An exploration of trends in Chinese language instruction discusses textbook-oriented programs, language pedagogy research, overemphasis on reading, curriculum design, and ways to improve and make proficiency-oriented programs more effective. (25 references) (CB)

Investigates the effects of teacher praise and criticism on the performance and self-perceptions of Chinese college students using replications of two German studies. Discusses similarities and differences in findings in light of the Chinese teacher-student relationship. (FMW)

Discusses the use of fortune cookie fortunes in a middle school class combined with computer graphics, desktop publishing, and word processing technology to create writing assignments, games, and discussions. Topics include cultural contexts, and students creating their own fortunes. (LRW)

A group of 20 British-born Chinese children aged 12 to 14 were examined in terms of ability to use their mother tongue and of social network structures. One finding is that, to make community language education more effective, parents and children should be brought closer together socially. (Contains 46 references.) (Author/LB)

Describes policies formulated by the Chinese government that use information technology to facilitate the development of scientific and technical information activities. Highlights include online information retrieval; the construction of databases, including Chinese language, numeric, and Chinese trade and technology databases; the development of…

A study investigated proverbial reference in the language of three Chinese graduate students literate in English, contrasting rhetorical use and its contribution to cohesion. Subjects referred to Chinese proverbs frequently, even though they did not help convey meaning well in English, because of emphasis placed on their use in Chinese writing.…

Studies whether Chinese children are more cooperative, whereas U.S. children are more competitive, using 76 10- to 12-year-old children in each country. Results using the Social Values Task indicate that Chinese children favor strategies that result in equality and group enhancement, and U.S. children favor individualistic and competitive…

Li's work, which expands the government binding (GB) literature on Chinese linguistics and contributes to understanding constituency and word order, is described. Important issues are noted, empirical or theory-neutral criticisms of Li's accounts are raised, and alternative solutions are offered. (21 references) (LB)

Examines Chinese-American author M. H. Kingston's book "The Woman Warrior" and the controversy and literary response to it. Discusses the dilemma of the "ethnic" writer and other issues including the use of literary license and social documentation and tensions between historical and experiential authenticity. (JB)

Examined the comprehension of English restrictive relative clauses containing three universal factors (interruption, word order rearrangement, and parallel function) by Chinese, Japanese, and Korean students at American universities studying English as a Second Language. The findings support the dominance of language universals in the course of…

Presents narratives from Asian American parents about their lesbian daughters or gay sons. The chapter focuses on four emerging themes: (1) the attitudes of parents before disclosure or discovery; (2) the attitudes and reactions of parents after disclosure or discovery; (3) disclosure to friends and their communities; and (4) advice for other…

To study deductive abilities across languages, 102 bilingual college students of two linguistic origins (Chinese and South Indian) were asked to solve deductions between sentences in their second languages. Implications of the lack of systematic differences between subjects with different native languages are discussed. (SLD)

Investigated group, grade, and gender differences in attitudes toward mathematics and science of gifted middle grades students (n=256) from three ethnic backgrounds. All groups exhibited positive attitudes. Significant group differences were found in students' perceptions of teachers' attitudes, mathematics anxiety, effectance motivation, and…

Describes a museum exhibit that portrays the role of Chinese immigrants in the growth of the U.S. west during the latter part of the 1800s. Discusses the growth of Chinatowns and their cultural attributes and the agricultural and industrial significance of Chinese immigrant workers during that period. (CFR)

Describes scientific and technical accomplishments of the Chinese in developing earthquake detection procedures, paper making, and medicine and of Islamic people in developing astronomy and mechanical engineering. (PR)