A recent archeological excavation in Yutian County of Xinjiang has brought to the world one of th... more A recent archeological excavation in Yutian County of Xinjiang has brought to the world one of the oldest form of Chinese Papercuts in the shape of a rosette. Its history can be traced as far back to the period known as the Northern and Southern Dynasties (386-581 A.D.) Nonetheless, Chinese paper cutting is an age-old handicraft of the Chinese people. One can easily detect thousands of themes and patterns presented in this type of simple, two-dimensional cuttings. Furthermore, one can detect that some Chinese characters or phrases are always presented in the Chinese papercuts. Thus, the Chinese papercuts can be examined as items that have captured the blueprints of Chinese culture, especially in the aspect of Chinese language. This short article seeks to help us examine the rich spectrum of the 'expressed languages' embedded in the Chinese papercuts.
Proceedings of the 2020 The 2nd World Symposium on Software Engineering, 2020
This paper analyzes the value orientation framework of junior high school Chinese Language textbo... more This paper analyzes the value orientation framework of junior high school Chinese Language textbooks. The value orientation framework is designed to examine three major dimensions of human relationships, namely, "man and himself", "man and society", and "man and nature". The aim of the framework is to evaluate the themes in junior high Chinese textbooks. The classification of moral value orientation reveals that China's national guidelines paid significant attention to the cultivation of students' morality, aesthetics, and appreciation of nature. Nonetheless, the researcher noticed that but there was a lack of themes such as the virtue of thriftiness, emphasis on innovation, and the concept of ecological sustainability. Moreover, the interpretation of the value orientation in these textbooks lacks contemporaneity. Furthermore, hot topics such as the inequality between men and women, which is prevalent in certain provincial and rural areas of Chi...
When China was completely closed to the Western world between during the Cold War, namely, 1947 t... more When China was completely closed to the Western world between during the Cold War, namely, 1947 to 1991, China-born Eurasian author and physician Dr Han Suyin, who became British citizen and Swiss resident, was among the few who were allowed to visit China. Though controversial, her autobiographical accounts regarding 20th century China was quite notable. Her reconstructed modern Chinese history pointed to the birthing of a ―phoenix‖ namely, China, hinting on a new ethical order in East-West relations. Captured in her six-volume autobiography, namely The Crippled Tree series, the East-West conflicts also surfaced in the microcosm of Han Suyin‘s family history as well as her own identity search. Autobiographies are traditionally understood as means of self-redemption or self-validation of the respective autobiographers. In the case of Dr Han Suyin, it was an epistemological means to her self-knowledge and self-assertion. Having rejected her maiden name Rosalie, Han Suyin learned late...
Due to globalization, EPS is increasingly important, especially among university students. Howeve... more Due to globalization, EPS is increasingly important, especially among university students. However, in China, some fundamental questions have not been answered, such as, what specific competencies of English public speaking（EPS） should be attained by university students? What level of these competencies should be reached? What assessment instrument should be employed to gauge the performance of EPS among EFL university students? These have not received enough research. To response to these questions, this study took CSE (China Standard of English Language Ability) serve as the initial item pool, and filtered out relevant EPS descriptors, then via employment of inductive approach, a CSE-based EPS Ability Standard Framework (EASF)was established, and base on this framework, an EPS Rating Scale (ERS)was created. Within EASF and ERS, four (4) dimensions and 22 item statements are contained. Moreover, validity and reliability evidence for this new instrument was established. In the last ...
u T i l raX3TfaTiT«1 • • Opportunities, Practices and Constraints I Reading-based Holistic Langua... more u T i l raX3TfaTiT«1 • • Opportunities, Practices and Constraints I Reading-based Holistic Language Learning Program Lm ESL Teacher Trainees' Use of Scaffolding as a Learning Strategy in Comprehending Short Stories Effects of Instruction on Malay ESL Learners' Written Past Time Forms ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ tigating Second Language Motivation Among ESL Students: study of the Motivation Construct Among Students Learning English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and English: for ,~I Occupational Purposes (EOP) Bromelev Pliilip
Autobiographies are traditionally understood as means of selfredemption or self-validation of the... more Autobiographies are traditionally understood as means of selfredemption or self-validation of the respective autobiographers, but they seem to have become tools of self-assertion in the recent times. The writers of this paper noticed that the underlying patterns in major autobiographies of the respective centuries such as those of Augustine, Rousseau, Virginia Woolf, Han Suyin and other male or female autobiographers commonly evolve around one’s ethical choices in response to the vices caused by one’s natural will and when facing ethical dilemmas caused by life challenges. This paper examines the abovementioned autobiographies via the Ethical Literary Criticism (ELC). Developed by Professor Nie Zhenzhao since 2004, ELC is one of the most insightful critiques in expounding the relationship of the self with oneself, self with others, and self with the divine or higher moral order in the context of the literary world.
