Chinese as a Second Language Multilinguals Speech Competence and Speech Performance: Cognitive, Affective, and Sociocultural Perspectives

This book offers a comprehensive and systematic review of multilingual L2 learners’ spoken Chinese, focusing on the dual dimensions of speech competence and speech performance. Specifically, by adopting a mixed-methods approach, it explores the cognitive, affective, and socio-cultural differences between intermediate and advanced multilingual learners’ L2 Chinese speech competence and speech performance. Drawing on a theoretical framework underpinned by the affective filter hypothesis, L2 willingness to communicate model, L2 motivational self-system, and L2 speech production models, this book not only contributes to our theoretical understanding of the roles of various factors in L2 Chinese speech competence and speech performance, but also offers practical insights into the implications for both teachers and learners in terms of how to minimize the gap between these two dimensions among L2 Chinese learners. It concludes with a discussion on the limitations of L2 Chinese speech and on future directions for the field. 

Peijian Paul Sun (Ph.D., University of Auckland) is a ZJU100 young professor and a doctoral supervisor at the Department of Linguistics, Zhejiang University. His research focuses on L2 learning and teaching, L2 teacher education, and L2 educational technology. His publications have appeared in various journals, such as Frontiers in Psychology, Computer Assisted Language Learning, Interactive Learning Environments, TESOL Quarterly, and System.