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Reading comprehension and arithmetic skills are essential abilities for children, particularly at the early career. Examine the link between language proficiency and numeral information process amongst primary school children. This study examines numeral comprehension in 600 Chinese primary second graders with different levels of decoding and linguistic comprehension skills. Four groups of children were compared, including typical readers (TR), poor decoders (PD), poor comprehenders (PC) and general poor readers (GPR). Results showed that the four groups had similar performances in numeral comprehension when the answer options to a question on the quantity of numerals were presented in Arabic numbers. However, when the answer options to a question on the quantity of numeral information were presented in analogue nonsymbolic magnitude representations, the PC group outperformed the PD and GPR group. The findings of this study has demonstrated the link between language proficiency and numerical information process in reading comprehension.

This study examined the longitudinal associations between perception of sibling relationship quality (i.e., sibling warmth and conflict) and sibling influence (i.e., sibling modeling and differentiation), as well as the potential moderating role of birth order among Chinese adolescents. Participants were 150 adolescents (M[subscript age] = 12.84 years, SD = 0.71; gender combination: 41.22% same-sex pairs) from Huzhou, Zhejiang Province, China. Measures of sibling relationship quality and sibling influence were collected via self-reports at two time points, 6 months apart. We study at the individual level and the target child is one of a pair of siblings. Results based on a cross-lagged model indicated that (a) perceiving sibling relationship as warmer positively predicted imitating one's sibling, (b) imitating one's sibling positively predicted perceiving sibling relationship as more conflicted for younger siblings but not for older siblings, and (c) perceiving sibling relationship as warmer positively predicted differentiating one's sibling for older siblings but not for younger siblings. These findings illustrate reciprocal associations between perception of sibling relationship quality and sibling influence.

Enhancing transportation skills is crucial in promoting quality of life for youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). To learn about transportation skill development and improve the transportation experiences of youth with IDD in China, we conducted in-depth interviews with special education teachers and parents of transition-age youth with IDD (i.e., 23 teachers and 19 parents) from five major cities in China. The purpose of this study was to explore the transportation experiences of youth with IDD through parents' and teachers' perspectives. Adopting the constructivist grounded theory method, three main themes were identified: (1) the need to develop transportation skills, (2) the practices for supporting transportation, and (3) the challenges of transportation for youth with IDD in China. The findings ascertain the importance of travel training to promote community inclusion of transition-age youth with IDD and disclose the helpful practices and existing barriers for improving youth's transportation skills. Limitations and implications for research, policy, and practice are also described.

This study aimed to investigate the gap between adaptive functioning and cognitive functioning, especially verbal and nonverbal intelligence quotient (IQ) in Chinese children with ASD. We systematically explored cognitive functioning, ASD severity, early signs of developmental abnormalities, and socioeconomic factors as mediating factors of adaptive functioning. We enrolled 151 children (age: 2.5?6 years) with ASD and categorized them into one group with IQ [greater than or equal to] 70 and another with IQ < 70. The two groups were calibrated for age, age at diagnosis, and IQ, and the relationship of adaptive skills with vocabulary acquisition index (VAI) and nonverbal index (NVI) were separately analyzed. Results show that the gap between IQ and adaptive functioning was significant in children with ASD having IQ [greater than or equal to] 70, with both VAI and NVI showing statistically significant differences (all P < 0.001). VAI correlated positively with scores for overall adaptive skills and specific domains, whereas NVI had no significant correlations with adaptive skill scores. Age of first walking unaided had an independent positive correlation (all P < 0.05) with scores of adaptive skills and specific domains. IQ-adaptive functioning gap is significant in children with ASD having IQ [greater than or equal to] 70, suggesting that defining "high-functioning autism" merely on the basis of IQ is not appropriate. Verbal IQ and early signs of motor development are specific and possible predictors of adaptive functioning in children with ASD, respectively.

Digital technologies are increasingly integrated into the daily lives of young children. However, disparities in access and use quality, known as the 'digital divide,' persist. Parents play a crucial role in narrowing this divide during early childhood, but the underlying mechanisms remain inconclusive. This study investigates how family socioeconomic status (SES) influences Chinese preschoolers' digital literacy and how parental beliefs and parental mediation mediate this relationship. A sample of 2272 parents of young children from central China completed the "Home Digital Practices Survey" (HDPS). The PROCESS results revealed the following: (1) Family SES, parental beliefs, and parental mediation significantly predicted preschoolers' digital literacy; (2) Parental beliefs and parental mediation co-mediated the impact of family SES on digital literacy; (3) Positive parental beliefs and mediation strategies were associated with better digital literacy outcomes for preschoolers. The findings have implications for parental education and highlight the importance of considering family context in promoting digital literacy among young children.