Mandarin is unique with its own grammatical and sentence patterns, it is the teachers role to of... more Mandarin is unique with its own grammatical and sentence patterns, it is the teachers role to offer guidelines that will help the students, esp. non-native speakers, to produce grammatically correct Mandarin sentences. This paper introduces the “word sequence” diagrams that specifically cater for the teaching and learning processes of Elementary Mandarin among non-native learners. The diagrams have been experimented with a number of samples through a period of time. When examined, these diagrams are found to agree with the “word sequence” approach or similar theories proposed by learned researches in the field, for example, Liu Hongmo, Shen Xiaolong and Han Chenqi. The article demonstrates in what manner the diagrams form graphic impressions upon the learners and make the grammar of Mandarin manageable. It also shows how the proposed diagrams can enable learners to acquire basic Mandarin sentence patterns without rigid training in the Chinese grammar. The proposed diagrams are beli...
PLATFORM - A Journal of Management & Humanities , 2021
In the past ten years, the research on English learning as EFL (English as Foreign Language) for... more In the past ten years, the research on English learning as EFL (English as Foreign Language) for ethnic minority students in China has made significant progress. It would be beneficial to review what has been done and what needs to be explored further. This paper performs a content analysis on English learning as EFL among ethnic minority students in China. It covers articles published from 2010 to 2019 to glimpse the research trends regarding the research progress and significant themes explored in the field. Thirty-two articles published in key journals in China were identified and selected from China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). Six aspects of research in the field were examined, namely: (1) the annual publication trend, (2) themes, (3) ethnic minority groups and regional distribution, (4) subject educational level, (5) research instruments, and, (6) regional distribution of the research sites. Three limitations with the extant studies were delineated: (1) biased coverage on the research subjects, (2) singularity and lack of triangulation of research methods, (3) lack of broad and in-depth research findings. The findings may give insights to future research on the EFL teaching and learning among ethnic minorities in China and research projects of the exact nature. Keywords: EFL, ethnic minority, research trends
A recent archeological excavation in Yutian County of Xinjiang has brought to the world one of th... more A recent archeological excavation in Yutian County of Xinjiang has brought to the world one of the oldest form of Chinese Papercuts in the shape of a rosette. Its history can be traced as far back to the period known as the Northern and Southern Dynasties (386-581 A.D.) Nonetheless, Chinese paper cutting is an age-old handicraft of the Chinese people. One can easily detect thousands of themes and patterns presented in this type of simple, two-dimensional cuttings. Furthermore, one can detect that some Chinese characters or phrases are always presented in the Chinese papercuts. Thus, the Chinese papercuts can be examined as items that have captured the blueprints of Chinese culture, especially in the aspect of Chinese language. This short article seeks to help us examine the rich spectrum of the 'expressed languages' embedded in the Chinese papercuts.
Proceedings of the 2020 The 2nd World Symposium on Software Engineering, 2020
This paper analyzes the value orientation framework of junior high school Chinese Language textbo... more This paper analyzes the value orientation framework of junior high school Chinese Language textbooks. The value orientation framework is designed to examine three major dimensions of human relationships, namely, "man and himself", "man and society", and "man and nature". The aim of the framework is to evaluate the themes in junior high Chinese textbooks. The classification of moral value orientation reveals that China's national guidelines paid significant attention to the cultivation of students' morality, aesthetics, and appreciation of nature. Nonetheless, the researcher noticed that but there was a lack of themes such as the virtue of thriftiness, emphasis on innovation, and the concept of ecological sustainability. Moreover, the interpretation of the value orientation in these textbooks lacks contemporaneity. Furthermore, hot topics such as the inequality between men and women, which is prevalent in certain provincial and rural areas of Chi...
When China was completely closed to the Western world between during the Cold War, namely, 1947 t... more When China was completely closed to the Western world between during the Cold War, namely, 1947 to 1991, China-born Eurasian author and physician Dr Han Suyin, who became British citizen and Swiss resident, was among the few who were allowed to visit China. Though controversial, her autobiographical accounts regarding 20th century China was quite notable. Her reconstructed modern Chinese history pointed to the birthing of a ―phoenix‖ namely, China, hinting on a new ethical order in East-West relations. Captured in her six-volume autobiography, namely The Crippled Tree series, the East-West conflicts also surfaced in the microcosm of Han Suyin‘s family history as well as her own identity search. Autobiographies are traditionally understood as means of self-redemption or self-validation of the respective autobiographers. In the case of Dr Han Suyin, it was an epistemological means to her self-knowledge and self-assertion. Having rejected her maiden name Rosalie, Han Suyin learned late...
