Chinese Studies Commons^™

Teaching China Beyond Eurocentrism: Intercultural Pedagogy And The Case Of The República Del Reino De La China By Jerónimo Román Zamora, Miriam Diaz Belizon

Comparative Philosophy

Interdisciplinary approaches to teaching China in Western academic contexts often reproduce Eurocentric frameworks that reduce Chinese philosophical and cultural traditions to subordinate objects of analysis. This article proposes an alternative model grounded in intercultural philosophy and the Filosofías del Sur, arguing that China should be approached not as a distant object of representation, but as an epistemic interlocutor capable of transforming philosophical education. The article develops this argument through the recovery of the República del Reino de la China, included in the 1595 edition of Repúblicas del Mundo, as a key example of early intercultural mediation from the European South. …

What Teachers See: Collaborative Artmaking In Chinese And U.S. Elementary Schools, Jiayu Shi

Masters Theses

This study explores how elementary art teachers in the United States and China perceive and use collaborative artmaking with their students. Driven by my personal journey as a Chinese student and art educator now studying in the U.S., this research asks: How do teachers in these two countries compare in their views of collaborative artmaking, including its social-emotional outcomes, benefits, and challenges. I conducted semi structured interviews with three elementary art teachers: two from China (one veteran, one early-career) and one from the U.S. with experience in both rural and urban schools. Findings show that teachers in both contexts value …

A Description Of Zhao Zhang’S Nature No. 2 And Xiaoxuan Xu’S An Unusual Feast Of East, Sicheng He

Dissertations, 2020-current

This research presents a new path in the development of Chinese music by aiming to incorporate both modern Western and ancient Chinese influences in form, texture, tonality, topic, and other dimensions of style and structure. Two Chinese composers whose recent compositions for the piano share similar characteristics: Zhao Zhang (b. 1964; Nature no. 2, 2013) and Xiaoxuan Xu (b. 1990; An Unusual Feast of East, 2022). The research will discuss how Zhao Zhang and Xiaoxuan Xu accomplish this fusion of old and new in their recent piano works Nature no. 2, (2013) and An Unusual Feast of East, 2022. …

Within Boundaries: Collecting And Exhibiting Chinese Contemporary Art In M+, Hong Kong, Lei April Liu

Masters Theses

This thesis investigates how M+, Hong Kong’s museum of twentieth- and twenty-first-century visual culture, collects and exhibits Chinese contemporary art under political and institutional constraint. It argues that M+ operates through adaptive autonomy, a condition in which curatorial and educational strategies transform limitation into method. By analyzing the museum’s formation, exhibition practices, and comparison with other Asian institutions such as the Asia Culture Center in South Korea, the Power Station of Art in China, and the National Gallery Singapore, the study reveals how M+ sustains visibility of Chinese contemporary art with political sensitive topic through 绥靖 (Sui Jing; subtle appeasement) …

The Rescue Of Wahutedew’Á And The Epistemological Reforestation: An Analysis Of Time In A Terra Dos Mil Povos, By Kaká Werá Jecupé, Ivo Cruz

The Coastal Review

It is estimated that in 1500, the year the Portuguese arrived in America, there was a population of 2,431,000 inhabitants, according to historian John Hemming (1978), who occupied the lands that we now know as Brazil. These peoples had their own culture whose cosmology was destroyed and erased over time by a violent process of colonization. Even though entire groups were decimated, much of their influence is still alive in Brazilian culture. This influence can be found in vocabulary, cuisine, and even religious practices. With the aim of rescuing ancestral narratives and knowledge of various native peoples, Kaká Werá Jecupé …

Light And Darkness For Aesthetic Pleasure: An Exploration Of J.M.G. Le Clézio’S Early Writings And Jun’Ichiro Tanizaki’S In Praise Of Shadows, Kenichiro Otani

