對外兒童華語教學是對兒童進行華語作為第二語言的教學，它有別於母語為華語為小學生的母語教學和對成人進行的華語作為第二語言的教學。教學對象是未成年的外國人，教學內容是華語，華語的語音、詞彙、語法和文字系統，使兒童能夠運用華語這一工具進行語言交際活動。
兒童的心理特徵與其認知能力因尚未發展成熟，所以是一動態的過程。在教學歷程中，了解兒童特有的階段性能力為一重點；又學習語言，也是經歷相同的層級式的進程，因而以兒童的認知發展與語言發展的觀點探討華語為外語之兒童教材。
由【漢語樂園】、【美猴王漢語】、【嘻哈說唱學漢語】、【輕鬆學漢語】、【快樂兒童漢語】之對外兒童華語教材的評析獲知在語言知識、言語活動、體裁遵循兒童之語言發展及認知發展。即兒童思維是由具體到抽象發展的，所以根據學生的感知和認知能力安排詞彙和句子出現的順序和展示方式。從詞類來說，就是從事物名詞開始，逐漸引入描寫變化特徵的形容詞和表示具體動作的動詞，並且以實詞為主；由句子而言，就是從簡單句到複雜句。言語活動則是聽說活動先於讀寫活動，並且由對話形式的體裁為主，搭配歌曲、韻文，進而呈現中國文學特色的猜謎、成語、唐詩等編製以華語為外語之兒童教材。總言之，兒童華語教材在編寫的過程中是依循在對話與小短文的體裁中，以聽、說、讀、寫的言語活動順序，體現語音、詞彙、語法的語言知識。充分考慮並依據了兒童語言發展理論，將兒童語言發展理論應用於教材編寫的各個環節，體現出了理論應用於實際的結果。
再以對外兒童華語教材中的評量練習量化研究七歲至十二歲母語為華語與母語為非華語的國小學童之認知能力，研究結果顯示七歲至十二歲的兒童之認知能力與國別、語言、性別無顯著的相關，而低年級的學童在尋找細微差別、種類的延伸與配對、邏輯的推理的能力低於中高年級的學童。

Teaching Chinese for foreign children is a teaching procedure for children and takes Chinese as a second language. Teaching Chinese for foreign children is different from teaching children Chinese as the first language and teaching Chinese for foreign adults as well.
Teaching Chinese for foreign children means the teaching object is the foreigners who are under age, the teaching content is Chinese: pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and Chinese characters. The goal of the teaching procedure is to make foreign children be able to communicate in Chinese.
For the development of children is still premature, therefore the primary task of teaching Chinese to foreign children is to understand the mental characteristics, cognitive stage development of children. And learning a language is also through several stages of achievement. For these factors of teaching children the second language, this thesis is based on analysis of Chinese textbook for foreign children with the development of language and cognition.
Through the textbooks “Chinese Paradise”, “Monkey King Chinese”, “Mandarin Hip-Hop”, “Chinese Made Easy”, and “Fun Chinese for Kids”, this thesis found out the language knowledge, language activities and the language forms follow the language development and cognitive development. In conclusion, the learning procedure of children is from concrete to abstract. Therefore, according to children’s development, the vocabulary amount from high to low is concrete nouns, concrete verbs, and then adjectives. Sentences are from simple sentences to complicated ones. Language activity emphasizes on listening and speaking skills more than reading and writing skills. The language forms base on dialogues, and accompany with songs, chants, rhymes. Moreover, the textbooks present Chinese literature forms, such as riddles, idioms, poems as well.
This thesis also uses quantitative research to test the cognitive ability of the Taiwanese and Czech students from 7 to 12 years old with the exercises in the textbooks. The result reveals that the cognition has no significant difference between nationality, first language, and gender. However, the age is the main element that affects the cognitive ability of children. The younger students are worse in finding the differences, matching, and logical reasoning exercises.