Due to globalization, EPS is increasingly important, especially among university students. Howeve... more Due to globalization, EPS is increasingly important, especially among university students. However, in China, some fundamental questions have not been answered, such as, what specific competencies of English public speaking（EPS） should be attained by university students? What level of these competencies should be reached? What assessment instrument should be employed to gauge the performance of EPS among EFL university students? These have not received enough research. To response to these questions, this study took CSE (China Standard of English Language Ability) serve as the initial item pool, and filtered out relevant EPS descriptors, then via employment of inductive approach, a CSE-based EPS Ability Standard Framework (EASF)was established, and base on this framework, an EPS Rating Scale (ERS)was created. Within EASF and ERS, four (4) dimensions and 22 item statements are contained. Moreover, validity and reliability evidence for this new instrument was established. In the last ...
u T i l raX3TfaTiT«1 • • Opportunities, Practices and Constraints I Reading-based Holistic Langua... more u T i l raX3TfaTiT«1 • • Opportunities, Practices and Constraints I Reading-based Holistic Language Learning Program Lm ESL Teacher Trainees' Use of Scaffolding as a Learning Strategy in Comprehending Short Stories Effects of Instruction on Malay ESL Learners' Written Past Time Forms ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ tigating Second Language Motivation Among ESL Students: study of the Motivation Construct Among Students Learning English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and English: for ,~I Occupational Purposes (EOP) Bromelev Pliilip
Autobiographies are traditionally understood as means of selfredemption or self-validation of the... more Autobiographies are traditionally understood as means of selfredemption or self-validation of the respective autobiographers, but they seem to have become tools of self-assertion in the recent times. The writers of this paper noticed that the underlying patterns in major autobiographies of the respective centuries such as those of Augustine, Rousseau, Virginia Woolf, Han Suyin and other male or female autobiographers commonly evolve around one’s ethical choices in response to the vices caused by one’s natural will and when facing ethical dilemmas caused by life challenges. This paper examines the abovementioned autobiographies via the Ethical Literary Criticism (ELC). Developed by Professor Nie Zhenzhao since 2004, ELC is one of the most insightful critiques in expounding the relationship of the self with oneself, self with others, and self with the divine or higher moral order in the context of the literary world.
Mandarin is unique with its own grammatical and sentence patterns, it is the teachers role to of... more Mandarin is unique with its own grammatical and sentence patterns, it is the teachers role to offer guidelines that will help the students, esp. non-native speakers, to produce grammatically correct Mandarin sentences. This paper introduces the “word sequence” diagrams that specifically cater for the teaching and learning processes of Elementary Mandarin among non-native learners. The diagrams have been experimented with a number of samples through a period of time. When examined, these diagrams are found to agree with the “word sequence” approach or similar theories proposed by learned researches in the field, for example, Liu Hongmo, Shen Xiaolong and Han Chenqi. The article demonstrates in what manner the diagrams form graphic impressions upon the learners and make the grammar of Mandarin manageable. It also shows how the proposed diagrams can enable learners to acquire basic Mandarin sentence patterns without rigid training in the Chinese grammar. The proposed diagrams are beli...
PLATFORM - A Journal of Management & Humanities , 2021
In the past ten years, the research on English learning as EFL (English as Foreign Language) for... more In the past ten years, the research on English learning as EFL (English as Foreign Language) for ethnic minority students in China has made significant progress. It would be beneficial to review what has been done and what needs to be explored further. This paper performs a content analysis on English learning as EFL among ethnic minority students in China. It covers articles published from 2010 to 2019 to glimpse the research trends regarding the research progress and significant themes explored in the field. Thirty-two articles published in key journals in China were identified and selected from China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). Six aspects of research in the field were examined, namely: (1) the annual publication trend, (2) themes, (3) ethnic minority groups and regional distribution, (4) subject educational level, (5) research instruments, and, (6) regional distribution of the research sites. Three limitations with the extant studies were delineated: (1) biased coverage on the research subjects, (2) singularity and lack of triangulation of research methods, (3) lack of broad and in-depth research findings. The findings may give insights to future research on the EFL teaching and learning among ethnic minorities in China and research projects of the exact nature. Keywords: EFL, ethnic minority, research trends
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