A BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF RESEARCH ON MANDARIN TEACHING FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS

Abstract

This study addresses the significant lack of empirical research on the long-term, macro-level development of Mandarin pedagogy in Chinese higher education. Existing studies rely heavily on localised, qualitative classroom summaries, resulting in fragmented knowledge. To fill this gap, this paper systematically maps the academic dynamics, evolutionary trajectories, and institutional networks across eleven structural dimensions, including publication trends, thematic shifts, collaborations, and funding landscapes. Using co-word analysis, citation analysis, and knowledge graph visualisation, a dataset of 155 documents from 1996 to 2025 was retrieved and analysed from CNKI. The findings reveal that while scholarly output peaked in 2013, the core focus has shifted from "pronunciation standardisation" to "professional competence", reflecting a paradigm shift from linguistic correctness toward competency-oriented and practice-based language education. Geographically, institutions in southern dialect zones and border minority regions show the greatest research activity, yet no dominant journal or elite author group has emerged, indicating a decentralised ecosystem. Research output has evolved from policy-driven to demand-driven and now towards technology-driven development. Specifically, this study aims to: (1) examine publication trends, (2) identify major research themes and their evolution, (3) analyse collaboration networks, and (4) explore emerging directions. The findings contribute to understanding how language pedagogy evolves under national policies and technological changes, offering data-driven guidance for university administrators, teacher educators, curriculum developers, and policymakers.