The current study examined a multiple mediator model based on the control-value theory. A sample of 433 Chinese junior middle school students participated in questionnaires assessing teacher-student relationships (TSRs), academic emotions, academic value (AV), and academic self-efficacy (ASE). English test scores were collected as an indicator of students' English academic performance. The results indicated the following: (a) for academic enjoyment, the TSR has an effect on academic achievement through the chain intermediary of AV and ASE; (b) for academic relaxation, the TSR has an effect on English academic achievement through the single intermediary of academic relaxation and the chain intermediary of AV, ASE, and academic relaxation; (c) for academic anxiety, the TSR has an effect on English academic achievement through the single intermediary of AV, the single intermediary of academic anxiety, and the chain intermediary of AV, ASE, and academic anxiety; (d) for academic boredom, the TSR has an effect on English academic achievement through the single intermediary of academic boredom. These findings enrich the relevant research on the control-value theory and provide important insights for improving students' English academic achievement.

As a result of globalization, Chinese young adults who transit to adulthood currently are being exposed to a combination of traditional Chinese values such as collectivism and Confucian philosophy, as well as Western individualism. We analyzed the trends in depression prevalence within an 8-year period using panel data derived from young adults in China. The investigation further delved into the multifaceted correlates of depression, including demographic profiles, health-related parameters, and consequential life events. Data were obtained from five cycles, 2010 to 2018, of the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS). Participants included adults aged 18 to 24 years (total analytic sample N = 15,442). Depression symptoms increased in prevalence in Chinese young adults over the eight years; therefore, depression screening should be regularly conducted in this demographic. This study highlights the issue's gravity and suggests potential correlations with cultural, regional economic development level, gender, religion, hukou (household registration), lifestyle, chronic health conditions, on-going school attendance, and marital factors.

This study investigates the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES), self-regulated learning strategies (SRLSs), and writing proficiency of complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) in English as a second language writing learning context, using Bourdieu's theory of social practice as a framework. This study's conceptual model specifies that both SES and SRLS positively predict CAF, and SES moderates the relationship between SRLS and CAF. This study collected questionnaire data and argumentative writing samples from 381 Chinese university students and analyzed the data using partial correlation and structural equation modeling. The results showed that SES and SRLS were significantly related to complexity and accuracy but not to fluency. SES significantly moderated the relationship between SRLS and writing complexity and accuracy but not fluency. SES's moderating effects on the relationship between SRLS and complexity and accuracy increased from low SES to middle SES to high SES. SES's moderating effects on both SRLS's and SRLS facets' relation to fluency were complex and mostly nonsignificant. The implications of these findings are discussed, and limitations are noted.

This study aims to explore the relationship between locus of control, grit, self-esteem and mental health among college students. A questionnaire survey was used to conduct a study on the mental health of 923 E-learning college students from 10 universities in Guangxi, China. In this study, Pearson correlation analysis was used to test the correlation between the study variables, and Bootstrap was used to test the mediating effect and effect ratio of grit and self-esteem. The results show that, locus of control, grit, and self-esteem can predict the mental health of college students. Grit plays a mediating role between locus of control and mental health; self-esteem plays a mediating role between locus of control and mental health; grit and self-esteem have a chain mediating effect between locus of control and mental health. Specifically, internal locus of control can effectively prevent college students from mental health problems through the chain mediation effect of grit and self-esteem. Powerful others and opportunity as the external locus of control will not only reduce the grit and self-esteem of college students, but also lead to more psychological problems. These research results provide suggestions to the university management on how to manage the mental health of E-learning students, especially those with psychological problems.

Improving people's well-being is a key way to meet people's needs for a better life, and is of great importance in resolving the major contradictions in Chinese society. In this study, we evaluated peer relationships and self-actualization as potential mediators between physical exercise and subjective well-being in a sample of Chinese middle school students. A total of 1056 middle school students from six middle schools in Sichuan, China volunteered to complete questionnaires comprising the Physical Activity Rating Scale, Student Peer Relationship Scale, Short Index of Self-Actualization, Positive and Negative Affect Scale, and Satisfaction with Life Scale. Descriptive statistics, Pearson's product-moment correlation, and structural equation modeling were conducted using SPSS statistics 19.0. and AMOS 21.0 statistical software. The results showed that peer relationships and self-actualization partially mediate between physical exercise and subjective well-being. The mediation analysis revealed two paths: first, the single mediating path via peer relationships [indirect effect = 0.091, 95% CI: (0.053, 0.132)] and second, the serial mediating path via peer relationships and self-actualization [indirect effect = 0.015, 95% CI: (0.008, 0.024)]. The study confirmed for the first time the serial mediating role of peer relationships and self-actualization between physical exercise and subjective well-being of middle school students. It was suggested that middle school students could improve their peer relationships during physical exercise, thereby increasing the level of self-actualization, which results in better subjective well-being.

Given the shortage of STEM workers, it is important to examine the factors associated with students' academic career intentions. However, the mechanism through which subjective norms influence academic career intentions has not been determined. Our study empirically tests a model identifying science identity as an intervening variable in this relationship. In a longitudinal survey study of master's and doctoral students from 17 research institutes in China, we found that science identity mediated the relationship between subjective norms and academic career intentions. In addition, creative self-efficacy, valuable to academic careers, moderated the relationship between science identity and academic career intentions.

