Chinese students

La valorizzazione della lingua cinese nei contesti educativi plurilingui in Italia La diffusione dell'insegnamento formale della lingua cinese, sia a livello curriculare sia a livello extracurriculare, è sempre più capillare nelle scuole italiane. Per quanto riguarda gli ordini scolastici in cui non è ancora previsto l'inserimento curriculare dell'insegnamento del cinese, ovvero la scuola primaria e la scuola secondaria di primo grado, molteplici e sempre più diffuse sono le iniziative didattiche e di tipo culturale promosse attraverso la collaborazione con gli Istituti Confucio, con le associazioni e con gli enti locali (cfr. Buchetti & Scibetta 2018 per il contesto toscano). L'obiettivo principale di questo contributo è quello di considerare la promozione del cinese in ambito scolastico da un'altra angolatura: non quella dell'insegnamento formale, ma quella della valorizzazione del cinese all'interno dei repertori linguistici collettivi degli alunni. Il progetto di ricerca-azione trasformativa "L'AltRoparlante", che verrà descritto nel paragrafo successivo, ha infatti lo scopo di valorizzare le lingue di origine di bambini bilingui emergenti (sia nati in Italia sia neo-arrivati) attraverso la legittimazione dei loro repertori linguistici individuali nella didattica ordinaria (cfr. García & Li Wei 2014). Dentro questa cornice si inserisce la valorizzazione della lingua cinese attraverso il suo uso all'interno di pratiche didattiche di varia tipologia, rivolte a tutti gli studenti della classe. Il paradigma teorico di riferimento per promuovere pratiche di questo tipo è quello del translanguaging (ivi.). Quest'ultimo termine, che in ambito scientifico ha riscosso un notevole interesse (dimostrato anche dal proliferare di speculazioni teoriche su concetti simili, come quelli di polylanguaging e metrolingualism), nonché diverse critiche negli ultimi anni (cfr. Jaspers 2017), viene qui preso in considerazione soltanto nella sua applicazione in ambito educativo. La definizione di riferimento del termine translanguaging, in questa sede, è quindi quella proposta da García e Kano (2014), secondo i quali tale termine si riferisce al processo attraverso il quale studenti e insegnanti si impegnano in pratiche discorsive multiple complesse che includono tutti i repertori linguistici degli studenti, al fine di sviluppare nuove pratiche linguistiche e sostenere quelle già esistenti (p. 261). L'applicazione del translanguaging in ambito didattico ha quindi un duplice obiettivo: da un lato quello di sensibilizzare tutti gli studenti alla ricchezza e all'importanza dei repertori linguistici presenti in contesto scolastico, evitando così fenomeni di gerarchizzazione fra le lingue, stigmatizzazione e stereotipi su base linguistica (cfr. Bourdieu 1991); dall'altro lato quello di mettere in moto processi di empowerment per i bambini non italofoni e/o bilingui emergenti, legittimando pienamente i loro repertori linguistici, sia nell'azione didattica sia nella comunicazione quotidiana (cfr. Carbonara & Scibetta, 2018).

The purpose of this paper was to (1) examine moral judgment competency of a sample of 811 Chinese college students from a Southern university in mainland China with DIT-2; and (2) test whether gender, education, major, academic performance, and one-child policy have significant effect on the participants’ moral judgment competency. Results show that the participants score high in both Personal Interest schema and Postconventional schema, while low in Maintaining Norms schema. Gender and major have significant effect on participants’ moral judgment competency in China, while education level, academic performance and one-child family have no significant effect on their moral judgment competency. Reasons are discussed in the paper.

A total of 843 college students in Guangdong University of Foreign Studies were investigated using a social support evaluation scale, a resilience scale, and a life satisfaction evaluation scale. Results were analyzed using IBM® SPSS 21.0® and Amos 17.0. It was shown that there existed a positive correlation respectively among resilience, social support and life satisfaction. Social support predicted resilience positively and resilience partially mediated the association between social support and life satisfaction. Finally, resilience moderated the association between social support and life satisfaction; the higher the resilience level, the more significant the positive predictive effect of social support on life satisfaction. College students' life satisfaction is closely related to social support and resilience; resilience partially plays a mediating and moderating role between social support and life satisfaction.

