Keywords

1 Introduction

Over the past decade, there has been a significant increase in the publication of scholarly works, reports, and books that explore the history and development of Chinese language education outside of Greater China. For example, Tsung and Cruickshank’s (2011) book, one of the first written in English, brought together insights from leading scholars to offer a global perspective on Chinese language teaching and learning, primarily in the Anglophone world. In that book, Australian language policy researcher Lo Bianco (2011) predicted that Chinese would become one of the most popular foreign languages, not only in English-speaking countries, but also globally, in the twenty-first century. More publications began to appear in English, providing in-depth and comprehensive analyses of the challenges facing Chinese language teaching in specific countries and contexts, such as the United States (Cai et al., 2010; Ruan et al., 2015), the United Kingdom (Zhang & Li, 2010), Australia (Orton, 2016), and Canada (Duff & Lester, 2008). Through these publications, a more complete picture of the overall development of Chinese language teaching in the Anglophone world has started to emerge.

None of the existing scholarly work has focused on sketching out the landscape of Chinese language teaching in the New Zealand context in the way it has been done in other Anglophone countries. Furthermore, no country-specific research articles have been published to provide insightful perspectives and overviews to researchers and policymakers about the history and contemporary developments of Chinese language education in New Zealand. The lack of New Zealand voices and experiences in research on teaching Chinese as a foreign, second, additional, or heritage language has significantly hindered the development and advancement of Chinese language teaching in the country and its participation in international research, leaving a piece missing from the puzzle of the knowledge map of Chinese language teaching research (Wang, 2021b).

This book therefore stands out as the first to tackle the gap in the literature on Chinese language education in a contemporary, multicultural New Zealand, by featuring the insights of experts. In addition to the Foreword by Patricia Duff and the Epilogue, the book includes 21 chapters from 29 contributors who are leading scholars, research students, or experienced teachers in every educational sector from preschool to university and from mainstream education to community schools in New Zealand. As the first volume to appear on the subject, this book provides both historical perspectives and multilevel analyses of critical milestones based on the latest data, policy changes, and politico-economic conditions shaping the future direction of Chinese language education in New Zealand.

Although the book is set in the relatively underexplored context of New Zealand, its goal is to contribute to scholarly discussions and offer a fresh perspective on reconceptualising Chinese language education. The book seeks to provide insights and an overview of the New Zealand case that can help policymakers, programme leaders, researchers, teachers, and learners in the Anglophone world, and beyond, to better respond to the rapidly changing and challenging environments they face.

2 Language Learning Crisis in the Anglophone World

The Anglophone world typically refers to the five English-speaking countries—the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand—which are all developed countries with a shared heritage and common values dating back to Anglo-colonial times. According to world Englishes theory (Kachru, 1985), these countries are part of the inner circle, where English is used as a first language by the majority of people. Due to the global spread of English and the internationalisation of higher education, these five countries have become the most popular destinations for education, study-abroad, and international exchanges. Consequently, there has been a significant increase in English language programmes and English-medium instruction (EMI) degree programmes outside of traditional Anglophone countries in recent decades (Altbach, 2022). Economic globalisation and the rise of the internet and social media have further contributed to the dominance of English as a global lingua franca in education and employment (Crystal, 2003). The hegemonic status of English and the coloniality of knowledge produced and reproduced through the English language have been identified as contributing to the suppression of linguistic diversity (Macedo et al., 2015; Piller, 2016).

While English is widely recognised as a global lingua franca for communication, foreign or additional language education within Anglophone countries is experiencing a worrying decline, the most severe since World War II (Lanvers et al., 2021). According to recent research based on the latest data (Ben-Ghiat, 2019; Collen, 2021; Cruickshank et al., 2020; Martín et al., 2016; Wang & Chik, 2022), this continuous decline in language learning has become a serious educational crisis faced by all Anglophone countries. According to Lanvers et al. (2021), decades of liberalisation, decentralisation, and marketisation in the education sector, as well as rising nationalism and populism in society, have all contributed to a gradual but steady erosion of language learning, as shown by low enrolment, low motivation, and low retention in foreign language programmes in all English-speaking countries, leading to an overall “language learning crisis” (Lanvers et al., 2021, p. 3). While there are commonalities in each country’s language learning decline, the specifics of the crisis vary from country to country over time and manifest both in the school context and in higher education, affecting almost every language subject, including Chinese.

