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Despite the many critiques of views that categorise and simplify Chinese international students' use of memorisation as deficient or rote learning, these views persist. Using ethnographic methods to collect data over 18 months, this study identified the key practices employed by students as they negotiated their learning experiences in an Australian university. Through a practice lens, this paper disputes the oversimplification and extends existing knowledge of memorisation. It advocates memorisation as an embedded bodily activity in learning, via its deep connection to Chinese cultural and educational systems. In particular, it proposes greater theoretical nuance by suggesting (i) memorisation as entailing bundled practices; (ii) repetition in memorisation as generating new meanings, and (iii) memorisation as embodied and routinised practice. It concludes by discussing the implications of these key findings for academics seeking to understand Chinese students and support their learning experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractPerfectionism is widely recognised as a key factor in students’ learning experiences, but such evidence is primarily derived from cross-sectional studies testing unidirectional links. To fill in the gap, our study used a longitudinal design and made the initial attempt to examine the bi-directional links between two types of perfectionism (personal standards and concerns over mistakes), two types of academic motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic motivation), and academic engagement. Results from the cross-lagged panel analysis among Chinese university students found that personal standards and intrinsic motivation were positively and reciprocally related. Another reciprocity was revealed: intrinsic motivation positively predicted later extrinsic motivation, while extrinsic motivation negatively predicted later intrinsic motivation. Besides, our study revealed several unidirectional links: intrinsic motivation positively predicted later academic engagement, extrinsic motivation positively predicted later concerns over mistakes, and academic engagement negatively predicted later concerns over mistakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored Chinese students' motivations for selecting a cross‐border university in China's Guangdong‐Hong Kong‐Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA) and how they perceive their undergraduate experiences. The GBA was developed as an international economic cluster in China. Despite the vitality of the GBA's international education sector, few studies have focused on individual students' perspectives on cross‐border higher education choices and experiences. We interviewed twenty students and two academics in charge of university admissions about their opinions and reflections concerning a GBA cross‐border university. Students' university choices were linked to different admission profiles, parental influences, institutional features and interactions between students and the institutions. Our study has significant implications for leaders and policymakers in higher education seeking to attract talented university students, improve enrolment and promote students' learning experiences in cross‐border higher education institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese students represent a substantial portion of the UK university student population, with most of them being postgraduates. However, whilst the UK remains a top choice for Chinese students seeking to complete a higher degree programme, competition within the global Higher Education (HE) landscape is intensifying. Consequently, popular HE destinations such as the USA and the UK must now contend with growing academic markets in Australia and New Zealand (Marginson, 2006) as well as some non-English speaking countries which offer appealing university degrees through English-Medium-Instruction (EMI) (Mok, 2007). It is therefore salutary to ensure that Chinese students continue to find the UK appealing. This is vitally important both for the economy and the intellectual diversity and talents these students bring to UK HE institutions. This study thus revisits the core motives which drive Chinese students to UK universities. Significantly, unlike other investigations which have treated the topic of motivation rather marginally and through broad research scopes, this paper uses a 'small-lens approach' (Ushioda, 2016), which here is operationalised through the combination of practitioner research and narrative analysis. The study therefore focuses on a small group (N = 16) of Chinese students to unpack the nuances of meaning which characterise their initial motivation to study in Britain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the inherently meaningful nature of Chinese names, Chinese international students often adopt an English name, particularly when they pursue education in English-speaking countries. Most empirical research on name anglicisation has examined the psychological impact of name change among ethnolinguistic minorities, as well as their experiences with heritage name mispronunciations. Very few studies have looked into the reasons and purposes of adopting an English name. The present study utilises a mixed-methods survey to inquire into the functions and use of English names by Chinese international students in Canada (n = 180), with the goal of providing insight into their name choices, as well as the associated implications for their cross-cultural adaptation. The quantitative and qualitative results suggest that, aside from avoiding name-based discrimination, English names play several adaptive roles, such as facilitating the students' intercultural communication, host connectedness, and integration. Further, English names also provide a route for Chinese international students to stay connected with their heritage culture in a foreign language environment. The findings underscore the importance of respecting language minorities' name choices, whether in their native or the majority language, and call for societal efforts in building a welcoming environment that accepts diverse personal names originating from many different languages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mental contrasting is a motivational behavior change strategy necessary for strong goal commitment. Meanwhile, general causality orientations are motivational patterns that represent individuals' motivation for behavior change and the reason for their goal commitment. The current study explored whether causality orientations predict spontaneous mental contrasting in Chinese university students. Study 1 investigated whether academic autonomy, control, and amotivated orientations correlate with spontaneous mental contrasting about an important academic goal. The findings of Study 1 reveal that autonomy orientation did not correlate with mental contrasting, whereas control and amotivated orientations were negatively correlated with mental contrasting. Study 2 investigated whether priming autonomy and control orientations, in addition to the neutral condition, would induce spontaneous mental contrasting about an academic goal related to the students' research topic. The results of Study 2 revealed that the autonomy condition orientation did not differ significantly from the controlled orientation condition. However, when compared to the neutral condition, the autonomy condition significantly predicted mental contrasting, whereas the controlled orientation condition did not show any significant difference. In Study 2, the autonomy-oriented participants generated more spontaneous mental contrast than the control orientation and neutral conditions. The findings show that controlled and amotivated orientations predicted negative mental contrasting. As a result, controlled and amotivated students must learn how to use mental contrasting to achieve high levels of goal commitment and achievement. Lastly, the study discussed its implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on the survey data from 259 students enrolled at American universities, the study explores how recent tensions between China and the U.S. and issues of public safety would affect Chinese