Browsing by Subject "Chinese"
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Item Adolescent academic achievement in Chinese immigrant families : the direct effects of individual and dyadic acculturation processes and the indirect effects of family obligation and academic engagement(2011-08) Ammon, Natalie Younok 1981-; Kim, Su YeongThe Asian immigrant population is growing more rapidly than any other group in the U.S. (Social Science Data Analysis Network, 2004), and Chinese Americans represent the largest Asian subgroup (U.S. Census Bureau, 2002). Assuming recent trends continue, the number of first- and second-generation Chinese children will increase dramatically, and their developmental needs will demand special attention. Using structural equation modeling to analyze two waves of data from a study on 444 Chinese families, this project aims to provide a better understanding of the relations between family members’ adaptations to life in the U.S. and adolescents’ academic grade point average (GPA). Chinese children of immigrants have been found to succeed in school (Fuligni, Tseng, & Lam, 1999). However, little is known about the ways in which their academic achievement may be related to acculturation, the process through which an individual or group makes socio-cultural or behavioral adjustments through repeated contact with another group or culture (Gordon, 1964; Berry, 2003). Exploring the variation in acculturative processes among Chinese immigrant family members and identifying how the various acculturative strategies may relate to adolescent academic achievement would bridge a gap in the extant literature. Therefore, the first objective of this study was to assess whether fathers’, mothers’, and adolescents’ individual acculturation to American and Chinese cultures were related to adolescents’ GPA. The second goal was to test for moderation effects in these relations. Interaction terms were created for parents’ acculturation in relation to adolescents’ acculturation to test whether the connections between adolescents’ acculturation to the American and Chinese cultures and adolescents’ GPA were conditional on either fathers’ or mothers’ American or Chinese orientation. Third, this study included two culturally salient factors as mediators of potential relations found between individual and dyadic acculturative processes and adolescents’ academic achievement. These mediators were adolescents’ sense of family obligation and adolescents’ level of behavioral academic engagement. The fourth and final objective was to assess whether there was invariance by adolescent gender in the structural model.Item Anger Suppression and Depressive Symptoms among Chinese Women in the United States(2010-01-14) Chen, SylviaThis study was designed to remedy the current lack of information on the causes of depression among Chinese women in the United States. It is based on an integrated understanding of depression, anger, female gender socialization, acculturation processes, and Chinese cultural values. More specifically, this study aims to investigate the depressive symptoms in this population using a psychoanalytic conceptualization of depression as anger "turn-inward." The researcher hypothesized that after controlling for the effects of female gender role identification and acculturation level, anger suppression has a direct positive effect on depressive symptoms. It was also hypothesized that female gender role identification has a direct positive effect on depressive symptoms. Statistically significant strong positive relationships were found for both relationships. Results also suggested that acculturation level has a direct negative effect on depressive symptoms. However, neither the Chinese culture orientation nor the European American culture orientation was found to have a statistically significant effect on depressive symptoms. It is worth noting that the results of this study revealed that 90% of the variance in depressive symptoms was explained by variables included the path model in this study. Recommendations for future research and clinical practice are also discussed.Item Chinese coolies in Cuba and Peru : race, labor, and immigration, 1839-1886(2010-08) Narvaez, Benjamin Nicolas; Brown, Jonathan C. (Jonathan Charles), 1942-; Hu-DeHart, Evelyn; Garfield, Seth W.; Gurdiy, Frank A.; Deans-Smith, Susan; Hsu, Madeline Y.This dissertation examines the experience of the tens of thousands of Chinese indentured laborers (colonos asiáticos or “coolies”) who went to Cuba and Peru as replacements for African slaves during the middle of the nineteenth century. Despite major sociopolitical differences (i.e., colonial slave society vs. independent republic without slavery), this comparative project reveals the common nature in the transition from slavery to free labor. Specifically, the indenture system, how the Chinese reacted to their situation, and how they influenced labor relations mirrored each other in the two societies. I contend that colonos asiáticos, while neither slaves nor free laborers, created a foundation for a shift from slavery to free labor. Elites in both places tried to fit the Chinese into competing projects of liberal “progress” and conservative efforts to stem this change, causing them to imagine these immigrant laborers in contradictory ways (i.e., free vs. slave, white vs. non-white, hard-working vs. lazy, cultured vs. morally corrupt). This ambiguity excused treating Asian laborers as if they were slaves, but it also justified treating them as free