This book is set in the current context of this language learning crisis, which sharply contrasts with the time period when the previous surge of literature on Chinese language education was published. For example, contrary to Lo Bianco’s (2011) confident prediction in the Foreword to Tsung and Cruickshank’s (2011) book, the Chinese language has not become the “gigantic up-and-comer” (Lo Bianco, 2011, p. xiii) in English-speaking countries’ national education systems. Despite the past decade seeing a significant surge of uptake in Chinese language in most Anglophone countries, including New Zealand (Wang, 2021b), Chinese remains a medium-sized language programme, often smaller than Spanish and Japanese, in the much-anticipated “Chinese century” (Lo Bianco, 2011, p. xxiii), which comes as a surprise to many people.

As language learning faces numerous challenges, it is crucial to conduct research that provides a more holistic understanding of the shared and country-specific issues related to Chinese language education in different countries. This research should focus on identifying new solutions to address declining enrolment, incompatible pedagogies in the classroom, unsustainable approaches to teacher education, resource-allocation challenges resulting from geopolitical and ideological tensions between China and the English-speaking world, and long-standing racism and stigma against the overseas Chinese community. This book is poised to provide valuable insights for addressing the complex challenges that will face Chinese language education on a global scale over the next decade. To facilitate more detailed comparative studies, it is crucial to examine the case of New Zealand in order to address the current lack of knowledge and understanding regarding Chinese language education in this particular context.

3 Seventy years of Chinese Language Teaching in New Zealand: Critical Milestones

Chinese language education in New Zealand has a 70-year history (Wang, 2021b). The earliest Chinese language lesson in New Zealand was published in 1950 by a local Chinese magazine for the purpose of helping Cantonese-speaking children in New Zealand maintain their literacy skills and cultural roots (Stanbridge, 1990). Also, in October 1950, Fung Shiu Wing, a full-time minister of the Baptist Church, arrived in Wellington from Guangzhou and began teaching Chinese writing to New Zealand Chinese children at the church (Li & Turner, 2017). This marked the beginning of Chinese heritage language education in New Zealand. Furthermore, the first Chinese language programme in a formal educational institution in New Zealand was established at the University of Auckland in 1966, and, in 1974, the New Zealand government sponsored the first group of students to study in Chinese universities under an exchange agreement between the two governments (Clark, 2003), only 2 years after New Zealand and China established diplomatic relations.

Mandarin Chinese was first introduced into New Zealand secondary schools in the 1980s and officially became part of the New Zealand curriculum in 1995 (Ministry of Education, 1995). In 1999, Chinese became a subject for University Entrance qualifications, which was later replaced by the National Certificate of Educational Achievement, or NCEA, in 2002. In the late 1990s, a study by Lin (1998) found that only 31 out of the 1,850 primary and secondary schools in the North Island of New Zealand offered Chinese courses, and teachers often faced challenges such as limited resources and lack of administrative support. In 2014, the Ministry of Education launched the Asian Language Learning in Schools (ALLiS) programme, a $10 million initiative over 5 years to increase the provision of Asian languages in schools. With China being a significant trading partner for New Zealand during this time, Mandarin Chinese programmes became the primary focus of this new funding. A good number of Mandarin Chinese programmes were established during this time period using the ALLiS fund.

