At the elementary school level, two studies (Eicher, Piersma, & Wood, 1975; Liu 2004) were conducted to investigate school children's knowledge, perceptions, and understanding about China. Findings from these studies implied that the U.S. children's knowledge of China was predominantly related to their exposure to Chinatown or Chinese…

The paradoxical findings about students' mathematics self-concept and academic achievement shown in international and comparative studies prompt this exploration of the function and development of mathematics self-concept. That is, when examining data within individual countries, a positive relationship exists between students' self-concept and…

Caregivers of 608 (331 boys and 277 girls) children in Shanghai, China reported on their children's language development and on the language teaching practices used in the home. The children were between 24 and 47 months old. The relation of age-corrected language level to paternal education, child gender, and teaching practice use was examined.…

Expectations that Chinese college and university staff and students have concerning English-speaking western educators who are recruited to teach in China were studied. The role that the western educator expects to play in China was also assessed. Attention was focused on the perceptions held by eight Chinese scholars studying in the United States…

The paper investigated four Chinese graduate students' perceptions of the major differences between North American and Chinese classroom teaching styles. Major differences in the following five areas were identified: 1) the teacher's role, 2) the student's role, 3) the form of class organization, 4) the teacher's expectations, and 5) the student's…

Keeping in mind the Chinese character-combination "yuyan," with its multiple meanings of language, parts of language, the processes of language, and the products of those processes, the author depicts English as kept alive by many people and by many different ways of using it in a wide range of personal, social, and historical contexts.…

Pragmatic proficiency has been incorporated in the EFL teaching and testing syllabi in China, but the corresponding tests still focus on linguistic competence. The gap between the teaching and testing is mainly due to the lack of generally accepted measures of communicative abilities such as pragmatic competence. This study developed a…

This study explored cultural differences in the criteria young people have for becoming an adult. Specifically, the study sought (a) to compare Chinese and American responses concerning whether they believe they have reached adulthood; (b) to examine whether adulthood criteria could fit a common statistical model for both cultures; and (c) after…

In a series of three papers, I examined the identity-development of three Chinese women teachers as they moved back and forth between Eastern and Western cultures and languages amid the rapidly changing events of the last four decades. I use a river metaphor to explore three phases in the cross-cultural lives of these women: in the first paper,…

This paper examines the Chinese literature on giftedness and talented performance (TP) and compares its dominant theoretical features with some influential models to be found in the North American literature. One significant feature to emerge from the Chinese literature is a deemphasis on giftedness as an innate ability and an emphasis on the…

Compares the cognitive representation of number of 24 American, 25 Chinese, 24 Japanese, and 40 Korean first-graders, and 20 Korean kindergartners. Chinese, Japanese, and Korean children preferred to use a construction of tens and ones to show numbers, whereas English-speaking children preferred to use a collection of units. (RJC)

The present study examines sociolinguistic features of a particular speech act, paying compliments, by comparing and contrasting native Chinese and native American speakers' performances. By focusing on a relatively understudied speaker group such as the Chinese, typically regarded as having rules of speaking and social norms very different from…

Investigates discontented responses within and between American and Chinese cultures. Finds (contrary to current theories) only marginal cultural differences. Provides possible explanations for this inconsistency. (SR)

This study examines the developmental patterns of perceived control beliefs among a total of 1720 urban Chinese, rural Chinese, and American students in second through sixth grade. Children's perceived control beliefs were measured with the Revised Control, Agency, and Means-end Interview (CAMI). The results show that the latent structures of…

In a series of three papers, I examine the identity development of three Chinese women teachers as they moved back and forth between Eastern and Western cultures and languages amid the rapidly changing events of the last four decades. I use a river metaphor to explore three phases in the cross-cultural lives of these women: in the first paper,…