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The purpose of this study is to examine preservice Chinese language teachers’ cognition in teaching intercultural communicative competence. In the study we collected data through in-depth interviews with seven preservice teachers in a Master of Education program (Teaching Chinese as a Second Language, TCSL) at a university in Hong Kong SAR, China. The findings indicated that the participants had a relatively positive attitude and inclination toward the development of students’ intercultural communicative competence, while their conceptualizations of culture tended to be static and ambiguous. In addition, the participants’ objectives in teaching intercultural communicative competence were found to be more attitude-than knowledge- or skill-oriented. The study offers valuable insights that preservice language teachers’ cognition plays a crucial role in their future professional development and calls for curricular innovations with intercultural aims in teacher education programs.

This article reports on an inquiry that investigated the development of ba constructions in early childhood Mandarin. All cases of ba construction were extracted from the Early Childhood Mandarin Corpus collected from 168 preschoolers aged 2;6, 3;6, 4;6, and 5;6 (year; month; Li and Tse, 2011). Early Childhood Mandarin Corpus, University of Hong Kong. Data analysis indicated that: (1) Mandarin-speaking children produced a repertoire of 11 types of ba construction, and the children in the youngest age group (age 2;6) were able to produce six types of them; (2) children at 4 years old (age 4;6) experienced a critical developmental period of pragmatic use, and at 5 years old (age 5;6) they had attained cognitive and linguistic maturity in understanding the semantic and syntactic features of ba constructions; and (3) there was a significant age effect on the production of three types of ba construction, but no significant association between the children’s gender and their production of ba constructions. These findings offer fresh insights into understanding Chinese children’s innate capacity to understand the co-occurrence constraints concerning the syntactic, semantic and verb features inherent in ba construction, and their developmental ability to denote telic events by resorting to the appropriate ba sentence patterns.

Early career academics (ECAs) are a highly vulnerable group, typically facing job insecurities, persistent pressure to publish, and conflicts in academic values and beliefs. Researchers have noted the precarious position of ECAs in neoliberal universities and expressed growing concerns regarding the effects of neoliberalism within higher education on ECAs' academic identity construction. To generate a comprehensive picture of ECAs' academic identity construction in neoliberal higher education, this paper reviewed existing studies (n = 17) on ECAs' identities from 2008 to 2022. A thematic synthesis revealed that ECAs' identities are fraught with insecurity and ambivalence but maintain a certain authenticity. In addition, it also found that ECAs use various identity construction strategies, including alignment, adherence, negotiation, and withdrawal. The paper also critically assessed the research methodologies utilized in ECAs' identity research and highlighted directions for future research. The review contributes to our understanding of the impact of neoliberalism on academic identity and ECAs' strategies for professional survival in a neoliberal context.

The rising popularity of the Chinese language as a subject for study has motivated research on international students' cultural adaptation and language learning during periods of study abroad in China. This inquiry examined the challenges that a group of New Zealand students encountered and the strategic responses they adopted in relation to cultural adaptation in China. In the inquiry, we encouraged 15 participants to write reflective journals and conducted group interviews to explore their experiences. The analysis revealed the variety of challenges that the participants faced, including language-based, lifestyle, and academic challenges as well as sociocultural and psychological ones. In response to these challenges, the participants adopted diverse strategic efforts to achieve cognitive, affective, and skill development in facilitating their communication practices with local Chinese people. These findings suggest that language educators need to revise traditional pedagogical approaches so that new pedagogical activities can be developed to promote study abroad students' communication competence, and counselling services should be provided to support their cultural adaptation and language learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This mixed-methods study examines the role of artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted learning in academic writing for Chinese as a Second Language (CSL) students in a Chinese university context. Fifty international CSL students were randomly assigned to experimental—AI-assisted learning using ChatGPT—and control—traditional learning—groups. Writing samples from the participants were evaluated using established scoring rubrics for Chinese academic writing. Based on pre- and post-test quantitative data and supplementary qualitative interviews with six participants from the experimental group, this study reveals that AI-assisted learning can enhance student outcome by supporting knowledge acquisition, helping to create a supportive learning environment, and increasing student motivation. However, this study also highlights concerns regarding over-reliance on AI, particularly in relation to ethical concerns, technical and networking issues, and the unreliability of AI-generated content. These findings contribute to a nuanced understanding of the impact of AI on CSL learners’ academic writing performance. Finally, we also discuss practical implications for educational stakeholders regarding the integration of AI into language education.