Education Commons^™

Benefits And Challenges Of Computer-Assisted L2 Chinese Learning In Higher Education, Min Hu

Theses and Dissertations

The first article is a literature review that analyzed 32 articles on computer-assisted L2 Chinese learning in higher education from 2005-2021. Findings revealed current trends, such as mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) and the use of Web 2.0 technologies, and the importance of speaking as the most researched language skill. Most studies employed mixed methods and showed the positive effects of computer-assisted learning on L2 Chinese skills. Challenges identified included limited access to technology, technical difficulties, lack of time and support, and insufficient online/blended pedagogies and competencies. The second article used Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior to examine L2 Chinese instructors' …

Exploring The Effects Of A Chinese Heritage Language School On The Identity Construction Of Its Adolescent Students, Angela Dong

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This qualitative case study examines the identities of four adolescent students in a Chinese heritage language school in Atlantic Canada using a combination of semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and textbook analyses. Drawing from the conceptual approaches of reflexivity and translanguaging, this study explores the participants’ understandings of what it means to be Chinese, how Chineseness relates to feelings of Canadianness, and the role Mandarin plays in their overall identity constructions. Existing literature (e.g. Lu, 2001; Shin, 2010) has found that maintaining fluency in a heritage language has positive effects on speakers’ cultural identities. The findings of this study show that …

Building 6c’S (Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Communication, Creativity, Culture, Connectivity) In The Chinese Learning Classroom, Weixi Dong

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This teaching portfolio is a product of the author’s studies in the Masters of Second Language Teaching Program at Utah State University and her experiences as a teacher of Chinese at the elementary school level in the State of Utah’s public school Dual Immersion program. The author provides a selection of teaching reflections and research that have had the most impact on her teaching practice. First, the author offers personal reflections and a theoretical framework for her pedagogy in the Teaching Perspectives section, through a discussion of her professional environment and teaching experience; this is followed by the Teaching Philosophy …

The Construction And Formation Of Chinese Character, Lejia Zhang

Theses - ALL

Chinese characters are very unique. As one of the most widely used scripts in the world, its complex forms and large volume of characters make it always daunting for beginners, which is related to the long history of Chinese characters. This paper is divided into five parts, based on a definition of the nature of ancient Chinese characters. In the first part, it is argued that Chinese characters are made up of smaller elements. A single Chinese character, as a morpheme, is the smallest ideographic unit of the Chinese language, but a single character may also be formed by combining …

Evolution And Impact Of English Language Policy In Taiwan, Kaitlin Ashleigh Rigby

Honors Theses

This thesis takes a look at how English language policy (ELP) in Taiwan has changed over time and how it has affected the education system. This thesis also investigates the different attitudes directed toward ELP, some areas of concern, and problems that have occurred as a result of Taiwan’s approach toward ELP. Understanding why Taiwan supports the English language as much as it does while also considering its approach to implementing policy will provide insight on how Taiwan believes that ELP is a necessary part of globalization.

Chinese As A Foreign Language In The K-12 Education System Of The United States: Challenges And Opportunities, Joseph Colin Miller

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines the state of the Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) education system in the United States at the K-12 level. The approach to this research first demonstrates the importance of Chinese language expertise to the United States government as well as to private citizens in light of economic opportunities and national security interests. After establishing the relevance of engagement with China on multiple levels and therefore the appropriateness of learning Chinese (specifically Mandarin, but also Cantonese), the focus turns to the institutional and pedagogical aspects of K-12 Chinese education. On the institutional level, CFL programs are spreading …

Spatial Distribution Of Chinese Language Education And Historical Development Of Chinese Language Pedagogy In Higher Education In The United States, Jing Zhao

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This capstone project includes two major components: an interactive digital map that displays the geographical distribution of Chinese language programs in colleges and universities in the United States, their program starting years, the types of such universities and colleges, and their names and states; and a multimedia essay on the evolution of Chinese language pedagogy in colleges and universities in the United States. Data has been collected on the program start year, school names, states where schools are located, school types, and whether the school had been funded by two federal sponsored language programs: the National Defense Education Act in …

Cross-Culture Research: Comparison Between Chinese And American Art Education, Ye Liang

Theses and Dissertations

Education systems in China and the United States are very different. Chinese educator Hong Wang compared the two education systems and came to a conclusion: Chinese education wins in the starting point, while American education wins in the end point (Cheng, 2014). Chinese students learn more things, take challenging courses, and do well in academic accomplishment. However, examination-oriented methods in the Chinese education system may kill students’ interest in learning. Even though Chinese students learned fast in the starting points, they failed in the terminal points as they lost their interest in learning (Chen, 2014). Many educators and scholars think …

Role-Play In The Chinese Classroom, Matthew Werth

Masters Theses

Over the past decade, there has been an increasing push for foreign language teachers to use a communicative approach to language instruction. One area this can be seen is through role-plays, activities where students take on a persona other than themselves to complete a task in the target language. Despite the growing popularity of role-play, there has been little empirical research looking at the impact of role-play on students. In particular, the differences between large group and small group role-plays remain virtually unstudied.