A review of relevant literature regarding international students and also employability shows that there is a little research on international student mobility, careers intention and their approaches to manage employability. This research interviews Chinese students who are currently studying tourism related programmes in a post-1992 university in the UK. It attempts to understand their initial motivation for studying abroad, and the importance of future career developments in that decision. It also discusses the Chinese students' planning of future career and their approaches to enhance their future employability capabilities at one higher education institution in the United Kingdom.

Passion and perseverance for long-term goals or grit has been linked to various indices of educational success such as academic achievement, engagement, and motivation. Despite the nascent evidence regarding the beneficial impact of grit, previous investigations adopted a variable-centered approach which could not explore how individuals with different profiles of grit may differ in terms of academic outcomes. The current research aimed to build on the existing grit literature through examining the linkage of grit to test emotions using a person-centered approach among 1,051 Hong Kong Chinese primary school students. Results of cluster analyses showed that there were three naturally-occurring profiles of grit (Cluster 1 = High Perseverance and High Consistency; Cluster 2 = High Perseverance and Low Consistency; Cluster 3 = Low Perseverance and High Consistency) in the present study. Results of the multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) demonstrated that students who belonged to Cluster 2 had the highest scores on hope and lowest scores on anxiety and shame. The results imply that espousing high perseverance of effort and low consistency of interest is associated with higher levels of positive activating emotions and reduced levels of negative activating emotional states when taking academic tests.

Da alcuni anni sempre piu studenti della Repubblica Popolare Cinese scelgono di studiare italiano come lingua straniera. Il presente articolo si propone di approfondire il fenomeno indagando gli aspetti di contesto della scuola Senmiao, una delle principali istituzioni private dedicate all’insegnamento dell’italiano in Cina. Strumento privilegiato dell’indagine e stato un questionario, somministrato nel mese di ottobre 2017 a un campione di studenti iscritti alla sede centrale della scuola, a Pechino: si e cercato di tracciare il profilo, le motivazioni e i progetti degli apprendenti sinofoni in relazione allo studio della lingua italiana, confrontando i risultati con le precedenti ricerche sulla diffusione della lingua italiana nel mondo. Studying italian in Beijing: a study of context Over the past few years, more and more Chinese students have chosen to study Italian as a foreign language in People’s Republic of China. This paper intends to further investigate the phenomenon by f...

Yuánfèn can best be defined as a kind of subjectively perceived chance that brings people or people and events together. Being able to provide explanations in a positive way, Yuanfen has always functioned as an attribution, the psychological process of seeking reasons for particular events. The aim of this study was to investigate the meaning and functions of Yuanfen for university students in the PRC, which should give an insight into the meaning of the concept in a specific social context within contemporary China. The results were obtained through semi-structured interviews with 19 students from East China Normal University in Shanghai that were conducted in 2012. The data was analysed through qualitative content analysis. The findings show that if Yuanfen has individual meaning for Chinese students, attributing life events to the concept has very positive functions, leading to a positive perception of and a positive attitude towards different relationships, events, and situations. Yuanfen can therefore play a very positive role in Chinese student life, not only for the individual, but also for the social environment of university education in which the students are confronted with a range of structural and interpersonal challenges.

Please cite as: Fong, R. W., & Cai, Y. (in press). Perfectionism, self-compassion and test-related hope in Chinese primary school students. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher.

Perfectionism is multidimensional and includes perfectionistic striving (ceaseless pursuit of very high performance standards) and perfectionist concerns (excessive self-criticism over one’s inability to live up to unrealistically high expectations). Previous studies generally suggest that both perfectionistic striving and perfectionistic concerns are highly related to emotions; however, little research has been conducted on how perfectionism and its distinct components relate to key academic emotions such as hope towards one’s test performance. This study aimed to examine the relationship between perfectionism and test-related hope, and the mediating role of self-compassion. A sample of Chinese primary students (N=1051) were recruited to complete measures of perfectionism, self-compassion and test-related hope. Structural equation modeling showed that perfectionistic striving was associated with higher test-related hope, and perfectionistic concerns with lower test-related hope. Partial mediation effects of self-compassion on the relationship between dimensions of perfectionism and test-related hope were also found. The findings contribute to our understanding of how perfectionism is related to emotion constructs in competitive contexts. Implications pertaining to future directions in research and practice will be discussed.

