English is a compulsory course for students in China from primary education to postgraduate education. Recently more and more policymakers at Chinese universities have been forcing English education to be performed using a one-way English immersion approach. In their views, the more English practices in English classes, the better the learners'…

Many higher education policymakers are concerned about factors related to student success. One proposed model is the thriving model, which focuses on students' psychological wellbeing. In China, little is known about university students' psychological wellbeing. This study examined pathways to thriving among students enrolled in an American…

This article starts with definitions of bilingualism with a focus on the analysis of bilingual competence. Then the aims and types of bilingual education in developing bilingual competence are introduced with focus on analyses of immersion and content-based instruction. Subsequently, the contextual settings of the study are briefly presented.…

A U.S. and Chinese university developed a short-term student exchange program in public/community health. The program--which consisted of lectures, seminars, field trips, cross-cultural experiences, and a synthesis excursion--resulted in high levels of program satisfaction, increased intrapersonal awareness, and skill acquisition. Program content…

This article starts with a review of definitions of bilingualism. It then discusses the definition of bilingual education with its focus on the analysis of bilingual competence. It is subsequently suggested that a theoretical hard nut to be cracked in today's bilingual research is to establish the scope of discussion of bilingualism models meeting…

Popular opinion has long assumed that learning a foreign language requires not only traditional classroom instruction but also immersion among native speakers of the language. This opinion is so strongly held that students who study through immersion are believed to become more proficient than those who do not. "Study Abroad Contexts for…

Anxiety experienced in the course of learning a foreign language is specific and unique (Horwitz et al., 1986; MacIntyre & Gardner, 1989). This paper reports a study on anxiety in Chinese undergraduate non-English majors at three different proficiency levels in a three-week immersion summer camp. By way of survey, interviews, reflective…

The goal of this study was to examine the impact of the integration of global experiences on in-service teachers' international perspectives in mathematics classroom teaching through offering a graduate course "Global Perspectives in Mathematics Teaching" in the form of the East Meets West Program. This program engages teachers in an…

Understanding how businesses function in relation to cultural and societal influences is critical for today's business leader who wants to interact competently across borders. However, developing and evaluating such competence is a challenge. One concept that provides a holistic conceptualization of intercultural competence is the notion of…

The events of September 11, 2001, shocked the nation and forced the United States government to acknowledge its tremendously inadequate capability in foreign language proficiency and global cultural awareness. Post 9/11 military operations reinforced the reality that the Department of Defense (DoD) needs a significantly improved capability in…

Greater China is used in this article to refer to mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Macao. While a holistic approach is adopted to present and compare the rapid spread of English and development in English language education in these geographically close, and sociopolitically, culturally and economically interrelated but hugely…

This paper reports an empirical study on the application of the immersion approach to English teaching in North China Institute of Science and Technology (NCIST) in line with the basic principles of the Canadian immersion teaching mode. The experiment result and survey shows that the students involved in the immersion course improve faster in…

The lure of entering the China "market" has led numerous North American colleges and universities to open campuses or offices on Chinese soil--in anticipation of bolstering enrollment numbers, wooing a promising supply of Chinese students, and offering their American or other international students the opportunity to live and study…

Research has shown that the underlying teaching beliefs or theories of any particular teacher have generally been considered relatively stable and static throughout his or her career. However, this study investigates how one teacher's beliefs regarding both teaching and learning were changed during a short-term study and immersion program abroad.…

Although generally acknowledged as complex and multidimensional, bilingual education, when successful, plays an important role in maintaining and developing bilingualism, resulting in numerous benefits to those who undertake it. This essay will discuss the necessary components and principles of what is required to make a successful bilingual…