Despite its advantage of answering research questions on language development, longitudinal studies are underrepresented in second-language research, even within the increasing visibility of second-language Chinese research.
This collection of essays is driven by the recent call for longitudinal research in the field of second language (L2) acquisition. Compared with cross-sectional studies, longitudinal studies trace a group of people over time to reveal changes of L2 abilities. In other words, longitudinal research often uses a with-in-group design and compares repeated data across time points to directly address developmental issues. This volume, consisting of eight longitudinal studies on L2 Chinese, fills the gap of longitudinal studies within L2 research. The volume is organized in three parts: studies on developments of L2 Chinese skills (i.e., reading and writing), studies on learning context and L2 Chinese development, and studies on individual differences and L2 Chinese development. Taken together, the collected chapters show the dynamics and complexity of L2 Chinese development.