people. Moreover, Chinese acts of resistance slowly helped undermine this labor regime. Eventually, international pressure, which never would have reached such heights if the Chinese had remained passive, forced an end to the “coolie” trade and left these two societies with little option but to move even closer to free labor. That said, this work also considers the ways in which the differing socio-political contexts altered the Chinese experience. In particular, in contrast to Peru, Cuba’s status as a colonial slave society made it easier for the island’s elites to justify exploiting these workers and to protect themselves from mass rebellion. My dissertation places the histories of Cuba and Peru into a global perspective. It focuses on the transnational migration of the Chinese, on their social integration into their new Latin American host societies, as well as on the international reaction to the situation of immigrant laborers in Latin America.Item Communicating traditional Chinese medicine across cultures: thetorical and linguistic challenges and possible solutions(Texas Tech University, 2004-12) Zhu, PinfanThis dissertation addresses the problems inherent in cross-cultural technical communication of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). It differs from previous similar works in that, for the first time, it approaches the problems of cross-cultural technical communication from a multi-disciplinary perspective. The author holds that complicated challenges in cross-cultural technical communication need to be studied in a multidimensional context because cross-cultural technical communication is concerned with different fields. The author uses combined qualitative research methods—interviews, a survey, and text analysis—to critique a web site designed to explain TCM to Western audiences. He uses theories from the fields of rhetoric, linguistics, cross-cultural communication, technical editing, translation, and document design to analyze the shortcomings of the web page. Then he suggests ways in which the page could be modified to better serve its audience. These are some of the problems the author identifies: inappropriate discourse patterns; common language errors in sentence structures and word choice; inappropriate and erroneous translations, such as overtranslation, undertranslation, mistranslation, inconsistency, and awkward language; editing weaknesses in typography, graphics, and text; and document design problems. Together with possible solutions suggested, this analysis is a practical guide to those who are studying or pursuing cross-cultural technical communication. The findings and principles the dissertation discussed are also applicable to other types of cross-cultural communicationItem Cross Language Transfer and Foreign Language Learning Motivation in English and Chinese(2014-11-12) Cho, EunheeThis dissertation investigated two issues: cross-language transfer among three typologically distant languages?Korean, English, and Chinese?and the language learning motivation of Korean students as it relates to two foreign languages?English and Chinese. The study participants were Korean-speaking 9th graders who studied English and Chinese as foreign languages for seven years and one year, respectively. In the first of this dissertation?s two articles, the author examined the nature of morphology-based cross-language transfer from Korean to reading and writing in English and Chinese. Utilizing the body of recent morphological awareness research as a potent point of reference, the author investigated whether the skill of morphological awareness in Korean can be transferred to reading and writing in English and, by extension, whether morphological awareness skills in Korean and English can be transferred to reading and writing in Chinese. While this inquiry found no significant transfer of morphological awareness from Korean to writing in English or Chinese, it did ultimately link morphological awareness in Korean with a significant contribution to reading comprehension in the two target languages. This study also served to underscore the unique morphology-based transfer that can facilitate reading comprehension across different orthographies and the importance of proficiency in the target language. The second article investigated the motivation for learning a foreign language by exploring the potential relationship between motivation orientation, expectancy, and language performance. In particular, the author analyzed the primary motivations for Korean-speaking students in learning English as a second language (L2) and Chinese as a third language (L3), respectively, and whether expectancy for L2 and L3 mediated the relationship between motivation orientation and language performance. A mediating effect of expectancy between motivation orientation and language performance was, indeed, observed in a significant way for both English and Chinese, while the magnitude of the mediation was found to differ between the two target languages. This latter discrepancy can be interpreted as resulting from the different types of influence of required motivational orientation and instrumental motivational orientation and their discrete scopes of influence in English and Chinese learning. In the final analysis, this dissertation studied the interdependence among three typologically distant languages, focusing on morphological awareness; it also compared the motivational effect as it affects learning in two foreign languages. Results from both lines of inquiry strongly