Call for Contributions

Pubblicato il di Martina Prosperi

 Book Project: Chinese Language Education Landscapes in Europe: History, Policies and Practices

Editors: Guowen Shang (University of Bergen, Norway) and Xuan Wang (Cardiff University, UK)

Publisher: Routledge (in discussion)

We are pleased to invite you to contribute a chapter to an upcoming edited volume exploring the diverse landscapes of Chinese language education across Europe. While numerous studies have examined specific practices and pedagogies of Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) education in various contexts, they often remain fragmented and focus on isolated cases, making it difficult to form an overall and coherent account of CFL teaching and learning across Europe. This book seeks to bridge the gap by providing a comprehensive, country-based investigation of Chinese language education, shedding light on historical development, policy frameworks, pedagogical practices, challenges, and future directions.

The volume will consist of in-depth, country-specific chapters authored by scholars actively engaged in Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) research, teaching, or policy analysis. Together, these studies will construct a detailed overall picture of how Chinese language education has evolved in different European contexts, and how it is shaped by national policies, institutional structures, teacher resources, student demographics, and cultural environments.

Each chapter will follow a common editorial template to ensure coherence across the volume, and this will be provided after abstract acceptance. Basically, the key themes for each chapter may include: 1) Historical development of CFL education in the country; 2) National and regional policy frameworks, including curriculum guidelines and governmental strategies; 3) Current situation: institutional arrangements, programme types, and distribution across educational sectors; 4) Teaching materials: local adaptations, textbook production, and use of authentic resources; 5) Teacher resources: qualifications, recruitment, training, and professional development; 6) Students: enrolment figures, demographic composition, motivations, and learning performances; 7) Challenges and opportunities: pedagogical, institutional, socio-political, and economic; 8) Future prospects and recommendations for sustainable development.

While chapters will be primarily descriptive and analytical, authors are encouraged to include comparative observations or critical reflections that may inform policy-making and practice. The length for each chapter is around 5,000-6,000 words.

We plan to send the book project proposal to the publisher at the end of January 2026. If accepted, the contributors will be provided with detailed chapter guidelines and formatting instructions. The editors will coordinate peer review and work closely with authors through revisions to meet academic standards and publisher requirements. The tentative deadline for the full chapter is 30 August, 2026, and we aim to deliver the finalized manuscript by 30 December, 2026.

If you are interested in contributing, please send an English abstract (150–200 words, including the title) and your short bio to us via email by 15 January 2026:

We look forward to your contribution to this collaborative effort to chart the histories, policies, practices, and challenges of Chinese language education in Europe, and to advance scholarly and practical understanding in the field.