Da alcuni anni sempre più studenti della Repubblica Popolare Cinese scelgono di studiare italiano come lingua straniera. Il presente articolo si propone di approfondire il fenomeno indagando gli aspetti di contesto della scuola Senmiao, una delle principali istituzioni private dedicate all’insegnamento dell’italiano in Cina. Strumento privilegiato dell’indagine è stato un questionario, somministrato nel mese di ottobre 2017 a un campione di studenti iscritti alla sede centrale della scuola, a Pechino: si è cercato di tracciare il profilo, le motivazioni e i progetti degli apprendenti sinofoni in relazione allo studio della lingua italiana, confrontando i risultati con le precedenti ricerche sulla diffusione della lingua italiana nel mondo.

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Studying italian in Beijing: a study of context

Over the past few years, more and more Chinese students have chosen to study Italian as a foreign language in People’s Republic of China. This paper intends to further investigate the phenomenon by focusing on the contextual aspects at the Senmiao School, one of the main private institutes devoted to teaching Italian in China. In October 2017, a questionnaire was submitted to the students enrolled in the main branch of the school located in Beijng, in order to outline their profile, reasons and future plans related to the study of the Italian language. The outcomes were compared with previous studies regarding the spread of the Italian language all over the world.

This book examines the Singapore government’s controversial practice of recruiting students from China and granting them full scholarships on the condition of a service “bond”. It offers detailed ethnographic accounts of the Chinese “foreign talent” students’ educational and cross-cultural experiences in Singapore to illustrate the complex intersections between international mobility and educational desire. In doing so, the book presents contemporary Singapore society’s concerns over immigration and cross-cultural encounters from a unique perspective.

Understanding factors influencing international students’ decision to engage in international education is essential for education providers to better cater for students’ educational expectations and enhance their attractiveness to international students. Whilst there has been extensive research on the reasons why international students undertake cross-border higher education, international students’ motivations in enrolling in diploma and associate degree programs are still under-researched. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 30 international students from China, this research found that pathway to higher education appears to be the most important factor motivating international students to undertake diploma and associate degree study. In addition, prospect of immigration, English language, previous academic performance, agent’s recommendations and relatives’ and friends’ advice  are amongst the important factors that students take into account in their decision to choose vocational education and associate degree programs. This research also examines why Chinese international students have chosen diploma and associate degree programs in a dual-sector University over vocational education colleges. It found that the flexibility to articulate to higher education, international reputation of the program, opportunity to gain hand-on experience, program duration, program offerings and favorable location are key issues that these students draw on in their decision making.

Key words: international students, Chinese students, diploma, associate degree, higher education, transition pathway""

Neste artigo, apresentamos a situação atual do ensino da língua portuguesa em Macau, construindo por um breve histórico sobre os caminhos percorridos pelo nosso idioma desde a chegada dos portugueses ao território no início do século XVI. Com a inevitável troca linguística/cultural e com hibridismo étnico/social que caracterizam a região, o português já ocupou lugares de destaque na sociedade, mas também já enfrentou percalços especialmente por falta de uma política devidamente voltada ao ensino de línguas estrangeiras. Atualmente, a região vive uma fase de transição, em que o português volta a ganhar importância e, ainda que timidamente, a recuperar o seu espaço. Esse fato pode, em um futuro próximo, tornar Macau o grande centro difusor da língua portuguesa para toda a Ásia.

Cao, L. & Tran, L. T. (2015).  Chinese international students in Australia: An insight into their help and information seeking manners. International Education Journal: Comparative Perspectives. 14(1), 42-56.
http://openjournals.library.usyd.edu.au/index.php/IEJ/article/download/6949/8847

This chapter examines the notion of ‘eliteness’ in the context of Chinese middle school education. It is argued that, as opposed to the usual Western connotation of the term which often refers to class/socioeconomic privilege, elitism in the Chinese schooling context has been predominantly defined in academic terms, more or less founded on the meritocratic principle. With first-hand ethnographic materials, it is demonstrated how this academically elitist educational system is structured and how it in turn structures the students’ subjectivities. In addition, a recent trend in Chinese mainstream education – collaborative programmes with Western schools – is furthered discussed, and it is argued that a less progressive form of elitism – one that resembles more closely the way the term is understood in Western context – is infiltrating and transforming mainstream public Chinese schooling. (http://www.taylorandfrancis.com/books/details/9781138799615/)