Over the past 2 decades, there has been a shift in attitudes towards Chinese language in New Zealand. While it was once considered among “the least popular languages” (Zhang, 2009, p. 439) to study in New Zealand schools when it was first offered, it is now considered one of the most popular in the country (Eriksen, 2018). According to a recent survey by the New Zealand China Council (2018), the majority of New Zealanders (69%) believe that “Mandarin is one of the most useful foreign languages that New Zealand schools can teach” (p. 9). This rapid increase in Chinese language learning is partly due to China’s growing economic importance to New Zealand at the beginning of the twenty-first century (Wang & Chik, 2022). In 2008, New Zealand became the first developed country to sign a Free Trade Agreement with China. As part of this agreement, the New Zealand and Chinese education ministries established the Mandarin Language Assistant (MLA) Programme, which places a maximum of 150 MLAs from China into New Zealand primary and secondary schools every year to assist with Chinese language teaching (Eriksen, 2018). In 2022, the number of MLAs was increased to 300 as part of an upgrade to the agreement. However, the number of MLAs who actually arrived in 2023 was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The growing interest in Chinese language learning in New Zealand can be attributed to the significant trade relationship between the two countries in the past 2 decades. Historically, New Zealand’s international business activities have been predominantly within the English-speaking world, given that English has been the dominant language since the country’s colonial era in the 1840s. However, as China’s economic influence on New Zealand has become more pronounced, Pat English, the former director of the New Zealand China Council, made the claim that New Zealand is “dependent on a non-English speaking country for our long-term economic well-being” (New Zealand China Council, 2014, p. 2) for the first time in its history. While New Zealand’s economic engagement with China has strengthened over time, the country’s Chinese language capacity remains limited. English continued, “while our economic engagement with China is strong, our deeper cultural engagement is less so. In particular, our level of Chinese language acquisition is low in light of our growing export, tourism, and education connections” (New Zealand China Council, 2014, p. 2). This comment highlights the country’s lack of capacity to generate deep, diverse, and updated insights and knowledge about how China operates and develops. Such insights and knowledge are, however, crucial for stakeholders and policymakers to establish a resilient, mutually beneficial, and enduring relationship with the Asia Pacific’s largest economy.

As China has become New Zealand’s largest trading partner in 2017, it is natural to expect that increasing the country’s capacity in Chinese language proficiency would be high on the policy agenda, with a continuous focus on and support for improving this proficiency in both schools and higher education. However, Wang and Chik (2022) have pointed out that there is a concerning discrepancy between the strong economic ties with China and the weak support for Chinese language teaching in New Zealand. The practices and developments in Chinese language teaching and learning have received little attention from policymakers in terms of policy and resource support. Although the government organises a Chinese Language Week each year, similar to events for other languages, its results appear to only generate some media hype (Duff et al., 2015) during the event in September, whereas little attention is paid to Chinese learning throughout the rest of the year. Furthermore, in comparison to the government funding provided in other countries specifically for Chinese language education in local educational organisations, such as the Mandarin Excellence Programme in the United Kingdom and the Language Flagship and STARTALK in the United States, the New Zealand government has not allocated regular funding to support additional language teaching in New Zealand schools and universities.

As can be seen from these different stages of history, different factors have been driving forces for critical changes to take place that either significantly promote or considerably hinder the development of language teaching and learning. As Kennedy (2016) noted, Chinese “has experienced different trends in popularity, often partly depending on the country’s political and economic ties with New Zealand at the time” (p. 8).

4 Chinese Enrolments in Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Education

The number of students learning Chinese in New Zealand schools surged between 2010 and 2020 (East, 2018). In 2007, there were only 6,303 students studying Chinese in schools in New Zealand, but, by 2017, student enrolment had increased over 11 times to 70,733 (Education Counts, 2021a). This included 64,874 primary and intermediate school (Year 1–8) students and 5,859 secondary school (Year 9–13) students. These accounted for 8.8% of the total school student population in New Zealand (800,334 from 2,530 schools nationwide) in 2017 (Education Counts, 2021b). Compared to other Anglophone countries, the overall development of Chinese language education in New Zealand is proportionately higher in proportion of population. In Australia, Orton (2016) reported that 172,832 students were learning Chinese in 2016, which was 4.7% of the total number of school students. Furthermore, based on a comprehensive national-level survey, the American Councils for International Education (2017) calculated that a total of 227,086 school students were enrolled in K-12 Chinese language programmes across the United States in 2014–2015, accounting for only 2.13% of the population.

