Volume 12, Issue 2

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.

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.

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.

提 要 本文以美国某一大学中文项目的发展为例, 从三个方面探讨了近三十年来北美中文教学的状况: (1) 机遇中的发展, (2) 面临的挑战, (3) 应对策略。这三十年我们经历了之前生源的空前高涨, 以及近期由于国际形势变化特别是全球疫情的出现影响到中文课注册人数、尤其是中文主修人数的锐减。面对机遇和挑战, 本文在给休斯顿大学的中文研究项目定向定位的同时, 结合近年来对北美中文教育发展的调查、对学习动机学习目的的系列研究, 总结了应对策略。建立在研究结果和学生反思与评价的基础上, 本文针对课程设计、教学要求, 以及如何服务多元背景不同学习动机的学生等方面, 提出建立高质量严要求的中文项目。教师需要营造一个从自己学生的需求特点出发、教学互动性强的课堂氛围, 以帮助学生获得所学内容的实用感与正面的学习体验。这是学生继续修中文课的前提。

提要 二十一世纪新时期给我们带来了新的教学常态和新的挑战, 汉语为二语教学领域也开始对项目建设提出了一系列新的思考。本文的讨论主要集中在教学法和师资培训这两个方面的挑战和机遇。在教学方法上, 本文提出新时期的教学要采用一套有新理论、有程序、有相应技巧的教学法系统。这一系统基于成人学习二语的特点, 不但把教学重点放在课堂的教学过程上, 而且提供系统的基础理论、具体的教学程序和实施技巧, 便于教师掌握、操作。在师资培训上, 本文提出一种混合模式的教师培训 (a hybrid teacher training model), 兼顾理论和实践, 结合模拟与真实课堂的教学, 进行分课型、分技巧、结合科技的训练, 利用线上、线下反复练习等, 以保证教师的专业能力发展。

提要 本文比較「知道類」心理動詞「知道」、「懂」、「了解」、「明白」差異, 並探討華語二語學習者的習得順序與偏誤。首先採取 Huang 等人 (2000) 的「動詞語意表達模式」 (Module-Attribute Representation of Verbal Semantics, MARVS), 分析四個心理動詞語意屬性、搭配類型與句法功能後, 邀請 16 位華語母語人士及 16 位華語為第二語言的外籍學生完成「知道類」近義詞測驗。研究發現, 四個心理動詞按成績由高至低依序為「知道」、「懂」、「了解」、「明白」, 符合訊息處理難易度。在偏誤部分, 「明白」的偏誤最多, 就常誤用為「知道」。此外, 「懂」與「了解」意思相近, 常出現相互誤代情形。