The Coastal Review

Building upon comparative principles, this semantic reading of Jun’ichirō Tanizaki’s essay In Praise of Shadows and J.M.G. Le Clézio’s early writings illustrates how both the Franco-Mauritian author and the Japanese writer problematize modern Western perception laden with concepts stifling flexible imagination through the mysterious worldview of light/darkness. They also simultaneously express the hope that another way of life leading to liberation is possible. Delving into the spiritual confinement of the subject, they demonstrate how keeping rich creativity within one’s heart can be an escape from a stagnant society. Albeit in very different mediums, Tanizaki and Le Clézio assert that the …

Principal Agency 50 Years After The Lau Decision: Building And Sustaining Bilingual Education Programs For Asian Languages, Kevin M. Wong, Zhongfeng Tian

Education Division Scholarship

This study examined how three champion principals of Asian language dual language bilingual education (DLBE) programs—Cantonese, Korean, and Mandarin—in California have navigated the oscillating language-in-education policies after the Lau decision. We explored principals' various roles through a lens of agency in a social justice leadership framework, specifically considering the opportunities and challenges for agentive leadership from three different phases: foregrounding and engaging, planning and implementing, and evaluating and sustaining. Findings demonstrate that the success of DLBE programs goes beyond the overarching language policies that supposedly enable bilingual education; rather it hinges on the bottom-up commitment, collaboration and resilience of principals, …

Promoting Emergent Literacy In Preschool Through Extended Discourse: Covert Translanguaging In A Mandarin Immersion Environment, Robin E. Harvey, Kevin M. Wong

Education Division Scholarship

Rich oral language practices, including the opportunity and ability to participate in cognitively and linguistically challenging extended discourse, are foundational to early literacy development. To meet children’s needs in their first exposure to the languages of schooling, educators may engage students in extended discourse multilingually. The current study focuses on student-centered translanguaging conversations to examine strategies that preschool teachers employ to support young children’s emerging bilingual and biliteracy development in a Mandarin immersion preschool serving primarily nonheritage learners of Mandarin in the United States. Findings indicate that, despite the school’s Mandarin-only policy, teachers engaged in covert translanguaging practices to extend …

Buddhism, Daoism, And Jeet Kune Do: A Contemporary Analysis Of Nondual Traditions In A New Age Martial Art, James H. Sutton

Journal of Conscious Evolution

Traditional martial arts are known for their focus on spiritual cultivation through a combination of self-defense training and contemplative practices like meditation. Traditional martial art systems tend to utilize nondual traditions commonly associated with Buddhism and Daoism; however, modern martial art practices, particularly those of MMA, no longer place a strong emphasis on such traditions. In turn, this has led to the development of high-performance sport athletes who emphasize self-defense efficiency in combat (usually combat sports) over all other attributes while also mixing “arts” or “styles” as necessary for the individual’s own self growth. I dub these as “new age” …

K(Now) W(Here), Yulin Yuan

Masters Theses, 2020-current

“How does one discover solace and belonging within these layered narratives?”

In mythology, narratives were once created to answer the incomprehensible questions of an era. These narratives unveil half-truths, customs, and convictions. K(now) W(here) is based on the experience of the artist who is Chinese and immigrated to South Africa at a young age; she elaborates the story about assimilation, authenticity, tales of her ancestral roots, and, most often, myths of identity.

The artist used narratives from Chinese mythology, collaged physically and metaphorically using tangible objects from other’s homes in combination with photography, digital media, and domestic items and assemblage …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald: Inventing Yourself On The Hill, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

Magazine edition of the College Heights Herald for the period January 29 - March 3, 2024.

• Anderson, Alexandria. Letter from the Editor
• Costellow, Ali. Passions Provide Outlets for Self-Expression – Nathan Neal, Chase Winemiller, Gracie Silvia, Nico Silverthorn
• Reed, Bailey. Chinese Music Club Brings New Sound to the Hill
• Historic Building Makes for Unique Apartments – Columns, Bowling Green High School
• Parks, Adin. Inside the Bowling Green Warming Centers – Homeless
• Murray, Debra. Kentucky Museum Exhibits Curator Details Research on Women’s Culture – Tiffany Isselhardt
• Anderson, Alexandria. Who Owns WKU’s Dorms – Student Life Foundation, Hilltopper Hall
• Coppinger, Carrington. Forensics …