The New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007) identifies learning languages as one of eight key learning areas, alongside English, the arts, health and physical education, mathematics and statistics, science, social sciences, and technology. This area places significant emphasis on communication (i.e., the ability to make meaning in an additional language) as its core strand. This core is further supported by two additional strands that focus on developing linguistic and cultural awareness. Thus, through learning languages, students develop their ability to communicate in additional languages, enhance their capacity to learn further languages, and explore diverse worldviews in relation to their own (Ministry of Education, 2007, p. 17). Each language is benchmarked against eight curriculum levels of increasing proficiency, ranging from Level 1 to Level 8, with descriptors based on the Common European Framework for Languages (CEFR), Global Scale. The CEFR descriptors have enabled classification into three levels: A1, Basic User (Level 1–Level 4), A2, Strong Waystage Performance (Level 5–Level 6), and B1, Independent User (Level 7–Level 8).

The main secondary school qualification in New Zealand is NCEA, administered by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA). NCEA is available at three levels. NCEA Level 1 aligns with Level 6 of The New Zealand Curriculum, which is typically taught in Year 11. NCEA Level 2 aligns with Level 7 of The New Zealand Curriculum, which is typically taught in Year 12, and NCEA Level 3 aligns with Level 8 of The New Zealand Curriculum, which is typically taught in Year 13.

The New Zealand Curriculum expects schools to offer language learning opportunities to students for at least Years 7–10, although it is not mandatory. Within a self-managing context, schools have the autonomy to choose which languages to teach or use as a medium of instruction, based on the skills of their teachers and the interests of their school community. The curriculum is designed deliberately to offer schools and teachers significant freedom and flexibility to create a curriculum that meets their particular school’s needs. However, this makes the curriculum nonprescriptive in terms of content, and this lack of specific detail does not adequately support teachers who lack specialised training in teaching languages in school contexts or those who are new to teaching in New Zealand (Auckland Languages Strategy Working Group, 2018).

At the primary school level in New Zealand, the number of schools offering a Chinese language programme has increased six-fold in the past decade, from 56 to 345 between 2008 and 2017, according to East (2018). The total number of primary school students learning Chinese has increased from 0.9 to 12.6%. Figure 1 shows the significant increase in the number of students learning Chinese in comparison with the other major languages in New Zealand primary schools.

Fig. 1
A multiple-line graph depicts the enrolments in the five additional languages in primary schools. The enrolment in Chinese depicts a drastic increase from approximately 200 in 2008 to 73,000 in 2017.

Enrolments in the top five additional languages in primary schools

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However, the surge in the uptake of Chinese language learning has only occurred at the primary school level in New Zealand. This suggests that young learners’ interest in learning Chinese needs to be better maintained and supported as they progress to the next level of education. Eriksen (2018) added that this growth in Chinese language learning in primary schools has come at a time when language learning in New Zealand secondary schools has declined over many years. According to Tan (2015), New Zealand’s secondary schools have experienced the worst decline in foreign language learning since the 1930s. In the last decade, there has been an 18.5% decrease in the number of students learning a language as a subject in New Zealand secondary schools (Auckland Languages Strategy Working Group, 2018). Figure 2 illustrates uptake in 2017 of the five additional languages traditionally offered in New Zealand’s schools. It shows a slow increase in Chinese uptake in secondary schools; however, it is far behind other languages. In 2017, the five most popular languages in secondary schools were French, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, and German.

Fig. 2
A multiple-line graph depicts the enrolments in the five main additional languages in secondary schools. All depict a decreasing trend with the language French depicting a drastic decrease from approximately 28,000 in 2008 to 18,000 in 2017.

Enrolments in the five main additional languages in secondary schools

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According to NZQA, the most recent data show that in 2020, 145,449 students sat NCEA examinations. Of these, 5,227 students took the Chinese subject exam, which accounted for 3.59% of all students taking NCEA exams that year. This total included 2,158 students for NCEA Level 1, 1,760 students for NCEA Level 2, and 1,309 students for NCEA Level 3. These numbers represent both domestic and international students.

