ABSTRACT
While intonation and rhythm play a significant role in all languages, research on the acquisition of both aspects of Chinese has been very limited, not to mention the incorporation of intonation and rhythm in Chinese language teaching. This chapter makes an argument that the teaching of intonation and rhythm for L2 Chinese is an integral part of Chinese language teaching and learning, and their role in L2 Chinese should not be downplayed, merely because Chinese is a tone language. The chapter begins with a discussion of the representations and functions of intonation and syllable-timing and stress-timing, followed by a brief review of previous studies on the acquisition of L2 Chinese intonation and rhythm. The last section of the chapter focuses on the research-informed pedagogical aspects of intonation and rhythm, detailing what aspects of Chinese intonation and rhythm should be incorporated in Chinese language teaching and proposing specific pedagogical activities that can be utilized in teaching Chinese intonation and rhythm.
