Acquisition of Word Order in Chinese as a Foreign Language

Research in the field of Chinese as a second/foreign language (L2) acquisition, at present, does not match the increasing demand to learn Chinese as an L2, given that Chinese is the fastest growing foreign language in countries such as Japan, South Korea, the United States, Canada, UK and Australia. Particularly, research in Chinese L2 word order acquisition requires more attention because word order plays a more complex role in Chinese than in English due to the fact that Chinese relies heavily on word order for information structuring. Experience with Chinese L2 learning and teaching shows that Chinese word order errors are a significant problem with adult English-speaking learners. However, Chinese L2 researchers and teachers are left with no means to adequately describe and explain these errors for instruction purposes. This book is specifically written to provide such a means for them to understand Chinese word order, to describe and explain Chinese word order errors and also to help treat such errors in L2 classrooms. The centrality of word order in Chinese grammar and the emerging popularity of learning Chinese L2 make this book an important resource for both the learner and the teacher.