Children's preschool years are crucial for the development of computational thinking (CT) skills. However, debate continues regarding whether CT should be developed through plugged-in or unplugged activities. This study investigated the similarities and differences between plugged-in and unplugged activities with similar learning content and assessment methods for cultivating computational thinking (CT) in young children. Twenty-four young children (aged 5-6 years) from a kindergarten in Foshan, China, were randomly assigned to either the plugged-in or unplugged group to participate in a five-week study. In the plugged-in group, Dodobot was used in the classroom, while in the unplugged group, unplugged materials such as paper, pencil and tangram puzzles were used. Research results indicate that 1) both plugged-in and unplugged activities significantly improved the young children's CT skills after a short-term educational intervention, but there were no significant differences between the two groups; 2) the extent to which the plugged-in and unplugged activities promoted subdimensions of CT was different, with the plugged-in group demonstrating significant improvements in hardware, algorithm, and modularity and the unplugged group demonstrating significant improvements in terms of representation; 3) the children from both the plugged-in and unplugged groups showed high motivation; And 4) the children in both the plugged-in and unplugged groups showed cooperative behaviors. The frequency of cooperative behavior was more related to materials, and cooperation quality was more related to teacher guidance.

While negative associations between behavioral inhibition/shyness and social competence are well established for children from Western cultures, the directions of these associations have been inconsistent for Chinese children, partly due to the ongoing social-cultural changes in China. Drawing from three samples of young Chinese children (born between 2009 and 2019), we aim at examining how inhibition/shyness predicts cooperative behaviors and prosocial behaviors throughout early childhood. In Study 1 (N = 700, children aged between 36 and 72 months), mother-reported inhibition/shyness was negatively associated with mother-reported cooperative and prosocial behaviors during the preschool years. In Study 2 (N = 251, at 6, 15, 25, and 37 months of children's ages), mother-reported inhibition/shyness in infancy was negatively associated with mother-reported cooperative behaviors but was not related to observed cooperative behaviors at the early preschool age. Infancy inhibition/shyness was negatively associated with mother-reported and observed prosocial behaviors. In Study 3 (N = 95, at 14, 25, 38, and 60 months of children's ages), the inhibition/shyness trait, assessed by both observation and maternal report, did not predict any indicators of cooperative behaviors. Early childhood inhibition/shyness, however, still predicted fewer observed and mother-reported prosocial behaviors. On balance, our research supports a negative association between early inhibition/shyness and later prosocial behaviors. The mixed findings concerning cooperative behaviors are interpreted in light of sociopolitical changes in China during the past two decades.

Background: Dialogic reading (DR) is an effective shared reading technique based on the prompts-evaluate-expand-repeat (PEER) sequence, which fosters children's language development. This study examines the effects of its elements by comparing shared reading with prompts with minimal feedback (PMF) and PEER. Methods: This study included 364 typically developing Chinese kindergarteners and used a randomised control trial design. The children and their parents were divided into three groups, namely, the PMF, PEER and control groups. The children were pre- and post-tested on their language skills and reading interest measures before and after the intervention. Results: Results showed that after a 12-week intervention, the children in the PMF group outperformed those in the control group in terms of receptive vocabulary, character reading and listening comprehension. Meanwhile, the children in the PEER group outperformed those in the PMF and control groups not only in terms of the above measures but also in their expressive vocabulary and reading interest. Conclusions: These results highlight the contribution of parents' questions and the additional benefits of their systematically corrective feedback on kindergarten children's language and reading interest development. This study supports the literature on cognitive engagement theory related to young children's individual language and reading interest development through interactive parent-child DR activities.

Background and Aim: In the evolving pedagogical landscape, the Outcome-Based Education (OBE) approach has garnered attention for its student-centric model and clear educational outcomes. University in Shaanxi Province recognizes the need for an integrative basketball teaching model to harmonize with this paradigm shift. This study endeavors to design a basketball teaching model for Xi'an University students, underpinning the OBE concept. Materials and Methods: Employing a combination of interviews, questionnaires, and specialized software packages, data were collected from a population comprising 45 teachers and 5,000 first-year students, with a selected sample of 370 students and 45 teachers. The research process encompassed a thorough examination of the current teaching model, followed by the utilization of the Delphi technique and focus groups to conceptualize the OBE framework for basketball teaching. Results: Analysis revealed the need for a comprehensive basketball teaching model in higher education. The proposed OBE model integrates 4 primary elements (Basketball Theory, Basketball Skills, and Physical, and Social Adaptability), further divided into 12 secondary and 34 tertiary elements. Each segment is tailored to specific outcome objectives, emphasizing cognitive understanding, skill mastery, physical fitness, and social adaptation. Conclusion: The proposed OBE basketball teaching model offers a holistic approach to basketball education, integrating both sport-specific and life-oriented skills. By aligning with China's national development goals and the principles of education, this model stands poised to revolutionize basketball education in Xi'an, setting a benchmark for other provinces.

This study addresses a gap in resilience interventions for rural preschoolers by validating a 14-week play-based picture-book reading program involving 80 Chinese preschoolers aged 4-5 years. Participants were randomly assigned to non-intervention (NI), play intervention (PI), picture-book reading intervention (PRI), or play-based picture-book reading intervention (PPRI) groups. Kindergarten teachers and parents reported children's resilience with the Chinese version of Devereux Early Childhood Assessment for Preschoolers at pretest, post-test, and follow-up. Results revealed that intervention groups (PI, PRI, PPRI) exhibited higher resilience gain scores than the NI group. Notably, the PPRI group demonstrated greater resilience gains compared to the PRI and PI groups. Furthermore, the intervention effects of the PPRI group were maintained for two months following the intervention. Those findings suggest that PPRI may be a valuable intervention for enhancing resilience in preschoolers, with potential applications in kindergarten classrooms.

