Dongbo Zhang delivered a report titled ‘Why should assessment not be a “Cinderella” in Chinese as a second language (CSL) vocabulary studies?’ at Pacific Second Language Research Forum 2025 (in conjunction with Conference on Innovation in L2 Chinese Research) at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
The second language (L2) vocabulary literature, and SLA literature in general, traditionally gave limited attention to assessment issues. This was largely the case in the field of L2 Chinese vocabulary studies. The trends, however, have begun to shift over the past two decades, although assessment may still be considered a “Cinderella” in L2 Chinese vocabulary research. In his talk, Prof. Zhang argue that the shift has happened as a result of several “internal and external pressures” and discuss these “pressures” with particular references to vocabulary assessments in L2 Chinese. Evidence is cited from his scoping review of relevant literature to make a case for due research attention to L2 Chinese vocabulary assessments.