Chinese as a Second Language. The journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association, USA - Volume 56, Issue 2, 2021

Abstract

As Chinese-as-an-additional-language (CAL) practitioners actively seek to bridge the language-culture divide in class instruction and curriculum, various strategies have been adopted to integrate cultural components into traditionally defined “language courses” or vice versa. However, many such strategies follow a “monolingual approach” that views L1 primarily as a source of interference in second language acquisition (SLA). Recognizing the importance of L1 use in additional-language classrooms, this paper proposes to apply the theory of translanguaging as the underlying pedagogy of CAL courses that holistically integrate language, culture, and intercultural learning. This approach fully recognizes students as multilingual and multicultural learners by judiciously and strategically combining L1 and L2 in order to maximize the growth of students’ overall linguacultural proficiency. The paper presents two course examples to discuss the implementation and benefits of this approach: a course on Chinese calligraphy for students with intermediate proficiency in the Chinese language and a course on Sino-US intercultural communication for students with advanced proficiency. These courses demonstrate that the translanguaging approach facilitates in-depth intellectual inquiries and critical thinking and encourages Chinese language learning in an interdisciplinary, intercultural, and interactive context. The paper concludes by extending the vision of translanguaging to the overall CAL curriculum and discussing its implication for the field.

Abstract

The current study investigates whether the CAF (complexity, accuracy, and fluency) analysis framework, frequently used in L2 studies of English and other languages, may effectively analyze L2 essays in Chinese, a language typologically different from English. CAF measures were examined for both their discriminative and predictive effects for L2 Chinese writing quality. The results revealed that most of the measures captured linguistic differences between lower-score and higher-score essays. Similar to findings in other L2s, more advanced L2 Chinese learners achieved syntactic complexification increasingly through phrasal features in their essays, in contrast to lower-level learners. The predictive effects of the measures for writing quality differed between lower-score and higher-score essays. T-unit length, a syntactic measure successfully analyzing Indo-European languages, did not serve as an effective predictor for L2 Chinese textual quality. The current study provides implications for both L2 writing research and L2 writing curriculum.

Abstract

Although Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) is relied upon heavily in these disruptive times due to the COVID-19 pandemic, little is known about committed learners’ reactions to CALL as they actively voiced their questions and concerns during crisis-prompted remote learning. Employing a qualitative research method, findings reveal that their attitudes toward remote learning were ambivalent. While they viewed online tools as useful learning resources, they also expressed hesitation in adopting them. Meanwhile, they welcomed innovative ad hoc curriculum quickly developed by the instructor; however, the innovative curriculum was also viewed as less organized. These findings shed light on pedagogical implications for world language education in higher education and urge researchers to further investigate how remote language teaching and learning would affect committed students during the new normal times as foreign language enrollments continue to decline.

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