Confronting literacy in Chinese as a foreign language

Abstract

While critics of standards-based movements such as Common Core State Standards (CCSS) may argue over issues of content, testing, and perceptions of government control over education, few argue against the need for some type of well-reasoned set of standards if educators are to orchestrate principled instructional sequences. The foreign language community is no exception, having devoted an enormous amount of dedication to standards-based instructional development, the most current guidance for which is embodied in the World- Readiness Standards for Learning Languages (WRSLL). These standards should be viewed as good news for the growing Chinese-language education field. Yet, these standards also force Chinese-language stakeholders to openly confront perhaps the most professionally vexing dimension of Chinese language education: teaching students to read and write. This chapter will discuss issues in Chinese literacy from both a theoretical and applied standpoint. The chapter’s goal is to help stakeholders in Chinese and in world languages understand how standards-based instruction raises the ante in terms of what will be expected from students in a variety of educational settings; I also address how these expectations may need to be tempered, given the enormous amount of time and effort students expend in acquiring Chinese literacy skills. The article will draw from theories and models of second-language reading, as well as the research and experience of Chinese language educators, to highlight points of contention that need airing and professional resolution.