Research shows that educators' technology beliefs and experiences strongly shape their technology adoption and utilization in educational practices. This mixed-method study investigated very young children's educators' touchscreen use and their beliefs and experiences in China. Rich quantitative findings (N = 1276) revealed the availability of touchscreen devices mainly computers and laptops in early childhood educational settings and this technology provision aligns with Chinese traditional teacher-centred educational practices. Despite their highly reported digital skills, educators' overall use of touchscreen technologies with very young children was low and there was a lack of confidence in using them with children. It appears that confidence is more influential for Chinese educators in deciding to use technology with very young children than their digital skills. Implications for educational policies and designing effective professional learning and development for early childhood educators to enhance their digital competence are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to study the practice of multimedia technology in the teaching of scientific and technical English. With the rapid development and popularisation of computer technology and the deepening of educational concepts, multimedia-assisted English teaching has become one of the most important foreign language teaching modes at present. This study firstly analyses the impact of multimedia technology on English teaching, secondly faces the advantages and challenges of multimedia technology in the teaching process, and finally explores the use and effect of multimedia technology in scientific and technological English teaching based on the data of the survey and research. The results of the study show that for college English teachers in colleges and universities, they should fully explore the advantages of multimedia technology in the process of using it and use it skillfully in teaching practice, which will have a positive effect on improving the quality of English teaching and deepening the reform of college English teaching.

Given the changing nature of literacy, it is critical to investigate how learners communicate using the multimodal affordances of digital platforms. Guided by metafunctions of Systemic Functional Linguistics, this study developed a multimodal analytical framework to quantify multimodal composing with indicators of functional meaning to evaluate students' multimodal literacy practices from an overall perspective. Based on a high school digital literacy SPOC (Small Private Online Course), this study adopted a mixed-method approach to profile students' multimodal posting and examine teachers' and students' perceptions. The empirical findings included that: (1) Five profiles were identified based on students' ideational, interpersonal, and textual meaning differences: academic posters, sensational posters, visual posters, all-round posters, and perfunctory posters. Academic posters viewed multimodal posting as a presentation of research findings; sensational posters viewed multimodal posting as a connection with classmates; visual posters valued the formal beauty of multimodal posts; all-round posters remixed the ideational, interpersonal, and textual functions of multimodal posting; perfunctory posters viewed multimodal posting as a have-to-do task. (2) Teachers underestimated multimodal posting's interpersonal meaning that students valued. The SFL-based multimodal analytical framework and empirical findings provide implications for explicitly evaluating and guiding students' multimodal composition in digital environments.

The adoption of English medium instruction (EMI) in higher education has gained popularity in China's tertiary education as a result of globalization. International students in Chinese universities are celebrated as part of soft power projection to extend China's global impact. Informed by Piller and Cho's concept of "Neoliberalism as language policy" (2013) and Collins' "social reproduction theory" (2009, 2012), this study attempts to explore the EMI learning experiences of a cohort of international students at a border university in China. The policy documents, in-depth interviews, classroom observation, reflective journals and online interactions converge to reveal that, international students in EMI programmes experience exclusion and inequality despite the welcoming discourses of diversity. The paper highlights the necessity to pay attention to the ways in which higher education institutions reproduce inequalities of social stratification of international students through explicit and implicit institutional practices. It is argued that EMI policy in China's peripheral regions targeting international students from less-developed countries tends to perpetuate and accentuate educational inequalities. The study sheds light on a more inclusive pedagogical approach to alleviating international students' marginalisation and educating students of diverse linguistic, cultural, socioeconomic backgrounds for global citizenship in the context of China's Belt and Road Initiative.

Amidst the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, this study investigates the impact of Problem-based Language Learning (PBLL) using DingTalk on enhancing Business English Writing skills among Chinese undergraduates. Employing a mixed-method approach, the research involved two phases. In the quantitative phase, a twelve-week quasi-experimental study was conducted. The control group received traditional Business English Writing instruction, while the experimental group utilized the PBLL + DingTalk method. Analysis of pre-test and post-test scores using SPSS 27.0 revealed a significant improvement in the experimental group's writing abilities, with their post-test scores averaging 5.3275 points higher than the control group. In the qualitative phase, semi-structured interviews were conducted with students from the experimental group. Participants expressed high engagement, motivation, and satisfaction with the PBLL + DingTalk approach, highlighting its effectiveness in interactive problem-solving and technology integration. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of PBLL + DingTalk in improving Business English Writing skills among Chinese undergraduates, even during challenging circumstances like the Covid-19 pandemic. The combination of quantitative results and qualitative insights underscores its practical impact and relevance for language educators, emphasizing the importance of innovative teaching methods in adapting to evolving educational landscapes.

