The Internet as a worldwide literacy practice environment has created a new situation in communication, providing a new dynamic field for research. On the basis of the two articles under discussion, this commentary develops three main aspects of the Internet: as an informal learning environment for English as a second/foreign language; as a…

The aim of this research is to reveal the dynamics of focus on form in task completion via videoconferencing. This examination draws on current second language learning theories regarding effective language acquisition, research in Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) and empirical data from an evaluation of desktop videoconferencing-supported…

Although the acquisition of the English plural morpheme by monolingual English-speaking children (L1 learners) has been studied extensively, little is known about the processes through which native speakers of other languages (L2 speakers) acquire the English plural morpheme. To understand the similarities and differences between L1 and L2 English…

The English verb "be" has always been a perceived problem for Chinese ESL learners, however, few studies have been conducted with a specific focus on the interlanguage "be" of Chinese ESL learners. This paper examines the variable use of the English verb "be" of 270 Hong Kong primary school children for developmental…

Using the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale formulated by G. M. Chen and Starosta, the intercultural sensitivity of English major students, non-English major students, and multinational employees in China were investigated. In this study, intercultural sensitivity was defined as consisting of interaction engagement, interaction confidence, respect…

The purpose of this study was to describe the relationship between self-efficacy and fat-related dietary behavior among a sample of first and second generation Chinese Americans living in New York City. A survey questionnaire was administered to a purposive sample of 743 Chinese Americans, ranging from ages 21 to 73. The questionnaire measured…

This article reports on a sample of 26 middle-class Chinese immigrant parents' perspectives on their children's reading, writing, mathematics learning, and homework, and on the parents' involvement in and communication with mainstream American schools. Findings suggested both consistencies and discrepancies between their beliefs and practices.…

A Chinese version of the Psychological Sense of School Membership (PSSM) scale was developed to find out the subjective PSSM of Mainland immigrant and local Hong Kong students. Five schools participated with 295 boys and 252 girls from Primary years 4, 5, and 6 taking part. Among those, 264 students were local Hong Kong students, while 283 were…

This study is an investigation of the contribution of morphological awareness in Chinese-English biliteracy acquisition. Comparable tasks in Chinese and English were administered to test children's skills in morphological awareness, phonological awareness, oral vocabulary, word reading, and reading comprehension. The results showed that after the…

The report summarizes results of an evaluative study of selected state-funded elementary and secondary school programs for less commonly taught languages (LCTLs) in California. Fourteen projects at 19 school sites received a maximum of 4 years of funding to offer instruction in Japanese, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), Korean, and Russian. The…

"CLASS Professional Standards" is a resource for Chinese teachers, foreign language specialists, school administrators, parents, and policy makers who recognize the importance of Chinese cultures taught by professional teachers of Chinese. The release of the book also marks the celebration of the Chinese Language Association of…

Brushwork is the essential characteristic of Chinese painting. Ink and brushwork provide the foundation of Chinese pictures, even when color also is used. In the quality of the brushwork the artist captures the spirit resonance, the raison d'etre of a painting. In China, painting and writing developed hand in hand, sharing the same tools and…

This study investigated the relationship between attitudinal/motivational factors and English second language proficiency among student teachers. Subjects were 198 full-time, first-year teacher trainees in a Hong Kong college of education, of traditional college age and enrolled in both 2- and 3-year English-medium and Chinese-medium instructional…

This collection of working papers in syntax includes: "Null Objects in Mandarin Chinese" (Christie Block); "Toward a Linearization-Based Approach to Word Order Variation in Japanese" (Mike Calcagno); "A Lexical Approach to Inalienable Possession Constructions in Korean" (Chung, Chan); "Chinese NP Structure"…

This paper is concerned with factors affecting Chinese English-as-Second-Language (ESL) learner's acquisition in the Department of Foreign Languages at Tianjin Institute of Technology. These factors, which include language shock, culture differences, culture background knowledge, motivation, and ego permeability, create psychological distance…