In the tertiary sector, Chinese learning has a longer tradition than in schools. Currently, seven out of the eight universities in New Zealand offer Chinese language programmes, including the University of Auckland, Victoria University of Wellington (first started Chinese teaching in 1974), Massey University (1989), the University of Waikato (1990), University of Otago (1993), the University of Canterbury (1994), and Auckland University of Technology (1994). However, in 2022, Auckland University of Technology proposed the disestablishment of its Asian language programmes, including Chinese.

According to Fig. 3, the total number of university students studying a foreign language dropped by 39.6%, from 4,295 to 2,535, between 2010 and 2019 (Education Counts, 2020). The decline is likely caused by a decreasing number of students taking additional languages at secondary school, thus providing a diminished pipeline. This is exacerbated by various factors such as unclear secondary–tertiary pathways and transitions, universities’ financial resources and budget allocations, restrictions within degree structures, and so on. In 2019, the country recorded only 2.25% of total university students enrolled in 12 active additional language programmes. The top five most popular languages were Spanish (650 enrolments), Japanese (620), French (410), Chinese (310), and German (180). As can be seen at the tertiary level, Chinese is not as popular as Japanese, Spanish, and French, despite being frequently identified as the most important language for New Zealand students to learn in the twenty-first century. More research is needed to understand why Chinese language learning has not gained the same level of popularity as other foreign languages and remains a relatively small programme in tertiary education despite its high policy profile and long-term practices.

Fig. 3
A multiple-line graph depicts the enrolments in the top five additional languages in universities. All the lines depict a decreasing trend with the language Spanish decreasing from 1100 approximately in 2010 to 630 approximately in 2019.

Enrolments in the top five additional languages in universities

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5 New Zealand Sociocultural Contexts

In the minds of many Chinese people, New Zealand is a remote island country that has more sheep than people. From this perspective, it is easy to see why New Zealand might be easily neglected or misunderstood compared to other Anglophone countries due to its geographical isolation and its small size and population.

New Zealand is an island country located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses, the North Island and the South Island, as well as over 700 smaller islands. In terms of area, it is the sixth-largest island country, approximately 10% larger than the United Kingdom. New Zealand is the most isolated temperate landmass in the world, with the nearest continent, Australia, located around 1,600 kms (or an at least 3-h flight to its major cities) away.

New Zealand’s population reached 5 million in June 2020. In the 2018 population census (Statistics New Zealand, 2019), the two largest ethnic groups in the country were Europeans (70.2%) and Māori (16.5%), the Indigenous people of New Zealand. The next three largest ethnic groups were Pacific Islanders (9.0%), Chinese (4.9%), and Indians (4.7%). The census also revealed that 27.4% of New Zealanders were born overseas, with England with England being the most common birthplace (4.5%) and China coming in second (2.9%). Mandarin has become one of the most commonly spoken languages in Auckland, which is the largest city in New Zealand and home to one third of the country’s Chinese immigrant population.

New Zealand values equality and has minimal social hierarchies. According to Geert Hofstede’s national culture theory, New Zealand scored the lowest (22) on the assertiveness dimension of power distance (Fry & Glass, 2019). In societies with a low power divide, people strive to equalise the distribution of power and demand justification for inequalities of power. In contrast, China ranked exceptionally high (80) on this dimension, with a polarising subordinate–superior relationship. As a consequence, New Zealand students tend to be more comfortable expressing and sharing their views in formal learning environments due to the egalitarian cultural context in the country, which has strong philosophical and cultural underpinnings of equal participation in language learning and knowledge and experience creation.

However, despite an apparent comfort with expressing views, Wang (2019) found from a case study with 30 students in an advanced Chinese course that New Zealand students tend to be quieter and shyer in classroom learning activities and interactions, forming a stark contrast to their American peers. Some students desire the opportunity to speak yet are frightened to speak when under the spotlight. Sun (2012) has also described New Zealand students as more “docile” and “obedient” in the eyes of native Chinese speaker teachers. Understanding the local culture and adapting to the local ways of teaching are vital to the success of the Chinese teaching in New Zealand.