students' perceptions and aspirations for American education. The findings of the research identify significant correlations between the effects of U.S. policies regarding Chinese students, concerns about U.S. public safety, and the impact of U.S. foreign policy toward China on Chinese students at American universities. Students' responses reveal how the pursuit of an American college education remains deeply intertwined with broader societal dynamics and geopolitical realities, which challenge the aspirations of Chinese students for education abroad in an increasingly deglobalizing world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite an emerging mobility of Chinese doctoral students to Malaysia, little is known about how this cohort perceives their study sojourn, especially in relation to a salient yet under-researched discourse widely circulating in the Chinese media that calls into question doctorates obtained from Southeast Asian universities. Utilizing a qualitative method based on 10 Chinese doctoral students, guided by a theoretical framework incorporating Whiteness and agency in mobility, this study unpacks how this cohort understands and addresses the disparaging discourse. Findings reveal that the pejorative discourse is tantamount to a process of stigmatization entrenched in the legacy of Whiteness, which is reinforced by the students' voluntary practice of Whiteness as aspiration, investment, and malleability. Confronting this discourse, the participants established themselves as agentic actors who mobilized collective agency for contestation to rectify the erroneous conception and restore their esteem. This study ends with some implications and future research directions for international student mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This longitudinal study examined how the initial levels and change rates of competition contingent self-worth (CSW) predicted changes in materialistic values among college students during their first two college years. Participants were 948 students (607 females; M age = 18.61, SD age =.71 years, at Wave 1) from eight Chinese universities. Students' competition CSW was measured annually across three waves, and their materialistic values were assessed at the last two waves. Latent growth analyses showed that Chinese college students generally experienced a mean-level decline in competition CSW from their freshmen to junior year. Students with higher initial levels or slower declining rates (or faster increasing rates) of competition CSW obtained greater increases in materialistic values over time. The results highlighted the potential role of competition CSW in contributing to the development of materialistic values among Chinese college students, which may pose threat to their well-being and comprehensive development in college. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mental well-being and dietary habits of adolescents have gained considerable attention over the past decades. The focus of most of the previous research has centered on the impact of specific food types and family meal frequency on mental health. However, the relationship between how often families eat together and other varied eating habits on the psychological well-being of young people remains under-researched. To address this, a survey was conducted among a large sample of students from Chinese elementary to high schools (N = 374,487). The study classified eating arrangement into three categories: only with family members, a combination of eating with family and other situations, and not eating with family at all. Findings indicate that regular meals with family correlate with a decrease in depressive symptoms and an increase in life satisfaction and positive mental health. This study also tested grade and gender differences. The highest grade range (10th -12th grade) showed the least impact on their mental health, which may be attributed to maturation and shifts in social relationships. The findings also suggest that the influence of eating arrangements on mental health was more pronounced among girls than boys, although this effect was relatively mild. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brief, low‐cost growth mindset interventions improving academic‐related outcomes can be valuable. However, less is known regarding their effectiveness on learning motivation, behaviors, and academic performance in non‐Western cultures like China. This study aimed to examine the effects of a single‐session growth mindset intervention on Chinese junior secondary students during the COVID‐19 pandemic. We recruited 618 Chinese junior secondary school students from two schools and cluster‐randomly assigned them to be the intervention school (n = 311) or the control school (n = 307). Data was collected during the fall semester of 2019 and the spring semester of 2020. Compared with the control school, students in the intervention school reported stronger growth mindset (partial η2 = 0.02, p < .001), academic self‐efficacy (partial η2 = 0.02, p < .001), study engagement (partial η2 = 0.01, p = .041), and improved Chinese performance (partial η2 = 0.07, p < .001), with lower helpless attributions (partial η2 = 0.03, p < .001) over time. The intervention had direct and indirect effects (i.e., via the growth mindset) on helpless attributions and academic self‐efficacy, with an indirect effect on study engagement.The results support the effectiveness of the brief growth mindset intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) in educational applications is becoming increasingly prevalent, bringing opportunities and challenges to the learning environment. While AI applications have the potential to enhance structured learning, they may also significantly impact students' creativity and academic emotions. Objectives: This study aims to explore the effects of AI-integrated educational applications on college students' creativity and academic emotions from the perspectives of both students and teachers. It also assessed undergraduate students' and faculty's attitudes to AI-integrated applications. Methodology: A mixed-method research design was used. In the first phase, a qualitative research approach was employed, utilizing theoretical sampling to select informants. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with undergraduate students and university lecturers to gain comprehensive insights into their experiences and perceptions. A scale was developed, validated, and administered to 120 students and faculty in the quantitative phase. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data. Findings: The study revealed that AI applications often impose rigid frameworks that constrain creative thinking and innovation, leading to emotional disengagement due to AI interactions' repetitive and impersonal nature. Additionally, constant AI assessments heightened performance anxiety, and technical frustrations disrupted the learning process. Conversely, AI applications stimulated creativity by introducing new ideas and problem-solving techniques, enhanced engagement through interactive elements, provided personalized feedback, and supported emotional well-being with gamified elements and constant availability. Quantitative data also verified that teachers and students have positive attitudes toward the benefits and challenges of these applications. Conclusions: AI integration in educational applications has a dual-edged impact on college students' creativity and academic emotions. While there are notable benefits in stimulating creativity and enhancing engagement, significant challenges such as creativity constraints, emotional disengagement, and performance anxiety must be addressed. Balancing these factors requires thoughtful implementation and continuous evaluation to optimize the role of AI in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates the effect of introducing a course in Web Development for Chinese students on their academic achievements and the basic competencies, using traditional and online approaches. For the experimental learning purposes, 300 students were selected from three universities located in China's largest cities: Shanghai, Beijing, and Tianjin. A course in Web Development was designed and implemented to achieve the research