This paper reports the results of a review of research articles on the teaching of Chinese as a second or foreign language published in four leading mainland Chinese journals during the years 2005-2015. The review found that Chinese language researchers are exploring a wide array of issues including language policy and planning, language learning and use, language pedagogy, teacher development and language testing. These studies report the efforts that Chinese language researchers and teachers have made to meet the explosively growing demand for Chinese language learning in the world. Furthermore, it was noted that the leading Chinese journals have become more receptive to empirical studies although a large number of non-empirical articles are still being published. Overall, research in these journals is still beset with different challenges, and there is an urgent need for more rigorous scholarship on the part of researchers. For this reason, the review concludes with suggestions for Chinese journals so that they can promote high-quality research to support the development of Chinese language education.

Oil paints comprise pigments,d rying oils,a nd additives that together confer desirable properties,but can react to form metal carboxylates (soaps) that maydamage artworks over time.T oo btain information on soap formation and aggregation, we introduce an ew tapping-mode measurement paradigm for the photothermal induced resonance (PTIR) technique that enables nanoscale IR spectroscopyand imaging on highly heterogenous and rough paint thin sections.PTIR is used in combination with m-computed tomography and IR microscopytodetermine the distribution of metal carboxylates in a23-year old oil paint of knownformulation. Results show that heterogeneous agglomerates of Al-stearate and aZ ncarboxylate complex with Zn-stearate nano-aggregates in proximity are distributed randomly in the paint. The gradients of zinc carboxylates are unrelated to the Al-stearate distribution. These measurements open an ew chemically sensitive nanoscale observation windowo nt he distribution of metal soaps that can bring insights for understanding soap formation in oil paint.

Formation and aggregation of metal carboxylates (metal soaps) can degrade the appearance and integrity of oil paints, challenging efforts to conserve painted works of art. Endeavors to understand the root cause of metal soap formation have been hampered by the limited spatial resolution of Fourier transform infrared microscopy (μ-FTIR). We overcome this limitation using optical photothermal infrared spectroscopy (O-PTIR) and photothermal-induced resonance (PTIR), two novel methods that provide IR spectra with ≈500 and ≈10 nm spatial resolutions, respectively. The distribution of chemical phases in thin sections from the top layer of a 19th-century painting is investigated at multiple scales (μ-FTIR ≈ 10 2 μm 3 , O-PTIR ≈ 10 −1 μm 3 , PTIR ≈ 10 −5 μm 3 ). The paint samples analyzed here are found to be mixtures of pigments (cobalt green, lead white), cured oil, and a rich array of intermixed, small (often ≪ 0.1 μm 3 ) zinc soap domains. We identify Zn stearate and Zn oleate crystalline soaps with characteristic narrow IR peaks (≈1530−1558 cm −1 ) and a heterogeneous, disordered, water-permeable, tetrahedral zinc soap phase, with a characteristic broad peak centered at ≈1596 cm −1 . We show that the high signal-to-noise ratio and spatial resolution afforded by O-PTIR are ideal for identifying phase-separated (or locally concentrated) species with low average concentration, while PTIR provides an unprecedented nanoscale view of distributions and associations of species in paint. This newly accessible nanocompositional information will advance our knowledge of chemical processes in oil paint and will stimulate new art conservation practices.

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