6 New Zealand’s Indigenous People, Languages, and Worldviews

The Indigenous Māori culture of New Zealand is a defining aspect of the nation’s cultural identity, and it is vital for educators and others working in the country’s educational institutions to have a deep understanding and respect for Māori customs, traditions, and worldviews. Māori culture has a rich and diverse history, with its own language, practices, and values that shape the Māori perspective and influence their interactions with the world. Māori culture is a cornerstone of New Zealand society and is an integral part of the country’s national identity. The vibrant Indigenous Māori history, culture, and traditions are central to the shaping of contemporary New Zealand’s policymaking and education (Sibley & Liu, 2007). As such, it is crucial for educators to be knowledgeable about Māori culture and to approach their work with a commitment to cultural sensitivity and inclusivity (Wang, 2022), as well as to the Treaty of Waitangi (Dam, 2022). The Treaty of Waitangi is a document signed in 1840 between the British Crown and a number of Māori chiefs that established a relationship between the two parties and serves as the foundation of the modern nation of New Zealand.

The Māori language, te reo Māori, has been an official language of New Zealand since 1987. Te reo Māori is one of the most well-known languages classified as endangered. Over the past 4 decades, the Māori people have struggled to revitalise their language, and their efforts have achieved admirable success in restoring the Māori people’s linguistic rights to speak and learn their mother tongue (King, 2018). The social status of the Māori language has improved over this time. During these efforts to revitalise Indigenous language and epistemology, many Māori words and concepts have entered New Zealand society, mainstream media, and the school landscape (Calude et al., 2020). Māori words such as Aotearoa (New Zealand), hui (meeting), kai (food), and aroha (empathy or love) are frequently used directly in New Zealand English. As a result, translingual practices involving te reo Māori represent a distinctive feature of language use in New Zealand (Wang, 2021a), appearing in official documents, formal communications, and linguistic landscapes.

Māori language and culture are closely connected, with many Māori words and phrases having deep cultural significance. The Māori worldview, or Māori epistemology, is shaped by the cultural values, beliefs, and traditions of the Māori people. It is influenced by the relationship between Māori and the natural world, as well as the cultural practices and traditions that have been passed down through generations (Stewart, 2022). In recent years, an increasing number of government sectors and research disciplines have embedded Māori epistemological frameworks as guides for their decision-making processes (Wang, 2023a). Acquiring a comprehensive understanding of New Zealand history and fundamental Māori concepts within educational settings is crucial for gaining a deeper understanding of the contextual nuances of New Zealand.

Māori culture and philosophy are of particular significance for Chinese language education in New Zealand. As Wang (2023b) noted in a report for the Ministry of Education, there are strong connections between Māori and Chinese cultures, including shared values, traditions, and interactions throughout New Zealand’s history. In contrast to Western cultural values, both Chinese and Māori cultures place a strong emphasis on the centrality of family and relationship building, humility, and respect for elders (Wang, 2023b). These connections go beyond postcolonial trade and migration, but also include precolonial ancestral ties between the two groups. With the growing importance of Indigenous epistemologies in New Zealand’s broader sociocultural context, it is essential that diverse values be recognised and integrated into Chinese language education in New Zealand as a means of localising and transforming teaching practices for “bringing about peace, and mutual understanding” (Kramsch, 2019, p. 52), and combating racism, discrimination, and colonialism.

7 Challenges of Teaching Chinese in New Zealand

Many factors, including a lack of policy support, limited local materials, and a shortage of locally trained teachers, have hindered the sustainable growth of Chinese language learning in New Zealand. Additionally, addressing the different learning needs of students with diverse backgrounds has proven to be challenging for course providers and curriculum developers.