Facilitating Chinese Language Education With Chinese Calligraphy, Huiwen Li

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

Chinese Calligraphy, a treasure of traditional Chinese culture, maintains considerable significance within the realm of global Chinese education. This article thoroughly scrutinizes the inherent value of calligraphy courses in overseas Chinese education. Primarily, it delves into the profound impact calligraphy classes have on students' Chinese language proficiency, intercultural cognitive skills, and aesthetic appreciation. Furthermore, this article elucidates the lamentable scarcity of calligraphy, while simultaneously revealing a range of strategic solutions to address this pressing issue. These strategies encompass comprehensive teacher training, optimization of teaching methodologies, creation of comprehensive calligraphy course materials and resources, as well as the procurement of substantial …

Task-Based Language Teaching In The Chinese Classroom, Jing Gao

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

This article discusses Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) implemented in the Chinese classroom. TBLT involves a three-phase pedagogical sequence, including pre-task, on-task, and post-task. Different task-based learning activities are designed to promote learners’ language acquisition through the performance of tasks. Learners are engaged in interactive and collaborative communication to accomplish meaningful and relevant real life tasks. This article explores the application of one TBLT unit in Chinese for learners’ language development in terms of both fluency and accuracy.

Ripe Spoils, Yan Cynthia Chen

Theses and Dissertations

Chen’s practice primarily focus on sculptures and installation. She explores the interplay between the idea of nature and the constructed environment, by examining how language informs what we know. The central thesis, "Ripe Spoils", employs citrus fruits as symbols for bodily experiences and personal identity, investigating their cultural and historical significance. Her sculptures summon the qualities and embedded meanings in materials like paper pulp and clay, wax and citrus fruits, often resulting in abstracted forms evocative of the human body. This thesis paper and exhibition reflect on themes like mortality and the essence of self.

Chinese-English Dictionary Enable Select Search …

Learning Chinese Vocabulary: Understanding Students' Perspectives, Austin Gasiecki, Zuotang Zhang

The Coastal Review

This study used a survey to investigate self-study and university-enrolled Chinese learners’ habits in studying Chinese vocabulary in order to determine what study methods influence a.) learners’ confidence in learning Chinese vocabulary and b.) what aspects of Chinese vocabulary they consider easy or difficult. We were particularly interested in seeing what the data had to say about students’ attitudes towards characters and the written language, given that the field of Chinese language pedagogy is known for a stronger focus on the written language as opposed to the spoken language. We found that aspects of Chinese vocabulary associated with the spoken …

Between Pain And Glory: Memory Disputes Of The Brazilian Dictatorship In Retrato Calado And O Que É Isso, Companheiro?, Angela R. Mooney

The Coastal Review

This article analyzes Luiz Roberto Salinas Fortes’ Retrato calado (Silent Portrait) published in 1988, considering the theoretical discussions on testimonio's epistemology—addressing the challenge of narrating trauma and the risk of stylization. It compares Fortes' memoir with Fernando Gabeira's O que é isso, companheiro? (What's This, Comrade?) from 1979, examining diverse approaches to capturing historical trauma through literature and its impact on collective memory about Brazilian Dictatorship (1964-1985).

Global Communities: The Potential Of Street Art And The Public Space, Elena Picech

The Coastal Review

This paper highlights the significance of physical proximity and the potentiality of socio-spatial situations as tools to enrich study abroad programs. Particular attention is given to street art and the public space. While, studying on-site can be somewhat uncomfortable, it can potentially prompt unique reflections, enhance student’s learning and encourage introspection. Being on-site provides the opportunity to come into contact and to connect with the physical objects and their environment. It enables a multisensory and immersive embodied experience. Leveraging art for communicative educational activities can facilitate a participatory experience, promote critical thinking and enhance cultural understanding.