suggest that the diverse cross-language transfer effect and motivational factors in foreign language skills are directly tied to the target language, proficiency in the target language, and the socio-educational context in which the language is learned.Item Cross-cultural significance of connotative meaning in architecture: a comparison of Chinese, British, and American interpretations of meaning in Chinese Gardens(Texas Tech University, 1996-12) Zhou, YiBefore the Industrial Revolution, architecture was considered one ofthe disciplines of the humanities. It was recognized that well-designed buildings contain both denotative and connotative meanings to satisfy physical and psychological needs. The project of modernity and the accompanying search for the universal have "shattered this optimism." Only the importance of physical need is emphasized in architecture today. It embodies the power of science, and legitimizes architecture as a recognizable 'professional' enterprise. Functionalism prevails in architecture which may contribute to a general ignorance of any connotative meaning by the designer and the general public alike. This has created a situation in which much of architecture tends to be merely an object of utility, invoking the outrage of such as Thomas Bernhard; "... every new building they (builders and architects) put up is another crime they commit, a building crime against humanity . We are helpless against the destruction of our global surface by architects." To solve the problems resulting from a fianctionalist only approach to architectural design—sterile image, throw away buildings, glass boxes, etc., is to restore connotative meaning to architecture. The question is can modernity and connotation coexist in architecture? In the author's view, through the inclusion of connotative meaning, much more of architecture can be understood, even by culturally detached viewers, and that its inclusion would provide universality whereby people would enjoy the built environment much more than they do at present. The purpose of this thesis is to test this point of view.Item Dual Coding Theory and Chinese: Recall of Concrete and Abstract Sentences in Chinese-English Bilinguals(2010-10-12) Chen, Tsuei-FenTheories of reading have seldom been examined across orthographies. In the present study, Dual Coding Theory (DCT), a general theory of cognition applied to literacy, was applied to Chinese sentences to investigate the effects of language concreteness and abstractness on immediate recall. Forty Chinese-English bilinguals read and recalled five concrete sentences and five matched abstract sentences. Of the ten sentences, five were English, and five were Chinese. Due to the characteristics of Chinese orthography, Chinese script may have a direct and more efficient access to meaning; hence, it is possible that concrete sentences in Chinese would not have the typical advantage over abstract sentences in recall found in other languages. However, the results showed that concrete Chinese sentences were recalled better than abstract Chinese sentences. A 2 (languages: Chinese vs. English) x 2 (sentence concreteness: concrete vs. abstract) analysis of variance with proportion of recall as the dependent variable showed that significant main effects were found for languages, F (1, 76) =11.68, p = .001, n2 = .13, and for concreteness, F (1, 76) = 38.12, p < .001, n2 = 33. That is, Chinese was overall recalled significantly better than English, and concrete sentences were overall recalled significantly better than abstract sentences. There was no significant interaction. Concrete Chinese sentences were recalled 1.32 times as much as abstract Chinese sentences, thus confirming the concreteness effects in Chinese. The results of the study are consistent with those of previous studies on DCT in alphabetic languages, and they also provide evidence of concreteness effects across orthographies.Item The effects of L1 orthographic features and phonological awareness on Chinese speakers learning to read in English(2010-12) Moody, Joe William; Sardegna, Veronica G.; Schallert, DianeThis report focuses on language transference between alphabetic (English) and logographic, non-alphabetic (Chinese) languages, with respect to the importance of phonemic awareness in literacy acquisition. Within large ESL/EFL classrooms, language learners from all cultures are taught in the same way. Instruction rarely caters for specific problems directly associated with L1 transfer or the learner’s culture. The purpose of this report is not only to gain a better understanding of the differences in literacy acquisition between the two languages (English and Chinese), but also to assess the impact of this difference on Chinese children learning how to read in English. Research is examined that focuses on the role that phonemic awareness plays in the acquisition of English literacy and in the acquisition of Chinese literacy. The relationship between Chinese orthographic features and word recognition processing in English as a second language is explored as well as cross-language transfer of phonological awareness and its effect on English literacy acquisition. Pedagogical implications are also discussed on how to apply these findings to the classroom for instructors of English as a second language.Item Fangyan-speaking learners of Mandarin Chinese in U.S. universities : experiences of students with heritage backgrounds in Chinese languages other than Mandarin(2010-08) Hsiao, Jennifer Ching-hui; Horwitz, Elaine Kolker, 