This dissertation examines the effects of semantic and phonetic radicals on Chinese character decoding by high-intermediate level Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) learners. The results of the main study (discussed in Chapter #5) suggest that the CFL learners tested have a well-developed semantic pathway to recognition; however, their…

The dissertation examines the resultatives in Mandarin Chinese (henceforth Mandarin) and Taiwanese Southern Min (henceforth Taiwanese), a notoriously difficult construction that has drawn extensive attention in the literature. With a microparametric approach, I offer a syntactic analysis for two kinds of resultatives, phrasal resultatives and…

While the auditory-only aspects of Mandarin speech are heavily-researched and well-known in the field, this dissertation addresses its lesser-known aspects: The visual and audio-visual perception of Mandarin segmental information and lexical-tone information. Chapter II of this dissertation focuses on the audiovisual perception of Mandarin…

While the number of studies on pragmatic development has been increasing since Kasper and Schmidt's call for more research into this under-researched area (e.g., [Barron, A., 2003. Acquisition in Interlanguage Pragmatics: Learning How to do Things with Words in a Study Abroad Context. Benhamins, Amsterdam; Achiba, M., 2003. Learning to Request in…

The use of a particular language as medium of instruction (MOI) is a complex issue in multilingual and post-colonial contexts such as Hong Kong, on which teachers' voices are often neglected. To capture their voices, this paper reports on an interpretive inquiry of eight experienced Chinese teachers' professional experiences with a focus on their…

There are abundant studies on second/foreign language learners' identities. However, there appears to be insufficient longitudinal research on the construction of learners' L2 identities in systematic interactions between fixed dyads in an out-of-class context. Adopting a critical discourse analysis framework (Fairclough, 2003) and suitably…

Past research has tended to ignore the emergence or existence of "middle zone" varieties such as topolects or regiolects. In addition, attitudinal dynamics have received little attention, including their contribution towards the re-evaluation of the status of language varieties. Regarding the status of Cantonese, linguistic, political…

This study investigated the bi-directionality of language transfer (first language [L1] to second language [L2] and L2 to L1) at the pragmatic level with a focus on the speech act of request. The L2 participants were Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) learners at the intermediate and advanced levels. Data were collected via discourse…

Singapore's language policy has no place for either the various dialects of Chinese (the exception is Mandarin), or Singlish (a colloquial variety of English). These have been the targets of government campaigns that aim, as far as possible, to ensure that Singaporeans stop using them. However, it is interesting to observe that government…

The current interest in learning Chinese has been fueled by the growing strength of the Chinese economy and the need for Americans who are able to communicate at an advanced level in fields of business, science, and government. The present study reports the results of a survey of secondary school students enrolled in Chinese language classes with…

Comparability studies on computer- and paper-based reading tests have focused on short texts and selected-response items via almost exclusively statistical modeling of test performance. The psychological effects of presentation mode and computer familiarity on individual students are under-researched. In this study, 157 students read extended…

This study examined the effects of the age of acquisition (AOA) and semantic transparency on the reading aloud ability of a Chinese dyslexic individual, TWT, who relied on the semantic pathway to name characters. Both AOA and semantic transparency significantly predicted naming accuracy and distinguished the occurrence of correct responses and…

This study examines the effect of familiarity, context, and linguistic convention on idiom comprehension in Mandarin speaking children. Two experiments (a comprehension task followed by a comprehension task coupled with a metapragmatic task) were administered to test participants in three age groups (6 and 9-year-olds, and an adult control group).…

In this analysis the authors introduce three memos announcing layoffs in Chinese companies. The three memos, translated from Chinese, are from: (1) Hewlett Packard China, an American company doing business in China; (2) UT Starcom, founded in China; and (3) Rizhao Steel, one of China's largest steel manufacturers. Comparing the Chinese and…

This paper draws upon research evidence obtained as metaphors from biographical narrative interviews of Mandarin teachers of English working in China, which has illustrated the problems of teachers adapting to change in Chinese schools. The research has attempted to explore teachers' professional adaptation under strenuous challenges, that is, the…