This study investigated the differences between Chinese female and male university students regarding the relationship between conscientiousness, interpersonal relationships, and social loafing. By analyzing these relationships, this study interpreted how personality, mediators, and gender differences affect social loafing. In total, 827 Chinese university students were recruited from three universities in Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. Students completed an online questionnaire, which included a conscientiousness scale, an interpersonal relationship scale, and a social loafing scale. Structural equation modeling was performed to test the validity of the measurement scales, mediating effects, and group differences. The findings revealed that the relationship between conscientiousness, interpersonal relationships, and social loafing differed between female and male Chinese university students. Interpersonal relationships served as a partial mediator in the relationship between conscientiousness and social loafing among female students. Interpersonal relationships did not play a mediating role in the relationship between conscientiousness and social loafing among male students. We suggest that university administrators should promote cooperation among Chinese university students.

Purpose: This mixed-methods study proposed a digital-storytelling-based (DST-based) online flipped learning approach during the pandemic, and investigated its impact on EFL learners' willingness to communicate (WTC) and their perceptions of the approach. Design/methodology/approach: A 16-week quasi-experiment was carried out in a college English course at a comprehensive university in Chinese mainland. A total of 69 EFL learners were recruited from two intact classes and assigned to either an experimental (the DST-based online flipped learning approach) or comparison (the online flipped learning approach) group, in order to explore the effects of the DST-based online flipped learning approach on learners' WTC. The quantitative data were obtained from the learners' WTC questionnaire. Then, semi-structured interviews were conducted in order to gauge the students' perceptions of the different learning approaches. Findings: The quantitative results demonstrated that the experimental group outperformed the comparison group in terms of WTC at the end of the experiment. Thematic analysis of the qualitative data also lent support to the contribution of this DST-based online flipped learning approach in terms of boosting their English speaking confidence and encouraging more meaningful interaction and collaboration with others. Originality/value: Findings from this study offer insights into integrating the DST-based online flipped learning approach as an instructional implementation of technology-enhanced task-based language learning (TETBLT) in COVID/post-COVID times. Pedagogical suggestions for EFL instructors and researchers are also provided, which would be significant for improving EFL learners' communication skills and would enable them to become more capable and globalized citizens in the twenty-first century.

Objective: The present study aims to examine whether secondhand smoke exposure (SHSE) in university students can affect three indices of self-satisfaction related to depression as indiced by appearance, weight, and freedom of life choice. Participants: We collected data from 740 nonsmoking students in the summer of 2018, of which 57.84% were exposed to secondhand smoke. Methods: Depressive symptoms, SHSE, smoking status, weight satisfaction, appearance satisfaction, and freedom of life choice were self-reported via a questionnaire. Results: The generalized linear analyses revealed that SHSE was linked to lower scores of perceived freedom of life choice but not significantly associated with weight nor appearance satisfaction. The mediation analyses indicated that perceived freedom of life choice fully mediated the association between SHSE and depressive symptoms. Conclusions: These findings shed light on the importance of SHSE and its effects on mental health in university students. Preventive strategies should therefore locally target university campuses.

This study examined the emergence of digital literacy in early childhood among 2272 parents with at least one child under age six in central China. Findings revealed that: (1) there was a significant age difference in early digital literacy, with television literacy emerging first, followed by touchscreen, artificial intelligence, and personal computer literacy. Gender differences were only observed in television literacy; (2) the home location, home income, home digital resource (HDR), and parent's age significantly correlated with young children's general emergent digital literacy, while family structure, parent's education, and occupation had significant correlations with some specific emergent digital literacy; HDR played a mediation role in the relationship between the home context factors and preschoolers' emergent digital literacy. (3) age of the child, family structure, home income, and HDR significantly contributed to predicting preschoolers'emergent digital literacy. Implications for policy-making and parental education are also addressed.

To understand the role of different school-wide practices in school-wide bullying prevention in the global context, this present study was guided by the social-ecological framework to examine cross-country similarities and differences in the association between three forms of school-wide practices (i.e., punitive, positive, and social and emotional learning [SEL] practices) and school-wide bullying between United States (n = 1,833) and Chinese (n = 1,627) teachers from middle and high schools. Measurement invariance tests confirmed that the associations between the three forms of school-wide practices and school-wide bullying were comparable across the two countries. Results of multilevel analyses suggested that more frequent positive practices at the between-school level were associated with increased school-wide bullying in the United States but decreased school-wide bullying in the Chinese. Also, more frequent punitive practices at the within-school level were associated with increased school-wide bullying in both the U.S. and Chinese samples, and this positive association between punitive practices and school-wide bullying was significantly stronger in the Chinese sample than in the U.S. sample. More frequent punitive practices at the between-school level were also associated with increased school-wide bullying in the U.S. sample, but not in the Chinese sample. Moreover, the frequent SEL practices at the within-school level were significantly associated with decreased school-wide bullying in the United States, but not in China; the frequent SEL practices at the between-school level were associated with decreased school-wide bullying in the United States but increased school-wide bullying in China. Implications for school-wide practices in bullying prevention and intervention with sociocultural considerations were discussed.