王文科（民80）。認知發展理論與教育-皮亞傑理論的應用。台北：五南。
王姿人（2000）。快樂學中文─以溝通性和趣味性為首之華語教材編寫，第六屆世界華文教學研討會論文集，171-178。
孔令達、陳長輝（1999）。兒童語言中代詞發展的順序及其理論解釋。語言文字應用，2，41-46。
孔令達等（2004）。漢族兒童實詞習得研究。合肥：安徽大學。
石素錦（1999）。從認知心理與社會互動談兒童語言發展。載於戴維揚主編。國民小學英語科教材教法（P70-148）。
朱智賢（1990）。中國兒童青少年心理發展與教育。中國卓越出版社。
朱智賢編（1990）。中國兒童青少年心理發展與教育。中國卓越出版社。
朱曼殊（1991）。心理語言學。上海：上海教育出版社。
李臨定（1990）。現代漢語句法分析。中國社科出版社。
李丹（1991）。兒童發展。台北：五南。
李宇明（1995）。兒童語言的發展。武漢：華中師範大學出版社。
李泉（2004）。第二語言教材的屬性、功能和基本分類。漢語研究與應用，21-38。
李淑杏編著（2003）。人類發展學。中和：新文京開發
李潤新（2006）。談談少兒漢語教學得定位和分期。載於李潤新（主編）。世界少兒漢語教學與硏究（pp2-8）。北京市 : 北京語言大學出版社。
呂叔湘主編（1980）。現代漢語八百詞。北京：商務印書館。
呂叔湘（1980）。 語文常談。三聯書店。
呂必松（1995）。對外漢語教學概論講義(續二)。世界漢語教學，第一期，63-78。
桂詩春（1985）。心理語言學。上海外語教育出版社。
高鳳蘭（2003）。俄語教育的理論與實踐。長春：東北師範大學出版社。
施玉惠、朱美惠（1999）。國小英語課程之精神與特色。教育研究資訊 ，7-2，1-5。
施仲謀（2000）。普通話教材發展探索，第六屆世界華文教學研討會論文集，
214-219。
施玉惠（2000）。國小英語教材之評審——資格審 VS 選用審，第十七屆中華民國英語文教學研討會論文集。臺北：文鶴。
施玉惠、楊懿麗、梁彩玲譯。H. Douglas Brown (2003)。原則導向教學法－教學互動的終極指南。台北：台灣培生教育出版股份有限公司。
殷紅博（1998）。幼兒基礎語言能力訓練。新潮社出版。
梁民康譯。Jayne Moon（2003）。兒童英語學習規畫與評量篇。臺北市 : 師德企管顧問。
張玉玲（1999）。兒童英語教學師資訓練指引 = A guideline for teaching children's English 。高雄市 : 高雄復文。
張國憲（2000）。現代漢語形容詞的典型特徵。中國語文第五期。
陳幗眉，馮曉霞、龐麗娟（1996）。學前兒童發展心理學。北京：北京師範大學出版社。
陳純音（1999）。生動活潑的學習評量。載於戴維揚主編。國民小學英語科教材教法（P222-255）。
陳燕秋（2000）。台灣現今華語文教材評估與展望。師範大學華語文教學研究所碩士論文，74-75。
陳向明（2000）。質的硏究方法與社會科學硏究 = Qualitative research in social 。北京市 : 教育科學出版社。
陳冰冰(2004)。關於ESP教學的幾點思考及建議。溫州大學學報，17卷3期，9-12。
陳曦（2006）。試論少兒對外漢語教材的針對性和趣味性。載於李潤新（主編）。世界少兒漢語教學與硏究（pp282-292）。北京市 : 北京語言大學出版社。
許政援、閔瑞芳（1992）。漢語兒童人稱代詞的獲得。心理學報，24-4，337。
葉德明（民88）。華語文教學規範與理論基礎：華語文為第二語言教學理論芻議。
臺北市：師大書苑。
葉德明（2002）。華語文教學規範與理論基礎。台北：師大書苑。
彭俊（2006）。關於幼兒華語教材的編寫。載於李潤新（主編）。世界少兒漢語教學與硏究（pp253-260）。北京市 : 北京語言大學出版社。
黃慧真譯。Mann, L. & Sabatino, D.A.（1994）。認知過程的原理。台北市：心理出版社。
劉兆吉等（1980）。三～六歲兒童語音發展水平調查研究。兒童心理與教育心理，2。
靳洪剛（1997）。語言獲得理論硏究 = Studies of language acquisition 。北京 : 中國社會科學出版社。
楊玉笙（2006）。論以漢語為第二語言之語法測驗法。師範大學華語文教學研究所碩士論文。
潘文國（2002）。字本位與漢語研究。華東師範大學出版社。
潘宏宇（2005）。兒童語言發展理論在俄語教學中的應用。東北師範大學碩士論文。
蕭桂林（1995）。 多媒體組合指導小學作文課題研究報告。
盧毓文（2000）。華文教科書的現有問題與應對之道，第六屆世界華文教學研討會論文集，140-150。
簡茂發（1990）。教學評量原理與方法。載於臺灣省國民學校教師硏習會。國民小學學習成就評量理論與命題示例彙編。頁5。台北市 : 編者。
鄭林曦（1987）。普通話三千常用詞表。語文出版社。
Anderson, Richard C. and Ausubel, David A.（Eds.）（1965）. Readings in the Psychology of Cognition. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Ausubel, David A.（1968）. Educational Psychology: A Cognitive View. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Ary, D. V., Biglan, A. , Glasgow, R., Zoref, L.,Black, C., Ochs, L., Severson, H., Kelly, R., Weissman, W., Lichtenstein, E., Brozovsky, P., Wirt, R., & James, L. (1990). The efficacy of social-influence prevention programs versus "standard care": Are new initiatives needed? Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 13: 281-296.