objectives. The study results showed that the difference in the learning outcomes of the two groups was insignificant and did not depend on the training format. Online learners had more feedback and were able to take lectures and practical training more quickly. Further research requires quantifying and comparing the effects of online learning in programming instruction using the instrumental variable method and structural equation modeling to reveal the causal relationship between the two. The study can be useful to developers of training programs to create both traditional and online courses because the data obtained during this research can improve the effectiveness of the new course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To determine the associations between COVID‐19 school closures and school readiness skills for Chinese kindergarteners. Design: We utilized the natural experimental condition created by local COVID‐19 outbreaks in 2022 (Study 1) to compare school readiness skills of children whose kindergartens were closed for 5 months (Group 1) with children whose kindergartens stayed open (Group 2). We further compared the school readiness skills of one pre‐COVID‐19 cohort (Cohort 2019) with one COVID‐19 cohort (Cohort 2021) from a fifth kindergarten (Study 2). Samples: For Study 1, Group 1 included 445 children and Group 2 included 584 children aged 4–6 years. For Study 2, Cohort 2019 included 156 children and Cohort 2021 included 228 children aged 3–6 years. Measures: For both studies, survey data on four school readiness skills were collected from parents. Additionally, Study 1 collected parental locus of control data from parents. Results: Controlling for covariates, Study 1 revealed that Group 1 and Group 2 did not differ in terms of language and emergent literacy or approaches to learning. However, Group 1 scored lower than Group 2 on health and well‐being and arts and imagination. Study 2 revealed that Cohort 2021 scored higher than Cohort 2019 on language and emergent literacy but lower on the other three skills. Conclusions: The associations of COVID‐19 school closures with Chinese children's school readiness skills were not uniform, with a positive relation with language and emergent literacy and negative associations with health and well‐being, approaches to learning, as well as arts and imagination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informed by translingual practice [Canagarajah, S. 2013a. Translingual Practice: Global Englishes and Cosmopolitan Relations. New York: Routledge] and poststructuralist conceptualisation of identity [Norton, B. 2000. "Identity and Language Learning: Gender, Ethnicity and Educational Change." TESOL Quarterly 35 (3): 504–505], this qualitative case study explored the process of translingual identity construction and negotiation among a group of Chinese students in a joint education programme between China and the United States. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and observations. Data analysis found that these Chinese students initially perceived themselves as deficient ESL speakers resulting from a lack of competence in English, but were able to transform this dilemma with the development of powerful national identities throughout their China-US transnational experiences. In order to claim ownership of English and membership in the host community, besides using standard norms of English to handle academic and social life communication, students developed translingual dispositions as well as translingual practices to supplement their communicative competence with expanded semiotic repertoire. The study extends previous discussions on identity by examining through an analytical lens as translingualism to explore students' identity construction and negotiation in transnational education spaces and provides implications for translingual-oriented language policy and ideologies in intercultural contexts to enhance outcomes of teaching practices and students' learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how Chinese international students perceive the racial identity of Asian Americans and how they position this pan-national, pan-ethnic, phenotypical-based group in relation to other oppressed minorities. Drawing upon theoretical frameworks of the world racial system and racial triangulation, this article argues that Chinese students' ideological socialization in their home country and college experiences in the host country jointly contribute to their knowledge of Asian Americans. To be specific, Chinese students subscribe to the racial stereotype of Asian Americans as 'perpetual foreigners,' and insist that they are difficult to unite but they have more racial consciousness as a minority than Asians from Asian countries. The finding further indicates, different from perceived racial stratification that Asian Americans are positioned as a 'racial middle' group in relation to White and Black Americans, that Chinese students subjectively think Asian Americans are (politically) positioned at the bottom in the U.S. racial hierarchy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this Narrative Inquiry, we share the stories of three Chinese rural students who grew up in a southeastern county in China before moving to the county seat for high school. By inviting our participants to read their own life, we aimed to understand how Chinese rural students make sense of their experience in an exam‐centered school system that seemed to offer them opportunities of upward social mobility but at the same time perpetuated the mindset of rural deficiency. Data analysis shows that the visceral feelings of shame and love played an important role in our participants' critical consciousness about school, allowing them to work within and against school norms to transform a strictly stratified school space. We argue that marginalized youth's storytelling can become a practice of critical literacy, enabling them to construct critical meaning makings in embodied ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to fill the gaps in measuring foreign language reading enjoyment by developing an English reading enjoyment scale for Chinese university students. Scherer's [(2000). 'Emotions as Episodes of Subsystem Synchronization Driven by Nonlinear Appraisal Processes.' In Emotion, Development, and Self-Organization: Dynamic Systems Approaches to Emotional Development, edited by M. D. Lewis, and I. Granic, 70–99. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press] component process model of emotion was consulted and a sequential mixed-methods approach was taken. In the qualitative part, 29 Chinese university students of English were invited to report their English reading enjoyment representations and the collected data were analyzed with a grounded theory approach, which produced 52 thematic categories. Based on the 12 mostly endorsed categories, the English Reading Enjoyment Scale was constructed and then submitted to principal components analysis and subsequently confirmatory factor analysis, leading to an 11-item scale. The internal structure and psychometric properties of the scale as well as the limitations and implications of the study are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the continuous improvement of China's participation in globalization, more and more international competitions and events are held in China, which calls for the involvement of Chinese student volunteers with higher intercultural competence. Meanwhile, enhancing Chinese college students' intercultural competence is both an important component and a main goal of foreign language teaching and reform in higher education. This paper aims to deeply explore the current situation of intercultural competence of student volunteers for international events at private colleges. The study reports a survey of the intercultural competence of 140 student volunteers for the sixth China International Import Expo from private colleges in Shanghai, employing the Intercultural Competence Evaluation Scale for Chinese College Students as an instrument. The study shows the current intercultural competence of Chinese students who volunteer for International Events at private colleges is at a satisfactory level, with an overall average score of 3.699. Among