Under the tendency of the marketisation of tertiary education, universities/colleges and governments across the world have increasingly regarded international education as an education services export sector. Vietnam has always been regarded as a country of importing rather than exporting international education. Nevertheless, more and more evidence shows that Vietnamese tertiary education institutions are increasingly successful in recruiting international students. To gain further insight into international students in Vietnam, we conducted a survey with 49 tertiary education institutions in Vietnam. Our findings reveal that while most full-time international students in Vietnam are intra-regional (i.e., coming from Asian countries), short-time international students are both intra-regional and extra-regional. Using a Bayesian analysis as a method, we found that, first, the main concerns of international students in Vietnam do not revolve around academic-related factors; and second, the success of Vietnamese tertiary education institutions in attracting international students was mainly associated with operation-related factors.

In order to deeply analyze and evaluate the changes in the comprehensive quality of college students' sports dance, the overall idea of systematically evaluating the changes in the comprehensive quality of college students' sports dance was established. Firstly, this article uses the triangular fuzzy number method to measure the evaluation information of the evaluator's dance curriculum plan according to the evaluation indicators. Then, evaluation information from different groups and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) are used to determine the weight of each evaluation index. Finally, this article constructs a website system based on Python's Django framework. In the final system test and questionnaire survey, it was found that users were relatively satisfied with the accuracy of their evaluations and believed that the accurate performance of in-depth learning data analysis would help them save more time and effort in course selection.

The necessity for the development and enhancement of teacher commitment to satisfying students' learning needs in response to the COVID crisis is increasingly highlighted. It is not known, however, how to increase commitment in schoolteachers to boost online teaching in light of the fact that they, too, are struggling to cope with the rapid, unexpected change. A total of 601 teachers from primary and secondary schools across China participated in this study, with an average teaching experience of 15.9 years. Structural equation modelling was used to verify the significance of contextual, cognitive, affective and behavioural factors in boosting teachers' commitment to online teaching. The findings demonstrated that teacher agency played a complete mediating role in the predicting power of other factors to teacher commitment. Therefore, it was recommended that attention be paid to the practice and opportunities for teacher agentic actions, which necessitates real encounters with online teaching, allowing teachers to act meaningfully and initiate a new set of teaching strategies.

This study compared the sentence hyperbole comprehension performance of Chinese poor readers with various levels of arithmetic proficiency. A total of 168 Chinese poor readers in Grade 1 were recruited, and their nonverbal intelligence, verbal working memory, Chinese receptive vocabulary, Chinese grammatical knowledge, character reading and morphological awareness were controlled. The reaction times of these students in correctly answering literal and inferential questions was selected for further comparison. Results of a mixed-effect model analysis show that the participants with good and poor arithmetic proficiency levels demonstrated similar levels of literal information comprehension, regardless of the presentation form of the quantifier construction that was built by the quantifier location of the sentences, the number of numeric characters in a single quantifier and the hyperbole function applied in the sentence quantifier. Students with good arithmetic proficiency also demonstrated faster response in comprehending quantifier inferential information. Primary school students with good arithmetic proficiency outperformed those with poor proficiency in the inferential reading of verbal numeric information. In addition, differences in arithmetic proficiency did not significantly affect the students' word/character semantic representation cognition and shallow literal information processing. Overall, the results distinguish the interaction and independent numerical information processes at the literal and inferential levels of text quantifier comprehension for young primary school students with poor reading proficiency.

This study examined the effect of Yunnan's ethnic minority college students' acculturation on their academic achievement under the risk of the Matthew effect. Additionally, the role played by learning motivation in the relationship between ethnic minority college students' acculturation and academic achievement was explored. A total of 403 valid questionnaires were collected from four areas in Yunnan province, China. Consequently, the Acculturation Scale, Academic Achievement Scale, and Learning Motivation Scale were used for measurement materials. These items of scales were evaluated on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). SPSS (statistical package for the social sciences) and AMOS (analysis of a moment structures) softwares were used for data analyses. In addition, items were analyzed through item analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, reliability analysis and regression analysis. These results indicated that ethnic minority college students with low acculturation and learning motivation or high acculturation and low learning motivation can become objects of the Matthew effect. However, this study also observed that in certain students, high acculturation and high learning motivation can prevent the Matthew effect. Thus, high acculturation is crucial for improving academic achievement in ethnic minority college students. A level of high learning motivation is a powerful moderator promoting the academic achievement of students with high acculturation.

The number of Chinese international students in the United States has dramatically been increasing for the past two decades, while little is known about how these Chinese students handle campus conflicts in the United States. With an interpretative phenomenological research methodology, we invited 10 Chinese students at three different universities in the United States to share their experiences and strategies in resolving campus disputes. Five themes emerged based on the experiences of research participants. The findings strongly indicate that conflict management strategies and styles of Chinese students are significantly shaped by Chinese culture, and Chinese international students are less likely to express their needs and negative feelings. According to findings, this study suggests that more attention and resources of student help centers should be allocated to Chinese international students in the United States for improving their learning experiences.