This thesis looks at role-play in Chinese language classrooms from the perspectives of both teachers and students. …

A Curriculum For Improving Chinese Elementary School Students' Listening Comprehension Skills Through Video Games, Ming Cheng

Master's Projects and Capstones

English has been a compulsory subject in Grades 3-9 in China since 2010, English is also a compulsory subject at the secondary level and widely used at the postsecondary level as well. However, Chinese English teachers spend more time teaching English grammar and vocabulary translation while ignoring the instruction of listening and speaking. The importance of teaching listening has been ignored while listening skill is primary to the acquisition of the other language skills. Chinese students’ incompetence of listening and speaking has become a common phenomenon. Also, due to the exam-oriented education system in China, students are under intense pressure, …

Language Socialization Of Mainland Chinese Adolescents In U.S. Science Classrooms, Fang Yu

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Secondary schools in the United States are enrolling an increasing number of Mainland Chinese students, and this cohort of students is often seen as a “model minority” that can achieve academic success without much if any, extra support. However, many Chinese students encounter difficulties not only in learning English but in learning other content areas raising questions as to what they experience as the affordances and constraints to their learning.

Social Media Use By College Students And Teachers: An Application Of Utaut2, Xiangyun Huang

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Social media has been increasingly used in education to facilitate innovative instruction. Mainland Chinese people could not use popular social media platforms such as FacebookTM because the government blocked them. Little research studied social media use by Mainland Chinese students and teachers in the isolated network environment. This quantitative study utilized social constructivism, connectivism, and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2) as the theoretical base. Research questions explored the influence of 6 UTAUT2 predictors on social media use intention and the influence of social media use intention on social media use behavior. The study used a …

Relative Importance Of Anxiety And Motivational Variables In Predicting Language Achievement For College Learners Of Chinese, Qi Wang

Doctoral Dissertations

The growing worldwide enthusiasm in learning Chinese calls for more research on learner characteristics in Chinese classrooms to better inform teaching practice. Language anxiety, which falls under the umbrella of learner’s affect, is considered an important affective aspect that negatively influences language learning and acquisition. As research on language anxiety mainly focused on the learning of Western languages, this study constitutes an initial attempt to investigate anxiety in the learning of Chinese through the testing of a structural model. The purpose of the study was to examine the relative importance of language anxiety in predicting Chinese achievement when motivation, integrativeness, …

Guidebook For Esl Teachers Of Chinese Students, John M. Tubbs

Master's Projects and Capstones

There are currently many Chinese speakers studying and working in the United States. Some of them find English pronunciation to be very challenging. The Guidebook is meant to be a tool for the teachers of Chinese speaking ESL students. English language instruction in China is often teacher centered, with the instructor lecturing and students taking notes. Most classes do not focus on communicative skills. Different language groups often vary in terms of which English sounds they find difficult to pronounce. Vowel sounds have been identified as a particular challenge for Chinese speaking students. The front-vowels in English are the focus …

Bridgers In The Third Space: An In-Country Investigation Of The Leadership Practices Of Us-Educated Chinese Nationals, Maria L. Martinez

Educational Studies Dissertations

This in-country grounded theory study examined the lived experiences of 24 Chinese returnees who completed advanced degrees in the United States. The study found that the four types of organizations in mainland China determine the social context of the application of Western education of the Chinese returnees. Returnees working in multinational corporations apply their Western education more than the returnees working in the other types of organizations. Themes that revolved around the international educational experiences of the Chinese students, including the development of cultural intelligence and new understanding of the ‘other’, and their realization of the differences between their home …

The Effect Of Various Word Treatments On Chinese Vocabulary Comprehension During Multimedia Language Learning, Jeongwoon Kim