Brown, R. Cazden, C. B. & Bellugi, U. (1969). The child’s grammar from 1 to 3. In J.P. Hill (Ed.), Minnesota Symposium on Child Psychology (Vol. 2, pp28-73). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Bloom, L. (1970). Language development: Form and function in emerging grammars. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Brown, R. (1973a). A first language: The early stages. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Bowerman, M. (1973). Structural relationship in children’s utterances: Syntactic or semantic? In T.E. Moore (Ed.), Cognitive development and the acquisition of language, (pp 197-213). New York: Academic Press.
Bailey, N, Madden, C.,& Krashen, S.D. (1974). Is there a natural sequence in adult second language acquisition? Language Learning, 24, 235-243.
Bloom, Lois (Ed.) (1976). Readings in Language Development. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Bringuier, J.C. (1980). Conversations with Jean Piaget, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Bickerton, Derek. (1981). Roots of language. Ann Arbor: Karoma.
Bialystok, E. (Ed.). (1991). Language processing in bilingual children. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Brown, H. D. (2000). Principles of language learning and teaching(4th ed.). NY: A
Pearson Education Company.
Chomsky, Noam（1965）. Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. Cambridge: M.I.T Press.
Clark, H. H. (1973). Space, time, semantics, and the child. In T. E. Moore (Ed.), Cognitive development and the acquisition of language (pp. 27-63)
Carey, Susan (1978). The child as word learner. In Morris Halle, Joan Bresnan and George A. Miller (eds), Linguistic Theory and Psychological reality (pp. 264-293). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Collier, V.P. (1987). Age and rate of acquisition of a second language for academic purpose. TESOL Quarterly,21, 227-249.
Collier, V.P. (1989). How long? A synthesis of research on academic achievement in a second language. TESOL Quarterly,23, 509-531.
Dulay, Heidi C. and Burt, Marina K.（1972）. Goofing: An indicator of children’s second language learning strategies. Language Learning 22:235-252.
Dulay, Heidi C. and Burt, Marina K. （1974a）. Errors and strategies in child second language acquisition. TESOL Quarterly 8: 129-136.
Dulay, Heidi C. and Burt, Marina K. （1974b）. Natural sequences in child second language acquisition. Language Learning 24: 37-53.
Dulay, Heidi C. and Burt, Marina K. （1976）. Creative construction in second language learning and teaching. Language Learning, Special Issue Number 4: 65-79.
de Villiers, J. G. & de Villiers, P. A. (1978). Language acquisition. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.
Miekley, Joshua. (2005). ESL Textbook Evaluation Checklist. The Reading Matrix, 5, 1-9.
Greenfield , S.A., Smith, A.D. (1979) . The influence of electrical stimulation of certain brain regions on the concentration of acetylcholinesterase in rabbit cerebrospinal fluid. Brain Res 177, 445–459.
Ginsburg, H., and S. Opper.（1979）. Piaget’s Theory of Intellectual Development. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.
Gleitman, Lila R. and Wanner, Eric.（1982）. Language acquisition: The state of the state of the art. Chicago: Cambridge University Press.
