The premise of this thesis is that the growth of Standard Chinese as an International language of communication has broad-based implications for Chinese as a second language (CSL) materials and for CSL instruction in general. These implications include social and political considerations as well as linguistic and purely methodological concerns. The aim of this thesis is to assess the suitability of the CSL materials currently available for foreigners in the context of China's growing global importance and the simultaneous shift in language priorities for non-Chinese CSL students. In particular, the growing need among Anglophones for basic skills in Standard Chinese has not yet been adequately addressed in mainstream CSL textbooks. The thesis concludes that in the absence of a single set of materials that meet high global standards, instructors should follow a model of synthesis, selecting the best examples from a wide variety of language sources.