Children’S Gothic In The Chinese Context: The Untranslatability And Cross-Cultural Readability Of A Literary Genre, Chengcheng You

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

As an emerging literary subgenre in the twenty-first century, Children’s Gothic challenges and blends the norms of both children’s literature and Gothic literature, featuring child characters’ self-empowerment in the face of fears and dark impulses. The foreignness and strangeness that pertain to the genre haunt the border of its translatability. Daniel Handler’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (1999­–2006), written under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket, poses a chain of translational challenges due to its linguistic creativity, paratextual art, and mixed style of horror and dark humor intended for a child readership. To investigate the interplay between Children’s Gothic and its (un)translatability …

Decolonizing French: Afrophonics In Ken Bugul’S Aller Et Retour (2013), Hapsatou Wane

The Coastal Review

This article explores the innovative language strategies employed by Senegalese writer Ken Bugul in her novel Aller et retour to construct a dynamic and interconnected linguistic landscape that challenges fixed language boundaries. Ken Bugul's "langue fabriquée" combines elements of French, Wolof, and English, reflecting a transglocal dimension that embodies the essence of afrophonics—a poetics of resistance that empowers local cultures in a globalized context. Through a detailed analysis of Ken Bugul's linguistic choices, including the use of quotation marks, footnotes, and arbitrary transcription, the study reveals how she creates a language that defies categorization and decolonizes French without resorting to …

Word Segmentation And Reading Comprehension Among Advanced Learners Of Chinese, Helen H. Shen, Dexin Dai

Languages and Intercultural Studies

This study investigated college Chinese a second language learners’ word segmentation error patterns in reading instructional-level Chinese sentences, the relationship between word segmentation errors and reading comprehension, and learners’ perspectives on the role of word segmentation in reading comprehension. The results showed that the learners made five types of word segmentation errors. Four of these types moderately correlated with reading comprehension. The survey data showed that most learners considered word segmentation skills important in reading comprehension. This perception became stronger as the learning level advanced. The learners suggested that three factors hindered them from performing accurate word segmentations.

De Médée À La Sorcière : Reconstruction D’Un Mythe Par Michelet, Caroline Strobbe

The Coastal Review

In La Sorcière, Jules Michelet uses the strength and the myth of the Medea character, which had already fascinated Corneille. In the second part of his work, Michelet creates nominative witches after authentic texts. In the first part, he creates an allegoric witch on the Medea model: the Woman, a victim of arbitrariness, injustice and repression, rises up against her oppressors, figuring the march of Humanity towards Enlightenment and Liberty. The analogies between the Witch and Medea are therefore numerous and necessary, since they help to render the defense of the oppressed against the oppressor. Would the somber Medea, …

La Radical Imperfección Del Mundo: El Crimen Perfecto De Jean Baudrillard Y El Crimen Ferpecto De Alex De La Iglesia, Maria A. Gomez

The Coastal Review

Le parfait crime (1995) by Jean Baudrillard and Crimen ferpecto (2004) by the Basque director Alex de la Iglesia are two works that not only have in common almost identical titles. They both reflect on how in consumer societies, an imperfect real world is substituted for an illusory hyperreality in which the distinction between subject and object has disappeared. While Baudrillard explains how the denial of a transcendent reality in contemporary society is “a perfect crime” that destroys the real, Alex de la Iglesia uses black humor and a mix of genres (mainly grotesque comedy and thriller) to show the …

Intertextual Discourse Research On Ip Film Language From The Perspective Of Chinese Teaching, Xiao Jiang

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

Based on the theory of intertextual discourse, this paper makes a comparative analysis of the IP source texts, Chinese subtitles and English subtitles of IP films from the perspective of Chinese teaching. The research found that Chinese subtitles of IP films which compared with the source texts reconstructed the descending language of the characters, implanted popular contemporary language and culture, strengthened the language escalation of dramatic conflicts, and increased the sense of humor and entertainment of characters' language, so as to be suitable for Chinese teaching and cultural communication. The English subtitles of IP films deleted the cultural elements of …

On Forms And Regulations Of Han Poetry, Shang-Ju Chiang

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

Traditional poetics is gradually disappearing under the impact of modernization. Aiming to provide Chinese with specific ways to understand the poetics of Chinese characters, this article articulates and analyzes most of the Han Poetry forms and regulations illustrated with the author-created poems, such as the traditional quatrains and regulated poems and many more. It is the author’s hope that more people will appreciate and inherit classic poetry but also be innovative.