English is often ideologically constructed as a global language to facilitate intercultural communication between people of diverse cultural backgrounds. However, it still remains unknown to what extent English learning can enhance English learners' awareness of global diversity. Given the dominant population of English learners in China, it is of great significance to investigate how English learning might facilitate Chinese learners' global vision and cultivate their intercultural competence. Seeing language textbooks as a key site of cultural and linguistic representation, this study scrutinizes the hidden ideologies discursively constructed in an English Intercultural Communication (EIC) textbook targeting Chinese English learners. Data are collected from dialogues, case studies, reading passages, cultural notes, exercises in the textbook. Informed by concepts of orientalism and banal nationalism, the study reveals that the distribution of characters is nation-based, essentialized, and even stigmatized. There is an inconsistency between the discursive construction of English as a global language and the actual representation of USA/UK-centered ideology. Chinese and other non-English learners are linguistically and culturally subjected to orientalist interpretation. The internal orientalist representation of Chinese speakers is also reproduced within the diverse backgrounds of Chinese population. Based on the findings, we argue that the simplified, unbalanced and unequal representations of cultural elements may hinder English learners' awareness of cultural diversity. The study suggests that a more diversified representation of cultural practices should be adopted in EIC textbooks to cultivate the global citizenship through English language education.

The temporary shift from face-to-face instruction to online teaching at North American universities as an alternative solution in response to the COVID-19 pandemic brought significant challenges to international students who had to study abroad from their home countries. Studies on how international students perceive their study-abroad-from-home experiences in such an emergency remote teaching (ERT) context remain scarce. Through the lens of community of inquiry and an additional perspective of emotional presence, this study explored 13 first-year international graduate students' perceptions and experiences of their learning in ERT. Based on the analyses of the pre-learning questionnaire survey results and a series of three reflection journal entries, the study finds that teaching presence has played a vital role in shaping students' understanding and experiences when they participated in a study-abroad graduate program from their home countries. In addition, the participants demonstrated mixed emotions of both frustration and appreciation/thankfulness as well as an isolation-connectedness emotional trajectory during their learning process. The study inspires an exploration of more diverse options for international education programs and continued effort in providing institutional support to ensure better learning experiences in a post-COVID community of inquiry.

This article uses the enactment of China's 2007 Property Law (the Law), which reduces the risk of expropriation by local governments, as the setting to investigate the importance of property rights protection for private firm investment. Using propensity score matching and a difference-in-differences design, we find that firms facing weaker property rights protection prior to the Law significantly increase their investment and investment efficiency after the Law. Cross-sectional analyses document evidence consistent with a decrease in firms' perceived expropriation risk as the main mechanism underlying the Law's effect. Finally, we show that the Law improves local economic outcomes and employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to explore the effects of the social-emotional classroom climate on academic achievement in mathematics and literature for elementary students in grades 3 through 6. The research specifically focuses on the indirect role of creative thinking (convergent and divergent thinking). Structural equation modeling techniques were used to examine data collected from 1365 Chinese elementary students. The results indicate that in mathematics and literature classrooms, (1) the social-emotional climate had a positive effect on school achievement, and (2) divergent and convergent thinking play indirect roles between social-emotional climate and academic achievement. The findings suggest that elementary students' positive perception of social-emotional classroom climate, including the perceptions of teacher support and student cohesiveness, can promote divergent and convergent thinking and ultimately contribute to the output of academic achievement in mathematics and literature.

This study investigated the compensating mediating mechanism of resilience in the relationship between loneliness and life satisfaction in Thai and Chinese college students during a risk period of coronavirus disease 2019 transmission. A total of 262 Thai and 247 Chinese college students were enrolled in the study between December 2020 and January 2021. A measurement model was constructed with the items of loneliness, resilience, and life satisfaction by using structural equation models. Subsequently, structural mediating models were constructed according to the valid items and a multigroup comparison was performed. The relationship between loneliness and life satisfaction differed significantly between Thai and Chinese college students as a result of the mediating effect of resilience. Resilience in Thai college students partly compensated for the negative influence of loneliness on life satisfaction, and resilience in Chinese college students compensated completely for the negative influence of loneliness on life satisfaction.

Online education has made it possible to implement the "classes suspended but learning continues" policy during the COVID-19 outbreak. However, the intangible sense of the online educational setting requires self-directed learning (SDL) and may force students to know the goals of learning that may impact their engagement. To understand the effect, based on situated expectancy-value theory, this study considered SDL as attitude and approach and constructed a research model to explore the mediating power of perceived value of knowing learning goals (PVKLG) related to participants' online learning engagement during the COVID-19 lockdown. Data were collected from 497 higher education students in China. After the confirmatory factor analysis with structural equation modeling, the results reported that SDL attitude and approach positively predicted learning engagement mediated by PVKLG. The results suggest that only when students have a high level of PVKLG will they be able to regulate their learning process through the two types of SDL and enhance their engagement in online learning contexts during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Dialogic reading (DR) is an interactive reading approach that enhances the language development of children. This study aims to extend DR to the shared reading context involving children with attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and their older siblings and to examine the effects of DR with parents/siblings on the language development of Chinese children with ADHD. This study included 850 Chinese kindergarteners with ADHD and their parents/older siblings. These children were pretested on their Chinese receptive vocabulary, expressive vocabulary, character reading, listening comprehension, and reading interest and were randomly assigned to four groups, namely, dialogic reading with parents (PR-DR), dialogic reading with siblings (SR-DR), parent reading control (PR-C), and sibling reading control (SR-C). After a 12-week intervention period, they were posttested on the same measures. Results show that both DR with parents and siblings effectively enhanced language skills and reading interest in children with ADHD. In addition, those children who read with their older siblings demonstrated greater improvements in their expressive vocabulary, character reading skills, morphological awareness, phonological awareness, and reading interest yet achieved a smaller growth in their listening comprehension compared with those who read with their parents. These findings showed the positive effects of DR on the language development of children with ADHD and highlight the importance of involving siblings in home literacy activities to facilitate the language development of these children.