the six dimensions of intercultural competence, Attitude gets the highest score (M=4.167), and Knowledge of Foreign Culture gets the lowest (M=2.987). Meanwhile, it reveals some differences between the students volunteers with different backgrounds and the dimensions of intercultural competence. Students with contact with people from different cultures, with intercultural events and experiences, and with the intention of studying abroad scored significantly higher than those without. Therefore, this study provides an important theoretical basis for deepening the reform of international talent cultivation and for effectively improving the intercultural competence of Chinese students volunteers and provides practical suggestions for improving the intercultural competence of college students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Objectives To translate and revise the Contraceptive Knowledge Assessment (CKA) scale and apply it to Chinese college male/female students. After cross-cultural adjustment of the source scale, the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the scale were tested. Study design This study utilized a cross-sectional research design. Translation, cognitive interviews and a psychometric evaluation were carried out. A survey was then conducted among 388 college students in Shanghai to test the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the CKA scale. Results There were 22 items in the Chinese version. Factor analysis extracted 8 common factors, with a cumulative contribution rate of 58.923%, and 3 items were eliminated. The Cronbach’s α coefficient was 0.793, and the test-retest reliability Pearson correlation coefficient was 0.743. Conclusion The Chinese version of the CKA scale has good reliability and validity and is suitable for assessing the level of contraceptive knowledge.

Abstract Background Integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) in educational applications is becoming increasingly prevalent, bringing opportunities and challenges to the learning environment. While AI applications have the potential to enhance structured learning, they may also significantly impact students’ creativity and academic emotions. Objectives This study aims to explore the effects of AI-integrated educational applications on college students’ creativity and academic emotions from the perspectives of both students and teachers. It also assessed undergraduate students’ and faculty’s attitudes to AI-integrated applications. Methodology A mixed-method research design was used. In the first phase, a qualitative research approach was employed, utilizing theoretical sampling to select informants. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with undergraduate students and university lecturers to gain comprehensive insights into their experiences and perceptions. A scale was developed, validated, and administered to 120 students and faculty in the quantitative phase. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data. Findings The study revealed that AI applications often impose rigid frameworks that constrain creative thinking and innovation, leading to emotional disengagement due to AI interactions’ repetitive and impersonal nature. Additionally, constant AI assessments heightened performance anxiety, and technical frustrations disrupted the learning process. Conversely, AI applications stimulated creativity by introducing new ideas and problem-solving techniques, enhanced engagement through interactive elements, provided personalized feedback, and supported emotional well-being with gamified elements and constant availability. Quantitative data also verified that teachers and students have positive attitudes toward the benefits and challenges of these applications. Conclusions AI integration in educational applications has a dual-edged impact on college students’ creativity and academic emotions. While there are notable benefits in stimulating creativity and enhancing engagement, significant challenges such as creativity constraints, emotional disengagement, and performance anxiety must be addressed. Balancing these factors requires thoughtful implementation and continuous evaluation to optimize the role of AI in education.

This study delves into the differing attitudes of Chinese and American students regarding product placement (PPL) in major motion films. It employs a theoretical framework comprising three key aspects of PPL: its historical evolution, brand integration, and past perceptions. The research employs two primary research methods, questionnaires and focus group interviews, in order to gather insights and opinions from consumers on their views and attitudes toward PPL. Drawing upon the findings from the questionnaires and insights obtained through interviews with Chinese and American consumers, it reveals two distinct sets of attitudes: Chinese participants predominantly express strong reservations about PPL, while a majority of American respondents present diverse arguments in support of its efficacy in the American media ecology in general and in films in particular. While data collection for this study was undertaken already in 2015, this data is nevertheless worth analyzing, both for historic reasons as well as for revealing continuing differing trends in different cultures regarding their media awareness.

Numerous researches support the widely accepted notion that the reading experience between digital and printed literature differs. This study intends to investigate if this applies to reading comic books and to assess any differences in learning comprehension. The research methodology includes a systematic literature review to frame research questions. Followed by a 'think-aloud protocol' experiment to answer the identified research questions. The experiment was conducted using a within-subject design with convenience sampling of 15 high school students to map their reading experience. It has produced data in the form of time taken for the reading, switching areas of interest, and repetition of words on the computer screen and print. The collected data was further analysed using a paired sample T-test, and Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test. The results indicated that off-screen reading exhibited a significant advantage over on-screen reading in terms of reading time. The study observed that readers took longer to switch between areas of interest on a computer screen compared to print, which further supports the belief of slower comprehension on screen. Furthermore, over 72% of the respondents reported encountering word repetition on screen in comparison to print media. The key contribution of this research is providing a novel approach for studying user responses through the think-aloud protocol experiment, which helps map the users' verbal psychological responses. At the same time, the study has a limited sample size as a constraint pertaining to considering the study for generalizability. This research emphasizes the importance of conducting studies involving verbal psychological responses alongside eye-tracking. This combination provides valuable insights into reader comprehension and aids in the development of tailored graphical interfaces for digital comic reading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interactive learning environments improve students' achievement level and ability to contribute to the learning of other students, communication skills and ability to interact with others, and behavior of students. Interactive learning environments aware students of the educational potential of technology. The current study aims to develop an interactive learning environment for physical education students and the differences between an interactive learning environment and a traditional learning environment. The researcher collects data from 324 Chinese students about the impact of these two types of education by using qualitative and quantitative methods. The study identifies interactive learning skills that improve the ability of sportsmen to enhance overall performance and establish high sporting skills. The study found that sustainable education technologies can be used to support and enhance large-scale creative and collaborative physical education by providing technology