Using Online Resources To Foster Autonomous Learning In A Clil Context: A Case Study Of An Advanced Chinese Class, Xiao Zeng

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

The role of online resources has become increasingly significant in content and language integrated Chinese courses in terms of material preparation and autonomous learning task design. The study examines a case of integrating online visual resources into an advanced Chinese newspaper and journalism class and discusses how online resources can be utilized to foster student autonomy and promote self-regulated learning. Specifically, the study demonstrates the key features of a video platform (Pear Video) and editing tool (Interphoto), and shows how the task arrangement takes advantage of the resources in enhancing students’ language and content skills. The analysis of the learning …

A Study On Strategies For Improving Students’ Oral Skills In Online Chinese Language Teaching In Burundi, Mfitiye Ferdinand, Bankuwiha Etienne

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

Abstract

During the period of covid-19 pandemic, educational activities in several countries around the world have experienced changes in their implementation. Face-to-face Chinese teaching in several Confucius Institutes around the world has been moved to online teaching to reduce the spread of the Covid-19 virus. In Burundi, online Chinese teaching is provided through the social network “whatsapp”. However, students have some difficulty in improving their speaking skills while learning online. This study therefore examined the strategies that can be used by the students and the teachers to ensure the improvement of students' speaking skills while learning Chinese online. It proceeded …

Cooperative Language Learning In Teaching Proficiency Through Reading And Storytelling, Jing Gao

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) is becoming widely recognized and implemented in K-12 language classrooms across the nation. Cooperative language learning structures interactive group work for learners’ language development. In communicative language classrooms, cooperative learning can be implemented in TPRS to encourage students’ interaction and communication in collaborative tasks. This article explores the application of cooperative language learning in the TPRS Chinese classroom. Specific teaching methods are discussed in each step of TPRS, including establishing meaning, story asking, and story reading. Cooperative language learning in TPRS increases students’ engagement and motivation in language learning and promotes their language …

A Brief Introduction To Chinese Dual Immersion And Chinese Bridge Programs In Utah, Alex Yuan

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

This research, through in-depth interviews of ten participants, studied and analyzed, from political, economic and cultural perspectives, the Chinese dual immersion and Chinese bridge programs and the growing “Chinese learning heat” in Utah in a global context.

Creating And Applying Artificial Intelligence Teaching Materials For Online Courses: Review Of Student Teacher Skills When Teaching Chinese As A Foreign Language, Qiao-Yu Warren Cai

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

With artificial intelligence (AI) technology rapidly developing, the way in which humans learn is undergoing considerable change. The breakout of COVID-19 at the end of 2019 accelerated the pace with which people use AI technology for various tasks. The issue of e-materials to teach Chinese as a foreign language (TCFL) motivates the research of a one-group pretest-post-test design along with pre-experimental work: this in turn examines the online ability of student teachers working with TCFL. Findings show that the basic/proficient/expert technology, pedagogy, and evaluation of online TCFL ability (operating teaching software within narrow AI functions, producing teaching materials and applying …

Examinees’ Affective Preference For Online Speaking Assessment: Synchronous Vs Asynchronous, Yuxiao Du, Fangzheng Zhang

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

With technological advancement and the COVID pandemic, online speaking assessment is increasingly used in language teaching. Two modes are developed: online synchronous testing (direct human-to-human interview) and online asynchronous testing (semi-direct human-to-machine interview). Ample literature has explored how each of the two online modes differs from traditional face-to-face speaking assessments. However, few studies have investigated the differences between the two modes, especially in terms of examinees’ affective preferences. This study, therefore, compares the extent to which each mode is accepted and favored by test takers and explores why such an affective preference emerges. The participants are 46 college students enrolled …