Highlights a variety of ERIC materials for teaching about the Pacific Rim. Titles include "Teaching about South Korea"; "Bringing Chinese Culture Alive through Language"; "Teaching about Japan"; "Teaching about Korea: Elementary and Secondary Activities"; and "Cultural Differences in Self-Consciousness…

Investigates the reactions of college professors to two 400-word English compositions (written by a native Chinese and a native Korean-speaking student). Results revealed that content received lower ratings than language; professors rated linguistic errors most seriously; humanities/social science professors were more lenient; older professors…

Describes how visual displays of their English speech patterns can be used to help native Chinese-speaking students to improve their English pronunciation. The distinct advantages of the technique over the more subjective teacher evaluations of students' pronunciation are discussed. (CB)

A study examining the mechanism of tone changes in the dialects of northern Chinese explored the geographic distribution on tone features manifested in 480 dialects. A set of prototypical tone patterns is proposed to form a basis for dialectal subgrouping and reconstruction of tone development. (Author/CB)

Evaluation of Chinese-speaking students' responses to a "Reporting Test" of oral proficiency in English as a foreign language indicated that the test may be valid and applicable for assessing oral proficiency. (CB)

Reviews a study of the in- and out-group vitalities of 270 Chinese and non-Chinese secondary school students in Hong Kong at a time of political uncertainty and shows how, in times of political uncertainty, two contrasting groups in the same milieu can construe their relative vitalities in vastly different ways. (Author/CB)

Interviews with 59 Chinese parents of children with developmental disabilities uncovered some of the problems these parents experienced because service providers did not speak their language. The lack of language-appropriate information concerning the nature of the handicap and the course of interventive actions seriously affected both parents and…

Offers a typology of bilingual education in Malaysia, identifying four main types of transfer varieties (initial transfer, retransfer, circular transfer, and gradual transfer) of bilingual education and presenting an overview of bilingual education choices in Malaysia's public schools. (Author/CB)

Presents comparison of Cantonese and non-Cantonese students' expressed judgments of two samples of speech produced by same person but presented as coming from two different speakers. Although all students thought the better speaker would have a better chance for social advancement, Cantonese subjects who spoke with heavy Cantonese accents were…

Verbal intelligence, English-language skills, personality, and attitude scales were used as predictors of academic performance in students at the University of Hong Kong. A series of bivariate, multiple, and canonical correlation analyses were performed. Results indicate that verbal intelligence and attitudes, except study orientation, were not…

Most research on adolescents has been conducted with white, middle-class adolescents, which has created a lack of differentiation among the majority and minority cultures in the United States. To correct this, adolescents from two cultural groups at two points in time were studied so as to see how their trajectories differ in terms of academic…

This lesson plan focuses on China's Silk Road (300 B.C.-1300 A.D.), specifically the exchange of goods and ideas along its route. The lesson consists of four activities: (1) "Geography"; (2) "Matrix"; (3) "Advertisement"; and (4) "Oral Presentation." The lesson presents goals, provides background, and…

This study focuses on the prerequisites for successful communication and collaborative learning in a large multinational company experienced by human resource development (HRD) practitioners, who participated in a cross-cultural e-learning course. The participants were Finnish and Chinese employees, who used an asynchronous Web-based tool to study…

Two studies assessed the impact of short-term memory on English as a Second Language learning. The first involved 20 graduate students at a Taiwanese university, who were randomly divided into treatment and control groups. It investigated differences in the performance of phrase recollection when the information was chunked versus unchunked.…

The Chinese lunar calendar dates back to the second millennium BC. Unlike the western calendar, which numbers the years progressively from the birth of Jesus Christ, the Chinese calendar is cyclical. Each cycle is made up of 12 years--after the 12th year, the cycle is repeated. The Chinese associate each year of a 12-year cycle with an animal, and…