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A rapidly ageing population has given rise to many innovative later life learning programs that engage older adults in the kinds of activities that are associated with successful ageing. Experts of all kinds retire and retired expert volunteers would seem to be the best people to run learning programs for other retirees. One of the best known approaches to later life learning is the low cost, widely accessible, University of the Third Age (U3A) model in which retired volunteers provide all the teaching/learning activities as well as the necessary administration expertise. Several leaders in late life adult education in different countries were contacted by email to contribute brief descriptions of U3A-like organisations within their regions. This paper contains summary details of: Lifelong Learning Institutes, Osher Institutes and Elderhostel in North America; and various U3A approaches in Australasia, China, Europe, South Africa, South America and a number of countries in Asia. The five elements of the Successful Aging model are related to these learning approaches leading to a proposition that many of them can be argued to be successful ageing organisations. The world first virtual U3A, U3A Online, which utilises volunteer teachers, administrators and other skilled volunteers from different countries, is also described. The paper concludes by noting that the Internet has opened up a low cost medium for research collaboration by U3As everywhere and calls for an international network of U3A researchers who carry out constituency research studies which would benefit the wider ageing population, nationally and internationally. The following is appended: U3A Online. (Contains 1 figure and 1 footnote.) [This paper has been adapted from a paper presented in January 2009 for the launch of the Hong Kong Elder Academy at the Hong Kong Institute of Education.]

Using English as a global communicating tool makes Taiwanese people have to speak in English in diverse international situations. However, consonants and vowels in English are not all effortless for them to articulate. This phonological reduction study explores concepts about phonological (articulating system) approximation. From Taiwanese folks' perspectives, it analyzes phonological type, rate, and their associations with 2 genders. This quantitative research discovers Taiwanese people's vocalization problems and their facilitating solutions by articulating lessening. In other words, this study explains how English emerging as a global language can be adapted and fluently articulated by Taiwanese. It was conducted at National Changhwa University of Education from 2010 fall to 2011 spring, investigating Taiwanese university students' phonological lessening systems. It reveals how they face the phonetics challenges during interactions and give speeches by ways of phonological lessening. Taiwanese folks' lessening patterns belong to simplified pronouncing methods, being evolved through Mandarin, Hakka, and Holo phonetic patterns. This genre of facilitated articulation can be also titled as transformed or approximate methods of articulating formula. In this investigation, 59 students according to their individual articulating experiences provided their perceptions, based on their observations in their own English articulation systems. Statistics graphs analyzed by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) display 4 consonants and 4 vowels that have been reduced and adapted. Moreover, the gender factor was taken into consideration, revealing male's and female's dissimilar difficulties in pronunciation. More specifically, this empirical study investigated the correlation between elements of gender and phonological reduction. Through statistical analysis, 8 intricate vowels and consonants are compared and contrasted based on Taiwanese students' perfections and difficulty-confessions in articulating them. Simplified phonetic patterns with Taiwanese accents involved into the articulating lessening system in Taiwanese students' English utterances were provided by the instructor. Based on 2 variables of female gender and male gender, the study discovered the lessening sequences in 8 phonetics. The significance of this study is its contribution to giving confidence to English speakers in Taiwan. Although they are non-native speakers, they still can resolve the pronunciation difficulty and talk with fluency by their created phonological reduction system. Appended are: (1) Survey (Instrument); and (2) Vowel diversities. (Contains 1 table and 2 graphs.

In the western literature, mathematics achievement and its related student self-concept are important education outcomes reciprocally linked and mutually reinforcing. The reciprocal relation model is examined in this study to assess its generalization in a cross-cultural setting. Hong Kong is the site of choice because of its exposure to influences between British and Chinese cultures. A contextual factor of English push has been examined for male and female students behind the language switch from English to Chinese (Cantonese) in most secondary schools. The research findings are employed to compare features of the reciprocal model two years before and after Hong Kong's sovereignty handover from the United Kingdom to China. (Contains 4 tables, 1 figure, and 3 notes.)