instruction to athletes with an interactive learning environment. The study suggests that an interactive learning environment creates a comfortable learning environment that focuses students' attention and enhances students in learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we performed a cross-cultural translation of the Inventory of New College Student Adjustment (INCA) into Simplified Chinese. We then assessed the structural properties of the translated version using data collected from a sample of 259 Chinese first-year college students across multiple universities. Our results indicate that the factor structure of the Chinese version of the scale (INCA-Ch) was supported as the benchmarks for all fit indices were met and the computed omega coefficients (ω) for each factor, .82 for the 6-item Supportive Network factor and .83 for the 8-item Belief in Self factor, evidenced acceptable internal consistency based on standards proposed by McNeish (2018). Thus, we concluded that the INCA-Ch was a brief, cross-culturally adapted measure with good structural properties that can be used confidently in a variety of practical and research-based applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantitative research on the linguistic acculturation of sojourners in non-Western and multilingual social contexts remains scarce. Revising the Framework of Acculturation Variables (FAV), we propose a parsimonious model exploring the effect of acculturation conditions (trilingual language usage and perceived discrimination), orientations (social connectedness to mainstream and minority community), and outcome (psychological well-being). In particular, we examined the alternative paths enabled by non-local languages in the acculturation process, revealing the complexity of multidimensionality in trilingual linguistic acculturation. The findings highlight the crucial mediating role of acculturation orientation in the acculturation process. The effects of Cantonese, Mandarin, and English usage on the acculturation process of Mainland Chinese students in Hong Kong (N = 798) were examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation to learn languages other than English (LOTEs) has been underrepresented in second language (L2) motivation research. This study investigated and compared the motivational profiles of first-year and second-year students majoring in Spanish, grounded on the proposition of bifurcating ideal and ought selves into Own and Other standpoints, and the importance of learning experience. The data were first collected using Q methodology from 27 freshmen and 20 sophomores at a university in China, followed by interviews with 10 students. The findings showed three motivational profiles in the first-year group (self-imposed with instrumental goals, self-motivated with intrinsic interests, other-informed and malleable to context) and two in the second-year group (self-motivated with embryonic ideal self-images, ought-self oriented with unsatisfactory classroom experience). These different motivational profiles were found to be associated with two main factors: classroom experience and exposure to Spanish use in digital contexts. The current findings underscored the importance of role modelling and positive classroom learning experience for beginning learners in LOTE degree programmes, and the promising potential of exposing learners to LOTE use in digital contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a brief measure of four internal attributes found to protect against the impact of adverse life events on mental health was developed and validated. In addition, profiles of internal strengths that significantly predict mental health outcomes in young Chinese adults were identified. The results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses on data from 831 Chinese university students supported the proposed four-factor model of the ISALES. Participants in the current study fell into two clusters, with one cluster being higher than the other in all four internal strengths, with the former cluster demonstrating better overall mental health than those in the latter cluster. The ISALES is a promising instrument for use in clinical settings and may be used to identify individuals who are more 'at risk' of developing poor mental health in the aftermath of a negative life event. The use of the ISALES may permit tailored interventions and timely support to be provided to individuals within clinical settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both challenges and opportunities are inherent with a growth in Chinese international students in UK Higher Education. However, teachers from the West may not understand the differences in Chinese educational practices, which can lead to negative stereotyping of these students as passive and problematic. This paper rejects this deficit perspective, focusing on the views of Chinese students as to what might need to change about the UK teaching and campus environment to improve their learning experience. Two focus groups were held with Chinese social science Masters' students in a UK university. Some of their key requests included to reduce class sizes; to provide more guidance around study skills; to offer more timely and accessible information; to provide a more flexible range of services and learning support; and to create more social time with staff and other students. The discussions particularly brought out the importance of 'relational pedagogy'. These requirements will need more staff time and institutional flexibility which will necessitate adequate funding. The authors conclude that, despite Chinese students' significant contribution to the local economy and to University finances, there does not seem to be a commensurate investment in protecting their wellbeing and ensuring they receive a quality education. We consider it is important to listen to and act on the students' suggestions outlined here if UK Higher Education is to remain the destination of choice for many Chinese and other international students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's grand strategies (i.e., the Belt and Road Initiative and the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area) have expedited the popularity of full‐time degree‐bearing study in mainland China. Associated with the exponential growth of inward student populations are proliferating concerns about the capacity of non‐majority/non‐local students to 'integrate' and belong in their host universities/colleges. The extant literature on university/college belonging often positions non‐majority/non‐local students as being academically and culturally deficient and subsequently being otherised in the host university community. Yet, their agency in managing the prevailing image and 'otherisation', and constructing their own sense of belonging to university, has received scant attention. This qualitative study is a substantive and theoretical contribution to the literature on university belonging, which has been preoccupied with non‐majority/non‐local students in the classic South–North international student mobility. This study deployed the concepts of politics of belonging and place‐belongingness and canvassed the senses of belonging to university among inbound Hong Kong students in mainland higher education, which has witnessed a growing Hong Kong student population in recent years. The collected interview data indicated that these border‐crossing Hong Kong students found themselves categorised as 'underachievers' with 'poor mathematics' yet 'proficient in English' in the mainland campus setting, where they did not feel they fully belonged. Responding to the paradoxical identity/belonging politics, they performed three forms of place‐belongingness by dismantling, accommodating or counter‐stereotyping the ascribed classifications in order to legitimate their own participation in the mainland Chinese university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers have shown that the pursuit of doctoral studies is often related to the desire to become an academic, despite the constrained academic labour markets and changing (or deteriorating, as some have argued) academic working conditions (AWC) worldwide. In this study, we assessed the extent to which Chinese PhD