculum. The notion of a two-year difference with Chinese as a first language is common but with no official documentation. This study aims to verify the standard gap between Chinese as a first language in China and as a second language in Singapore, using samples of texts of the two countries. It was found that Primary 1 texts of China are equivalent to Primary 3 in Singapore in terms of readability, based on a newly developed readability formula. The gap gets gradually wider at the primary level but fast widening and erratic at the secondary level. Probably causes and implications are discussed.</p>
2020-10-26T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2020 Equinox Publishing Ltd.https://journal.equinoxpub.com/RTCFL/article/view/18347Modal Markers in Chinese E-mails Produced by Students of Learning Chinese as Foreign Language2021-08-19T10:42:25+00:00Yang Lili
<p>The present study attempts to investigate the difference of the use of modal markers in the Chinese e-mails by students of CFL (Learning Chinese as Foreign Language) at different proficiency Chinese levels. 35 CFL from the department of the School of Chinese Language and Literature, SooChow University, were divided into two groups according to their Chinese proficiency. The politeness of participants’ performance was evaluated based on two aspects: modal expressions and whole appropriateness. They were asked to write 8 e-mails on the topics provided, including two discourse styles (formal-informal) and four speech acts (suggestions, invitations, refusals, requests). Quantitative analysis revealed the differences between the two groups in the usage of modal expressions in e-mails, so as to distinguish the pragmatic awareness and pragmatic knowledge of Chinese foreign language learners at the different proficiency levels.</p>
2020-10-26T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2020 Equinox Publishing Ltd.https://journal.equinoxpub.com/RTCFL/article/view/22907A Comparative Study of the Two Sets of Chinese Textbooks in Singaporean Secondary Schools2022-09-08T12:15:12+00:00Guat Poh AwShouhui ZhaoXiangqing Hu
<p>In the ethnically heterogeneous and linguistically hybrid Singapore, its bilingualism education is characterised by the mandatory mother tongue policy for its three main ethnic groups. For Chinese students’ language acquisition, this is practised in a way that Chinese language instruction in Singapore has been differentiated into four streams according to their individual differences in language proficiency. This study reports the findings obtained from a public funded large-scale empirical research project with a focus on the Mother Tongue Language curriculum in Singapore secondary schools. The questionnaire survey consists of 4811 students from 24 Singaporean secondary schools categorised on the basis of three key family language backgrounds, namely: Chinese-dominant, Chinese-English mixed, and English dominant. Using a comparative study methodology, the study seeks to juxtapose the perceptions of Secondary 2 and 3 students regarding their current language textbooks (developed in 2011) against the textbooks published in 2002. The survey revealed two key findings which highlight the diverse learning needs of students from varying backgrounds, thus indicating a greater and more complex challenge surrounding the revision of upcoming Mother Tongue Language instructional materials. It is our hope that the details of main findings manifested in this study can shed some light on the future endeavours in innovating Chinese education in other parts of the world with the similar sociolinguistic context.</p>
2022-09-08T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2022 Equinox Publishing Ltd.https://journal.equinoxpub.com/RTCFL/article/view/22908Varying Shades of Hearing2022-09-08T12:15:11+00:00Xiaoshi LiQian LuoJie LiuCatherine Ryu
<p>This paper provides an overview of 18 studies from over five decades that have investigated L2 Mandarin Chinese tone perception and the factors influencing it. We examine (1) varying patterns of difficulty of L2 Chinese tone perception and (2) the experiment designs that researchers have used to assess their reported patterns of difficulty. This review delineates the complexity of the current picture of difficulty in L2 Chinese tone perception. By analyzing a set of key issues that this investigation has unveiled, we propose new directions for future research that can enhance experiment designs and pedagogical approaches to tone teaching, while illuminating their intimate connections.</p>
2022-09-08T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2022 Equinox Publishing Ltd.https://journal.equinoxpub.com/RTCFL/article/view/22909Systemic Functional Linguistics and the Development of Spoken Chinese Textbooks2022-09-29T05:44:09+00:00Yanning YangXinming Zhang
<p>More than ten thousand spoken Chinese textbooks have been published in the past three decades because of the rise of China and the increasing number of Chinese learners all over the world. None of these textbooks was developed by making reference to the theories of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) both in terms of overall design and the selection of teaching materials. Therefore, this article explores the possibility of developing spoken Chinese textbooks on the basis of SFL theories. There exist many studies in the field of systemic-functional approaches to Chinese, which provide a rich foundation for the analysis of spoken Chinese. Depending on the findings of previous research, the chapter applies the theories of SFL to the development of the spoken Chinese textbook. The chapter first identifies three inadequacies of current Chinese textbooks in terms of grammatical knowledge presentation, the organization of units, and the contextual structure of conversation passages. In particular, three textbooks published respectively in China, Singapore, and the US were selected for illustration. The article then develops a functional framework for the presentation of Chinese grammatical knowledge based on experiential, interpersonal, and textual functions. Moreover, it demonstrates that the arrangement of various units and the structure of sample conversations in Chinese textbooks can be improved using register theory and genre theory respectively. The research contributes to the growing body of research on the teaching of spoken Chinese and the development of effective Chinese textbooks.</p>
2022-09-08T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2022 Equinox Publishing Ltd.https://journal.equinoxpub.com/RTCFL/article/view/11235Teachers as curators2019-09-06T23:17:38+00:00Shenglan Zhang
<p>An abundance of authentic materials is available online for language learning. To locate appropriate materials is challenging for even the most motivated learners. This requires teachers to curate authentic online content to enhance and supplement learners' learning. Content curation is the process of collecting, organizing and displaying information. This article describes the procedure and strategies one may use in curating authentic content materials for Chinese language learning online. Teachers as curators need to collect the content with the consideration of difficulty level for different learners. In addition, they should put a lot of thought into content categorization based on the learners' language levels, interests, and their language skills they would like to practice so as to make it conveniently accessible to learners. Necessary pedagogical supports should be provided with the collection.</p>
2019-01-26T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2019 Equinox Publishing Ltd.