The present study examines the effect of adjunct questions on the reading comprehension of English-speaking learners of Chinese as a second language (L2). In Experiment 1, fourth-year (advanced) learners (n = 42) read two texts, either with or without adjunct questions, and completed a multiple-choice cloze. In Experiments 2 and 3, second-year…

Informed by concepts of native speakers, racial nativism, and language socialization theory, this study documented the existence of the native speaker fallacy (Phillipson, 1992, "Linguistic imperialism." Oxford: Oxford University Press) in a university-level Japanese and Chinese program in the United States. Specifically, the researcher…

This study investigated the relationships between the beliefs and practices of K-12 native Chinese teachers on Chinese language and literacy instruction. Using a descriptive-exploratory design, this study employed a mixed-methods approach consisting of three steps: (1) a teacher beliefs questionnaire, (2) classroom observations and videotaping,…

This article reports on an empirical study of refusal strategies in Chinese by native speakers (NS) and nonnative Chinese learners (NNS). Sixty subjects (perceived as "students") were to refuse an invitation by "the professor" to a Chinese New Year's party. The study found that the NS group produced 10 strategies, whereas the…

The present study compared the rhetorical strategies for argumentative writing in Chinese and English composition textbooks. The textbooks were selected based on four criteria. The results of the study revealed that there are similarities and differences in Chinese and English argumentative writing. Both Chinese and English agree upon the function…

This article argues that for students of Chinese and Japanese, learning to write Chinese characters ("hanzi/kanji") by hand from memory is an inefficient use of resources. Rather, beginning students should focus on character/word recognition (reading) and electronic writing. Although electronic technologies have diminished the usefulness of…

Investigated the effects of language background on success in the learning of Chinese characters by first-year college students of Chinese. An instrument consisting of a character-recognition task and a production task was employed. Eighty-five bilingual speakers of English and Chinese and 60 nonheritage learners from seven institutions…

Reports on an empirical study of the politeness strategies in Chinese business correspondence and considers its implications in teaching business Chinese. The study investigated 20 examples of business correspondence by native speakers of Chinese. By analyzing linguistic/stylistic features of the letters in two predesigned situations, the study…