students were aware of the changes taking place in the academic profession and, if so, whether this awareness influenced their career choices. We conducted a narrative inquiry involving 29 mainland Chinese PhD students and graduates in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau to elicit their perceptions of AWC in their main academic labour market in mainland China and how these perceptions may have informed their career intentions. We found that perceptions of unfavourable AWC tended to dissuade the PhD students from pursuing a career in academia, but not always in the same way. This finding led us to conceptually identify four decision-making types based on the PhD students' motivations for achievement and desire for autonomy: the materialist, academic striver, undecided and comfort seeker. We found that all of the PhD students were primarily concerned about the ruthless tenure-track system and excessive competition, especially the comfort seekers (i.e. with high and low motivations for autonomy and achievement, respectively). Most of the PhD students also perceived guanxi, hierarchical academic communities, the segmented academic labour market and low remuneration as major drawbacks for seeking an academic career, particularly the materialists (i.e. with high and low motivations for achievement and autonomy, respectively). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, there is a surge of interest in a wide range of learner emotions in the SLA field, underlining a holistic perspective of language learning emotions. The present study examines the relationships between the three prevalent emotions among language learners – foreign language enjoyment (FLE), foreign language anxiety (FLA), and foreign language boredom (FLB) – and their potential correlates including a set of learner-internal and teacher-related variables among a specific sample of Chinese high school students. When it comes to the links among the three emotions, we found that FLE was negatively correlated with FLA and FLB, while FLA and FLB were positively correlated. Various learner-internal (gender, age, attitude towards the FL, attitude towards the teacher, self-perceived achievement, relative standing in class) and teacher-related variables (teacher enthusiasm, friendliness, strictness, frequency of FL use, foreign accent, frequency of joke, unpredictability) were found to be related with the three emotions to a different degree. In addition, the positive emotion of FLE was found to be more related to teacher-related variables than the negative emotions of FLA and FLB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary purpose of the study was to explore the current situation of Chinese music majors' self-regulated learning (SRL) in the individual music practice context. Two undergraduate piano players' music practice profiles were collected using SRL microanalysis protocols and follow-up semi-structured interviews. The results have shown: (1) there were obvious differences between the two Chinese music majors' before, during, and after their practice sessions; (2) both participants' SRL during music practice could be enhanced by developing advanced practice strategies (including metacognitive and mental strategies); (3) music majors' SRL has been influenced by Chinese culture when seeking help from teachers and in self-attribution; (4) the SRL microanalysis can effectively obtain specific contextualized information regarding music majors' behavior, cognition, and affect during their practice in the Chinese context. This study reflects the Chinese music majors' current situation in terms of self-regulated music practice and provides insights useful to understanding the practices of students influenced by Chinese culture and improving them to achieve higher levels of self-regulated music practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of group therapy on the stress coping skills of Chinese students in Korea using a pre-test posttest control group design. Methods: Thirty participants were randomly placed into an experimental group (EG; n = 15) and a control group (CG; n = 15). The EG completed eight 120-min sessions of group art therapy. The Person-in-the-Rain (PITR) drawing test was conducted with both groups before and after the EG completed art therapy. Results: The test revealed that EG members demonstrated lower stress and significantly higher stress resources and coping abilities than the CG members after the intervention. The group art therapy program improved the EG participants' ability to deal with stress. Discussion: This study's findings may offer insights useful for determining how best to provide psychological and emotional support to international students who have left their home countries and are continuing their academic journeys abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the racialization of Asians in Australia through the dialectic of the “yellow peril” and “model minority”. It uses the specific historical case study of People’s Republic of China nationals in Australia at the time of the Tiananmen Square massacre (1989) who were ultimately given permanent residence. Through analysis of archival sources and Australia’s print media in this period (1989–1993), the article identifies how the Tiananmen Chinese were at once characterized as educated, hard-working and worthy additions to the Australian nation (model minority), while also appearing as a threat to the order and integrity of the immigration system (yellow peril). The article draws on Asian American theorist Colleen Lye’s argument about the economistic character of Asian racial form. By using her framework, I suggest the value of deepening engagements with Asian American studies in examining the racialization of Asians in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined how a group of Chinese undergraduate students understood paraphrasing and source use conventions for research paper writing in English. Prior scholarship has generated valuable insights about novice second language (L2) writers' unconventional source use practices, but little is known about how these writers interpret and understand source use expectations for English academic writing. We followed a group of nine Chinese undergraduate students for an academic term as they learned to paraphrase and write with sources for their research paper assignments. Drafts of students' papers were collected and rounds of text-based interviews were conducted where students were asked to explain their source use decisions. Findings showed that the students actively and constantly referenced their source use knowledge of Chinese essay writing to help make sense of source use expectations for English academic writing, although their understanding of English academic source use as well as their rendition of culture may likely be viewed by expert academic writers as 'insufficient' or 'inadequate'. We conclude by highlighting the importance of foregrounding learner voice and acknowledging the legitimacy of the interpretations of novice L2 writers as intercultural informants in the teaching of English academic source use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The requirement for Chinese students to adopt an English name for the English language classroom remains a relic of a previous era, which is not only accepted but also desirable by some. This study reports on 357 Chinese English language students' relationship with their English names in terms of the concepts of identity, agency and investment, using a questionnaire designed to gather both quantitative and qualitative responses. The study suggests that English names are moving toward a normative practice in mainland China, similar to the relationship that diaspora Chinese communities have with their English names. This can be regarded as a product of the internationalism experienced within China. However, the study also suggests that while students have the appearance of agency, this is mediated by the belief that the Chinese language is problematic for non-Chinese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Persistent concerns exist regarding the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and science achievement, prompting ongoing research into the factors enabling some low-SES students to excel in science despite the odds. This study seeks to identify multiple combinations of individual, family, and school conditions that contribute to successful outcomes within this demographic. Utilising a sample of 1,460 low-SES Chinese students, aged 15, from the 2015 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), this study employs fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) as its methodological approach. The results reveal seven viable pathways that can equally enable low-SES students to achieve academic success in science. These pathways involve a combination of multiple factors, such as parental emotional support, school science instruction practices, and science-related attitudes and beliefs. The analysis also indicates that certain causal factors (i.e. parental emotional support, extrinsic motivation, enquiry-based science instruction practices, or teacher adaptation of science instruction), can be absent in the configurations, but can still contribute to academic resilience when complemented by other conditions (e.g. elevated levels of intrinsic motivation, epistemological beliefs about science, teacher-directed science instruction, or teacher support in science classes). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The present study focuses on the unique role of insight and Trait Emotional Intelligence in the realm of art education in China. Insight, traditionally associated with clinical outcomes such as mastering symptoms, developing adaptive behaviors, and enhancing quality of life, is newly contextualized in this study within the framework of art education. The expansion of insight research into areas like Social Psychology reflects its relevance beyond clinical settings, particularly in educational environments where creativity and emotional intelligence are pivotal. Aim: In Chinese art education, insight is crucial not just for personal growth but also for professional development, integrating the understanding of emotions, culture, and artistic expression. This study explores how Trait Emotional Intelligence fosters insight and engagement in art students, underscoring its transformative impact on their educational and professional journey in the art world. Methods: Using a sample of Chinese art education students at University level (N = 881), that answered a quantitative self-report questionnaire, statistical procedures are applied to test the relationships between Trait Emotional Intelligence, Insight orientation, and students' academic engagement. Results: In the structural model, the path from Trait Emotional Intelligence to Insight Orientation was significant, indicating a positive relationship. Students' Engagement was significantly predicted by Insight Orientation and Trait Emotional Intelligence. Implications: This finding corroborates theoretical assertions that individuals with higher emotional intelligence are more inclined to have enhanced insight. The findings of the present study extend beyond the field of Art education, allowing us to provide a broad spectrum of social implications for Higher Education institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese students studying abroad have been increasing rapidly in the past decades and become a significant financial contribution to receiving countries. Accordingly, understanding their enrollment choice is essential to facilitate college marketing and admission strategies. Though the decision process is believed to be different from domestic students, empirical analysis of Chinese students’ enrollment choices is still lacking. This paper fills the void by examining the influential factors of Chinese students’ enrollment choice with novel student-level data. We find that in addition to factors domestic students typically consider, such as financial aid and academic quality, Chinese students particularly emphasize college ranking, reputation, and location in their decision process. Furthermore, unlike domestic students who usually prefer colleges with proximity to home, Chinese students’ location preference is linked to job prosperity. We also find that the impact of the factors varies for students from different regions of China, which can be attributable to uneven economic development within the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International students make significant contributions to UK higher education and studying in the UK brings various potential benefits to international students. An in-depth exploration of the academic journey of Chinese international master’s students, the largest body of overseas students in the UK, is needed to provide better insight into how to best support this cohort. In this longitudinal study, interviews with 34 participants were conducted using a photo-elicitation technique and diagrams. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was employed for data analysis. Nine superordinate themes emerged which comprise academic, social, linguistic, and psychological aspects of students’ experience. These themes were brought together in a model, adapted from Malow’s Hierarchy of Needs, to provide a longitudinal representation of the student experience transitioning in, through, and out of their journey abroad. This study illustrates the various needs of this cohort by sequence and importance, and highlights English proficiency and social connections as two influential factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metadiscourse plays a significant role in determining the quality of writing. While a growing number of studies have investigated the use of metadiscourse by adult second language learners in academic writing at the tertiary level, studies on how secondary-level students adopt such linguistic resources in other genres, particularly in examination writing, remain few. The present study addresses this research gap by examining the distributions of metadiscourse markers in a corpus of 120 low-, medium-, and high-rated advice-giving texts (letters and reports) randomly selected from the Hong Kong public examination of English language writing, written by secondary-level Chinese learners of English. Using Hyland's (2019) framework of metadiscourse, the study found considerable variation in the use of interactive and interactional metadiscourse across genres (letters vs. reports) and the final exam grades awarded to texts. Implications for teaching English to pre-tertiary Chinese writers are discussed with suggestions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the theoretical framework of the L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS), the present study aims to make a methodological contribution to L2 motivation research. With the application of a novel growth mixture modeling (GMM) technique, the study depicted developmental trajectories of three motivational variables (ideal L2 self, ought-to L2 self, and L2 learning experience) of 176 Chinese tertiary-level students over a period of two semesters. Results showed two to three salient classes with typical developmental patterns for the three motivational variables respectively, with which the study gained fresh insights into the developmental processes of motivation beyond the individual level. Our study further established three main multivariate profiles of motivation characterized by a distinct combination of different motivational variables. The findings extend our understanding of motivational dynamics, providing a nuanced picture of emergent motivational trajectories systemically. Additionally, GMM has shown to be an effective and applicable method for the identification of salient patterns in motivation development, which leads to practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes two collaborative concept mapping-based prewriting strategies to help Chinese EFL learners with a reading-to-write task—reading an unfinished story and then writing its ending. Collaborative concept mapping enables students to visualize the storyline with the help of peer scaffolding. The two proposed strategies used collaborative fill-in-the-blanks concept maps (CFCM) and collaboratively constructed concept maps (CCCM). Classes 1 (N = 48) and 2 (N = 47) participated in the experiment and respectively learned the strategies of CFCM and CCCM. The