A critical review of research on strategies in learning Chinese as both a second and foreign language

Abstract

This article critically reviews strategy research on learning Chinese both as a second and foreign language. Through a careful examination of major data bases in both the Chinese and English languages, the article summarizes research in the field and the principal research methods used in the studies reviewed. Moreover, key limitations in research designs, inconsistencies in reported findings, inappropriate use of research methods, and weaknesses in both Chinese-and English-language publications are discussed. The article concludes by calling for future research paying more attention to current language learning strategy theories and practices.

Memorisation strategies and the adolescent learner of Mandarin Chinese as a foreign language

“…It reports on findings from just one London secondary school. As Jiang and Cohen (2012) suggest, self-designed inventories need to be administered more widely in order to confirm reliability and validity. The think-alouds were carried out with only 10 students and with a small number of items of vocabulary to be learned.…”

“…However, as Jiang and Cohen (2012) and Shen (2005) point out, there is a paucity of research that has been conducted with respect to the strategies employed by learners of Chinese as a foreign language. Of those that have, the extent to which memorisation strategies are unique is unclear and indeed this was not always the focus of the investigation.…”

“…Finally, rather than identifying the strategies used, a small number of studies, summarised in Jiang and Cohen (2012), have considered the "effectiveness" of learners' MC strategy use.…”

A Qualitative Exploration of Students' Experiences With Acquiring Culture During Foreign Language Instruction

“…In the 21 st century, researchers interest in teaching the target culture together with the target language has only peaked (Bennett, 1997;Cakir, 2006;Ho, 2009;Schuetze, 2008;Fox & Diaz-Greenberg, 2006;Drewelow, 2013;Barnes-Karol & Broner, 2010;Izadpanah, 2011;Jiang, 2012;Karabinar & Guler, 2012;Chlopek, 2008 andSercu, Gracia, andPrieto, 2004). Tsou (2005), Yeşil, and Demiröz (2017) each put forth that teaching the target culture has a positive motivational impact on students' proficiency levels in English.…”

Native Chinese‐Speaking K–12 Language Teachers' Beliefs and Practices

“…To date, a large amount of the scholarship on Chinese literacy learning and instruction has addressed when and how to introduce the teaching of reading and writing in Chinese (e.g., Everson, 2009Everson, , 2011Jiang, 2007;Xu, Chang, Zhang, & Perfetti, 2013;Xu & Padilla, 2013;Ye, 2013) and has investigated the strategies that adult learners employ when reading in Chinese (e.g., Everson & Ke, 1997;Jiang & Cohen, 2012;Ke, 1998aKe, ,1998bShen, 2004Shen, , 2005Shen, , 2013Shen & Ke, 2007). Taken together, these studies advocated an analytical, bottom-up approach toward the teaching of Chinese characters.…”