Theses and Dissertations

The current study investigated the effect of viewing various types of word definitions-dictionary, glossed, and annotated definitions-on Chinese learners' vocabulary comprehension during video-based language learning. A total of 53 advanced Chinese learner participants were given access to various randomized word definitions while viewing the subtitled videos used in the experiment. Results showed that learners recalled words for which they viewed definitions significantly better after the experiment than before. The viewing of dictionary, glossed, or annotated definitions yielded comparable levels of word comprehension. In situations where learners did not view word definitions; however, word comprehension was not significantly higher on the …

Chinese Students' Experience At United College: Dialogue Between Executives And Chinese Students, Alicia Palmer

Honors Theses

More and more Chinese students come to the United States to study. They come to the United States for college because education in American universities counts as one of the best education in the world. Some Chinese families pay a lot for their children's best education. In addition, American universities have major funding problems because the subsidies of the U.S. government decrease rapidly. Students often can not accept the United States scholarship, so have to pay all the tuition. However, it seems that students from the east have more psychological problems than those from western countries. One reason is that …

An Investigation Of Native And Non-Native Chinese Language Teachers And Their Pedagogical Advantages, Thomas Burns

Masters Theses

The motivation for this thesis stems from my own personal decade long struggle learning Mandarin Chinese. The inherent difficulty of mastering this intricate language too often will leave students feeling bewildered, confused, frustrated, and even hopeless. Having walked down this path myself, I was inspired me to investigate how the Chinese language educational landscape could be improved. What are its shortcomings? What are its strengths? How can the journeys of future Chinese language learners be made easier?

The research investigates the ongoing discussion of native and non-native speaking teachers. Teacher surveys, student surveys, student classwork, and classroom observations are utilized …

Parent Reasons For Enrollment At One Dual-Language Chinese Immersion Elementary School Program, Aaron W. Andersen

Theses and Dissertations

While foreign language immersion programs have been increasing in number and popularity throughout the United States, their growth in the state of Utah has been particularly dramatic. Utah contains more foreign language immersion programs than any other state and is home to one-fourth of the nation's elementary school Chinese immersion programs. This descriptive study explored the reasons why parents of children enrolled in Utah's Long Hill Elementary School Chinese Immersion program chose to enroll their child. Long Hill Elementary's Chinese Immersion program is 4 years old, with over 200 children enrolled across 4 grade levels. A household survey was developed, …

Communication-Based Teaching For Chinese Language Learners, Hsiao-Mei Tsai

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio is founded on the author’s principles of communicative teaching for Chinese language learners, which were cultivated and developed in the Master of Second Language Teaching program. The initial part of the portfolio is the teaching philosophy, which contains the author’s beliefs of teacher and student roles and effective teaching approaches in the Chinese as a foreign language classroom. The teaching philosophy is supported by three artifacts, which further clarify how to associate culture, literacy, and linguistics with language learning. The literacy artifact explains the process of Chinese and English biliteracy acquisition. The culture artifact is a comparison of …

The Effect Of Visualized Student's Self-Set Learning Progress Goals On East Asian Chinese Student's Motivation And Self Confidence In Learning, Yu Ao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted to determine if visualized goal achievement can help enhance East Asian Chinese students‟ motivation in learning and elevate their confidence in reaching their goals thus improving their performance. The goal achievement was visualized on a goal achievement progress chart that was self-created and self-managed by the East Asian Chinese students and the goal creating was under the supervision of their instructor. In this study, literature reviews on the theories, previous research studies in the perspectives of East Asian students‟ motivation in learning, goal setting on motivation, self-determination, self-efficacy, and expectancy theories are conducted to provide theoretical …

Communicative Language Teaching In Current Chinese Colleges And Universities., Xiaorong Li

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) has been prioritized as the key instructional approach in colleges since the Chinese Ministry of Education issued a revised syllabus in 1999 that underlines college EFL students' communicative competence. The issuance of the syllabus was followed by a series of reforms on curricular designs and teaching methods. However, CLT has encountered great resistance. College teachers and learners are constrained by socio-cultural influences such as the perceptions of teachers' roles and ways of learning and teaching (Hu, 2002; Rao, 1996). Although some teachers have shown positive attitudes towards CLT, in general they have failed to practice it …

Being And Becoming Public School Teachers: Career Mobility Of Chinese Overseas-Trained Teachers In The San Francisco Bay Area, Lily L. Chow

Doctoral Dissertations

Teacher shortage and retention has persisted in the United States for decades. Ethnic minority teachers are underrepresented in public K-12 schools as well as teachers for English learners. Untapped pools of overseas-trained teachers who are lawful permanent residents exist but are unemployed, underemployed, or working in other fields. To earn a local teaching credential, the immigrant bears the burden of proving equivalent knowledge and skills to re-enter her or his profession in the United States. At the time of this study, there was no research about overseas-trained immigrant teachers entering the teaching profession for primary and secondary public school students …

