Key Issues in Chinese as a Second Language Research

Istvan Kecskes is Distinguished Professor of the State University of New York, USA. He is the President of the American Pragmatics Association and the Chinese as a Second Language Research (CASLAR) Association.Chaofen Sun is Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures and, by courtesy, Linguistics, and directs the Chinese language program at Stanford University, USA. He previously served as Chair of the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, and as Director of Stanford Center for East Asian Studies.

"In this exciting new volume, Kecskes and Sun bring together some of the top researchers in the fields of linguistics and language acquisition and present the latest studies of learning Chinese as an additional language. The chapters are both theoretically sound and empirically rich. The volume will be a key reference in Chinese as a second language research and its implication for policy and practice will be far reaching."― Li Wei, University College London, UK"Key Issues in Chinese as a Second Language Research is the first collection of studies examining learners’ Chinese linguistic knowledge development from perspectives of first language influence, acquisition patterns, and pedagogical implications based on research findings. The studies analyze the data by moving beyond the context of general theories of linguistics to explore unique characteristics in the acquisition of Chinese linguistic knowledge by Chinese L2 learners. This book will be highly welcomed by scholars, graduate students, and Chinese educators in the field."― Helen H. Shen, The University of Iowa, USA "For too long a time, the field of Chinese as a Second/Foreign Language has been one where practitioners argue about key questions based largely on personal experience gleaned from teaching—but often based on little empirical evidence. With this volume, the editors and chapter authors, who include scholars from six countries including both native and non-native speakers of Chinese, have made a major contribution to building and professionalizing the field. "― Cornelius C. Kubler, Williams College, USA"Even though it is the largest language in the world in terms of the number of native speakers, Chinese has been woefully understudied. It is therefore encouraging to see this team of international scholars present a compelling and comprehensive argument for the research of the acquisition of Chinese as an additional language that is grounded in and guided by solid research. This volume also contributes to broadening the context and scope of SLA in general."― Agnes He, Stony Brook University, USA

• IntroductionPart I. SLA Theories as Related to ChineseChapter 1. The Theoretical Landscape of Second Language AcquisitionZhaoHong HanPart II. Chinese PhonologyChapter 2. De-stress in Mandarin: Clitics, Cliticoids and Phonetic Chunks Hana Třísková Chapter 3. The Effects of Tonal Markedness in Second Language Chinese Tones Hang ZhangChapter 4. From Phonological Studies to Teaching Mandarin Tone: Some Perspectives on the Revision of the Tonal InventoryCarlotta Sparvoli Part III. Semantic Aspects and VocabularyChapter 5. Adjectival CategoryGiorgio Francesco Arcodia and Bianca BascianoChapter 6. Chinese Vocabulary Acquisition and Teaching: Basic Concepts and Research ResultsChiara RomagnoliPart IV. Chinese Grammar Chapter 7. The Grammar of Chinese NounsChaofen SunChapter 8. Acquisition of Word Order in Chinese as a Foreign Language: Replication and Extension Wenying Jiang Chapter 9. The Instantiation of Binding Through Pragmatic and Syntactic Processes Darcy Sperlich Chapter 10. L2 Acquisition of Aspect in Mandarin ChineseFeng-hsi Liu Part V. Pragmatic AspectsChapter 11. Development of Pragmatic Competence: Compliment Responses by L2 Learners of ChineseXiaoping GaoChapter 12. Intercultural Communicative Competence and Emotion Amongst Second Language Learners of ChineseWei-Lin Melody Chang and Michael HaughChapter 13. Foundations for Content Learning in Chinese: Beyond the European Base Jane Orton, Yin Zhang and Xia Cui