Describes the acquisition and use of a Chinese metalanguage with which ambiguous spoken words are graphically contextualized. The metalanguage is composed of strategies that range from the actual writing of the Chinese graph (character) to those where the graph is accommodated in a verbal presentation. (12 references) (JL)

Contrasts symmetrical and asymmetrical features of word order in Mandarin and English, focusing on the preverbal and postverbal positional contrast, and revealing several cognitive sources for similarities between the two languages. (53 references) (CB)

Discusses both Canale's and Bachman's theoretical frameworks of language proficiency (LP). These theories share the same standpoint: language use for communication is dynamic; LP is both knowledge and skills; and LP includes at least grammatical competence, discourse/textual competence, and sociolinguistic competence. (Contains 38 references.) (JP)

Analyzed 145 Chinese American outpatient clients to determine how long they would stay in psychotherapy when ethnic- and language-matched therapists were provided. Results indicated that median duration of psychotherapy was 8 sessions, mean duration was 12 sessions, and drop-out rate was 12.38%. Results were comparable to those from general…

Describes the benefits of and processes necessary for teaching Chinese as a functional language, focusing on the three teaching and learning objectives of goal orientation in curriculum planning; cultural/contextual clarity in instruction; and clear guidelines for evaluation. (CB)

Examines how the cultural revolution in China has changed, to some extent, the rules governing the use of address terms, discussing the close interrelation between the use of address terms and cultural values and how the change in mental outlook has led to the depreciation or appreciation of certain terms. (Author/CB)

Examines the role of context effects in the processing of homophones in Chinese and Chinese-English bilingual speech. Finds that prior sentence context has an early effect on the disambiguation of various homophone meanings in both monolingual and bilingual situations. Accounts for results by interactive activation models of lexical processing.…

Investigates the size and shape of the effective visual field in Chinese reading by systematically manipulating the availability of meaningful information on both sides of a fixated character. Shows that the effective visual field was asymmetric and skewed in the direction of scanning with a highly limited size, composed of the fixated character…

Interviews with second-generation Chinese-American undergraduates (N=30) revealed high self-imposed and perceived parental educational and career expectations. Suggests the powerful role of culture and parental pressure in the development of the inner drive for achievement. Parental support, as well as pressure, was reported. Discusses academic…

Discusses the adoption of the pinyin Romanization standard over Wade-Giles and considers the impact on retrieval in online library catalogs. Describes an investigation that tested three factors that could influence retrieval efficiency: the number of usable syllables, the average number of letters per syllable, and users' familiarity with the…

Investigated how meanings of being Chinese and being American varied among young adults, examining orientations to Chinese and American cultures and noting cultural domains upon which being Chinese and being American were based. Surveys of Chinese American college students who were American-born or immigrants indicated that the meanings attached…

Investigates the phenomena of concept similarity and conceptual information alteration in medical translation of article titles as information transfers between English and Chinese. Results showed the loss of conceptual information was much greater than the gain in both English-to-Chinese and Chinese-to-English translation, and there were two…

Examines two issues concerning the acquisition of grammatical morphemes: (1) How is the acquisition of grammatical morphemes influenced by prosodic and phonological characteristics of the language being learned? and (2) What sorts of prosodic and phonological properties do grammatical morphemes have that might aid children in applying particular…

A four-year longitudinal study examined relationship between phonological skills of 100 Chinese children and the children's success in reading. Findings indicated that prereading phonological skills assessed at age 3 predicted the children's reading performance in Chinese two and three years later, even after controlling for the effects of age,…

Discusses the need for teamwork for organizational success and productivity and provides two native Chinese performance technologists' perspectives on barriers to team performance in Chinese culture. Topics include class distinction and bias; being noncommittal and avoiding involvement; professional relationship versus friendship; and lack of…