First of all, New Zealand lacks a national languages policy or second language policy that can address the unique learning needs of the future generation living in an increasingly multilingual society (East et al., 2013). At present, both te reo Māori and New Zealand Sign Language are acknowledged in law as official languages. International languages other than English are treated equally as additional languages, following an egalitarian principle (and, curiously, English is not an “official” [de jure] language of New Zealand even though it maintains that space de facto). Although Chinese represents the fourth largest ethnic population in New Zealand (4.9% of the total population), following European (70.2%), Māori (16.5%), and Pacific Islanders (9.0%), and the language of its biggest trading partner, it has not been prioritised in education resource allocation or received adequate policy attention (Wang & Chik, 2022). Language educators have noted that low levels of student interest in learning international languages in New Zealand are often attributed to the hegemonic status of English in every social and educational aspect (East, 2009). The English dominant environment in New Zealand presents a significant barrier to students learning other languages. The prevailing monolingual ideology in mainstream language programmes has been identified as a major constraint in meaningfully engaging students in language learning (Major, 2018). If there is no policy in place to regulate students’ language learning, it is likely that additional language learning will continue to decline.

Secondly, in New Zealand, and in line with the openness of the curriculum noted earlier, there is no requirement for schools to adopt a standard textbook for a particular subject area. This approach is based on the belief that textbooks can limit students’ ways of understanding and developing problem-solving skills, as they prescribe a one-size-fits-all approach to knowledge that promotes memorisation and rote learning rather than exploration and active engagement with real-world problems and contexts. As a result, there is currently no widely used Chinese language textbook written specifically for New Zealand students. This does not mean that textbooks are not used. However, without a standardised textbook or government-endorsed learning materials, teachers are expected to create their own texts, exercises, and online and classroom activities. This not only leads to a lack of consistency in the quality of materials, but also creates a heavy workload for teachers each year. A more pressing issue is that when a new, inexperienced teacher starts teaching, they often lack the knowledge and resources needed to effectively prepare and deliver lessons.

Thirdly, New Zealand’s capacity for teaching Chinese is limited by a lack of locally trained teaching professionals. In evaluating the sustainability of the MLA programme, East (2018) noted that New Zealand schools have heavily relied on volunteers from Chinese universities to develop and deliver their Chinese programmes, while making little investment in building their own capacity for teaching Chinese independently. Eriksen (2018) shared this concern and argued that there is “an urgent need for New Zealand to take greater ownership of its Chinese language teaching capacity and to establish ongoing plans for funding, teaching, and learning Chinese language in New Zealand schools” (p. 2). However, it is unlikely that the New Zealand government or educational organisations will allocate specific funding for Chinese language education, since, as we have previously stated, the country’s education and policymaking tend to prioritise an egalitarian approach towards resource allocation, programme structure, and staffing plans, as well as assessment policy.

Another factor that has impacted the overall growth of Chinese language learning in New Zealand relates to the complexities of addressing the unique needs of different groups of learners. As Lo Bianco (2011) pointed out, Chinese language teaching must balance and address the “multiple presences of Chinese as a language of heritage, a community language, and a foreign language” (p. xvii). In the New Zealand context, East (2018) also added that “these ‘multiple presences’ create dilemmas for teaching Chinese in schools because the three audiences are distinct, have different learning needs and aspirations, and impact each other when taught in combined classes” (p. 9). Within the New Zealand Chinese community, goals for Chinese language maintenance have been highly individualised for families from different parts of China or Chinese diasporas (Roberts, 1991), leading to questions such as which Chinese variety to learn, when to learn it, to what degree literacy skills should be maintained, and what parts of Chinese culture are desirable as foci (Russell, 2022). In the chapters that make up this book, the authors delve more deeply into the diversity that confronts us with regard to the Chinese community and Chinese language teaching.

8 Organisation of the Book

The book begins with the Foreword by Professor Patricia Duff, the University of British Columbia, who discusses how Chinese language education has been framed, politicised, and commercialised since it entered the global language education market. Drawing on her expertise in social issues in applied linguistics and modern language education in Anglophone countries, Duff addresses the most significant issues and challenges facing the development of Chinese language teaching in the past decade and identifies several key areas upon which future research should focus.

