The <i>Xu</i>-Based Approach to Second Language Learning

Abstract

Abstract This special issue provides an overview of the xu -argument, a newly emerging view on language acquisition. The view is new in that it makes two key points: i) language is acquired through xu , a Chinese word with a composite meaning of completion, extension and creation (CEC) (Wang, 2016), and ii) high efficiency in learning a language is achieved by xu . Using a single word to capture the highly complex human endowment of language learning might be too ambitious an attempt. Convincing justifications and supporting evidence are needed to verify this claim, as the papers in this issue are intended to do.