Deng Qiulin

1349028049@qq.com

LANGUAGE is the basic unit of cultural transmission. Many linguists have made great achievements in the research and teaching of languages. For example, U.S. linguist Noam Chomsky made a pioneering contribution to theoretical linguistics. Zhao Yuanren (1892-1982), the father of Chinese linguistics, is credited for laying the foundation of international Chinese teaching.

In the opinion of Dr. Zhao, it is necessary to make pronunciation training the top priority in the teaching of international Chinese, and the accuracy of pronunciation is the prerequisite of fluency. Along the trail blazed by Dr. Zhao, many researchers have continued to explore and produce many new insights.

“The Chinese Phonetics Acquisition in a Multicultural Context,” published by China Social Sciences Press in July 2017, is a very important resource that fills many gaps in the study of foreign adult Chinese teaching. The publication of the book has attracted considerable attention from the field of international Chinese education, and has also triggered extensive discussion in the research circles of teaching Chinese as a foreign language.

Dr. He Lifang, who teaches Chinese language, film and culture at Huron University College of Western University, Canada, is a specialist in Chinese phonetics and has published many significant works on Chinese linguistics and literature.

In this monograph, Dr. He focuses on those learning during their “critical periods,” and she is able to prove that “overaged” learners can also master standard Chinese pronunciation.

It is a breakthrough for the “critical period theory” of language learning. In her research, she finds that major challenges in teaching Chinese as a second language are those of “native language transfer” and “cultural conflict.”

Dr. He proves that learning multiple languages is not a distraction but a positive influence on continuing to learn new languages. By employing various effective learning strategies, one can achieve positive transition.

Dr. He studied two successful cases involving two students who were a freshmen and a sophomore. Their native language is English; their second languages are respectively Spanish and French, and Chinese is the third language they want to learn. By the time they graduated from the university, they could speak standard Chinese. These are two students who have exceeded the “critical period” and the reason they have succeeded is because they both had a keen interest in language learning and have employed effective learning strategies. They both also appreciate Chinese culture and are good at creating an environment that facilitates their use of Chinese.

To promote the Belt and Road Initiative, we need to advance the teaching of Chinese internationally. Dr. He’s research findings are of great significance for the internationalization of Chinese teaching. We look forward to more research findings in this area from Dr. He.