This paper reports a mixed-methods study that explored the strategy use of a cohort of Chinese as second language learners in mainland China from the perspective of mediation theory. Data sources include a questionnaire survey (N = 189) and a semi-structured interview (N = 12). The findings revealed that the participants orchestrated a repertoire of language learning strategies and frequently used social and meta-cognitive strategies. Analysis of the qualitative data suggested that the participants' strategy use was shaped by the learners' self agentic power (their beliefs and Ideal L2 self), and the socio-cultural environment. Specifically, their strategy use was mediated by a host of socio-cultural factors, including learner beliefs, social agents, cultural artifacts, and learning environment. Considered together, the findings illuminate the socially situated nature of the use of language learning strategy. That is, strategy use of the participants stems from the interplay of learner agency and socio-cultural factors. The findings also imply the necessity of strategy-based instruction and highlight the importance of a Chinese-speaking environment for Chinese learning.

Teacher beliefs are a pivotal psychological quality for sustainable teacher development. Previous studies have mainly focused on the beliefs of English-as-a-second/foreign-language (ESL/EFL) teachers, while little attention has been paid to those of Chinese-as-an-additional-language (CAL) teachers. Particularly, there is a paucity of effort made to develop and validate instrument for measuring pre-service CAL teacher beliefs. Therefore, to further quantify the beliefs of CAL teachers is increasingly called for as an essential means to help teachers sensitize their beliefs system and promote teacher development as a sustainable goal. To be specific, the present study aims to construct a scale for gauging beliefs of pre-service CAL teachers. It firstly conceptualizes the dimensions of pre-service CAL teacher beliefs by means of semantic analysis with ROST CM6, and then cross-validates the reliability and validity of the scale with psychometric methods. Two independent samples composed of 221 and 222 pre-service CAL teachers participated in a questionnaire survey. The two samples were utilized for later Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), respectively. The two data sets have satisfactory psychometric results, all confirming that the scale subsumes three factors: Beliefs about Chinese Language Teaching (BCLT), Beliefs about Chinese Language (BCL), and Beliefs about Chinese Language Learners (BCLL). The scale validated in the present study contributes to research on pre-service CAL teacher beliefs, and provides implications for sustainable pre-service CAL teacher training.

This paper applies bibliometrics visualization analysis software CiteSpace-6.1.6 and CNKI as the data source and analyzes the literature published in domestic journals during 1994-2022, in order to understand the development trend and main issues of cross-cultural communication in the field of international Chinese education. The results of bibliometric cluster analysis show that in the past 30 years, the research topics in this field mainly focus on 17 clusters, including “culture”, “Chinese language”, “cultural communication”, “differences”, “international students”, “cultural differences”, “Chinese as a foreign language”, “cultural connotation”, “foreign language teaching” and “cross-cultural”. According to the analysis of cited information, “cultural difference”, “pragmatic mistakes”, “Chinese as a foreign language”, “cultural communication”, “cross-culture”, “cultural teaching” and “cultural difference” are the most concerned topics. “Case study” and “teaching design” are the research trends and hot spots in this field in the past two years. This paper not only reviews the history of cross-cultural studies in international Chinese education, but also looks forward to the future development of cross-cultural studies in international Chinese education.

Commentary: Chinese as a Second Language Multilinguals' Speech Competence and Speech Performance: Cognitive, Affective, and Sociocultural Perspectives

Translanguaging is one of the foci in international linguistics studies. Recently, there is a heat in learning Chinese with the increasing influence of Chinese language in the international area. The present paper synthesized the developmental trajectory, hotspots and future trend of research on translanguaging in international Chinese education based on SSCI-indexed journal articles sourced from Springer, Cambridge, Oxford and Web of Science. It has been found that 1) there is an incremental trend in translanguaging research in international Chinese language education which falls into three stages; 2) there is no close tie of cooperation among researchers and institutions in terms of space distribution with Macao Polytechnic University, Dublin City University, and University of Copenhagen as the institutions that have the most publication number in this field; 3) a multiple hotspots were identified as follows: the application of translanguaging in international Chinese language education, translanguaging pedagogy and diasporic community, Chinese language teaching and global textbooks, cultural comprehension and language policy, and others; 4) the developing trajectory of translanguaging research in international Chinese language education falls into the exploratory period, slow development period, quickening development period, and rapid development period; 5) the emerging keywords like bilingual education, diasporic community, language choice reflected the changes of attention to translanguaging research in international Chinese language education. These changes might exert far-reaching influence on language education, policy, society and culture.

This paper systematically reviews 19 published papers on Tongshan dialect from 1979 to 2021, offering a comprehensive evaluation from multiple dimensions, including the publication timeline, key authors and institutions, research themes and hot topics, academic context and trends, existing issues, and prospects. The study finds that Tongshan dialect research has undergone a profound transformation from initial descriptions as part of regional dialects to becoming an independent and finely studied subject. Its research focus remains firmly grounded in historical phonology, with abundant achievements in phonetic description and historical evolution analysis. Grammar studies concentrate on distinctive sentence structures, while lexical and pragmatic research remains relatively underdeveloped. Future research should seek breakthroughs in expanding geographical coverage, deepening theoretical applications, conducting comparative studies that integrate synchronic and diachronic approaches, strengthening interdisciplinary collaboration, and enhancing language resource preservation, thereby advancing the field toward more comprehensive, systematic, and in-depth development.