collected data included students' concept maps, reading-to-write products, responses to questionnaires on attitudes and motivation, and learning journals, which were analyzed by t tests, path analysis, and qualitative coding. The results indicated that students using CCCM showed more positive attitudes and higher motivation than those using CFCM; however, the two strategies shared similar effectiveness in developing students' reading-to-write abilities. Students found the proposed strategies effective in helping them write the story ending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on second language (L2) enjoyment and anxiety has mainly focused on independent reading and writing tasks. An integrated reading-writing task involves students in both reading and writing processes, raising the possibility of different combinations of, and unique interaction between, enjoyment and anxiety across reading and writing in such a task. This study aimed to identify integrated reading-writing task based enjoyment and anxiety profiles using a person-centered latent profile analysis (LPA) and to explore their relationships with imagination and performance. Six hundred and seventy-nine 12th-grade Chinese students completed an integrated reading-writing task, namely a story continuation writing task (SCWT), and a questionnaire measuring their L2 reading enjoyment and anxiety, writing enjoyment and anxiety, and imaginative capacity. The LPA identified four different profiles: (1) the moderate-enjoyment/moderate-anxiety group, (2) the moderate-enjoyment/low-anxiety group, (3) the high-enjoyment/moderate-anxiety group, and (4) the low-enjoyment/high-anxiety group. Further, a student's profile membership was strongly predicted by imaginative capacity. Those in the moderate-enjoyment/low-anxiety group scored highest in story continuation writing performance. Pedagogical implications tailored to integrated reading-writing task instruction are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research found that compared with individual writing, collaborative writing improves learner performance and facilitates writing development. However, it remains unknown whether collaboration may allow learners to tackle writing tasks of varying cognitive demands. This study examined the role of task complexity in collaborative writing (CW) through (a) comparing how individual learners and dyads performed in tasks of varying cognitive demands and (b) examining how task complexity impacted pairs' co-constructed texts. Sixty-nine Chinese junior high school learners of English (14–16 years old) were divided into two groups: individual writing (n = 21 learners) and a CW group (n = 24 pairs). Learners in both groups completed a simple and a complex task (manipulated via ± task structure). The written products were analyzed in terms of linguistic complexity, accuracy, fluency, and functional adequacy. Results indicated that the benefits of collaboration on learners' written products were subject to the influence of task structure. When task structure is present, dyads produced functionally more adequate and longer texts than individual learners. In contrast, without task structure, dyads gained an edge over individual writers in terms of linguistic accuracy and fluency. Also, when examining the role of task complexity within the CW group, this study found that task structure exerted some influence on fluency, but not on other aspects of the jointly written products. Pedagogical and research implications were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies on prosodic disambiguation have found Chinese EFL learners capable of using prosodic cues for both boundary marking and focus encoding in English, but somewhat differently from native English speakers. No clear understanding has yet been obtained about their overall use of prosodic strategies in speech production for disambiguation. In this study, we conducted a contextualized production task followed by perception judgments and acoustic analyses to investigate their prosodic disambiguation, with native English speakers as the contrast group. We considered three types of prosodic cues (duration, pitch, and intensity), and examined ambiguities in both syntactic structure and information structure. We found that Chinese EFL learners did alter their prosodic cues to disambiguate two readings, but differently from native English speakers in both cue number and cue combination. Specifically, they used a narrower range of cues and provided insufficient prosodic information, consequently leading to poor perception by native listeners. Our findings argue for prosodic disambiguation training in foreign language teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enhancing student engagement yields a multitude of benefits for students. It not only improves their satisfaction but also increases their motivation, enriches their learning experience, reduces their sense of isolation and ultimately enhances their academic performance. However, Chinese students in transnational education are known for being silent in the classroom. With overwhelming and consistent research findings in the pedagogical literature that participation in class discussion and asking questions are crucial activities that cultivate independent learning skills and develop the ability to apply knowledge, how to get Chinese students to speak up in class has clearly become an issue of concern to educators. Informed by the UK professional standards framework (UKPSF) and underpinned by Brookfield's four lenses model, this action research examined and confirmed the positive effect of using both personal‐related and course content‐related icebreaker questions at the beginning of the class to increase Chinese students' engagement. It also identified different effects these two types of questions might have on students' engagement and the potential concerns associated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigated the association between students' perceptions of teacher autonomy-supportive and controlling interpersonal behaviours, positive and negative academic emotions, and subjective vitality and emotional exhaustion. Study 1 employed a cross-sectional survey design to collect data from 328 undergraduate students from three public universities in China. Study 2 employed an experimental design and collected data from 64 undergraduate students. The results of the structural equation modelling with latent variables indicated that teacher autonomy-supportive interpersonal behaviours did not reduce negative academic emotions, and negative emotions did not explain subjective vitality, while positive emotions did not explain emotional exhaustion. These findings suggest that positive and negative emotions are mutually exclusive in predicting subjective vitality and emotional exhaustion. The study discusses the implications of these findings for instructors' interpersonal behaviours and the role of emotions in predicting students' psychological well-being in the Chinese context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transnational online education has become an emerging trend in promoting academic collaboration and exchange in higher education during and after the pandemic. Guided by the learning ecology framework, we conducted concurrent mixed methods research by distributing an online survey to Chinese students (N=51) to collect quantitative and qualitative data. This helped us deeply understand their experiences and perceptions of a cross-cultural online learning environment in the United States. We applied multiple regression and thematic analysis to analyze the data. The merging of both types of data analysis indicated the confirmation of the importance of discipline-based English learning environments, the transformation of online learning practices, the insufficiency of student-to-instructor interactions, discordance of technological self-efficacy and the disadvantages of technology-assisted instruction, and discordance between the usefulness and difficulties of learning activities and assessments. We further discussed appropriate strategies and techniques to promote online teaching and learning excellence in transnational distance education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]