
The beginning of the initial stage can be traced back to the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries when Jesuit missionaries established the first systematic Chinese language study program. The initial stage saw the sporadic establishment of discrete and special purpose programs and/or the design of curricula for Chinese language learning in Asia. CHINESE LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LINGUISTICS INSIDE AND OUTSIDE CHINA The history of Chinese language study by Western learners can roughly be divided into three stages: 1. The following sections introduce three important areas of TCFL, i.e., the teaching of pronunciation, morphosyntax and writing decisions that are made within these areas and the assumptions and theoretical concepts that underlie these decisions. After a brief historical overview, the first section explains to what extent and how linguistic theories have inspired TCFL methodology.
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The underlying idea of this article is that second language (L2) teaching in general and of CFL in particular entails making decisions as to what and how to teach. Instead, the acronym TCFL in general terms refers to the teaching of Chinese in classroom situations, irrespective of the regional context. Second, no systematic distinction is made between Chinese as a foreign language (CFL), i.e., the teaching of Chinese outside a Chinese language environment, and Chinese as a second language (CSL), i.e., the teaching of Chinese within a Chinese language environment. The background of Western learners also needs to be distinguished from that of South Korean and Japanese learners who have a higher degree of exposure to and therefore a greater competence in Chinese writing. Questions surrounding heritage learners, i.e., ethnic Chinese learners with a Sinitic L1 background learning Mandarin outside China, are not considered (for a representative publication, see He and Xiao (2008). First, non-native learners in this article are understood as Western learners.

For the sake of brevity, some limitations and generalizations are inevitable.

This article foregrounds linguistic issues involved in the teaching and learning of Chinese by non-native learners. The systematic study of foreign language acquisition involves a multidisciplinary approach of which linguistics is but one component, along with psychology, neuroscience, social science, cultural studies, computer science, and other fields.
