From ‘Chinese to Foreigners’ to ‘Chinese International Education’

This chapter first clarifies various terms used in China involving teaching Chinese as a second, foreign, or additional language to learners in China or worldwide, especially the term 对外汉语 ( dui wai han yu ) literally ‘to-external Han-language’ and the term 汉语国际教育 ( han yu guo ji jiao yu ) literally ‘Chinese language for international education’ and officially translated as ‘Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages’ or TCSOL. The chapter then gives an overview of Teaching Chinese to Foreigners (abbreviated as TCTF in this chapter) research in China based on a scientometric analysis of contemporary TCTF literature published in China. A model is provided which divides TCTF research into several ‘concept groups’ such as ‘theory’, ‘terminology’, ‘methods’, ‘materials’ and so on. The chapter then goes on to review the Chinese language teaching policy and strategies in mainland China and the teaching concepts held by the teachers and the teaching methods used. The chapter concludes with a thought on the nature of TCTF and its connection to China’s attempt to promote the Chinese language worldwide.