1950-; Schallert, Diane L.; Kelm, Orlando R.; Maloch, Anna E.; Teng, Wen-HuaWith the rising importance of Mandarin Chinese since the 80s, researchers have paid more attention to the Mandarin learners of heritage backgrounds who can understand or speak Mandarin Chinese before entering Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) programs. However, the study of Fangyan-speaking learners of Mandarin Chinese has been long neglected and still remains scarce. This interview study was conducted with twelve Fangyan-speaking learners of Mandarin in U.S. universities with an aim of investigating the linguistic knowledge and ethno-cultural identities that Fangyan-speaking students bring to college-level CFL classrooms. Another focus of this study is to investigate the perception Fangyan-speaking students have about their linguistic abilities and what Fangyan-speaking students are perceived to be the expectations of their instructors and peers. This study was conducted in two CFL programs: a long-established dual-track program in a research university and a newly-established mixed track program in a teaching university. Both Fangyan-speaking students and their instructors were recruited for interviews and document data were collected from both students and their instructors. A modification of Krashen’s Input Hypothesis (1981) was employed in categorizing four types of Mandarin input, in which Cantonese pronunciation for reading purposes and media consumption were found to play important roles in Fangyan-speaking students’ Mandarin learning. Analysis of the data also revealed that Fangyan-speaking participants’ ethno-cultural identities may exhibit a nature of “hybridity” (Young, 1995) owing to their family immigration histories. Implications derived from the findings are offered for researchers, practitioners, and administrators of programs that serve tertiary CFL learners.Item Fraud asylees from China(2012-05) Yuan, Zhongyu; Todd, Russell; Jensen, RobertImmigration issues have been put on the center of the discussion table for years. Mentioning the term, the first thing coming into one’s mind maybe Mexican or Latino citizens secretly hide inside a cargo ship and risk their lives to cross the border. But the new Chinese immigrants’ inflow creates no less influence. They do not bring drugs but take brutal labor jobs, they do not come with families but live more compactly with groups, they do not keep unnoticed but will actively show up in churches and can get green card with much ease. The externalization of Chinese migrant worker trend deserves more social and economic attention. In this master’s report, I will unravel the puzzles of the Chinese immigration wave, focusing on their pursuit of asylum fraud. In 2011, more than 32 percent of the total 21,012 asylum approvals are granted to Chinese nationals. In east Los Angeles area, where undocumented Chinese conglomerate, low-end factories and shops, churchs, and law offices form up a complete immigration chain service. V The two main characters, Ai Peng and Guo Yinghua, represent the two universal approaches among the Chinese community: asylum through reasons of religion and birth control. Through interviews with professionals and scholars and existing materials, I am intending to depict the real lives of asylees, evaluate impact of the immigration wave, and raises legal and executive questions for improvement.Item From public bathhouse to smartphone apps, has the destiny of Chinese gay men really changed during the past 50 years?(2013-05) Jiang, Liefu; Todd, RussellBecause of the pressure from the traditional value, the suppression by the authorities and the misleading propaganda for spreading AIDS, Chinese gay community has gone through more severe misery and discrimination than their western peers during past 50 years. Although a more tolerant social attitude towards homosexuality is slowly taking shape in this country, most Chinese gay men still have to keep their sexual orientation in dark and would not publicly interact with other gay men. The four main characters in this story -- Nian, Sa, Cui Zi-en and Xiao -- represent gay men of four different generations, born in 1990s, 1980s, 1960s and 1930s, respectively. Their personal experiences of cruising in public restrooms and bathhouses, gay bars and clubs, on the Internet and through smartphone apps demonstrate the evolution of methods for social intercourse in Chinese gay community during the past 50 years. Although the new technologies enable Chinese gay men to enjoy more freedom than ever before, there is still a long way to go before real equality and tolerance could ever be achieved.Item Mass media use and perceptions of Americans by Chinese and American students(Texas Tech University, 1979-12) Ho, Joseph Sik-mingNot availableItem Mass media use and social stereotypes of Americans by foreign students(Texas Tech University, 1984-08) Chern, David Shano-yeonNot availableItem Pathways of transmission: investigating the influence of Chinese kiln god worship and mythology on kiln god concepts and rituals as observed by American ceramists(Texas Tech University, 2003-08) Geiger-Ho, Martie JDesigned to be an inquiry into both the past and living traditions and mythology of Chinese kiln god worship, this study investigates the manner by which these folk traditions and means of worship have been viewed and worked into discourse by Western historians and ceramists in the United States. Furthermore, by examining this research from the assumption that Western discourse on Chinese kiln