ABSTRACT
Over the past two to three decades, China’s increasing global influence has generated worldwide interest in Chinese language teaching and learning. As a result, Chinese as a second language (CSL) has been recently recognized as an independent discipline of study (Ke, 2012). Yet as a new discipline, CSL is still in its initial stage of disciplinary building (Wang & Ruan, 2016). Among the many challenges CSL faces, a constant, perplexing question is what roles research plays in CSL instruction. We argue that concept-based instruction (CBI) may provide a viable solution to the debate. This chapter focuses on CBI and its implementation in CSL. It begins with a brief historical overview of CSL as a field and how CBI fits into the ongoing discourse. It then introduces the critical topics discussed in the available literature on CBI in the CSL context, followed by a review of current research, findings, and methodology of CBI. Suggestions for pedagogical practice are also proposed for those who are interested in adopting CBI in their instructional practices. The chapter concludes by pointing out promising directions to push forward this line of research from aspects of research design, scope of topics, and CBI materials development.