The new paradigm approaches to technology-enhanced feedback (TEF) have piqued the interest of educators seeking to shift away from feedback monologic processing and toward feedback dialogic exchange. The way teachers demonstrate constructive TEF behaviours for their students is essential to the development of students' feedback literacy. However, there is a general lack of multidimensional theoretical conceptualisation for understanding, and instrumentation for measuring teacher TEF literacy. To fill this gap in the literature, this study designed and empirically validated a teacher TEF literacy scale (TTLS) using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis on two distinct samples of teacher participants chosen at random. A total of 632 school teachers from throughout most of China, with a variety of subject backgrounds, participated in this study. The results show that the TTLS' three-factor structure is valid and reliable. To provide supplementary evidence of structural validity, the status quo of TEF literacy among primary and secondary school teachers in China was tested, and a discipline variation in teacher TEF literacy was identified, as hypothesised.

By reviewing regulative documents and extant literature, this paper explores the realities and trends of international students in East and Southeast Asia (ESA). It also shows motivation and strategies of four new players in the international higher education sector in East and Southeast Asia i.e., China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia. Apart from showing that intraregional students have not predominated the overall international student population in the region anymore, the paper highlights that ESA region has become an established hub of international students rather than a new emerging destination as it was in previous years. The overall net flow of international students in this region was still deficit prior to 2010s, but the deficit in 2017 is still less than that of 2010?s. This is probably the first study of its kind to examine the trends of international students as well as of higher education policies of countries in the ESA region. The findings of this study shall provide an insight into international higher education trends among the ESA countries for stakeholders, including policymakers, university managers, faculty, students, and parents.

The #MeToo movement has brought the issue of sexual harassment to U.S. college campuses. Most scholarly work in this area focuses on White American women with little information on international student experiences. Because sexual harassment is considered hush-hush (shi) and taboo, many Chinese international students may not question harassment behaviors they experience. For many Chinese women attending a U.S. university, their first public discussion may occur during student orientation. Thus, students come to college campuses with varying levels of awareness of sexual harassment. Given the growing number of Chinese international students, the purpose of this article is to provide an overview of their experiences and perceptions of sexual harassment. The article also provides recommendations for university personnel working with international students.

Given the importance of creativity in design education, understanding individual differences will help to teach students in accordance of their aptitude and promote the cultivation of creativity. This study investigates the effect of gender on the creativity scores and artefact perception of first-year design students, and explores the relationship between their creativity and perception. Seventy one first-year design students (38 females) from one University in China took part in this study. Firstly, each participant was asked to create an artefact in an artefact production task; secondly, descriptions of the artefacts were generated by participants in a free categorization task. Then, two experts evaluated the creativity of artefacts generated in the artefact production task using three metrics: novelty and affective characteristics, elaboration characteristics, and design principles. Evaluation results showed that female students scored higher on novelty, affective, and elaboration characteristics, but there was no significant difference between the genders in design principles. Furthermore, principal component analysis was used to construct perceptual models for the two gender groups based on the descriptions generated in the categorization task. Results showed that female students' perceptual model includes design principles, affectivity, style, and novelty factors; male students' perceptual model includes colour combination, design principles, style, and contrast effect factors. These findings suggest that individual creativity and artefact perception are closely related. Pedagogical considerations related to the effects of gender are discussed.

In adolescence, individuals are at high risk for cyberbullying perpetration. Although the role of trait anger in cyberbullying perpetration has attracted attention in the research literature, it is unclear the temporal sequence between trait anger and adolescents' cyberbullying perpetration and whether stressful environments could interact synergistically with trait anger to create a profile of the particularly severe risk to adolescents' cyberbullying perpetration. This study contributed to existing knowledge by examining the longitudinal and reciprocal relationships between trait anger and cyberbullying perpetration and exploring whether peer pressure and family economic stress would moderate these relationships across 2 years (3 time points) with a cohort of Chinese adolescents (N = 2,407, M[subscript age] = 12.75 at baseline). The cross-lagged model revealed that prior trait anger was associated with later self-reported cyberbullying perpetration ([beta][subscript T1] [subscript right arrow] [subscript T2] = 0.09 and [beta][subscript T2] [subscript right arrow] [subscript T3] = 0.10), whereas earlier self-reported cyberbullying perpetration was not associated with subsequent trait anger. Peer pressure moderated the link between trait anger and self-reported cyberbullying perpetration. Family economic stress did not play a moderating role in the link between trait anger and self-reported cyberbullying perpetration. Findings suggest that cyberbullying perpetration prevention and intervention programs should attach importance to adolescents' trait anger and the way of getting along with their peers.