gods has been recorded with a bias known as Orientalism that presents a biased view of the Far East this study endeavors to present new insights into the possible motivations for why American potters would appropriate and engage in various aspects of Chinese kiln god worship. This study discusses issues concerning the control of Chinese cultural material by Western scholars, through research gathered from discourse, interviews, and my own ethnographic field observations of Chinese kiln god practices. Collectively the outcome of this research has yielded a study of Chinese kiln gods with a strong focus on the history of the kiln god deity Feng Huo Hsien, or Genius of the Fire-Blast who is still worshiped in Jingdezhen, China today. The legend of how Feng Huo Hsien lived his life as T'ung Bun, a Jingdezhen potter, and then earned his immortal namesake through the incredible act of sacrificing his body and soul in the fire of the kiln, is a tale that is central to the religious beliefs and practices of the ceramists of Jingdezhen. Additionally, I believe that the presence of the myth of Feng Huo Hsien in American literature has also influenced the development of kiln god rituals among studio potters in the United States.Item The rise, fall and rebirth of the Chinese economy(2009-05) Nguyen, Claire; Rahnama, Masha; Ende, Terry V.This study provides an analysis of the fascinating Chinese economic history from ancient to modern China. It attempts to explain how China has gone from the world's largest economy to a desperately poor nation and finally resurrected to the second-largest economy in modern times. Also, this study examines how the rise of the Chinese economy will affect the United States.Item Under-use of counseling services by low acculturated Chinese international students(Texas A&M University, 2005-08-29) Jarrahi, LeilaThis study??s primary focus was to determine why Chinese international students are not readily accessing counseling centers for help. A literature review explored issues of culture shock, acculturation, as well as help-seeking attitudes among this population. Additionally, the review addressed barriers to pursuing counseling and cultural considerations for counselors to make when working with international students. The students were selected using the Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale (SLASIA) and the Asian Values Scale (AVS) for selection criteria. This was an exploratory descriptive study and participants were interviewed regarding their beliefs, values, opinions, and feelings regarding counselors and the counseling process. Participants were also asked to provide suggestions for more effective marketing of counseling services to the international student population. Limitations of the study and future directions were addressed.Item Wage earnings of Chinese in the United States: individual and contextual determinants(Texas A&M University, 2006-04-12) Qin, BibinThe objective of this dissertation is to identify both individual and contextual characteristics that may affect the wage earnings of Chinese in the U.S. labor market. The major individual characteristics include education, labor experience, and English ability; the contextual factors include percent of Chinese Americans, percent of Asian Americans, percent of nonwhites, percent of Chinese-owned businesses, occupational and residential segregation between Chinese and whites, and unemployment rate. Using the combined data of one percent and five percent 2000 Public Use Microdata Samples for 70 metropolitan areas, hierarchical linear models (HLM) were run for three groups of Chinese: native-born, foreign-born U.S. citizens, and foreignborn non-U.S. citizens. The results show that the returns to education are highest for the native-borns but lowest for the non-U.S. citizens. A command of good English benefits recent immigrants more than the native-borns. Labor experience tends to bring positive gains to both native-born and foreign-born U.S. citizens but shows no effects on earnings of foreign-born non-U.S. citizens. The results support both the human capital and assimilation perspectives. The HLM results indicate that occupational segregation from majority whites tends to impose a strong and negative effect on the earnings of native-born Chinese; a higher percentage of Chinese-owned businesses tends to increase the earnings of only foreign-born U.S. citizens; unemployment rate is likely to depress the wage earnings of the foreign-borns but not the native-borns. This suggests that Chinese workers with a different immigration history face the labor market differently. Residential segregation, percent of Chinese Americans, percent of Asian Americans, and percent of nonwhites, do not show any direct effects. Occupational segregation, the percent of Chinese-owned businesses, and the representation of the Chinese population are found to impact earnings indirectly through the individual characteristics. All these findings suggest that contextual factors do not necessarily impose direct effects on wage earnings; however, they may transfer their effects onto earnings via individual characteristics. This study represents an attempt to bring new insights into earnings attainment models and an addition to the meager body of knowledge concerning both individual and contextual factors that may affect the earnings process of a minority group in the United States. The strengths of using the HLM techniques, the limitations of the study, as well as issues for future study, were also discussed.