Teaching and Learning Chinese as a Foreign or Second Language: The Educational Psychology Perspective

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Background

Over the past two decades, Chinese as a foreign or second language (CFL/CSL) has been increasingly taught and learnt as an important language both within and outside China. Studies in the field have attempted to address deep-seated tensions between existing educational ideologies, concepts, strategies, and approaches and student learning process and performance, and between existent teaching methods and techniques and the globalization of Chinese language education.

The findings of these research studies have largely contributed to the acquisition of CFL/CSL both theoretically and practically. Verifications and modifications have been made to the existing CFL/CSL theories and models. Discourses have been enriched on teacher education and development, particularly in identifying unique challenges Chinese language teachers are encountering when applying or even transforming culture-affected ideologies (e.g. Confucianism) into various CFL/CSL contexts. These current studies have provided crucial insights into critical issues in CFL/CSL research. This includes CFL/CSL teachers’ cognition, pedagogical/instructional practices, technology-integrated practice, and their professional development across career stages. It extends to learners’ cognitive engagement, co-constructive learning and sociocultural development.

To build on the current research, this special issue aims at collecting a body of advanced empirical and theoretical research on CFL/CSL teaching and learning, with an expectation of generating new layers of analysis, providing some exceptional insights and expanding the current understanding of second language theories as well as instructional practices. The particular contribution of this special issue is to advantage theoretical and practical understanding of CFL/CSL acquisition and pedagogy through bringing learners’ and teachers’ perspective.

This Research Topic welcomes the most recent empirical studies and synthetic review studies situated in the diversified contexts of CFL/CSL teaching and learning with clear psychological and pedagogical implications for incorporating both learner and teacher perspectives into Chinese and second language acquisition. Possible topics include but are not limited to:
• CFL/CSL teachers’ attributes (e.g., emotion, motivation, goal orientation), conceptualization (e.g., perceptions, attitudes) and practice (e.g., agency, efficacy) in teaching vocabulary, Chinese characters, grammar, etc.)
• CFL/CSL learners’ attributes (e.g., emotion, identity), conceptualization (e.g., beliefs, attitudes, cognitive styles), and action in terms of efficacy or strategies
• Diversity in Chinese language education, such as ethnicity and cultural diversity, and its positive or negative consequences in Chinese learning
• CFL/CSL learners’ cognitive, psychological and sociocultural development
• The effect of learning disabilities (e.g., Dyslexia, ADHD, Autism) on Chinese language acquisition
• The role of technology integration in facilitating learners’ cognitive development regarding Chinese learning
• Teachers’ and learners’ coping strategies, stress, wellbeing and emotions during COVID-19 online teaching and learning process

Keywords: Chinese as a foreign or second language, Teaching and learning, Educational psychology, Empirical studies, Research contribution

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