Values And Problem Behaviors In Hong Kong Adolescents, Phebe Karen Lam

Wayne State University Dissertations

The present study examined sensation seeking, psychological problem behaviors, values orientation, and problem behaviors of smoking, alcohol use, and delinquency among Hong Kong adolescents studying in high school of two different ability levels. Adolescents (N = 1385) from a band one and band three level high school in Hong Kong were assessed using the Sensation Seeking Scale Form-V (SSS-V), Youth Self Report (YSR), Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ), and the Adolescent Health and Development Questionnaire (AHDQ), along with several demographic variables (e.g., age, gender, grade level, employment).

Regression analyses were employed to determine the contribution of the significantly correlated variables in …

Study Of The Success Of Taiwanese Expatriate Managers On Overseas Assignments: A Grounded Theory Approach, Hsiu Ching Ko

Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to explore critical influences on expatriate performance during overseas assignments.

Multinational corporations (MNCs), in order to compete in today's global economy, need to have trained professionals who can succeed as expatriates. However, what demands do such professionals face? The purpose of the study was to explore critical influences on expatriate performance during overseas assignments. Thirteen former Taiwanese expatriate managers from 5 Taiwan-based MNCs participated in the study. Data were gathered from in-depth interviews about the participants' experiences during their overseas assignments. Through open, axial, and selective coding procedures associated with micro- and comparative analyses …

Syntactic Attrition In L2 Mandarin Speakers, Shu Pei Wang

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore how syntactic skill was maintained or lost by L2 Mandarin Chinese learners over time. In addition, this study endeavored to discover how a learner's L1 affects the attrition process of word order in Mandarin Chinese. To find out how certain Chinese syntactic structures were subject to attrition over time and how syntactic errors could be attributed to L1 transfer, five types of Chinese syntax that either resembled English, were very different from English, or had no counterpart in English were selected. They included subject-verb-object sentences, modifiers before modified, time and other adverbial …

Cultural Acclimatisation: Foreign Students Studying In A Private Educational Institution In Singapore, Chor Khoon Chey

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This Portfolio aims to examine the problems of acclimatisation and coping strategies of such foreign students. A sample of tweleve students was chosen from Chinese students studying at one private educational institution in Singapore. Drawing on the findings of Furnham (1997) and Murphy-Lejenne (2002), among others, the present study looks at the reasons why the participants decided to travel overseas, why they chose Singapore as their destination, what problems they encountered while here, and how they coped with the problems. They were also asked what specific problems they encountered with the schools they enrolled in. It is the contention of …

A Cross-Cultural Study Of Epistemological Beliefs And Moral Reasoning Between American And Chinese College Students, Zhongtang Ren

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Studies

This study investigated the cultural differences of epistemological beliefs and moral reasoning between American and Chinese college students (N=452) recruited from three universities, Old Dominion University in the eastern United States, Luoyang Normal University in the central China and Central University for Nationalities in northern China. A series of factorial MANOVA was conducted to explore the influence of gender, ethnicity and nationality as the independent variables on epistemological beliefs measured with five EBI (Epistemological Beliefs Inventory) scores and moral reasoning measured with two DIT (Defining Issues Test) scores as dependent variables.

No effects were found for gender and …

An Assessment Of Technology Classroom Environments In Chinese Universities, Jiexiu Li

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of graduate classroom environments as perceived by the graduate students and faculty in technology courses, at Chinese universities. Relationships between the different dimensions of the social environment of the graduate technology classrooms were examined. The Adult Classroom Environment Scale (ACES) was used to measure the actual and ideal classroom environments on seven dimensions. The research was conducted during Fall 1998. Participants in this study included 317 graduate students and 8 teachers in 8 classes from 6 universities in Beijing, China. The results of data analysis showed that there were significant …

Non-Delinquency Among American-Chinese Youth : A Pilot Study, Conrad Foo Mar

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

It was the purpose of this study: (1) to examine the obstacles in research in the uniquely difficult area of sampling of the American-Chinese population and (2) to find out what descriptive approaches do not produce resistance, hopefully to suggest future research in this area and (3) to obtain historical and descriptive data which might offer, from a sample of both delinquent and non-delinquent American-Chinese youth, some clues to the rehabilitation of youthful offenders. Specifically, this was basically an attempt to obtain an available sample of both delinquent and non-delinquent American-Chinese youth for the purpose of identifying some of the …