Garin, R and Redman, S.（1986）. Working with words: a guide to teaching and learning vocabulary. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Jakobson, R.（1962）. Why “mama” and “papa”? In Jakobson, R. Selected Writings, Vol. I: Phonological Studies, pp. 538–545. The Hague: Mouton.
Li, C. and Thompson, S.A.（1981）. Mandarin Chinese: A functional reference grammar. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Lin, C-Y. （1998）. An evaluation of the English teaching materials for primary schools in Taiwan. A thesis. National Kaohsiung Normal University.
McNeill, David. (1966). Developmental psycholinguistics. In Frank Smith and George. Miller (Eds.), The genesis of language.15-84.
McGlond, J. (1974). Sex differences in functional brain asymmetry. Cortex, 14: 122-128.
McGlond, J. (1980). Sex differences in human brain asymmetry: a critical survey. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 3:215-263.
Mayer, R.E. (1981a). The promise of cognitive psychology. New York: Freeman.
Nelson, K. (1973a). Some evidence for the cognitive primacy of categorization and its functional basis. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 19, 21-39.
Nelson, K. (1974). Concept, word and sentence: Interrelation in acquisition and development. Psychological Review, 81, 267-285.
Nelson, K. (1978). Semantic development and the development of semantic memory. In K.E. Nelson (Ed.), Children’s language (Vol, 1, pp39-80). New York: Gardner Press.
Nelson, K.E. & Nelson, K. (1978). Cognitive pendulums and their linguistic realization. In K.E. Neslon (Ed.), Children’s language (Vol, 1, pp223-285). New York: Gardner Press.
Oller, D. K., & Eilers, R. E. (1982). Similarity of babbling in Spanish and English learning babies. Journal of Child Language, 9, 565 578.
Piaget, J. and Inhelder, B.（1941）. The Child’s Construction of Quantities: Conservation and Atomism. Trans. by Arnold J. Pomerans. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Piaget, J.（1967）. Biology and Knowledge. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Piaget, J. and Inhelder, B.（1966）. The Psychology of the Child. Trans. by Helen Weaver. New York: Basic Books.
Piaget, J. & Inhelder,B. (1969). The Psychology of the Child. Translated from the French by H. Weaver, New York: Basic Books.
Piaget, J. （1972）.The Principles of Genetic Epistemology. New York: Basic Books.
Piaget, J.（1972）. Intellectual Evolution from Adolescence to Adult. Human Development, 15, 1-12.
Rosch, E., Mervis, C., Gray, W., Johnson, D., and Boyes-Braem, P. (1976). Basic objects in natural categories. Cognitive Psychology, 8,382-439.
Skinner, B.F.（1957）.Verbal Behavior. New York: Appletion-Century-Crofts.
Slobin, Dan I.（1971）. Psycholinguistics. Glenviewm IL: Scott, Foresman.
Skinner, B.F.（1976）. About behaviorism . New York : Vintage Books.
Sigel , IE. and Cocking , RR（1977）. Cognitive development from birth to adolescence: A constructivist perspective .New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.
Slobin, Dan I. (Ed.)（1986）. The Crosslinguistic Study of Language Acquisition, Volumes 1 & 2. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoicates.
Sutherland, J. (1999). Types of evaluation for Primary School English, paper presented at the Conference on the training of Elementary School EFL Teachers held by Nation Taiwan Normal University, Ping Tung, 6: 11-13.
Santrock, J.W.（2006）. Life-span development (10th ed.) . New York: McGraw Hill.
Tse, J.K （1978）. Tone Acquisition in Cantonese: A Longitudinal Case study. Journal of Child Language, 5,191-204.
Vygotsky, L.S. (1962). Thought and Language. Cambridge , MA : MIT Press.
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in Society. Cambridge , MA : Harvard University Press.
Weir, R. (1962). Language in the crib. The Hague: Mouton.
Wood, D., Bruner, J.S., Ross, G. (1976). The role of tutoring in problem solving. Journal of Child Psychology and Child Psychiatry, 17, 89-100.
Wadsworth, B.J. (1978). Piaget for Classroom Teacher. New York: Longman.
Wellman H M, Gelman S A. (1998). Knowledge acquisition in foundation domains. In: W Damon, D Kuhn, & R Siegler (Vol. eds). Handbook of Child Psychology: Vol.2. Cognition, Perception, and Language (5th ed.). New York: Wiley. 523~573.