The volume itself is divided into four sections. Part I consists of five chapters that provide comprehensive overviews of Chinese language education and the growth and linguistic features of the Chinese community in New Zealand. These chapters draw on the latest statistics, historical data, and the authors’ extensive experiences as scholars, researchers, curriculum developers, organisation directors, and teacher educators to provide macrolevel perspectives on the unique trajectory and different routes Chinese language education has taken in New Zealand. These chapters are essential for understanding the history, contexts, and terminology used in the rest of the book.

Part II is organised around the fast-increasing number of heritage Chinese students in New Zealand schools and communities. There are four chapters examining how complex identities and factors shape Chinese migrant students' motivation to learn Chinese as a heritage language and connect to their cultural roots. These studies are clearly contextualised to the New Zealand context and examine Chinese language learning for ethnic Chinese migrant students from preschool to university.

Part III contains seven chapters that focus on issues related to teachers and teaching in both formal and informal educational contexts in New Zealand. Two of these chapters examine the experiences, professional development, and intercultural encounters of nonnative teachers of Chinese with European backgrounds. Three chapters emphasise the importance of teacher identity and beliefs in grammar teaching, assessment, and teaching pedagogies in Chinese language classrooms in New Zealand schools and universities. The next two chapters focus on developing strategies and approaches to facilitate the teaching and learning of Chinese characters, one of the most challenging aspects of Chinese language education for alphabetic language users.

Part IV includes five chapters that focus on distance learning and study abroad. Given New Zealand’s geographic location, it is vital to maintain connections between students and the Chinese-speaking world across the Pacific Ocean. Three chapters explore using technology and online tools to diversify learning modes and enrich students’ learning experiences. Two final two chapters in the book focus on study-abroad experiences; one examines in-country study-abroad programmes, while the other explores the growing trend of virtual study abroad, which has emerged as an innovative alternative to traditional in-person programmes to offer students the opportunity to experience other cultures and languages from the comfort of their own homes.

The volume concludes with an epilogue drawing on wayfinding (Spiller et al., 2015), an Indigenous epistemic framework developed by the Māori community in New Zealand. This framework advocates for research leadership in seeking alternative paradigms and methods to guide the direction of future research on Chinese language education in times of language learning crisis.

9 Significance of This Book

The 21 chapters in this volume offer a diverse range of perspectives and comprehensive overviews of practices and research on Chinese education in New Zealand, paving the way for more in-depth and innovative studies on Chinese language teaching and learning in the future. We hope this edited volume will provide valuable insights for government decision makers to develop evidence-based policies to advance Chinese language education in New Zealand and beyond.

This book is the first of its kind to provide a holistic perspective from key stakeholders in Chinese language education. Contributors to this volume include nearly 30 scholars from across New Zealand and China. Because of their dedication and support, we are able to sketch out the main issues of the developmental trajectories of teaching and learning Chinese as an additional and heritage language in New Zealand. Many contributors to the book are well-established scholars from various interdisciplinary fields, both within New Zealand and beyond. Other contributors are emerging scholars and experienced teachers who bring firsthand research and advanced practices to the book.

While, as editors, we have prioritised in-depth and cutting-edge research in one particular area, we have also embraced a collaborative research culture with authors from different disciplines or across educational sectors. In this book project, we also encouraged comparative studies, for example, between New Zealand and other Anglophone countries or between heritage learners and nonheritage learners. In terms of research materials, we encouraged authors to include a wide range of sources, including government statistics, migration policies, enrolment records, historical documents, personal accounts, and research papers. This book combines historical analysis with cultural, pedagogical, and technological dimensions to capture the complexity of language education in a superdiverse and multilingual society.

The book manuscript itself was completed in 2022, a year that holds great significance for both New Zealand and China. The year 2022 also marked the 180th anniversary of Chinese settlement in New Zealand and the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic relationship between our two countries. We are honoured to dedicate this book to the celebrations and legacies of these anniversaries, as well as to the hard work of our authors and the selfless contributions of all Chinese language teachers and educators at all levels in our communities.