Numerical phases have rich cultural connotations and connect closely with culture. Along with the extension of China's reform and opening up policy, cross-cultural communication tends to be wider. The comparative research on cross-cultural languages is very important. Because of different cultural backgrounds, the cultural connotations of Chinese…

The dissertation begins by exploring specific issues in the history of Western philosophy, in particular the theory of language that underlies speculation about the possibility of ideographic writing. Starting with the "China Illustrata" of Athanasius Kircher, the first chapter proceeds to archaeo-historically excavate Kircher's…

This paper, drawing upon multidisciplinary studies such as critical and cultural studies, literary criticism, intercultural communication and second language acquisition, suggests a specific literary genre--"migratory literature"--to support intercultural competence for learners of Chinese. We begin by elucidating key…

This article reports on research that questions commonsense understandings of a bilingual pedagogy predicated on what Cummins refers to as the "two solitudes" assumption. It sets out to describe a flexible bilingual approach to language teaching and learning in Chinese and Gujarati community language schools in the United Kingdom. We…

This article examines the role of written and spoken English vis-a-vis written Chinese, Cantonese and Putonghua in the four key service industries that have driven Hong Kong's economy in the past decade. The study forms part of a long-standing and continuing investigation into the impact of Hong Kong's transition from British colony to Chinese…

The objectives of this study are to investigate the interrelationships of a number of affective variables related to studying Chinese as a second language (L2); to examine the relationships between affective variables in second language acquisition (SLA) and the indices of adaptation; and thirdly, to assess the changes over time in the attitudes…

This study examines the reliability and validity of a Chinese-translated version of the Gifted Rating Scales-Preschool/Kindergarten Form (GRS-P) and explores the effect of gender and age on each of the subscales. Data were collected from 250 kindergarten children, with age ranging from 4 years, 0 months to 6 years, 11 months. Results indicated…

Changes in assessment practices in the direction of assessment for learning (AfL) can be a powerful force to enhance student learning. This article presents a case study of teacher learning in an AfL project in Hong Kong. In the Project, AfL strategies were adopted in Chinese Language and English Language classrooms at the junior secondary level.…

With China's growing power and influence on the global stage, efforts are burgeoning to promote teaching the official Chinese language in U.S. schools. And while those activities are getting help from a variety of sources--including the U.S. government--one key player taking an increased role is the Chinese government itself. Just this year, the…

This study consists of two instructional experiments. Within the framework of dual coding theory, the study compares the learning effects of two instructional encoding methods used in Chinese vocabulary instruction among students learning beginning Chinese as a foreign language. One method uses verbal encoding only, and the other method uses…

Language in education debates in Hong Kong focus on the role and status of English (as the former colonial language and an important means for international communication); Cantonese, the mother tongue of the majority of the population; and Putonghua, the national language of China. This paper examines the language policy formulated in 1997-1998,…

This study examines language attitudes among Mongols in Inner Mongolia, using an extensive questionnaire. Forty Mongolian students who are studying at Inner Mongolia Normal University participated in this study. The results show that Mongols hold more positive attitudes toward putonghua and English than toward the Mongolian language in many…

This article reports the results of a study of potential sources of item nonequivalence between English and Chinese language versions of a cognitive development test for preschool-aged children. Items were flagged for potential nonequivalence through statistical and judgment-based procedures, and the relationship between flag status and item…

Cross-linguistic research on the development of tense-aspect marking has revealed a strong effect of lexical aspect. But the degree of this effect varies across languages. Explanation for this universal tendency and language-specific variation is still an open issue. This study investigates the early emergence and subsequent development of four…

This article explores the findings of a study that compared 2 groups of 5th-grade first-language Kam-Dong minority students as they learned English as a third language (L3) in the remote mountain village of Zaidang, in Rongjiang county, Guizhou Province, P.R. China. One group had previously been taught using Mandarin only (MO), whereas the other…